Sunshine.

It was a rather grey morning but the sun came out for the afternoon. I would have like to have joined the cats in their sitting out in the sun but there there is always work to do. 

Having started the refurbishment of the downstairs toilet I planned to do some tiling. The previous owner had a serious liking for red decor which we all but eliminated when we first moved in. In the downstairs toilet I had painted over the red wallpaper, thrown out the red carpet and painted over the red accent tiles with white paint to match the new white walls. Over the years the painted accent tiles (over the sink and along the window sill) have become worn so I planned to make a new splashback using some blue mosaic tiles. Also a couple of the big white wall tiles had fallen off, these I cleaned up ready to stick back on. While I was doing all this I knew that really I should really sort out the panelling that boxed in the pipework underneath the wall tiles. In the end I ripped it all out, knocked down the blown plaster and generally cleaned up. A horrible messy job that I was glad to finish. I did discover that the cause of all the wet in that area is a weeping pipe join, between a copper fitting and the alkathene pipes, which drips very slowly. Enough to cause major damage over the years. Peter will look at it properly tomorrow and he may be able to sort it without us having to call in a plumber. After all that I did stick the mosaic tiles on the wall over the sink. When tiling I struggle with the grouting, at least the cleaning the tiles off part. I either wipe too much and start wiping the grout out from between the tiles or too much grout is left on the tiles and is a nightmare to clean off. It doesn't look too bad at the moment.

Later in the afternoon I settled down outside to finish off my holiday reading. The book is geared towards the American market so all the examples are referenced to the american schooling system so I'll have to look up the equivalent UK ages as a lot of his techniques seem to be for older children. Also there were a lot of references to sport and sports coaching (baseball and american football) which meant absolutely nothing to me. However I do love the guy for the final paragraphs in the epilogue where he specifically warns against trying to change more than 2 or 3 things about your teaching ..... the typical result is that their teaching deteriorates.... He advises that you should chose 1 or 2 techniques, and if they work for you practise them until they become second nature. So I do hope we are not going to be expected to implement the whole book straight away 'cos it aint going to work.

Went up to the bedroom to close the windows only to find the room filled with the reek of cow slurry. I saw Martin muck spreading in the field behind us earlier on so it is my fault for not going up to close the windows then.