why do we teach? Might be something to do with this!

I just got back from a week in mid wales with my parents and some friends. It was just what the doctor ordered, I feel ready to face the next 7 weeks. We got up to an awful lot, I'm going to put a few photos here, if you want to see more then feel fre to click on them to go to my flickr page. If you're beady eyed you'll also notice some progress with the Christmas knitting, not telling who for though!


The cottage had a hot tub... after some days it was very much needed, I've not done this much exercise in ages!

The scenery was beautiful, and the weather even obliged on occasion.


Though you can see from this picture how much it had rained... yes that is a bike nearly underwater.

Oh and it snowed... lots.. enough that we were wading thigh deep later in the day, that got boring pretty quickly so we cut that walk short. It's not meant to snow this much in October!


I also found when I uploaded these photos a couple more climbing shots from the last club trip away, I'll put those up soon!

One down, 5 to go

I have just completed my first half term as a teacher, 8 whole weeks of proper teaching, proper timetable, nobody looking over my shoulder teaching! We're just about to get the new batch of PGCE students in to school, I saw a copy of their timetable yesterday and gasped. I'd forgotten how little I used to teach. I remember all to well how tired it used to make me though!

I'm just off to the end of half term social with all the other science staff. I feel so lucky to be in such a wonderful department, I was chatting with my mentor today and she complemented me on well I was doing, how well I fitted in, and how organised I had been. it feels good to be told I'm doing a good job!

Anyway, the pub is calling!

Another year, another weekend in Wales...

A few selected photos from this weekend. Saturday was spent climbing, for which I have no photos.. hopefully my younger brother will put the ones he took up on Facebook soon. All the ones above are from sunday when the weather was mostly rainy and windy so we went to Dinorwic slate quarries just above Llanberis. The abandoned industrial setting is both bleak but in it's own way beautiful. Seeing the quarries when they were being fully worked before the age of true mechanization must have been amazing.

The tyre shot is what happens when a minibus tyre tries to argue with a rock and looses, luckily they're double wheeled so we made it to a car park before we even realised anything was wrong!

I'm keeping it short and sweet for this post, I'll be away on holiday for all of next week, if I don't squeeze in another post between now and then it will be because life has caught up with me again...

I'm off to unravel a sock heel that took me 2 hours to knit, because I was in denial about how large the heel needs to be on a mans sock.. this thing is child sized, why it took me so long to come to my sense I have no idea!

We have a winner! (and a loser)

Well the winner part is Han5nah T. the Manatee, I used a random number generator to pick a comment number and then just counted from the top and hers was the one I got to. I'll put them in the post as soon as I get an address.

The loser on the other hand would be me, the reason for me falling off the face of the blog last week was a crazy busy week made worse by the lack of a car. My brand new car broke down 1 week after I got it, and then spent a week in the garage due to the part that arrived being faulty! I finally got it back today, and managed to drive all of 500 metres before I got stuck in the middle of the junction with no power in a repeat of the same problem that was supposed to be fixed.... I'm ringing the guy I bought it from tomorrow. Spending £700 on a car I only just bought has broke my heart!


Hopefully tomorrow I'll post some pretty pictures of my trip to Wales this weekend, tonight I need to sleep, cooking for 60 people and driving a minibus about all weekend will do that to a girl!

A giveaway

Bought to you via Crochet and Knit Giveaways
Giveaway Item(s):One pair of ribbed handwarmers as shown below.


How the winner will be chosen:All comments left will be given a number and I'll use a random number site to pick a winner


Giveaway Begins:Today


Giveaway Ends: Sunday 19th midnight UK British Summer time


Winner will be notified on/by: 20th October via email


Rules: No duplicate entries/comments. No spamming. Giveaway is open to everyone. Winner MUST respond within five days, otherwise they forfeit their winnings, and a new winner will be announced.


How to Enter:Just leave a comment here, please tell others about it, and go and check out the other blogs who are doing a giveaway.




Find other Crochet and Knit Giveaways to enter!


Here's what you could win, they're knitted using superwash sock wool, which I think has some nylon content (not entirely certain as it didn't have a ball band when I got it), so should be find machine washing at 40 degrees centigrade. They fit me, I have small hands, but also fitted on my Dad's hands, and would fit a largish clild as well. If you wnat them please leave a comment and I'll pick a winner. I am happy to pay for shipping, and no I don't mind sending them internationally.

Edited o add- there are a few comments below where I'm not sure if they're entering or not. If you do want to enter then please make it clear in your comment. Also can you either leave your email, or make sure your blogger account is set up so I can email you. I'm going o presume all comments before this do want to enter, if I discover the person who wins didn't mean to enter then I'll redraw.

This could be the straw that breaks the camels back...

I've just finished a really upsetting phone call. It was from one of the wonderful Guiders in my district. she has been running her unit for just over a year, and has had enough.
Really it's a combination of factors, she's started a new job, she feels inexperienced and feels like she's not planning a good enough program, the parents don't support her when she needs an extra adult, and the behaviour of the girls is very poor.
She's said she can stay until Christmas and after that she wants to carry on as assistant but no more.

This is the 2nd Brownie unit in my district that will be or is currently without someone to run them. I also have a guide unit with 40 girls currently being run by just 2 guiders. There is not a unit in the district that I feel is running to the potential it could be due to a shortage of regular helpers who could help share the load. There are 300 girls in units in my district, and so many of their parents view Guiding as a right. Despite many pleas for help the stock answer is that they are too busy. I long to wave my diary in their face, tell them what my week has been like, tell them just how few hours I spend at home between leaving for work, arriving home, leaving again, and coming home and collapsing in to bed. Tonight is the first night I will have in this week, next week is much the same.
I run my own Rainbow unit, am district commissioner, catering officer for the climbing club, am a first year teacher and I would quite like to actually see my friends and family occasionally. If I can do it, anyone can, for the most part we don't even want someone to organise meetings, we just someone who will turn up regularly for just an hour and a half a week.To me it's just another example of the selfish nature of society at the moment.


/rant over, normal service will resume tomorrow with a giveaway!

A delightful surprise

I had a wonderful surprise this morning,I collected a parcel from the post office and the contents were amazing. A while ago I won a caption competition over at Yogic Knitter. My prize parcel arrived today.

some lovely goodies


and a ball of fabulous sock yarn.

Thank you so much!

PS. If you fancy getting a nice parcel in the post come back on Saturday when I will have my own little giveaway.