Thunderstorms.

A loud clap of thunder woke me at 5.00 so I leapt out of bed and did my usual rushing around unplugging the PCs and the router. Only a few more rumbles after that so I went back to sleep for a couple of hours. The sun came out later in the morning and I was able to carry on with my paving repairs. I was just finishing off the mortar in the bucket when down came a really heavy shower of rain. Which was actually a bonus as I had repaired 2 very damaged slabs but could only smooth the cement with my trowel while the paving slabs, due to much use of the pressure washer, have a rough stony surface. The rain has created a stippled effect in the cement which looks a little better. I did smooth out the sections of 'mortar' as best as I could. 

Then at mid-day the thunder rumbled again. We could see that the storm was a few miles off but unplugged things anyway. The power lines must have been hit as suddenly the washing machine beeped at me and all its lights came on and our digital clocks flicked to zero and began flashing.

I took these photos of the storm on my way to work. I didn't see any lightning but the thunder was rumbling away. A good thing I'm not scared of thunderstorms. Peter said the storm continued for a couple of hours but down in town it was bright and sunny with an occasional shower but no thunder.

I had another afternoon in reception doing much the same as yesterday, phonics, trains and readers. Overheard in the playground, "I love you, you are my best friend."

Coming home I had to wait for the Lewis' cows to amble to the farmyard. I can now tell you that cows walk at 3 mph. At home I squeezed in another session cutting the long grass on the bank. Slowly I'm getting the garden ready for winter. (It's a good thing that winter doesn't start until about December giving me plenty of time to cut things back and generally tidy up.)

More Rain.

It was raining heavily when I first woke up this morning so I couldn't rush out to get on with pointing the slabs. When I stuck my head out of doors a bit later on I realised that the rain had stopped and the pitter patter was just the rain falling off trees. By mid-morning the sun was shinning again so I spent the rest of the morning clearing out the gaps between the slabs of the next section so that I'm ready to get straight on with mixing mortar the next time it is dry. I did hope to do that when I got home from school as the afternoon had been hot and sunny but as I turned the final corner before home black rain clouds loomed. I thought I had better not take a chance so naturally the sun came out again. Instead I cut some more of the long grass on the bank. I could do it with the strimmer but that is quite heavy to swing up and down and I don't like the idea of bits of mashed up slug flicking up at me. The shears do a much tidier job and I was able to roll the matted grass down the slope as I worked. When I had finished the grass was in a long sausage which I then rolled up like a carpet.

A bit of an embarrassing moment today-  after school I filled up with petrol only to find that I had left my debit card at home. (When we go out for a walk I don't like to carry my heavy leather purse (wallet) so I put my RAC card and debit card along with a little cash in a small fabric purse.) Luckily it was a local petrol station so once I filled out a form I have 7 days to pay and I'll be able to pop in tomorrow. Silly me.

I was working with my reception class today. I'm slowly getting there with the names but with Miley, Myla, Isla, Elsa & Elsie in the class I still get a bit mixed up. I was really pleased today to see that one little girl who was always on her own at playtimes even when I tried to encourage her to join in, spent the whole time playing, running and generally having fun with another girl from the class. There's nothing wrong with children wanting to play on their own but if it looks to be shyness causing isolation then we worry and try to find a solution. 

This morning I found my one surviving sunflower bent over where a slug had eaten part of the stem. I've propped it up but I don't give much for its chances.

I've just heard Patch making "Look what I've got." noises from the conservatory. And there he was tucking into a pigeon. The pigeon, having been exchanged for a couple of handfuls of dry cat food, is now in the hedge.

Some Rain.

No sun today but it has been a little warmer under the cloud cover. I had another session working on repointing the paving slabs. The hardest part of the job is removing as much as possible of the old mortar. I've also had to do quite a lot of repair to the corners of the slabs themselves where the boys used to land their skateboards after jumping down the step. After nearly 20 years of hard usage the slabs themselves could do with being replaced but that is not a job we're going to tackle. 

It started to rain as I reached the last of the cement in my bucket so I only got a little wet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a few more dry spells this week so I can get on and maybe finish the job. 

Colder.

We had some heavy rain in the early hours of the morning and though bright it is a lot colder today. I'm really glad that I got the mowing done yesterday. The wind has brought down lots of leaves on the back lawn but the other lawns are looking good and hopefully I can ease off with the mowing soon. It has been a beautiful day for working outside but my back is quite sore so I was happy to abandon my work plans and go out for a walk instead. Going out on to the point Lundy was visible on the horizon and it was possible to see the main buildings: the church, lighthouses and Mill House, with the naked eye. Maybe we'll go back there one day.

It's the first time we have been out for a proper walk since my op at the beginning of the summer and it felt good to stride out across the wild beauty of Morte Point.  

There were quite a few people in the village but very few out walking on the cliffs. Peter wrapped up well but I was happy in shorts with a bodywarmer to keep off the breeze. The sea was fairly rough and there were no signs of any seals. We took coffee with us and we sat in our usual spot watching the waves crashing on to the rocks.  

The air was very clear and we could see the welsh coastline across the sea. Maybe one day we'll be sitting there looking back at the North Devon coastline. 

Back home I cooked up a big pan of stewed apples using the apples from our trees and put the ingredients for a fruit loaf into the breadmaker. I think my recent failures with the breadmaker have been due to using very old dried yeast so I bought some more and hopefully the fruit loaf will rise according to plan.

Warm.

It is still very warm. Having the alarm go off at 6.00 isn't so bad when the room is 20C /68F. (I'm not looking forward to getting up on cold winter mornings.) I've been teaching a Year 2 class for the whole day though for the second half of the afternoon I swapped classes to teach a geography lesson to the other Year 2 class while my class had PE. I'm doing so much swapping around that I still get the children's names mixed up especially as the same names turn up in nearly every class. Popular are the names; Thomas, Henry, Charley, Charlotte, Milly, Katie, Alex, Ellie, Jaiden and Max which appear at least once or twice in every class but often with differing spellings. I teach 90 children regularly so no wonder I get confused especially as the guided reading groups and the phonics groups contain children from 4 different classes. 

The roads on the way home were (relatively) busy with tractors and trailers rushing to and from the fields getting the silage cut before the heavy rains arrive. I too was rushing home to get the grass cut. As I drove around the blind bend in the country road a tractor came zooming up from the opposite direction but I was going slowly enough to stop and squeeze on to the verge. Funnily enough I had just been thinking " Suppose a tractor appears from around that corner." Safely home I cut all the grass so now the lawns look nice and tidy. Mowing is a very good way to clear all the fallen leaves. 

Yesterday's drive took us through the old market town of Crediton .

Sunny.

In the absence of an official designation Peter and I declared our 38th wedding anniversary, which is today, a recycled glass anniversary when we saw and bought these wine goblets. We had agreed that we wouldn't be buying each other a gift but it was nice to exchange cards.

Peter did buy me this beautiful orchid, chocolates and fruit so I have been very spoiled. How nice to have a breakfast of fresh figs and Lindor chocolates while I made Peter some bacon and mushrooms instead of his usual toast and marmite.

I had a morning appointment at the hospital in Exeter which Peter drove me to giving me the chance to take photos of the route. The 106 mile round trip for a 10 min chat with the consultant was so much better with some one to talk to. Nothing much came of my appointment, I had to report that currently my symptoms are actually worse than before the operation but it could be because all the bending that occurs in my daily life is keeping my back sore and so affects the trapped nerves. If there is no improvement in 6 months I'm to phone him and we'll go from there. I also gave the consultant a copy of the nice apology I got from the hospital after I complained about the mess up in the admin office. The letter says there was no reduction in staff which wasn't correct so I gave the consultant the letter to do with what he wanted.

 Some of the varied views driving along the old main road to Exeter.

When we got home  we went down to the beach with a picnic of smoked salmon sandwiches, a flask of coffee and some mini baklava. It was incredibly warm and it was hard to find a place to park. I ended up calling out to an older chap asking him to move his vehicle forward as he had parked with over half a car length empty front and back. Then he stood watching to make sure I didn't touch the back of his precious 4x4 as I reversed into the space. Barricane Beach was fairly empty with just a few older people and mums with babies and toddlers. Everyone one else was down on Woolacombe Beach or out surfing. The sea wasn't that cold either as I went for a paddle up to my knees.

When we got home I used the branch loppers to cut down 2 big stands of purple loosestrife while Peter prepared out evening meal of spare ribs, baby potatoes and beans,

A Little Rain.

We had a short shower yesterday evening and although it has stayed dry today and remarkably warm there are a lot more rain clouds in the sky. 

I've been at school all day, working with the Year 2 children in the morning and back to the Year 1 children in the afternoon. Our morning started with maths and then we went on the coach down to the Leisure Centre for their swimming lessons. Luckily I don't have to teach the swimming lessons, though I have had to do so on supply work, just get them there, changed and waiting poolside for their instructors. This year we have been allocated 2 changing rooms unlike last year when we had 30 children changing in quite a small space. My colleague asked if I wanted to be with the girls or the boys and though I didn't really mind either way I chose the girls. I had forgotten about swimming hats which the girls are supposed to wear. Some of them were quite hard to get on! And a couple of girls have just had their ears pierced so although earrings are not allowed we put plasters over them and tucked them under their hats. I sat and kept an eye on the very beginner group as a number of them were children with poor attention spans ie rather lively in the water. I'm so glad that I checked with my colleague about one child with specific behavioural problems and was told he was very confident. Otherwise I may well have jumped into the pool myself when I looked at the row of children standing in the water and he was just a shape on the bottom of the pool - it was the shallow end. I went on alert but not panic mode and he popped up immediately, big sigh of relief from me.

Staff meeting after school followed by a visit to the Co-Op and home in the evening light.

It's a little hard to tell but there are 3 hills in the photo the final ones being moorland covered with browning bracken.  And on the other side is the sea, the Bristol Channel to be exact.