Teacher Gifts

End of term is a mere week away

and that means Teacher Gifts.

These last few years have seen me spend 

far more than I should on these "small tokens of thanks".

This year I had a plan.

I wanted a lot more bang for my buck.

 I went to Charbonnel et Walker on Old Bond Street.

 The store smells heavenly and the staff tempt you with free samples.

The Strawberry White Thins are divine.

 There's no denying that some items are expensive. 

 Let's not forget that we're talking about chocolate.

But careful perusing spots the affordable items.

Ribbon (beautifully tied in front of you) and gift bag included.

I added the tissue paper and The Boy Child will add a tag.

Me on Monday

It was a:

Grandad P visiting,

Summer Fayre on the Green visiting,

gorgeous socks receiving,

 birthday sausage eating,

 photo-bombing by The Good Friend's mum, 

 hanging out

and library visiting kind of weekend.

And it's looking pretty good for this week ... Photography Scavenger Hunt hunting, into town nipping, birthday dinner celebrating and Summer Fayre helping.

  This post is adapted from Sian's Me on Monday theme,

 which you can find on the

 fabulous From High in the Sky blog.

In the Swim

Courage | Part 2

"To get through the hardest journey

we need only take

one step at a time, 

but we must keep on stepping."

~ Chinese Proverb

Courage

"Courage doesn't always roar.

Sometimes courage is the little voice

at the end of the day

that says I'll try again tomorrow."

~ Mary Anne Radmacher 

See that dress?  I might just have gone ahead and ordered it.

And I might just be on my third bottle of beer.

Summer Salad

My lovely friend, Deb, posted a salad recipe.

How I now smile at the thought of a "new" salad recipe.

Remember the days when a damp lettuce leaf, 

slices of cucumber and a tomato

counted as salad?

Jazzed up with Salad Cream, if you were lucky.

I digress.  

I tweaked Deb's recipe and here's what I served up 

alongside tonight's BBQ.

 Rocket,

diced cooked chicken breast

dried cranberries,

crumbled feta cheese

and balsamic vinegar dressing.

  That's it.

Delicious.

Deb's original recipe is here.

One Year On | A Family First

This weekend marks the anniversary of the day my sister and nephew emigrated to the USA.

(My BiL had, because of work, gone on ahead of them.)

I woke up this morning to find that my sister had blogged the official graduation photo.

Which means I can share it here.

As The Brainy One remarked over his breakfast cuppa,

 "Isn't that great!  A family first.  No-one else in the family has

graduated from an American high school."

Here's what I did with it.

There he is, officially done with school.

The {new} world is his oyster.

#willneedconvincing

It would seem, yet again, that I am not on trend.

'Twas ever thus. 

Cathy posted about it today.

 Ali yesterday

and Elise just last week.

Jamie wrote about it as well.

Granted, three of them are small business owners, 

so I can see the attraction for them.

No such thing as bad publicity and all that.

What am I talking about?

The pull of Instagram.

~ #coldtea ~

Am I missing something?

I just don't see the point of it.

Not for the 99.9% of the population who are 

going about their everyday mundane business.  

Hearing people talking about hashtag this

 and hashtag that leaves me cold.

I'm willing to listen to your reasons of why I should be on Instagram.

Really, I am.

It's just that I'm content with not being on trend.

If it's all the same to you.

It's Been How Long?

Last week, lovely Abi wrote a post about the joy of visiting the library

 now that she has finished her degree.

And I'm ashamed to admit it, but reading that post

made me realise that I couldn't remember the last time

I'd visited our local library.

Ahem.

 The Boy Child and I called in today after school.

He was as happy as Larry.

First stop, the aisle holding the books on Sport.

 I left him with his nose in a book on football (obviously)

and went off to browse the non-fiction.

The choice was so over whelming, I came away with nothing.

Using the self check-out, it soon became obvious that the pair of us 

were persona non grata.  Our last visit was so long ago, we had

actually fallen off their system.

"Why do you want to rejoin the library?" asked the librarian, 

who looked all of about 12-years-old.

Um, to borrow books?

  Abi's post is here.

Elise's June book report is here.

Summer Sunday

I have, of late, changed the pace of our weekends.

We're spending more time close to home.

It's Father's Day today

and the Boy Child impressed with his beautiful handwriting.

We met up with friends to walk our dogs in the local park.

The Boy Child practised his football skills.

We spent an hour working in the garden 

and I used a few pruned stems to make a bouquet.

We sat outside and read the papers.

We ate BBQ for supper.

How was your Sunday?

   

Living the Everyday

"As the years pass, I am coming more and more to understand that it is the common, everyday blessings of our common everyday lives for which we should be particularly grateful. They are the things that fill our lives with comfort and our hearts with gladness -- just the pure air to breathe and the strength to breath it; just warmth and shelter and home folks; just plain food that gives us strength; the bright sunshine on a cold day; and a cool breeze when the day is warm.” 

~ Laura Ingalls Wilder

Rafts

Last week The Boy Child had to build a raft from twigs.

Use of string was allowed.

 The Brainy One enjoyed the project very much!

 The rafts were then raced (floated?) on the pond in the park 

opposite the school.   

I traded the park photos with the school for Sports Day photos.

A win win situation.

Sports Day

I love the second half of the summer term.

There's so much lovely stuff happening at school.

And today was my most favourite of all.

Sports Day.

Two bronze medals for the master of the house

and a thoroughly excellent time had by all.

Pairings | Football

A goal.

The kit.

Makes for a happy 8-year-old.

  I'm joining in with Helena this week and looking for pairings, obvious or otherwise.

Things He Says | The Bedtime Edition

Me: "What time are you going to bed, Mum?"*

The Boy Child: "About two minutes after me!"

* I don't normally police what time my mum goes to bed, obviously.  In my round about way, I was actually asking her if she'd like a cup of tea.

Me on Monday

It's been a:

pottering about at home,

finishing up my travel journal,

looking at Mum's journal,

attempting the crossword,

printing off photos,

and beginning a new journal

kind of Monday.

This post is adapted from Sian's Me on Monday theme,

 which you can find on the

 fabulous From High in the Sky blog.

What a Difference a Day Makes

He had 11 hours sleep.

He got to go and collect Granny from her travels.

In his pjs.

He smiled at me.

Today was indeed a different day.

Some Days ...

... are really rubbish for him.

It's not been a good day for The Boy Child.

Autism has ruled the roost.

Not even a few hours with The Good Friend helped to conquer his demons.

His bedtime is marred by the sound of raised voices and short tempers.

Good job tomorrow is another day.