More Shopping.

Peter was off today doing boys' things - gig rowing on the river and then shooting at the range so I had a girlie morning wandering the shops and meeting my friend for coffee and cheese cake. I didn't buy that much, just some stuff so that my class can make sock puppets and a few things towards Christmas. As it's an even year I'm expecting all the boys to be here for Christmas Day so there's more to get ready and I'm trying to start early. I'm still getting a massive kick out of being able to try on size 12 clothes, it was a shame that the Per Una jeans weren't long enough, they would have been a great bargain from the charity shop. I did buy a pair of Adidas shorts and a white Nike top again from a charity shop. I do look in all the shops but even then I gravitate towards the sale rails. My thrifty nature I suppose. After yesterday's warmth I was hopeful for today but the mist and wind kept the sun away and the temperature down. Once back home I decided to tackle cut back the clumps of giant crocosmia that stand like sentinels at the entrance to the yard. They are such easy plants only needing to be staked and tied back in the spring and then chopped down in the autumn. In the picture above one clump has been removed while the other side awaits my secateurs.
There is still quite a lot of colour in the garden. I plan to 'put the garden to bed for the winter' during the half-term holiday which is in 2 week's time.

As a lot of my time is spent in school I thought I'd show my precious domain, my Year 2 classroom/ hut. This is how I leave it in the evenings ready for the children to change their books in the morning. Once that is done the children put the boxes away leaving the tables clear for all their activities.

2 views from my chair in the opposite corner with a glimpse into my cupboard which caused me so much hassle at the end of last term. I'm looking at the picture wondering why on earth the children's pcs are still on. Usually I ask them to shut them down and then I cover them up with a cloth, that's so the burglars don't know there are pcs there, ha! Just looked closely at the picture and realised I took the photos at the start of the day. (The clock might have been a giveaway.)

Final thought, how amazing to be at that primary school in England where as a response to a letter from one of the children Cap'n Jack Sparrow and some crew mates turned up at morning assembly last Thursday. They're on location filming the next Pirates of the Carribean near there and it was a lovely gesture. No tv cameras or publicity, only a video shot on a teacher's phone of Johnny Depp doing that amazing drunken act (I don't know how that's been approved for a children's film) that makes the character so fascinating. Why couldn't that happen to us?