OUR FIRST "NORMAL" WEEK?

I apologise for not visiting blogging friends or even replying to comments at the moment. I will return to "normal" when the tempo of life settles down. My drum now beats to a different rhythm. This is what I meant when I said that I now have to walk my path alone. I am not alone as in lonely, far from it. I am surrounded by a loving family, wonderful friends and supportive colleagues but I have entered a different stage in life, I am now a widow. It is an entirely different status and needs adjusting to. As I was once told "It's not the lions and tigers that'll get you, it's the rabbits that kick you to death". I just have to watch out for those rabbits.

And this feeling is not unique to me. The children have lost their loving father, grandfather, great-grandfather and his friends and colleagues have lost their sounding board and mentor. Mix this with the fact that he was completely bonkers, most times wrong, so cringingly un-PC that it would take your breath away and you have some idea of the void that is to be filled. But he trained us to believe that no-one is invincible and that we only succeed if, like removing your hand from a bucket of water, the void is filled automatically. His wisdom, passion and drive must live on through us.

As one of my great-granddaughter said some months ago "Grandad is a very unusual man isn't he?" Out of the mouths of babes?! Yes darling, he was a very unusual man, and we give thanks for that. So, deep breath, we have given lip service to his "unusualness", let that now live on in the successes of our daily lives. Let's fill our days with his spirit, especially not forgetting the crazy fun bits! I stake my claim to the un-PC thing! It could be interesting!!

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES

This time last year OG was recovering from major surgery to remove and reconstruct his bladder. The good news was that the operation was a success and there was no discernable trace of cancer in his major organs but the bad news was that of 6 lymph nodes analysed, 2 were found to be cancerous. It was an emotional roller coaster.

He then went on a coarse of chemo which made him so ill that Spring and Summer were virtually written off. His weight dropped dramatically and he was very, very poorly. But in the autumn he bounced back again and here he is still fit and well today to tell the tale. Amazing. We do know that he is not entirely out of the woods yet, but each day is a minor miracle to be enjoyed and cherished because this time last year we were in despair.

Yesterday afternoon, Mothering Sunday, we had been invited to spend with the family at our daughter’s house. The little ones had a great time in the swimming pool while the adults indulged their passion for eating and drinking. I have a reputation for never getting drunk, but yesterday that reputation was ruined. BUT I didn’t insult anyone, so I guess that was a bonus.

Before we went to the pool party I read of an interesting concept in education that may be worth watching. In this country there has been a move to upgrade the fabric of the educational establishments but we still have pupils leaving school poorly educated without being able read or write.

In Sweden they have decided that an excellent building is not as important as excellent teaching and they are developing a website portal with all lesson plans covering the national curriculum available for teachers and pupils to download. This means that instead of teachers having to spend many hours constructing their own teaching plans they can now spend the time more profitably in mentoring and coaching pupils.

The average teacher spends 17 hours actually teaching, but using this method this can be increased to 27 hour. They have 50-minute meetings with each pupil to work out the best way to access this buffet of learning to meet individual learning abilities and set goals, with some more suited to study periods and some to more traditional workshop learning. During the week one-to-one meetings take place to assess progress. Pupils also attend university style lectures.

Anything that makes learning interesting has to be worth trying

And finally… a hangover is the wrath of grapes.