Holidays

Yay! It is the first day of the holidays. I guess non-teachers think we have hoards of holidays, and we do compared to other people. I would justify having holidays by the sheer exhaustion we feel week after week. I was trying to work out why teaching is so exhausting. For me, as a special needs teacher, it is kind of like acting without a script all day long, reacting to a whole lot of unpredictable characters. We have a bit of a guide to how the day will go (our planning), but the moods and reactions of the students and other staff determines the decisions I make throughout the day. If you aren't on form for the day things can be a real struggle. We do play a game and spend lots of time manipulating the behaviour of our students with difficult behaviours to get the best out of them. Fortunately the more experienced you are the more easily you can do this.

I'm quite pleased I have resisted the urge to have a nap today. I got out for a lovely walk with Miss Dog this morning. Johnny lit the fire so we will be cosy tonight.

Here is Henry's little vest ready to be blocked. I have to wet it with a mild soap then rinse it out. Then I roll it in a towel and finally lay it out and pull it gently into the optimal shape flat on another towel. Apparently it will magically stay in the shape once it dries. As I didn't have a pattern, or any skill beyond knit and purl, I learnt a bit on the way. One thing I realized is that the ribbed band at the bottom should have been done on smaller needles to stop it folding up. I also discovered that I love the puzzle of knitting on double pointed needles.

Did you know I absolutely love primrose patterned china? I have a wee collection and am keen to add to it. Unfortunately there seem to be very few different patterns, and some of them are horrid colours. I like the pretty primrose yellow ones. We got some museum wax to stick the china to the shelves so that I can think about displaying some of it. Right now we are still experiencing earthquakes and there is still the chance of another big one. Pause for a sigh...

Onto a couple of Johnny's latest favourite things. Oddfellows made like the old fashioned smokers lollies.

And his I-Pad. Very cool.

Tomorrow we are going out to Scarlett Oak Equestian for my riding lesson, then we are going to help out with some jobs around the place. I really admire Celine for her independence and determination to get her riding school and bed and breakfast going, but it is a lot of work for one young woman. I'm sure it will be fun helping out. Johnny is coming too. I want him to get some photos of me riding, so that I can study them and work on my position. I hope it will be fine because it is quite a while since Sam and I had a date because of the weather and other stuff. He'll be getting lots of carrots tomorrow. Horse kisses XXXX