Happy thread

[LAT]

Well done Lally, that's brilliant news!

I bet Mummy is feeling very proud again today.

[tricia]

Well done Lally - you deserve to be very happy

Tricia

[eirian]

Congratulations Lally! That's just fab. Good to know you are following in the family tradition well!

(as for having the right teacher - I started learning violin. Rather badly I might add. My violin teacher then retired and my new teacher was a viola teacher. She realised why I was playing badly and switched me to viola. I never looked back. Just wish I'd started on viola - such a beautiful sound - but then, I sing alto, so I found the sound much more natural, not to mention actually playing it in tune as I had hands that were too big for the violin!)

[Laura]

Well, I teach flute, clarinet and saxophone, as well as piano, but I'm mostly a flute specialist. However, I only teach at primary school, and will only go up to a certain level before I suggest that they get a specialist teacher. One of my pupils has just started going to Sheffield Music Academy, and her specialist teacher wanted to know if I was a clarinettist, because she's doing everything perfectly. I think that's just about a miracle, as she's the first clarinettist I ever taught and I'm wasn't entirely sure I knew what I was doing when I first started with her!

Anyway, 144 is an incredible result for any exam Lally. Well done!

[pebbles]

Well done Lally!

[MBH]

You've got every right to be dancing with joy Lally - that's a great result

Mind, after hearing what eirian's problems were with the violin and how she solved it I've got to ask...... Isn't the bassoon bigger than you are?

[Bunnylump]

Congratulations, Lally, that's brilliant news!

[SparkOut]

The giraffe household is full of very talented members, all very impressive and deserving many congratulations! Well done to you all!

[Bunnylump]

My "little girl" has just got herself a job to start in September. She's going to be teaching either year 3 or 4. I'm SO relieved and pleased for her!! (The job she's doing at the moment was only a year contract). She liked the new school, said it had a really nice atmosphere and the class she did her demonstration teaching to were really well behaved and responsive. Anyway, I reckon it'll be a matter of seconds before she starts house hunting. One down, one to go!

[giraffe]

Brilliant news! Is it fairly local to where you are?

[Bunnylump]

Well, not bad. It's in Chorleywood, which is about eight or so miles away as the crow flies. Unfortunately it either involves lots of little villages and skinny lanes or the M25, so will probably take about 45 minutes in the mornings. But she's happy with that.

[eirian]

that's really good news, Bunny. Congratulations to her. Bet she'll do a fab job and you'll be helping her prepare her lessons for years to come!

[Bunnylump]

She had them all in their pyjamas watching Toy Story 3 and eating popcorn for a treat for good behaviour all term yesterday!!!!!! That sounds like my kind of lesson...

[eirian]

that's the kind of lesson I'd like too! (I may say we have Toy Story & Toy Story 2 recorded on our Sky+, and Thomas knows exactly how to switch the tv on, switch the sky box on and start them playing....)

[tricia]

fantastic news Bunny

Tricia

[katsmom]

I got a bit of good news today. Nothing that even comes close to what I've just been reading in the posts above (well done lally!-and all the rest too)

I applied to speak at a conference in Cyprus last December thinking with the big wigs that are the keynote speakers I'd never get in. Then I looked at the price of airfare and hotels and thought I could never afford it, but being the over confident thing I am, I applied anyway.

Well, shock of all shocks I got accepted! And not only that, the Uni is paying for the entire trip. Apparently someone in charge of my department is impressed by my big mouth (her wording was something more along the lines of "you are promoting the department, of course it's covered.") So I get to go talk for 1/2 an hour and get a weeks long 'holiday'.

Every conference I've applied for this year I've been accepted to so I'm batting 1000 this year.

Being really full of myself, I submitted my first (language) paper to a journal for publication. Fingers crossed my luck holds out.

So if any of you have good things to do in Cyprus, please tell me. I know that as fascinating as all those talks will be for me my husband will want to play tourist for a bit as well. I need something for him to do while I'm enjoying the wonders of assessment.

[MBH]

Congratulations to the young Bunny for sorting out a job in these difficult times. I'm sure she'll enjoy starting an on-going relationship with a year group.

Also to Katsmom for her big mouth.... I mean her verbal eloquence in the continued promotion of her department Nice to hear people's abilities being recognised and rewarded.

[Bunnylump]

That's good news, Katsmom! Enjoy your trip!!

[tricia]

Have a great trip - Cyprus should be wonderful

Tricia

[Wulfruna]

So if any of you have good things to do in Cyprus, please tell me. I know that as fascinating as all those talks will be for me my husband will want to play tourist for a bit as well.

One of the advantages of Cyprus is that almost everywhere they are very tourist-friendly, especially for English-speakers. There is a heavy British presence, due to the many military bases there ( a mixed blessing!!) so it may be advisable to avoid certain areas such as Agia Napa where the squaddies go for their drunken nights out!
The history of Cyprus is fascinating and worth finding out about before you go - it helps to have some understanding of the traumas of the Makarios era and the struggle for independence from Greece - and the awful conflict with Turkey which led to the split of the island into the two zones which still affects them very deeply.

Having said that, Cyprus has a very special character and is very beautiful - and the food is great, having all the best elements of Greek cuisine and some extra features of their own, especially the wonderful brick ovens used for slow-cooking - the fantastic slow-cooked lamb shanks are a culinary highlight that can't be beaten! The local village wines are also great. We much preferred the West end of the island, around Paphos and the lovely Troodos mountains, not to mention the coastal area (after all, this is where Venus is supposed to have risen from the sea...) . If you are interested in history, there are some fantastic monasteries and tiny village churches with amazing medieval frescoes. Or some even more ancient classical ruins and Roman relics.
The other place really worth a visit is the village of Lefkara in the eastern area, near to Larnaca. This is the home of traditional Cypriot lace-making and also of some amazing silver-craft work. Not to be missed!
Hope you have a wonderful trip!