Chickiepigs.

It felt like summer again today. Perfect weather for taking my class down to search for mini beasts. It was the usual selection, ants, worms, slugs, snails, flies, bees and ....... chickiepigs (the Devon name for wood lice). After a hot lunchtime I set up an afternoon of art activities and I sat with a group of children creating beautiful pen drawings based on the illustrations in The Hidden House by Martin Wadell, of swirling lines embellished with leaves, flowers and mini beasts. We hadn't brought our mini beasts back into the classroom but I had strewn a selection of leaves, flowers and blossom across the tables to provide inspiration. This was a very successful activity with some children becoming totally engrossed in adding lots of detail. (I had fun too drawing my own picture.) After school we were tantalised by the smell of a barbecue drifting across from the junior school who were having a fund raising event. I was too busy to go over as I am trying to get things ready for next term and do not intend to go into school during the holidays.

Speaking of holidays, I paid for our summer trip to Lundy so now I can start the pleasurable activity of planning for the holiday, which clothes (wet weather gear as well as sun block and swimming things), books (there is a good selection already there) and food (to supplement the excellent food available in the Marisco), to take. No tv, Internet or phones and the electricity goes off at midnight. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful place nearby, No long drive to the airport, only 15 mins to Ilfracombe. No long wait at the airport though there is a bit of hanging around on the quayside which only adds to the fun and then you are off for a hopefully bouncy trip first passing all our cliff walks seen from a new angle and then ever closer to Lundy. Perhaps this time we will get to see the famous puffins (Lundy means puffin in ancient Norse). I spent many unsuccessful hours hanging off cliffs in search of them last time. Meanwhile there is one more day until the Easter holiday and then another term to go. And plenty of work to do as always. This evening I cut down the last of the leylandii branches which hopefully will dry quickly so that I can burn them up and get rid of the two big piles of branches that are left. Everyday more flowers appear and now the magenta pom-poms of the rubus hedge glow like paper flowers.