Something looks a little fishy!

Hurray! I treated myself to one of these...

So what's so great about this you might wonder?? Well, it's a Holga camera. Not a sophisticated digital camera, but one of the old film types. A lot of the Holga's are on medium format film, and I even have a 110mm film key ring type, but they're all such a bugger to buy film for, never mind getting the thing processed. They're just a cheapo plastic camera that's a bit wobbly, a bit light leaky, but produces the most wonderful atmospheric photos. Just Google Lomo, or Holga and look at the pictures for yourself. Anyway, I saw this on eBay, it's a 35mm Holga with a separate clip-on fish-eye lens and coloured flash. In fact there's a choice of 5 colours for the flash! And because Holga's are a bit leaky, you get this wonderful vignette effect (black round the edges) round the picture and sometimes if you're really lucky, a double exposure! Oooh, heaven! I think when the film is all done, I'm going to rewind the film and take a couple again over the same film to force the effect. I really like the idea of a straight photo and then a fisheye over the same photo! Well I haven't used the whole film yet so I can't show you one of the double exposures I plan, but here's a fisheye photo I took using my digi camera and my Holga lens!

So on Monday I did my first teaching practice to real actual ESOL students! It all went reasonably well, we talked about education and English schools compared to schools from their own countries. We did a little exercise where they had to place little flash cards with schools on in the order of which they would be accessed, play school, nursery school, primary school, secondary school, college and university. Then they had to match the schools with the matching descriptive cards. We talked about academic and vocational courses, and compulsory education. We talked about where everyone went to school and what ages. Phew! I think it went okay. I just need to use different signifying body language to get attention. I'm used to working with kids and it's a slightly different skill! 

So what else have I been up to apart from the ever tedious studying??? (Just repeat after me, it's only till June, it's only till June...) Well, M and I found a local curiosity, a motte, a manmade mound, one of the largest in the country called Clifford Hill. Clifford Hill is one of the largest mottes in the country. On the north side is a cliff down to the ford which crosses the river. Together, they gave Clifford Hill its name. It's presumed to date from the 11^th or 12^th century and was even taller than it is now until the 17^th century when the lord of the manor, William Ward, levelled off the top to make a bowling green! It's almost as large as Silbury Hill and is thought to be one of a series of Harvest Hills, ancient sacred sites where harvests were offered to the gods.

 

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The weather was so lovely and sunny (although windy!) so we decided to just go and climb that mound. And man is it steep! Joe loved it of course!

So yarn-wise, there has been little bitty sporadic bursts of action. My 'BPT Hoodie' chugs along at a speed somewhat reminiscent of a tortoise.

My 'Go for Baroque' has sprouted an arm in much the manner of the Venus De Milo

 

And I've just bought this freeform hat pattern. I've been coveting this hat for yonks and now the designer has released the pattern! Hurray! I know, I know. I really shouldn't start something new till I've finished one of my WIP's but honestly, can you blame me?? It's such a cool hat and how much longer will the weather be cold enough for hats?

Anyway, time to go dream the restless dreams of the overworked teacher - lesson planning, assignments, marking.....last night I dreamt that M had committed suicide...How bizarre is that? Maybe it was my guilty conscious worrying that I was abandoning him every night...