Sports Day At Last.

We finally had our Sports Day today after 2 cancellations due to the wet weather. Because a parent complained that we cancelled the last time in the morning (even though the weatherman accurately predicted that it would pour with rain at lunchtime) we held off making a decision until lunchtime. We had light showers and sunshine but we went ahead anyway. We have a mixture of flat races for each class and team activities where each team is made up of children of all ages and the activities graded for the different age groups so everyone has a go until the whistle blows and you move onto the next activity with points being totalled to find out the winning team. 

On the way home I always enjoy watching the changing palette of the wildflowers. Right now the Rosebay-willow-herb (fire weed) is blazing in great swathes alongside the roads while many of the other flowers have set seed and are more muted browns and golds. The broken telegraph pole has been repaired and more and more wind turbines are sprouting from the next hill top. Now it's back to those reports as I've been told that I have to fill in everything on the pupil tracker asap. Just as I'm beginning to get to grips with the Tracker I'll stop using it as I return to part-time teaching.

Sunny Sunday.

It has been a beautiful day again today. Unfortunately I had to spend a lot of time hunched over the PC first doing my planning and then more work on the reports. I did a quick tally and on each report there are 39 boxes to be individually thought about and filled for each child. That's not counting the precis for each term and the targets for the core subjects. No wonder it is taking so long. This lovely weather will probably be around for the next 3 weeks and then as soon as our summer holiday starts it will revert to miserable grey weather. I may sound obsessed with the weather but last year I kept a record and over the 6 weeks of our summer holiday we had just 4 good days. Peter went rowing early in the morning so we were able to go out later for a walk at Mortehoe. We went along the track to Bull Point before turning and heading back right around Morte Point.

This is one of the older benches along the way. I stopped here to get a stone out of my shoe.

It didn't feel too hot as there was a cooling breeze.

As we approached Morte point the coast guard helicopter circled and then hovered over the rocks at the highest point.

We saw a winch man going down but we couldn't find out if they were rescuing someone or simply on a training exercise. When we got round the point we could see the beach at Woolacombe was full and the car park at Putsborough was also packed.

Back home I carried on working on the PC before finally taking a break to pick a few more lbs of blackcurrants. Peter cooked up another barbecue and we had a pleasant meal outside. Now it's back to the grindstone for another week (or three).

Friday's Post.

Last night's blogging was interrupted by a power cut, it was only brief but as a precaution the pcs were unplugged for the rest of the evening. Friday was looking good, a whole morning in the staffroom sorting out final inputting onto our on-line pupil tracker followed by a relaxed afternoon in class, handwriting followed by Golden Time. Instead it turned into a frantic nightmare. Half-way through the morning I found out that I had missed out large sections on the tracker so that was more work piling up. Then at 11.30 we were told that our end of year data needed to be on the tracker NOW. Got that done before rushing into town at lunchtime as I had to go to the bank. Had just settled into class with the children when a series of messages came about missing data. I thought that maybe in my rush I had forgotten to press the save button but then I got suspicious. When I checked the tracker using my log-in the data was all there but for some reason the office couldn't pick it up on their log in-so I had to write it all down for them. For something that is supposed to make life easier the on-line tracker is generating hours of work.

Life in the countryside is also quite frantic at the moment. In our current dry spell the contractors are out cutting and transporting silage. Someone must have come out of a field too sharply and snapped this telegraph pole right off.  It's a mile away from home and not our phone line so I don't think it had anything to do with last night's power cut.

The distant hills are the cliffs on the North Devon coast.
It had been another sunny day ending in a beautiful evening so my evening stroll in the garden turned into a walk up the hill and then along the road to Ashelford Corner. It was simply too nice to sit at home.

For anyone living in the UK The Co-op (once Somerfields) continues to be the best place to buy reduced price food. While the other big supermarkets take off 20p or 50p at the Co-op they regularly reduce perishables by 50-75% at round 5.00. Yesterday I bought cherries, blueberries, pears, chicken breast fillets, lamb's liver, yoghurt, lime cheese cakes and coronation chicken all for 25% of the usual price and some of them had been on special offer in the first place. We get to eat really nice food at a reasonable price and our freezer is once again filled to the brim for when the youngsters come to visit. My al fresco breakfast this morning was oats & sunflower seeds with blueberries and yoghurt.

I let the kitty out for a run in the garden last night which he loved, whizzing round the place excitedly. He may end up being called Speedy unless we think of something better. He has been spending the day in the conservatory and yesterday when I returned home there had been a bit of mayhem inflicted on my puzzle with some pieces even looking chewed! Never mind, it was soon fixed and now I put the trays over the vulnerable sections.

Phew!

Summer has arrived, for one day at least with the temp going up to 27C. The change in weather is not due to last but perhaps we appreciate it all the more when we have just had a cool wet week and we know we could return to that at any time. It was so nice to find the air lovely and warm at 8.00 in the morning. We went out for an earlier walk than usual as Peter was rowing in the afternoon. (They got stuck on a sandbank!)

The cliff path was very busy as there was a marathon being run along it. Not good to be running in such heat and we could see lots of sweaty faces as they pounded their way up the steep path. We were sitting on a bench enjoying a cup of coffee when a friend ran past. He didn't notice us but we shouted some encouraging phrases as he went past which made him smile.

The sea was an amazing colour and far below we could see (centre of the photo) a fat seal watching all the people up on the cliff.

When Peter went rowing I conscientiously worked on some reports (we have to fill in 13 individual sections for each child as well as the class comments) before deciding the day was too special to waste sitting indoors. Instead I picked 3lbs of juicy blackcurrants and mowed all the grass before ending the day with another of Peter's barbecues.

Butterflies.

Still struggling with Blogger. The PC sits there ticking at me with a blank screen when I try my usual route which is rather irritating. Almost as irritating as waiting to talk to the student loans company to find out how I complete Romas' application for this year's loan. I had a helpful email directing me to a web site but when I got there I needed an special number ??? or if I had forgotten that I could give my secret answer. Only helpful if I knew what the secret question was. It's a good thing they don't record your comments while the cheery muzac is playing or the soothing tones of a recording tell you that they are very busy and you could go to the web site instead. I'm afraid my comments ranged from the not very polite to scathing sarcasm and finally inane babbling. When I finally spoke to a real person she helpfully agreed to resend my secret number and another secret question as well as sending me a paper form to fill in.

The weather today has mostly been rather stormy. Broken branches lie on my newly mown lawns and it feels quite cold. In class we have had great excitement over the last few days as our Painted Lady butterflies emerged form their chrysalises. Just 23 days ago they were 5mm long caterpillars that grew at an amazing rate before turning into chrysalises. It was a race against time to see if they would hatch before the half-term holiday which for the children started today (we have another morning of something? tomorrow). Of 15 caterpillars only 2 did not turn into a chrysalis and by the end of today 11 butterflies had emerged. It is wonderful for the children to be able to watch this happening. The other class haven't had any butterflies emerge, maybe due to the fact that their classroom is not as sunny as ours. So the children all came over to my class to have a look at our butterflies instead. (They have had much better bird watching opportunities as their hut faces bushes and large trees on one side and their many bird feeders are also visited by cheeky squirrels.)

Tarka Tennis.

A very pleasant day today. The weather wasn't so good but our morning was spent under cover at the local tennis centre where the children did all sorts of tennis based activities. There were plenty of youngsters there to run the activities and we just escorted the children around. In the afternoon I gave my class some handwriting to do before they had 'Golden Time' . Coming home tonight the lanes are full of flowers and looking lovely but when I stopped to take some photos I was quite shocked to see how the new wind turbines are marching across the sky line spoiling the rural beauty of the landscape. The 6th turbine is in construction and when finished they will stretch for 10 miles.
I suppose we will get used to them just as we don't really notice the telegraph poles that run along so many of our lanes.

This evening I pricked out some seedlings and planted a few more seeds before cooking an easy meal of mushroom and cheese tortellini with a fresh mushroom sauce that I bulked up with chicken and baby sweetcorn.

Back To Work.

The world has turned green in the space of a week. Everywhere the bright green beech leaves have brought life to the countryside. The hedgerows are now a riot of cow parsley sparkling against the new green growth with the blue haze of bluebells beginning to appear. It makes my daily commute a total pleasure.

This week at school we are in 'wedding mode' and the children spent their day making flags, painting commemorative plates, rehearsing their dances for Thursday and writing invitations asking the parents to come and join us in our celebrations. Despite the relaxed day I felt quite tired by the end of the day. I still managed an hour's weeding at home while Peter barbecued some lamb for our al fresco supper.

Finally more photos from yesterday's walk.

A new path to explore.

Heading out across the fields.

Signs Of Spring.

The day started off wet and windy but somewhere along the line, without me really noticing, the sun came out and we ended up with a lovely warm afternoon. In the school grounds the blossom and daffodils are already past their best,

..... while in the Secret Garden the big old weeping willow has turned a delicious shade of green.

Driving along the country roads I have been noticing more and more trees and bushes breaking into bud. Already the hawthorn is covered with tightly curled green leaves and there are more subtle colour changes in other species as the new buds impart a pink or yellow tinge to the branches. The biggest and most looked for change will be when the beech trees/bushes/hedges open their buds. The bright lime green of the new leaves is such a refreshing change after so many months of dusty browns and greys.

This morning I played a mild April Fool on my class asking them in the most upset tones I could muster why I didn't have any birthday cards or flowers. They looked shocked for about 30 seconds before laughing at being caught out. A couple of their mums had tried exactly the same trick on them.

As it is Mothering Sunday this weekend my class have been busy making cards and gifts for their mums. Their cards included a description of their mum which they had typed up and printed in different colours and fonts. Most of them chose to write similes (I so wish I had kept a record) which were so personal and lovely that I'm sure their mums will love them. Some that I remember are;

My mum is as brave as a hamster.

My mum's hair is as smooth as a bit of wood.

My mum's smile is like mine when I'm eating cakes.

My mum is as strong as a gorilla.

My mum's skin is as soft as 10 kittens.

The cards were all watercolours of spring flowers but the children had mounted them in different ways and they had thought carefully about the colours and materials they used so each was unique. And to finish them off they made giant decorated envelopes. We have been told (well it was discussed at a staff meeting) that we are not making Easter cards. Some people felt strongly that every class should be doing the same thing and with it only 1 week until we break up it is quite close to the Mothers' Day card making. I would have liked to make cards because I feel it motivates the children but I can sympathise with those who find it stressful having to make sure that everyone has made a card by the end of the week. None the less I have got some small polystyrene eggs for the children to decorate and take home and I bought enough for the other Year 2 class as well so I can't be accused of going off and doing my own thing. I even have coloured Easter Eggs hanging from some branches in a jug alongside a display of books about Easter. True most of my children do not follow any religion actively but I told them that even if they only have chocolate Easter eggs then in a small way they are still celebrating Easter.

Bennet's Mouth And Rockham Bay.

This morning Peter had been invited to play golf which gave me the chance to go for a longer walk. First shock of the day, the parking fees had gone up from 60p for 2 hours and £1.20 for all day to £1.40 for 2 hours and £2.60 for all day. That's more than double! I headed out on the Bull Point track which does start off as a dark dank lane but soon opens up to this view of the cliffs and the sea.

I had intended taking the first steep path off the track down into the coombe but the presence of a vehicle and the sounds of industry below me lead me to believe that some repair work was being done to the path so I carried on along the main track. This lead me up onto high ground and magnificent views of Rockham Bay and the whole of Morte Point.
Instead I took the next path down to the coombe. This path is all earth and very steep and pretty treacherous in wet weather but today it was dry and I was able to carefully make my way down to the valley bottom with its stunted trees and rushing stream.

Alongside the stream there were swathes of native daffodils which are smaller and less showy than the garden varieties but looked just right in this woodland setting.

Out along the grassy valley to Bennet's Mouth where I made my first stop. As I sat I could feel the warm sun on my back and a breeze on my face. My ears were filled with the sound of the stream rushing out over the beach stones and in the distance I could see the occasional wave splashing over the rocks. And of course I had coffee and cake. A feast for all my senses.

Then it was time to hike up the side of the coombe. Mindful of my dodgy knee I am making a conscious effort to lead with my left so that I don't put extra strain on my right knee. It seems to have paid off as this evening my knee is no worse than usual despite the many steps I climbed today. Reaching the top of the cliff I had a great view along the coast towards Ilfracombe.

Round the headland by Bull Point and back to Rockham Bay. The tide was out so I decided to go down to the beach.

There were a few people on the beach and a lot of walkers up on the cliff brought out by the wonderful sunny weather. I began to wish I had, like my oldest son, declared the start of shorts season. (He will now be wearing shorts every day until the first signs of snow next winter.)

I had a walk on the beach, visiting the remains of a wrecked iron ship and walking to the water's edge before climbing back up the 92 steps. From there I carried on along the coast path soon coming to the point where we usually start our walk. I kept on going and stopped for a second coffee break at our usual bench near Morte Point. As I made my way up the final stretch I disturbed a 6" lizard which hurriedly scrambled back into the gorse. There is only one kind of lizard in most parts of the country so they are just called ....... lizards. We don't have many snakes either, only adders (poisonous) and grass snakes (not) which live in heath and scrub and not often seen with a third rare endangered species the smooth snake in only a few locations. We also have slow worms which look like snakes but are really legless lizards but again not often seen. So we are quite lucky here, not even any nasty bugs - midges, some mosquitoes, wasps, bees and occasional hornets are the worst that nature throws at us.

As I walked up the very final slope I turned to train my binoculars on Lundy and the Old Lighthouse when I spotted what looked like an enormous floating grey box. It was so big that it made a nearby container vessel look tiny. I went up to a stone wall to steady myself for a better view and fell into conversation with a couple sitting on a bench there who also had binoculars trained on the sea. They didn't know what it was either but pointed out that there was a helicopter hovering near the container ship. We watched both ships for a while and the helicopter moved right over the deck flying low, then moved astern. My guess was that someone, a medic? had been lowered onto the ship. In the meantime the big grey box carried on up towards the Bristol Channel. By zooming in with my camera and then zooming into the picture I got the above shot. A quick check on the web revealed that it was a Ro-Ro ship with this particular ship being capable of carrying 5,500 cars. The google image I found was of this ship entering Sidney Harbour.
I had a wonderful walk and was out for 3 1/2 hours. Even allowing half an hour for stops and chatting I must have covered a fair few miles. Maybe it is time to get myself a pedometer to see exactly how far I am walking.

Back home I did some weeding in the sun and have decided that it is finally time to chop down my big golden leylandii arch. I really like it and it only needs trimming 2 or 3 times a year but it is becoming too difficult for me to do the whole thing especially the very top. I'm scheduling that for the Easter holiday by which time I will have thought of some way of screening the scruffy woodshed behind it.

Poorly PC

Wow, my PC actually turned on tonight. But it is definitely in terminal decline and uploading photos from my camera seems to send it into a coma. I think that my blogging is going to be a bit hit and miss for the foreseeable future. Today we have had the most glorious sunshine and at times it felt positively warm. No need even for a light fleece over my sleeveless t-shirt. With the sunshine and not travelling in the dark my spirits are feeling so much brighter. Also I've had confirmation that I shall be full-time until the end of the year (Sept) which means that our finances will be healthy this year. Once the sun went down the temperature dropped so rapidly that I've put the heating on for an hour to take the chill off the place. The bill for last week's oil delivery has come and it is over £200 less than the last lot for the same amount of oil. I need to keep my fingers crossed that the situation in the Middle East doesn't send prices rocketing again. Yesterday I was driving home admiring the soft pinks and blues of the evening sky when through a gateway I caught sight of a flash of vivid red as the sunset burst from under a cloud bank.
Tonight my way home was lit by a blazing gold sun but though I took pictures I daren't take the risk of uploading them. Better blog with what I have for the time being.
Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow but if not then the PC will be having another sick day.

A Windy Walk.

I've been tree hugging today. Not in a free spirit 60's sort of way but in a hanging on for dear life while balancing on top of a wobbly ladder to cut all the branches off a tree sort of way. We have 2 willow trees that need to be polled each year, the only alternative would be to cut them down completely as the branches grow up to 10ft in a year and the trees would soon be out of hand. That job is now done and all the branches cleared away so I'm happy. My gardening came after a walk down at Morte Point with Peter. It was very windy but nice and sunny. The irritating thing about living a few miles inland is that, as was the case today, it is sunny at the coast but inland grey clouds hide the sun. So many times we've had a great time at the coast only to return to gloomy conditions. One more reason to move right to the coast when we finally leave this place.Out at Morte Point there was a very strong offshore wind which made the homeward stretch exhilarating but a lot harder especially the final climb up the hill.
Lots of big waves even though the tide was at its lowest. We stopped at a handy bench for coffee and a bit of wave watching.

Back in the village we heard the familiar sound of jackdaws as they perched on the church wind vane and surrounding chimneys. This morning I watched one of our jackdaws march round our chimney cage giving every bar a good pull with its beak before climbing to the top and bashing the bars again from that vantage point. One sore beak I think.

To See The Sea.

It was sunnier and warmer today with the outdoor thermometer showing 2C but the bitterly cold wind was still around. Maybe I should rename my blog Ruta's Weather watch but it does play such an important part in my life. Will we be able to drive the cars up the hill? Will we have to turn the heating on? Can I get out into the garden? Will the children be cooped up in class all day long? I don't even think of myself as an outdoor worker but the weather does make a difference to my daily living. Not to mention the fact that seeing the sun lifts my spirits. After spending the obligatory few hours sorting out my school plans for next week I took myself and my camera off for a hike around Morte Point. There were a few people about but for most of the time my view was only populated by sheep. (The eagle- eyed among you might have spotted Lundy on the horizon.)

This was a good walk to break in my new walking boots on rough ground. They felt rather heavy and the tipped up soles are a bit weird compared to my old trainers which are lightweight but unfortunately are not waterproof and don't provide any ankle support. Out on the Point it was cold enough for ice to be lying on the surface of the wet ground which looked rather strange.

I took the usual route going round the shaded, and very cold, side first. No seals today, just some floating logs. Once I got to the point I found a sheltered spot and sat on a sun warmed rock to enjoy the gentle roar of the waves and watch the swell as it rolled over the submerged rocks. I find it hard to pull myself away from spots like these but the clouds were beginning to cover the sun and home beckoned. The homeward leg of this walk is never as nice because the sea is mainly behind you and there are too many views of Woolacombe. Also there are generally more people out for a stroll and I am a rather selfish walker who prefers to enjoy my scenery uncluttered by buildings or people.

News story. Yesterday a 36 year old climber fell 1,000 ft down a mountain near Ben Nevis. When the rescue helicopter found him he was standing up looking at his map. Although he had fractured his back in 3 places he was still able to walk and after putting on his spare hat and gloves he was working out his next move. A very lucky man!

Chilly Morning, Chilled Day.

Despite that it was a bitterly cold morning and I was running a little late due too having to de-ice the car windows, I had to stop and take some pictures of the morning sun lighting the tops of the clouds. It was even prettier than the pictures show. The plateau in the distance is Dartmoor a good 70 miles away to the south.

Swinging slightly west I had a glimpse of the western edge of Barnstaple as it straggles along the River Taw. I think the large grey buildings are the airfield at Chivenor, a Marine base.

I've had a reasonably relaxed day in school today. Having a teaching student working with me has meant that I have spent a lot of time going through lesson plans etc with her but this is balanced by being able to sit back while she teaches some of the lessons. I get to make notes (helpful I hope) on her but much more importantly much needed assessments on my children. Bloody OFSTED is turning us all into nervous wrecks especially as we hear they are about to inspect 2 schools that were just before us last time round. I only wish we could get the whole thing done and over with. Most of the afternoon was taken up with watching some drama students from the secondary school perform a couple of plays they had written following their initial visit to our classes. And they're back next week. Just need to write out a few of the steps from a great stomp dance video for tomorrow's lesson - YouTube African American step Shout'n stomp. (Sorry my brain can't sort out a proper link tonight.) Well worth a look.

Parent's Evening.

Came home in the dark after seeing nearly all of my 30 sets of parents for Parents' Evening so no chance to take pictures. Instead one more from yesterday's walk looking across Woolacombe bay to Baggy Point with Bideford Bay and Hartland beyond. It was an early start this morning, the clouds were purple black in the morning half-light with just one vivid streak of orange in the eastern sky. As I reached the main road and headed south the sky had started to lighten, the clouds were a softer dove grey and the sky behind was washed with pink and turquoise streaks. In the valley by the side of the road skeins of mist were suspended below the hill top. Finally as the road swung to the south the sky showed a promise of blue. (Guess who's been working on adjectives in class?) I've no idea what the weather has been for the rest of the day as I've been ultra busy in class with sock puppets, PE and literacy followed by Parents' Evening.

Out For A Walk.

After getting most of my school work done this morning we headed out to Morte Point for our weekly walk. Just for a change we took a new route swinging back up to the crest of the hill. It was a bit of steep climb, here Peter is checking his pulse, I actually had a slower heart rate yet he's the one who goes to the gym regularly. My job must be enough to keep me fit.


From the view point which was once the site of a coastguard's look out, we could see down to Rockham bay and Bull Point Lighthouse in one direction,

while on the other side was Woolacombe Bay, and ahead was our beloved Lundy. (To give a sense of scale the white dots in the mown area are sheep.) We tried exploring to find a different way down from our spot but the only paths led back inland towards Morethoe so we had to retrace our steps and then continue on our usual walk. No seals about today and the sea was almost flat. We still enjoyed watching the sea while we had a cup of coffee. There were not so many people about today but we both saw people we knew from years ago. A family group walked past us and Peter recognised the older man as someone he worked with 15 years ago and later we passed a couple and immediately I recognised the man as the headteacher of a school I used to work at over 10 years ago. In neither case did we catch up with the people and say Hi because the moments had passed and it would probably have been awkward to run back after them. That's us reserved Brits for you.

This group of shags were perched on the last rock of Morte Point while behind can be seen the northern point of Lundy with the North Lighthouse just visible.

Back home there was time for a little gardening, weeding the over grown bank, ( there is so much I'll need to do during the half term holiday), before going in for some home-made pumpkin and butternut squash soup. At this point I have to make a revelation. Over 20 years ago, when the boys were babies, I bought a hand held food blender so that I could lovingly puree good wholesome food for them. In those days electrical items didn't always come with a plug attached and I put the blender away until we had a moment to put on a plug. The boys ate food mashed with a fork, learnt to chew and the moment stretched to 20+ years. (I like my soups to be chunky rather than pureed.) Until today when we decided the soup would be better pureed and Peter found and attached a plug. That says - something - about us, procrastination or keeping things till they are needed, good or bad I don't know.