As soon as you say escape to me, I always think of the Maldives. I think, so far, it is my favourite place in the whole world, well I haven’t been anywhere yet that has topped it. Here are a few of the pictures I took over there. Daily escapes are music and walks in the woods.
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Well the patterns I love are the patterns on big cats. These lovely fellas live just down the road from me at Dartmoor zoo, Devon, they are just beautiful aren’t they!
OH took these pictures on our last visit!
Thanks for dropping by! X
What a great idea today from the ghosts in your dashboard when I looked in my drafts I had three unfinished works. So I have taken your idea of setting a writing challenge and getting one of my readers to finish it for me.
This isn’t one of the daily prompts from WordPress but this is one of my ideas for a writing prompt I wanted to share with you. The trouble is I am not so good at writing about what I haven’t experienced, I am much better at non fiction about my life. So if somebody feels they would like to carry on where I started I will show you where I got to (not far) or if you wanted to use it as one of your writing prompts please do, but link me somehow so I can read it, that would make me very excited, (doesn’t take much does it!)
Go to your bookshelf, choose the 6th book along, open that book up to page 28, and use the first sentence on that page to open your story!
So here’s mine, the book was called ‘Yes’ or ‘no’ by Spencer Johnson
The young man grinned and said, “What are my options?” Hiro laughed
As he shunted the gun harder into their unwelcome guest ribs. The young man looked around the room he had found himself in and weighed up his options…..
From Above. Change your perspective on something.
Sorry wordpress I kinda played around with your words a little, I know this isn’t a picture taken from above, but you did say change your perspective on something so I thought this picture might fit that.
This is the field next to my house, (I am very lucky to live on a farm in the country) and all the fields around the house look like this and from above it looks like our house is surrounded by water, (see what I did there!)
This picture was taken last night on our way back from a lovely walk and pub evening, the sunset is beautiful isn’t!
Hope you are having a good weekend and thanks for dropping by! X
National Poetry Writing Month is nearly at at end. To celebrate it, try your hand at some verse.
On my seat….
Sit here and think
By myself
Once was busy
Now is bare
Sit here and think
Time for me
Just one minute
Then I’ll be ready
Sit here and think
You can come too
There’s room
On my seat
I wrote this poem a while ago, I’m not any kind of poet or anything but this picture, which I took at ‘Dartington Hall’ in Devon, just must have inspired me to break out into verse!
Thanks for dropping by! X
Youth Culture
I was just having a look through photos of a trip I took our year 6 children on last year, it was a great day in a beautiful place. Full of laughter, chatting, taking photos, filming and editing. It got me thinking of a few things, this picture I took kinda looks like they are looking forward to their future. What is going to be in store for them I wonder?
They are going to be leaving soon the comfort and safety of primary school and moving towards their future. I always find this time of the year particularly hard for many reasons. First because of my own turbulent experience of school but mainly now because I have nurtured, taught, wiped their noses, found their jumpers, sorted arguments, hugged, been cross with, played games with, ran with, sat with, cried with and looked after these children like as if they are my own from the age of 3. They started in nursery with me on their very first day, and I have seen them through their journey up through school, I have taught them in every year. That’s the joy of my job, I am not tied to one year group I teach the whole school throughout my week. And this years year six are the first I have taught from day one and soon they will be flying away hopefully taking a part of me with them. The fun we have had, the bad days we have had, the dancing, singing, playing, learning, discovering and performances. There is always one teacher you remember from primary school because they have influenced your life in a positive way isn’t there and I always wanted to be that one to them.
So I have done all I can, it will be soon time to let them go, we have a few things left to do though like SATS In two weeks. So for all you parents out there, there are teachers that really care, we do look after your blossoms the best we can, when you wave them off at the gate in the morning, then pick them up again later they have had a full and interesting day, even though you ask ‘how was your day, what have you done today at school’ all you get in answer, ‘not much’.
These two pictures I think fit with the theme well!
Sorry haven’t got anything profound to say! Back to school and it is teaching, teaching and more teaching! So this as good as it is going to get for a minute, but just wanted to check in with the cyber world!
Thanks for dropping by! X
This week, we want to see photos that represent change. Depending on where in the world you are, this could be a winter landscape blossoming to spring, or vice versa. It could be a picture of a place you’ve left behind and hope never to return to, a photo of a place you hope to reach, or a snapshot of where you currently stand in a journey. Perhaps you’ll capture your child on the cusp of a developmental milestone, or the sun just about to flip the switch between night and day.
Change is an interesting one, I have been through a lot of change over my life so far, especially over the last four years, which personal life have been the most challenging. I’ve changed relationships, houses, jobs, lost three people close to me, my children have changed from boys to men, parted relationship with my parents, not through death, by choice, these are just the main ones. But because of all of this change, which I think I cope with well, I become stronger and wiser. Things never stay the same and you either rise to it or crumble.
The reason I chose the picture above, which I took on a science trip with my school kids, is because this is how I feel sometimes, a wired Barbie, or just electrifying!
Took my dog on Teignmouth beach, Devon, England this afternoon! All these pictures were taken on the iPhone 5, on panoramic setting. I thought they were worth a post!
What have you been up to this afternoon?
This weeks photo challenge is about your favourite colour.
My favourite colour is red. There is red splashed all over my house (sounds like there has been some massacre, doesn’t it) I think red shows warmth, romance, comfort and dynamics.
The photo above is me on my wedding day wearing red. The most beautiful day I have ever had, everything was perfect, it exceeded my expectations and believe you me that is hard.
What’s your favourite colour, and why?
I thought I would give you all an update on the progress of my new baby boy!
I have had my new addition now two months and wow they change things. We weren’t even thinking of getting a dog until one day we were out and saw down the aisle of the pet shop a bundle of playful fluff, it was love at first sight. Then the breeder said those immortal words ‘he is for sale’ that was it our world has been turned upside down. Just when I thought I was coming to the end of ‘looking after’ and my children were all grown up and leaving the nest, I end up getting another dependent. Puppies are easier than children mind, you can’t stick them in a crate when they are getting on your nerves, but it is just like having a child in the house again.
He is going to training every week and is doing ok, I do want to have a ‘good boy’ the only time he is not so good is when the cats are about, he is still getting trained to ignore his natural instinct to chase and play.
Even though I grew up on a farm surrounded by dogs and had a dog on my own, I had forgotten how much time they take up. But don’t get me wrong I am absolutely loving having him, in fact I am driving everyone mad because he is all I talk and think about. I never thought I had it in me.
This won’t be a typical day for me because my typical day is spent teaching at school, so as I am on my Easter break you can take a peek into my home life. I might repeat this challenge in a couple of weeks so you can see me at work!
Now I would use this lovely new way of displaying pictures on tiled galleries, but as I do all my posts from my app on my iPad it doesn’t seem to let me do that, so hopefully WordPress will sort that out for me as I would love to play around with that feature! So instead I am going to take all my pictures today on my phone.
My day always starts the same whether I am at school or not, I get up early, I am a morning person, and see to my baby boy below. He needs a wee and a stretch because he has been in his crate all night. This is him this morning!
After a cuppa I then wrap up and take him for a walk up the lane. It was particularly grey and cold this morning.
So then on a normal day I would then shower and get ready for work, but this morning I leisurely had breakfast, cleaned the kitchen, then sat down for another cuppa. This is my mission control!
Well to be honest I spent the rest of the day kinda doing this, so not very exciting for you, but good for me!
The most exciting thing was my son came over to see me and then we had an Indian.
Give me a couple of weeks and you will see a very different kind of day at school!
Thanks for dropping by! X
Do you have animals in your life? If yes, what do they mean to you? If no, why have you opted not to?
I would imagine that this subject will be a popular one because people’s pets are just as important and sometimes more important than members of their family!
We often refer to our house as a menagerie, because I love animals and have never been in a house without some sort of animal living with me. Probably comes from growing up on a farm. I still live on a farm, unfortunately not mine but I am still surrounded by animals. I feel they bring life to the house without them it would be empty. They teach us and children so many things, love, compassion, patience, about grief, responsibility, calm to name but a few!
So who is living in my house at the moment…. we have Razzle the boss, he is old, fat, grumpy, has a heart condition, he has used all is nine lives when he had a heart attack a few years ago!
Then we have Maccy, our male model. He is defiantly a wimp, but a lovely cat!
And this is what they spend most of their time doing! Well until our newest member appeared!
Our newest baby is Tyler piggy, or just Ty! He is a 5 month old German Shepard who as I type this is in the kitchen howling because we have just told him off for barking at the cats! Having time out! He is a 6th generation pedigree and has more paperwork than the car! We are taking him to puppy training classes and it is just like having a new child in the house!
We also have mice, unfortunately we did have three until last week so now have two!
We also have two fish tanks one tropical and one cold water, and a fish pond! So all in all about 25 fish and a frog! Outside on the farm there is ducks, geese, chickens, pigs and cows! So as you can see I do like to surround myself with the little critters! Poor OH, who grew up with hardly any animals!
In an ideal world I would not be teaching I would have my own small farm, which would open for visitors and let children from inner cities, special needs adults and children, adults with mental health problems all come a visit for free! Anyone could come volunteer to feed the animals, milk the cows, and generally help around. I could call it Queenies Sanctuary. X
Thanks to a fellow blogger who you can visit here they have nominated me for an Liebster Blog Award! How lovely!
So here are my nominations and what you need to do is answer 11 questions, nominate 11 blogs, ask them 11 questions. It is quite a nice way to get to know your fellow bloggers a bit more, I have quite enjoyed it really, even though it is a little time consuming!
http://angloswiss.wordpress.com/
http://theloneshewolf.wordpress.com/
http://hecatedemeter.wordpress.com/
http://rainbowofthought.wordpress.com/
http://leannecolephotography.com/
http://lightslant.wordpress.com/
http://mashedpotatoesblog.wordpress.com/
These are the answers to the questions I was asked.
What’s your favourite smell?
Clean laundry.
Where would you like to go if you had an all-expenses paid trip?
Where do I start…. Bora bora, Hong Kong, Thailand, lakes of Italy to name but a few!
What was your favourite book when you were little?
Can’t say I remember doing any reading as a child, I left primary school unable to read, bit special really. Can’t really believe that I am a teacher now. I often think that when the children are doing their work that I have taught them, ‘bet my teachers would have never believed I would be doing this now’ they said I was thick! Anyway I digress, I don’t really read books now either but I do read a lot, if you see what I mean!
Sweet or savoury?
Defiantly savoury, I don’t eat anything sweet.
You have a evening just for you. What do you do?
Sit in a jacuzzi, sipping lager, and there be absolutely silence.
Beach or lake?
Beach, but only in a hot country, not here in cold, wet blighty.
You can only take one thing with you on a desert island… What do you choose?
A knife.
What do you look for in a blog?
It needs to make me either laugh or cry.
One thing you can’t stand.
People who ‘sweat the small stuff’ as I call it. Which means that they worry and moan about things that aren’t really important. Oh and people that moan about things and don’t do anything to change it.
One thing that makes you happy.
This is one thing of many, seeing the children at school have fun and grow in confidence.
You have to give up one thing. What would your biggest sacrifice be?
Earplugs at night, can’t sleep without them!
And here are the new questions for my nominated bloggers!
If you where to be a celebrity for a day, who would you be and why?
What was the last movie, TV show or book that made you cry or tear up?
What’s the worst gift you’ve ever received?
What was your favorite food when you were a child?
What is your favorite body part?
If you could choose to stay a certain age forever, what age would it be?
What story does your family always tell about you?
What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done?
What was the last movie, TV show or book that made you cry or tear up?
If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would you meet?
If you could throw any kind of party, what would it be like and what would it be for?
I look forward to reading your answers! Enjoy! X
SHARE A PHOTO THAT MEANS LOSTS IN THE DETAILS TO YOU!
I have been looking through my pictures to see what ones could fit this challenge! I would go out and take a fresh picture, but to be frank, it’s cold and I can’t be arsed! So here are a few pictures my OH took while in Alaska. I think the ice has great detail in it! And looking at these pictures is not making feel any warmer, on this grey Sunday afternoon in England!
Hope you are having a good day and thanks for dropping by! X
Dig through your couch cushions, your purse, or the floor of your car and look at the year printed on the first coin you find. What were you doing that year?
Well when I read today’s prompt, my initial thought was ‘crap I can’t even remember what year I’m in now, let alone a random year from the past’ so to be honest I didn’t think that I would be posting today! But just for curiosity I thought I wonder what year it would be? So of cause I wouldn’t have money down the sofa because I’m an OCD in practise, and it is to cold to go out to the car, the purse it was then. And the picture above is the first coin I pulled out and I can’t believe what year it was… The year 2000
So much happened in this year, probably the most significant year I had had up to that point!
This was the year because of my unhappy first marriage and to add some excitement to my life I dragged two young children in their pushchair up to London to see the millennium in on the embankment and then had to sleep on paddington station floor with a three and five year old waiting for the first train back to Devon because I couldn’t afford a room for the night!
This was the year after about eleven years of being with someone, one Monday morning in January I packed a suitcase, took the boys and left my marriage and home.
This was the year I moved into a new house as a single mother for the first time.
This was the year I meet my new OH and started a new adventure with them.
This was the year my youngest had his birthday party at my new house, dressed up as ‘woody’ and was so horrible I said I was never going to have a party for him again.
This was the year I adopted a dog and got a kitten, as if I didn’t have enough to do!
This was the year I had my first of many holidays abroad. Since then I have been all over the world to the most beautiful of places.
So as you can see the year 2000 was the year my life began at the age of 29! X
Write about what you did last weekend as though you’re a music critic reviewing a new album.
Tricky one! How do you do that? That is going to make us think, so I am just going to find some music that represents my last weekend! It was quite boring really!
Saturday, taught at theatre school and we are learning a charleston for a performance in a few weeks. The children are enjoying learning all the steps! Our inspiration came from strictly!
Saturday evening I did want to go to the cinema to watch les miserables, but I can’t remember why I didn’t! But I love this song, she sings it very well really for an actress!
Sunday, I stayed at home to potter while OH sorted the boat out!
I’m sure that wasn’t written like a music critic, but to be frank I didn’t quite get what daily post was talking about! It’s a good job we don’t have to put this weekend into music because it might sound like this…. I did look for sound effects but I thought better of it to post it, just use your imagination! X
This weeks weekly photo challenge
The reason I chose this picture for this weeks challenge, is this picture was taken while on my last school trip with last years year six class. And I felt this picture was very poignant because these two boys had been best friends all the way from nursery, all the way though ups and downs of their primary life, both of them being sometimes a little challenging in their behaviour but just boys stuff, one of them having what I call ‘the swagger’ they where both lovely boys with great senses of humours, I loved them them to bits like they where my own. We had been though laughter, dressing up in dresses, hitting me accidentally with a cricket ball, cheeky comments and tears together.
I think this picture matches the theme ‘forward’ well, because here for just this moment they are both looking out to the lake, knowing that soon their lives will be changing and moving forward to separate secondary schools and this friendship will change. It does make me shed a tear.
Many of us think of our lives as boringly normal, while others live the high life. Take a step back, and take a look at your life as an outsider might. Now, tell us at least six unique, exciting, or just plain odd things about yourself.
Six odd things….. Ummm…. Unique…. Exciting…. Lets think….
1. If an outsider was to look into my life they would and have said how confident I am. But that is all an illusion! Inside I am a nervous reck! But that isn’t exciting is it…
2. I am very bendy! Thanks to years of dancing, teaching dance everyday and doing yoga I am extremely supple for someone of my age! …. Of my age? Now that sounds horrid!
3. I am a hippy at heart.
4. Not sure whether I want this to be public, but hey Ho, I used to do Morris dancing! I know, I know…
5. I can bash out a couple of tunes on the piano! I particular like my ‘Les Dawson’ version of ‘The Entertainer’
6. I like to say something wild like …. I can pole dance, but no sorry to disappoint, …. A sixth unique thing, I can make a good cup of tea… Does that count?
That was hard!
Thanks for dropping by! X
hang on, I have just thought of some things odd or weird about me, I have been many different things in performances, like an apple core, lamp post, yes i danced as both,fairy, witches, ballerina, clown, trapeze artist, cowgirl, spoken the whole performance in French even though I can’t say a word of it, and that is just naming a few!
Is that weird enough for you?
Hey boys and girls!
Just letting you know why I haven’t been about in cyber world for a couple of weeks!
Welcome to our new member of our family ‘Prince Ty’, a 4 month old German Shepard puppy!
We picked him up from his breeder last Saturday and things are just about settling down now. For you that know it is just like having a new child in the house, so I have been knackered. But I think we are getting ourselves together now and into a routine. It does mean I have to get up earlier now to sort doggy out before school. He has been out and about with me to school and with OH to work and he has been very good!
Thanks for dropping by! And I will give him a hug from you! Take care! X
living the dream, one less leak at a time
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Army Life, Homeschooling, Parenthood, & Everything Mashed Together.
