Yes, I know...

It has been ages but finally I seem to have scrounged some time and energy from somewhere to write a little something here...

Since my last missive, when it was parties galore, I have been busy working - I was surprised, too! I have been helping out at the primary school with some French for the year 4s, the Girl is in that year and so I am more than happy to try to give an extra boost before it's off to middle school. The Girl will be in the last intake to the middle schools in our area, quite sad really. It means she will now be one of the youngest in her school for the next three years...

The Knitting Club is going well, out of the eleven members about eight are now quite confident knitters and the others are catching up fast - don't tell anyone, but I'm really enjoying it. And I've got to get a piece of work finished for the Jubilee celebrations in our village - the Women's Institute is having a stall/display so I shall put something out for them. This could be the push I've been needing to finish the blanket that I'm crocheting - finally! The bunting that our WI made was spectacularly long, there is a huge amount of talent in that group, and some people try to keep it very well hidden...

My private students have now finished their work with me for their French GCSE - it's always fabulous to see how far people progress and how confident they become just when they need to. It's one of the things that I love about teaching, the little successes that make a student smile from within.

Since I took the leap of leaving my previous job at the beginning of the year I have done a great deal of soul-searching - writing these pages really helps me, too - and am starting to realise that the things that make me happy are not those that I would previously have considered. I have less money but more time, I travel less in the car but more in my soul, I have time to notice all of the little things rather than trying to race from one thing to the next without really enjoying anything.

I am happy.

Five smiles from my corner of the world:

1. The bird box being used for the first time ever
2. So much sunshine
3. Silent moments
4. Celebrating with friends
5. Granny's bonnets in my garden

Cheery smiles, D x

Busy, busy bee...

Okay, we have partied and partied and partied and partied this week...

First with friends - fabulously feasting with the Marvellous Ms. Our occasional get-togethers of curries from barely warm to blow your head off and all through the spectrum. His Lairdship and Mrs M are of the milder variety, along with the children. Mr M and I, however, are at the hotter end of things, the one which warms the cockles of your soul and blasts them out of your socks! Fortunately, the others allow for us - we are given our own end of the dining table with extra water and fire extinguishers. Ooh, isn't it fabulous when someone else cooks for you? Even better when they wash up, too!

Then it was the Girl's birthday party which involved a trip to Norwich, five other Girls and the reluctant Boy. It was fantastic - Build-a-Bear parties are perfect, you just turn up and then the staff make the whole experience as much fun as seven young children could possibly need. And to top it all, everyone takes home a bear of their own - aaahhh... It was really one of the best parties we have ever done, especially as our Extended Clan were so well-behaved in a popular pizza restaurant afterwards that a large percentage was deducted from the bill for us. His Lairdship and I nearly burst with pride.

The next day it was thirteen years since His Lairdship and I tied the knot, and what happy years they have been, too. We celebrated by going out to lunch and then home for pudding, really we were too full even to think of pudding, and, besides, I do make excellent coffee...

And the rest of the week has been a blur of work and appointments and life in general, all good!

Five smiley smiles:

1. Reading
2. Being with the Clan, extended or otherwise
3. Parties :o)
4. The nodding of pansies
5. Chatting over the fence

Cheery smiles, D x

May? Already?

Where has this year gone? I know that it has been very full and busy - but really, May? This is a lovely month in our clan as it is the Girl's birthday and mine and His Lairdship's wedding anniversary the next day. And, in most years, this is the turning point of the year when exciting things happen with light and gardens. I'm not quite sure that this is happening this year, what with the wettest drought on record here in the UK!

This year is our 13th wedding anniversary - the traditional gift for this is lace. How pretty... How lovely... How can I buy something for a 6'3" tall long-haired and bearded biker that is lace? Any ideas will truly be appreciated... I have been racking my brains for ages and have come up with some ideas for decorating fairly butch things with lace, I just can't see it somehow! Hopefully inspiration will strike in time...

Five cheery smiles for you:

1. Friends popping in for a cuppa and staying to supper
2. Unexpected compliments
3. Birthday plans
4. The Venerables
5. A dry-ish day!

Cheery smiles, D x