Happy New Year

I've been a touch quiet on the blogging front deciding to make my Christmas this year a holiday, promising myself I would put up my feet, kick back and spend some quality time with family and friends. Although good for me this has been a little disconcerting for some friends, who find it difficult to imagine my being away from the computer for so long. I have to say that I had some help in alleviating withdrawal by taking my EDA with me, and spending the odd ten minutes here and there playing with this, familiarising myself with some of the tools, even if in the main this consisted of playing the incredibly addictive "bubble breaker."

The highlight of the break, besides going home to my native Northumberland, and time with close family, was New year visiting a colleague and friend in Cumbria who left Bristol last Summer to return to her roots. As I drove through the landscape she now calls home again, I realised why.

Maybe its an age thing, but I frequently find myself these days having pangs for the open space, fresh air and breathtaking scenery of home. Walking by Wastwater, in the rain on new years day, surrounded by the majesty of the mountains stirred thoughts in me again about returning home.

School began again last Monday, and Saturday saw my annual visit to the BETT show. Sadly I was not able to make TeachMeet, congratulations to all, I heard on the grapevine how much everyone enjoyed it. Again the day was a fantastic excuse to play with and explore my PDA and to begin thinking about the concepts of "prepare, store and share." I have a number of draft posts, waiting to be reviewed and published.

School this term has a distinctly geographical flavour, with Control being our ICT focus, though I am also currently thinking through some web 2.0 data logging activities using quikmaps and Google. The students are already asking when our next podcast will be, suggesting what it might be about, and hopefully over the next week or so I will begin publishing a few newish ideas and thoughts.

In the meantime I'll leave you with this. Britain's Favourite View, as voted on the BBC. Unfortunately when I took this photograph on New Years Day, the mist was down and it appeared the decorators were in, but beautiful nontheless.