Still Sunny.

The sun was shining again today. I had an hour to spend working in the garden before school so I made a start on weeding the rocky hillside. It was very satisfying to pull out the brambles and loosestrife complete with their roots. I worked my way up the slope clearing the moss from the  tops of the stones that make up my secret steps as well as any weeds growing amongst the hardy geraniums. I didn't quite get to the top but already it is looking a lot better.

At school I was in the reception class for quite a hectic afternoon. Hectic because I didn't have a teaching assistant so had to keep all the children in the room instead of letting half play outside. I still had to get them all to practise writing  'g' in their  books and mark each book. 

After school I dropped into a friend's house for a cuppa and to see the renovations she's recently had done. It was great to chat and to relax after such a full on afternoon. After that I went down to the Co-Op. I needed 2 things but only came out with one of them plus some good reductions, mainly cheeses. Then I met another ex-colleague in the car park and we had a long chat catching up on each other's news.

Driving home there was a subtly pretty sun-set, mostly greys and pinks. 

Lots Done.

Yet another beautiful day but the rumour is that wet weather will be here by the middle of the week. I got up early to put some washing in the machine and if I had been staying at home I would have hung everything out on the line but just to be sure I put it all over the rayburn. In the morning I trimmed some of the heathers and then planted lots of heather cuttings in the nursery bed. If they all grow, and I did use rooting powder, then I'll have the nice basis of a new heather bed. I also cooked up another enormous pan of stewed apple. 

At school it was the last week of the music we've been listening to from the new Fantasia film, Firebird this time. After half term I'll be back to RE when I can use last year's plans. When I got home it was still sunny, an hour or so before I took these photos, so I got out the lawn mower. It was satisfying clearing the leaves at the same time. The bottom lawn looks especially verdant, mainly due to all the moss. The little lawn where I park my car was transformed from a brown leafy mess to a tidy green area but the satisfaction was outweighed by the frequent emptying of the grass box. Too much bending down for my back.

Even then I wasn't done as the bedding needed ironing. However it's all done and back on the bed and now I have Downton Abbey to relax with. 

Anecdote from school - as I walked across the playground at lunchtime many children were holding and eating a square of cake from the school dinner (I'm surprised that a number of children still bring packed lunches as school dinners are free). One of the reception children came up to me and said "I'm eating my cake." and his friend who wasn't, held up his hand and said "I'm eating imaginary cake." Not bad for a 4 year old.

Too Many Plantains.

Not the edible sort but the weed that is so hard to dig out of grass. My aim today was to finish weeding the topmost planted area on the slope and tidy up the grass above it. But once I was down on my knees I couldn't ignore the plantain growing in the grassy path. Even with my handy daisy grubber it's difficult to get out as it has a woody tap root as well as thick ordinary roots but once started I couldn't stop.

Once the path and the lower section of the planted area were thoroughly weeded it didn't take long to clear the rest of the weeds in the London Pride. Then came what I had thought would be the easier job of cutting the grass on top of the bank. But once again there were the plantains to dig out and some bindweed in the rubus which had to be cleared. 

Finally I needed to approach the top of the bank from the other end as the shrubs didn't give me much room to get past. I'm so used to thinking of grass as a short plant that coming across several feet of growth, a season's worth,  was a bit of a shock. I cleared a bit of it but I think it really needs a whole session just to sort out that bit so came indoors for a cuppa and a shower.

As to the weather - looking out from the house it seemed gloomy and grey but once I went outside it felt much brighter and it is still quite mild. So mild that the midges have been biting and my neck is covered with itchy bumps. Today I took the precaution of wearing a cotton scarf around my neck.

Gardening Day.

It's been mild and grey today. Not very exciting but perfect for gardening. 

My first job was to cut the grass on the steps up the bank. This I did with a pair of secateurs which although slower than the shears made for a tidier look and was easier on my back. I was also able to pull out any weeds rather than just cutting the tops off. At least now it is possible to go up that way without risking if not life then definitely limb.

I also scrabbled around under all the heather pulling up the invading grass and weeds. These heathers are mainly spring flowering but it is still nice to see them looking tidier. While I am a fan of a more relaxed natural garden I still think that defined edges and areas of only one plant make it look like a garden rather than a wilderness with some nice plants in. 

Naturally I couldn't just cut the grass on the paths but had to weed the plants along side the paths. Actually the whole garden needs weeding - as ever, but I couldn't ignore the weeds in the London Pride which I cleared thoroughly and replanted last year. 

Early Start.

I was teaching all day so had to get up in the dark, Yuk! It felt most odd watching Peter going off up the drive in darkness too. By the time I left a little later the sun had come up revealing a fairly drab overcast grey sky. The day itself has been reasonably warm which is apparently due to the Jet Stream being split in 2 and swinging north and south of the UK. 

I had a fairly relaxed day in the Reception class. I had been left to plan my own activity with the focus of seeing if the children could talk about events in their own life so I collected together things and photos to do with birthdays; cards, parcels, candles, party plates, cake etc and just let them talk while I made notes.

After work I went across town to do some shopping. Lidl's are already stocking German Christmas goodies so I bought some filled gingerbread biscuits and chocolate marzipan bars to be put away for Christmas. I needed to buy some ice-cream for when I have some dental work done at the hospital next week and at Tesco's they had Carte d'Or ice-cream on special offer. Hopefully the Eton Mess, Rum & Raisin and Spiced Cookie ice-creams will soothe and take my mind off my presumably sore mouth. 

I took the photos just before I got home as I thought the clouds looked quite pretty.

Space Day.

It was a Space themed dress-up day at school today. I was only going in for the afternoon so I quickly made a token effort, a wacky hairstyle with lots of pink, blue and purple (which you can't see in the photo) and an alien 3rd eye. I told the children I was keeping my eye on them. Lots of the children had made space suits or alien costumes while others just turned up in fancy dress or stayed in their school uniform. I was teaching a Year 1 class and after phonics they had a story about a boy and a martian after which they had to try and make a rocket to blast a picture of the boy on a paper cone using plastic bottles. The idea was for them to place the cone over the top of a plastic bottle and then squash the bottle to fire the cone but they were given a selection of plastic bottles and no instructions to see what they would come up with. Not a lot until I gave them some hints with pointed questions. After that they had loads of fun. 

On my way home I could see a helicopter hovering over the opposite side of the valley. It wasn't the coastguard or the air ambulance and I don't think it was a police helicopter. It stayed there for quite a while before flying away. I wonder what it was doing?

I got in more gardening both before and after school so now it's a lot safer on the steps up the rocky bank as I've cleared most of the long grass and the main part of the grass cutting on the bank by the drive is also done. Just a little tidying up to do there underneath the azaleas.

Snip, Snip, Snip ...

...went my shears all morning long as I worked my way along the path above the heathers. This was accompanied by the rumble of water tumbling over stones in the stream on the other side of the bank, the chattering and creaking of an angry squirrel, dogs barking in the dog agility class next door and the metallic tapping of the farrier shoeing horses at the stables. As I worked on the steps leading up to the very top I came across a nest of woven grass the size of a grapefruit. In case there was someone asleep inside I put it carefully underneath where I'm dumping my grass cuttings.

The path itself was in the shade but the sight of the blue sky and the sun lighting up the tops of the trees made everything quite cheery. It has been another lovely day but the shade is getting colder. 

In the afternoon I was with the Reception children and after phonics I had 45 mins to do letter formation with 27 children which was quite a challenge. Some could form the letter (a) in their books with the minimum of guidance while others were happily putting any sort of mark across the page. Before the staff meeting we had a 'learning walk' around all the classrooms with each teacher pointing out all the different areas and resources in their rooms. This is all practice for the day the inspectors come which could be at any time, but it is also good to share the best ideas. I'm in and out of most of the classrooms but I know that when you have your own class you don't get much chance to see what is going on in especially in the other year groups.

I didn't get home until late but there was just time to cut one more section of the bank. Then I swept up leaves on the patio and by the time Peter got home I was hoovering up some of the leaves on the flowerbed which is covered with stones and gravel. The leaves were not dry enough to crumble as they went up the hoover tube so I did have to keep clearing the tube with a cane. Still it did save me some bending.