Angel Jem's City Cottage

After a busy week involving 3.5 days work and a day off with my lovely DP, I really feel like I've earned a quiet Saturday. My plan was to do the cleaning I hadn't got to in the evenings (out 3 out of 4 evenings since Monday!!!), go and watch the kids swim in their last proper swimming lesson and then go to a friends housewarming. Ha. Fat chance. I'm home with two thirds of the children, no house warming and half the washing done. The princess is not feeling well. She has tummy ache and is spending a lot of time rushing to the toilet. There's nothing for it. We need a little Mummy and daughter creating time, and I know just the book. The Lina loves making, but she's still a beginner. Finding an appropriate book for her was nigh on impossible. I remember having an Usbourne How to Sew book that I read until it disintegrated and was searching for something similar for her. I think I've found it. I got her this book last Sunday and she has been inseparable from...

After a fruitless term spent trying to get on the books of a new supply agency and only 2.5 days supply (enough to keep the wolf from snapping, but still firmly at my door) I finally got accepted by my new agency on.... Maundy Thursday. Great. No work until after Easter, a week later than anyone else as my kids were having the 'trial' holiday of first two weeks in April whenever Easter is. This is my first week of work for them and so far they have supplied me with 2 full days and the promise of 1 more that I could have had except.... the old agency got there first. Why are supply jobs like buses? You wait ages for one and then three come along at once. I'm not complaining, just making the most of my only free morning this week. The washing is calling, but I'm slightly deaf. I'd far rather watch the debates held by the Daily Politics this week; foreign affairs and yummy! economy. What we're desperately missing in this election is a Barak Obama. I don't think...

I remember once as a little girl asking my Mum how many cousins I had. Mum was an only child so the number of first cousins on her side was zilch, of course. Dad was the eldest of 9 so there were (at that time) quite a few cousins. Now I can categorically state that I have 29 first cousins. I counted them, with my Aunty Roberta, four times, with much hushing of questioners and hasty recounts (does Worra have 5 or 6? Who came next in Tess' 4?) and we decided that, yes, I have 29 cousins. With my family there are 33 cousins on our step. (Cousins in my house are always done by steps; that way you can actually get first and seconds and removals into some sort of order) We don't assemble often; Dad's homeland is Northern Ireland and a trip there is not usually in order. It's a shame, but that's life. But last August I am glad to say that the saddest of events lead directly to a happy event. My Uncle Kevin died; that's Aunty Roberta's husband. He was a lovely man ...

I know lots of you are back at school and work, and I am lucky to have an extra week off after Easter to spend with my gang, walking in the wood, picking up bags of chips to share at lunch time and generally just passing time together, but 2 weeks is not enough. I long for every holiday to be a 6 week long space to breathe and be together. We had afternoon tea with butterfly cakes on Monday. Yummy. My sons showed me what to do with a decent piece of wood on Tuesday and today we have been in the woods. The bluebell leaves are peeping through, while daffs bounce in the breeze. Tomorrow is a day off while my 3 spend time with cousins and grandparents and Friday will be a walk in the park. The sun is too good to ignore. How many weeks til May holiday? Can I homeschool?