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Too Early To Plan Christmas?

I love Christmas. Everything about the season building up to it to the day itself makes me happy. As a result I start to get a little overexcited way before most sane people.

Deciding that some of my presents will be homemade gives me a legitimate excuse to start planning early. If I want to squeeze in crafting time around working full time I need to be thinking about making a start soon.

Last Christmas I gave handmade presents to some people and they were well received so I’m planning to do the same again this year. Pinterest and my stash of craft books are my allies whilst doing this. I have a board specifically for handmade gift ideas which is slowly starting to fill up.

Fingers crossed I manage to get everything I’m planning to make completed on time!

How about you? Are you an organised planner for Christmas, or do you prefer to leave things to the last minute?

It’s Not Just The Children Who Dread Going Back To School

Well, I can proudly say that I’ve survived my first week as a Year 6 teacher. My new class aren’t the worst in the world nor, unfortunately, are they the best.

I knew they were going to be a bit of a challenge so needless to say I spent last Sunday night tossing and turning and having the inevitable back-to-school blues. Every new term it’s the same. I think teachers are as bad as children, if not worse, for dreading going back to school. Don’t get me wrong I generally enjoy my job, but it’s hard to muster up the enthusiasm for it after a glorious 6 weeks off!

My new little team have been an interesting bunch to get to know and I think I’ll have my work cut out getting them (and me!) SATs ready for next Spring. The post it above was from one of the ‘naughty boys’ (labelled by a previous teacher, not me!) who was trying to get me back on side after being an absolute monkey!

To all the teacher’s out there. Congratulations on getting through the start of a new term. Here’s to the countdown to October half term! (Kidding… Not kidding!)

Garden Progress

Our garden has the potential to be lovely. At the moment it’s a little lacklustre. We inherited a mature garden with the house we’re renting and it was basically an overgrown jungle with four separate lawns.

Since moving in 18 months ago we’ve been lazy with regards to the garden, letting nature take its course and being pleasantly surprised when things managed to bloom. This summer I decided it was time to try and tame the wilderness. I wanted to be able to plant my own bulbs, in the hope that the borders will be daffodil-tastic come next Spring. To be able to do this the borders needed some serious clearing.

With the help of a couple of friends we painstakingly pulled up grass/dug up weeds/were ruthless with existing plants to create the clear borders I was hoping for. I’m now waiting until October when my very green fingered mothership is going to come and visit and assist/supervise my bulb planting.

I’m excited to see how the garden continues to progress, it’s a new hobby I’ve found surprisingly enjoyable and relaxing (all my hobbies are the sort that Nana’s love.)

My gardening knowledge is still fairly rudimentary, I’ve next to no clue what I’m doing. Any tips or hints would be very gratefully received!

Sparking Memories #1: Ford Ka

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I love looking back and reminiscing, whether that be looking through old photo albums/scrapbooks or reading through old diaries so I thought I’d incorporate this into a blog series. I’ll be looking at things that spark memories for me (both good and bad) whenever I see them.

The first up is the little red Ford Ka. This was my first car back in 2007. I think part of me will always love these little bugs, the love of a first car stays strong! It was bought with my own money/savings from the parents and I knew exactly what I wanted.

With the help of the mothership I negotiated for the dream car, a red Ka with black bumpers. I thought I was the coolest kid in this little guy, with its manual sunroof and windows and a tape deck. I loved the tape deck and the chance to play old childhood, and charity shop, cassettes.

It was a trusty little ladybird until unfortunately the sunroof started to leak and it started to make a worrying screaming sound when starting on colder mornings. I reluctantly traded it in, for a car I definitely didn’t love as much. Fortunately my current car has reignited this. Good work Fiat 500!

What was your first car? Do you have happy or less than cheery memories of it?