A Year in Bristol: Wale's Tales and Cow Parades

Hello there! A whole term has passed since I last wrote! Excuses are few, but really, the only one that holds the truth is that I'm getting nervous about having to leave and we are trying to squish the life out of every moment! But, enough of that. Let's get on with the show!

Okay, this picture was a dare. Emma dared me to put a wet greasy snail on my face. Then I of course, dared her. Hey, I think snail slime has the same effects as botox!

A while ago, we spent a day with our friends Nick and Andrea at the Slimbridge Wetlands Centre, north of Bristol.

They had waterbirds from all over the world and in outdoor settings. I bet you didn't know that flamigos make farting noises! You wouldn't equate England with wildlife, but it does come in many forms. There are actually the basic animals that one might see wandering about at night like the fox, hedgiehogs, squirrels, dead badgers (sadly, I've only ever seen them on roadsides squished). But as far as I can tell, England does a whip-up job of keeping animals in zoos and farms. For example, we went to a donkey sanctuary where retired beach donkeys or mistreated sad ones can go and live a happy peaceful life.

Pooh and Eyeore
It was funny though because we went into one stable and were calling the donkey's over to no avail and then the 'donkey nurse' said that we we are wasting our time because these donkeys were deaf. Later in another shed, we waved our hands for the sweeties to come over but then another nurse came by and told us we were wasting our time because these donkeys were blind. In any case, they were all loveable to me.

Here is another example from the Noah's Ark farm...one of my personal favourites.
Now you might think that Bonnie is holding a snake in this photo. But, in fact it is a slow worm. This is a legless lizard that seeks out heat spots. I was out running one night and looked down to see him moving slowly across the lane. I picked him up and immediately, he dropped his dear tail which kept on squirming on the road. Yikes! But, he survived and after we held him for a few minutes, we walked him down to the edge of the river where he slithered off happily.

And then there's the hedgehog as seen below. He's definietly a specimen of prickly beauty. He's about 3 times the size of the hoglet that I used to have.

Then the elusive fox. He who I must see before I leave. John, our next door neighbor claims to see him at least once a week coming from the other side of the river, swimming across and then

meandering around, sniffing out left over bits. Me, I don't believe he exists. Then, Maxine, another interesting lady, claims to have seen him being chased by 2 cats the other day. But, the other night, I think we came the closest yet. We were coming home from our nightly walk to give Lady, the horse, and Myrt, the goat a treat, when what did I see? Two red ears, a long tail coming slowly through some overgrown grass near the allotment. STOP! I whispered quietly to Brian and the girls. We froze and waited. The swish of the grass kept coming towards us and as my heart was beating quickly and wishing I had my camera, we heard a 'Meow'. Darn it! Another ginger cat!

Then, the other day I was driving through a village called Barrow Gurney. It is a winding little very narrow road on the way to Dundry. Every so often, the traffic backs up and for what seemed like an invisible road blockage, cars waited. Soon the trouble would pass and everyone would proceed. On Friday, I figured out what it was. As I approached a dip in the road, I saw a stream of black and white milk cows smoothly heading towards me on the road. Of course, you stop, otherwise, there'd be hamburgers for all! As they strolled up and started passing the car, I reached out and actually could pet them from my window. It took a good 10 minutes before the parade passed and we all started moooving again. Then at the end of the herd, the farmer was bringing up the last few. I said, Thanks! That was the best thing I've seen all week! And he replied, Well, that's a first! Most people swear at me cows! When I got to work I noticed a nice big smudge of cow poo along the door.

Back at Dundry school, the year 6 students are home free! They get beat up by a battery of tests called SATS. There is a long and arduous preparation for these-2 in English, 3 in math, 2 in science. The thing though that I can't figure out is What the Heck do we do now for the next 6 weeks! In Edmonton, our tests are in late June. We can teach until then and the students still have to learn and review! But, these children know that they are sliding down the mountain on to secondary school now and not a whole lot else has to be done. Needless to say, motivation is at the top of

a teacher's priority right now. Maybe I should just teach them every episode of 'Friends' as that's about all we watch here on TV. But, I must add that we are doing interesting things. We are planning for the 150th anniversary of Dundry School and this is certainly amazing.

Dundry Church (copied from the Web)

As a total and complete stranger to Dundry up until 8 months ago, I have learned so much about the history. Seems Dundry was first built up as a quarry for the tenable yet strong sandstone hill that it is built on. The church and school was built using this. It's just hard for me to imagine that much time! We have some amazing pictures though of the school kids in the 1900's. I'll try and get them on here next time.

I love the Shirehampton library. It's housed in a charmy old town hall building. There are even a few signs throughout the village indicating the direction of the library. After a few weeks last September of driving by it, we finally decided to go in and get a card and as you know, I can only be without a library so long. The town hall itself is a large important looking building, and I supposed it would actually be big enough to house a village's worth of books. Well, as it turns out, the library is actually housed in the back room of the building. When you go in you realize that it is quite tiny. But, this is the reason we have grown to love it so! It is like browsing through a second hand book shop, where the storeowner can direct you to anything your heart desires. Oh yes, I know where that is, they say. Just follow me over here. The librarians are sweet as honey and truly know each book individually. When you actually go to sign out books, they flip through them as if saying Goodbye, be back soon. They lovingly stamp them manually and pass them over to you.

Then there are the odds and ends that they keep on hand as well. Various crafts made by locals, posters, a display of rather interesting photographs found in old books, and census books from way back when. And then there are the fines. Being a library conisseur, I am no abcedarian! Oh no, the words, You have a few fines owing, does not make me flinch. But, to these lovely librarians, I am commiting a mortal sin. And the way they tell you, you know you're in for it. They slowly stalk you as you are leisurely walking along the isles, and stand next to you. Then, the words are whispered. I'm sorry to let you know, but you have a few fines owing. Said gently, without causing public humiliation or shame.

The few other customers look up over their pince-nez, a few clear their throats uncomfortably and I break out in a cold sweat. I head up to the front desk, take out my wallet and unabashedly as How much? Oh well, my Dear, it's 30 p. That's pence. Pennies! Yes, of course, is my reply and I pay and go back to my book hunting. Then, they ask if I want the receipt. You gotta love 'em!

But, I'm not done yet. Throughout our many visits, they have learned my history, that of my family and of my cats. And, this one kind woman always has something to give me as she knows I am a teacher.

And, sometimes when I go online to renew my books so as not to gather a 40 p fine, I will notice that I have books out that are not listed. I have asked about this, trying to impress upon the library queens, that NO, I did not steal this! Oh course not Darling, they reply. Sometimes our checkout system doesn't register borrowing. Sheesh...by now I could have opened my own second hand bookstore with these unsigned out books. I would never though. These ladies deserve and demand the upmost respect. Shirehampton library is definitily on my list of things to take back with me.

I must talk about Football Frenzy now. In the last few weeks, there have been some rather important SOCCER games here. The first one was actually held in Moscow and was between to English teams--Chelsea and Manu. (That's short for Manchester United.) This was the final game in the Uefa-Union of European Football. And then, there was a game in London, where Bristol City played, vying for a place in the premiership league to play with the big dogs. Both games were intense and stirred up conversation at every and any stop. Sure, the games were exciting and the after effects of joyous fans frolicking in streets was interesting to watch. But what I found most interesting was the intensity of fanship. Loyality runs deep and can be rather dark as well! It was a sheer mistake that I brought up football in math class that day. We were talking about percents. What percent of you are Manu fans, Chelsea fans? Well, if all hell didn't break loose. It first started as a little free for all, but quickly turned into a loud, riotous shouting match. The supporters who shouted the loudest won. I give up. And then, when the kids talk about their favorite teams using pronouns like 'we just missed that one goal by a hair!', you know that they feel like they are related to the players. I was asking a dad in the playground what kids base their choice of favourite team on. He replied, Well o' course, they choose 'em based on wha' their 'ol man supports! Kinda like American politics.

We've been pretty busy. Bonnie is horsebackriding, but now prefers a new stable to the old one. Seems she was always getting stuck on a pony named Tuppence there and this pony has a mind of it's own. So, now she is actually taking a pony out and riding through some of the beautiful

trails around Blaise Castle. Emma is in a play, Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat. She also finished her year one violin exam which was thrilling! Not only because she did it successfully, but because it was in Wales, and we got to drive through the hills to a beautiful Victorian mansion to practice with her accompianment Peter Cobbs and his wife. They were very kind and their yard was full of sheep!

Last week was half term break! Another week of to explore and so we went to St. David's and Tenby on the west coast of Wales. This area is actually a national park called Pembrokeshire National Park and runs around the coast line.

We arrived at Tenby fairly late on Wednesday night and walked down to the seaside in the rain. It was really beautiful with all of the Georgian houses and castle on the hill.

There are so many little cove towns and you just never get tired of them because they are all so unique. We did a little beach combing as you can see here. Found lots of shells, a dead dog fish, and octopus and a few other interesting creatures!

On Thursday, we headed for St. David's which is supposed to be the smallest city in Britian. It didn't seem so small to me as it had a few main roads, but I guess it's based on the size of the cathedral. Considering that St. David's cathedral is almost the size of the town, then I guess it has earned it's name.

What a gorgeous place. I have a few favorite cathedrals, but this one bumped up to number one. Inside and outside it is stunning! We toured around with Nick and Andrea and the girls who were camping there too! Things are always so much more fun with them! We wandered into the church and heard some amazing music being played. Luckily, we walked into a practice for the evening's performance as it was a music festival going on there. A huge choir, orchestra, and soloists in the huge space was spellbinding.

Just off the coast of St. Davids is an island called Ramsey island. It is home to some incredible wildlife and has a population of 2. This is a rocky sea swept island and just as you arrive on the boat, the guide points off to a few fierce looking small rocky called 'The Bitches'. They are called this because whoever came across them first

thought that they looked like a mom and her puppies. In fact, though, during flood tides, these little rocks produce current sweeps of up to 20 knots. Kayaks meet the challenge...or don't. But, if they do, they are basically world class. In this picture, you can see a type of bird related to a cormorant. He was not trying to look fierce here, but was actually drying his wings as they absorb water so that he can submerge to deep depths to fish.

Now, if you look closely at this picture, you can see one of the 400 grey seals that come to the island to breed. They are curious and beautiful and would just pop out of the water. The guide told us that they do not like to be pointed at though because they think we will hurt them. So, when you do come across one, you just say Look over there. 2 o'clock. One young boy did get excited and pointed and sure enough, we never saw that seal again.

The boat took us into some caves in the rock cliffs. One in particular, was dripping with water like a shower. As the boat floated into it, the guide said, Open your mouth and try to catch some! It was lemon flavored due to the mineral deposits. There is also another beautiful yellow flower all over south Wales which smells like--coconut!

Just at the town centre there is a stone monument with steps. This cat just sits on the steps, looking rather petable. But, we found out what was really on his mind when we realized that it was a popular place to eat Fish and Chips! She was getting a lot of leftovers.

There were a great many quarries in Wales--still are! This one was not working anymore, but when it was, it exported the slate stones out onto ships. There were also many limestone kilns where they would heat the stone and then take the lime up onto the

farmer's fields.

Foxgloves

Four little girls climing happily

Whitesands beach is just outside of St. Davids. I have never seen such beautiful sand and waves! Andrea's sister Ruth let us their wetsuits and we all headed out to do some body surfing! There is something about being thrown around by hurling noisy freezing waves, then dumped under, only to come up spluttering and gulping salt water by the cupful that left me dizzy with glee. This is not only a hugely fun sport, but an addicting one too! Once you've had the experience of 'catching' a wave and riding it to shore, you just can't stop.

I don't know when we'll do this again, but I know we will!

The B and B we stayed in was haunted and lovely! The proprietor was a sweet peachy faced woman with CATS!! And a Golden retriever! What more could we ask for! She served us breakfast each day with care and concern. And, her homemade marmalade...well, it was out of this world!
I loved Wales. I know that I will be going back there one day--hey maybe on another Teacher Exchange--hint. hint.

Last night, the girls got invited to a Rag. I questionned this as I had no idea what it was, but in the end it was a jolly ol' good time in a village called Pill. That's right, the Pill Rag. Groups of people would rent huge lorries (aka 18 wheelers!) and decorate them in themes. The one that the girls were on was a sleepover party. Then, the trucks would drive through the town and people would throw money at them--all in the of charity, mind! (That's an English expression--Mind!) You say it when you want to emphasize a point. So, at 7:00pm off the lorries rolled, blaring their chosen music, about 10 in all. I must tell you though, that Pill is a rather small town with STEEP hills and SHARP turny and narrow roads. So much for the Health and Safety act. There was one particularly boozey group of bosomy women who I feared would fall off and drop their martinis. Fortunately they had a fence holding them in! I think they definitely had the most fun though and got the most money!

After a couple of hours, the lorries started to return. I stood with a gang of parents wondering if I'd ever see the girls again. After all of the lorries returned, there was one obviously missing! Turns out, a little 2 year old on the PJ lorrie had to visit the loo to wee. The huge lorrie had to pull over, empty all the pyjama clad girls into the pub and then lost it's place in line. They did return eventually, happy and covered in soot.

Then we all had chips from the shoppe.
The thing I don't understand is why they give you sooooooo many chips! One of the dads brought us each back an order of chips which could have fed an army AND the seagulls that follow behind. They are glorious though wrapped in greasy newsprint on a hot night!

Well, that's about all for now. Sorry to any of you who may have been wondering what the 'ell 'appened to us!
Brian went home yesterday as well. He left a 5:00 a.m. and Emma and I walked him to the taxi. After he drove off, we stood there listening to the wood pigeons and blackbirds. Suddenly, my heart became heavy as I realized that the next time someone would be leaving to go home, it would be all of us.

A picture of us in the Arnofini Modern Art gallery bathroom. Don't ask.

Emma, Bonnie, Jessie and Ester decided that Mousse was probably due for a birthday--either that or they wanted chocolate cake! But, in anycase, they made her a nice cake and we all enjoyed it with tea. She skulked off though, maybe because we ate it all.