This really made my day!

 

My youngest son who is the radiographer, got this message from one of his colleagues.  She'd put two and two together and realised who he was.  She sent him these messages.

She was a lovely supportive parent and he really was a lovely wee boy!  It really made my day to hear he's doing well and that they remember me fondly! 😊 

Teacher burnout

I took the decision and informed my Headteacher yesterday that I wouldn't be back in school any time soon.  I do still have the cough/chest infection but said when I see my GP for a Fit Note (sick line) next week, I will be citing work related stress.  I'm still incredulous that it's taken 2 teachers at the same time to replace me in my classroom and that will count in my favour when it comes to talking to HR!!

I've had so many lovely messages from my colleagues all wishing me well and saying I'm doing the right thing.  They've seen me struggling for months and aren't in the least bit surprised.  I've said I'm not hiding away and will be spending my time (once this fecking cough has gone!!) in my garden and at the allotment.  And I'll take as long as it takes to feel properly well again.

The above quote is from a book called "The Teachers" by Alexandra Robbins.  It's about the American school system but the findings apply to teachers worldwide. Teacher burnout post pandemic is very real and it's not their fault.

November so far

I finally gave in and took down the polytunnel cover.  It had degraded so much that the tiny pieces of plastic looked like snow all over the ground.  I'm undecided whether I should leave the structure up and try to re cover it in Spring or just take the whole thing out and go back to having a veg patch.  I'll decide in the new year. My garden is pretty much shut down for Winter now with just leeks and sprouts the only things still growing.

Life has been a bit humdrum lately.  Work, gym, painting, sleep and repeat/repeat/repeat.  I've been fighting off yet another nasty virus and an outbreak of cold sores.  I'm hoping that's the reason I've been feeling so low this past month or so.  Really fed up with a few things going on atm.   At least Emma keeps me smiling.

I've finally got to the stage where I'm getting my new living room carpet fitted in a week's time. I've reconfigured the layout and taken out a lot of furniture for a more minimalist look.  I think it works and I know Emma likes her new posh bed!

On the work front I've introduced patchwork to my Fab Friday group (all teachers have groups of kids to teach 'life skills')  I've got 20 kids from age 8 to 12 and so far we're doing ok.  Threading needles seems to be their biggest challenge!! But they've learned a wee bit about the history and frugality aspects and are so proud their creations.  All the fabric has been donated by my lovely mum and her quilting class so they're learning about using up scraps of leftover fabric.  I'd forgotten how satisfying it is turn wee bits of cotton into pretty 'flowers' so I've even started a project of my own 😊

Spring is springing

There are some signs in the garden that Spring has finally arrived here in Scotland! 

We've had a few good days in a row with actual sunshine this week! 

The Spring flowers are in full bloom at last :-)

Even my peony is in bud 

But most exciting of all is that things are growing in the polytunnel!!  The radishes are up.

My rocket is up 

My bargain Jamie Oliver Grow Your Own kit of salad leaves is producing shoots despite having a sow by date of 2014!  This is on a sunny window sill rather than in the polytunnel.

And my seed potatoes arrived, also chitting on the sunny window sill.  I chose King Edwards (main crop, good for roasting, baking and home made chips) and Sarpo Mira (a good all rounder, late main crop) These will be grown in potato bags in my front garden.  It feels like the growing season has now begun :-)

I've had my first week of changed hours at work.  It was nice to be off on Monday.  Working with the older kids on a Tuesday is going to be demanding as they've got 'attitude.'  Then I had 3 days with my own class.  I know it's early days but it's going to be a tough term.  I know already I just don't like this job sharing arrangement.  However, it's a means to an end and I can suck it up for the next 9 weeks then I'm back full time for the new academic year in August.

Next week I'm off on Monday and Wednesday.  I'm hoping the weather stays dry so I can do more to the garden and get more edible planting done :-)

50 days

After a dreadful term that ended this week with the local newspaper front page headline 'Failing school must do better' I am finally on holiday.  Usually the mood in school on the final week is high but our HMI report went very public and local politicians have been scoring political points.  I would say that 95% of the local community have rallied round us and have been hugely supportive and angry on our behalf.  It's a fab wee school with very talented and dedicated staff.  I'm thrilled to be back there in August and with a new headteacher the school will become a model of good practice :-)

So, I have 50 days of holiday.  The list is growing longer, I have so much I want done.  I have set myself a deadline.  In 50 days, the day before I return to school I will have a (belated) housewarming BBQ party.  That will spur me on to get the last of the boxes unpacked and dealt with, get the garden in order and get my kitchen finished.

Easy night tonight then starts tomorrow with unpacking boxes that have been lying in the Teenager's room

Meet the teacher

I heard yesterday that I am officially remaining in the same school until January 2015 :-)  Phew!!! That gives me some financial security for a few more months (although I still don't get paid during the summer!)

Today was Meet the Teacher day where each class (as far as possible) spent some time with their new teacher in their new classrooms.  I'll be teaching Primary 2 from August (Year 1 equivalent in England or First Grade in the US, not sure about Australia)  It's the follow on year from the one I'm currently teaching but it's not my class I'm taking on, it's the other Primary 1.  I work closely with my stage partner so I knew the children already as our 2 classes come together for lots of joint activities.

One of the activities I had prepared for today was popping balloons that had questions inside.  Stuff like 'What are you looking forward to in Primary 2?' and 'What do think of your new classroom?'  I'd also put one in that said 'What would you like to know about your new teacher?'

First question was 'Are you a nice teacher?'  Well of course I am! ;-)  Second one was 'Do you have a husband?' When I said I didn't have one any more but I had a boyfriend they thought this was the funniest thing ever!!!  I do love teaching the wee ones :-)

One week left.  WOOHOO!!

Cash flow

Since this month is my last guaranteed monthly salary I've been looking at my cash flow.  GULP! Basically it's all going out rather too quickly.  There have been a few big expenses this month and frankly my shopping bill has got out of control due to lack of planning.  I went to the autobank last night and there wasn't enough in my account to last until pay day which is in 8 days.  DOUBLE GULP!! First thing I did was pull out of the staff night out (was cajoled into it anyway)  I cannot justify a trip into Glasgow for an evening of cocktails and then fine dining.  Rough estimate of costs for train, taxi, alcohol and food would run into almost 3 figures. 

But thanks to all my frugal pals I've learned that when the going is good, the good get saving and I have 4 full months worth of salary saved.  So I have a safety net but I'd rather not use it until I absolutely have to.  I have a whole summer of no income other than maintenance payments for the Teenager so need to be extra frugal.  This week I heard that my job applications were unsuccessful so no idea where the next salary will come from.  I do hope things work out in the school I'm currently in but there's a lot of politics going on in the aftermath of our bad HMI report (which went public yesterday)

My wee garden of pots, planters and raised beds is starting to produce edible stuff.  I've been picking baby spinach and beetroot leaves for my salad lunches.  My strawberries are nearly ready for picking.  I just hope the birds don't discover them!

The mizuno is growing well.  I thought it might taste peppery but it's rather bland.

Potatoes in the bags are growing well, they're just about to start flowering.

And my tomatoes are well, a bit wilted looking in the heat!  I gave them some TLC tonight so hopefully they'll perk up a bit.  Lots of flowers on 2 of them, none on the black one in the middle as yet. 

On the allotment front I've paid for my plot so just waiting for the key next.  I can climb over the gate if I want though!! Time is running out to get much planted now but I'll spend the summer clearing and prepping it for winter veg. 

Growing my own veg this year isn't going to help much with the cashflow but it's hugely satisfying and I'm building towards being self sufficient-ish in veg.  I'm also working on a chicken plan ;-)

Phew!!!

Phew!!! Thank goodness that's all over.  Having an HMI inspection (OFSTED if you're south of the border) is a horrible horrible experience.  I was ok but I can't say too much as it's all confidential until it's published in a few weeks. However, let's just say returning to work tomorrow is not going to be pleasant.  Hey ho, as my gran always said 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.'

 

 

 

In between the flood of paperwork loads of house stuff was also achieved.  I painted my raised beds at the front of the house a lovely shade of blue and collected my blue pots together.   A few more things are flowering since this pic was taken so it actually looks lovely.

 

I bought an electric fire.  Cost me £155, hugely cheaper that the nearly £3000 quote for the other one to be fitted!!! We inserted one chimney balloon (£25.95) to cut down on the draft and OH bought me a cover to put on the chimney pot.  Better than flowers or chocolates any day!!  My magazine rack covers the wire nicely.  And my baby turned 16, hence the cards. 

I was going to throw out this wee greenhouse as the cover was in shreds.  Then I spotted that you can buy replacement covers.  £14.95 later and it's back in action.

Wee bit long but fits perfectly elsewhere

 

 

The biggest job of all was finally emptying the family room.  This is  the one room that the removal men threw all my stuff into as they were running out of time on moving day.  It's been like this for 7 months!!  Totally unusable.

It took me, my mum and The Teenager a couple of hours to get it looking like this........

 

Bottom right hand corner is his computer desk, opposite corner is playstation etc all hidden away in an old cupboard. Chairs from my old house.  The tartan curtains were rescued from a big old house that was being renovated.  Totally free!! Very heavy, fully lined, wee bit faded ( I kinda like that) but good quality designer (if a bit dated now) ones.  They've still be hemmed properly as we just chopped off a few feet of fabric so we could put them up. Eventually this will be my dining room when I relocate my kitchen to the room next door, but for now it's a family room/teen den.

 

This was the left over stuff to be recycled, donated, sold etc.  Thank goodness we managed to do this on a dry day!!

 

 

Now that the main threat of frost is over I can get my plants sorted out.

 

I found these bean planters in the garage with my potato sacks, never used.  Think my mum gave them as I don't recall buying them.  Runner beans already planted and waiting to be transplanted.

And potatoes were planted.  These will (hopefully) produce lots of lovely Charlotte spuds, good for boiling and salads.  OH has planted good old Maris Pipers for mash so between us we've got it sorted.

Today is a Bank Holiday and so far it seems to be dry.  A day of planting and sowing in my wee garden is all that's on the cards.  I haven't bought any seeds this year so am risking planting last year's leftovers.  I took in some really old seeds to school for my kids to look at under magnifying glasses as this term's topic is Growing.  They planted some beans and sunflower seeds and thankfully they seem to be growing.  Getting the next generation into growing food is a great pleasure for me.  They are so excited to watch their wee beans growing :-)

Something gave

Yep, something had to give and in the end it was my OU course.  I just couldn't do the course work plus all the prep I had to do for school so it was the OU that went.  I am disappointed as I really wanted to finish my degree.  But it wasn't necessary to further my career, it was just for my own development.  My job pays well and frankly that's what counts at the moment.  Especially as we've just been told the school is getting an HMI inspection!! GULP!!!!

Fortunately I have the 2 weeks of Easter holidays to get my classroom in order especially my files.  I have inherited a bit of a mess from the teacher on maternity leave and for my own peace of mind I need them sorted just in case the inspection picks it up.  I'm not worried about my teaching being assessed as I was "quality assured" just a few weeks ago but I loathe paperwork with a passion so know it's my weak area.

I just celebrated a birthday (very quietly!!) so had some money to spend on clothes ( a dress, some underwear and a pair of shoes)  I haven't included it in my annual budget but I did buy 3 pairs of leggings on Ebay.

The above yellow sticker bargain was bought and eaten before I put myself on a gluten and dairy free diet.  Past health issues have reared their ugly head so I had to take action. I feel much better already and as a bonus seem to have finally got rid of my never ending cold!!

If it ever stops raining I'm hoping to get my raised beds planted up and do a little outside painting.  However, as I'm typing here the rain is battering off the windows.  Where's Spring???

Frugal teaching

I resisted for ages because I just knew I would be obsessed with it but I finally gave in and joined Pinterest.  I've already lost a weekend!!!  BUT it is a great source of inspiration for many things. For example, I have sourced lots of free worksheet and classroom organisation ideas for work.  Most good teachers buy a lot of supplies out of their own pocket.  I know I've spent a small fortune just on useable pencils and felt tip pens.  And photocopying paper!!!!

 

So I've made a conscious effort to begin applying my frugal principles in my classroom.  One of my favourite ideas gleaned from Pinterest is using paint colour samples as borders for display.  I went to Homebase and B&Q last night and collected rather a large amount these lovely colours.  All free!!

 

Here's the result on my Phonics wall :-) I have loads left over so will do a few more borders and use the rest in an art activity.

Our Context for Learning (topic!!) this term is Medieval Castles (as part of a local schools project on the 700th anniversary of The Battle of Bannockburn)  Here are our princess crowns and veils made from gold and silver card from The Pound Shop, my trusty jar of buttons (for jewels) and some old voile curtains.  The cardboard castle to the right is actually a rabbit play toy.  That was an ebay bargain.

It's Parents' Night next week.  I'm going to be cheeky and ask for donations of old bits of wrapping paper, cards, odd pens and pencils etc  I can make use of almost anything.  One wee piece of wrapping paper can't make much but if you've lots then there's a mixed media activity ready to go.

With help from my mum

 

I had a lovely visit from my mum today.  I'm now into the 6th week of this rotten filthy cold and struggling a bit with lots of things.  I'm managing work but very little else is being done.  Look at the next 2 wee mice she's knitted for my class!!  A Scottish knight and a jester who has his own wee tiny jester puppet!!!

 

 

She had also cleared out her cupboard of paper and card.  Lots of lovely free craft stuff for my wee ones to use.  Paper in schools is very expensive and infants use a LOT!!!!

We also dismantled an old single bed and took it to the recycling centre.  It was a lot easier than dismantling my old sofa.  LOL!!!  We moved another bed and built a third.  Slowly getting things done but without my mum's help nothing would have been done this weekend.

I've done a little bit of clothes shopping.  I got a warm ski jacket on eBay for 99p.  I don't need top of the range stuff, I'm just a beginner so that'll do me nicely.  I also got some salopettes (padded trousers with braces really!) for £4.99.  Haven't got them yet but I'll be happy with them at that price :-)

A wee bit of good news

I'm a very lucky girl!  Today I heard that my short term contract has been changed into a long term one.  This means I'm going to be working in the same school until next January! :-)  This means I don't have to move between schools to keep working which is what short term supply involves. It means financial security for the next 12 months.  How brilliant is that?? 

In order to save as much as I can I'm using up leftovers for lunch.  Remember those bargain veggies?  I made soup with some bendy carrots, the celery, lettuce leaves and peppers.  Carrot and celery batons with egg mayo, pepper and tomatoes and satsumas on the side.

Next day was leftover chicken with sweet chilli sauce with more carrots/peppers/celery and soup.

Yum! Leftover lunches needn't be boring.

Of mice and kings

As much as I'm loving my job atm I am soooo glad it's the weekend!  Going to work in the dark staying indoors all day and then coming home in the dark has made it a long week.  So it was with great glee I went on a long muddy dog walk under a clear blue sky this morning.  It felt good to be outside for a few hours. 

On my return the postie had left me a parcel with these wee adorable Alan Dart medieval mice.  My class starts a new topic next week on 'Who lives in a castle?' Stirling is celebrating the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn and all local schools are taking part in a very special project.  Each infant class is looking at a different aspect so we're all trying to find different approaches to stimulate discussion and activities (senior pupils are looking at the historical facts of the battle etc)  My lovely mum (herself a retired Head teacher) has knitted these in leftover yarn from other projects for my kids to play with and hopefully learn something. For example, in 1314 peasants were not allowed to wear bright colours, only the nobles could wear red and purple.  Beautifully illustrated by the wee mice :-) The crowns have wee beads knitted into them and the peasant has a basket on his back filled with red berries!!

This afternoon the Teenager and I had a ski lesson, a Christmas present from OH.  It was awesome!! On the way home I scored some reduced veg at Waitrose.  Organic peppers reduced to 10p a pack so 6 for 30p.  I also got 4 Little Gem lettuces reduced to 10p, 2 celery hearts reduced to 10p and a tub of smoked salmon pate for 15p

Time v Money

Thanks to some external school politics and someone's unprofessionalism it looks like I could be in this teaching job for up to a year!  Normally teachers on the supply list get allocated to a school for short term supply by HR with longer term cover (like a maternity leave) going to a full interview process by the Head Teacher.  Luckily for me the HT seems to like what I'm doing and wants me to stay.  Whether I'll be allowed to by HR is another matter.

BUT in the meantime I get paid at my full rate instead of the supply rate which is 2/3 of the full rate.

So I find myself in the position of earning decent money but don't have any time (or energy) to do anything with it.  A few months of teaching will be enough to fit a whole new kitchen or upgrade my ancient car.  Or replace the drafty front window and rotten back door.

I'm finding myself spending more money in the supermarket as I don't have time to cook from scratch (although I did score 4 avocados for 80p yesterday!!)

I now pay someone to walk my dogs every day.

Yesterday my ancient Dyson blew up. Instead of researching the best price for its replacement I got one that was the quickest delivery (John Lewis next day delivery to my Waitrose) By shopping around I could have saved some money but I didn't have the luxury of time.  And with 2 dogs I really need to hoover daily!!

So it was a bit of an aha! moment for me.

Being cash rich/time poor is the opposite of the real me but I need a steady income. The aim of this blog was to save £40k in 4 years.  So I'm giving myself a period of adjustment and will use the Christmas holidays to get myself organised in the ways of frugal living again.  I've ordered a new fridge freezer ( I did the research on that weeks ago so it's a good deal!!) so hope to get it filled over the holidays.

I must admit I'm loving being back teaching.  It's hard work during the day plus I'm bringing home work every night.  I'm sure this will settle down once I get things organised but there's only one week left of term.  And it's a lovely one with Nativity performances, church service and party.

Life throws stuff at you.  It's how you deal with it that's important.  3 years ago I would never have imagined this was how my life would be.  But I wouldn't change a thing :-)

Back to work

In just a few short hours my life has flipped around.  Before I moved house I applied to join the local supply teachers list.  I get regular emails telling me what temporary jobs (ie around a month) are available and until now I haven't replied to any of them. 

At lunchtime today I got one about a P1 class in a local school (that's 4 and 5 yos here in Scotland) It was for a month until the end of term.  On impulse I pinged a brief email back and within an hour I had spoken to the Headteacher and was offered the position starting Monday!!!! Eeeeek!

Turns out it's actually a maternity cover that was advertised but they got no response.  So initially it's for a month but could be extended to a year if I fit into their ethos!  Double eeeek!!!

So, I can call myself a teacher again!  Now the practicalities need to be dealt with :-)