Saturday

Three cheers.  It's a long weekend and it does feel ridiculously good.  That one extra day makes all the difference and I reckon we should have long weekends every week!  It's still dark so I have no idea of the weather bit it doesn't feel particularly cold.

My kitchen is smelling wonderful.  Not only have I had some chicken bnes simmering in the slow cooker for the last couple of days, last night I had a rib of beef (cooked before I bought it from Mr Chapman's, a whacking great big lump of meat for just one rib) and not only do I have plenty of meat for tonight (or lunch), I also have the fatty and boney remains simmering in a roastingdish in the oven, making a tasty stock.  So the house smells wonderful!

Today is a busy day.  No, not busy exactly, more like full.  I shall be clearing the fridge as much as possible and cooking/baking as much as I can before LBTL starts tomorrow.  I do like to feel prepared!  Today's meals will likely all be leftovers because I'm not going to waste any more than I can help!

So it's bread and oatcakes, a new batch of yoghurt and some leek and potato soup and then I'm having a go at using some of the manky value rice to make rice crackers.  I have absolutely no idea whatsoever how it will work out, it is all invention and pot luck so fingers crossed, please!

I won't reproduce my menu plans here as you will read enough about them over the next five days and anyway they are here  (scroll down to find the relevant entry).

If there's any time left over from the most important work of chilling out and relaxing, and weather permitting, I might do a bit of garden pottering too.  That would be nice.


Edited later to add:  I was wrong - it's bloomin' cold outside with frost on the cars.  Brrrrrr . . .

Friday

 . . . already!  Friday seems to come round so often nowadays, doesn't it?  Once every seven days, amazingly.  I'm sure it used to take longer to reappear.

Anyway, here we are at Friday and it's a bit chilly, rather windy and extremely overcast.  Yesterday was extremely wet at times and playtime was a shall we/sha'n't we situation.  We did and we got wet but the children seemed happy enough to dodge the raindrops.  I was amazed at how many came to school without coats though.

I met my student's external mentor yesterday afternoon as she was in to observe and generally see that eveything was going well.  It all went well and I hope T went home happy.

After school there was an important meeting which was good but quite long so that it was a bit of a rush to finish everything off and then get home, freshened up and out again because it was my second meal out at the Hare this week, this time with Linda, Julie and Carolyn.  We had a lovely time, lots of chat and chuckles and some tasty food to help us on our way.  I stuck to the smaller plate meals as I always do nowadays, finding them better for both my pocket and my enjoyment.  In fact we all did this time.  Something they have started doing is selling sparkling water in their own carafes with a 'free' top up.  You're still paying for water, I know, but it's quite nice and a lot better value than a diet coke or whatever.  I must have been quite dehydrated because I drank nearly two carafes of the stuff and wasn't meandering down to the loo all night long!

So now I'm awake after one of the best nights' sleep I have had in a long time and there's one day before a long weekend.  It feels fantastic.  The planning is done and printed out so that's off my mind and I can focus on preparing and starting to Live Below The Line for five days.  I read on one of the blogs about someone starting a simple sourdough starter (that reads oddly, sorry) and using it two days later and it was OK.  I'm not sure about that and think that I will stick with my delicious and conventionally made little loaf but made with plain flour because you can by that in value bags!  However, I know Diane has made sourdough bread and it's something I do want to try at some point.

If you'd like to support me as I do this and help me to raise money for ActionAid, you can do so here.

Thursday

Pinch and punch and White Rabbits for the first of May!

It's surpringly chilly this morning as I discovered when I poittered out to the shed for a few bits and bobs.  It also looked very like rain but, surpringly, the sun is trying the break through so you never know.  I'm on playground duty today, morning and afternoon so maybe I will get lucky!

Yesterday went well.  That's about it really, nothing special but a pleasant day all round.  Here's to today!

Wednesday

I looked out this morning to see that it is very dull and quite foggy.  Maybe that's a sign of good things to come.  Yesterday brightened up and by the evening it was beautiful.  I'm hoping the fog will lift and the sun decides to play ball.

Mind you, yesterday evening was fun anyway.  Grandson is away on a residential field trip from Monday to Friday so Beth and I went to the Hare for an evening meal and a good chat.  More than a little indulgent, I think, seeing as I will be there again this week with some friends, but never mind.  They had the new Spring and Summer menu and the smaller plate list was longer again.  I always have one of them now, it's just about right for me and doesn't leave me either feeling uncomfortably stuffed or guilty because I have left some.  They are very obliging and when Beth asked if she could haveone of the main meals but a small plate amount they agreed straight away and charged the small plate amount.  Really good!

Mini-burger, chips and coleslaw - very tasty!

Today I have my mentor meeting with my student.  I enjoy these, they are helpful and I reckon I learn as much as he does in a different way.  Then, for the rest of the day, it's back to what passes for normal at the moment.
This half term is whizzing past at an alarming rate.

I'm enjoying my breakfast as I type.  Yesterday I forgot I was going out and got a meal out of the f reezer.  I can't waste it so it's curry for breakfast, yay!  It should keep me going until lunch anyway!

Have a great day!

Tuesday

It's a bit of a dull and gloomy morning, unfortunately, and no sun appears to be fighting through the cloud cover so my fingers are crossed for outdoor games this morning.  Last week it was actually raining at this point in time and it ended up OK so I can hope.

Yesterday was a delightful day with wall to wall sunshine and some warmth too.  I was on playground duty in the afternoon so was able to take advantage of it.  The first swimming lessons went well too.  At this point I need to say I do not teach swimming.  In fact, I stay in the classroom while parent helpers take one group at a time across to the pool and bring them back afterwards.
The children all came back happy, there were no tears and a lot of happy talk.  So THAT'S all right!

Today is my PPA and coordinator time.  Loads to do and not all that much time to do it, so I shall be busy.  After school I have a meeting with someone, so that's my day well wrapped up.

Apart from that, I am just about organised for LBTL.  The food is (mostly) bought, there's a list of things to make at the weekend, I'm well under my fiver and I should eat OK, although in rather a liumited way.  But then that's life for many, many people and, if they don't have the wherewithal, either equipment or knowledge, it's going to be a lot harder.  This is not a boast, it's a comment, but a lot of my meals will be cooked from scratch and it really is making the fiver go further.

I hope I'm not offending any of my readers but I am sometimes saddened that people seem very worried about making their money meet the family need and then talk about buying take away pizzas, eating ready meals, and so on.  A little bit of culinary knowledge would go such a long way to sorting their financial issues out.  Maybe I am lucky in that I enjoy cooking as an activity and I am aware that people do often cook from scratch and still find it hard to make ends meet, but an awful lot don't.  It's sad.

And, again, here's the link if anyone would care to support me as I Live Below The Line for five days and raise money for ActionAid.  Many thanks.

Monday

Another birthday flower.

Well, it was lovely weekend again.  The sun shone yesterday and it was nearly warm enough to sit out.  I had fun 'creating' a couple of frugal recipes for LBTL (on the other blog).  The planning was all done and dusted and one of the Birthday Bottles is no more!

Beth and Alex came over and we all thoroughly enjoyed Welsh rarebit on toast followed by some fresh fruit.  Absolutely delicious and very simple to make.  I had a bit of cream that needed using up so I added a dash to the cheese mixture and mmmmmmmm.

Apart from that it was all a bit busy one way and another.  Maybe I am going back to school for a rest!  :-)

Today is the first swimming afternoon.  The class is split into three groups and they go one group at a time to the swimming pool for their lesson.  It means that everything else is very disjointed and you can't do anything that requires teaching input.  However, learning to swim and developing the skill once you can swim is important and we are very lucky to have access to our own pool.  My class is also very lucky that the swimming is this term, the warm and sunny term.

Here's to a warm and sunny day today then.

Sunday

Good morning, everyone.  It looks quite bright outside at the moment and I'm hoping there won't be so much rain.  However, having said that, given that it was actually sunny very early on yesterday, maybe I shouldn't hope too much.

I went into town, as expected, yesterday morning and remembered why I don't go in very often.  It was pretty busy for the time of day and would only get worse.  It was damp and soggy.  And it costs a fortune to park!

Anyway, I got my cheques paid in, trawled around Wilcos and the pound shop and more or less managed to get everything on my list for not too much money before coming home.  I meant to go to WH Smiths to spend a birthday voucher but decided not to.  I'll do that next weekend.

Then it was home to make a few more paper pots and plant some dwarf beans.  I read that dwarf beans can be grown in containers as they don't need anything like the root space of runners and that they need only little support so I'm giving them a go.  I like dwarf beans and they freeze reasonably well too.  For the cost of a packet of seeds it's worth a try, I reckon.

From last week's sowing I now have little runner bean seedlings (lots because some are for Beth), the cucumber has germinated, as has the dill, the basil and the tomatoes.  I've planted far too many, of course, so I might pot some on and offer them at school for a donation to LBTL - if they thrive, of course.  I could take rosemary cuttings and do the same, couldn't I?

We're doing seeds so I think they will be interested in this.

And the sun has come out!