What a week of mixed weather we've had. Sunny and cold, very very wet and then milder but cloudy.
I've not been far at all this week, I had no idea what the petrol station forecourt situation was like so thought I'd hang onto my diesel.
On the dry bits of the week I shifted some more soil from the builders bag out the front to the veg bed out the back - the job's nearly done.
Then I made a start on one the garden things I wanted doing - seeing as I can't get a man in to do small jobs it's down to me! I've removed the two bullies of climbing roses and the honey suckle that had mildew which were on the other side of this trellis. I've left a Jasmine there as it's not so vigorous.
I've ordered the trees which are bare-rooted and will arrive sometime after the end of November. Now I 'just' need to borrow a crow bar from BiL, shift the slabs, add some compost and dig the holes.
The "after" photo will follow.............sometime!
A couple of weeks ago I found three more early Ladybird books for 50p each at a boot sale . I'm sure we had all these back in the day and the puzzle book is one for younger children. I'll pass these all on to the grandchildren.
Yesterday I went shopping, filling up with diesel at the local filling station on the way out (they had diesel but not petrol at all the pumps) The price of diesel has gone up by 10p a litre in two weeks. I met up with Rachel-in-Norfolk for a coffee in Morrisons where my cappuccino had gone up by 25p since our last visit. Think we'd better get used to things going up - anyone can put up their prices now and blame it on Covid/Brexit/world wide shortages/increased wholesale gas prices/staff shortages/delivery problems.......... and no one will know any different.
Eldest Granddaughter is 5 on Monday and tomorrow I'm off to her birthday party....... with bouncy castle ........which I won't be going on! She started proper school in September, it's at the same place she was at Nursery so not too big a change and thankfully she is enjoying school.
DiL has been puzzling over Primary Schools for Youngest Granddaughter in 2022. She visited the one in their village and found it extremely dirty (no cleaner or caretaker!) and only one properly qualified teacher among the 4 that work there (for 60 children) and none of the teachers work full time. The problem is that any other Primary School will mean driving, although many of the people in their village take children elsewhere so they'll perhaps be able to share journeys.
Once-upon-a-time everyone just went to their local school - no choice - and all schools were under the care of the County Council and no one knew if they were good or bad. And believe me some village schools in the 1960's were Very Bad. Now it's all about money and schools are run by Academies, all doing their own thing and all trying to attract more students so they can get more money. I have no idea which is best.
Before the party tomorrow I'm looking forward to Strictly tonight. It's movie night and everyone is dressed up and there's no one to cringe at this year so it's a joy to watch all of them.
But what I really need is an exciting weekend (apart from the the bouncy castle and a whole lot of 4 and 5 year olds!) so that there's something to blog about next week as at the moment I'm at a loss.
I hope your weekend is as exciting as you want it to be.
Back Monday
Sue
PS and before someone picks me up on saying that everyone went to their nearest school in the past - I know I'm generalizing a bit.
I'm astonished that a school, albeit a small village one, has no cleaner! What about Covid precautions?
ReplyDeleteHad to laugh about you hoping for an exciting weekend so you have something to blog about....we don't need excitement all the time, Sue, your normal day to day life is just fine by me.
Oh, and I'm in awe over you planning on lifting all those paving slabs....Superwoman Sue! (PS, I'm going to be making your Marmalade Cake for visitors we're having on Tuesday).
Not superwoman - just a crowbar and a bit of wiggling the slabs out of the way!
DeleteDon't ever ask for excitement it may come in an unforeseen domestic form.
ReplyDeleteOh Heck, I hope not!
DeleteShifting paving slabs is hard work (I spent all Thursday doing it) And don't get me started on the subject of Academies. I hope your DIL is able to find a suitable school. I'm so conscious that this is a greater problem in rural areas - there were at least 6 schools in walking distance for our Rosie in London, so much more choice.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely not much choice here. The next nearest is under the care of the same Academy trust.
DeleteGood luck with those slabs...and don't get me started on the schools. My granddaughter started at her local village school aged 4yrs 1 month. It had 25 children and seemed a lovely little school. After 1 year there it closed down. She moved areas anyway and a new school was found with 20 pupils (they are tiny schools in parts of north Yorkshire). Of course it only reopened after lockdown before the summer break but she was quite settled there. It is part of an Academy Trust but still CofE. The second day she returned after the summer holidays (when all parents had bought new uniform and some quite expensive with the new logo they had just had redesigned,£11 for a jumper)it was announced the school is to close. They must have known this before they broke up! All the schools roundabout are full and visits to look at these schools are in some cases not allowed because they are full. Little L is quite distraught - she had just made new friends and will have to be driven up to 10 miles away depending on who can fit them in. There is no school that can take all the pupils so they will all be split up from one another. It is all about money and it is shocking - the council do not want to know because it is an Academy - seems they can do what they want and little hope of saving the school. All I can say is for your daughter to chose her school with great care.
ReplyDeletePoor Little L - that's really sad and very annoying.
DeleteIf I were starting out with children now and had the patience I think I'd opt for home educating!
Mum lived in a little village with a primary school in the village & you had to travel to the big town for secondary school or the grammar school. They didn't have school closures in bad weather (not what you were talking about, I know, but this was the context of our conversation) because the school staff - teachers, school cook, cleaner, etc - lived in the village. The school felt like part of village life because it was.
ReplyDeleteWe live on the outskirts on Ipswich & younger son went 1 mile away to school in the village closest to us instead of catchment area primary school. He'd been at a childminder in the village since he was 5 months, so gone to toddler group there, so preschool & school there & staying with his familiar childminder was the better choice for us than moving him to unfamiliar school & a new childminder to go 1/2 a mile away to catchment school. Unfortunately, neither husband's or my work was flexible enough for us to work around him being at school.
That was lots of waffle from me to try to say I think there are 2 reasons why schools, especially village schools struggle now - housing is expensive so staff can't afford to live near it, families are more likely to have all parents working so childcare & proximity to work becomes a factor in choosing the school.
My village primary school was 60 children in 2 classes and everyone walked to school too. I found it very difficult going to Grammar school with 500 children - not even a visit beforehand. Took me ages to make friends and settle in.
DeleteAll so different now
Last year I believe that VAT was reduced to 5%, from 1st Oct this year has gone up to 12.5% until it reverts to 20% next April. This was to encourage businesses and may have been passed on to customers. My local supermarket cafe is chargeing less than the menu price at the moment.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the VAT things explains it
DeleteDon't worry about something exciting for us to read next week! I like reading about someone else's everyday life! We were widowed at at similar time and I have often been encouraged by how you've tackled life.
ReplyDeleteI remember having those Ladybird books when my daughter was little. Maybe I will find them again for my granddaughter! She's only 6 months, so I have plenty of time!
Have a lovely weekend.
Linda J x
Thank you for those kind words - I've always just got on with things - it's the only way I know how to cope. Somedays are more difficult but I just keep going.
DeleteI have no idea about what the price of my coffee was yesterday but inflation at this time is unfortunately going to be unavoidable. I enjoyed our chat and catch up and everything else just paled into insignificance!
ReplyDeleteHa! Who new my conversation was so scintillating!
Deleteknew!
DeleteWe were warned here in Australia a while ago that the price of coffee was set to rise pretty steeply for a range of reasons. I'm a tea drinker so I don't really care!
DeleteHad an outing to the Maritime museum in Greenwich yesterday incl. a visit to Borough Market, which I love. We were gasping for a cup of tea, which came in a clear glass pot, tea bags already removed, so rather weak and two cinnamon buns, which needed to be eased down with sips of tea as they were so dry, £13.50!!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness ! London prices!
Deleteyou have quite a job ahead of you getting ready for the trees. Children's party sound fun and noisy. The prices are going up in the US I filled my car on Monday and Wed when I went by it had gone up 14 cents. The groceries are crazy and there is no eating out. To expensive and not enough servers. Cheaper to stay home.
ReplyDeleteI am working this weekend so nothing exciting for me. It is a holiday weekend for us. Columbus Day
Cathy
Happy Holiday weekend - sorry about the working bit
DeleteI'm not a happy bunny as I left a longish comment on my Grand-daughters' school, plus a couple of other comments and it disappeared when I pressed publish.
ReplyDeleteGrrrr how annoying!
DeleteI love hearing about you and Rachel getting together. That is wonderful for both of you, and how I wish I could join you. I like your thoughts for planting the apple trees. I have no doubt you can do a good job with it, just don't try to do too much at a time. I agree with Sooze, you don't need anything exciting to blog about. I enjoy reading about your day to day life. Enjoy your Granddaughter's birthday!
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping to squeeze other trees in elsewhere too - what to make the garden more productive
DeleteGood morning sue, my theory on gardening is 'like eating an elephant' one bite at a time. I have moved large amounts of things from bricks, gravel, compost etc by doing a small bit every day. I currently have a small courtyard garden and planted six 'ballerina' apple trees against the side privacy fence. They are doing well and are currently in beautiful blossom. Last autumn was the best crop at about 4 years old. I haven't had to prune them yet, they have got taller but not much wider. Have fun!!
ReplyDeleteAll my gardening is now done a bit at a time - gone are the days when I could work outside for hours!
DeleteYour new apple trees sound perfect for that space. You'll have to be very careful lifting each slab as they can be quite heavy. Sadly, schools are not what they used to be. Everything changes but not always for the good. Home schooling has become more popular.
ReplyDeleteI try and wiggle the slabs when I want them moved - not much lifting
Delete