Hectic.

Not even a frost this morning but on TV they announced that the Link Road near Barnstaple was clear of snow. So there must have been some around, maybe nearer South Molton. I was in town after work and they were putting salt down on the High Street and surrounding pavements. It was a lovely morning so naturally I found some jobs to do in the garden. I did take the precaution of wearing a watch because I know how one job leads to another and I did have to go to school in the afternoon. My main outdoor job was to pollard the 2 big willow trees in the hens' run. They are so fast growing that they have to be done each year. Usually the branches grow 6-8ft in a year but it was a sign of the poor year we had that most of the branches were 2-3ft and even the 5ft branches growing right at the tops were no fatter than a pencil. That made my job easier and they were cut and cleared in less than an hour. I even had time to cut back the brambles that had grown into the  run.

My art activity for the afternoon was to introduce the children to drawing a room in 3-d and then for them to make some textured paper to collage the walls of the room. All this was based on a set of illustrations I had been given. My plan went a little awry when I was seduced by some boxes of pastels in shades of grey that I found in the stock cupboard (instead of using wax crayons). The children had a great time finding different textures in the playground to make their rubbings but I think that part of the attraction was the sheer amount of mess they made, mainly on themselves. They then had to make templates and cut out the shaded paper to stick on yet another piece of paper to make the room. Some children managed but others struggled. It was a good discussion point for the plenary and when the other 15 children (who had been drawing monsters in their sketch books) do it next week I shall adapt my plan to something less messy. After school I went into town to take some books back to the library. Even though I can renew my books on-line I still manage to forget and I had to pay a fine on 2 of them for being one day late. For some reason the third book didn't show up on my account, I think because it originated from another library.

So after an incredibly hectic afternoon here is a peaceful photo from last Sunday's beach walk, looks a bit like a dinosaur to me.