Traffic Jam.

Very bright but rather cold today. As I drove home the the sun was disappearing from the valleys but still lighting up the hill tops. Coming round the corner into our valley I had to stop for a while because a group of riders were leading their horses back to the stables. Sarah usually gets her rides to dismount as the road is so steep and the horses could easily slip on the tarmac. The nosy foals, Ben and Doris always have to see what's going on.
At home I noticed that Smudge had wet looking legs and smelt strongly of kerosene. He must have got into something at the stables next door. So into a sink of warm soapy water he went, apart from the smell kerosene is probably not very good for the skin or being licked. Luckily none of my cats ever make too much fuss about being washed and apart from the occasional wail Smudge stood there quite calmly. When Big Cat (no longer with us) first started living wild he spent a fortnight living on/by the carcass of a sheep and and was sticky and disgustingly stinky when he returned. He tolerated a wash and a rinse in the bath.

Finally my lovely orchid which I bought simply for its beauty which is now part of my 'India' display. It's good to have beautiful things to look at.

Bye Bye Leaves.

Another day of sunshine. Being down in the valley our garden loses the sun quite quickly at this time of year. Just some bright patches on the taller trees and a welcome last ray into the conservatory which I am now claiming as my own after this summer's tidying. Hence I wasn't too pleased to find oily chainsaw parts spread out on my 'table'. It may only be a piece of ply but it is perfect for jigsaws or other projects. Currently I am adapting our scrabble board. It is a bit annoying when you turn the board or knock it and some of the letter tiles slide around so I thought for a while and came up with a solution. I'm using craft wire super-glued to the board to create recesses for each tile. It works too! I've nearly finished putting on the vertical wires onto the second half of the board and then we'll be able to play another of our highly competitive games. It may be warm but the wind is blowing hard outside. All the time it sounds as if there is a big river or even a motorway nearby. The trees are beginning to look ragged and then it will be another 6 months before the boundaries turn green again.
Lost another pound this week, going out for a meal on Friday night and then on Saturday trying out Tesco's 'Eat in for £10' deal where you chose wine, main, veg and dessert for 2 from a selection. We had crab and scallop cannelloni and petit pois & beans with sage butter. Peter says the wine is good and I saved the chocolate cheesecake until tonight and it's not bad, not as good as the ones in Lindsay's patisserie but I can manage.

Morte Point.

The sun finally came out today so Peter and I went off to Morte Point for a walk in the hazy sunshine. There were a lot of sheep and people about today.
The tide was far out and there was no sign of the seals at their usual spot. We had brought along some coffee to drink while watching the waves gently rolling in. Very soothing.

It was still quite windy but a lot of the other people we saw were in t-shirts or even in one case without, but not totally as happened last year! While I was standing on the point here trying to get a clear shot of a sea bird on a far off rock I heard Peter laughing behind me. A sparrow hawk was chasing a smaller bird directly above my head which I hadn't noticed. It zoomed away too quickly for me to try and get a picture.

A misty view of the beach road at Woolacombe where we were watching the sunset on Friday.

Back home I got some more gardening done, finished off cutting down the crocosmia mansorum and managed to cut back about half of the purple loosestrife that stands in 6ft clumps around the garden. I also cleared the long grass and some brambles growing up through a sprawling rose. Not most sensible to do that with bare arms and I have the scars to prove it.
Finally I've just about finished my school planning for the week. Peter's out playing pool again which is why I saved the planning till now.

More Shopping.

Peter was off today doing boys' things - gig rowing on the river and then shooting at the range so I had a girlie morning wandering the shops and meeting my friend for coffee and cheese cake. I didn't buy that much, just some stuff so that my class can make sock puppets and a few things towards Christmas. As it's an even year I'm expecting all the boys to be here for Christmas Day so there's more to get ready and I'm trying to start early. I'm still getting a massive kick out of being able to try on size 12 clothes, it was a shame that the Per Una jeans weren't long enough, they would have been a great bargain from the charity shop. I did buy a pair of Adidas shorts and a white Nike top again from a charity shop. I do look in all the shops but even then I gravitate towards the sale rails. My thrifty nature I suppose. After yesterday's warmth I was hopeful for today but the mist and wind kept the sun away and the temperature down. Once back home I decided to tackle cut back the clumps of giant crocosmia that stand like sentinels at the entrance to the yard. They are such easy plants only needing to be staked and tied back in the spring and then chopped down in the autumn. In the picture above one clump has been removed while the other side awaits my secateurs.
There is still quite a lot of colour in the garden. I plan to 'put the garden to bed for the winter' during the half-term holiday which is in 2 week's time.

As a lot of my time is spent in school I thought I'd show my precious domain, my Year 2 classroom/ hut. This is how I leave it in the evenings ready for the children to change their books in the morning. Once that is done the children put the boxes away leaving the tables clear for all their activities.

2 views from my chair in the opposite corner with a glimpse into my cupboard which caused me so much hassle at the end of last term. I'm looking at the picture wondering why on earth the children's pcs are still on. Usually I ask them to shut them down and then I cover them up with a cloth, that's so the burglars don't know there are pcs there, ha! Just looked closely at the picture and realised I took the photos at the start of the day. (The clock might have been a giveaway.)

Final thought, how amazing to be at that primary school in England where as a response to a letter from one of the children Cap'n Jack Sparrow and some crew mates turned up at morning assembly last Thursday. They're on location filming the next Pirates of the Carribean near there and it was a lovely gesture. No tv cameras or publicity, only a video shot on a teacher's phone of Johnny Depp doing that amazing drunken act (I don't know how that's been approved for a children's film) that makes the character so fascinating. Why couldn't that happen to us?

A Balmy Day.

It has been an exceptionally warm day today, a balmy 80F, so much warmer than most of the summer. It was also a really enjoyable day at school with puppet workshops and half my class disappearing off for gardening club in the afternoon. We had a very relaxed day with the children getting on with all sorts of art projects and finishing off work from the week. I wore an elegant Indian tunic over my trousers and we had a Bollywood cd playing for a lot of the time in class. It was so lovely in the evening (and it's due to last for just one more day) that when I got home I suggested we head off to Woolacombe to watch the sun setting over the sea and then have a meal at the Red Barn. It was a beautiful evening and there were quite a few people out watching the sunset and the massive waves. There were a lot of surfers in the water and we hadn't realised how many people park their camper vans and vws on the road for a weekend's surfing (despite the 'no over night parking' signs around).
We are so lucky having this only 20 mins from home whenever we feel like it.

We had a decent meal in the Red Barn, I had Tiger prawns with a Thai sauce and salad and Peter had a barbecue platter. The food is good rather than excellent but the view over the sea from our window seat and the fact that someone else had cooked made the evening most enjoyable. The Red Barn is a very relaxed surfer type of place with a fair sprinkling of kids and the occasional dog around. A blues band were setting up which we would have enjoyed but we decided not to wait as we were feeling rather tired. Our walk back along the road to the car was accompanied by the roar of the waves and the rare sound of crickets in the undergrowth. Before driving off we stopped to lean back up on the car and stare up at all the stars. The street lights behind us spoiled the night sky a bit but back at home we had a clearer view of all those countless stars. What a wonderful evening.

Technology failure.

Another school day has flown by. The sun has been shining outside and we spent a happy morning at the Leisure Centre where the children have their swimming lessons. There is so much to get through that we have to have a packed afternoon even though some of them are quite tired. Handwriting, yes with those books with the little blue and red lines, followed by the story of Rama and Sita with the children all participating with puppets they made the other day though I'm not quite sure the gun fire sound effects for the battle against Ravanna were that authentic. My boys get rather enthusiastic about battles. And then they sorted Indian animals into herbivores and carnivores. The big Smart Board is so easy to use. I can draw, add text and as many pictures as I like from the net and then the children can move them about on the large touch screen. After playtime the children had a phonics session before finally going home at 3.30. Tomorrow we've got a visiting puppet workshop so I've planned a far more relaxed arts based day. The sunny evenings make driving home such a pleasure so I thought I'd show some of the typical views as I drive along.

There is a gateway here on the left where I usually stop to check out the sunset over the sea. This was also the road I walked down in the dark when it was completely iced over after having a hip injection under x-ray at the hospital last December. Happy memories!

At least my pc is working tonight. Yesterday I was filling in a job application form (for next January) and although I've got several printed off copies I thought it would be better to fill in the form on the pc and print it off filled in. I found the form, spent a long time filling it in and then the whole thing froze right up. I now know that I should have down loaded the blank form and then filled it in which is what I am about to do now. Also our Sky box has given up the ghost and despite having 24 hr cover they can't bring a new box until Monday. We have Freeview in the kitchen but it's not the same as sitting on the floor (my most comfortable position) with some hot milk and a few squares of dark chocolate. I'm such a creature of habit but at least there is nothing special that I was planning to watch.

Autumn Sunshine.

It was another beautiful afternoon and evening. Now that we have the heater for a morning boost of heat my classroom is a lovely place to be. We have windows down the length of 2 sides and it feels so bright and cheery. I finally feel that I am properly organised in the classroom though there are some cupboards that need to be tidied. The art supplies cupboard under my sink is a veritable Pandora's box. Everything has been shoved in there and I only dare slide the door open a little and pull out the things I need. I'd love to have the time to drag everything out and get it all really sorted. Views on the way home.