Thursday

Good morning, everyone.  Wasn't yesterday lovely?  It was here, anyway.  Warm and sunny with a gentle breeze.  Gorgeous.  If only it is similar today (playground duties day) but while the sun was shining a short while ago, it has now gone in and is more gloomy.  The clouds are very high so here's hoping!

Yesterday was absolutely manic.  For someone who wasn't teaching much, I didn't seem to stop all day.  It started off with our weekly mentor meeting and as my student goes back to his main placement school next week the main thing on our agenda was looking at the teaching standards to see what progress he has made in the last four weeks.  Then I had to write his end of placement report.  After that I was able to relax in family assembly but then it was observing phonics (good), getting files and so on ready for a meeting in the afternoon and then a rush to speak to the speech therapist at lunchtime with the result that I whizzed off to the afternoon meeting without any lunch.  Fortunately there were biscuits, tea, coffee, water, etc.

The meeting was great and I was able to have a one on one chat with someone about something that has been a huge worry to the point of which I was losing sleep over it.  I came away relieved and reassured and I slept like a log last night.  A friend is staying for a few days between OUSA meetings and she arrived in the evening so we had a good natter together which also calmed and settled me.  Thanks, Al!

I woke up this morning feeling happy and ready to bounce into the new day.  I'm now waiting for the pinger to go because there's two loaves of soda bread in the oven and I will need to turn the temperature down soon.  There's no need to review my lesson plans as my student is taking most of them and I have to be out of class while the head is doing her observation so that's an opportunity to get some important paperwork ready for tomorrow.

Ping!
The oven is now at 200 and the soda bread looks wonderful.  I shall have some with butter for breakfast and my guest can have the leavings!!  And yes, she will read this, won't you, Cider Lass?
Soda bread has such happy memories for me of wonderful holidays staying at farms in Southern Ireland as a teenager when the long suffering and patient lady of the house produced loaf after loaf of warm soda bread, fresh butter and tasty cheese which we devoured as if we had been facing starvation.  The soda bread I bake may not be as authentic but it is delicious and makes me feel happy.

Not my bread but borrowed from Google from here.  http://wildacreflowers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/soda-bread.html