Kite Festival

It has been the International Friendship Festival in Sunderland this weekend. This incorporates the Kite Festival.


Naturally, we chose a day with very light wind to visit.


So very few of the bigger kites were in the air.


Still, there were some spectacular designs.

Recent garden visitors

It's that manic time of year again. Two more weeks of school and about seven weeks of stuff to fit into them.

We've had some extreme weather too, making it difficult to do lots of the usual things involving going outside.

Today was hot and dry, thankfully and I got some knitting done outside after taking j for new glasses and trying to do some shopping in hot, angry crowds.

Some pictures of our garden visitors this weekend:

An out-of-focus woodpecker. I've been trying to photograph him for months, but he's so fast and easily scared.


The reason for the recently escalating cost of peanuts and sunflower seeds.


A drowsy bee staggering across the top of a scabious, covered in pollen.

A splash of colour

A splash of colour to distract from yet another blogging hiatus. I guess I've been too preoccupied by life to write about it.

June, so far, has seen me alternately baking in the sun and freezing in my woollies again - I can't believe we had to put the heating on this week, but we did.

Work is hectic as the Summer term always is. The concept of non-contact time has gone out of the window at the moment as four of my colleagues are at Carlton Camp with one of our classes and the rest of us are filling in where we can as good supply teachers are a rare commodity at the moment. I seem to have had a lot of Continuing Professional Development Courses recently, too and these have taken me away from school for days on end. My 'to do' list grew into a 'to do' pile and now it's a 'to do' bag.

Of all the things I've been doing recently, I think the Primary Movement Programme is the most interesting.


I finished my sock monkey. I'm rather fond of him and he was a distraction. The picture above looks like a bad monkey passport picture. The greeny yarn is Twinkletoes Sock Yarn and his hands, feet and muzzle are Wollmeise. A luxury monkey.


News Flash! - j passed his driving test and is now the proud holder of a proper pink licence rather than his provisional, green licence. I'm now the proud owner of a whole new set of things to worry about.

Trying not to think about going back to work

Another gorgeous day in the garden. I caught up with some knitting. Will have my sock monkey finished soon. I've had to make a lot of it up as the pattern I chose doesn't seem to be very clearly written. Maybe it's just me.

Next up, this:

Destined to be Sackboy.

I'm re-reading Men at Arms when I'm not knitting. It's another book that I must have devoured when it first came out. I'm finding so many things I missed in these books as I read them for a second time. Next on the pile is Monstrous Regiment.

I love my battered old Birks

It's this time again!




The last six weeks just whizzed by! In my last post I was moaning about the cold, but today it's 25 degrees C on the deck.

What have I been doing?

At work: occupied by preparation for SATs and then SATs, interviewing for new teachers and moving rooms around. Coping with the latest pressures and initiatives from the Government (APP - Assessing Pupil Progress, FNE - Free Nursery Entitlement, CC - Duty to Promote Community Cohesion, to name but a few acronyms)

At home: coping with being the parent of an increasingly independent young man. There is currently a space on the drive beside J's car, where my Fiat Punto usually rests on its weekends off. Today it's somewhere, filled with young men buzzing around Teesside. Yes, j passed his driving test and I am now the mother of a driver. More things to worry about.
Apparently, it's liberating driving without me in the passenger seat making 'that face'.


I've been knitting on the deck this afternoon after retreating from the shops at Middlesbrough before lunch. I can't handle that every weekend, but I do like a mooch. I bought some 'lovely' tops in lightweight cottons and cheesecloths. Looks like I'll be back in Middlesbrough next Saturday, returning them. I think I'm too old/too fat for frills and smocking.

Every year Buddah gets burried more and more by marsh marigolds and siberian irises. It's nice and shady down by the pond though.

Make the most of the weekend.

Woe is me! Only two sleeps til work starts again.

The weather is horrid and even a walk alongour favourite local beach is rather unpleasant due to the steam and smoke and smell from a fire at the Greythorpe recycling plant.



There's a haze over everywhere.

Due to the return of winter, I cast on a sweater for me:


I'm having another go with the Unpatterned formula for a top-down sweater. The yarn colour here looks quite washed out and grey, but it's Cascade 220 in Duck Egg Blue.

I'm hoping to bash on quite a way with this this weekend, in between trips out with j to practise for his upcoming driving test. Although he is very good, I think knitting in the car might count as a dereliction of my duties as supervising driver.

Plan to put my feetup and knit this evening - Britain's got Talent!. Keep threatening to sign J up for this or the X Factor. He has a very loud penetrating disabling fine singing voice.

Maybe we'll watch a movie. When I'm at work I get up early and get tired early in the evening, but I've surprised the lads with my ability to stay awake and watch a number of films this holiday.

February Redux

April was the second month of the Roman calendar and it bloomin' well felt like February this morning.


We walked at Saltburn and almost had the beach to ourselves.



Well, there was us, the chap who drives the beach cleaner and these oyster catchers.



Then some surfers arrived to brave the freezing water. I can't imagine how cold it was, even in a wetsuit. I had all my storm flaps securely fastened down in - reminiscent of all my childhood seaside trips.


According to the Guardian, "Saltburn is one of the original centres of the north-east surf scene and the locals are friendly despite the busy waves. Good beginner waves can be found either side of the pier. The guys at Saltburn Surf Shop above the beach can provide everything from lessons and hire to advice and new boards, and after thrashing around in the cold North Sea there's the option of great coffee and smoothies at Camfield's Coffee Bar, or beer and pub meals at The Ship, both right above the beach"