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Vol.22 No. 7 Story maps from primaries 1 to 3. The Break - in A robber went into a house. He went to the table and he ate some food. He went out of the door into the sitting room and he sat on the big chair but it was too hard. Then he went on the medium chair, it was too soft. Then he went on the little chair, it was just right but then it broke. He started to feel tired so he went to the bedroom. He climbed over a bed then took off his shoes and got into the smallest bed and went fast asleep. Hannah (5)
Dive for Treasure One day I went with Cara out on a boat. We went diving. We saw a great white shark so we swam away quickly. We were nearly at the treasure when a giant octopus caught us on the legs. Luckily it let us go and then we met some eels. At the bottom of the ocean we saw a giant clam next to a box of treasure. We took the treasure and swam out of the ocean. We got back on the boat and sailed off to find more treasure and more gold. We found loads of treasure and gold. Daniel (5)
Canoe trip Two people went down a river in a canoe. They came to a giant squid and then they came to a waterfall. They went down the waterfall and they came to two rocks. They hit them and then they met some piranhas. Then they came to the end of the canoe trip and they went home. Duncan (6)
Pirate Island Once upon a time there lived a pirate, he was called Peg leg ken. He had six men. Once one of his men said to Peg leg ken "I can see an island". So they went to the island. They walked past a snake then they went past a burial ground then Peg leg ken saw a rope bridge. They crossed the rope bridge and went a little further where they saw some wood on the path "what are we going to do" said Peg leg ken. Soon they were on their journey again. Then they walked past a rhino, then they sneaked past the crocodiles. This is boring said Peg leg ken but suddenly they saw a box. They opened the box and found the treasure. Cara (7)
The lost valley Once upon a time a little boy was walking to school. Suddenly a trap door opened and he found himself lying in the lost valley. He started walking forwards but he was very frightened and then he saw a group of Diplodocus dinosaurs. He went forwards and then he saw some Pterodactyls. Suddenly they picked him up and he was very frightened as they carried him to their nest. Then it happened …….. the Pterodactyls flew off, then he ran ! he ran past a Braciosaurus and then he saw a Tyrannosaurus Rex. He ran past the Apatosaurus again and then he saw some mountains, he ran for them but suddenly he fell down another trap door and found himself in his own bed. Feeeew - it was a dream. Tom (7) This week has been Chinese New Year. Read on to find out what animal you are and what you are like.
ANIMAL SIGNS Find out what animal you are by looking up the year you were born in.
Now find out what you are meant to be like Rat= Kind, cheerful, bright and sociable. Ox= Strong, quiet, good with hands, some are warm and friendly but some keep to themselves, often stubborn. Tiger= Brave, powerful, leaders. Like tigers- agile and athletic. Hare= Show good taste, lucky, successful, sometimes shy. Dragon= Healthy, energetic, brainy, lively, brave, honest, make good friends. Snake= Usually wise, gentle, often good looking but may be vain, plenty of patience. Horse= Cheerful, hardworking, independant, intelligent, good neighbours, enjoy meeting people, seem strong but are timid underneath. Ram=Polite, gentle, shy, tend to be followers not leaders. Like to eat well, like working with other people and are often good at making money. Monkey= Creative, good with fingers, like jokes, like monkeys, curious and oftern talk too much. Cockeral= High spirited, eager, brave, want to be top of their class, not shy, enjoy music, good at singing and playing instruments. Dog= Helpful, loyal, hard working, keep secrets, trustworthy, enjoy visiting new places, finding out things. Pig= Kind, honest, good cooks, enjoy food/drink, good at giving parties, like to take things easy.
Margaret and I have breakfast in our 'hide'. We sit at the kitchen table watching the birds which come to their breakfast table just outside the window or to the nut boxes on the ivy-clad trellis beyond. Over the years increasing the number of boxes and the variety of food - now with seeds, bread, and fat as well as peanuts - has increased the number of birds which arrive. This year, for the first time we are keeping a weekly list. Constant visitors to the nuts are the squabbly, aggressive but brilliant greenfinches and three species of tits - blue, great and coal, the last always scarcer and hardly ever more than one at a time (why?). Every week or two they are joined by a pair of long-tailed tits. In past years we have had a 'family' of eight at a time sitting all round the table like a circle of Fair Isle knitters but it is probable that the terrible weather last June, at the height of the breeding season, had a devastating effect on fledgelings. Equally rare, but even more exciting, are the sporadic visits of the greater spotted woodpecker - toast down, binoculars up to see whether it is male (with a red patch at the back of his head) or the solely black and white female. They are always shy and feed only at the box furthest from the house. A rarity which does not cause the same response is the house sparrow. When we first lived in the farm house 600 yards away, where Emma was born, they were abundant and would have first bite of any food put out but their populations have declined as farming has tidied up - less food for the young as increased crop spraying has reduced weed seeds, and less stubble with spilled grain to help adults through the winter. Our commonest bird now is probably the chaffinch, but they are not very good at clinging on to nut boxes: they come to the table for bread and bird-seed or hop around below the boxes picking up what other species let drop. Another 'picker up of trifles' is the hedge sparrow or dunnock - there's nearly always a pair of these dull birds slinking about amongst the ivy. In contrast our three exotic cock pheasants give a splash of colour which, against the recent snow, recalled the scenes on dozens of Christmas cards. The most colourful incumbents of the table itself are robins - two are about this year and they rarely come together but if they do there is the devil of a row and after a breast to breast encounter one has to give way. They both give way if a larger bird appears - a male or female blackbird (they especially like the fat) or a male and female collared dove. These bill and coo like a recently married couple whilst picking up the seeds at great speed: at this point a 'fight 1 may break out between the long married couple in the kitchen as Margaret wants to shoo them away and I want to let them have their fill! Lately we have been thrilled that a single song thrush has come to the feast: these are on the decline everywhere and we feel lucky to still have one and hope that he/she will find a mate and nest somewhere in the hedges round our 3/4 acre garden. We shall be getting anxious as the nesting season approaches to see whether the summer visitors return. In 1998 our swallows failed to nest in the garage for the first time in the 5 years we have been here. One returned but the mate did not and though our red Rover was not white spotted there was a black spot in our lives - we tried to keep them out of the garage once but when they crawled under the door we gave in. We shall also be looking out for spotted flycatchers. In 1994 they nested in the garden shed and we have seen them every year since, arriving about 25 May - but these and other insect eating birds are declining and we are fearful we shall lose the pleasure of their company through the summer months. All told we have recorded 62 species in our garden or in the air around it - of course this does not compare with the list of over 350 in Fair isle but it includes one or two you don't have. If you want to know which, ask Martha who sat in the 'hide' with us at Christmas. Franklyn 15/2/99
DA WEEK DAT’S AWA’ This is a first for me writing the week that’s awa, anyway here’s a bit about what’s been going on.Last Saturday Kenny, Michael and me shifted the old tin bath out of the back extension at Upper Stoneybrek. It was a fair weight and considering the fun we had getting it out it seems likely that the back extension was built around the bath! I understand that it will continue to serve a useful purpose as a water trough for livestock. On Sunday I went wandering with Jack and we scrambled down the cliffs to the rock and pebble beach at Hesswalls. Jack was ahead of me (four legs make cliff scrambling easier than two) and when I got down to the base of the cliff he’d caught a rabbit. There was a dog looking extremely pleased with himself! I found out later about his parentage, his mother was a pure white whippet with a collie for a father, and of the litter he was the most whippet-like. Anyway that afternoon he certainly lived up to his genetic inheritance as a hunting sight-hound. Monday I walked over to Auld Haa to deliver my latest bit of knitting to my tutor. I was reminded of my goodbye card from Salisbury Cathedral where the master-mason had jokingly (at the time) suggested we might exchange knitting patterns at some time in the future – if only he knew! I also called in to Skerryholm to pick up some yarn and was invited to stay for lunch. The knitting is continuing apace with me learning about the assorted "joys" of machine knitting. I really enjoy the process when it’s all working well, but it really "does my ‘ead in" when I make mistakes, particularly because most of them are just lack of attention to detail. Tuesday I woke to snow on the ground and blizzards continued on through the day. I didn’t go out much – only to feed the sheep. I finished a big stone carving I’d been working on and off for the last fortnight or so and got a sense of satisfaction from that. Wednesday was a good day for knitting and beautiful when the sun shone on the snow. I’ve been loaned a large and most extraordinary collection of vinyl, Scottish dance band, accordion and fiddle music and country and western – dating back to the 50s. I spent the evening making up a compilation tape for a friend down in Bath. I hope that he likes it. Thursday, Michael and me dug his van out of the snow and we went down to the Haven to pick up the post. Happy people came off the boat glad to be back on the island after a longer than expected spell away. Mail sorting followed by delivery, and a much more pleasant job it is in daylight with reasonable weather than in darkness with a gale blowing. Friday, the snow has virtually all gone and much of the water lying on the land has drained away. Spent the morning doing paper-work of various sorts – mind-boggling dealing with forms and official agencies like the Inland Revenue – not that I would like to say anything in print that could or would in any way be interpreted as a slur on Her Majesty’s Inspector of Taxes. Anyway, that’s the week that’s awa’.
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