on a journey

I feel like I'm on a bit of a journey at the moment.  Just as I get to my destination something changes and I'm off again in a different direction. The exam invigilating is over for now, the snow of last week caused havoc, so it got increasingly stressful.  Time for a bit more sewing I thought, maybe get focused on some new things and manage a few more rows of the sock yarn shawl.

Instead out of the blue, a job opportunity too good to turn down, two days a week, working from home, computer based admin. So this week my head is exploding from training, training, training, and also from the "fun" of uploading a more recent copy of some software onto my laptop.
note to self. do not start to install huge software programs at 8.30pm. or you will end up watching two entire films and going to bed at 2am when it is finally finished and working properly.

oh and do you remember I said I'd entered a ballot for a half marathon? Well I got a place. And I panicked for a few days and then I might just have entered another power walking challenge.  more about that another day. I think I need an early night tonight...........



it's quilt weather!

brrrrr. it's Cold outside. Definitely quilt weather. We have an amber warning of snow and a windchill of -6C.

Miss K's school sent them home on Friday at lunchtime, and is closed today except for exams.

E's school is open, I sent him out of the door into a howling blizzard.



I have to go out this afternoon to do more exam invigilating. I really don't want to go.........

Red Wallflowers quilt. Sold.

I want to stay at home and sew another quilt.

learning from exams

I've been exam invigilating this week. I have no idea how much the children have prepared or learnt, but I have learnt several things....

When I child puts up its hand and asks for something it is a Very Good Idea to make a mental note of their seat number. You think you will remember who they are, but in a room of 120 children, none of whom you know, in fact there is no chance you will. They all wear navy blue..... All the girls have long hair.

The most frequent initial of children in a maths exam will be J. There were 3 Jordans, and Jamie, James, Jack, Jake, Joshua and Jason. There was also Janice, Julie, Jennifer, Jane, and Jemma.

If it is a maths exam there is a 78% chance that the child won't have all the equipment it needs. Even though they have been told what to bring. The maths department will leave you a box with a few rulers, 2 calculators, no compasses, one rubber and one protractor. Thankfully the office will give you pens and pencils. 

If there are 100 children then it is highly probable that at least 7 won't even have brought a pen........

Once you have given out the only rubber the only thing left to do is hand out pencils with rubbers on the end. You know the ones, that just make a smudgy mess of what you are trying to rub out. And then make sure you never catch that child's eye again. They will rubbed a hole in their paper trying to rub out whatever mistake they made.....

Art teachers are the most likely candidates for having sugar in their classrooms. This is very useful to know when you are in an exam in a remote corner of campus and the art classrooms are the only ones nearby.  Most children who put their hands up want a ruler or a new pen.  A girl today said "Miss, can I go out and get some sugar, I'm diabetic and I'm having a hypo." 

My favourite moment from the week so far?
"Please Miss, can I borrow one of those round things?"

dealing with leftovers (of a wooly variety)

Using up leftovers has always been one of my favourite things. The contents of the fridge are always getting turned into endless varieties of leftover soup, and from the fruit bowl anything tired looking gets thrown into a cake or a crumble.

Fabric leftovers of course become quilts. It is of course possible that I buy fabric especially for it to become leftovers (scraps) but we'll keep that a secret....

Wool leftovers have so far baffled me however. I've made a few fluffy brooches but they don't use much, and my granny square production stopped once there was no olympics to watch.

I was determined to find use for some oddments of sock yarn however, some leftover from socks and wristwarmers, and some of a friends leftovers (how am I supposed to keep control of my wool chaos when I can't turn down scraps.......)

Thankfully Nancy had already solved my problem when she knitted a shawl using all her sock scraps, and I hope she doesn't mind that I am doing exactly the same!

Well not exactly the same, this pattern has lots of holes in. Some of them are not in the right places........



Happy New Year

Whilst I've pottered round blogland today it has been such fun to read all of your resolutions, hopes for the future, reflections on the past and plans for the year ahead.
My favourites would have to be Nancy's plan to eat more smoked salmon, Ali's promise to organise her photos, and quite a few promises of more knitting.

Last year was filled for me both with inspiration and friendships as I visited you every day without leaving the sofa and with blog meet ups, as far apart as the V&A and at Kew, on Hadrian's Wall, on Alnmouth Beach, in Kendal coffee shops and in Barter Books.

I'm making no rash promises of what you'll find here in the year ahead, although having posted several times without a single decent photograph that is something I clearly need to resolve......  oh and talking of rash things I entered a ballot today for a half marathon(I'm power walking it not running for those of you that think I am fitter than I am!), any future photographs are likely to be of muddy training walks....