Saturday

Yet again, it is very cold this morning.  There's a heavy frost and on top of yesterday's dampness the roads are likely to be bad at the moment.

As you saw, we finally got snow.  Not loads but more than the dismal less-than-1cm's worth it looked as if it would be early morning.  It had stopped by the time I left for school and was already slushing on the roads and pathways but it remained at the edges and on the field and it gave the children a glorious playtime.  Most had come with boots and so were allowed on the field.  I guess they reckoned the fuss fore and aft was worth it.  I'm not sure I did!

The cold has landed.  I haven't had one for a long time so can hardly complain and at least it's had the decency to arrive at the weekend so, hopefully, all the aches and pains will disappear before Monday.  They'd better, anyway.

Friday

Well, we have snow.  Or what passes for an apology for snow anyway.  A cm or less, very wet, already slushing.  I just hope it stays nice enough for the children to have a little bit of fun before it all goes.  It's cold, of course, but not too bad.

Hmmmm - edited less than an hour later to amend.  It's now snowing quite hard and settling.  Still not enough for a snowday, I am sure, but very pretty.  Forgive the bad photo and the messy garden!

I was so tired yesterday.  I guess it was the result of a very disturbed night over Wednesday night.  It was good that I was at home.  Back to work today, brewing what feels like a cold!  I think porridge for breakfast is what is called for.

Yesterday is a day I am glad is over after some sad and worrying news in the evening.  I'm hoping today will bring better news.

I hope you all have a good day.

Thursday

Good morning.  No snow here but it feels pretty cold inside, even after a bath, and I'm not well.  The usual V&D bug and I think I will need to stay at home which is really not good.  Bleugh!

I'm glad I wasn't on playground duty yesterday afternoon.  It got chillier and chillier and I was satisfied with sitting in the staffroom with a coffee during PPA time.  OK, so we worked hard but nevertheless, it was good.

Staff meeting was kind of confusing.  It's no secret that we're in a new curriculum and levels are out - well, not for Y2 and Y6 with SATs on the horizon, but for all other year groups.  The problem is, the government in their almighty wisdom haven't said what is to replace levels.  So it's all rather do-it-yourself at present.  We will see how it all pans out, but should we get a change of government this year, it is likely to be All Change yet again.

Time will tell . . .

Wednesday

Another mild-ish morning here but I gather winter is prowling back again.  I'm feeling tired and not-so-wonderful this morning and am just hoping that the coffee perks me up a bit.  I just cannot take time off and I don't want to either.

Yesterday was OK.  The SATs practise reading test came and went.  Swimming came and went.  I got all the tests marked and levelled and now just have a huge pile of Big Writes to mark and level.  That's the weekend's fun activity!

Today, being Wednesday, is the 'different' day.  Not a lot of time in the classroom, one way and another.  It should all go pretty well, one way and another, I hope.

And will we get any snow?  Who knows.

Tuesday

Good morning, gentle readers.  It is another 'above freezing' morning with no need to even think about notching up the heating.  OK by me and even more OK by my pocket!!

As I thought, yesterday turned out to be fairly mild with some sun and some dismal, damp stuff.  Fairly predictably modern winter weather, in fact.  Today is expected to be more or less the same really.  Then, tomorrow, Armageddon hits.  Or so you would think, if you read the Daily Express.  With phrases like 'frenzied and volatile behaviour of the jet stream', 'screaming Arctic gales' and 'blizzards right through the first half of February' (Wot?  In Essex?), one would expect fun and frolics to come . . . until one remembers they predicted that last winter would be the worst on record.  Ha ha ha ha ha!

I bet we won't get even one snowday!

Yesterday I stepped into new territory, that of SATs.  Yesterday we had a SATs practise test.  It would be totally inappropriate to say how it all went so I won't, but it was all new to me.  Some would say I am lucky to have escaped this for so long.  I guess they are right.

Yesterday evening I received two pieces of good news which cheered me up no end.  Again, can't really say what as it's not my story to tell but I was so happy I went a bit tearful, soppy thing that I am.

Today is more of the same with swimming in the afternoon.  Nice but shame about the marking afterwards!

Today is turkey curry with rice for lunch and the rest of the Spanish lentils for dinner.  All home made and the curry is out of the freezer. There's a little bit of space in the freezer now and I must, I really MUST fight the impulse to fill it back up again.  That is NOT the idea at all!  No, no no!!!

Heading off to the kitchen now for the first coffee and a dishwasher unload.  Have a good day, everyone, and stay warm.

Monday

. . . and for the first time in quite a while there's no frost.  A short respite, I gather, before the cold returns, but it is nice to sit and not want to pull on another layer.

Yesterday was an expensive day!

First of all, I went to B&Q to buy a load of long life bulbs.  I have those small, round, inset halogen lights downstairs and a while ago I promised myself that as they went I would replace them with the long life, eco friendly ones.  Several all died over the last few weeks so I bought enough and a few spare.  That was pretty ouch but they will pay for themselves over time, I am sure, given how short the lifespan of the ordinary ones tends to be.

Then I drove along to Staples for some printer ink.  I keep the old cartridges going until the quality is appalling and we had got to that point with the black!  That would have been ouch enough but I also got some extra strong filing cabinet inserts as mine are all giving up the ghost after many years.  I am being inspired by Beth's example to clear out and sort out my paperwork and this is the first step.  I can now replace the battered ones as I deal with each section.  I wonder how long one is expected to keep things like bank statements, pay slips, etc?  Must Google and find out.  I have them going back decades!

All of that was ouch enough but in the afternoon Beth and I did something that we have promised ourselves we would do for a while now and that is buy a sewing machine to share.
I was given my first sewing machine as my main 21st birthday present and it has done sterling service over the years.  I used to make all of my clothes and quite a lot of the childrens' clothes too, saving a fortune as I did so.  You could get fabric at good prices then.  I also made curtains, cushion covers, etc.  All jolly good fun!
But as life got busier and the machine got older, I stopped using it so much and after some faults and repairs I discarded it.  Well, I say 'discarded - I think it is in the cupboard under the stairs, in fact.  Maybe it will be an antique in fifty years' time!

Anyway - back to the present.  We ended up with a Viking Husqvarna (my machine was a Husquvarna so I had positive vibes for the make), not too cheap but certainly not shockingly expensive, with a few gizmos to make life easier.  It's due to arrive later this week which is most exciting.

Looks nice and sensible and pretty sturdy!

So, as you can see, it was an ouchingly expensive day!  Just as well I was paid on Friday and have started a frugal food phase, isn't it?

And on that subject, I got my act together and planned meals for the week.  I know it helps, I know it works and yet I don't always do it.  Beth said she will do Live Below the Line again this year and seemed a bit open to a longer time doing it, which is nice (she may change her mind on that one, but I don't think I will).  It might not be strictly according to the rulebook but I reckon it is the individual's equivalent of doing it in a big group and sharing out the food.  What's the difference between four people doing it for a week and one person doing it for four weeks?  Apart from the obvious, of course!

So these frugal weeks will help when I get super-frugal with bells on!

Sunday

There's another frost here this morning as I discovered when I pootled out to get some things from the freezer.  My goodness, it was cold.  It was nice to get back inside and shut the door again.

Yesterday was lazy but pretty good fun.  On my other blog I have decided to 'do a series' (ooooh, listen to me!) on lentil recipes.  Frugal recipes, using red lentils because that's what I happen to have in the cupboard, although next time I go to a shop that does more fancy pants lentils I will  get some green and/or brown lentils too.  Dried, not tinned!

So I spent the morning researching (which sounds more clever than it actually was) recipes and found a number that I think I would like to try.  I made Lentil Bake yesterday (delicious) and I am having a go at Spanish Style Lentils today, although that will go in the freezer for school lunches during the week.

Lentils can be a bit of a pain to cook as they slurp and gloop and need stirring to ensure they don't stick and burn.  However, I have discovered that Thermione does the perfect job as the stirring is continuous while they are cooking and the lid prevents any mess.

I've posted the Lentil Bake recipe on Teacher's Recipes and if the other is also good, I will post that too.

Apart from that I did a clean of the kitchen, not that you can tell now, and I popped out to do a bit of food shopping.  Not much because I'm trying to use what I already have for a while, but enough to keep things ticking over on the fresh and dairy side.

Now I am hoping that's me set up for the week.