Friday

I gather we had some 'weather' yesterday evening.  Thunder, etc.  Not that I noticed because I went early to bed and straight to sleep.  I'm glad it is nearly the weekend although the thought of five weeks in and three weeks to go is quite amazing!

SEN day and still a pile of paperwork.  IEPs galore, letters and management stuff.  Ah well, I am thankful to have the time allocated.  I remember when I had to do the same with NO coordinator time whatsoever.  Now that was tricky at times.

It has been a lovely week.  I think try out time is over and I am established, thank goodness.  The first weeks with a new class can be tricky but it's been remarkably straightforward this year.  Now I am looking forward to the rest of the year with them.

Better get going and finish next week's planning as I have a meeting about it after play today . . .

Ooops - so sorry

I read through my morning blog just now and was most embarrassed to realise that most of it is whinge, one way or another.

Things do get to me sometimes, but usually I am very happy to look on the bright side and see my glass as half full, rather than half empty (a top up - oooh, yes please - cheers).

Dunno (well, I do live in Essex) what happened this morning but most of it was dismal stuff.  I didn't feel dismal in any way whatsoever so why I moaned, moaned, moaned is beyond me.  Never mind, tomorrow is another day and today has been really very good.

And the cursor didn't jump once ALL DAY!

Wednesday

First of all, if you were a follower of fostermummy, she has been forced to move her blog and you can now find it here at www.frugalmummy.blogspot.co.uk
Please do go along and let her know you've found her again.  Bloggers, please do pass this information on.

I should have kept my big mouth shut yesterday morning, shouldn't I?  Warmth and sunshine indeed!  The next time I looked out it was pouring down with rain.  No wonder it was warmer - there was a lot of cloud cover.  It remained damp and dismal nearly all day but they got their playtimes which is the important thing.

Yesterday I was whinging about my poor typing skills.  It gets the job done but on a laptop there's a major problem which is that my hand/sleeve keeps brushing over the touch pad and the cursor keeps jumping all over the place.  As I don't touch type, I can go for several sentences before realising that I'm writing utter gibberish (no rude comments, thank you) because the cursor has moved several times.  Anyway, it was getting me down and, as I use a mouse anyway, I was wondering about whether I could turn off the touch pad.  No-one seemed to know how though.  But there's a simpler solution.  I have just blu-tacked a sturdy piece of card over the touch pad, I've written all of this and the cursor hasn't jumped out of place once.  Excellent!
Now I wish there was such an easy solution to the fact that my fingers don't always land on the right keys!

Now that it's so much gloomier and the days are shorter, I have been neglecting my tomatoes,  ungrateful wretch that I am.  I went out yesterday and found that most of the potted tomatoes were wilting from lack if water.  Of course, I gave them a good drink there and then but bad me!!  There are still a whole load of tomatoes waiting to ripen so I can't get rid of them yet.

Yesterday evening I had something of a disaster!  I had very carefully boiled up the last lot of blackberries from K, deciding to make a proper jelly this time.  I consider them a bit of a waste really, as you throw so much away, but . . . well, anyway, the boiled up mush had been sitting in the jelly bag, I added lemon juice to the blackberry juice, then the sugar and heated to boiling.  I swear I only left it for a minute or so but when I came back the whole thing was a seething mass of stickiness.  Only a slight exaggeration, I assure you!  I think that when I make the labels I shall call it 'blackberry toffee'  Oh, dear!!!
In case that happens again, could I have added water and reboiled?

It's surprising how long it takes for 29 children to do three apple prints each.  Of course there's the wiping of the apple in between each print which greatly adds to the time plus the general 'look at my lovely print' thing.  However, we should get them all finished today - we have to really!  Tomorrow has been allocated to something else. Once they're mounted, they're looking pretty good too!  Very Warhol-ish.

Not ours, wish they were.  Borrowed from Google Images.

And I've typed all of this without the cursor jumping once.  Success!!!!!

Wednesday

Good morning!
Unlike yesterday morning, it is very mild today.  No wonder I woke up to find myself on top of the covers a couple of hours ago.  Perhaps today will be a little warmer throughout than yesterday when it felt a bit chilly out of the sun.  I have a feeling it's very much borrowed time so am trying to make the most of the sunshine and the warmth while it is here.

I posted on the other blog about a turkey leg and how I slow roasted it.  It has proven to be brilliant value, giving me enough for
a pie that has provided six big portions (it was a high pie rather than large in diameter)
three well filled sandwiches for lunches
pate for a meal with a friend on Saturday.  This bit is just in my mind right now as the turkey itself has been frozen, I might make another starter and use it for the main course instead though.

I set myself a bit of a challenge for this meal.  I want to make a three course meal for £2.50 a head, so a fiver in total, excluding drinks.  To do this I will have to make everything from scratch and I will be using garden produce, freebies and value ingredients wherever appropriate.

So far I have planned
Starter:  turkey pate with melba toast and a fresh tomato salsa
Main:  not totally sure but it will be something with pasta, perhaps a vegetable lasagne as the one I made a few weeks ago was really tasty.  With it I could have some sort of salad and some garlic bread.
Dessert:  Autumnal spiced plums and home made custard (I have the plums ready in the freezer or I have some fresh plums that were great value) or perhaps I could use some crumble topping I have in the freezer too.

The costing out will be a bit rough but I reckon it will come to less than a fiver in total. Also most of it can be made in advance.
Any comments, advice will be more than welcome.

In other news, the rest of my life is ticking over nicely.  I got a lot done yesterday in my non contact time, always a very satisfying thought.  Today I have my class all day - nice one.  We need to continue with the apple printing this afternoon, which will be great.  The first results look really good!

And now, looking at the clock, I'd better go and have my bath!  Have a lovely day, gentle readers!

Tuesday

Good morning, everyone!  It's still dark - very dark - outside as the street lights haven't come on yet but the small sliver of moon is clear and bright and, brrrrr, it felt cold when I opened the front door just now.  Not frosty cold but definitely down into single figures.  It can't be long before the first frost and I will be saying farewell to the hundreds and thousands and the runner beans, both of which have served me faithfully this summer.  I'm rather hoping it won't be until the half term though, because then I will have time to strip the remaining tomatoes and make gallons of chutney.

Yesterday we had lovely weather.  It wasn't hot but it was delightfully warm in the sun and I was lucky enough to be on playground duty morning and afternoon so got full benefit from it.  I hope today is similar.

I think teacher try out is over now.  Yesterday they were all delightful which was just as well as I had totally forgotten I was being observed.  It was by a trainee teacher so it needed to be good and it was OK , I hope.  She went away with plenty of ideas anyway, and was scribbling comments the whole time.  I just hope they were  positive comments.  The children rose to the occasion and were very responsive and well behaved.

Today is the day I am with my class until playtime and then it's non contact time.  Much better than last year when I had a bit here, a bit there and only one day when I was with my class all day.  It's just the way the chips fall, no complaints whatsoever, but it is easier for me this year, much easier.  All my cover teachers are brilliant too.

We're doing a super art thing this week.  Apple printing in the style of Warhol - same print, different colours.  They really enjoyed the short preliminary 'whole class teaching', looking at various Warhols and commenting on similarities and differences, and then we set to and printed.  It will take several afternoons (and several apples) for everyone to have a turn but it will be worth it!  Already the results are good and the children were very satisfied.  I felt excited while planning it and when that happens I know it's going to go well - that's the secret, I guess.  If a lesson plan bores the teacher, it's hardly likely to engage the class, is it?

Borrowed from Google Images
Yes, we looked at this one and a few others!

And talking of planning, I need to go over mine for today so I will stop rambling now!

Monday and a turkey leg

Ages ago I bought a whole turkey leg (not just the drumstick) and put it in the freezer.  This weekend I got it out and on Sunday morning I slow roasted it for about four hours.

It gave me huge amounts of meat, some of which I used for a turkey and vegetable pie for dinner last night, half of which is still here because it was a very full pie!  Guess what I am having for dinner tonight.
When I can gather my thoughts I will post what I did on the other blog.

It was a lovely day yesterday.  Fine weather (bit blowing on the heights of Hyde Hall, but very refreshing), off to Hyde Hall, a super lunch there, a relaxing wander round, a visit to some of the 'market' stalls they had open, spent just a bit of money . . . lovely.  I was well pleased that because I have RHS membership, I can take a guest along free so I only had to pay for one of my visitors.
There's another 'special' there in a fortnight and I think I might go along to it!  What do you think?  Beth - interested?
http://www.rhs.org.uk/Gardens/Hyde-Hall/What-s-on/A-Taste-of-Autumn

Borrowed from the Hyde Hall web

And now it's back to school again.  Never mind, not long until the next weekend!

Sunday

. . . and here I am, up at stupid o'clock - again!  Two bad nights in a row is not a good idea, especially with guests.  I must try to get a bit more sleep as we're off to Hyde Hall today and then I have a dinner to cook.  No opportunities for a wee nap there, sadly.

The gardens at Hyde Hall, borrowed from Google Images.

Yesterday was grand.  We went out to the Hare for a meal and, as always, ate very well indeed.  I still usually have the small plate option and they have now expanded their range which is good.  I had sorbet for dessert and they had apple sorbet which was very, very good indeed.  I need to find a recipe!

As expected, I did go onto the Jam Jar Shop and indulged in some more jars, a larger box of them this time.  When giving my produce as gifts, the cost has to be included but sometimes I get a jar and lid back again, which is great.  If I use the produce at home I don't really count the cost because I always wash the jars and lids and reuse.  I have blackberries waiting, and some apples too, but I think the apples will go into a fruit crumble for dinner tonight with some plums and a few of the blackberries.

One good thing about waking early is that I can get things in the oven in good time.  I got a full turkey leg out of the freezer yesterday and it has been slowly thawing overnight.  It's just gone into the oven on a bed of onion and carrot with stock, white wine and seasonings, to slow roast for several hours.  Once it's done, I will strip the meat off and boil up the remains.  Some of the meat is to make a turkey and mushroom pie for this evening's dinner.  I still have the packet shorcrust pastry that I got last weekend in case the home made variety didn't work out, so I will use that to save me some time.  With it I will have fried potatoes, carrots and runners (both from the garden) and maybe some courgette too.  With the crumble for dessert, it should make a nice enough meal.

Back off to bed now, to see if I can snatch another hour or sleep.  Here's hoping!