Froglet

It's not really Friday but I just felt like a chat! Last week I took the week off completely - nothing but crochet, reading and resting. So this week I decided that I needed to be more organised and actually do 'stuff'. I made a plan... and it's already going awry! I have spent 2 hours this morning sorting through the papers I have accumulated in my school bag, my laptop case, my marking box. That was therapeutic although I'm a little scared at just how much paper I have put straight in the recycling bin! I have got a TDL which is epic, some of it is stuff that I can leave until September but I also know from experience that when I'm at home it's very easy to forget the way time after school disappears and the way I'm so shattered in the evenings means that I simply cannot do 'thinking' work. I'm trying to decide what I should do next - my list for today originally had lots of subject leadership work on it (which I'm massively behind with) but I'm really not feeling like it! But then, I never do and I'm desperately trying to stop avoiding tasks both at home and school which I dislike or find difficult. It's a dull day here with a touch of drizzle, the temptation to bake something is strong and I'm really not quite sure where to start right now! I think I might look at my TDL and see if there are any quick win things which will make me feel like I'm getting somewhere! I hope the rest of you are having a productive or fun day - ideally both!

That’s so lovely to hear!

I’m so very glad to hear that - you achieved a very special thing.

FM, that is stunning! Did you paint the ‘wood’?

How very exciting for you Sunnyday! Have a wonderful weekend. I am not up to much different - currently working on a summer window scene as I’ve noticed people smiling at the spring one which is currently there. I also plan to do some sorting of paperwork and epic TDL writing!

That sounds beautiful although painful. My stairs are straight but steep, I couldn’t do them and had to resort to getting someone else in to do them in the end.

I know the one you mean, it’s stunning! Get making, I want to see it! 😉 Definitely, my house is very overdue for some decorating! What kind of colours are you going for?

What blanket are making? Very impressed at your chair covering!

I went and read some of the reviews and I can see what they mean but so far I’ve found them mostly ok. She has done some great videos both for specific techniques and for stuffing/stitching up which I found really helpful. It can be hard to figure out the positioning of eyes, ears and noses, you need to rely on the pictures to help and they’re not always taken at the angle you need! Having said that I think that individual ‘quirks’ are what give them personality. Some reviewers said that there was no direction on angle or direction of head positioning but I just put them on facing forwards! Maybe I’m a bit too hasty?! I have also emailed before to ask a question and got a prompt and helpful reply.

Of course! She has several. Edward’s menagerie was the first. The two I’m working on at the moment are from ‘Edward’s Menagerie The new collection’. If you order from her website: www.toftuk.com you often get bonus digital mini patterns. She has a dogs book too...

The designer whose book I have the pattern from names all her creatures. So far I have made Emma the bunny and Hank the sheep. I chose this one because the friend it is for is also called Natalie. She is moving in with her partner and there happens to be an animal with his name too so I’m going to make him too and give them as a pair. The designer writes a little character profile for each of her animals too.

Works for me - as I’m sure I’ve said I am rubbish at gardening!

Excellent! Moving in very welcome. I love my breakfasts! Today (it was exceptional - usually it’s just cinnamon and raisin porridge or eggs on toast) I had scrambled eggs on toast with avocado, the roasted strawberries and a nectarine stirred through some Greek yogurt, orange juice, freshly made Welsh cakes and a pot of tea. Roasted strawberries - I had about half a punnet left. Oven preheated to 190 fan, strawberries hulled and any grotty bits chopped out, large ones chopped in half, 1 spoon of sugar stirred through. Roasted in oven for 20 minutes with a quick stir part way through to stop it catching.

My latest finished creation - Natalie the otter. Soon to be part of a housewarming present.

It helps loads, thank you! On the subject of spoiling myself I got up far later than I intended this morning so decided I'd combine breakfast and lunch (well for now - second breakfasts are fine aren't they?) and in the course of doing this have discovered the joys of roast strawberries. I love fruit but have a bit of a thing about the texture being right - can't eat apples which are 'furry' and strawberries which are just starting to turn are difficult. I'm doing my best not to waste food so the apples get turned into crumbles, apple and blackberry mix to go on crumpets (for breakfast), apple and sultana fritters etc but I've never known what to do with the strawberries. Now the problem is going to be to stop myself from letting them get to that stage!

So, how many books (and crochet hooks) can I justify buying in one afternoon?! 😉 PS enuffsenuf - hope you’ve recovered now.

I quite often try to do that with a laptop where that isn’t meant to work! 🙄

Haven’t really looked yet. I’ve had a Toshiba in various incarnations for years which I liked but don’t think it exists anymore! I like my schools one which is an HP so might explore that.

I think that will be the case - we used to be able to just turn up. I might set my dad on researching it as I’ll probably borrow his car to take stuff there. It’s a bit of a catch 22 - I can’t really progress on the spare room until I take stuff to the tip but I have nowhere to store the stuff before going to the tip apart from the spare room!

Oh bless you Sunnyday. It’s not you at all. I have been going regularly to Tesco since the end of March but nowhere else until I ventured into the yarn shop a couple of weeks ago when I did things wrong throughout my trip. It was quite unnerving. I am left wondering about how to go about doing all my usual summer holiday jobs (MOT, clothes shopping etc) as well as how to approach the less usual ones - buying a new laptop, clearing my spare room and going to the tip among others. Well done for going back out there again!

Sounds like a plan to me. I know that when we were starting school again on the 1st June although the guidance kept changing it would be change that could be made to our main documents rather than a whole new document being written. With the benefit of hindsight I would suggest having one of those date fields in a footer somewhere that automatically updates itself so that you can tell which version of what you're looking at is the latest one. Calling it 'version 2, 3, 428' etc. doesn't help much when you're not sure which version you are on!

It always does! Plus I have 5 weeks as I have a 2 week October half-term. I like the sense of restoring order that the first few days of the holidays brings; I always seem to finish in a manic rush with late nights and early mornings and lots of undone jobs at home. I'm going to bed now - am completely shattered even though I indulged in a good long nap earlier! I have a book to read but suspect I won't get far into it before my eyes close!

It’s absolutely that. Lots to do still but for now there is no pressure to do it at all. I love the luxury of a whole day of reading with no guilt attached!

I had my last day of term yesterday. Today I have spent in pjs, reading or crocheting and just resting. Tomorrow is meant to be a major house cleaning day to restore some kind of order before I embark on the TDL!

Glad to have been of service! 😉 Persian Jewel? If it's the one I think it is that will be stunning!