Friday 15 August 2008

End of the Rainbow?

August 14th. A level results day in England & Wales.
S&H gets his results.
The grades are very good, the place at Northumbria University for 2009 to study Sports Science & Coaching confirmed.
All very happy, relieved & PROUD!
Heart of hearts told us that he had worked hard & the grades were not in doubt but it was great to have them confirmed. There was gold at the end of this particular rainbow

A levels are NOT easier, they are just acquired in stages & therefore results are less of a surprise. If you are not up to a subject you know & can do something about it -like drop it, hence the high pass rate! Some of the 'knockers' should know better. Most of the students work very hard & under alot of pressure. So do their teachers. I have seen it now from both sides & it annoys me that we have created a society & a system where we are suspicious of success, then again I work in a profession where 'satisfactory' is 'unsatisfactory' (Ofsted) so what would I know?

I shall descend from my soapbox!

Thank you for the lovely comments about our photos of our trip so here is a little more of our travels in Scotland
Hebridian sunsets are renown & we were treated to a cracker after a day of rain on North Uist.


For those with an historical/ archaeological bent we visited a couple of fascinating places. the first is St Clement's church , Rodal (on South Harris). It dates back to medieval times but was restored in the nineteenth century.

Religion is important in the Hebridies. The Northern Isles are the domain of the Free Church but South Uist & Barra are Catholic & this is visually evident by the numerous shines found in the south, such as this one found in South Uist.
Whilst on Lewis we had to go back to the Standing Stones at Callinish. We took loads of photos but I need to do some editing as most of the best are 'portrait' & need rotating before I can upload them into blogger!

The stories of the Highland Clearances are bought home when you find abandoned crofts such as this one on South Uist. I spent sometime trying to envisage the people who would have lived there. Would this one have looked good in a plaid?
Moss had a fantastic holiday too! He loved the camper -very comfy but wasn't too sure about the ducks that stalk around the caravan club site at Braemar!
Since getting home I have made some progress on Mr Greenjeans, although I have made quite a few modifications so she doesn't look so much like the pattern -added length to the ss body, reduced the ribbing & changed it. Oh yes, changed the position of the button holes.... and added another! Still I like it but I am waiting for some 4.5mm dkp's to arrive -the one size I don't have- so I can finish it! In the meantime I have cast on a Woodland Shawl in Lorna's Laces Multi Sock. The colours are lovely -too good to hide.

I love to see the little counter tick along, telling me how many people have visited this blog. I write for me but I am fascinated by the idea that what I write & photograph might be of some interest to people thousands (or even 5) miles away. I hardly ever label my posts on this blog (I do on my Geography blogs of course, so how did you find 'the hill'? If you have the time or inclination I would love to know who you are & why you arrive 'OntheHill'! If you don't want to, then you are still most welcome!

10 comments:

Terri said...

well done to your Son!!!!!! Newcastle is a great city to study, I did my nurse training at Northumbria university, happy days:-) What is he going to do in his year out???
I can't remember how I found the hill tbh.............thats going to bug me know lol!!!!

Heather L. said...

Such gorgeous pictures! Didn't realize that Catholicism was prominent in that area you mentioned.

I turned my first heel today! YEAH! I've joined the world of sock-making. :)

I can't remember how I found your blog -- you must have commented on someone else's blog that I was on???

Joanne said...

I think you found me first! :) I love your photos, the geography and the teacher info. It is so interesting to learn about the Brit version of things I used to deal with! (although I taught English) I also, of course, enjoy the knitting bits. Glad to know Harry and Sally share a lot in common with Moss in the "pay attention to me" routine. Today I finally did rest...by kenneling the dogs and sleeping for 2+ hours!

florencemary said...

Congratulations to S&H! My son was going to study Sports Science, but then ended up with a BA in Philosophy...??!

The photos are fantastic again (I didn't know about the Hebridean Catholicism...eek); and the shawl is lovely in that colourway - I absolutely rate Lorna's Laces. As for how I found your blog, I think it was simply via someone else's knit-blog?

florencemary said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
willow said...

Hi, I can't remember how I first found your blog, probably from a comment, maybe on Heather's blog.

I enjoy reading about your garden and knitting and I also like Sottish islands, my favourite - the Shetland Islands.

The best bit of this post for me though was when you said that "A" levels are not getting easier. My son is disappointed with his results and it doesn't help when the media keep telling us how easy they are! Thank you. He has still got a place at University for 2009 but at the moment is very demoralised and unsure whether he wants to go - still a lot can change in a year when you are 18.

Congratulations to your son. Enjoy the rest of the school holidays.

Artis-Anne said...

Congrats to your son and to you of course ;)
More great pics too and sorry I can't remember who found who :)

Donna said...

A beautiful sunset, and a very cute dog!!

(I found your blog through a comment on Clarabelle's)

kathryn said...

I was a student at Newcastle too! It's a fabulous place to be...although that was ... hmm... a bit ago....

Your Hebridean sunset is an absolute stunner.

As are the colours of the Lorna's Laces.

I guess I found you by following others' links - but can't remember which.

Artis-Anne said...

Tell me were you driving past Dolgellau on the 17th Aug ? As we were getting diesel I saw what looked very much like your camper going past !!