Sunny.

A fairly warm and sunny morning turned into a blisteringly hot afternoon. Trust the weather to improve just as we go back to school.

The hanging baskets are still looking good apart from one which has lost all the surfinias. That was because a slug got in there and by the time I found and disposed of it the surfinia stems were stripped and died back. I'm pleased with the lobelia that I grew from seed so I'll try to remember to do that again next year. I was up early this morning and had all my housework done and washing in the machine by 8.30. That gave me time to do some work on the sofa cover. I repinned the fabric onto the cover as I noticed a mark on the duvet cover and although it won't be seen I will know it's there. So far the fabric has been ironed and pinned onto the zip ready for sewing. I think I may be able to do a lot of the sewing with the machine and only have to do the awkward corners by hand. Before getting ready for work there was time to do a bit more work on the journal. Reading through past blog posts there were some pictures and events that crop up every year though some have run their course now that the boys are no longer at home. And it was fun to recall some of the one-off events that happened, nothing like photos to bring back memories.

At school my first afternoon with the children was split between 2 classes doing the same phonics activities in both. These are the children who were last year's Reception classes so they knew me already. Half the children I knew really well and I'm sure it wont take long to remember the names of the rest of the children. 

After school we had a staff meeting that went on until 5.15. We went through our diaries working backwards from Christmas and then the meeting was about assessment. Most of the data input and analysis doesn't affect me but I need to keep up to speed on the assessment criteria because I do give the class teachers information about their children and I try to do that in a format that relates to their records.