Tag: school (page 8 of 15)

July 5, 2013 / 4 Comments

Hear, Hear!

Hear, Hear! It’s the weekend! This weekend brings with it the promise of Summer. According to the weatherman we are to have 10 full days of sunshine. Now, in merry ol’ England, that means we will be spending as much time outdoors as we can, because this could be the only Summer we have. If I had an orchard to sit in this weekend, I think I would be sitting there with these cowboys having a cold beer! And then maybe we could go take a dip in the lake.

I have had the nicest day. I worked as a teacher’s assistant today, while we both led a dark room photography class and made beautiful photograms and then went out and made sun prints on cyanotype paper. Any excuse to be outside!

This week has brought many changes as well as I begin to write the final pages of one chapter and begin a new one. I have accepted a position at a school in London and I am very very excited! The staff have already given me such a warm welcome and their facilities are simply stunning!

This will be a new challenge and one I am truly looking forward to. I am ready to move on, the time is right, the students I started with have just graduated. My babies have left the nest, so it is the perfect time to take this next step.

Here’s to sunshine and sweet tea and cowboys and weekends and new beginnings!

{cowboy image found here}

June 12, 2013 / 0 Comments

The Uniform Coup

Well, it is Wednesday and what a week this has been so far! I woke up yesterday thinking, can it only be Tuesday? Certainly so much has happened since Monday we must be farther into the week, but alas, it was only Tuesday.

This week hitherto has consisted of a lot of late nights, as we put the final touches on the Art Show, get everything ready for the moderator, then get everything back to exhibition standards tomorrow before the big night. It is always a whirlwind. But, it is also very satisfying to see all of the student’s work hung up.

It is funny, as this is the time of year when you think things should be winding down in school, but they aren’t. People are almost under more pressure than normal as things begin to come to a close. As exasperating as work can be at times, I have always felt that you just deal with it as seamlessly as possible. A kind word and a smile, works wonders, don’t let anyone tell you different!

Also, laughing, because if you can’t laugh, then you’ve got nothing. My mornings normally consist of numerous last minute requests from all directions, so you prioritize, muck in and get it done. This morning was no different, just coupled with the fact the moderator is coming and ensuring everything they need is available to them.

I stopped for a brief second to check my e-mail and saw the daily exclusions and suspensions notice that is sent out. There was one student who had been listed as internally suspended today. Next to their name was written the reason given for them being in the suspension room and I quote, “plotting a uniform coup”.

Well, I don’t think I have laughed so hard first thing in the morning like that since I don’t know when. It sounded so 18th century, the smell of gunpowder and treason pungent in the air. I could just see a line of students charging the gates, Liberty holding their battle flag as it dips and sways in the breeze and not a uniform in sight!

Here’s to Wednesday, because it signals that we have almost made it to the weekend.

May 24, 2013 / 1 Comment

What a Week!

Well, we made it! And what a week it has been! I am looking forward to 1/2 term break next week. A whole week just to ourselves! I have a few things on the agenda, but just resting is one of them, as both of us are fighting off colds. It isn’t easy to stay well at the moment, especially when it is almost the end of May and there is snow predicted for this evening, or at the very least slushy rain (so the weatherman says)!

My little heater is on next to me as I type, as I am trying to keep warm, but I am not sure how much of a difference it is making, it all feels very Dickensian.

There are a few new recipes I want to try next week, one being an Italian Cream Cake for our wedding anniversary. At the moment we are thinking that a romantic quiet night in, sounds like a prefect way to celebrate our anniversary, with good Italian food, wine, music and dessert!

In the mean time we just have to survive Friday. So, here’s to the weekend and long may it last!

{image found here}

May 23, 2013 / 0 Comments

The First Strawberries of the Season

Today was Mr. Michie’s last class with his Year 13 Media students. They traditionally have a cake day once a week and the last one was his to do.

I normally do Mr. Michie’s baking for those days and last night we made a 3 tiered vanilla cake with a whipped cream and cream cheese frosting. We slathered the frosting on each layer and then packed it full of strawberries, before putting more frosting on top to keep the next cake held in place.

All of the kids loved it! There was one layer left over from my baking as my little European fridge could not have handled a 4 tiered cake, we almost didn’t get the 3 tiered one in! So with the leftover layer, I spread the remaining frosting on it and piled it high with our first real strawberries of the season and fresh blueberries.

It was the perfect dessert!

May 22, 2013 / 0 Comments

KICK ME!

I think there must be an invisible “Kick Me” sign on me this week or something, because this has been one heck of a week so far!

Thank goodness tomorrow is Thursday and we are that much closer to the weekend!

Its times like these where you just can’t beat a good old fashioned 80s movie, filled with teen angst, feel good music and a great dance scene, cue Footloose:

You might just be able to cure anything with dancing and an 80s anthem!

April 15, 2013 / 1 Comment

Back to School

We headed back to school today and it was a real humdinger of a day! Here’s to the beginning of another crazy roller-coaster kinda week!

{image found}

March 12, 2013 / 2 Comments

Our Weekend

Well, I was going to share my weekend with you yesterday, but after my day in the cupboard, I just couldn’t.

It was my date night this weekend and I took Mr. Michie to the movies! It was so much FUN! I can’t tell you the last time we went to a movie in the evening, we are usually afternoon movie goers.

We saw OZ. We both really enjoyed it, I thought they did a nice tie in of the elements, the costumes were beautiful and I only wish she was real because the little girl the “wizard” helps save in China Town, I could just take home with me, she was so cute!

We grabbed some breakfast before going grocery shopping on Saturday morning:

Then I spent the rest of Saturday preparing Sunday’s lunch. I made my Nana’s macaroni salad, my dad’s green bean salad and homemade yeast rolls.

On Sunday we baked a ham and I tried a new peach cobbler recipe. It was delicious! I made a few changes, by adding some cinnamon and a little bit if lemon zest to the peaches, like I would do if I was making a pie.

I have been reading a series of books at the moment that take place in the South (The Caster Chronicles) and after reading what Amma has been cooking, I was hankering after a little Southern Home-style dinner myself. There was even sweet tea to boot!

March 11, 2013 / 2 Comments

Monday, Monday

Well, I was going to share my weekend with you today. But, this Monday has just about killed me. Upon arriving to work this morning and entering the cupboard, I noticed a terribly fishy smell. Literally a fishy smell as there were fish in the fridge in my room that had been brought in to use for life drawing on Friday.

Over the weekend their lovely fish juices began to flow and that coupled with the bit of ice that was still in their bags dripped onto the fridge motor and burned it out, which tripped the fuse in my room, shut the fridge down along with everything else.

So flash forward to today and there has been fish juices and yucky water dripping onto the floor all weekend and not just to any floor, but a heated floor. I could have caught JAWS with the smell of that stuff.

So, on went the gloves, out went the fridge and hot water and bleach went everywhere. I have scrubbed, wiped, sprayed and the smell is still lingering. I even put the fan on high, just to get air moving, as there are no windows in the cupboard.

We all walked around today with our noses scrinched. So, I shall save what I was going to share with you and instead show you the photographs of the fish I took on Friday, as we were documenting them to use for future classes.

As Anne of Green Gables says, “Tomorrow is a new day, with no mistakes in it yet!”, so I’m hoping for a better tomorrow then today has been!

March 5, 2013 / 2 Comments

Harvey In The Cupboard

As many of you know, I work in a school Art Department and I am based “In The Art Cupboard“. I am never exactly sure where my day will lead me as there are always unexpected things that pop up.

One such unexpected occurrence was a very sweet pooch who stayed with me this afternoon. We had our last Life Drawing session and our model had to bring her dog, so he came to stay with me.

We went for walks, we played, I got kisses and a paw shake, he laid at my feet while I did some work, he was adorable. I think the cupboard might need a little furry creature who is a permanent resident. The cupboard was even cheerier than normal and all the kids just loved him.

Meet Harvey the very good natured labradoodle:

He just made my day!

January 18, 2013 / 1 Comment

No Snow YET!

The snow didn’t come quickly enough this morning, so off to work we go. It will apparently be coming in at 10am this morning and possibly not stopping till Sunday if you go with one report. So, I imagine that it will be absolute chaos this afternoon trying to get all the students home, albeit organized chaos.

But, it is the weekend, so we have that to look forward too, even though we don’t have a cozy snow day off!

{image from my Winter board on Pinterest by Yohji Yamamoto}

UPDATE: it is now coming down like a little blizzard out there and we will be closing the school early this afternoon. It looks just like a little snow globe outside that someone has shaken with dizzying delight. Just before it really started to fall heavily, I caught this little seagull just observing it all from the roof: