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