Thursday

Good morning, gentle readers.

I swear it was nice and sunny half an hour ago when I put the seedlings out to harden off.  I've just glanced out and it is dull, cloudy, the wind has got up and it looks like rain.   At least the beds are getting a good soaking - they were getting quite dry.

The weather was grotty yesterday.  By eleven it was drizzling and by lunch time it was chucking it down.  That being so, Al and I decided to defer our planned visit to Coggeshall Grange barn for another time.  After much umming and ahing we went into town to Moulsham Mill.  I haven't been there for ages.  It used to be a working mill although it is no longer so, but it houses some crafty little shops.
More info here:  http://moulshammill.co.uk/history/

Unfortunately, in this current economic climate, little crafty shops do tend to take a hammering and, although there are still some crafts there, it's nothing like it was.  The dolls house shop and the fancy dress shops have completely disappeared and the pottery shop is almost not there.    Such a shame.  The coffee shop is still going strong - at one point it was almost full while we were enjoying our coffee and cake and a good natter.

There were lots of little leaflets and I picked up one about Ingatestone Hall which is not far from here.  Another to go on the list of Places to Visit!  It's basically Tudor and visiting is fairly limited because the family still lives there but it looks interesting and well worth a visit.

Looks rather good, doesn't it?

When we'd finished our little lunch, we then dodged the raindrops to B&M to look at the tut-stuff.  I bought some hair conditioner because I am right out and haven't got to Aldi recently and we looked for something Al can use for fancy dress for a conference she's going to, but there wasn't anything really.

After that, we got wet going back to the car and it was home, James, so that I could get on with my planning and resource making for tuition after school today.  All done now so I can tackle today with a clear conscience.

Something nice.  As Al and I left the house to go to the mill, we came across the men who are landscaping my neighbour's garden and, lo and behold, one of them is the father of someone I taught in year 1!  I had to laugh - he introduced me to his colleague as a 'living legend'!  Better than a dead one, I guess!  We met them again as we got back and he offered me a ride on the mini-digger they were hiring.  I was tempted, for sure!

For dinner I made a couple of small roasted vegetable pies which were really very tasty.  Al has food issues which mean that I have to be pretty careful what I cook for her but this really fitted the bill and was so nice that I shall blog about it in Teacher's Recipes.  I'm sure it isn't original but it was for me - no recipe used apart from the one in my head so I will claim it!
http://fooddiaryofteacher.blogspot.co.uk/

Today is quite busy in a nice sort of way.  First of all I am wearing my school governor hat and attending a 'Greek tasting morning' with Y5.  They will be dressing up, I gather.  I will not!
Then in the afternoon I change my headgear and become a 'nanny helper' while hearing children in Y2 read.
Finally I will be myself again and do a couple of hours of private tuition before crashing out for the evening with some telly and the ironing board!