Froglet

Slightly delayed... I survived the challenging Friday which was a huge relief. I started Saturday well but am fighting both tiredness and a cold (just sneezing and a runny nose) so spent Saturday afternoon curled up on the sofa. That in turn means that today is mostly going to be work - my to do list is just epic at the moment, not enough hours in the day!

Brilliant - just what I needed to make me smile!

I was stressed! I needed nice things in my head even if forbidden and Sue puts me on the naughty step later!

I’m very well aware of that and am terrified but I did carefully plan what I wanted to say to avoid it. Plus socks take time - I couldn’t leave them until 24th December! 😉

Lol - I only started in the summer having not knitted for years but if you’re serious then I recommend looking at winwickmum.co.uk and following her ‘sockalong’.

I’d love that! Here you go! https://www.wyspinners.com/Signature 4ply – Christmas Yarn 2020

I mean I don’t wish to upset anyone! Can’t edit for some reason. In other good news I have just finished a rainbow sock for my niece...

I wish to upset anyone but it’s been a long week already and I know this Friday will be a challenging one so I wanted to share something that made me smile. Festive sock yarn has just been launched! See I didn’t actually say the forbidden word! 😉

Louby I’m glad your week has gone well. We are having regular phone calls with ‘my child/their sibling has a sniffle/runny nose can I bring them in? It’s made difficult particularly because different schools have different actions according to their risk assessments which makes things confusing. Sunnyday, I’m sorry you had such a tough week but be kind to yourself. I know you will be doing a brilliant job in difficult circumstances. While I’ve never been packaway as such my last school was very small which meant that dinners were served and eaten in my room. I had to completely clear away every lunch and because it was rarely clean before the children came back in for afternoon school couldn’t set up propeller. It was really difficult and I feel for you but also give yourselves a break. I’ve come to see over the last few months in particular that children are usually just as happy with less than we would like to give them and the quality of the relationships you build with them will be what is really important. Non-settlers are tough on everybody (I can’t remember what age you start from) but they will get there with some blips ( I have been lucky enough to have just one wobbly one in the mornings) then yesterday being Friday of the first full week I had half a dozen as they were tired. There are a huge amount of adjustments to make and it takes time to get there and as someone said the other day many people are expecting us to be ‘normal) again and we just can’t. Our classrooms are not arranged in a way we like, we are all doing extra cleaning each day but the length of our school day is back to normal and the expectations for marking, provision and display plus all the other roles we have are still there. Be kind to yourself. Step away from it a little this weekend, I am sure solutions to some of your niggles will come to you but also don’t feel bad for feeling despondent. You are making a huge adjustment it the nature of our job means that we have little time to reflect on it during the day and many people expect us to be permanently smiley! It will take time! Apologies for the epic reply but I really don’t want you to feel bad.

I have been in school for a meeting all morning. Planning a cosy afternoon and then going to mum and dad’s for tea.

A girl after my own heart!

I started using a teapot many years ago as a conscious attempt to slow life down a little. Now I couldn't do without it (although I do still make herbal/fruit teas with a bag in a mug).

I decided to have a go at making a seasonal tea cosy. It was fun - there will be more on the way!

We do have magnums up here in the frozen north too. I think I’ve even seen more than one kind! 😉

I have to admit that the number of cookies available has reduced somewhat. You are always welcome though. I'm currently working on a new teacosy (I suddenly decided that I needed seasonal ones) so if you give me a week I will make fresh cookies, mulled apple juice, tea (in a seasonal teapot) and possibly jacket potatoes...

Just wanted to say there is nothing quite like chocolate chip cookies that have only been out the oven about 3 minutes.

Congratulations! I have been sidetracked on mine again!

Never too late - Sunnyday’s parties can carry on for days!

Everything on my hot chocolate please and I am blind to waistlines (as my own will testify!)

Definitely (although can I have hot chocolate?) I will bring my tape measure and start taking orders for sock and balaclava gift sets!

Zigzag - wonderful news, you really made me smile. Sunnyday - what a great message. I have had a great few days. I’ve been spending time up at mum and dad’s with my sister’s children and it’s been lovely - nothing special just chatting, playing games and going for walks to the park but they have and are continuing to grow into such nice people, it’s a real pleasure to spend time with them. I popped briefly into school this morning and figured out a classroom layout that I think will work which is a big weight off my mind. Now home for more knitting on sock number 4 and watching something gentle on TV! PS I don’t know if it’s the same for everyone but I think we’re on our 100th page of Fridays!

I haven't seen it Panders; sounds interesting though! I hope all are ok? I had the loveliest time at the weekend - how to feel special when a 3 year old squeals with excitement at seeing you and actually jumps up and down and around you. Then to see her face when she saw her cousins the next day - I nearly cried! This week I am being very organised(!) I have made a plan putting my TDL onto a calendar so that I tackle it at specific times. This morning I'm going to pick the new car up which has led to a stressful hour as I couldn't find the paperwork for my current car which I need to take with me. I used to be super organised and would have been able to find it at the drop of a hat which makes me sad. However, it did lead to a new resolution to sort it all out but it also led to a question which some of you may know the answer to (or at least know where I could look to find one). Have you ever come across a 'records and retention document' for domestic paperwork? I seem to have so much 'stuff' and a small house - I'd rather use the space for storing yarn but don't want to get rid of things that I need to keep. How long should I keep things like payslips/mortgage statements/insurance documents etc etc etc for? I'm feeling somewhat overwhelmed by it all never mind adding to to all the notes I have from various school staff meetings over the years¬

Ummm, I forgot it was Friday! I had a peaceful morning doing some more knitting and listening to the end of Mrs Bird. I also had a brief but sweet phone conversation with my youngest niece Me: What are you doing? I: Playdough! I'm making carrots. Me: Are you going to make a bunny to eat them. (She evidently didn't hear or follow the bit about making a bunny and responded with a tone of voice to which you can only too easily imagine an accompanying eye roll) I: They're only playdough carrots, not real ones! They are all at my mum and dad's for the weekend so I am going over shortly - it will be the first time I've seen them since Christmas. I discovered that my sister and her children are also coming up tomorrow. They are not telling the youngest one as she has missed them so much and will be so excited that she is unlikely to sleep tonight if she knows! I've listened to a really interesting podcast about managing distraction which made me give myself a kick and plan my day so that I actually get something done and plan in specific times to do things (including fun stuff, not just jobs). I still don't think we've had rain here (it may have rained overnight and dried out by morning) but it is so much cooler and fresher, it's lovely. Sunnyday - step away from the stationery... (although I have decided that I need a new notebook so if you'd like to look for one for me A5, lined you're welcome to!). I think my next book is going to be finishing off reading The Book of Dust which I start and really enjoy but them seem to read something else! For now I'm going to do a quick tidy, change out of my comfy but scruffy joggers and head to mum and dad's for family time...

I am the same. I just finished Charing Cross Road but I did have to smile at myself - all my recent reads have been on the kindle or from the e-library where I can adjust the font size. A real book was very tiny and I kept wanting to make it bigger!

I know what you mean - I try to treat the book and the film as two completely different things. I love that I’m now far enough into the holiday for my brain to be enjoying books properly again.