Do you vacuum your coffee machine? (And other questions)

Well hello… as I’ll be posting this in the first quarter of the year, I feel I can still refer to myself as a blogger. An ‘occasional, whenever I can be bothered’ blogger but a writer of digital words nonetheless.

But as you know, I’m also an educator and that requires asking many questions and answering them in an appropriate way, regardless of how ridiculous they might seem.

I went on a 10 mile walk the other weekend. There were a lot of snowdrops!

As you lovely readers know (at least those who’ve stuck by me for several years now), I do enjoy the odd random ramble too and this post is such.

Because, in a year of becoming very acquainted with the daily banality of life, I realised my mundane existence might be a little less weird than yours, or vice versa.

To be fair, I’m banking on the vice versa, especially when I pose the question:

DO YOU VACUUM YOUR COFFEE MACHINE?

Wednesday Lensday: Mannakin

When your mum suggests a day out, I’ll assume that for most of you, that means something like a nice lunch, maybe a shopping trip, a pleasant walk or a visit to a theatre.

Perhaps I’m stereotyping mothers but whilst she’d happily do any of the aforementioned activities, there’s certainly nothing stereotypical about my mum and I wouldn’t have it any other way! So, when she opted for a day at a mannequin graveyard for Halloween, I didn’t bat an eyelid.

The ‘graveyard’, Mannakin in Lincolnshire, is the dumping ground for full-bodied and dismembered dummies of all shapes and sizes. A passionate collection accrued by the site’s owner over many years, from vintage creations to just plain odd.

And it’s completely fascinating. You can buy direct, attend craft days or, like we did, have the place to yourself to take weird and wonderful images. Sadly, some mannequins have been damaged by fire but I found these to be the most interesting.

These are some of my favourites of the day, which some will have already seen on Facebook (I’ve just been lazy in sorting them into a blog post).

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And then there’s Susan… the ‘child’ I acquired on the visit who now sits proudly adorned in succulents, after a little upcycling, in my kitchen.

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Guess I’m just a chip off the old block… 😉

Alphabet of Travel Snaps: S is for STAYCATION!

You know that thing, that global thing, that stopped everyone travelling? No, not the virtually unpronounceable volcano in Iceland… which, incidentally, caused the largest air-traffic shutdown since WW2. At the time, obviously. In 2010.

But this is 2020 (yes, still) and we all know what I’m talking about. So let’s move on.

Well, although there were brief windows of international travel possibilities, we chose to stay close to home to be a little safer. And I have to say, we discovered some gorgeous areas, often within a very short walk of our own front door, allowing us to be back in time for tea!

The Shamelessly Promotional Post

Firstly, apologies. It’s incredibly rude to have been away a while and then come back to promote a little business venture but I’ve been semi- productive during lockdown and now have a new page!

After thinking about it for a while and bolstered by the feedback of at least three people, I’ve decided to offer some of my photo art for sale.

Taking some tentative steps into this marketing malarkey, I’ve set up a new page on Facebook: Aloada Bobbins’ Creative Design where you can purchase greeting cards and (eventually) larger Giclée prints.

Here’s a preview of what to expect – some images you may even recognise!

So, if you’re on Facebook or know someone who might be in need of something to brighten up a wall space, then please pop along, take a look and spread the word!

You can follow along by clicking HERE.

(If you’re outside the UK but are still interested in purchasing something, just drop me a message and I can let you know about postage options.)

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IMAGE CREDITS: All my own… but I REALLY want you to share 😉

Lyrical Lockdown

During the final two weeks of term, the pupils were set various challenges, whether still at home or school, one of which was to create a song about life in lockdown. They could either do this from scratch or alter the words of a well known song.

As someone who often changes the lyrics in songs (not always intentionally), I wanted to have my own stab at this. And as I’m not very musical (more on that later), this was the easier option.

But which to choose as a starting point? I thought about ‘Trapped in a Box’ by No Doubt as an ode to cabin fever and the chorus of ‘Don’t Stand So Close To Me‘ by The Police will be a mantra for a long, long time! (Clearly the rest of the song is not appropriate subject matter for someone in education though…)