Time for a Break

Day 379...

So today marked the last day of our Spring term at pre-school and for me it was just a half day.

The morning was a mix of the usual administration tasks and banking along with a little more fundraising money to count. It was then a case of getting together paperwork to bring home with me so that I can do a little work over the break. I will have the termly accounts to write up and balance as well as a few other bits and pieces to complete.

I nipped to a local supermarket on my way home and then it was time to stop and appreciate that my two week break from work had started...luckily I walked in to a fresh pot of coffee.

Simon had already started his long Easter weekend as his office is closed from today until Wednesday next week. He has spent the day 'tinkering' with his R2D2 build, fixing magnets into place and discovering small sections that needed painting! But hopefully he is now at a point where all there is left to do is the weathering!

My afternoon has seen me pottering around the house getting a few little chores completed as well as jumping online later this afternoon to finish a little pre-school work...but hopefully that is pre-school sorted for a few days now.

And that was my last day at work for a couple of weeks and the start of my 'holiday'. Although there is nothing much we can do or anywhere we can go at least for the next 10 days or so as we wait for the next date in our 'roadmap out of lockdown' to roll around, the 12th April. But on a positive note we have one more sleep until Molly is home - yay!

Take care, and see you tomorrow.
xx

Happy Hump Day

Day 378...

And we have the middle, the hump if you will, of the week - Wednesday.

Today was a full day in work for me. This morning we had the judging of our Easter Bonnet competition and the drawing of our Easter raffle. This in turn meant the appropriate social media posts and the advising of winners so that we could organise the distribution of prizes.

I had the usual admin tasks to complete along with some updates to our online learning journal system that we use to communicate with our parents. We enjoyed another sunny day outside with unseasonably warm temperatures, although looks like we are back to normal tomorrow with the forecast being ten degrees (celsius) cooler than today!!

On my way home I was able to drop one of our raffle prizes off at a lucky winners house. Once home it was a quick turnaround to get ready for podcast recording; this meant moving my laptop along with microphone and earphones into the quietest room in the house which happens to be my bedroom. But just as I was setting up I heard a buzzing noise and saw there was a big fat wasp on the window. Now I am not a wasp fan but I was quickly able to open the window but would it go anywhere near the open window? Of course not! I closed the curtains and gathered a few other bits I needed for recording and thankfully by the time I returned the wasp had had the good sense to fly out the open window!

This warm weather is lovely but it has obviously woken up the wildlife; it turned out Simon had three other wasps throughout the day to deal with. Although my encounter last night with something very black, too big for my liking and eight legs was not any fun either. We were just going to bed and I went to open a cupboard in the bathroom; not looking I put my hand out to grab the handle and felt something soft and 'fluffy'...I looked and then screamed and danced around the bathroom! Simon thought I'd trapped a finger or something until I could finally string a sentence together and utter the words 'argh spider!' Not the most relaxing way to go to bed!

Today was rounded out with Michelle and I enjoying about an hour of catching up and recording a podcast episode that will be released this coming Sunday. We chatted about some Disney history, some news and then we looked at some 'easter eggs'; not the chocolate ones but the ones you find in movies. 

And I now have one more day of work ahead tomorrow before finishing for two weeks and only two more sleeps until Molly returns home.

Take care.
xx

Sunny Tuesday

Day 377...

Today was another gorgeous day weather wise, it started off bright but chilly and by lunchtime it was warm and sunny...such a shame the forecast says we are due sleet and snow this time next week!

But it was into work this morning and I had the usual admin tasks to complete along with some banking and getting organised for the drawing of our Easter raffle tomorrow. This week at preschool is a little more laid back than normal as we wind down ready for our two week break. We are fundraising with our raffle and other smaller things; we have an Easter bonnet competition tomorrow; and all week we are playing games and dancing and making Easter themed crafts.

My afternoon was spent at home and as I arrived at home so did my butchers delivery which meant my first job was to unpack it all and split it into meal portion sizes ready for freezing.

I had a little catch up with one of my elderly neighbours who lost her husband to dementia over Christmas. She is doing really well and was telling me that she and my other neighbour had visited a local park together today to sit and have their lunch...which sounded lovely but how sad is it that that is the most exciting thing we can do at the moment.

I decided to take advantage of the sunshine to top up my vitamin D levels and sat outside with a coffee for a little while before doing some housework. 

Getting up close with nature!

As Molly is returning home at the weekend I thought I'd better give her room a bit of a tidy and dust around as it hasn't been touched for three months. I was also able to get on top of the laundry and actually dry the clothes outside for a change!

This was followed by another coffee  outside while catching up on emails, chatting with friends online and other bits of social media. Although, some of my neighbours were being very productive with their time and were busy gardening which kind of spoiled my chill time in two ways. Firstly it wasn't quite the tranquil atmosphere I was looking for and then second because they were so busy it made me feel guilty for sitting and doing nothing!

I had a strange moment today when chatting with someone; we were outside and they were wearing a mask...and sunglasses. This meant that I couldn't see their eyes it was like talking to a blank wall, I couldn't see (literally) if they were acknowledging me, or listening, or scowling or anything. It actually felt very rude...masks and sunglasses are not a good combination.

We finished the day off with a little trip 'down the gym'. Although, having had an argument with the vacuum cleaner earlier, I discovered that I now have one very sore elbow which really didn't like some of the exercises I was attempting to do! 

So I think it's time to stop writing, make a cuppa and turn on the Netflix!
xx

Monday - Day 376

Day 376...

We are back at the beginning of yet another week. 

And our Monday started as most of our Mondays do with a trip to our supermarket of choice to collect the weekly grocery shop. After we returned home and packed it all away we decided to go out for a walk in the sunshine. 

It was rather blustery and cool to start with but by the time we headed home the clouds had disappeared and it had turned really rather warm. We bumped into a friend who was sat enjoying the sunshine with a coffee and a friend and it was lovely to stop for five minutes and pass the time of day.

After a spot of lunch Simon set to designing a small part for his R2D2 build as he needed a piece to act as a hinge for one of the door panels. Once designed he was then able to set it printing while we popped out to see my dad.

We had picked a few things up for him with our shopping and needed to drop those round as well as some ironing that I'd done for him.

Once home again I was determined to enjoy the sunshine and spent a few minutes sat outside with a coffee. Although this did mean that I could see all the new weeds that had appeared since I'd weeded last week which meant the next hour or so was spent getting rid of said weeds. Although this did mean I got to have a chat with a neighbour as we attempted to put the world to rights! I also tweaked some of my outdoor lights as a few of the individual lights were no longer working so I was able to double up the string so that it's no longer quite so noticeable.

Well it turned out Simon has been chatting with his barber today and has managed to secure an appointment for a haircut...before me!! How very dare he?! Although to be fair his hair is probably in more need of a cut than mine as he is back to wearing a hat to keep it under control. I will have to wait until three weeks after Simon to get mine cut, although it is my colour that really needs doing as I am in danger of being almost my natural colour...and the grey that goes with it!! 

Simon has made great progress with the finishing touches to his R2D2 build and was able to sort the hinge problem he was having with one of the door panels. He has a few magnets to put in place to make sure things are absolutely secure and after touching up the paint in a few places we are now ready to make it look all dirty, which I think will be Friday's job when we are next off work.

Man and his droid!!

Talk has turned to what Simon's next project is going to be...there has been talk of a BB8 build but then DJ R-3X (affectionately called DJ Rex) was mentioned. This droid character appears in the Star Tours ride in Disney parks and also in Oga's Cantina in Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. When Simon mentioned that it could house an MP3 player to play all my favourite music I was sold on the idea!!

Today marked the day when some of England's restrictions began to ease. A day when out of the 1600 plus deaths that we have every day only 23 were 'COVID deaths' and yet we are still in one of the most severe lockdowns and one of the slowest releases from lockdown. We have states in the US like Texas who removed all restrictions and have seen their figures go down. We have countries like Sweden who chose to follow the standard World Health Organisation's pandemic guidelines (as of 2019) and have faired no worse than the UK for deaths but have in fact enjoyed their freedoms and have a strong economy. We need normal back, and freedoms back, but I fear they are still a long way off.

Take care.
xx

Where Did that Hour Go?

Day 375...

The last Sunday in March and we have now sprung forward into British Summertime which has meant all day looking at the clock and asking myself where has the time gone!

After a rubbish nights sleep for me we had a slow morning that ended with a windy walk managing 3.3 miles in an hour and four minutes. Although the daftest thing we saw today was a young couple who were walking towards us stop and put masks on...now I'm all for following the rules (whether I agree with them or not) but this was just plain daft. We were outside, it was windy, there was enough room for us to pass each other safely, they looked young, fit and healthy, we would have been 'close' for at most twenty seconds...really what was the point? Perhaps Simon and I look infected? Totally daft and completely unnecessary!

We found a local farm shop that had a small van outside selling coffee and decided to grab one; thankfully before we placed our order Simon realised we'd left home without any money - oops! Back home for coffee it was.

The afternoon has been fairly quiet. I had the joy of updating my online grocery shop ready for collecting tomorrow morning. I had a couple of work emails to fire off as unfortunately we have a slight issue with another group that use the same building as pre-school. They are looking to return to regular use of the building as we see restrictions gradually get lifted but their expectations from pre-school were causing us an issue! I also had the very exciting pile of ironing to master as well.

Simon has been working on those finishing touches to his R2D2 build. There are a few more 'decorative' parts to add on before he can start on the weathering process. So a matter of fixing, gluing and spray painting has been his focus this afternoon.

And there we have a Sunday!

Take care.
xx

Woohoo it's the Weekend

Day 374...

And we have another stay-at-home weekend!

Our Saturday morning was a fairly laid back affair culminating in our usual walk for a coffee...and cake for Ethan. Another 3.6 miles in an hour and ten minutes which brings our total for March to 41 miles walked in 14 hours! 

After a spot of lunch we popped to see my dad; we had a couple of things to drop off with him and it was a good excuse to check-in with him and makes sure he was doing okay. We spent an hour or so with him and gave him another tutorial on how to use WhatsApp in an attempt to get him a little more tech savvy and easier to keep in contact with.

When we returned home our task was to see if we could make some progress on Simon's R2D2 droid build. It was time to assemble the legs and then attach them to the main body. The leg assembly was surprisingly straight forward and took us much less time than I think we were anticipating but the next bit was a little more tricky.

We moved R2 into our living room so that he could be fully assembled in the room that he is going to live in. It was then a case of figuring out just how the legs attached to the body. After a couple of attempts threading bolts through from the leg, into the 'shoulder' section and then into the body we realised that something wasn't quite lining up. Thankfully Simon was able to figure out how all the various pieces connected together which meant that we were a set of bolts missing. But a quick jump online and Simon was able to buy some ready to be picked up from a DIY store just a five minute drive away.

Once we had all the right bolts we were able to get all the pieces connected correctly and with a little bit of balancing and holding into position we managed to attach the two side legs and then the central 'foot'. A little minor adjustment and voila we have a droid living in the corner of our living room...

How cool is this?

...there are still a few details to add and then there will be some weathering as apparently it looks too clean to be in Star Wars!

And with that all done it was time for dinner which was our now usual Saturday night keto pizza which this week included a video chat with Molly and her fella, while Molly helped his mum dye her hair! Random I know, but that did all happen together!!

Today I shared this Mickey with our Disney Dream Girls family on Facebook. This is from Simon's 365 Mickey project 10 years ago...and would you believe it the timing couldn't be more perfect as this is exactly what happens today...

...time to put the clocks forward an hour and spring into British summertime!

Take care.
xx

Finally Friday

Day 373...

And we have reached the end of yet another working week...yay it's Friday.

And my first, and only, actual full day in actual work this week! For some of my friends in education today marked their last day in work and they now find themselves on their Easter two week break...but we have four more days to go next week (ok three for me as I don't work Mondays!)

My work day was spent as usual catching up with admin tasks, prepping the registers for the next term, helping my deputy with a little tidy up, organising ahead for a new starter after Easter and the usual banking. The afternoon was spent helping out a little on the floor and taking photos of a lovely, and sticky, baking activity with the children.

It was then home via a local supermarket as I decided I needed to buy a few treats ready for the Easter weekend and although I'd intended to leave buying till next week my online supermarket of choice were no longer stocking what I wanted. Apparently they were experiencing low stock levels of the traditional chocolate gift given at Easter!!

Once home I had a little more pre-school work to complete. We have an online learning journal system and I needed to authorise some posts so that parents can see what their little ones have been up to. I also wanted to share this afternoon's baking activity on social media and I had some money to count. Each year we send the children home with a certain brand of chocolate covered discs (ok...Smarties) that come in a very handy sized cardboard tube. We then ask parents that once their child has enjoyed their treat that they fill the now empty tube with 'pennies' and return to pre-school. This is a lovely little fundraiser and means that parents can contribute as much or as little as they can afford.

And that was pretty much my Friday and all that remains is to watch the second episode of The Falcon and The Winter soldier on Disney +.

Take care.
xx