Project Jezzie /Reelin' in the years

Happy Birthday Jezzie!

I have now finished uploading pictures of my niece Jezzie. There's one from 2007 when she was but a baby; one from 2008, and another from 2009. Links are below. There are none from 2010 and 2011, because I only saw her once in that time, and did not have a camera.

It's her sixth birthday today, and to celebrate I've put up a school photo that she sent me last year. She is a beauty, and a great character, who loves making things. I've blipped it against the kids' art book because I'm the auntie that she mainly 'does art' with. I sent her some sticker books this year, which I thought was a bit lame, but I ran out of time, and ordered something from that nasty tax-avoiding site because they could send it straight to her, in good time.

The reason I've seen so little of her is that some time ago her mother, my sister K, gave up full time work to look after her, and they live 200 miles or more away, or more. Since then their fortunes have dwindled, as one might say in a fairy tale, except that fairy tales are not usually set in the North of England! I've had my ups and downs with jobs and work, too, in the last few years, since the recession began. Happily, CleanSteve and I did manage to stop off at their house in Preston on our way to Scotland this summer, though, so we had a quick catch up. My sister is now doing an ECDL computing course, to 'skill up' in the jobs market.

On another work note, the OFSTED Care inspector swooped into our school today, of all days! Also the day of a funeral and also the harvest festival, a choreographed exercise because of all the wheelchair-moving and the need for each class to make a separate performance. 'My 'class were dressed as farmers, with cardboard tractors attached to their wheels, and Wurzel-ish costumes. They did well to keep so still, as the 'show' went on for an hour. The play session that I organise was not inspected today, but the inspector may decide to stay for a week or so. So we are still on tenterhooks...

The arrival of the inspector meant that I got my school staff ID badge. Another type of school photo --- I was going to blip it with Jezzie's school photo, but by the time I got home from discussing Rebecca and George Orwell on my literature and social history of the 1930s course, the light was already fading. So I ended up with the shot I took this morning, before I went to work. I think this is how it's going to be from now on: morning shots, evening posting. There is little light left at any other time, and besides, shooting in the morning kick-starts the creative process, and gives me time to mull over the treatment, at a not very conscious level.

Jezzie in 2007
Jezzie in 2008
Jezzie in 2009

Reelin' in the years song (her full name is Jezreel)