Ten things I love about Autumn
1. The colours of the leaves as they turn. So very pretty.
2. Blustery days. The same weather might occur in spring but not be worthy of the word blustery, I feel.
3. Being in bed on such days and knowing one does not have to get up (very specific to half term)
4. BPAL autumn fragrances. I have some perfumes that go with seasons, and BPAL Pumpkin with Spiced Apple and Punkie Night are all autumn for me. Every December I put them away and it's always such a pleasure getting them out again in September.
5. Soup. Especially pumpkin soup.
6. The clock change. I might be the only person in the country who likes when it starts to get dark early again.
7. Having the spare room duvet downstairs to snuggle under. I am not a fan of high central heating and prefer to layer up.
8. Weather days like yesterday - bright blue skies and very sunny but chilly, chilly, chilly. Perfect shopping days for me. Trying on clothes gets me all hot and bothered and cold weather is the perfect antidote for this.
9. Christmas teasers. I made mincemeat and prepared the fruit for my Christmas cake this weekend, and the whole house had a whiff of the Christmas about it. It's too early for wholesale Yule yet, but I like enough to know it is coming.
10. Cold weather knitting: big, chunky jumpers and scarves; mittens and handwarmers; and this year, some long spats which will enable me to wear my lovely heels all winter long without freezing my lower legs off.
Et tu?
Tuesday, 26 October 2010
Saturday, 23 October 2010
Weeknote, 23/10
Knitting:
Not a stitch on anything, unfortunately. Boo to me.
Going to:
Between governors, circuits and my personal trainer I didn't even make it to knitting group this week. Rubbish. I have been precisely nowhere of note. I did have the Malaysia trippers over to school for a meeting, though; they seem like a nice bunch and I am even more exiected about the trip now. Four weeks today!
Eating:
It has been National Baking Week and I hoped to bake every day but this only lasted until, hmm, Sunday. Boo.
On Saturday I made Key Lime Pie, slightly adapting Jamie Oliver's recipe.
4 egg yolks
1 tin condensed milk
6 tbsp fresh lime juice (about 5 limes’ worth)
2 limes' worth of lime zest
A packet of ginger nuts
45g caster sugar
135g melted unsalted butter
Crush the biscuits, melt the butter and combine the two with the sugar. Press into a flan tin (I used a loose bottomed cake tin). Bake at 175 degrees for 10 minutes, until lightly browned.
Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks. Add the condensed milk and the lime juice, plus the finely grated zest from 2 limes. Pour this into the cooked biscuit base and return to the oven for 15 minutes, until set.
Chill overnight and serve with cream.
And on Sunday, I made my famed chocolate caramel shortbread; and beacuse this leaves me with half a tin of condensed milk which usually ends up being binned, I doubled the quantity of caramel and tried my hand at creating something new, in the form of banoffee flapjacks. I searched for a very basic flapjack recipe and took it from there.
6 tbsp Golden Syrup
250g butter
350g porridge oats
12 ginger nut biscuits, crushed
1 quantity of caramel, however you make it
2 bananas, mashed
Melt the syrup and butter together. Pour in the dry ingredients, stirring well to coat.
Line two swiss roll tins with parchment, and divide the mixture evenly between the two, smoothing over and pressing down lightly. Bake at 180 degrees for 25 minutes, until browned. Remove one layer to a wire rack for cooling; leave the other in its tin.
Make the caramel. Stir in the bananas, then pour over one layer of flapjack. Turn the second layer of flapjack onto the first and press down lightly. Leave to cool and then cut into small squares - it's very sweet and quite rich.
Unfortunately, when I added the mashed banana to the caramel it became twice as viscous and then refused to set without serious fridge time, resulting in a very sticky treat. It was widely lauded, but I think I need to try again, only this time either boil the caramel longer or spread the mashed banana over the flapjack and then spread the caramel over that.
Learning:
How artefacts can be used in the classroom, at the federation teacher training day on Friday. A truly inspiring session which now has me watching medals on ebay and considering a trip to the Keynsham cemetary, which is apparently dug through a Roman villa and has loads of Roman finds in amongst its soil.
Obsessed with:
My new Kindle, which finally arrived on Wednesday. Mr Z kindly took msot of the day off to wait in for it, only for me to discover when I checked the tracking at 3pm that it had been delivered already. No card anywhere...he went next door, and apparently my neighbour had been in the garden when the CityLink (surprise, surprise) dirver just walked over to her, thrust the parcel into her hands and muttered, "Here, can you take this?" before stalking off. Thank goodness we know and get on with our neighbour.
Shifty couriers aside, it is very lovely. The screen is eminently readable and I like it not being backlit. It was already switched on and ready to go when Mr Z got it out of the box and he spent some time trying to remove the sticker with the picture on it which covered the screen....only to realise, it's not a sticker, it's the screen itself. It looked that real. The book I had bought on Wednesday morning had already been downloaded to it in transit (I went for the 3G option) which is very nifty.
Entertained by:
Hung, returned to More 4 this week. I am very annoyed that they put it on a graveyard slot, late Sunday night, with little or no cross-channel advertising; if I hadn't been looking for Desperate Housewives on Catch Up I never would have known it was back for season 2.
I fear this is going the way of the dodo soon enough, which is a great shame. I love the characters and the way they are developing. For those unfamiliar, a down-on-his-luck teacher is being pimped out by a neurotic woman. The interesting thing about it for me is how they handle these roles. The reversal of tradition and what they make of it (neither of them are especially comfortable) sort of fits with my take on feminism, which is that women should glory in, promote and value what they are already best at, instead of trying to take on traditionally male roles.
Feeling:
Very, very tired. I have had two very restless nights this week, where I have not slept til gone 2am. It's very upsetting because I lose an evening. On Monday evening I staved off sleep by going to circuits; on Thursday I gave in and went to bed at 9pm.
I don't know what has kept me awake. It may be worrying about work (on Wednesday night I got up after an hour and set myself a to-do list email, but it didn't help) though I don't know what specifically I am worrying about. It may be food: I had some double cream on my pie both evenings, which doesn't seem to agree with me.
I hope I am not developing A Condition. Mother Hand has a problem with sleeping quite often and I am nervous about it being hereditary. I do so love my sleep.
Anyway....that was a bit dpressing, but at least today is the first day of half term, so I am feeling elated! I have a week of rest spread out before me, with maybe a half a day's work to do, thanks to my tireless and dogged attention to assessment marking in the week just gone. And we're going to see Wicked on Tuesday! Woop woop!
Not a stitch on anything, unfortunately. Boo to me.
Going to:
Between governors, circuits and my personal trainer I didn't even make it to knitting group this week. Rubbish. I have been precisely nowhere of note. I did have the Malaysia trippers over to school for a meeting, though; they seem like a nice bunch and I am even more exiected about the trip now. Four weeks today!
Eating:
It has been National Baking Week and I hoped to bake every day but this only lasted until, hmm, Sunday. Boo.
On Saturday I made Key Lime Pie, slightly adapting Jamie Oliver's recipe.
4 egg yolks
1 tin condensed milk
6 tbsp fresh lime juice (about 5 limes’ worth)
2 limes' worth of lime zest
A packet of ginger nuts
45g caster sugar
135g melted unsalted butter
Crush the biscuits, melt the butter and combine the two with the sugar. Press into a flan tin (I used a loose bottomed cake tin). Bake at 175 degrees for 10 minutes, until lightly browned.
Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks. Add the condensed milk and the lime juice, plus the finely grated zest from 2 limes. Pour this into the cooked biscuit base and return to the oven for 15 minutes, until set.
Chill overnight and serve with cream.
And on Sunday, I made my famed chocolate caramel shortbread; and beacuse this leaves me with half a tin of condensed milk which usually ends up being binned, I doubled the quantity of caramel and tried my hand at creating something new, in the form of banoffee flapjacks. I searched for a very basic flapjack recipe and took it from there.
6 tbsp Golden Syrup
250g butter
350g porridge oats
12 ginger nut biscuits, crushed
1 quantity of caramel, however you make it
2 bananas, mashed
Melt the syrup and butter together. Pour in the dry ingredients, stirring well to coat.
Line two swiss roll tins with parchment, and divide the mixture evenly between the two, smoothing over and pressing down lightly. Bake at 180 degrees for 25 minutes, until browned. Remove one layer to a wire rack for cooling; leave the other in its tin.
Make the caramel. Stir in the bananas, then pour over one layer of flapjack. Turn the second layer of flapjack onto the first and press down lightly. Leave to cool and then cut into small squares - it's very sweet and quite rich.
Unfortunately, when I added the mashed banana to the caramel it became twice as viscous and then refused to set without serious fridge time, resulting in a very sticky treat. It was widely lauded, but I think I need to try again, only this time either boil the caramel longer or spread the mashed banana over the flapjack and then spread the caramel over that.
Learning:
How artefacts can be used in the classroom, at the federation teacher training day on Friday. A truly inspiring session which now has me watching medals on ebay and considering a trip to the Keynsham cemetary, which is apparently dug through a Roman villa and has loads of Roman finds in amongst its soil.
Obsessed with:
My new Kindle, which finally arrived on Wednesday. Mr Z kindly took msot of the day off to wait in for it, only for me to discover when I checked the tracking at 3pm that it had been delivered already. No card anywhere...he went next door, and apparently my neighbour had been in the garden when the CityLink (surprise, surprise) dirver just walked over to her, thrust the parcel into her hands and muttered, "Here, can you take this?" before stalking off. Thank goodness we know and get on with our neighbour.
Shifty couriers aside, it is very lovely. The screen is eminently readable and I like it not being backlit. It was already switched on and ready to go when Mr Z got it out of the box and he spent some time trying to remove the sticker with the picture on it which covered the screen....only to realise, it's not a sticker, it's the screen itself. It looked that real. The book I had bought on Wednesday morning had already been downloaded to it in transit (I went for the 3G option) which is very nifty.
Entertained by:
Hung, returned to More 4 this week. I am very annoyed that they put it on a graveyard slot, late Sunday night, with little or no cross-channel advertising; if I hadn't been looking for Desperate Housewives on Catch Up I never would have known it was back for season 2.
I fear this is going the way of the dodo soon enough, which is a great shame. I love the characters and the way they are developing. For those unfamiliar, a down-on-his-luck teacher is being pimped out by a neurotic woman. The interesting thing about it for me is how they handle these roles. The reversal of tradition and what they make of it (neither of them are especially comfortable) sort of fits with my take on feminism, which is that women should glory in, promote and value what they are already best at, instead of trying to take on traditionally male roles.
Feeling:
Very, very tired. I have had two very restless nights this week, where I have not slept til gone 2am. It's very upsetting because I lose an evening. On Monday evening I staved off sleep by going to circuits; on Thursday I gave in and went to bed at 9pm.
I don't know what has kept me awake. It may be worrying about work (on Wednesday night I got up after an hour and set myself a to-do list email, but it didn't help) though I don't know what specifically I am worrying about. It may be food: I had some double cream on my pie both evenings, which doesn't seem to agree with me.
I hope I am not developing A Condition. Mother Hand has a problem with sleeping quite often and I am nervous about it being hereditary. I do so love my sleep.
Anyway....that was a bit dpressing, but at least today is the first day of half term, so I am feeling elated! I have a week of rest spread out before me, with maybe a half a day's work to do, thanks to my tireless and dogged attention to assessment marking in the week just gone. And we're going to see Wicked on Tuesday! Woop woop!
Friday, 22 October 2010
Weekword
This week's Weekword was picked by Sally at SowandSew and she chose JOY.
The best thing about this word is that it reminded me of someone I knew and liked from uni, who I haven't spoken to in many years; but I just found her on Facebook. So, that was a lovely serendipity.
Here are five things I find joy in.
1. Weddings. I love them! It's the unbridled glee on the faces of the bride and groom that gets me every time. It makes me think of my own wedding, which has to be one of the most joyful days of my life.
2. Skiing. I get such a buzz from it; I can never understand people who sack it off as cold or too much hard work. Flying down a slope in the fresh air, with beautiful scenery all around, and feeling my muscles working together to keep me upright and moving....it's just awesome.
3. Being in water. Swimming, splashing about, floating....very calming. Unfortunately the daily lake-swimming experience on Camp America took the shine off normal swimming for me forever; I just don't enjoy swimming in chlorinated or salt water as much.
4. A nice kid comment. Like when I did assembly last week and I'd been really nervous, and one of my tutor group saw it and afterwards we passed in the corridor and he said, "Morning Miss....well done!" It made my day, it did.
5. Coming back to Mr Z after an absence. I do travel a lot without him, it must be said; but I still get the butterflies when I'm coming home.
There were lots of things to choose from. It reminds me that I lead quite a charmed life, really.
Next week's Weekword is going to be posted on Katy's blog on Monday, if you want to take part.
The best thing about this word is that it reminded me of someone I knew and liked from uni, who I haven't spoken to in many years; but I just found her on Facebook. So, that was a lovely serendipity.
Here are five things I find joy in.
1. Weddings. I love them! It's the unbridled glee on the faces of the bride and groom that gets me every time. It makes me think of my own wedding, which has to be one of the most joyful days of my life.
2. Skiing. I get such a buzz from it; I can never understand people who sack it off as cold or too much hard work. Flying down a slope in the fresh air, with beautiful scenery all around, and feeling my muscles working together to keep me upright and moving....it's just awesome.
3. Being in water. Swimming, splashing about, floating....very calming. Unfortunately the daily lake-swimming experience on Camp America took the shine off normal swimming for me forever; I just don't enjoy swimming in chlorinated or salt water as much.
4. A nice kid comment. Like when I did assembly last week and I'd been really nervous, and one of my tutor group saw it and afterwards we passed in the corridor and he said, "Morning Miss....well done!" It made my day, it did.
5. Coming back to Mr Z after an absence. I do travel a lot without him, it must be said; but I still get the butterflies when I'm coming home.
There were lots of things to choose from. It reminds me that I lead quite a charmed life, really.
Next week's Weekword is going to be posted on Katy's blog on Monday, if you want to take part.
Saturday, 16 October 2010
October Goals
BAD! Very bad. Here we are at October 16th and the goals are not yet published. I am really feeling the strain of coming to the end of a term which had no right to be so busy. I have had these goals marinating since the start of the month....
- Complete Malaysia paperwork (the clock is ticking)
- Call my gran (especially if I want to stay with her overnight one night in half term)
- Cast on for a decent-sized knitting project
- Plan a week of decent assemblies for school
- Finish the sparkly hat
- Mark all five sets of KS3 assessments before half term
- Wash the dining room and kitchen floors
Weeknote, 16/10
Knitting:
The sparkly hat! It is done! It will be having its own post on Monday. I finished it on Thursday, and gathered together yarn and paraphernalia for three other projects to take to knitting group today, where I basked for over 4 hours, putting the first inch on the Washington Square Vest, having finally achieved gauge.
I'm back, baby!
Going to:
Parpy Jo's wedding, on the SS Great Britain.
For the occasion, I crafted this rather fetching headpiece and went to the hairdresser to have my hair put up into a big beehive, a style which she seemed incapable of completing to my satisfaction. I wasn't happy, but everybody else said it looked good so I just had to suck it up.
The wedding was lovely; Jo looked radiant, the new Mr Parpy Jo couldn't stop grinning and a good time was had by all. And a lot of wine was had by me. And champagne. I managed to score 4 glasses of champagne in the toasts because most of the people on my table were driving.
I apparently decided the best way to tackle this situation was to down a glass for every toast. This was never going to end well. I won't go into details, but let's just say that it took bloody hours to extract all the pins out of my hairdo because by that point I had lost most of the function in my hands.
Eating:
I had a hankering for chocolate mousse at the weekend. I made this recipe (in order to link I must apparently put in this piece of text: "Jim Fisher is an English chef who runs www.cookinfrance.com: relaxed friendly hands-on cooking courses in the Dordogne region of south west France. Contact him via: http://www.cookinfrance.com or Tel: 0033 (0)553 302405" but I can't vouch for him, though his courses look pretty good) because it seemed nice and simple.
Ingredients:
320g (12oz) strong dark eating chocolate
30g (1oz) unsalted butter
6 eggs
pinch of salt
Separate the eggs, placing the whites into a roomy bowl.
Break the chocolate into small pieces and put them in another roomy bowl. melt in the microwave. Add the butter and allow to melt, thanks to the contact heat of the chocolate; put back in the microwave for another few seconds if necessary.
Add a pinch of salt to the egg whites and whisk to the soft peak (floppy) stage. In a separate bowl, break up the yolks.
When the chocolate and butter have melted and have been allowed to cool for a couple of minutes stir in the yolks. Cut and fold in the whites in three batches until seamlessly combined. Pour into ramekins and refrigerate for a couple of hours to set.
Unfortunately, it didn't work for me. I left the chocolate to cool, though maybe not for long enough, because when I added the egg yolks to it, it basically solidified and getting it stirred into the egg whites ensured all air was thoroughly removed from the mixture.
Added to that, I decided to put this chocolate paste over a few broken up muffin bits sprinkled with Amaretto. Turns out Amaretto will go off, if you leave it long enough. It was a bad job all round, really.
I think next time I will whisk the egg yolks with a little sugar first (I used very dark chocolate and could have got away with a bit of sugar) and then pour them over the chocolate in a steady stream, whisking constantly. I will also let the chocolate get very, very cool.
Learning:
The Kindle. I have been looking at it for a few weeks now. I have a bit of play money leftover from the remarks and was really wanting one, but since I don't have a great deal of time to read these days, I had sort of talked myself out of it.
But, I kept visiting the Amazon page and finding new reasons to buy. Like, I can put PDF knitting patterns on it. If I have a book downloaded to it that I am too tired to read, it will read it to me. I can lie on my back in bed and hold it with one hand. And I can put the Kindle app on my Desire and read on that too.
I succumbed. Kindle should be landing in Bunnyland in the next 3-5 days.
Entertained by:
I have developed a very secret guilty pleasure. It is dreadful and I am SHAMED. Oh good grief, it's so embarrassing I don't actually want to post it. But I must confess.
I enjoyed reading the Daily Mail TV & Showbiz online columns this week *hangs head in abject disgrace*
It's just so calming to read reporters making enormous mountains out of very teeny tiny celebrity molehills. They work so hard to create news where there is none, and I sometimes like to apply this new reality to my own life and imagine the headlines.
'Sally Tweets: "Ultra marathon - where they put two in one packet?" - does new chocolate obsession mark spiral into depression and further fugly flabbiness for our heroine?'
Feeling:
Steadily more drained and a little demoralised, TBH. I had another satisfactory lesson observation this week. I struggle, because people seem to think that I am a good teacher; but this is not backed up by the observations. While I normally don't care, since imo Ofsted criteria are not especially helpful for anything other than making teachers feel bad about themselves, I do have to produce two good observations this year to move up the payscale.
Ian said I could choose which lessons he was to observe and we'd do as many as we needed to to meet the target. I know he was trying to be nice, but, meh.
I think I really need a break from work.
The sparkly hat! It is done! It will be having its own post on Monday. I finished it on Thursday, and gathered together yarn and paraphernalia for three other projects to take to knitting group today, where I basked for over 4 hours, putting the first inch on the Washington Square Vest, having finally achieved gauge.
I'm back, baby!
Going to:
Parpy Jo's wedding, on the SS Great Britain.
For the occasion, I crafted this rather fetching headpiece and went to the hairdresser to have my hair put up into a big beehive, a style which she seemed incapable of completing to my satisfaction. I wasn't happy, but everybody else said it looked good so I just had to suck it up.The wedding was lovely; Jo looked radiant, the new Mr Parpy Jo couldn't stop grinning and a good time was had by all. And a lot of wine was had by me. And champagne. I managed to score 4 glasses of champagne in the toasts because most of the people on my table were driving.
I apparently decided the best way to tackle this situation was to down a glass for every toast. This was never going to end well. I won't go into details, but let's just say that it took bloody hours to extract all the pins out of my hairdo because by that point I had lost most of the function in my hands.Eating:
I had a hankering for chocolate mousse at the weekend. I made this recipe (in order to link I must apparently put in this piece of text: "Jim Fisher is an English chef who runs www.cookinfrance.com: relaxed friendly hands-on cooking courses in the Dordogne region of south west France. Contact him via: http://www.cookinfrance.com or Tel: 0033 (0)553 302405" but I can't vouch for him, though his courses look pretty good) because it seemed nice and simple.
Ingredients:
320g (12oz) strong dark eating chocolate
30g (1oz) unsalted butter
6 eggs
pinch of salt
Separate the eggs, placing the whites into a roomy bowl.
Break the chocolate into small pieces and put them in another roomy bowl. melt in the microwave. Add the butter and allow to melt, thanks to the contact heat of the chocolate; put back in the microwave for another few seconds if necessary.
Add a pinch of salt to the egg whites and whisk to the soft peak (floppy) stage. In a separate bowl, break up the yolks.
When the chocolate and butter have melted and have been allowed to cool for a couple of minutes stir in the yolks. Cut and fold in the whites in three batches until seamlessly combined. Pour into ramekins and refrigerate for a couple of hours to set.
Unfortunately, it didn't work for me. I left the chocolate to cool, though maybe not for long enough, because when I added the egg yolks to it, it basically solidified and getting it stirred into the egg whites ensured all air was thoroughly removed from the mixture.
Added to that, I decided to put this chocolate paste over a few broken up muffin bits sprinkled with Amaretto. Turns out Amaretto will go off, if you leave it long enough. It was a bad job all round, really.
I think next time I will whisk the egg yolks with a little sugar first (I used very dark chocolate and could have got away with a bit of sugar) and then pour them over the chocolate in a steady stream, whisking constantly. I will also let the chocolate get very, very cool.
Learning:
- That children, when set a creative homework they do not want to do, will attempt to bribe with cake
- That when your Asda order gets delivered to the wrong house and then gets redelivered to you, the contents should be checked extremely carefully
- To swing 20kg of kettle bells! Things are going extremely well with my personal trainer. I haven't lost any weight, but today I discovered I can now remove my jeans without unbuttoning them. Progress, people. And this week I graduated to swinging 2 10kg kettlebells, and I also did lots of squats with a big leather croissant that weighs 17kg (it's called a Bulgarian something). I was feeling pretty good about myself by the end. I think my PT likes me, because I always say, "Hmm, well, I'll have a go."
The Kindle. I have been looking at it for a few weeks now. I have a bit of play money leftover from the remarks and was really wanting one, but since I don't have a great deal of time to read these days, I had sort of talked myself out of it.
But, I kept visiting the Amazon page and finding new reasons to buy. Like, I can put PDF knitting patterns on it. If I have a book downloaded to it that I am too tired to read, it will read it to me. I can lie on my back in bed and hold it with one hand. And I can put the Kindle app on my Desire and read on that too.
I succumbed. Kindle should be landing in Bunnyland in the next 3-5 days.
Entertained by:
I have developed a very secret guilty pleasure. It is dreadful and I am SHAMED. Oh good grief, it's so embarrassing I don't actually want to post it. But I must confess.
I enjoyed reading the Daily Mail TV & Showbiz online columns this week *hangs head in abject disgrace*
It's just so calming to read reporters making enormous mountains out of very teeny tiny celebrity molehills. They work so hard to create news where there is none, and I sometimes like to apply this new reality to my own life and imagine the headlines.
'Sally Tweets: "Ultra marathon - where they put two in one packet?" - does new chocolate obsession mark spiral into depression and further fugly flabbiness for our heroine?'
Feeling:
Steadily more drained and a little demoralised, TBH. I had another satisfactory lesson observation this week. I struggle, because people seem to think that I am a good teacher; but this is not backed up by the observations. While I normally don't care, since imo Ofsted criteria are not especially helpful for anything other than making teachers feel bad about themselves, I do have to produce two good observations this year to move up the payscale.
Ian said I could choose which lessons he was to observe and we'd do as many as we needed to to meet the target. I know he was trying to be nice, but, meh.
I think I really need a break from work.
Friday, 15 October 2010
Weekword
(Better late than never: I entirely forgot to blog this on Friday but have fixed the date so it looks like I was not duffering from temporary dementia yesterday)
This week's word, from Mandyland, is temptation. Pop on over there for a list of everyone else blogging about temptation this week.
It made me think of Oscar Wilde and his quote, "I can resist everything except temptation."
It made me think of this CLASSIC Heaven 17 track (whatever happened to them, eh? Since they were churning out music this good, I am stunned they never made a long-term career out of it...)
Mostly though, it made me think of my two main temptations: yarn, and food.
I have a roomful of yarn to attest to its tempting properties. I am particularly drawn to anything blue, as I've mentioned before. I am also tempted by silk.
Food is the big one, though, there's no doubt about it. I just find it so very tempting! In spite of my efforts to stay on the wagon and diet, so I can wear all the clothes I like to pore over and fit into plane seats more comfortably, temptation is never far away. This week, I was determined, but unfortunately....
I wish I found exercise and salad tempting. In a way, I do: I added some rocket to my lunch on Thursday and have been hankering after more salad ever since; and I get quite jealous when I see people out running, and wish I still could. But, whether it's easier to eat than to run, or whether the temptation of cakes is just greater, I'm not finding it easy to resist.
I am usually quite good at resisting in other areas of my life. I suppose everyone has to have their weakness; I shall persevere in my attempts to conquer it. Next week is National Baking Week, you know, so it's not looking good.
This week's word, from Mandyland, is temptation. Pop on over there for a list of everyone else blogging about temptation this week.
It made me think of Oscar Wilde and his quote, "I can resist everything except temptation."
It made me think of this CLASSIC Heaven 17 track (whatever happened to them, eh? Since they were churning out music this good, I am stunned they never made a long-term career out of it...)
Mostly though, it made me think of my two main temptations: yarn, and food.
I have a roomful of yarn to attest to its tempting properties. I am particularly drawn to anything blue, as I've mentioned before. I am also tempted by silk.
Food is the big one, though, there's no doubt about it. I just find it so very tempting! In spite of my efforts to stay on the wagon and diet, so I can wear all the clothes I like to pore over and fit into plane seats more comfortably, temptation is never far away. This week, I was determined, but unfortunately....
- on Tuesday, I had a stupidly long work day and allowed myself to be tempted by a fish supper.
- on Wednesday, I hadn't made a lunch and had buttered toast with spaghetti hoops instead
- on Thursday, my year 8 students brought me in some cakes which they had made as part of a creative homework on John Cabot (they know me so well...not much info, so let's stick it on a cake and she'll never notice) and it seemed rude not to, you know.
- on Friday, there were birthday cakelets on the table at lunchtime, and then when I got in I was so very tired I succumbed to the lure of the local curry house.
I wish I found exercise and salad tempting. In a way, I do: I added some rocket to my lunch on Thursday and have been hankering after more salad ever since; and I get quite jealous when I see people out running, and wish I still could. But, whether it's easier to eat than to run, or whether the temptation of cakes is just greater, I'm not finding it easy to resist.
I am usually quite good at resisting in other areas of my life. I suppose everyone has to have their weakness; I shall persevere in my attempts to conquer it. Next week is National Baking Week, you know, so it's not looking good.
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
Tuesday Ten
Ten Things To Look Forward To
1. This weekend. My endless day of work has totally wiped me out.
2. Making Christmas cake. I am getting the fruit this weekend so it will be able to soak ready to make in...
3. HALF TERM! Only a week and a couple of days away.
4. Wicked. I love a good musical. Mother Hand and I are going to see it in the Smoke in half term.
5. Fibre Flurry. A new opportunity to augment my stash at the Knitwitches stall.
6. Malaysia. Once again, can't wait to get everything done and actually get out there. I can't believe how quickly it has come round; 5 weeks on Saturday until we leave.
7. Mother Hand's 60th birthday bash. She is having a "swinging 60s" party which will definitely involve getting dressed up in bad 60s costume.
8. Staff Christmas party. An annual highlight.
9. Having an extra-long Christmas holiday, thanks to a twilight day and an extra bank holiday. And, although I was looking forward to doing the ski course, I am not SO disappointed they changed the dates and I can't do it now, because I think I could do with the time at home.
10. Next year's excursions. I will be off to Iceland and Australia, amongst other places. Muy exciting!
Number 1 on that list should have been bed, though. I am off there now, I think.
1. This weekend. My endless day of work has totally wiped me out.
2. Making Christmas cake. I am getting the fruit this weekend so it will be able to soak ready to make in...
3. HALF TERM! Only a week and a couple of days away.
4. Wicked. I love a good musical. Mother Hand and I are going to see it in the Smoke in half term.
5. Fibre Flurry. A new opportunity to augment my stash at the Knitwitches stall.
6. Malaysia. Once again, can't wait to get everything done and actually get out there. I can't believe how quickly it has come round; 5 weeks on Saturday until we leave.
7. Mother Hand's 60th birthday bash. She is having a "swinging 60s" party which will definitely involve getting dressed up in bad 60s costume.
8. Staff Christmas party. An annual highlight.
9. Having an extra-long Christmas holiday, thanks to a twilight day and an extra bank holiday. And, although I was looking forward to doing the ski course, I am not SO disappointed they changed the dates and I can't do it now, because I think I could do with the time at home.
10. Next year's excursions. I will be off to Iceland and Australia, amongst other places. Muy exciting!
Number 1 on that list should have been bed, though. I am off there now, I think.
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