Sunday

It's early morning, the sun is shining and the forecast is good.  Lovely!  I look forward to having the windows wide open and fresh air through the house!

Borrowed from Google

I had a lovely day in the kitchen yesterday, baking and making.  All very satisfying and fulfilling.  A shame about the other work, but never mind.  Everything gets done eventually and if it doesn't it didn't really need doing!

Today needs to be a bit busier though.  I'm going to get going as soon as I've finished this entry.  I have washing and drying, planting up tomatoes (they're getting rather big for their small pots), a kitchen floor that is in a bad way and needs at least a sweep over, a dinner to cook (not that it will be that much of a hassle) and various other bits and bobs.

I've posted a couple of recipes in TsRs, in case you're interested.  They're both reasonably frugal and tasty.
Pork, apple and sage burgers
No buttermilk soda bread

Better get started!

Saturday

After yesterday's little show of bad-tempered weather, I an very glad that the year 2s had their trip on Thursday.  It would have been miserable for them had they gone yesterday.  Cold (but muggy at times), very wet for much of the time and unremittingly dull!  Having said that, there was a little break in the rain during afternoon play so We took the infants out for play and bang on in-time, down it all came again!  So that was very fortunate.  It doesn't look so wonderful today either, at the moment, but I gather, from my son, that it should stay dry.  I hope that's not just wishful thinking on his part, as he has a barbecue this afternoon.

Apart from that, yesterday was pretty normal.  I was handed my dozen eggs and I have to say they must be pampered hens because the eggs are just huge apart from three little extra ones popped in which are from their newish hens and are titchy.  They're just the right size to make pancakes for one so that's what I am doing for breakfast tomorrow and maybe a couple of other days for dessert.  If you don't have to pay for the eggs, pancakes are very frugal.

There's nothing planned for today that is in any way out of the ordinary.  Fine by me.  I love sitting in front of the PC in the comforting knowledge that the bread is rising close by and that in a few hours the house will be filled with the aroma of freshly baked bread.  I'm not a purist and I get Thermione to do all the kneading.  Until recently I made a 500g of flour batch (one loaf) but recently I have started to double that amount.  Thermione copes and it does save time.  I will have half a loaf and Beth and Alex will have the other one and a half loaves.  All good stuff!

The rest of it is all about filing, cleaning, tidying and the usual stuff.  In three weeks' time it will be nice to be able to do stuff like this during the week for a while.  As always, I have a long list of outstanding chores to do!

The bread is rising and I want another coffee.  Have a great day and a very Happy Birthday to Diane, my blogging friend.

Friday

Weren't we lucky!  It was a lovely day yesterday, albeit a bit muggy at times, and the sun shone too.  Just after the seaside children arrived back it started spitting with rain and carried on most of the evening and, looking at the ground, more or less on and off through the night too.  Never mind, the garden needed watering.
The day trippers had a wonderful time, the sketchers did a great job and all was well in our little world.

When I arrived home and logged on later, I had a little shower of emails awaiting me, from children who had accessed our new and very safe Learning Platform and replied to my email.  I rather like this - it means that I don't now have to print sheet after sheet of work for the children's  homework but can out it all on our section of the LP instead.  The children are very excited about it too.  However, I think I will offer a short session after school for any of my parents who would like me to demo how to log on and a quick tour around the pages.  I suspect some will be far more fazed about it than their children and I intend to offer a quick tutorial on How To Log On and Use The Thing for my parents after school tonight.
I just have to remember to be a little more formal in my emails than normally I would be!

Better start getting ready now!

Thursday

It's stupid o'clock - at least it was when I came down - and my brain's a-buzzing.  So very annoying!  However, I set to and logged into our new Learning Platform, which I introduced to the children yesterday, to see what, if anything, they had managed to do.  I was greeted by a shower of emails so some had managed to make sense of it all and read what I had sent.  Excellent!  I feel a return shower of house points coming over me now!

It's dull outside and it's been raining because the ground is wet.  I'm hoping that it's going to clear up because today our year 2s are off to the seaside.  No, it's not just a jaunt, they have quite a lot of work to do and it is all because they've been doing a project on the seaside.  We're lucky that we live close enough for an educational visit to be a feasible proposition.  So fingers crossed that it brightens up, that the sun shines and that it is pleasantly warm but not baking hot.

As for me - a full day with my class, three cheers.  We're going great guns with our theme and they're working hard at the moment, albeit they are very tired and generally drooping a bit as the year draws to a close.  Today, weather permitting, it is sketching the school building from the top playground.  I must remember to take a photo before school so I can teach them what to be looking for and so on.

Right now I am enjoying my peppermint tea (it's supposed to be energising me!) and waiting for the porridge to cook.  I put it on really low and by the time it has reached simmering point it's done - no need to stir or anything.  It takes a while but it's easy.  Anything for the easy life, that's me!

Seventeen more days!

Wednesday

Good morning!  What a dull, gloomy morning it is too.  After yesterday's wall to wall sunshine, it's a bit of a let-down but perhaps it will brighten up later.

Yesterday was nice in other ways too.  Lots of learning done, some good efforts made by all, a delicious lunch and dinner - what more could a teacher ask?

Today is PPA.  Planning, Preparation and Assessment.  All two hours of it.  We have to do our stock order too, so it's going to be a busy one!!  Plenty to do, that's a fact.
Staff meeting isn't a biggie so I'm pleased about that.  There's enough school work to do at home without anything else.  With just eighteen days to go, things are hotting up amazingly!  Wish the weather was the same!

Ah well, as always, better start getting ready.  Can't be late today!

Tuesday

It's going to be a sneezy, snuffly, uncomfortable day.  My eyes are itching, as are my ears, my nose is bunged up and I'm feeling yuck.  Hay fever has well and truly struck.
Sadly, several of my children are also suffering.  It seems particularly bad at the moment - people who have never had any problems before are starting to itch and sneeze.  It's most unpleasant.

Yesterday was very cold.  The children didn't even ask if they could go out without their jumpers/cardigans and some put on their light coats/fleeces.  It's lovely and sunny now so I'm hoping that comes with a bit of warmth today.  It doesn't look anything like raining so I think outdoor games is safe today.  Excellent!

Things are hotting up in a different way as i realise that sports day is getting ever closer.  My coordinator time today will be packed with printing out and generally getting stuff ready!  Never ending, it seems!

Better go and get ready - school in half an hour!

Monday

Yesterday turned out to be a very creative day after all.  I was reminded that I still have those strawberries from last weekend, vacu-packed to keep them fresh but definitely in need of using up, so use them up I did with sticks of rhubarb from Beth's garden and some cranberries from the freezer to make up the weight of fruit.  An hour later I had seven pots of luscious jam, one of the best I have ever made and I had all the ingredients in.  I would estimate that each pot costs under 31p so very much in the spirit of frugality.  Of course, it won't always be as good value as that.  The most expensive items were free or  greatly reduced, but that's one of the things frugality is all about - seizing the moment!

Apart from that I was rather lazy which was jolly nice.

Today it's back to work with just 20 days to go.  I should get my reports back soon so will find out just how bad (or not) they are.  Fingers crossed.  The more I think about it, the more I realise maybe it wasn't such a good idea to hand then straight in after finishing them off overnight.  They're probably loaded with mistakes!!

Better take a look at my planning, I suppose . . . time is passing rapidly!