De Brus Centre / Skelton

Yesterday was spent with a lovely group of Pickle enthusiasts!
We spent the day making Chutney and jams at the De Brus Centre in Sunny Skelton.

Thank you for the kind words and enthusiastic feedback.
Here is the recipe for the Chilli Jam.

Simple as you like!

5oz Chillies, any size any type, depends how hot you like it!
5oz Red Pepper.

Chop them up roughly, including the seeds!
Put them through a food processor.

Take 1/2 litre of CIDER VINEGAR
Desolve 1 kg. of preserving sugar in the vinegar on the heat.

When the sugar is dissolved add the purree of chilli and pepper.

Heat to setting point, it will look quite runny, but it always seems to set!

And that's it!

Eat with whatever you like! Especially a Petch's Pie!

Cushty!

You are never too Old!

Today was the first day of my Language degree at Durham University!

God , it brought back some memories of my first degree more than 20 years ago.
The anxiety I felt then and today of being a mature student.

The students seem so young! But then again , they are!

I wil also never get over the buzz of the first Lecture and the Lecture theatre. A learner enquired the other night, ' You really must love learning, Pete'. You are damn right I do!

Somehow, there seems to be a little less stress than in the past, but I am sure that is to do with my confidence, and AGE!

Vic's wedding

What a day, can you ever imagine me tongue tied ?

Beautiful!

KILDALE SHOW

I love this photo from last year, I was stood in the river Loire on a red hot evening.

It won first prize for the section, 'Tales of the Riverbank' .

Along with third prize for my painting of a swan, I'm pretty chuffed with myself!

Time for an update

Never enough time!!

The end of term is here and my visits around the North are under way.

A very busy summer lays ahead, Victoria's wedding, Summer Shows, Sailcamp.

Planning for next year is also under way, Latin in redcar and CHinese in Middlesbrough! Exciting stuff!

Pigeon Impossible

Merci Dedene! C'est marrant!

Pigeon impossible

Tinca Tinca

El otra día estaba pensando en un poema alemán, que se llama,
‘Sommer’. En español ‘el verano’.
Estaba pescando y pesqué mi primero ‘ Tinca Tinca’, [Tenca en español], del año.
El poema alemán tiene tres versos con tres preguntas.

Weiβt du, wie der Sommer reicht?
¿Sabéis cómo huele el verano?
Weiβt du, wie der Sommer schmeckt?
¿Sabéis cómo sabe el verano?
Weiβt du, wie der Sommer klingt?
¿Sabéis cómo suena el verano?

This is my version of the poem; I thought that you would like to add to it, your own personal verses?
¿Sabéis cómo huele el verano?
Para mí el olor del verano es;
El olor del amanecer, humedad y hierba.
¿Sabéis cómo sabe el verano?
El sabor de café de un frasco.
¿Sabéis cómo suena el verano?
Cuando el cucú está cantando.

Powerboat Course

It's been another weekend of boating!
On Bank Holiday Monday, I went to Scaling Dam Sailing Club to complete my level 1 Powerboat Course.
It was freezing!!



But! The cuckoo is back and today I am going fishing.
Pictures to follow.

Una aventura en alta mar.

Hace dos semanas fui a Blythe en Northumberland para comenzar una aventura en alta mar. Íbamos a Edimburgo.
El viaje empezó a las 13:00 a Stockton, entonces fuimos una hora en coche a Blythe.
El barco de vela estaba en puerto, éramos cuatro marineros y teníamos el fin del semana para ir a Edimburgo.
Teníamos también mucha comida, whisky y pastillas para el mareo.
A las 16:00 salimos a Blythe en una tarde buenísimo de primavera.
El capitana John dice que había suficiente de viento, pues cancelé el motor del barco.
Después dos horas de navegación, John intentó arrancar el motor, ¡no había motor!
Tenemos que cambiar nuestro destino. Pues nos quedamos en un pequeño puerto se llama Low Newton.
Al día siguiente volvimos a Blythe, sin motor.
Finalmente, fuimos al mar para ir en Escocia.
Ahora éramos un tripulación de tres, porque un marinero estaba enfermo.
Durante el viaje, vimos muchas focas y aves marinas.
Llegamos a Escocia a las cuatro de la mañana, en la oscuridad. Por la mañana anduve a la playa y vi el escollo!

Muchas Gracias Paty,

Molly Pup

Molly , 18 hours work at least, but I am very pleased with the result.

Eyemouth Eiderduck

I love the colours on this Sea Duck!

The Motley Crew

Back on Terra Firma, after the trip form Blythe to Eyemouth. John and Chris navigated us through the Farne Islands and around Holy Island into Eyemouth Harbour in the Bloomin' dark!

Ca'olila

Eyemouth Harbour

Trip to Eyemouth

 

After an eventful trip from Blythe, we arived in Eyemouth at 04:00. Yes ! 04:00

BECTA WINNERS!!

Middlesbrough Council Community Learning honoured as a digital innovator.


I was absolutely delighted to represent the team at Becta's Award ceremony at Birmingham's ICC on Monday evening, 8th. March 2010.


As a Middlesbrough boy, I feel it is it really is important to showcase the excellent work across the Organisation in such an arena. This is the second consecutive year that we have received the award, last year as part of the Teeeslearn team.

Middlesbrough Council Community Learning has been named the winner of the prestigious Adult and Community Learning category at the second annual Next Generation Learning Awards. These awards from Becta, the government agency for technology in learning, aim to reward technological excellence in the Further Education and Skills sector. They celebrate the very best practice across the country and are one of the most important and respected awards in the sector’s calendar.

Drückt mir die Daumen

Drückt mir die Daumen!

Wir gehen Montag nach Birmingham zum .
Next Generation Learning Awards: Technology Excellence in FE & Skills


Wish me luck!
Next Generation Learning Awards 2010 - Shortlist
Adult and Community Learning

Aston Pride NDC
Middlesbrough Council Community Learning

Huile?

La guerre de l’huile ! ?

Hier, on était en train de discuter les ; ‘ iles de Falklands’. en francais , Malouines et espagnol les Malvinas.
J’ai expliqué que en 1982, il y avait une guerre entre l’Argentine et le Royaume-Uni--- a cause de ?
La souveraineté ?
Alors, c’était l’époque de Margaret Thatcher et beaucoup de gens ont été tues ! Très triste !
Maintenant les problèmes ont réapparu, il y a une nouvelle tension entre nos deux pays.
Pourquoi ?
Parce que nous, les britanniques avons décidé qu’il y a beaucoup d’or caché sous la mer ! sous forme de ‘
{Huile !]
Et c’est a ce moment que ma jeune assistante a dit une guerre de HUILE !!!! ?

Évident, maintenant que j’aurais dire ‘ Pétrole’ !
En fait l’histoire des ‘Falklands’ est incroyablement compliqué ! Regardez les liens pour Louis Antoine de Bougainville.

Talking Dog! Merci mille fois Dedene, c'est chouette!

A guy is driving around the back woods of Montana and he sees a sign in front of a broken down shanty-style house: 'Talking Dog For Sale ' He rings the bell and the owner appears and tells him the dog is in the backyard.

The guy goes into the backyard and sees a nice looking Labrador retriever sitting there.


'You talk?' he asks.


'Yep,' the Lab replies.



After the guy recovers from the shock of hearing a dog talk, he says 'So, what's your story?'
The Lab looks up and says, 'Well, I discovered that I could talk when I was pretty young. I wanted to help the government, so I told the CIA. In no time at all they had me jetting from country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders, because no one figured a dog would be eavesdropping.'
'I was one of their most valuable spies for eight years running.. But the jetting around really tired me out, and I knew I wasn't getting any younger so I decided to settle down. I signed up for a job at the airport to do some undercover security, wandering near suspicious characters and listening in. I uncovered some incredible dealings and was awarded a batch of medals.' 'I got married, had a mess of puppies, and now I'm just retired.'

The guy is amazed. He goes back in and asks the owner what he wants for the dog.


'Ten dollars,' the guy says.


'Ten dollars? This dog is amazing! Why on earth are you selling him so cheap?'

'Because he's a liar. He never did any of that shit.

St. Valentine

Here is the link to the article about St. Valentine.

Burns

While we sit bousing at the nappy,
An' getting fou and unco happy
We think na on the lang Scots miles,
The mosses, waters, slaps and styles,
That lie between us and our hame,
Whare sits our sulky sullen dame,
Gathering her brows like gathering storm,
Nursing her wrath to keep it warm.

Thank you Joan, I suppose we must look at the linguistic values. I think we should ask you to read this with your Scottish accent.

Russian Winter Festival

Just to advertise the , Russian Winter Festival'.
This will be held at 'Van Mildert College', Durham.
Saturday 27th. February 2010.
12-4
Expect to see traditional guest speakers and support the Russian Orphan Fund.

I am hoping to go as I have had the wonderful opportunity to visit Kostroma in Russia on two occasions.

C.I.E.H. Professional Trainers' Course

A big hello to delegates on the CIEH Trainers' course. Good luck for your presentations and don't forget to access your resources on www.cafepierre.eu.

Y en espagnol por Miguel, !buene suerte!

Peter

Who was St. Valentine ?

Who was Saint Valentine?

St Valentine was a Christian priest who lived in Rome during the third century AD. He was executed by the Emperor Claudius II.

His execution was during the Roman festival of Lupercalia, a celebration of Juno, the goddess of fertility. This is why Valentine became associated with lovers.

It is said that the bones of St Valentine were owned by a French family. This family gave the bones to Franciscan friars in 1868. The bones were taken to Glasgow, Scotland and are kept there in a Franciscan church.

There are other churches all over Europe which also claim to hold the bones of St Valentine.

Perhaps only those truly in love can spot the real ones!

Written by Joan Kavanagh

Hero?

I love this !!!!!

HERO

Thank you Tara!

Mis deberes españoles

¡Mi semana, fue una semana muy interesante!
Fíjate, el lunes, martes y miércoles, tuve mis clases de Francés. Alemán y español, muchas reuniones y trabajo, ¡normal!
Pero el jueves y viernes tuve dos días fenomenales. El jueves por la mañana fui a las nueve al Gisboro Hall.
¿Por qué?
Estoy en el equipo de Middlesbrough AE, y somos ejemplas con la trabajas tecnológicos para la Education.
Fuimos la sede de la conferencia ejemplar, para trabajar con nueve organizaciones.
Hay organizaciones de Cornwall, Devon, Lincoln, Derbyshire, Doncaster, Londres, Darlington, Shipley y Middlesbrough.
Comimos a las once y todas las organizaciones dimos una presentación. Hubo mucha de discusión y preguntas. Después tuvimos dos horas de tiempo libre. Nos quedábamos en el hotel así que mi duché y descansé. A las siete nos reunimos en el restaurante para cenar y continuar la discusión.
Hablamos mucho de Moodle y del trabajo, hay muchas personas muy interesantes. Cenamos y bebí dos o tres vasos de vino.
Fui a la cama a las once y media. ¡Fíjate, estaba muy cansada!
Por la mañana me levanté a las siete y caminé en el terreno del hotel.
Desayunamos y fuimos al centro de MAES.
Viernes, trabajamos hasta las dos de la tarde.
Después comimos, nuestros nuevos amigos salieron para la estación.
¿ Y ahora? El proyecto continuara ‘en línea’ y tengo que visitar Cornwall y Derbysire, discutiremos y trabajaremos hasta el fin del proyecto en julio.

This is the finished product of my Spanish Homework, Muchas gracias Paty!!!!

Exemplar Conference at Gisborough Hall

On Thursday and Friday of this week, I had a rest from my teaching commitments. Middlesbrough Adult Education Service have been recognised as 'Exemplar' providers in the use of Technology with teaching and learning. This meant that we had to organise a Residential Conference for our, 'Mini Network' of providers. We chose the superb Gisboro Hall to hold the Conference. Situated on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors, we were only 20 minutes away from our offices in Middlesbrough.

Partners from all over the UK were present, Cornwall, Devon, London, Derbyshire, Doncaster, Lincoln, Shipley and the locals from Darlington and Middlesbrough Colleges were present.

Excellent Networking took place with future events planned in Derbyshire and Cornwall.

Memories of Summer

I was looking through some photos and came across this wonderful image. I took it on a beautiful evening by the Loire in August 2009. I must have been walking for hours , because my host came looking for me. I think he probably thought I had fallen in the Loire.
Can't wait to return , hopefully in July for the Comice!!

Army conscription in Austria

Austria
Austria has mandatory military service for fit male citizens from 18 to 35 years of age. Since 2006, the period of service has been six months. Conscientious objectors can join the civilian service (called Zivildienst) for nine months. A 12-months participation in the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service, the Austrian Social Service or the Austrian Peace Service is regarded as an equivalent to the civilian service.

Since January 1, 1998, females can join the military service voluntarily.

Taken from Wikipedia
Peter

NOUVELLE LOI SUR LA CEINTURE DE SÉCURITÉ >
Elle devient applicable dès 1er Octobre 2009 dans TOUS les Pays .
Le Conseil Mondial de la Sécurité Routière a fait des tests sur une Nouvelle Génération de ceinture de sécurité.
Les Résultats montrent que les accidents peuvent être réduits de 95%, quand la ceinture est correctement installée. >
L'Installation correcte est illustrée ci-après...
S'il vous plait, faites suivre à vos Amis et à votre Famille.
CELA PEUT AIDER A SAUVER DES VIES !


Cela peut réellement sauver des vies et réduire la tension artérielle de 40%
JE SAIS....TU SOURIS ! ! !

Dining with Dinosaurs

The official dinner of the World Forum was held at the Natural History Museum.London. Probably the most unusual venue that I have ever eaten a meal, and it was excellent. 600 guests, Ambassadors, Ministers, Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen and little old me from Middlesbrough!

World Forum January 2010

WORLD FORUM INTERVIEW