Friday 18 March 2011

felix dies nasi ruberis! Happy Red Nose Day!




Funny that! Nose can be feminine or masculine in Latin depending on which noun you choose:
naris-is (f)
nasus-i (m)
If anyone can tell me why this is so...I'd be very please to find out! Anyway

"Happy Red Nose Day!" felix dies nasi ruberis!

( Above: Scenes from the Minimus Mouse Latin Book)


Loads to tell you and little time to relate...so I will do it bullet point style:
1. Went on a research trip last weekend which included visits to Weald and Downland Open Air Museum, Sussex; Fishbourne Palace, Minimus Mouse Teacher Training Day (Salisbury), Salisbury Museum - Romans v. Saxons Exhibition - all wonderful!
2. Started teaching Minimus Mouse Latin in two of the three primary schools locally. Three boys wanted to be called iacobus (irrespective of their original names). Their combined enthusiasm is fantastic. At the first school (down the road - literally from Vindolanda) all of them had stories of Hadrian's Wall and how they felt about it. Lots of stories of finding Roman artefacts. Super! Eleven children in that first class (only about 30 in the school total) and 12 children in the second school (2 were missing so in total 14) out of a possible 30. So that is great for a lunchtime club when a lot of them could be outside playing...
I'll start in the third school (the closest to here) when their building work calms down a bit. Very soon. Fingers crossed. Got good numbers there too.
3. Moving out of the B&B so we can redecorate. (Back to little house in Haltwhistle.) American guests in next weekend and I'll be doing a tour of Vindolanda for them...their boy studies Minimus too...
4. A week of digging at Vindolanda starts April 4th. It's their first week back too on the archaeology front...and I'll be joining them. Can't wait!!!!
5. We, the volunteer guides, start guiding at Vindolanda around that time too...
6. Applying for quite a few grants to get my Hands-on-Latin business up and running from the B&B and potentially from Vindolanda too...fingers crossed again. (They have a new educational building there.)
7. Hmm...gosh...we have lots of other ideas too. But no time to tell of them here....
8. Yes - still writing the B&B website (the War and Peace version). I also have to do other stuff in/around setting up the business....so if I go quiet...you know (sort of) what I am up to.
9. Ah yes! Also doing an adult teacher training City and Guilds course in April/May.
10. Attending "Know your Hadrian's Wall" educational days whenever possible....
11. A blogger friend (who I have met through this blog and her blog) is going to help me run the Minimus teaching at the local schools. euge! Hurrah! She loves her Latin too.
12. Teaching some Minimus Latin and history to some adult friends of mine. Their feedback has encouraged me a great deal and reminded me that this course is appealing to adults too. Barbara Bell, Minimus creator, has said this and I truly believe her. I love the cartoons and its accessibility. euge for Minimus!

That's about it! Vale for now! Hadriana :)

12 comments:

the fly in the web said...

Goodness gracious, woman!
Take time to breathe!

And it all sounds super!

Anonymous said...

I think I need a lie down after reading all that! I hope it all goes really well

Maggie May said...

You are going to be exhausted! Take a pill! LOL!
Loved your cartoons.
Maggie X

Nuts in May

Catharine Withenay said...

Blimey! You are busy! And I thought my life was hectic - it is nothing compared to yours. It all sounds exciting (apart from the moving house again!) and I wish you all the best.

Sarah Cuthbertson said...

Hope the house move and decorating pass off according to plan. Great to hear the Minimus luch clubs have got off to a cracking start!

Hadriana's Treasures said...

Dearest Fly, Alienne, Maggie, Catharine and Sarah...yes...I think I need to take a chill pill. :)

And perhaps lie down in a darkened room for a month. Seriously I am enjoying it all. It's great that the season is starting again. Everyone seems to be coming out of hibernation at long last. It feels as if it has been a long winter this year...

I haven't got an internet connection at the other house as yet so will pop up here from time to time. Thanks for your wonderful comments as ever. Best wishes, Hadriana xx xx

Nota Bene said...

How do you manage all this...I'm exhausted just reading it...

French Fancy... said...

Oh Hade - you sound in such a good place. I am delighted for you - I know how difficult things have been on and off and it sounds like a complete reversal.

It couldn't happen to a nicer woman

xx

Anonymous said...

Wow, busy, busy, busy! (Sorry I haven't visited your blog recently - I've been a bit quiet on the blog front).

Hadriana's Treasures said...

Hi NB, FF and the other side of Paris...thank you for your wonderful, kind words. I'll be quick (now) as the last time I attempted to leave a comment here we had a power cut! I'll be back and forth between the two houses for the next few days..but I do get a proper internet connection next Tuesday all things being equal...

Ciao for now. H ;)

Carolyn Trafford Art said...

I did Latin for 2 years at school - all forgotten now with the exception of Non illegitimis carborundum.

Something my boss shared with me when I was fed up over a job application failure. I still hold those words dear.

Hadriana's Treasures said...

They are fantastic words, Snowdrop, I hold them dear too...I've looked them up and there is even a Facebook Page dedicated to the saying: "Don't let the barstewards grind you down"

or should I say..."one ought not to be ground down by the barstewards..."

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Illegitimi-non-carborundum/108163765883499

Apologies to all...not meaning to offend anyone...but we all have a bad day sometimes...don't we?

[N.B.: Quite often good to mutter oaths in foreign languages - less chance of people cottoning on.... ] Thanks for this. Snowdrop. :)