Moving on....

Sadly with our imminent move, I am having to come to terms with the fact that I am going to have to rationalise Long Neck Books radically, and clear much of my cheaper stock. I love books so this is hard for me. There is light at the end of the tunnel however, as I am moving my old friends on hopefully to new friends, via bookcrossing.com


This is me here.... Long Neck Books Bookshelf

I am also in the process of setting up a Bookcrossing Zone in Crystal Palace which will be our nearest shopping centre. Gladly, I get a little 'buzz' every time I go shopping in Crystal Palace, that buzz that says this is a place that I am comfortable and happy to be in. Anyway the zone is here, in a lovely cafe called La Bruschetta that I have found in the heart of Crystal Palace... Crystal Palace OBCZ @ La Bruschetta

Happy Days!

I am on a high

A good day. I have successfully got Theo's home education diary blog up and running. Will be recording his day-to-day, week-to-week activities on it, with emphasis on him taking part and helping, and dictating text just as soon as he is interested and able. So any family or friends who are interested in reading it are welcome to, but you will have to ask first as it has been set up to be private for authorised readers only.

I am happy, happy, happy! I sold my first hand knitted tea cosy today! Well it might seem like just a small thing to you, but to me it is a significant step. I have always got a buzz, been put in my 'element' making things. Well after a life time of doing the right thing and leaving creativity behind, I have started making things again. In the dim and distant past I made a lot of things, for myself, for family, for friends, and they have all been appreciated, but this today, well this is the first piece I have made to sell and it has now sold! It is a great feeling. I have a few more things on my Craft website and will be adding more.

I have been 'bitten by the bug' most surely! Please if you like my work, on the Etsy website, please help me promote it, by making me your favourite......

The Green Revolution wasn't green enough - Graham Harvey - Times Online

The Green Revolution wasn’t green enough Norman Borlaug saved a billion lives from starvation. But decades on, his farming methods threaten the health of the planet ...read full article

School is prison

Have just read a blog article, that just hit me head on. It is not often that I read an article that so completely takes the words right out of my mouth, but this one does.

....so I am sharing it;

“Why Don’t Students Like School?” Well, Duhhhh…

Children don't like school because they love freedom.

Hand-knitted Pineapple Tea Cosy in Yellow and Green by LongNeckCrafts on Etsy

Hand-knitted Pineapple Tea Cosy in Yellow and Green by LongNeckCrafts on Etsy

Shared via AddThis

Sometimes It's Peaceful: Stress testing the Badman report: points arising: Legal

Sometimes It's Peaceful: Stress testing the Badman report: points arising: Legal

Catch Up....

Not sure really where I have been for the last few months, in my head perhaps. Well I am emerging again.

Book selling is very slow, due to the slow down of the economy. Have now moved on to decluttering the house, so anything that is not nailed down, is in danger of being listed on ebaY on a 99p auction. Watch out kids! Have sold masses of stuff so far. Toby is paying off some of his recent holiday costs with his share, costs from when he went to watch the World Ice Skating Championships in LA. He came back fit and motivated and raring to go. Kevin is using the money from his sales to buy a new Apple Mac to get back to his IT studies. Sales from my share were used to by my husband a birthday present for his 40th Birthday. Yes he is now 40! Can he still pass for 'in his 20's?' Probably unfortunately, and we are not talking about when my next 'round' birthday is!

I am now back to looking for a house for us to buy. Much too early really, as I am still expecting the market to crash again later in the year, but well, we need a home and stability for our family, and maybe, that is more important than getting value for money. I must admit that I find it hard to deal with that one, having spent a lifetime making my limited amount of money go as far as I can make it. Houses do seem to be selling very quickly right now, if they are sensibly priced, and unfortunately there are still too few of those, masses still hanging around with a 100k price tag over value!

The biggest catch up of all right now, is my endeavour to get right up to date with all the recent writing on home schooling. This of course has been a fast increasing movement in recent years as many more people fed up with the education system in this country have been removing their children from school and teaching them themselves. Well the government is catching up and trying to strangle it as they have the existing schooled system. I am currently half way through the 'Review of Elective Home Education in England' report by Graham Badman, will no doubt comment further when I have finished it. http://publications.everychildmatters.gov.uk/eOrderingDownload/HC-610_Home-ed.PDF

Will report back on this last subject when I have been able to digest more info. But for a taster, here is some interesting info. http://www.pjrothermel.com/