A Monday Lie-in.

It was grey and rather cold first thing this morning so I was glad that I could have a bit of a lie-in. This was because I was heading off to the local hospital for another MRI scan as it has been a year since the last one. Having decided to change hospitals (ie doctor) the whole process starts again though they do have access to my previous scan. This time a made sure I had a blanket as I found it quite cold last time and I was going to be stuck in the scanner for half an hour. Of course the minute they ask you to lie still you start thinking that your leg is going to twitch and the more you think about it the harder it is to stay still but the classical music in my headphones helped.

It was strange coming into work at lunchtime as I've been full-time for nearly a year now. The sun was out and the afternoon passed in a whirl. Another staff meeting after school, some quick planning and then home. The sun was a great flaming ball in my rear view mirror and as it was still a pink twilight when I got home I threw on my walking boots and went up the hill. It is only half a mile to the road but the steep hill makes for a good cardio-vascular workout. I gave into the temptation to run a little at the top but common sense told me my knee would suffer so reluctantly I confined myself to walking with longer and faster strides.

I'll publish this post and then attempt to download some photos from my camera. Peter did some work on my PC last night and it does seem to be running a bit better. Keep your fingers crossed.

Another Walk.

It wasn't as sunny today but we still got out to Morte Point for a walk. We did our usual shorter walk as Peter's ankle wasn't up to another long hike. Due to the chill wind and lack of sun there were less people around but once we had wrapped up well we were fine. We gave up glamour in favour of comfort. At least today we didn't leave the flask of coffee at home, as happened yesterday. The sea was fairly calm and we haven't seen any seals for some time. They must be off in quieter breeding grounds. On the way home I had to bring the car to a halt as 2 pheasants refused to get out of the road. They then walked onto the verge and started sparring with each other.

Back home I was very tempted to go and work outside but I do hate getting to Sunday evening and still be working on my planning so after quickly unblocking a down pipe drain that I noticed was overflowing (stinky old rotting leaves) I did my planning that is after getting some bread started and having another go at a chestnut cake. The last one was not very chestnutty so I reduced the amount of flour, added a handful of sugar, a chopped up half a bar of 70% dark chocolate and some flaked almonds left over from Christmas. I'm testing the cake as I type and it is good. That was however the last of the cheap tins of pureed chestnuts which are normally quite expensive so no more chestnut cake for the time being.

Peter is going to run a repair disc on my PC now so maybe I'll be able to get my photos without everything grinding to a halt.

Dinosaur!

That's what Peter said as we drove along the country lanes on our way out for a walk at Mortehoe. I thought he might be pulling my leg but sure enough on the return journey I slowed down in a gateway and there outside some farm buildings was what looked like a large bright green brontosaurus. Our guess is that it is a carnival float. Carnivals are very traditional in the South-West and it is often local hauliers who donate the use of their flat bed lorries to charities or local clubs who are entering a carnival.

A very similar looking American carnival dinosaur.

It has been another sunny day though there was a lot of high wispy cloud so it was great to get out for a walk. We went a little further today, starting off by going through the village and then down to the cliffs by Rockham Bay before swinging back towards our usual route. This involved one set of 'never ending stairs' which was a good test for Peter's ankles and my knee. I need to do some training and walk longer distances as I have signed up to go on the Night Walk with a group from school. This is a ladies only charitable walk (in May) in aid of the local hospice. It is along the Tarka Trail going between Bideford and Barnstaple. You can walk in either direction but we are going to be driven out to Bideford and walk towards home which is good in one way but does mean that we shall be walking with our backs to the sunset. The Tarka Trail runs along the river and estuary and is easy in terms of being level and asphalt or gravel all the way but it is 11 miles so I need to do more stamina work going up and down the cliffs and hills. While we were out walking today we noticed a container ship stationary out in the Bristol Channel. Using our binoculars we were able to see a rescue helicopter from Chivenor hovering overhead. Eventually it got right over the ship and dropped down to below the level of the superstructure, amazing flying skills and then(presumably after picking up a casualty) it headed back to land towards the hospital in Barnstaple. This was not the end of our little events, driving back near Indicott we could see several cars and tractors with big trailers/slurry tanks attached, stopped in the road. Driving up close we saw that one of the tractors had fallen sideways onto the hedge, it must have pulled over to let the other tractor past and hit a soft bit of verge. It was tilted over at about a 45 degree angle but I can't imagine anyone was hurt. Back home I did some work out in the garden sawing off an overhanging branch of a May tree. It's on our boundary so I don't know if it is ours but the vicious thorns threaten to take my eye out when I go up there so I feel fully justified at attacking it with my bow saw. This evening we are having a meal made mainly from the reduced section in Tescos, mushrooms which I've cooked in butter and garlic, a selection of Indian bahjees and some home made parsnip, carrot and potato soup which I've flavoured with turmeric.

Invasion By Flocks Of Birds?

Another bright sunny day that started rather cold. As predicted there must have been flocks of all sorts of birds flying around judging by the 'sightings' my class recorded on their bird watching walks around the grounds. Never mind, the object of the exercise was to have a go and be enthusiastic not to make a scientific survey.

I finally got fed up with mud being dragged into the classroom after each playtime and the resultant chaos as the children change out of their shoes especially as they are not even allowed on the field (we do have our no-mow which is so much better) so now we have a sign that reads Muddy shoes = miss a playtime. That should solve the problem. The fine weather continued throughout the day with some children not even bothering to wear their jumpers out in the playground. And in the afternoon the illusion of a summer's day was added to by a performance of morris dancing by the Ilfracombe Red Petticoats morris dancers. The jingle of the bells and the jolly sound of the melodion (a little accordion) and a trombone put me in mind of a summer fete. They gave a short talk first which was quite interesting, at least for us adults. I hadn't realised there were different types of morris dancing, this lot danced in the North West style which originated in the mills around Manchester and features little wooden sticks with bells and swingy rope things as well as these big hoops. The morris men who dance at the Green Man festival dance in the Border style with blacked up faces and coats made from strips of rag or cloth while the morris men who wear mainly white outfits and wave handkerchiefs are dancing in the Cotswold style. There are even some who dance with swords. After several dances they they picked some of the children to come up and learn a dance. A nice way to end a Friday afternoon. A stock photo of the Red Petticoats dancing in Braunton. Note the traditional wooden soled clogs.

Still Here.

Last night's clear skies meant that it was freezing first thing. I had to clear the ice from my car windscreen before setting off and by the time I got to the top of the hill it was iced over once more. More sunshine all through the day so I've been taking every opportunity to get my class outside. I shuffled round my timetable and took the children down to the Secret Garden to draw maps and collect some leaves and other small items. All around there are signs of spring, buds on the willow tree, crocus and narcissi flowering and new growth everywhere. We then had an impromptu skipping session outside and tomorrow the children will be down there again, alas only 1/2 the class at a time so I'll be doing some on-line charts with the other half while my TA and her group look for birds. The children are rather optimistic in their bird sightings, I'm sure that if there was a flamingo on their check list some of them would swear they had seen one. I daren't upload any new pictures so here are some snowdrops taken this day last year.

Poorly PC

Wow, my PC actually turned on tonight. But it is definitely in terminal decline and uploading photos from my camera seems to send it into a coma. I think that my blogging is going to be a bit hit and miss for the foreseeable future. Today we have had the most glorious sunshine and at times it felt positively warm. No need even for a light fleece over my sleeveless t-shirt. With the sunshine and not travelling in the dark my spirits are feeling so much brighter. Also I've had confirmation that I shall be full-time until the end of the year (Sept) which means that our finances will be healthy this year. Once the sun went down the temperature dropped so rapidly that I've put the heating on for an hour to take the chill off the place. The bill for last week's oil delivery has come and it is over £200 less than the last lot for the same amount of oil. I need to keep my fingers crossed that the situation in the Middle East doesn't send prices rocketing again. Yesterday I was driving home admiring the soft pinks and blues of the evening sky when through a gateway I caught sight of a flash of vivid red as the sunset burst from under a cloud bank.
Tonight my way home was lit by a blazing gold sun but though I took pictures I daren't take the risk of uploading them. Better blog with what I have for the time being.
Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow but if not then the PC will be having another sick day.

Blown Away.

The sun was out again today making our walk at Morte Point a real pleasure. That was after I had washed some of the long sitting room curtains and got them out on the line to dry in the strong wind. Down by the sea the wind had whipped up the sea into a white froth which was being blown right up onto the cliff.

Little balls of foam were flying up into the air and lying all over the grass.

We had wrapped up like a pair of elderly SAS members with ear muffs, neck warmers pulled up to our noses, Gortex caps and dark glasses to protect our eyes from the sun and wind. It was too windy to stop for our coffee break on this side and going around the Point I clung to the rocks to keep myself from being blown over.

Instead we stopped on the more sheltered side to enjoy some coffee and chestnut cake. Once home it was more housework and yet more school planning. Back to work again tomorrow, oh joy!