Battles With a Printer.

I got all (bar one) of my reports printed out today. That may not sound like a great achievement but it certainly is taking into account how temperamental the school printer is. Each report is 5 pages long and I needed to print 30 of them, In theory you can just send the whole lot through to the printer but that would be asking for trouble. It's a heavy duty printer almost the size of a small filing cabinet but it gets jammed at the slightest provocation. Seeing how much trouble other people were having I printed the reports one at a time. Even so the printer was churning out wadges of blank paper, getting paper jammed in its innards or refusing to print at all . I replaced the paper with a fresh lot from a new packet and riffled the paper to make sure it wouldn't stick but still the printer played up. I gave a big sigh of relief when the final report was printed. I still want to read through them before I hand them over for perusal. I find it's too easy to miss something when you're working on a screen. Having given my kids lots of maths activities today , I was able to take lots more photos which I plan to stick in tonight. The sun was trying to shine through the clouds on my way into work this morning.
And there was an interesting cloudscape on my way home this evening.

The wind was blowing the foxgloves around so much I had to hold onto the top with one hand while I took the photo.

E-Profiles Nearly Done.

A very quick post tonight as I intend to have one last session on my e-profiles tonight, adding comments based on Arts' Weeks and having a final read through before we print them out tomorrow afternoon. Then they'll be read through by our Headteacher for a final check and if there are no corrections that will be that job finished and ready for the afternoons when the parents come in to look at the profiles and talk things through with us. Tomorrow is the end of Arts' Weeks' though I have so many ideas that we may have a few more sessions next week. In a couple of weeks it'll be Sports' Day (morning) and the parents are officially invited into the classrooms to look at all the art work though of course they come into the classroom every morning and the children have been proudly showing off all their lovely work. They have done so many different things from clay work to sewing to (my favourite) making giant caterpillars from the legs of coloured tights stuffed with bubble wrap. I've bought some natural tights to make earthworms tomorrow.

Linas returned home tonight for a few days and if the weather gets a bit drier he hopes to earn some money doing heavy jobs around the garden. There is plenty to do and I don't mind paying if the jobs get done.

The roses are in full bloom around the front door and the paving below is littered with rose petals blown off by the fierce winds of the last few days.
Must go now and knuckle down to schoolwork.

Pretty Hens.

Back down to Braunton this evening for a walk on the marshes while Romas had his drum lesson. I parked further up the road today to give me more time to look for the swan. Looking along the waterway I spotted a solitary waterlily. The water lilies on the pond at home hardly ever produce any flowers, I think that the pond isn't deep enough for them.

I found the swan and her cygnet but I couldn't persuade her to swim down the waterway towards me. As I was throwing bread to the hens their owner and his 2 sons turned up to see to the hens. he told me that this is the first time in 4 years that even 1 cygnet has survived the foxes. They then invited me to walk in their field to get some pictures from a different angle.

The swan spent most of her time in this overgrown section of the waterway so I didn't get any clear pictures but it was a different perspective.


The boys invited me to come and see their hens by the stable so off I went to talk hens with this friendly family. They had a mixed little flock including these 2, 12 week old something Blues.

There was also one little silkie, I used to have several of these bought in a mixed lot at Hatherleigh market. They are such funny creatures.

As the road was quite narrow I decided to follow it through the marsh out to the main road. It really is beautiful out there. I had to stop and take a few more pictures even though I was a bit late collecting Romas.

This evening I've got yet more photos to stick in the reports we give to the parents. I tallied up how many photos I need to stick in the reports and it comes to a staggering 570 photos to be taken, printed, cut out and stuck in the reports. Rather excessive !

The tablets I took last night were really powerful. I was totally woozy all evening and taking a second lot before I went to bed sent me straight to sleep though I did wake with a bit of a muzzy head. I checked the dosage in the morning and there is 4x the amount of codine phosphate in these compared to the co-codamol you can buy at the pharmacy. I'll just take 2 tonight.

Misty Morning.

It was a misty morning today. The day stayed overcast but warm and the threatening rain held off.

As ever I'm enjoying Arts' Weeks though some of my colleagues are looking forward to a return to their normal timetables. In the reception classes we've continued our daily phonics sessions and all the individual reading. A lot of our maths teaching is through what I've called 'Maths in Action', where maths is intertwined into our daily routines rather than being separate activities, so that continues as well.

I went to see the doctor today about my arm. Not a very useful visit as my GP is away for the week and the doctor I saw didn't make any diagnosis. He ended up asking me what I wanted! and when I suggested physiotherapy might help he agreed to refer me too the physio. He also gave me some stronger painkillers as I'd said the co-codamol had no effect. I can take these up to 4 times a day so I took some when I got home and now I feel totally spaced out. I think I'll stick to taking them just before bedtime.

Update on the Swine Flu situation in the UK. 1,200 people diagnosed and 1 person has died though the reports say there were other factors. To put this in perspective, 10,000 people die each year in the UK from 'ordinary' flu.

Finally I had to show off my flower of the moment in all its double glory.

Pretty Lynmouth.

As promised here are some pictures of Lynmouth itself, taken yesterday. Lynmouth is on the north coast of Devon flanked by the tallest cliffs in England. Lynmouth was originally a small fishing village at the head of the Lyn river , which on the 30th August 1952, was devastated by a flash flood originating on the hills of Exmoor behind, which brought massive boulders down the river valley. A row of riverside cottages was totally destroyed and 35 people lost their lives.

Nowadays it is mainly a tourist village filled with gift shops and places to eat or drink. People come to walk in the beautiful Lyn Valley, up towards Watersmeet, and on Exmoor above.

Looking towards the end of the road car park where we managed to find nearly the last parking space. The much bigger town of Lynton is on top of the cliff behind.


To reach Lynton you can either take the water powered cliff railway or walk up a steep and winding path.



There are some fishing boats in the harbour which are used for lobster fishing but most are either private yachts or are used for tourist trips up the coast.

Yesterday the road was filled with happy festival goers enjoying the sunshine and a few beers in the many pubs.

Street busking is part of the festival and outside The Rising Sun small bands, such as this skiffle band, played to an appreciative audience.

The old cottages climb right up the side of the cliff.

As we left for home , the tide was out showing the rocky beach and the clouds beginning to gather in.

Today has been a strange day, weather wise. There was a weather warning on the morning tv forecast for thunder and heavy rain. That is what we had in Barnstaple, torrential rain at 10.15 which cleared up by lunch time and then after school while we were all having fun drawing and painting exotic flowers, there was a very loud thunderstorm. Yet at home, only 6 miles away, there was not a drop of rain though Peter did hear the thunderstorm.

LLAMA.

Had a wonderful day today at the Lynton and Lynmouth music festival. I love listening to almost any sort of music in the open air (except hip-hop which does absolutely nothing for me) and to to bask in the sunshine and have the sea in the background makes it perfect. Even better, it's free and only 12 miles from home. The festival lasts for the weekend but we've always just gone there on the Sunday. Sometimes its been overcast and distinctly cold with the wind blowing in from the sea but today the sun shone until it started going down behind the cliffs at about 7.30. One of the problems with Lynmouth is the limited parking. We got there a little after 11.00 and got one of the last places in the car park. Other years we've had to park in Lynton and walk down the cliff path. A nice walk down but not such fun at the end of the day. The first band to play was an Australian girl, Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halos. They were pleasant to listen to.
Then another band, The Travelling Band, who were also good.

And then a brangra/rock band who were lively and fun. After that there was a band from Bristol , kind of reggae/ska . Their last 2 numbers were hip-hop which I don't like and Peter got very annoyed because it was definitely gangster (gangsta?) rap and he finds the words and sentiments quite offensive.

It's a beautiful setting, down below the wooded gorge of the Lyn Valley, (think Lorna Doone) . All the local hippies turn up plus locals enjoying a day out and plenty of young people many of whom camp at the local campsites. Part of the fun of such events is meeting up with friends ( more in Peter's case than mine this year) and people watching.




I kept spotting sunglasses that I liked and pointing them out to Pete. Funny how many of them were on good looking young men.

This was the sort of event where long hair was common both on men as well as girls. While I've never liked dreads, ( I warned Romas that any dreads would be chopped off by me in the night), this (blond) guy has the the most amazing hair almost down to his knees. Last year he won the busking competition. I think long hair looks good on blokes as well as girls and I love the fact that both Vytas and Romas have hair that is longer than mine. Linas had hair almost to his waist and then he cut it off :( .

There are always plenty of food and drink stands and unlike some of the other festivals where you have to pay to get in, the prices are not sky high. Partially this is because the festival merges with the adjacent pubs and eating places in Lynmouth and unlike Oceanfest the stall holders are not themselves charged an exorbitant fee by the organisers. LLAMA is done more on a voluntary basis and only needs to cover the overheads. A man does come round with a bucket for donations and you are asked to support the site bar which also does some food. We complied by having a fresh waffle (me) and nachos with chili, sour cream and cheese (Pete).

For liquid refreshment , apart from the on site bar and local pubs, jugs of Pimms were very popular.

Or for the more health conscious there were fresh fruit drinks available.

And of course there were stalls selling hippy/indian clothing and jewellery and stuff.

I had a great time checking out the jewellery. Normally there will only be one or 2 stalls like this at the local market but here there was plenty of choice.

You know that nursery rhyme line - Rings on her finger and bells on her toes. Well that described my purchases , except the ring was my first toe ring and the bells were a bracelet made entirely of small purple bells. And there was another ankle bracelet (I was already wearing one), a pretty torque, a necklace and some earrings. And I also found a pair of really wild,, cheap sunglasses in a shop on the street, wrap around, mirrored surf/ski type. All Peter could say was 'wow'. (I was very tempted to get an air brushed 'tattoo' but that might not have gone down too well at work even on a temporary basis.)

There was a recycling theme going on and some excellent craft like these recycled bottles,

and drift wood lights.

Being an open & free festival there were a lot of dogs around. Spot the lab on his back with his paws in the air.

And this beautiful greyhound sat quite peacefully near us.

Just a little taste of the festival music. Sorry about the swinging around style, I haven't had much practise making videos. Emily, told us that a little while ago they had been doing some house gigs when she was approached by a producer/ responsible for doing the music for tv series. He asked her if he could use one of her songs for a series (Wallander)he was doing with Kenneth Brannagh , she agreed and the song got nominated for and won a Bafta award.

It's been a wonderful day and I'll post pictures of Lynmouth itself tomorrow.

Old Barnstaple.

Despite it being Saturday it was an early start to the day as Peter had to leave by 7.00 to drive down to Camborne (230 miles round trip) for a day's study and exam, (it was to do with routers and other networking stuff). I too had an early start, did some housework and went into town earlyish. I had to visit the bank, post office and library and then had a leisurely stroll around the shops looking for that elusive top that will cover up the flab and still make me look totally glamorous. Needless to say such a thing doesn't exist but it's fun looking. I also searched for sunglasses to wear after I get my eyes done. I know what I want but even going into the pricey surf/sports shops I didn't find the right pair. I'll probably end up getting a £2 pair from Primark. It was sunny but cool in town and there weren't too many people around, I hate being jostled in crowds or having to dodge slow moving groups which always seem to stop right in front of me. I did manage to get some clear photos of some of the older parts of town. The spire of the church is twisted because after it was built the timbers shrank unevenly as they dried out.
This is a 14thC chapel that was later the school , (in one tiny room).

The almshouses are still lived in by 'the deserving poor', ie needy older residents of Barnstaple. These narrow alleys are the original town roads.

Back home I finished off some school paperwork and tried to enjoy the patches of sunshine. One minute it was burning hot, the next it would be rather cool.

More of the hardy geraniums are coming into flower. There is such a range of colours and sizes and they will flower for some weeks.

This one is psilostemon, a large flowered tall variety.

This is 'Roxanne' which I bought years ago at the Gardeners' World Show at the NEC.

As well as the iris there are 3 of the common varieties here.

I like the unusual foliage of this one which has a special place up in the scree garden.

Earlyish night tonight as we are both rather tired, as always.