Wordless Wednesday: Washing

How cute is this?

More to come on where she came from - later this week :)

Monday Makes with Creative Linky

Here are my finished socks for the Monday Makes

and I'm joining in with Claire Justine over at :

I'm hopping over there to see what others have created - let me know what you are currently making or have just finished :)

Sock Sunday

Here is the photo of my unfinished socks that I began many months ago

and here is what they now look like after picking them up again for a bit of Sunday knitting ;)

Yes - I know I haven't finished the green sock yet but I have managed to do some!  I am now onto the decreasing for the toe and will hope to finish within the next 24 hours.
This pattern comes from Sally in Wales and can be found at Downsizer  http://www.downsizer.net/projects/a_sustainable_home/quick_and_chunky_sock_pattern/  I find it an easy and quick sock pattern when done in the chunky wool she suggests - these are taking a little longer as I am using double knitting wool instead!

This weekend other things obviously got in the way of me concentrating on knitting - things such as a full day's First Aid course on Saturday (run by a guy who was in the army - so I now know how to save lives under fire on a battlefield - not sure how much of this will be useful for leading my Walking For Health walks around a park? - but hey!!)  There was also the make the most of the good weekend weather and clean out those gutters before the deluge of autumnal leaves clog them up again!! As well as this:

Which I will bring everyone up to speed on during this week.  Hope you all had a lovely weekend - what did you get up to - or what got in the way?  I'd love to know :)

Celebrate & Five for Friday

   Combining two things in today's post - saves on time as well as allows me to mingle with many :)

So here is No 1 (leaf clipart courtesy of www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Childreninmind - check out this new store)

 for Five for Friday hosted by Doodlebugs

This week I am celebrating:

1)  that I finally got my car booked in and got those brakes fixed that should have been done more than 6 months ago - I am saying thank you to Paula over at  smidgensbitsandsnippets.blogspot.com for her blog post on owning up to the truth - for giving me the shove to do it!!

2)  that my DD appears to be settling in fine at uni - despite the technology teething problems and the "where to go at night that won't cost a fortune?" - but that's London for you and we did tell her that when she opted to go there!!  But they never listen, do they?

3)  We have had more days of sunshine than rain so far this September - which makes it a far better month than August ever was :)

If you want to go and check out who else and what else is being celebrated then get along to:

hosted by Lexa Cain

I have finally got around to posting another free product on to TpT - specifically aimed at children who need work basket/ sorting activities - I am hoping this will appeal to a wide age range and be particularly suitable for boys.  I know the younger children I have worked with in the past have loved using actual push pins because it make them feel really grown up and responsible!!  Please check it out and I would love some feedback on the site as well as below :)  Many thanks!

As Autumn is now actually here, I need to make progress with the various knitting projects I have on the go at the moment. My family says they want to see less pieces of knitting on needles left abandoned around the house so I have decided that I will post a weekly update in the hope that this should inspire me to get on and finish them!!  My goal will be to finish the socks I started more than three months ago this weekend.  Have you any craft projects you need to finish?

My Walking For Health group is now up and running and I hope to recruit a few more members to add to the three lovely ladies I currently walk with on a Monday morning.  I have written a short article for the local newspaper that should be appearing at the start of next month so numbers might rise when that is published.  It is a lovely way to get exercise as well as meet people and talk about a wide range of subjects - not just education!!

As per normal, please feel free to use these number graphics I have created in any of your classrooms. It is always nice to share and to learn that something has been useful to someone else :)

Have a super week and enjoy the weekend :)

Wordless Wednesday Pairs - Bouquet

My amazing bouquet of flowers has changed over the course of the week and is now in full bloom :)

Celebrate the Small Things #2 Sept

Yes - I am actually posting on the correct day and linking up to the above thanks to Lexa Cain our blog host - YEE HA!!  Click on the button above to go to the blog hop if you'd like to join in :)

This week I am celebrating:

1.   Some warmer, sunnier weather - SO VERY welcome after our abysmal August
2.   Being able to visit my mum on her actual birthday - haven't been there to give her a card and pressie since leaving home - so a good few years now!
3.   Spending a really nice day in the sunshine with my DD before she leaves next week to start university

In the spirit of Lexa, who has posted a series of funny photos about what she thinks she looks like and what she actually looks like in a number of scenarios - here is my take on 

                                    What I THINK I look like after I've washed my hair

and what I ACTUALLY look like!

Hopefully this does not apply to you!

Let me know what you are celebrating this weekend or have been celebrating this week - I'd love to know :)

Celebrate The Small Things #1 Sept

I'm posting a day late as I was unfortunately hit by a terrible migraine yesterday and felt so sick all day I was just lying down in a darkened room - however today that is all a distant memory so another thing to celebrate!

If you'd like to join in with this very friendly little blog hop then please click on the picture above to get taken to the administrator of the hop - the wonderful Lexa Cain :)  She also hosts a super Giveaway Friday with lots of goodies so her site is definitely one worth checking out!

Well this week I am definitely celebrating the return of my very special, little black cat :)  She has kept close to home since being allowed out in short bursts over the past two days.  So I am hoping whatever ordeal she went through that made her leave home is now in the distant past and things will return to normal for her here.

I would also like to celebrate all the kind hearted strangers who over these past weeks have taken time out of their busy schedules to drop in with any news, cheer me up, tell me they are joining in with the search and just generally be really supportive and sympathetic.  It is also another reminder to me that you should NEVER judge a book by its cover as some of the individuals I have conversed with are people I would not have thought by their appearance would be at all interested in helping me.  Mostly the older teens - early twenties who to my older eyes now appear rather frightening looking have said some of the kindest and most heart-warming words to me - thank you so much.  Maybe I should be celebrating this new generation and their kindness to us the middle generation?

I would also like to celebrate getting back to the blogosphere and catching up with old friends out there - if I haven't done so already I am on my way this weekend :)

I am sure other things have happened this week that I could have celebrated but I think I will leave it there so I can do a bit more blog hopping.  Hoping everyone has a super weekend and looking forward to catching up :)

Currently September

Well hello there and sorry I've been away for so long from the blogosphere.  I am blaming the summer and all the summery things that had to get done this year!!  However, the wonderful Farley continues with her Currently posts so I am back and joining in.  Press the button if you would like to as well

and here goes :)

Poor owl I disturbed him/her last night so am now awake early morning listening to the "payback"!

I am loving that my little black cat has returned after three weeks away (she disappeared whilst we were on holiday and the cats were being looked after by my lovely neighbour as both children away in Europe this summer and therefore not around to help out with cat-sitting duties).  I had put up notices, contacted vets, posted on national sites for missing pets and was thinking the worst that a car had knocked her down somewhere.  During the last fortnight, I have had so many lovely people come forward with information about cats they have seen, found, sniffer dogs to help search so I have known that there were a lot of eyes out there looking for her.  However, yesterday I came downstairs early morning in the dark (it was pouring with rain outside) to see a cat shape sitting at the bottom of the stairs!  This was totally out of the ordinary as my cats do not have access to the main house - their room is accessed by a cat flap and the door to the main house is closed at night.  At first I thought it was my dark, stripey tabby but then there was a cry and I knew it was her!!  She had come in via the cellar vent and had popped the cellar door open somehow to get into the house!  I could not quite believe my eyes but I said a big thank you to God and scooped her up in my arms where she just purred and purred.  She was amazingly not wet, had obviously been eating well and her coat was lovely and glossy so wherever she has been she has had access to food and shelter.  But I am so thankful she is home :)

I am thinking that I cannot quite believe that school children go back to school this week - I do feel for them because quite frankly we have had another rotten 6 weeks of weather here in the UK!!  I am keeping my fingers crossed that we have more sunny days in September because August was a wash out!

I am wanting days with more hours in them - there just hasn't been enough time to get everything done and I keep going to bed with a long list that has not diminished enough for my liking!

Now that summer is on the way out I need to get back to blogging again - I've missed all my blogging chums and I just haven't even had time to see what they've been up to so I will be reconnecting and visiting over the next few weeks.  I'm really looking forward to it :)

My three goals for September will be:

1) to finish and post a new autumn maths pack on TpT

2) to get back into running/jogging and sign up for a 5k race

3) to finish at least one of my knitting projects currently on the go!

Now I'm off to visit others on the CURRENTLY trail - take care and let me know what you've been up to and your goals for September :)