School Worries

photo from Google

 

I haven't posted for over a week because I am worried sick about my GD.  She started her new school a day before her birthday and has just not settled.  Each morning over the last month she has felt sick with apprehension, eating no breakfast and very little lunch at school.  The new pupils are paired with a year 10 mentor and, as luck would have it, GD has been paired with a girl who is carer for her sick mother and two siblings, and who has a history of self harm and an eating disorder.  My God, no wonder my daughter is at her wits end.  She has spoken to a teacher and GD is being paired with a different girl.  The school seems to threaten detention for absolutely everything from being a minute late for a lesson to doing badly in tests.  GD has a French language test this morning with a threatened detention for failing.  She has been at the school for just 4 weeks, for heavens sake! No wonder she doesn't want to go.

I feel at my wits end too.  Are there any teachers out there who can offer even a snippet of advice please?  Or any parents who resolved their own child's issues?

I think I have a new follower so a big welcome to you :)  Sorry this is such a downbeat post...

Have a brilliant day everyone, thanks so much for popping in x

On Baking, Gardens and Ducks

Yesterday I promised you an update on the results of my baking.  My daughter has given me a ceramic dish; the kind she uses, and my quiche....didn't stick!  Yay!

The pastry shrank so I had to adjust the amount of liquid filling and it certainly won't do well in a beauty contest but I can get it out of the dish :) Result!  Next time I will try leaving the pastry untrimmed until it has been baked blind then trim it.

 The trimmings were used for the obligatory jam tarts.  They bit the dust as soon as OH came from work.  Luckily I ate one warm from the oven.....

with a lovely cup of tea.....

 

My having trimmed the garden a bit yesterday has spurred OH into doing it 'properly' .  He moaned a bit about me rooting out his hidden pots but this morning he has bought some winter pansies to put in them, has planted the iris bulbs he bought several weeks ago and is currently tidying the little bed at the back.  Result number 2!

When he cleared out a trough we hadn't used for a while he found this egg, presumably a duck egg!  We have no idea how long ago it was laid as we haven't seen a duck in our back garden at all and there is no evidence of one having been there recently.  I would love to know what's inside it but I want to show the GC before we crack it.  I really hope it hasn't got the makings of a duckling inside it :(

The weather is much cooler today and it has been drizzling a bit but it's cleared up so more washing will be popped onto the line.  I don't want to miss the opportunity.  The downside is that the ironing basket is overflowing....drat....I hate ironing.  I think it will have to wait until tomorrow though, my knitting is calling me :)

Have a lovely day and thanks everso for popping in x

Hidden Gems and More Peas!

Ooh, three new followers! How lovely!  Welcome Jan F, Trish G and Winters End Rambler (what a lovely name!)

Today is a beautiful sunny day so, not to waste it, I've done a load of washing which is now hanging on the rotary outside and another load is about to finish and be pegged out to join it.  Washing smells so much nicer dried in the fresh air.  When I was outside I noticed that the borders need a bit (well, a lot actually) of attention so grabbed my secateurs and started chopping away.  Now OH, being the gardener of the residence, will not let me near the good ones in case I chop my finger off,  I'm sure he hides the shed keys sometimes too :/   but I did the best I could with the not so sharp ones.  As I worked I found a pot hidden behind a shrub....

And another one......

Ooh, and another....

I'm convinced OH hides them to give him a good excuse to buy more, the blighter, but these look ok and will be beautiful when planted up with some Winter pansies or something....

I even found 3 cute little pot feet. As you can tell, the border is quite overgrown so I gave it all a good hoe-ing to tidy it up.....

In amongst the clippings I found this monster; the biggest slug I have seen in a long time.  What's the betting he was the culprit who ate most of my strawberries,  he's certainly fat enough....

My cyclamen got nibbled too, the booger.....

There is still a bit of colour left in the border as the fuchsia and dahlia are still in flower.....

and this chrysanthemum has loads of buds on ready to open.   You can see from this shot that the soil looks quite impoverished and will need attention soon....

When we had eaten our illicit peas I scrunched up the stalks and foliage, let them die down and dug them back into the pot to nourish the soil.  Look what I found this morning!  The little pea plants have decided to make a comeback but what do I do with them?  Can anyone tell me please if I can keep them going over the Winter ?  I suppose we could always eat the shoots but they are so brave I don't want to kill them.  Can they be over-wintered?  Any tips much appreciated (we don't have a greenhouse...)

The washing machine has just finished so I'm off to pop another load in and I fancy some baking.  I have pastry so I think a cheese and onion quiche at least.  I'll let you know how it turns out after my sticking disaster last time :)

Thanks everso for popping in and enjoy your day whatever you have planned x

Rainy days and knitting

photo from Google

It has been a wet couple of days here in Worcestershire and there is an Autumnal nip in the air this morning too but at least the rain has stopped.  Yesterday was pretty dismal so I took a trip to the Hospice CS to drop off  another batch of  22 handmade cards.  The last batch from a week ago has already been sold, which is heartwarming.  I also had some craft magazines (which also sell well) and a signed hardback book to donate.

Do you remember this lovely yarn from the pound shop?

I used half of it to knit a little baby hat then managed to find some more with the same die lot number at a different pound shop so I'm attempting a little blanket.  I've never knitted one before but have found a super, easy little pattern on www.loveknitting.com so will give it a go....

I don't know why the colour looks so different, so washed out, in the second photo. The one above is how it looks in reality :/

Anyway, as the blanket is knitted on the diagonal it will have many more stitches to go and will need to be put onto a pair of circular needles sometime soon.  I have resisted so far as I have never knitted on them before.  The number of stitches will double to 160...eek!  I hope it works out ok.

For the rest of the day it will be dusting, hoovering, clean the bathroom and en-suite, lunch, then a bit of baking and then knitting! Yay!

Have a lovely day whatever you have planned x

I'm turning into my mother!

Firstly, a big welcome to Sue H, my new follower :)

 

I realised yesterday that I am turning into my mother!  She used to read everything she laid eyes on, junk mail, free newspapers, packaging etc  She always knew way before I did when the contents of packs of things like washing powder were reduced or chocolate bars got smaller (and usually cost the same as before)  Now I'm at it.  During a bored moment I decided to make myself a cuppa and began to read the sugar packaging.  Oooh, it's a British product .....

 

 

It's grown in East Anglia and travels only 28 miles from farm to factory, a definite plus in my book and the packaging is made from paper and can be recycled. OMG I've been putting them in the normal waste (smack on the hand), that will have to change.  This one will go in the recycle bin....

Cor...there's even a recipe for lemonade on the side....

Yes, I know I ought to get out more but I've certainly learned something new.  And before anyone asks, I haven't been sponsored to comment, I just lead a quiet life! :)

This morning we decided (ok, I decided but dragged OH with me) to the Silver Cinema at the local Odeon to see Our Kind of Traitor with Ewan McGregor and the big Swedish actor who's name I can never remember or pronounce.  It was gripping and well worth the bargainacious price of £3 each including tea and biccies.  There was no extra charge for the premiere seating either so we had lots of room and comfy chairs.  It seemed a pity that only 13 people were in there.  Perhaps the weather was too sunny to sit in the cinema?

 

It's beautifully sunny at the moment and OH is mowing the grass leaving me to relax and surf the 'net.

 

 

Take care wherever you are and thanks everso for popping in x

Great British Bake Off...NOT...Bugs and Books

There was a decided nip in the air first thing this morning and the rain very quickly rolled in.  It has alternately drizzled and poured down all day with a bit of thunder to boot.  Thinking of Autumn, I had seen some bug hotels in garden centres selling for anything from £15 to £20 and upwards but I didn't fancy paying that so I asked OH to see if he could make something similar.  He came up with this.....

It cost less than £2 and we have mesh left over for another project.  I like it's rustic look. Now...where to site it... does it have to be ground level, shady, damp, dry, does anyone know please?

I had to go into town this afternoon for something and popped into the Acorn Children's Hospice CS just for a browse.  Promising myself  NO MORE BOOKS was to no avail as they had a huge table covered in lovely, pristine, once-read, non-taxing to read, fiction, all at 99p each :/  I had to come home with these three.  I have read a couple of Erica James which I enjoyed and many Katie Fforde.  Debbie Macomber is a new to me author but I'll give her a go as the book looks unread; the spine is perfect.  The two books on the left will be kept back until November as they have a Christmas theme, but I do like an easy Christmassy read in the run up to the big day.

As it was still pouring with rain when I got back I fancied a bit of baking.  There was some ready made shortcrust pastry in the fridge so I decided on cheese and onion quiche with jam tarts made from the re-rolled bits.  Heaven help me I am useless when it comes to pastry.  I can make nice fluffy, moist cakes but anything involving pastry inevitably sticks to the tin and can only generally be prised away with a chisel.  Take a look. Go on, you can laugh, I won't be offended!  It tasted ok but both pieces broke up, presentation failed completely.....

My tarts stuck too but, as you can probably tell,  OH is eating them.  He keeps coming out of the kitchen unable to speak because his mouth is full.  How on earth do I stop things sticking?  I have tried greasing the tin, not greasing the tin, flouring it, not flouring it.....help!

 

There was a bit of good news today, however, I had previously bought a scratchcard which I had put in my bag and forgotten about. Oooh....scratch it off quick.....

 

Yippee! Five whole pounds... £5 !!

When I was out this morning I took some more of my handmade cards to the local Hospice shop and my ego was given a terrific boost.  Apparently, they fly out as soon as I drop a batch off so I have promised more, a bigger batch this time as they can sell them for £1 each which is a very useful sum for the Hospice.  That will be my task for any spare time next week.....

Thanks everso for popping in, have a lovely evening whatever you are doing x

Skinny dipping and checking receipts

Skinny dipping? Not really.....the time is 7.30pm and I have just spent a blissful 15 minutes lying in a warm bath whilst listening to the rain beating down, cold and heavy, on the roof and windows.  Yesterday was so very hot and the night time sultry and still, so that I slept badly.  Today has been the total opposite; cool, wet and welcome respite from the heat of the last couple of days.  I just can't take the heat and cannot understand how our Son has managed to stay sane having spent the last 14 years in Australia :/  I much prefer moderate conditions and, in fact, get great pleasure from walking in a gentle rain as dusk is falling.  When I was in my teens I loved  getting the bus home from school (and then work) and then slowly walking the last half a mile home in the rain under the shelter of my umbrella, dawdling if I thought I could get away with it.  Simple pleasures :)

Oh yes, checking receipts.... I always check any receipts before leaving a store and it was a good job I did this week.  I had been over-charged by 68p on two punnets of soft fruit.  The ticketing was debated by the staff and a supervisor decided the multi-buy offer was wrong but refunded me anyway.  68p is a useful sum of money and better in my pocket than Mr M's!

Does anyone else often find errors?