This Week: 20th May

The weather ... At times last week felt more like February than May, sometimes wet, sometimes cold and grey. Yesterday was sunny and quite warm, but there is more rain forecast for today.

I am wearing ... navy chinos, butterfly print t shirt, navy cardigan

I am reading ... about records management. Dull.

I am creating ... still the same pair of socks.

I am listening ... to Danzon No.2 by Arturo Marquez and Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade.

I watched ... Minority Report at the weekend. It was set as a task for my course as a jumping off point for thinking about various records management issues.

I am not enjoying ... Level 147 of Candy Crush. Think I may be stuck for ever. Serves me right for getting hooked on a time-sucking game.

From the learning rooms ... this will be Helen's last week of school. Ever. Yikes!

On the menu ... this week the plan is that I have no plan!

On the calendar ...
Tuesday: Helen has an interview for a photography and video production apprenticeship
Thursday: Fund raising quiz night at work. Should be fun.
Sunday: Another car boot sale for Marie and her friend. I think my brother may be taking them this time.

A picture from last week ... a horse and cart spotted on our walk on Thursday. More playing with Instagram filters!

A Medieval Week.

Two things I have been doing this week:

(1) Medieval stuff
(2) Playing with picture apps

On Thursday Tevye and I went for a walk in a village a few miles away where there is a castle site. I didn't even know it was there until a few months ago and had never been. Not much is known about the castle, except that it existed in the twelfth century and was probably a simple wooden keep and palisade that was never replaced with stone. The remaining earthworks show it was a classic motte and bailey castle. A small one!

The picture below was done with an iphone collage app called Moldiv, which I stumbled across when looking for something else. I mixed up shots of the castle with the surrounding countryside.

This picture is a collage of three panoramic views taken from the top of the motte. The white stone thing in the bottom picture is an Ordnance Survey triangulation point.


Today I was looking after an archive display in an adjacent town which had a weekend event focusing on its medieval history. This town was founded by King Henry I at the beginning of the 12th century and was the site of an important priory for the next 400 years. After the priory was dissolved in 1540 most of the buildings were destroyed, but the nave remained as the parish church. Imagine how imposing the original church must have been when it was complete.


There were a lot of middle ages re-enactors there, with booths demonstrating different aspects of medieval life and a recreation of a minor skirmish which took place in the town during the Wars of the Roses in the 15th century. I particularly liked the minstrel, who had an intriguing collection of early instruments. I now want a bowed psaltery. Or a lyre. Or both. As you can see from this picture I have also been playing with Instagram filters.


This panoramic view shows part of the encampment, with soldiers mustering ready or battle.


More Instagram filters on these pictures, trying to compensate for slightly fuzzy cropped distance shots. This Yorkist soldier was taking a breather between bouts of fighting.


And here the battle was raging.


I have also been working on some of these at work, so all in all a very medieval week.

This Week: 13 May 2013

The weather ... Brrr! Changeable and definitely not feeling as though summer is round the corner.

I am wearing ... pyjamas.

I am reading ... blogs and Facebook and not much else.

I am creating ... socks

I am listening ... to Shostakovitch Jazz Suites

I am watching ... Harry Potter movies with Marie.

I am enjoying ... my electric blanket. So glad I didn't switch the winter duvet for a lightweight summer one when it was warm last week.

From the learning rooms ... I looked at the records management module I will be studying for the next three months tonight. The first section is horribly intense. It's not a subject that interests me, but it has to be done.

On the menu ...
Monday: salmon, sweet potato, sauteed leeks and cabbage
Tuesday: chicken and chips with sweetcorn and peas
Wednesday: pasta with either bolognese sauce or chicken
Thursday: out for lunch with Tevye as we are both taking the day off work
Friday: savoury bean pot
Saturday: wait and see!
Sunday: roast beef, roast potatoes and veggies

On the calendar ...
Tuesday: orthodontist appointment for Marie
Wednesday: band AGM and practice
Thursday: a day off from work as I have to work on Sunday (unusual); Fiddle Fiesta for Rose
Saturday: playing at a village fete with the band
Sunday: looking after a display at a medieval history festival in a nearby town

A picture from last week ... Marie and A-next-door at Sunday's car boot sale, raising money to fund another trip to Bulgaria.

Working Full Time

It is almost a done deal (as in 99% certain, just waiting for paperwork) that from the beginning of June I will be working full time as an archivist instead of switching back to part time in July. A colleague is leaving and I was offered a permanent increase in hours which I decided to accept.

So, how have I got to this? And how is working full time panning out? When I started down this path I had no intention of working full time. I wasn't even actively looking for a part time job. When I first decided to train as an archivist I felt that doors were opening providentially, and that has been my experience throughout the three years since. At no point have I actively looked for a job, or for an increase in hours. First an unusual, incredibly interesting, and manageable part time job came up which gave me a toe in the door of the archive profession. Then the part time archivist post fell into my lap, and my part time job grew into a temporary full time one which was too good an opportunity to turn down. This time, within minutes of my colleague resigning I was asked if I would like to stay on full time. Just a couple of weeks before, as the end of my original temporary contract got closer, I had realised that - contrary to expectation - I was enjoying working full time and that the benefits were outweighing the disadvantages, and Tevye and I had discussed the possibility of my looking for a second part time archivist job for one or two days a week to run alongside the current one. Really, saying yes to the full time post was a no brainer. Providence again.

Given that I hadn't planned to work full time, I have been very pleasantly surprised at how well it has worked out. I found the jump to daily part time work much harder to adjust to than the increase in hours. Having to get out of the house at an early hour every morning was the toughest part to acclimatise to, followed by the daily commute. Having got used to those aspects of working, staying at the office for longer hours didn't make much difference from my point of view, and I haven't found working full time significantly more tiring than working part time. When I increased my hours I switched from taking the train to driving to work, as I needed to be more flexible and it saved time, cutting probably half an hour off my daily commute. I have also now started car sharing with a colleague who leaves nearby, after we realised we were working very similar hours. We have a flexitime system, and some people choose to get in early and leave early, others prefer to work later - we both fall into the early bird category and were often virtually tailing each other down the road. Sharing means less petrol, less driving and company, all of which ease the commute.

I am very lucky in that I have a lot of practical help from both Tevye and the older girls. Tevye has picked up a lot of the domestic slack, which he is able to do as he works from home a couple of days a week and has very flexible working patterns. Helen and Marie get Rose ready for school three days a week and drop her at the school early birds club, and Marie collects her from after school club when necessary. My flexible working hours and understanding managers mean that I can juggle work fairly easily to fit round family needs and I can occasionally work from home. A generous holiday allowance (26 days plus public holidays) and "flexi days" when I can take time off in lieu of extra hours worked mean I can be at home for large chunks of the school holidays. There are some very hectic days but mostly we have a very manageable routine. The downsides really do seem to be outweighed by the positives - a fascinating, varied job that I love and a regular salary to supplement Tevye's which is less predictable because he is self employed.

7 Quick Takes: 10 May 2013

1. I have the most fascinating and varied job imaginable! A quick summary of my working day: researching a 19th century murder; tracking down a grant of land from 1334 and checking the text for the context of a particular Latin phrase; providing someone with a copy of the 19th century trust deed for his church; giving a talk with my job share partner about our cataloguing project; cataloguing documents about thefts of potatoes, a smock and a coat; and helping to identify a specific 15th century manor court roll sewn into a bundle with a pile of others.

2. My office is by the side of a river. Since the weather has improved over the past couple of weeks the river has come to life - pairs of swans, ducks, a heron, and a lot of rowers (hard working eights, not pleasure boats!).

3. A couple of friends have posted links on Facebook to this French project to build a castle using only thirteenth century tools and techniques. More about it on the BBC website here. I would love to see this, but can't see any prospect of getting to Burgundy in the near future.

4. I have come to the conclusion that part of the reason we have too much stuff is that we have lived in this house too long. If we had needed to move it would have forced us to have a proper clear out. As it is we have spent twenty years accumulating clutter without ever confronting it. Unfortunately I have a conclusion, but no solution.

5. Marie is going through a healthy lifestyle stage, and is trying to both eat well and exercise regularly. She has inspired me to want to get back to exercising and I have managed to do some yoga (DVD, not a class) over the last couple of weeks. I haven't managed to get into any sort of routine though, and I suspect I won't until I finish my course.

6. I'm writing this while watching a BBC documentary about the recreation of the Netherfield Ball in Pride and Prejudice. Fascinating stuff!

7. Candy Crush. I should probably never have started playing because it is a time sucker. Now I have got stuck on Level 147 which is driving me nuts. Grrr!

This Week: 6 May 2013

(Oops! Where did the last month go?)

The weather ... a beautiful May day, mostly warm and sunny, with a little cloud. The first Monday of May is a bank (public) holiday here and our town holds a May Fayre which is a big fundraiser for local groups and charities. The brass band plays for an hour in the morning, and we always seem either to get cooked or drenched. Last year was a wet one. Overheating a bit this morning was a pleasant change.

I am wearing ... navy skinny jeans, pink and navy leaf pattern tunic top, bare feet.

I am reading ... dipping a toe into a book about interesting aspects of physics. It is one of those short snippets type books and isn't really holding my attention.

I am creating ... soft socks for a very old friend who is very ill and has just had major surgery.

I am listening ... Rose is watching something on the iPad, otherwise everything is quiet.

I am watching ... not much. TV seems to be in the doldrums. I did get talked into watching Big Bang Theory recently and have been catching up on earlier series. Geek humour.

I am enjoying ... the long weekend. The next few months is going to be busy so I'm enjoying the break while I can.

From the learning rooms ... Rose is hugely excited that she gets to take part in a Fiddle Fiesta (string orchestra for small people) in a couple of weeks. I'm not sure which is the most exciting aspect - that she will be spending the afternoon at Helen and Marie's school, or that she gets to take a packed tea. I think the music part is a distant third in terms of anticipation!

On the menu ...
Monday: BBQ in the garden (yay! the weather forecast that this would be the best day of the long weekend was right!). We had burgers, chicken, sausages, mushrooms and salad, washed down with watermelon
Tuesday: Chicken stir fry
Wednesday: Salmon baked with leeks and mushrooms
Thursday: Pasta with tomato sauce and meatballs
Friday: Courgette, bean and tomato casserole
Saturday: I'm finding planning food in advance for Saturday doesn't work as I never know who is going to be where when. We usually just keep it simple - soup, sandwiches, baked potatoes, eggs, that sort of thing.
Sunday: Roast beef and veggies

On the calendar ...
Monday: No work or school, except for Helen who is at work this evening. Played with the band in the morning.
Tuesday: Ballet lesson for Rose. Tevye has a meeting in London.
Wednesday: Band practice.
Thursday: Giving a talk on 19th century crime in the county to a group interested in local heritage in the morning (my work includes sometimes giving talks or attending events).
Friday: Another talk, this time given jointly with my job-share partner about the project we have been working on, to a smaller audience at the archive.
Saturday: Band concert in the evening.
Sunday: May be taking Marie and her friend to a car boot sale to raise funds for another trip to Bulgaria.

A picture from last week ... Rose enjoying herself at a woodland playground yesterday.

Another Picture Round Up

A few things that have been going on over the last couple of weeks ...

It snowed. Again. This has been the longest winter I can remember. March was ridiculously cold and April has started the same way. There were even snow flurries again yesterday. I am so ready for it to feel like spring. Easter in winter just feels all wrong!

Rose played her violin in a school concert. (Please note that this is not an indication of precocious musical talent. She is very much at the beginner stage!)


Various major things have been going on at work. This year is our centenary and there are a number of related events throughout the year, including exhibitions in local museums. The first opened in a town in the south of the county a couple of weeks ago. There are also going to be a number of staff changes and it looks as though I will be continuing to work full time instead of going back to part time in July as I anticipated.


We managed to get outside for a while at the weekend despite the weather, though we weren't out for long before Rose's insistence that she didn't need a winter coat drove us back to the car with a frozen small person.


Otherwise, life carries on as normal with work and school. Helen will be done with school completely in a couple of months and is job hunting - she is looking for a media based apprenticeship in London. She finished her photography A level last week with an exam piece involving technical wizardry way out of my league - time lapse photography edited into 3D images. Apparently even her teacher didn't think it could be done! Marie is ploughing through GCSE coursework and controlled assessments. Rose has decided numeracy (maths) is her favourite subject at school. I am ploughing on with my archive course, which I now just want to get finished. I start the final module in May and will be done in September.

Happy Easter

The Easter Bunny wishes you a very hoppy Easter!

My Week in Pictures

A new pair of hand knitted socks

Miserable weather (these were large, wet snowflakes on the car windscreen) not rain


Celebrating an 18th birthday with a newly fledged adult


Feedback in a maths book. "No eating! More focus" Um. Yes.


Working on Latin, with some lighter moments!


Finding weird pictures on my phone


Falling asleep with a book

A Little Bit of London

A few pictures from a trip to London with Rose at half term. The plan was to go to the Natural History and Science Museums, and to see Big Ben and the London Eye. The queue just to get into the Natural History Museum was crazy so we skipped that. The Science Museum was also very busy which was overwhelming for my sensitive small person, so we didn't stay long. After we had exhausted the quieter bits of the museum we went sight seeing.

Big Ben

The London Eye


Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square


Horse Guards Parade


The Battle of Britain Memorial

The weather ... Just the tiniest hint of spring in the air.

I am wearing ... Jeans, long sleeved navy t-shirt, long blue hand knitted sweater, white furry slipper boots

I am reading ... The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. Stalled.

I am creating ... A pair of blue lacy socks. Just the toe of the second sock to go.

I am listening ... To a cello concerto by Russian composer Miaskovsky.

I am watching ... Not much other than Call the Midwife on Sunday evenings

I am enjoying ... Lighter evenings. It is so nice not to have to drive home from work in the dark.

From the learning rooms ... Rose was pupil of the week for her class last week, which made her very happy. I have just started a short module on reading Latin documents for my archivist's course. I've realised that my Latin is better than I thought it was, which is a nice position to be in! It means the course won't be as time consuming as I expected.

On the menu ...
Monday: beef stir fry
Tuesday: fish and chips
Wednesday: chicken breasts (bought ready marinated) with green veggies and some sort of potatoes
Thursday: maybe vegetarian cottage pie?
Friday: probably salmon
Saturday: baked potatoes and chilli at a band quiz night. I have been delegated to cook a batch of the potatoes
Sunday: roast chicken

On the calendar ... Mostly the usual routine. Helen has a week's holiday from her shop job, and Tevye and I are going to the quiz night on Saturday.

A picture from last week ...

This Week: 18 February 2013

The weather ... today was clear and sunny and at one point I even felt a tiny bit of warmth in the sun. The forecast is for temperatures to drop again tomorrow and to stay barely above freezing for the rest of the week. I am very ready for spring. 

I am wearing ... dark blue skinny jeans, pink and burgundy striped knitted tunic, pink hand knitted socks.

I am reading - The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey, following up on the Richard III discovery a couple of weeks ago. I could have sworn this was a re-read, but it doesn't seem familiar so maybe I just thought I read it!

I am creating ... the same blue lacy socks. Just got to the heel of sock number two.

I am listening ... to the news on TV. Apparently there has been a huge diamond heist in Belgium.

I am watching ... Call the Midwife and nothing else that I can think of. 

I am enjoying ... a quiet evening. Both older girls are out and Rose is tucked up in bed. 

From the learning rooms ... Rose has been made a "free reader" at school, which means she gets to choose reading books from the school library instead of from colour-coded reading scheme books (these come from a number of different schemes and are banded by roughly equivalent level). She was particularly excited that she got shown how to use the bar code reader to check books out for herself. 

On the menu ... it is half term, so menu planning is a bit hit and miss and the plan is likely to evolve.
Monday - baked chicken breasts, potato croquettes, green beans
Tuesday - chicken in breadcrumbs, chips from the chip van, peas
Wednesday - pasta bake (ready meal as no time to cook)
Thursday - casserole made with frozen turkey leftovers from Christmas?
Friday - vegetarian cottage pie
Saturday - baked potatoes
Sunday - roast beef, roast potatoes and veggies

On the calendar ... 
Monday - work for me, meeting in London for Tevye, half term holiday from school for the girls all week
Tuesday - medical appointment for Marie in the morning;  Rose's not-so-little-anymore friend N and his mum came for dinner. We don't see them as often as we used to due to busy lives, but it is lovely to see how Rose and N still have a special bond and slot back quickly into imaginative play mode. 
Wednesday - I am taking Rose to London to visit the Science Museum, which she loves. She also wants to go and see Big Ben and the London Eye. 
Thursday - orthodontist's appointment for Marie. Her braces broke. Again. 
Friday - work for me, hospital appointment in the afternoon for Tevye
Nothing on the calendar at the moment for the weekend.

A picture from last week ... or rather, a link to several. A very early collection of photographs of prisoners (they date from the 1860s) that we hold in our archive made the news and then went viral - the mugshots ended up being printed in several newspapers and one of the major TV companies came along to film a news article about them. 

This Week: 4th February 2013

The weather ... The snow melted, was replaced by unseasonably warm temperatures marred by wind and rain, and is now back to cool but dry.

I am wearing ... Black and white knitted fair isle dress (three sizes too large, but warm and cozy and just about still wearable, and about the only piece of pre-weight loss clothing I haven't yet thrown out), black cardigan, black tights, black shoe boots (the comfiest pair of heels I possess, which I can happily wear all day).

I am reading ... Kind of ground to a halt, but have lots of books stacking up on my Kindle and hope to get some reading in over the next week.

I am creating ... Blue lacy socks

I am listening ... To Mumford and Sons, Noah and the Whale, Handel's organ concerto No.13, and Freitas Branco symphony No,2, among other things.

I am watching ... Call the Midwife, Miranda.

I am enjoying ... The news that King Richard III's body has been positively identified after being found under a car park in Leicester last year (for American English speakers, you might like to know that Leicester is pronounced Lester)

From the learning rooms ... Rose has developed a liking for maths and has decided it is her favourite subject, along with science, Marie, on the other hand, is disliking it (despite having a maths brain) thanks to a personality clash with her teacher.

On the menu ... Playing it by ear this week

On the calendar ... Marie leaves for Bulgaria tomorrow, and Tevye and I are looking forward to a long weekend away on our own.

A picture (or two) from last week ...

A shiny sink. I'm very slowly dipping a toe back into FlyLady.

I had to come up with a Scottish dessert for our regular dinner evening with our neighbours. This is cranachan, made with cream, toasted oatmeal, honey, whisky and raspberries - except I cheated and used Bailey's Irish Cream (yes, I knwo that isn't Scottish!) as i don't like whisky.

This Week: 21st January 2013

The weather ... Snow!!! An inch or two last Friday, followed by more on Sunday giving about 4 inches in total. Helen and Marie's school had a snow day, but Rose's stayed open. Tevye decided to stay home, but I made it to work ok, doubling up with a colleague who lives nearby. The roads were actually surprisingly good - usually any significant snowfall in the UK creates traffic chaos.

I am wearing ... Black jeans, black t-shirt, black and maroon striped sweater

I am reading ... Swiss Watch (but haven't read much this week)

I am creating ... Cream sweater for myself. Just the neckline to go.

I am listening ... Still on an English classical composers kick

I am watching ... Miranda and a new series of Call the Midwife

I am enjoying ... The snow turning everything into a winter wonderland.

From the learning rooms ... Two GCSE science exams for Marie last week. I don't think she is very optimistic about the results.

On the menu ...
Monday: Sausages and mash, sweetcorn
Tuesday: Fish and chips
Wednesday: Chicken, veggies
Thursday: Something from the freezer (I have to work late)
Friday: ??
Saturday: Chicken soup
Sunday: Turkey leftovers with roast potatoes and parsnips

On the calendar ... Not too much!
Thursday: Open evening at the archive to celebrate our centenary
Saturday: Local drama group panto - I know a few of the cast so Tevye and I are going along to watch. Pantomimes are considered too scary by
Rose.
Sunday: Helen has her final assessment for her gymnastics coaching qualification

A picture from last week ...