Saturday 27 January 2007

I have neglected my core duties of keeping you Bitterne fans up to date. Sadly, I have once again not had any quality time in precincto this week. Stopped at the library, only to give some books back, no time to browse the local history section. Have done 2 exercise classes at the 'award winning' Bitterne Leisure Centre. Thursday night I went to Body Blitz with Lou. I usually do my exercise alone, under the cover of darkness, so it was fun to go with a friend. I did not ache the next day but it was hard work, lots of squats and abs. On Friday I went to yoga with Marion. A very different kind of class from yoga with Sandra, but very relaxing and hard working at the same time. In the relaxation time at the end I find it a great time to pray, I have got all the rubbish whirling around in my brain out of the way by then.

Sandra runs a yoga class in St Denys as well by the way if you want to go. And Marion is the same lady who does Pilates at Chamberlayne on a Sunday. I think yoga is her first love though. Body Blitz is with Lisa, the same one who does Pilates at Bitterne which I attended last week if you recall. I can recommend all of them for different reasons and wholeheartedly endorse the 'platinum' gym membership from Southampton City Council. If you work for them or Hampshire or some big employers in Southampton it is £28 a month, and as you can tell from these pages I make it pay ten times over. It might be worth switching the hot water off at home and going to BLC for showers from now on.

Wednesday 24 January 2007

The other day I was in a shop and saw a man with 'Rentokil' embroidered on his T shirt. It was done by machine, not by the man himself painstakingly cross stitching the name of his company. Well, he could have been very good at embroidery and I don't want to assume he didn't do it himself.. anyway! Where was I? Sainsbury's cafe at Hedge End. I know, I know, not Bitterne AGAIN. Well, this man and his friend behind me in the queue very kindly turned the hot water dispenser on (and off) to fill up my hot chocolate. It would have been a cruel person, not a Rentokil employee, who just turned the tap on for a stranger with a keen 3 year old carrying the tray and her hands full. I turned to say thank you, and exclaimed that he worked for Rentokil, the subject of my blog. He was not as excited as I was by this information. But, you see, the beauty of having an embroidered shirt is that everyone knows where you come from and the level of service to expect from you. I hope soon to be blessed by a Canon Hygiene Personnel in uniform with some similar random act of kindness.

I am informed by my mother in law (she is very clever and does lots of quizzes) that the queen does take back royal warrants on products. So if she were to slip from her Addis stool, or her Brown and Polson cornflour made the sauce too lumpy she could strip them of their crest as quickly as Henry VIII chopped off ladies' heads. I imagine if she were angry but not incapacitated she could go to every shop in the kingdom tippexing out the royal coat or arms on the sides of the offending product. Or maybe send knights or ladies in waiting to do it for her.

Although if Tippex is not a holder of a Royal warrant ( I doubt it is, I think it was invented in one of the former colonies over the other side of the Atlantic ocean) I guess she is not allowed to use it. Maybe shoe polish or a paste made from cornflour and water would do the job. Maybe she is ONLY allowed to use things that have the Royal stamp of approval. An interesting diet so far, from my research.

Friday 19 January 2007

'I want to live forever'... what is it about eternity? A has got to the stage of discussing death at every turn (I remember this stage with H - mummy, am I going to die going down the slide today?) and I heard A today playing 'pretend mummy is dead, but you are not going to die till you are an old old man, daddy...' .

A informed me that if H squirted two blasts of bath water from her water pistol into your mouth, you would live forever. It sounds so easy. But why are they so keen on living forever anyway? And how come A has swallowed (excuse the pun) H's line on eternal life so easily? It sounds too good to be true! And it is! So where does that lead me and my faith - in God to do the same job as the water pistol? Or maybe the water pistol trick DOES work and it faith is as simple and childlike as swallowing two squirts of bath water from your older sister, who you know, love and trust ( most of the time!). Maybe Jesus would not be offended if I thought of him as a big brother in the bath, aged about 5, me about 3, and his offer of eternity via the water pistol is the way to go?

Wednesday 17 January 2007

Pilates was fun, very speedy, but all moves I knew and like, feel tired but not achey today so that is good. Did not do any secret footage, but a very amusing moment when we were all rolling on the floor ( part of the routine, not accidental) and one lady's bottom 'burped'. She kept apologising for having beans for tea! I wonder if she will be there next week? Maybe some of you would like to meet me there to find out...

Eastleigh. Wow. I had a marvellous day there with the lovely and joy giving Andrea, during which we discussed our different faith journeys and other important issues like where to go on holiday. We had a goat's cheese salad for lunch at The Point, Eastleigh's arts centre, and were delighted to book tickets to go and see 'The Gruffalo's child' in the Easter holidays, if that means anything to anyone.

Eastleigh is a spectacle to behold. No less than 11 charity shops, I was in charity shop heaven. Yes, there will be charity shops there. All of them staffed by fabulously jolly elderly ladies who need to phone a friend to operate the till for the simplest cash transaction. I purchased: a skirt and 2 tops for me, a pair of shoes for me and a pair of boots for H, a book for a friend, a basket for when we do easter egg hunt at toddler group, an action man, a photo frame, some bath and shower gels in a sealed package - are you keeping up? Its like the generation game, only better! There is a 99p shop in Eastleigh ( like a pound shop, but cheaper) which is also well worth a visit, and we didn't get time to do TXMAXX, so will rebook a date with Andrea soon. She knows all about colours and chose some excellent items for me. She is highly recommended if you want a fashion advisor for charity shop hunts.

Tuesday 16 January 2007

I don't know what it is about personal hygiene vans, but I spot them everywhere now. Rentokil. How about that for a great, appealing business name? Now I see why queenie went with Canon. ( Is that the same company who make cameras and printers?) A diverse business... the queen knows a thing or two about shares so BUY BUY BUY!

Yesterday R and I went to Bitterne gym together. This has not happened for 6 years, so it is worth reporting here. I am going back tonight to check out the new Pilates class. Will try to take some secret footage on my camera and show you all what you can expect. I take my life in my hands for you.

I have done 2 10 hour teaching days, without stopping to breathe. It is fun though, so I don't mind working a long day, and am hoping I will soon be in the rhythm of it again and not need to spend ages finding things. I cycle there both days, and this morning I caught up with another cyclist at the roundabout over the M27. I said hello, and that he was brave or mad ( like me) to cycle over the motorway junction, and he nodded. So I said ' Hope you have good life insurance!' as a funny early morning joke. ( 7.20am - not bad). He said yes. I am glad to report that both of us made it unscathed to the other side.

Today we were playing 'schools and doctors' with H and A, which involves H being a teacher and A being a doctor (in this context, a school doctor). I pretended that an imaginary child had cut herself and presented her to A, to the reply ' I only do sick.' Tried again, this time pretending to be helping a vomiting child, A's comment this time: ' I don't do sick on the floor.' I assume she is a militant union member of the BMA or whatever Doctors belong to, already, aged 3.

Tuesday 9 January 2007

I forgot to say that I went swimming at The Quays on Saturday, and intend frequenting more often. It is further to go, but I got a lane all to myself for the whole time I was there. Sorry Bitterne.

Just tonight I found out about a new breed of Boggle, called superboggle, with flashing lights and various board sizes. It is my birthday next month so if you want an idea for a present, I would like one of those. I am drawn by the flashing lights and loud noises. It reminds me of a party. And also I would like another game called 'Ungame'. It is not like Boggle at all. I don't know if it is correct etiquette to put birthday present requests on a blog. Maybe if someone had met me though my blog but not the real person they might think I was being greedy. But those who know me better than that can assure any other worried readers that I am really bad at asking for presents. This year for Christmas I asked for (and received) a toilet roll holder, a bath mat and some new towels.

Earrings. I only got my ears pierced in May, and am not good at all at looking after earrings. They are ok if they are in my ears, except for if they fall out. If I take them out I remember to put them SOMEWHERE. I just don't know where. I lost one of the earrings H gave me for Christmas on that very day. I have lost 2 earrings at J and L's house, sadly not a pair. One of them was found. I think someone in that house is a conjurour and took them when I wasn't looking. I don't think I have ever written that word above, beginning with c. I think I spelt it wrong, but you know what I mean, a magician, illusionist, trickster. Their whole family is full of them.

Monday 8 January 2007

Barely had time to breathe, let alone saunter around Bitterne. Over Christmas I has a whole week of Bitterne detox, and last week only managed one quick trip to the gym. Sent Rob on errands which would have been perfect for Bitterne (keys cut, buy drawing pins, get hair cut, pay cheque in) but he chose Hedge End as his destination. Snob.

I have been doing lots of research into holiday destinations. France, Bulgaria, Austria have all been mentioned, but as the girls would like a week in a caravan on a Haven site, why ruin a winning combination. I am collecting my Sun tokens to get yet another Haven trip in this year, and have to read the Sun to find the token. It is great, there is nothing bad going on in the world, only Big Brother. If you want to get a fresh perspective on world issues The Sun is the only trustworthy source. If you would like to come to Haven with us just drop us a comment and we will vet you for suitability to cope with the harsh climate, great entertainment and family bingo.

I have started working as a teacher today, hence not having time for drawing breath. To get from my classroom (a hut) to that of my two colleagues, a distance for crows of 20m, I have to go through 6 sets of doors. That is taking the outside route, it increases to 7 if you don't want to go outside. After trailing back and forth today I am thinking about getting a walkie talkie. If you have one or two, spare, please let me know.

We had lunch with my family on Sunday, 9 of us now with youngest cousin of 8 months. All of the Surrey branch went to see the Morris Dancing on Boxing day, as is traditional in Claygate. I did not see any in Southampton, which is disappointing. But that is life when you move from the rural hamlet to the big city lights. No morris dancers, no maypole dancing... what was I thinking?