50:50

I can't remember the last time I wrote a real letter. It must be more than five years since I last had an incarcerated teenager to correspond with and far longer since I have had to pen a thank you note to an elderly relative. We have so many more efficient ways to communicate now, so our daily mail consists only of flyers, menus and bills - all typed, all mass-produced. However there is still something special about seeing a proper, handwritten letter on the doormat. They are things that we read and reread, that we treasure. Perhaps we value them because we know that the writer touched the paper, that their pen literally worked its way across the page we are holding, which makes the words more personal and intimate. They are meant just for us and won't have been copied, pasted and sent to a dozen other people. Maybe too, we appreciate the time and effort that the writer took: to write the letter, address and seal the envelope, find a stamp and walk to a post box. They gave us ...

  I hope this isn't considered cheating. You see, there isn't really enough room in my little garden for another tree and guerrilla gardening in a local park sounds like fun until you remember you have to carry gardening tools somewhere remote after dark.  This organisation will plant a tree for a £1 donation. If you have your own business you can gift a tree to each of your customers, which is how I found out about them. Then I bought two trees myself, it is quite addictive!

  It's cold, grey and gloomy this morning, so I hope these daffodils brighten up the day of the three random people who find them on their doorsteps.

      I am very pleased that, thanks to kind donations from so many of my generous friends, I have beaten my target of raising £150 for Samaritans and there is still a day to go on the fundraiser. Why Samaritans? Well, they do a very challenging job and the need has been even greater this year. I also feel a personal link with this charity, as my nan volunteered with them for many years. Oddly she was quite a cold, unsympathetic person to those of us who knew her but showed great empathy to strangers.  Why a step challenge? Because remote teaching meant that many hours a day were spent on my backside! I really needed an incentive to get moving again. Some days I really didn't want to bother but the accountability of this challenge kept me going, as did the encouraging comments from friends. Thank you to everyone who supported me in raising £256.

God dag! Even though I am a languages teacher it has been a long time since I learned a new one myself and I chose Norwegian for a number of reasons. Firstly seeing the Northern Lights and cruising through the fjords are both items on my longer-term bucket list, so being able to speak enough to get by in those situations would be very useful. Secondly,  in a profession where many of my colleagues speak a variety of languages, I wanted to be a bit different and learn something that none of them knew already! And finally  I am quite fascinated by Viking history (not to mention the muscular, long-haired, axe-wielding characters usually depicted in TV series) and the fact that Norwegian hasn't changed as much as most other European languages over the centuries, means that in theory I could have a conversation with Ragnor Lothbrok and  make myself understood, although I am not entirely sure how I can work some of the strange phrases I have been learning on Duo Lingo ...