I have had this little model for many, many years. It was made by S, a very talented writer in one of my English classes. He was a restless sixteen year old who needed encouragement, both to believe in his own talent and to sit still!  I discovered that, given something to model with, his concentration on the literature we were studying increased hugely. One day, at the end of the lesson, he presented me with this precious little model, made of Blutak. It’s me – curly hair, long skirt, a necklace and a scarf, carrying books and a heavy bag of files and with a huge grin on my face. I was so touched and I have kept this little treasure ever since.
Thank you, S. I hope you have become the writer I thought you could become. Maybe you went on to make models in the style of Wallace and Gromit!   Maybe one of my ex-pupils who reads this will tell you of this post!
I first posted this in 2013! I still have my little 5″ model and it still means the world to me. I was reminded of it again yesterday as I was talking teaching techniques with our son, D,  and spoke of how I gave fidgety young people something (Blutak) to play with.

Yesterday, our last day with the family here, D gave the children his Senegalese Djembe. They are going to have lessons at school next term and were delighted with this very special gift.

Last Saturday a neighbour and good friend had her birthday party. We couldn’t go but I made her a tear-and-share Camembert party piece to be finally cooked at the party.  I am told it went down very well!