Tuesday

It has all turned topsy turvy again, weather wise.  After a very cold weekend followed by a milder Monday with rain, it has turned cold again and there's quite a frost out there.  I suppose that's about right for December and I remember when I were a lass t'was cold and frosty every day!

An interesting day yesterday.  As I said, I was out of class for interviews.  I do enjoy interviewing when I'm on the asking side!  It's only recently, as a senior management team member that I have been involved in this sort of thing and it's good.  There was stuff to sort out after the interviews were over so it was a pretty busy day all round.

Today is 'disrupted'.  There's all the adevnt stuff from Saturday to do, two ecards to open and read, songs to practice, a dance practice after play and then, in the afternoon, the first full run through.  We will be worn out by the end of the day.  I guess I will be able to fit in phonics and maybe a little bit of literacy or maths, but that's all.

And I must remember to make crowns for the kings!!

Friday

Good morning.  Another cold night overnight, wasn't it, and there's a heavy frost right now?  Yesterday was jolly chilly too and I was hugely relieved that I wasn't on any kind of playground duty.  By the time staff meeting started I was just about dropping but managed to stay awake.  The chap who was leading the phonic training was an interesting speaker so even though I didn't actually learn anything new, I stayed awake.  I think - hope - my junior colleagues did learn something about the part phonics play in early reading and writing though and the experinces and knowledge they bring with them into the juniors.  I'm a great 'believer' in phonics and have been since my teacher training days.  It's not the only route to becoming a reader/writer by a long shot (and I don't care what the government says about that one) but it has its place and a very important place too.

Apart from that, I was really very chuffed with my maths lesson yesterday.  Sometimers it can plod along and sometimes it seems that all the recent lessons come together and the children 'fly'.  Yesterday's lesson felt like flying!  A lovely feeling.

Today is, of course, SEN day.  There's quite a lot of stuff to catch up with and some issues to talk over with colleagues.  It's going to be a busy day so I am thankful for a good night's sleep.

Bring it on . . .  :-)

Sunday

Good morning, gentle readers.  I've just peeked out and now I know why I felt a bit chilly overnight.  There's quite a heavy frost at present although it might, of course, have thawed by the time the sun comes up.  I tend to 'sleep hot' so have a fairly light quilt which usually is fine for my needs.  However, on cold nights or on nights when I'm not 100% like last Friday it certainly isn't enough.  Feeling just a bit chilly is as miserable as feeling too hot in bed.  I think I need to commandeer the cellular blanket that my dad uses when they come to stay and just throw it over the quilt.  That should be enough to make the difference.  Ideally, I'd get a silk quilt, like Diane, but they are very expensive and I think I can make do.

I'm looking around at a somewhat jumbled living room at the moment.  Yesterday I started using the Vax and got about 2/3 of the carpet cleaned.  The trouble is, it's a large room and I had to move the furniture around to clear spaces for cleaning.  I am really very pleased with the results and am raring to start the last two sections.  I didn't move the really heavy stuff like the sideboards and the wall units, but everything else was pushed and pulled around.  I also took the opportunity to move the furniture to where I want it for over Christmas, which means I won't have to do it later when time is short and the pressure is on!

I found the Vax really easy to use after the initial feeling of slight  awkwardness passed.  It's just like dyson-ing in slow motion really.  I was worried about saturating the carpet, but that didn't happen.  I was worried about how long the carpet would take to dry but it took about an hour and a half to be completely dry: it was walkable on straight away but I kept the furniture off until it was properly dry.  This made for slow but steady progress.  All in all, a big success and I am planning to do the whole house over the next few weekends - the bits that show anyway!

Apart from that I soaked a bowl of soup mix and in the evening made a vegetable broth with the mix plus all sorts of veg I had in the fridge.  It all went into a big pan (the veg was prepared and chopped up) with some cumin, some smoked paprika, a bouquet garni, some water and some marigold - quite a lot of marigold.  Later I also added salt and pepper.  It's made a very substantial, thick, filling mixture which will do me for school lunches this week.  I might cook some chicken bits and add them to the individual portions too.

Today - well, I have washing to do, an observed lesson to plan thoroughly - two lessons, in fact - a living room floor to finish off and I want to make cranberry flapjacks.  Beth and Alex are round for lunch and we are having the soup with grated cheese and croutons followed by apples and flapjacks.  In fact, I'd better go and start the flapjacks now as I do have a full morning one way and another!

Dad's garden last weekend - I love the colours.

Wednesday

Brrrrrr - wasn't it cold yesterday morning.  The first proper frost of the season and I am sure there are more to come.  The cold brightness didn't last though as the clouds came rolling in and by the afternoon it was raining.  Not hard, despite A's protent that it was 'chucking it down, Mrs Clark, chucking it down' when he was informed that playtime was still on.  My marginally unsympathetic response was 'You'd better put your hood up then, don't you think?'!  I was on duty so it wasn't totally unsympathetic, but one must toe the party line and I had a stout umbrella!

Once I was out there in the cold and wet, with the children brightening the atmosphere with their games and laughter, I suddenly though 'How can I EVER give this all up?'  I guess I may feel different in four or five years' time but right now - well, if I can even enjoy a wet, drizzly playtime on duty, I must be pretty committed!

The other day I took the photo below.  It was a point, zoom and click moment, nothing planned, just happened.  I can't even remember off the top of my head whether it was morning or afternoon.  But I was well pleased with the result - my old camera would never have coped.  I will try this again when the opportunity presents itself again.

Apologies for the lateness of this.  I did write it this morning but didn't send it - silly me. 

Saturday

Not exactly a restful day today but it will be very pleasant.  Nearly all the family are converging in Chelmsford for a nice lunch together.  It's going to be great!

Yesterday was so busy I didn't have time to feel my usual Friday afternoon tiredness.  Plenty of paperwork to be getting on with, three meetings and then more paperwork as a result of that meeting.  Next Friday will be no better - two meetings with 'outside agencies' - people from various support services assigned to a particular child - with resulting paperwork attached.  Stll, it keeps me out of trouble, doesn't it?

It's still raining.  Not right now but on and off.  Yesterday we got lucky.  They got all their playtimes fore and aft and it didn't rain at the beginning and end of school either.  Plenty in between times though, some very hard.  Proper April showers and no mistake!  No need to use the hosepipe although, in fact, we don't have a ban around here, much to everyone's surprise.  I'm really not sure why not but there you go!

My grafted tomatoes have arrive.  Titchy little plug plants that I need to get into pots this morning and then keep indoors (on the window ledge, I guess) until frost danger time has passed, whenever that will be.  It's still jolly cold at night but because of the cloud cover there's been no frost.  I wouldn't like to bet on the chances of no more frost this spring though.

Well, better get going.  There's a house to dust and sweep!