Oh I am remiss-, I didn't manage to post last week. My feet didn't touch the ground . I didn't get to bed before about 2 am most nights and had lots of peripheral stuff going on too. I was also battling a lurge.
Monday 13th
I was teaching today so that my trainees could observe a lesson with their prospective classes. We had a group of 14 mixed Europeans and 1 Turkish man, all of A2 level. The other classes are made up of much higher level students, but I chose to teach/ mentor these ones.
It was damp and horrible, so I lit the fire when I got home. We still have hundreds of pine cones left over from last winter, so they made excellent kindling- and smell lovely too.
The trainees have their first day in the classroom today. There was an air of excitement around the place, mixed with apprehension. In fact my mentor group all did really well.
They looked at parts of the body and then set up a role play about visiting the doctor. This was in response to a request from the students.
When I got home today I was starting to brew a nasty head cold. All the trainees have had it, and are just struggling on with it. We are trying to be careful as we have a Muslim lady who is 36 weeks pregnant on the course. I realised that the gardener had been and dug out most of my plants, replacing the soil with a big pile of manure. It looks good- and my cold means that I can't smell it- so there's a winner!
I wanted to allow the students to move the furniture around to make the classroom layout suit their lesson. This is what it looked like before we started.
In the end, it was decided that the number of students made this layout the optimal use of space.
I popped up to Hamptonne today. It is our Country life Museum and this is the start of the Fai'sie D'Cidre (or Cider Festival). Their were lots of people milling around. I wanted to check out where we would be playing on Saturday, and making sure that they had seats for us. Cairis, who has been working with the Heritage team, was making bunting for the orchard.
Trevor, one of our musicians, was making cabbage bread in the old bread ovens.
M has gone to the UK for a few days, to go to his brother-in -law's birthday party. With my course running I couldn't spare the time to go with him. I also had too many other things to do, such as the Fai'sie and a ceilidh in the evening. We were asked to play on both the Saturday and Sunday, but declined the Sunday. We played for a couple of hours in the Cider tent- exactly where the guys had hoped to end up :-)
After us the Badlabecques came on. We listened to a couple of their songs, then had to leave to set up the ceilidh. The funny thing was that they had bought tickets for the ceilidh, so we all caught up later in the evening.
Cairis was helping, so I had to drive up to Hamptonne again! This time I had time to watch the cider making , with the horse going round and crushing the apples.
I needed to escape from the trainees at lunchtime, so I popped up to Waitrose, where my loyalty card gives me the chance to have a free coffee and newspaper with my sandwich. I can look out over St Brelade's Bay and just relax for a while. They had a huge selection of pumpkins in readiness for Hallowe'en. Unfortunately, the seasons are all getting merged. I also saw Christmas things- yet there are still 9 weeks to go: )
Today we have the tail end of ex-tropical storm Gonzalo. It is really wet and windy and horrible to be out in.
This is the view from the staffroom window.
M is due home today, so I hope that the flights are not hampered by the weather conditions- I wouldn't like to be in a boat today.
John was back, removing all the big pieces of granite which had once been a rockery in the garden. He left my Abutillon in, as it looks really healthy, and doesn't need to be moved in the new garden plan.
I also had time to moderate ELTchat, giving Marisa and Hada a rest. I hadn't expected that I would have any time to do it during the month, but as I taught today, there was no paperwork to be written up.
It is really Autumnal now. There are leaves everywhere and people are having to be careful when driving as the roads are slippery. The trainees have changed class levels today, which didn't all go according to plan, but....it was to be expected.
The tree beside the volleyball court is changing colour every day. At the moment it is red at the top and then orange and green. I love scrunching through piles of dry crispy leaves at this time of year.
A day spent curled up by the fire- back where we started, and using up a few more pine cones . I noticed a kitten playing in the bay window of the house next door. Maisie was watching too, fascinated by the fur-baby in the window. Then we realised there were TWO of them- soo cute. I will have to check before I buy the usual flowers for Ann's window tomorrow. I hope they are hers. She recently lost her husband, and is feeling very down. Kittens will cheer her heart up.
Tuesday
The trainees have their first day in the classroom today. There was an air of excitement around the place, mixed with apprehension. In fact my mentor group all did really well.They looked at parts of the body and then set up a role play about visiting the doctor. This was in response to a request from the students.
Wednesday
When I got home today I was starting to brew a nasty head cold. All the trainees have had it, and are just struggling on with it. We are trying to be careful as we have a Muslim lady who is 36 weeks pregnant on the course. I realised that the gardener had been and dug out most of my plants, replacing the soil with a big pile of manure. It looks good- and my cold means that I can't smell it- so there's a winner!Thursday
I wanted to allow the students to move the furniture around to make the classroom layout suit their lesson. This is what it looked like before we started.In the end, it was decided that the number of students made this layout the optimal use of space.
Friday
I popped up to Hamptonne today. It is our Country life Museum and this is the start of the Fai'sie D'Cidre (or Cider Festival). Their were lots of people milling around. I wanted to check out where we would be playing on Saturday, and making sure that they had seats for us. Cairis, who has been working with the Heritage team, was making bunting for the orchard.Saturday
M has gone to the UK for a few days, to go to his brother-in -law's birthday party. With my course running I couldn't spare the time to go with him. I also had too many other things to do, such as the Fai'sie and a ceilidh in the evening. We were asked to play on both the Saturday and Sunday, but declined the Sunday. We played for a couple of hours in the Cider tent- exactly where the guys had hoped to end up :-)After us the Badlabecques came on. We listened to a couple of their songs, then had to leave to set up the ceilidh. The funny thing was that they had bought tickets for the ceilidh, so we all caught up later in the evening.
Sunday
Cairis was helping, so I had to drive up to Hamptonne again! This time I had time to watch the cider making , with the horse going round and crushing the apples.Monday 20th
I needed to escape from the trainees at lunchtime, so I popped up to Waitrose, where my loyalty card gives me the chance to have a free coffee and newspaper with my sandwich. I can look out over St Brelade's Bay and just relax for a while. They had a huge selection of pumpkins in readiness for Hallowe'en. Unfortunately, the seasons are all getting merged. I also saw Christmas things- yet there are still 9 weeks to go: )Tuesday
Today we have the tail end of ex-tropical storm Gonzalo. It is really wet and windy and horrible to be out in.This is the view from the staffroom window.
M is due home today, so I hope that the flights are not hampered by the weather conditions- I wouldn't like to be in a boat today.
Wednesday
John was back, removing all the big pieces of granite which had once been a rockery in the garden. He left my Abutillon in, as it looks really healthy, and doesn't need to be moved in the new garden plan.I also had time to moderate ELTchat, giving Marisa and Hada a rest. I hadn't expected that I would have any time to do it during the month, but as I taught today, there was no paperwork to be written up.
Thursday
It is really Autumnal now. There are leaves everywhere and people are having to be careful when driving as the roads are slippery. The trainees have changed class levels today, which didn't all go according to plan, but....it was to be expected.The tree beside the volleyball court is changing colour every day. At the moment it is red at the top and then orange and green. I love scrunching through piles of dry crispy leaves at this time of year.
Friday
Today is la Fai'sie Du Nior Beurre, or Black butter making. It is made from millions of apples, which are peeled by volunteers, and then they are cooked over a fire in a large bachin,with spices and liquorice, until they make a jam-type consistency. The stirring goes on for 24 hours non stop and the island musicians play all night to entertain the stirrers and peelers. This year we were invited to listen rather than play, as they had a visiting group of French musicians who played instead. I was working until late so didn't make it.Saturday
A day spent curled up by the fire- back where we started, and using up a few more pine cones . I noticed a kitten playing in the bay window of the house next door. Maisie was watching too, fascinated by the fur-baby in the window. Then we realised there were TWO of them- soo cute. I will have to check before I buy the usual flowers for Ann's window tomorrow. I hope they are hers. She recently lost her husband, and is feeling very down. Kittens will cheer her heart up.
My, what a very busy fortnight you have had Sue!! Staying in, curled up in front of a nice, warm fire, sounds like the perfect way to spend time relaxing..... and the smell of pine cones is an extra, soothing touch!! I am afraid I didn't post last week, either, as it has been a bit hectic on my return to Abruzzo, so I will copy your idea and aim to do a 2-week catch up on Sunday. This will relieve the pressure for the time being... Hope you have a lovely week 44 :-)
ReplyDelete