Happy Easter!

Wishing you a joyful Easter!!! 

Christ has died

Christ has risen

Christ will come again!

My Easter weekend has been one of joy and rest as well as being busy!

The school term ended on Thursday! I spent most of the day doing what is called Pupil Voice with children from each year group.  It's something one has to do nowadays as a subject leader in school.  Interview a small group of students to find out what they are learning in that subject to check it is being taught comprehensively, fully and to find out what is working for children/teachers and that the subject is going according to plan.

It's a pain to do but it's useful and interesting and also reassuring (and frustrating when they can't remember things and you have to prompt them!.  Not sure what possessed me to ask them 20 questions this time!

In between that, I took my Samba band up to the hall to perform for the Easter Bonnet parades (as it was raining and windy, we had to do separate ones inside!).  The kids were incredible at performing the Samba and everyone was gushing about how good they were! I love that 1/4 of the group have SEND and are all brilliant!

Once I'd cleared up my room and sent some essential emails (annoyingly cannot access my school email at the moment from home!), I headed home.

I dumped my massive collection of things at home and headed to the doctor's surgery to see the nurse to see if I had a water infection (as have had abnominal pain for the past 2 weeks).  Traces of blood but not infection so she managed to get me in for a Saturday afternoon appointment for the Doctor.

I headed home for a quick snack and then cycled in the dark to church.  The wind was CRAZY!!! Rocking up on my bike to church through dark fields was interesting!

Our vicar is not very well at the moment and the lovely lady who regularly plays piano and leads workshop is currently receiving treatment after surgery so I was on for most of the Easter services.

It was a wonderful calm in the church in the midst of the hurricane outside. The service was beautiful and I only made a few bad crashes on the piano.

I came home and made dinner for myself.

Good Friday, after some sleep but not as much as I'd have hoped (SOMEONE's alarm went off at 6.45am and has done for the past 3 days!!!) I got up and cycled to the other church for the 10.30am Good Friday service. The wind was very much against me and I arrived bright-red and sweaty as I climbed the hill to church...annoyingly 5minutes too late to play flute (which I was going to do to support the lovely lady who was playing the piano for the first time since her op.

Again, it was a lovely service. We laid hearts at the foot of the cross and it was beautiful to be there. I was very glad I'd attempted the cycle.

As I waffle about my weekend, here are some photos of what I wore for Easter Sunday!

I cannot quite believe I have never worn this coat on this blog before but I honestly think it is true. I actually don't think I've worn this coat for about 10 years!  I bought it about 20 years ago from Mathew Williamson at Debenhams in the sale for either £30 or £40 and it is covered in beautiful floral embroidery! My mum was SO jealous of me when I bought it, when we still lived together.  She wore it a couple of times too!

For church I wore this floral Laura Ashley dress from the 80's that my Recorder teacher, Maggie gave to my mum.  Fast forward to 2021 and mum gave it to me where I wore it for my friend's Jane Austen themed Hen day! It's the most sumptuously soft cotton lawn.

Worn with my Karen Millen (charity-shopped) cardigan and some blue boots bought in Florence 2019!

Saturday, I did washing and some cleaning (including successfully using Nancy Birtwhistle's technique to remove some limescale from the taps in the bathrooms!).

CBC took me to my Doctor's appointment.  He's referred me to see a Urologist and to get some scans and ultrasounds (within 2weeks hopefully) plus a bloodtest.  I'm hoping it's Kidney stones perhaps but not sure.

CBC and I then drove to a cycle shop to enquire about a Bike Box as he is taking part in the Mallorca 312 in 3 weeks and we went and we went and had some late lunch at a Pizza restaurant. We shared a Puttanesca pizza with a garlic butter glaze on the crust and it was amazing!!! I don't say that about Pizza very often! We went for a short walk to the seafront and then we returned home

At home, we did some bits and pieces and I read and then I made some dinner.

Easter Sunday, as my abdomen was hurting in the night, I was really tired when my alarm went off at what was (due to clocks going forward) 5am, and I was really sad to miss the 6.15am sunrise service at church.  I got up at 8.30am and was at church by 9.05am to play piano.

It was a lovely, joyful service and I didn't make any major mistakes on the piano! I love this small country church- such a lovely gentle congregation.  After the service, I got a lift to the other church (we have a 2 church parish) for the second service I was playing for. Same songs but totally different service.  Equally joyful but in such a different way! I was inspired and invigorated by the services and am grateful to have faith in a God who loves me!

After church, I cycled home (downhill this time) and ate breakfast with CBC who had STILL not left for cycling. I carried on reading and then spent quite a gentle afternoon.

CBC and I just got back from buying each other an Easter egg at Sainsbury's and we are about to eat dinner!

Wishing you the joy of Easter and fresh chances

xx

I cy

Easter parade-not!

 Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay, it's the end of term!

The Spring term is our least favourite one and now it is over! Hurrah!

Since our current headteacher has been here, we have always had an Easter bonnet parade where the children are invited to make and bring in an Easter bonnet.

I always try to dress for the occasion:

I wore this red polka dot daisy print Dirndl skirt which I bought from Think Twice in Antwerp last February. I wore it last year as well!  This time though, I teamed it with the lovely black cotton embroidered top I bought in a charity shop recently (worn with my embroidered joggers..) and my Clarks black boots.

For jewellery, I wore my daisy earrings and a lovely colourful ocarina necklace- yes, it is a real ocarina and I can play tunes on it! 

For these pics, I added my Green felt Monsoon hat. Like last year, I stupidly left my Easter Crown at school so I couldn't wear it with my outfit to show you. I suppose at least it has meant I have had the same Easter crown to wear for the past 3 years!

My Easter crown was made out of some Display border roll which I rescued from the recycling bin.  I added the daisies that were left over from my Easter Wreath from 2020 lockdown! You'll have to trust me that it is very pretty and rainbowy!

This year, I have been collecting any border I find from old displays and storing it in the cupboard at school. I offered 'Easter crown' kits in Singing Assembly last week to any children who knew that they might not have access or money for buying Easter bonnet resources (phrased in a more delicate manner) and to my delight, I was asked for some 'bits and bobs' kits by about 11 people and I provided them with border roll, sequins and paper daisies (all made from reused display paper and my flower punch).  I enjoyed their makes.

There were some super creative makes out there- there really was a lot of creativity. One boy had used all the materials from their new sofa delivery to make his and he'd added origami animals all over it- it was super!

Sadly, the weather meant there was no parade and a lot of soggy bonnets on the windy, rainy way home!

Today was a strange but lovely day.

Year 3-4 singing assembly was a delight.  The Schools Musicals company offers free songs on their website and all the ones I have tried have been really lovely. I downloaded their Spring songs packs and taught a gorgeous song called 'The Colours of Spring' to all 3 singing assembly groups and they have really loved it.  They sang beautifully in all 3 assemblies this week. I also played them a scene from 'An American in Paris' where Gene Kelly sings I Got rhythm  and has a tap dance break. They seemed to enjoy it.  The year 6's went to watch the LSO perform a Gershwin programme this week and really enjoyed it- that's why I chose this!

Next, I headed to Year 4 to teach.  Normally I have year 6 this morning but because one of our Year 4 teachers (my friend) is leaving today and I had missed teaching her class on Monday because of an INSET day, she really needed some time to finish off all her assessments for the new teacher. Thus, I went there instead.  They are often really lacklustre and slow on a Monday morning, first lesson so it was great to have them on Friday as they were really focused and positive and everyone learnt to play Jewish folksong, Zumgali as well as sing it in various versions. It was a great final lesson of the term.

I then spent some time writing some thank you cards and doing some tidying up. The kind caretakers gave my bike a bit of a service whilst I tidied.

I received an unexpected Easter present from a pupil who sent a really sweet card.

Yesterday, choir performed at another local primary school in collaboration with the other school. We were performing our Royal Albert Hall programme again to allow any parents who couldn't afford to go a chance to see it. In the end, I was only missing 6 children. 

I had to play piano for the concert (and only started learning them 2 weeks ago). Luckily, apart from the first song (I where I was getting over nerves), I played fine. The children did really well and the parents were really positive about it.  It was lovely because the Lead for Music at that school and I used to go to school together (she was 5 years older than me) and we were both flute players so the two of us played in our school production of Joseph when I was 11 and she was 17 (ha! I loved being the chosen one to play with a 6-former when I was in year 7!) .  We both loved working together and it was nice for our headteacher too as he is currently acting head of that school as well as being head of my school!

There have been some lovely positive moments this term in music.  The year 2 children learning Bartok's Andante for Children, the Year 1's learning a Lullaby, the Year 5's learning Drunken Sailor and performing absolutely hilarious sea shanties they composed (the best being 'The Kraaken attacks!, You're drunk,walk the plank! and 'Waking the drunken sailor'), the Year 3's learning Lonely Mountain and the Year 4's learning about Transposition and octaves. There have been lots of hard times but I'm thinking of the joys. 

If you are in the habit of praying, please pray for safety and good health for CBC, myself and his siblings and brother in law as we walk some of the Pennine way this week- I'm a bit worried about my foot (possible Plantafascia or whatever it's called!) and how we're going to walk 17.5miles a day for 4 days!

But before that, I have a Gamelan concert in the city tomorrow at LSO St Lukes.  I'm quite excited for it- we are completely sold out- but nervous- I'm not 100% on all the pieces but ok!

Hope all is well with you!

Happy Easter!

Were the whole realm of nature mine,

That were an offering far too small.

Love so amazing, so divine,

Demands my life, my soul, my all.

Happy Easter to you!

xx 

10 things to be thankful for

 I'm feeling quite sad as CBC is going back to school tomorrow but I have another week off.  Usually, I'd be feeling really happy to have another week off but I have that feeling of sadness and dread on his behalf, about going back to school.  Poor him! 

I'm also really uninspired to blog. I WANT to write posts but I can't think of anything exciting to post about.  Therefore, in the circumstances, with that feeling of dread, I thought I'd think about things I am thankful for this week or the past few weeks.

1.  For having received the vaccine jab. I am grateful to have had my first dose and as things open up tomorrow, I am praying that our numbers stay low and things will continue to improve.

2.  For having had the chance to cycle with my sister and niece on Thursday.  After CBC had a blood test, we drove over to my sister's house which isn't so far from the place he had to go to and parked the car outside hers,  We then all cycled along the cross country route to the nearby seaside town for chips for lunch.  We sat on the beach and ate them (and saw CBC's HoD's parents who were unexpectedly sitting behind us on a bench on the promenade!).  It was so nice to discover this cross country cycle route (and now I know to continue my walking route along the seafront) and have the challenge of cycling on different terrain rather than roads.  SO nice to see my sister and niece and be outdoors and exercising.

3. For my plant seedlings which are continuing to grow. I've got cucumbers, courgettes, tomatoes and peppers which I germinated from seed and they are all still doing well and growing.  Last year, all my tomatoes died (though the peppers survived) and my cucumbers were bought plants. I've also JUST planted a patty-pan squash and some Cosmos seeds.  My sunflower has done nothing so far and I've only got ONE Nasturtium that has germinated out of of 6 (from the seeds you gave me last year Ann!) and 2 peas so far but still so happy at what has happened so far!

4. For managing to sleep better.  As you know, from my last post, I was worrying alot about the shelves.  Without going into detail on here, it's a case of I'm going to be stuck with whatever has been done and I'm not allowed to complain about it but at last, I managed to get it out of my mind at bedtime, which I am relieved about.

5.  For the blossom and flowers.  The cherry tree has been in blossom in our garden and has been very pretty and I enjoyed the miniature daffodils and the hyacinths.   My salad leaves are continuing to grow and 3 of the spinach plants which survived being eaten by bugs (the others didn't) though my kale has bolted without me getting any. Humph! Had a lovely walk this evening in the fields behind the house and there was some lovely blossom.

5.  For a pleasant chat with friends.  My dear friends in Hexham called me as I walked and it was really jolly to catch up with them.

6.  I have 2 social occasions planned for this week (so far)- one is a walk along the seafront with my friend M- we did this in November also which was lovely.  The other is playing flute trios in my friend's garden- we did this twice last Summer and we did very well playing apart from each other on her sunny terrace.  Really excited for this!

7.  I cleaned the ensuite today.  I'm not happy about it as I was leaving it for CBC to do but he's apparently never going to do it so I just decided to do it as it was so yucky.  It was a pain to do but the Bicarbonate soda did the trick on the sink and left it shiny so I am glad it is done as it was annoying me.

8.  I'm glad we managed to get out and have some pleasant walks in our week off together (actually ended up being 10 days what with the weekends and Good Friday) - we managed 29 miles over the Easter weekend and I even dipped my feet in the Chelmer river whilst we ate lunch which was a delight.

9. I'm thankful for the time I've had to do some sorting and tidying. Still a lot to do but at least I've started.

10.  I'm grateful for all my friends and family who remain well.  Thank God for that.

What are you thankful for this week?

x

From the Archives: Easter Parade

I like to look through my archive sometimes and share an old post. I'm not sure how I ended up clicking on this post from April 8th 2012 (Easter Sunday), but I liked the outfit in it (I still own most of the items though the cardigan is in the cull pile!)  and the joke at the end.

Enjoy!

Easter parade

Hello!  Despite the rain and cold, it's been a lovely Easter Sunday thus far!  I was awoken at 6am in order to enable CBC to get to a 110km cycle ride in Kent (AHRGH!), so this meant I was alert and ready at 6.30am to leave the house and pick up 2 buses (oh the joy of living at an intermediary minor station on a route with engineering works, you get the pleasure of not having rail replacement laid on all the way, but fending for yourself for  half the way!) home!

This meant I was able to eat a leisurely breakfast, lots of tea and even do some tidying up before being on time for church!  We sang well this morning which was great and proceeded to eat lots of Easter eggs afterwards!  Then a friend just came round for a cup of tea!

 I ended up wearing a festively Easterish outfit in the end!  The skirt (TKMaxx) I'd worn last night at a barn-dance as I hadn't realised the engineering work began last night!  This is fine though, as it is a skirt that needs much swishing and obviously an evening of barn-dancing wasn't enough!! Worn with a matching pinky cardie (Monsoon) and purple hat (Tescos) and Hush-puppies gunmetal shoes.

 What you don't see in this photo is that seconds before it took, my heel sunk into the mud, I slipped and ended up with one foot out of the shoe!  A good save to meet the timer methinks!

Add caption

 I kannee resist swishing!  I think it was all that barn-dancing last night that did it! It was so much fun as we did loads of unusual dances that I've never done before including 'The snowball' and the 'Jumpback'!    My friend Anne and I stuck rigorously to the beat as usual and despaired at lesser-mortals who couldn't stay in time and remember the routine,notably stripping the willow!  ;-)

 I suddenly realise this outfit realised went well with this coat which I've had for at least 7 years, but don't wear all that often!  It's a Matthew Williamson Butterfly coat which I love because it's all embroidered and detailed.  That's what I like about eveything Matthew Williamson does- he always uses some lovely vibrant colours on his clothing and embellished details!  Everything seems pretty, feminine and like he's taken a lot of care over it! Most designers I'm really not bothered about, I'd never buy designer, but for Matthew Williamson, I'd consider it if only I were more affluent and not conscious of wasting money and thinking more ethically- the spending ban has really made me think about it!! The Lent leg of it is over, now comes the continuation!

 To keep me warm, I decided this 9 year old M&S collar would go well with it!

 Just a couple of action shots CBC took naughtily last night at the barn-dance! See that grimace!  That comes of being far taller than your partner and having to go under arms- apparently the first time, I dragged her off her feet!

 It was a lovely evening, in aid of the Helen Rollason cancer-charity, lovely folk and it's such a brilliant way of having fun- healthy, being exercise, challenging mentally but utterly hilarious!  I spent most of the evening naughtily laughing when other people couldn't remember the routine!

I just had to share a hilarious simile I heard recently, courtesy of Philip Larkin, which I am STILL chortling about:

As pedestrian as a centipede.

Hope your Easter is beautiful and not as pedestrian as a centipede!
Hugs xx

Easter Sunday best

Greetings friends!

I hope you are well. I'm back to regular 'school' this week so trying to get on with school work and activities though I've not done so well so far- somehow, the working environments I could work in were all completely covered in crafting mess so it took a while to get that sorted.  The dining room table is now clear and I've prepared and sent plans and activities for tomorrow to the other staff who are in with me (I'm IN school tomorrow for the first time in a month- am rather nervous to be travelling so far by Public transport and spending time with snotty children! Please keep me in prayer)

I thought I'd share what I wore last week on Easter Sunday.  I always like to wear something pretty for Easter Sunday as usually church is full of beautiful flowers and it's nice to try and wear something special.

Here's what I wore:

This dress is a 1950's one I bought in Hexham from the Vintage Emporium and it was my 'birthday present to myself'!

Accessory-wise, I wore this Sunflower headband which came from Primark about a decade ago and my small cross necklace (handmade by a friend), Mini-egg earrings (bought at the Big Church Day Out festival also about a decade ago) and then my favourite fox-shoes which CBC bought for my birthday 3 years ago.

It was the perfect relaxed outfit until I realised the headband was giving me a headache!  Ah well!

Easter Day was lovely with watching Easter services from Bob and Ang, my old church and another one!

I bought CBC an Easter Egg and also one for myself  from Londis when I was buying some other bits.  We've eaten his but mine is still lurking and he keeps hassling me about it! 

xx

My DIY Easter Wreath

As you saw from last week, I've been trying to reuse some of the cardboard boxes I bought home from school to recycle (but never actually got around to) after making my Phoenix wings.

On Friday, I decided I would like to make an Easter wreath.  Not eggs, not bunnies, not lambs but flowers.

I didn't really have any plan of what to do. I went to the garage to the craft shelves and searched for all the flower punches, also grabbing a butterfly punch too.  

I knew I had some paints somewhere and found a small bottle of green-pearlescent acrylic paint and a paint brush.  Also, I found my stash of coloured envelopes which I always keep from cards I've been given and a paper pad.

The first job was to make the wreath base. I drew around a dinner plate and then placed some smaller circular object in the centre and cut them out.

Next, I painted the wreath green with the Acrylic paint. 

Next, I punched 2 large daisy shapes out of all the different colours of envelopes until I had 10 different colours.

To give them a 3D feel, what you need to do is get an old biro that doesn't work and a piece of craft foam.  Then, to make the petals curl, you just need to make circular movements with the biro on the petals (or straight lines) and then go around the centre and the petals lift.

I laid them in a pattern.  

Next, I used a small circle punch to cut one circle from all the colours and moved them 2 places backwards rather like musical chairs and stuck them into the centre.

After that, I stuck down the flowers. I misjudged the spacing so ended up with a half-space so I punched a lilac butterfly from my wedding punch (made turquoise confetti for the tables and ones to go on the table names from old music)

Next, I added some white gel dots to the edge of the flower centre.

At this point, I punched holes in the top and added string.

To fill in the gaps, I used 2 sizes of tiny flower punches and experimented with making paper Stitchwort, Celandines and Forget me nots, adding details in gel-pens.  There was something missing so I used a dark green envelope and a mini leaf punch to cut some leaves and arranged everything.

And voila, here is my wreath!

Got to admit, am very pleased with it!

Pretty much all recycled material apart from the mustard-coloured card and the pink, which were offcuts from previous projects. I honestly think that my flower punches are my favourite craft tools!

What do you think?

xx

Easter Joy!

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!!

New life!!!

The heavens are telling the glory of God....as are the flowers!  Here are a couple of photos from my garden of some of the flowers and blossom!  We stand amazed as bare branches from a few weeks ago are now bearing blossom and vibrant green foliage. Just like the stink of the grave became the hope of eternal life! Spring is a miracle as is the resurrection!

Here are a couple of photos from our garden this week.

 A mist of Forget-me-Nots. CBC is always inclined to pull them up.  Then he saw Monty Don's Instagram with a haze of them.

Blueberry blossom.

 Apple Blossom

Alkanets (weeds but welcome ones!) 

Wishing you a blessed Easter!

Happy Easter!

Were the whole realm of nature mine,

That were an offering far too small,

Love so amazing, so divine.

Demands my soul, my life, my all!

(Wesley).

He is risen indeed!  Hallelujah!

Last minute Easter Bonnet and outfit.

Hi there!

I write this on the last day of term, though publishing later!

Today, we had our Easter bonnet parade at school. I was last minute with EVERYTHING today.  I always set out my outfit the night before but last night I clean forgot and woke up late (I blame that Shetland drama on BBC)

So, it was amazing that I somehow quickly managed to put together an acceptable outfit in the 20minutes between waking and leaving home.

My vintage blouse with dagger collars that has green chicks hatching out of eggs on it (bought bargain box from Vintage fair in London where I met Vix!). I added black high-waisted trousers and a green t-shirt underneath and added my 'Look for rainbows necklace and mini-egg earrings.

As I was going into the garage to get my bike for work, I grabbed my flower craft-punch and 4 pieces of coloured card.

At school, with my nice class, I found some discarded off-cuts of a green border from a display board that had been taken out and fashioned a crown our of them with the aid of staples. I then punched flowers to stick on with Pritt-Stick! As I glanced in the bathroom mirror later, I discovered the crown was serendipitously the same shade as my t-shirt. No plastic chicks or readymade bunnies for me,  just paper and card and some staples.

- I punched a whole load more flowers and found a few sheets of card and some tissue paper off-cuts plus some old silver border and about 12 children also made themselves some plastic-free Easter hats which they were really chuffed to be able to wear for the Easter bonnet parade and competition.  For everyone else who hadn't made on at home or with me, I brought along my fluorescent chiffon scarves which I use for music and the rest of them sported them as bandanas so my class was the most bright and festive looking.  You don't need to spend loads of money or buy disposable things for a nice Easter headpiece! It was nice to share my craft-tool to share with the children!  Every school should have a flower punch!

xx

Happy Easter!

Christ has died,

Christ has risen.

Christ will come again!

Much love and joy to you this Easter!

xx

Windy Gyle - a walk in the Northumbrian Cheviots

Cast your mind back beyond these halcyon days we are experiencing in terms of radiant weather to the freezing cold, slightly murky day that was Easter Monday!

There was no bank holiday lie-in for us, but the exciting prospect of a walk in the Cheviots with my own Northumberland friend who lives Hexham with her husband. We departed Haltwhistle and met at their house and drove in Convoy.

The road was winding and became more and more remote until we found ourselves on a military road surrounded by high hills, bleak, but beautiful and we wondered what life would be like living in such a place.

Our destination was the Trig point of Windy Gyle, one of the hills there.  It was rather cold and windy.

We set off in convoy up the slopes. I was permanently at the back, out of breath and far inferior to my companions, R, D, CBC and WKWTTG.  It mattered not, it was blissful to be OUT THERE, in such a remote place with no other walkers for 98% of the journey.

There was snow on the peaks in the distance above dark forests.

And here were my trusty companions.

Although the weather was not the best, those lugubrious clouds pervading the sky made for a poetic and imposing backdrop.

Towards the top, we climbed out this Stile that was the border between England and Scotland. My first time in Scotland! The wee lad on the other side of the gate is Scottish!!! He was amazed I'd never been in Scotland.

Here's the obligatory spiky plant in the absence of thistles!

The final stage before the trig point was this boggy field.

You can tell, I hope, how bitterly cold it was up there by the little piles of snow scattered here and there.

Heading towards the cairn.

Alternative routes were available but alas, the car was below.

We reached the impressively-sized cairn for a shot where we saw our 2nd people of the day who took the photo for us.

And then the Trig point.

I can honestly say I've never sat inside a cairn to eat my lunch before!

Did I mention how cold it was. Glacially cold, I might add.
We sat down to eat our picnic while a hoolie blew around us.The Thermos was an absolute God-send!  My friend in white (wearing my spare hat as she'd forgotten hers), has Rainard's (or however you spell it) syndrome in her hands so her hands had gone blue she was so cold.  The joy in her face when she held the Thermos was a delight.

The walk down was a relief as it was fairly gentle so I didn't encounter my usual Downhill terror!

At the back as usual but this time with R!

As we neared the conclusion of our walk, the sun came out to play.

And at the car, the meandering river glinted in its radiance.

I love Northumberland so much because you can have this type of walk, something challenging and interesting but have it all to yourself. It was very different to our usual Lake District walks and it was a great opportunity,especially with friends.

We went to a nearby-signposted Barrowburn tea rooms at a farm nearby where for £1.50, I had a pot of Earl Grey that gave me 5 cups...

and a delicious Mars bar Crispie slice for £2.  It was really sad to discover that the tearoom is closing in August because the farm just doesn't make enough money to survive. The tea room was making more money than the farm despite their low prices. It was so pleasant and I become so sad when a business or livelihood that has been in a family for generations, is lost.

All in all, it was a wonderful day. 

Have you been to the Cheviots?

xx