A little project I've been working on...

...because I couldn't resist :-)

P=Patience (complete lack of)

The Mother kindly got Me: The Abridged Version, Cathy Zielske's class, for my birthday.

O=Online classes (completely addicted to)

But I haven't had my birthday yet! So I've been saving all the class materials till after then - apart from a quick glance through, obviously, to make sure they'd been properly downloaded....

B=Birthday (total child when it comes to my own)

So I knew that there was a printable tag book, a place to note down ideas and jottings as a pre-class exercise, somewhere to collect ideas of words and phrases for each letter of the alphabet.

T=Tendencies towards OCD (manifested in a need to complete collections of, eg, alphabets)

Then it occurred to me that actually I could justify preparing the tag book just as long as I didn't fill it in till after my birthday! That could work!

A=Ability to talk self into justifying almost anything...

So I printed off the tags onto sturdy cardstock, ready to trim them to size. Except that my trimmer found the cardstock too sturdy, so I had to use scissors.

L=Line, straight (inability to cut in one)

After RE-trimming each tag to get rid of the remaining black lines, I added a bit of embellishment to the front cover and went over the letters of the alphabet with a Promarker to add colour and interest. The colours bled a little, but oh well...

Q=Quoting Kate

I cut a piece of plasma to size to use as an additional front cover, to protect the little book; similarly I used a piece of chipboard at the back to keep the book sturdy. If it's to be kept in my handbag for whenever inspiration strikes then I don't want it to get too battered!

H=Handbag (which is actually more like H=Holdall)

And OK, so it's still not my birthday, but if I don't fill it in - if I don't even start thinking about possible entries - then that's all right, isn't it?

I=Innocent (completely...)

And I do promise not to read this book (the other pre-class assignment) till my birthday!

S=See, I can be patient!

202 of 365

Last day of term. Year 6 leavers' assembly. Much laughter. Some tears. (I always cry at the leavers' assembly. There's this bit at the end where we all sing 'One More Step Along The World I Go...' and during the last verse Year 6 file out of the hall and we all applaud them. I always choke up and can't finish the song. Next year The Boy will be leaving, how many tissues will I need for that assembly???)

There were lots of goodies in the staff room that day, brought in as thank you gifts by various children. I had a little sample of the rocky road (with the inspired addition of Maltesers, yum!)

This is the story!

It's very simple, really, but it's the kind of story that can be forgotten about and that would be a shame.

It's actually a story of The Boy, but I can't find quite the right photo of him (yet, I'm sure I have one somewhere...) and as the whole of The Family adopted the phrase I decided it didn't really matter too much.

We assume that the confusion came about because we throw the bread to the ducks? Or maybe he just decided one day that he would actually like to throw the ducks themselves? But anyway, instead of asking if we could go for a walk and FEED the ducks, he asked if we could THROW the ducks.

It stuck.

What little words and phrases have entered your family's vocabulary? This is but one of ours....

201 of 365

I received an unexpected bouquet on July 20th :-) A little while back I helped a colleague's daughter to design and make her wedding invitations. (It was such fun!) She sent them out in early July and had had lots of positive feedback about them, so wanted to thank me again. Aren't these gorgeous?

And on that day I ate the last 'chownie'. I know Bakerella called them brookies, but this recipe is definitely a brookie so these must be chownies:

Weekly Wordle: 30 of 52

OK, this is the first time I realised I must have mis-spelt 'entertainment'!

A couple of quick favourites: big wine day must be referring to the last day of teaching, and Top Feed Kate is clearly a thank you to the friends who had us round for dinner last night! (We didn't have roast ducks though.....) Money balanced would be nice, and I'm intrigued by the mystery in which Sherlock needed yogurt :-)

200 of 365

July 19th was my last teaching day of the academic year (woo hoo!) I don't normally drink during the week but a small glass of wine was definitely called for that evening :-) (Actually, a huge glass, but it didn't have much wine in it, OK?!)

For part of my packed lunch I'd had some roast potatoes left over from the previous day:

What's the story?

I love pictures that tell stories :-)

I do need to get some of those stories onto layouts, though....

This photo could simply be a tale of a particular trip to feed the ducks, with details of the where, when, who, etc.

Or I could make it part of a 'You are 2' layout about The Girl.

But actually, this could be the perfect illustrative photo to go with an explanation of how the phrase 'throw the ducks' entered our family vocabulary.

Yes, I think that's the story I want to tell :-)

199 of 365

Yes, it was a week filled with eating out and summer socials! On July 18th we had a big church barbecue. (I don't actually like burgers - I prefer hot dogs! - but this was the most representative shot of the day :-)

I still did a roast dinner that evening, but instead of doing a whole chicken or a big piece of meat I wrapped a couple of chicken breasts in bacon - much quicker to cook!

The last 3...

...books I read?

• Just finished Case Histories, by Kate Atkinson.
• Browsed through (and marked a few recipes in) How To Feed Your Whole Family A Healthy, Balanced Diet With Very Little Money And Hardly Any Time, Even If You Have A Tiny Kitchen, Only Three Saucepans (One With An Ill-fitting Lid) And No Fancy Gadgets - Unless You Count The Garlic Crusher, by Gill Holcombe.
• Before that I read The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman.

...places I visited?

• While out with The Children this afternoon, we visited the library to return a few books and join in some craft activities.
• We called into the bank so I could pay in a cheque.
• Then we went to Co-op, to pick up a few bits and pieces for lunch tomorrow (I have a friend coming round).

...TV programmes I watched?

• Evil Under The Sun, a Poirot mystery, which V+ had recorded for me on series link.
• Britain's Next Top Model.
• Sherlock, the new BBC series - cleverly modernised, and Benedict Cumberbatch is fab.

...things I Googled?

• 'sherlock holmes bbc' - who was that actor who played Mycroft Holmes?
• 'gerard butler' - it was Hilary Swank who starred with him in P.S. I Love You, wasn't it?
• 'asda enterntainment' - needed to check my account there to clarify an item on my credit card bill.

...blogs I visited?

• Ali Edwards
• Havoc and Mayhem
• Shimelle

...meals I prepared?

• Fresh pasta for me and The Doctor.
• Pasta with arrabiata sauce for The Children.
• Lunch for me and The Children (an assortment of toast with different toppings, fruit, yogurt and biscuits).

...phone calls I made?

• PC World (gave up in disgust after getting tangled in their interactive menu).
• Taxi company (to get a quotation).
• The Mother.

...photos I took?

• The last piece of fudge (sorry, Mise).
• TV magazine for my Project 365.
• Close-up of a project I was working on yesterday (details will follow!)

How about you? :-)

For Terry Pratchett fans :-)

198 of 365

On July 17th The Doctor, The Children and I did a bit of shopping. I included a trip to The Paper Mill Shop :-)

And then we went out to Frankie & Benny's for dinner - I had chicken carbonara:

What's in your fridge?

And how do you photograph it when it's quite a dark day but you have the fridge light to contend with?

On the top shelf of my fridge this morning I had some passata, goat's cheese and olives, ready to make a pasta bake for my lunch - also some strawberries for my dessert. All now eaten! (Well, not the WHOLE jar of olives, obviously....)

Scrap Your Day 7 of 12: The day

I'm so behind with the layouts for these!! A summer project is to catch up....

Meanwhile, here's what I did yesterday, while I can still remember:

Put the porridge on and read the Saturday papers while it cooked.

Emptied the dishwasher then ate my porridge and had a cup of tea.

Off to church. After the first 25 minutes all the children went over to the hall and it was my turn to go with them.

Stopped off at Co-op on the way home, to pick up a newspaper, some fresh bread and some meat for dinner. Put a pot of coffee on to brew.

Had pate on my baguette and a bit of salad, and read the paper.

Strawberries and green grapes for dessert, and a cup of coffee after.

Wrote up a quick blog post and caught up on some of my blog roll.

Another coffee, and spoke to The Mother (twice).

Prepared the potatoes and veg for dinner.

Tried out a new drink recipe - watermelon, ginger and lime (yum!) then emptied the dishwasher again (The Doctor had refilled it and run it through between times).

Made the Yorkshire puddings then read a bit of a blogging guide I'd found (interesting and has given me some ideas, but I still plan to post photos of my lunch....)

Dinner! Gammon, Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, broccoli, green beans, cabbage and gravy. And wine.

Cherries for dessert, then put the dishwasher on AGAIN!

Sorted out some photos and typed up the recipe I'd tried earlier.

Watched a programme from the recent Proms on catch-up - a couple of friends are in the orchestra :-) Had two pieces of fudge. (Mise, there's still some left - you can try some if I get to try some of yours?)

Read a bit of my current book then set a few Project 365 autoposts.

A cup of decaf tea and a slice of buttered malt loaf, then bed!