sunny times


Despite not getting enough sleep, I woke up on Saturday feeling productive which I put down to the sun rising into blue skies and so I spent my morning in the garden. It brings me so much joy and with each week more grows up again. Once BigA returned from frisbee I had an unsuccessful trying on of dresses and felt rather disheartened by dresses that, to be fair are older than the children I teach, not quite fitting and had a little cry. But I was cheered quickly by my lovely husband telling me he'd booked us a get away for our anniversary. That afternoon we wandered over to D's passing the football fans off to watch Tottenham fight for their place, and then we all walked through the Tottenham marshes to meet up with other pals for what turned into a long and very fun night in the brewery zone in Waltham Forest. It seemed extraordinary that there are so many places serving drinks in Warehouses - strange and lovely all at the same time. We met a very kind Israeli barman who was so pleased to have people respond so positively to hearing that as D and BigA shared places they had been with me trying to chip in a bit about my one visit 16ish years ago. Proof of his happiness was the free round and a bowl of cheese he gave us! 

And so Sunday morning I, despite feeling a little delicate, got up and headed off to help coach the Rookies. I'm still a bit cautious and waiting on my appointment in May to see if they are 'happy' for me to return to the full contact for the sport. 

My working week started nicely enough, the sense of familiarity already starting and this is, in part due to it being a small school. So each day I feel like I retain 5 more names. I felt very useful too, as I was asked about connections to other schools in the area for the art department and within 10 mins had done just that and helped out the school. Inspired by this I reached out to someone I knew in an old choir and will, I hope, arrange for the music teacher to have a trip to see the local steelpan band. 

The students are always keen to chat and while I am on lunch duty I always meet another straggler who maybe can't find their friends or feels a bit lonely and so ends up near me talking about all sorts. I also finally found the work students have done that I need to mark and send off to the exam board. So I hope my slightly odd stress dreams now settle down. My very busy daughter has also been useful in the world of contacts, me sending pictures of the random sound and lighting equipment to her. She's been very busy and smashed doing the lights for a show and that's on top of her degree. 

On Thursday I managed to get out of the house for the evening, BigA always impresses me that he gets out so often but I am usually very much sofa bound once dinner is done. Although because the sun has shone I have done a bit in the garden of an early evening. But it wasn't with him, another pal and I went to the local Romanian place. (BigA was off doing something else) Very nice and very filling. 

Last night BigA and I packed up and headed to Norfolk. We decided to stop off in Bury St Edmunds for a Mexican meal, which was really good, the first time I've had a deep-fried avocado taco. The rest of the journey was then the back roads into suffolk and Norfolk. It was green and lush and I saw bits of the country side I haven't seen for years. I could of course enjoy the scenery because BigA drove. As the sun set the fields looked magical with the dew already forming with a pink sheen in the sky. I miss the sunsets of Malawi, but the skyline here is so often beautiful. 

And so here I am in my childhood home ready for the day of celebration ahead. 

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