Photography Field Trip

I was lucky enough to take a pupil along with some yr 10's to Thornham Woods with their photography teacher on a field trip today. There was a lovely gallery to look round. I got invited to a paper making/book binding course on Friday. Unfortunately I will be at work :(

After a talk and look around the gallery, we went for a walk. It brought back lots of happy memories of when I used to stay there in the Summer time on Scrapbook retreats.

The pupils were given certain criteria for their photographs: Each time they stopped, to photograph their feet, straight up, panoramic views, a worms view and close ups of texture.

Of course I took my camera and played along too. It was great fun.

Here are some of the photos that i like.

They don't really need any explanation.

I am pleased with this one.

LOL Our feet - I said i did as they were told!

This is my favorite of the 158 that i took.

A little too much sun on this one.

Another fav.

I have a very mediocre camera and only an hours training with Kirsty Wiseman about four years ago. So, I don't think i did too badly :)

Love Soojay xxx

A Whole Week gone!

The retreat was totally amazing and as always went way too fast. I took hardly any photos at all BUT managed to complete 99% of my classes. They will be uploaded on to my other blog ( in time).

At the moment i am not on line much as while at work this week, Derek phoned to say the PC smelt of burning :(

Time to get it sorted.

Not sure how long it will be but i will be back!

Until then

Take care

Love Soojay xxx

Getting Excited

Off on a retreat Here with ATDML and lots of fab friends.

I look forward to this every year as it is such a wonderful experience. This year I have the Friday off too- tried last year and ended up on a training course in London.

So, only one day left to work this week ...lots of packing and organizing to do though.

Love Soojay xxx

Yesterdays Tea

Corn And Bacon Chowder

ingredients

serves 4

75 g (3 oz) streaky bacon, rinded and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
450 g (1 lb) potatoes, peeled and diced
225 g (8 oz) frozen sweetcorn
450 ml (3/4 pint) chicken stock
450 ml (3/4 pint) fresh milk
chopped parsley

method

1. Place the bacon in a non-stick pan and cook for 2 minutes- Drain off excess fat.

2. Add the onion potatoes, sweetcorn and stock. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

3. In a blender or liquidiser place half of the vegetables and the liquid from the soup and blend until smooth.

4. Pour back into the pan with the remaining vegetables, add the milk and reheat without boiling. Serve sprinkled with parsley.

Nice and simple ..though I did have to make something completely different for Dan as no way would he eat this! He had an omelet with bacon and cheese.

Homemade ciabatta bread.

They all liked that.

Followed by coconut /chocolate cake..none left!

Photos taken for a scrapbook page.

Love Soojay xxx

A Day In Croydon

Darling Steph looking tired and too thin but, much better than i expected :) Just after her trim.

As i expected , most of the photos with Rosie in, are too blurry to see. She isn't still for long LOL. She was a really good girl yesterday ...i KNOW i wouldn't have been ( or her mother) at that age!

A tiny bit disgusting while eating a jaffa cake though!

Aww.

Not a great photo of the moon though the car window on the way home. It was (in Rosie's words) really "awesome" last night.

Just before we went into the Dartford tunnel :)

Love Soojay xxx

And its half term!

At last!! The last couple of weeks have taken ages to get though. So much has been going on at work. I am not that good at this time of year and could quite easily hibernate till Spring or better still fly south.

Popping to see lovely Steph on Sunday , can't wait for a squeeze. I am cooking a couple of nice dishes to tempt her back to eating again ..sausage plait in the oven right now.

Apart from a bit of tidying and re organization, i have little plans for half term. Hopefully my other blog will fill up with lots of cards and projects that i get chance to do. I already have some ideas and if i let the kids............(kids!! teens) stay up late, they won't get up till at least lunchtime and i can have a peaceful morning :D

Catch you later

Love Soojay xxx

Another weekend is whizzing by!

I shall be happier next weekend as it will be the beginning of half term. Dan ( being at college has already started his!)

Hopefully this time next week my sisters and I will all be together at Stephs. It will be the first time we have seen her since the Summer and since she has finished her chemo and radio therapy. We all have instructions on what food to take :D. I need to get my pinny out to make a sausage plait and key lime pie ( the good thing is, i never make just one , so i will be leaving one of each for Derek and kids).

I am also taking scissors so she can have a tidy up- apparently the barber was quite scared last time she went.

I am begrudgingly starting to prepare for the "C" word! Already had invites to a couple of parties at school. Nat's has bought all her cards and has printed a list out. I have made one card so far LOL

Nothing exciting going on here at the mo. Just paying bills :( and trying to be more organised and tidy :( ..no fun at all!

Getting excited about ATDML retreat ....only three weeks to go .

Love Soojay xx

Cake!!

Not made by me

But he seems happy enough with it.

I did not let him eat too much ! LOL

Love Soojay xx

Beef Stew for tea

Veg for slow cooker.

And i am NOT cooking it ..yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

Love Soojay xxx

Pre Party pics

I dyed Megs hair..she has been nagging for ages. She hated it at first but everyone ( who matters i.e. friends,) has loved it so she is coming round. Dan Asked me to spike his up before he disappeared. Its getting a little long for that , so a quick trim for him too.

The side view. Had a text a little while ago - they are having a great time.

Meg and Alice went off to a 16th "Angels and Demons" party

Hence the posing!

They looked stunning :)

Nutters!

LOL

And all ready to go.

As its just down the road , they walked . I did not drive them LOL.

I am picking them up later though .

Right need to cook tea for me and Nats.

Love Soojay xx

Party time!

Not the most recent ..but one of my favs. I will TRY to get a photo of him sometime over the weekend. This little poppet is 17 today. I find it so hard to believe he is getting so old :(

Shhhhhh........i still get cuddles though but don't say i told you .

He is off with his dad and some mates to bowl later and then out for a meal. Poor Derek can't bowl any more as his fingers get too sore ( the joys of old age!)

Meg is also off out to her first proper party. I have to dye her hair in a little while.

Hopefully with most of them out tonight , Nats and I shall have some peace ;)

Love Soojay xxx

Can Chocolates make you cry?

Ohh yes they can! These are from my sister.

Love soojay xxx

The Joy's of mental Health

Or Natalie's OCD to be precise! You have no idea what the sight one one single toilet roll does to her! I will not go into any details except to say we have two loo's, one is primarily for Nats and it is the biggest disaster ever to get down to one loo roll........sigh. There are five of us , so it does happen occasionally. She has gone off to the shop to buy a pack , even though tea will be ready in 10 mins.

So much for saving the planet! we much use ( or Nats anyway) a tree a week!

Rant over :D

Love Soojay xx

Easily Pleased

BREVILLE - Hot Cup with Variable Fill... Bye bye Tesco's £5 kettle. It lasted a year but has started to turn itself off just before it boils. This one only boils what you need and is SO quick.

AND Pretty :) :)

Love Soojay xx

A heavy Week

Made Banana Muffins - mind you , I only had one banana! I had to add some white chocolate and milk - they disappeared quite quickly so I think they were ok.

Had a melt down in the middle of the week due to lots of emotional blackmail and trying to do to much. So I went on strike for an evening or two - it worked. Still feeling a bit vulnerable though and need to say "NO " more. Also should NOT expect others to have a clue about my life :)

Having a BIG tidy up at the weekend............:D it IS the weekend!!

Might be back soon.

Love Soojay xx

Great Weekend

On Saturday Meg asked me to take some photos of her in a dress!! I didn't need to be asked twice!! She hardly ever wears a dress. They wanted them for her face book profile anmd made them all black and white.

I can remember when we first got colour film for cameras so always use colour and then play about after. Black and white is new to Meg and I think she thinks it's "Arty" LOL!

I have already used one for a layout :)

On Sunday went to Alexander Palace with Nets and Sarah by coach for the day. Took a little while to get there. It was very busy and in the afternoon VERY hot but it was all worth it :)

Spent too much!! Bought lots of Lily of the Valley Stamps, some crafty individual stamps and some Darcey's stamps .....i LOVE stamps. Also some punches and dies, paper ( only a few sheets) ,card blanks,LOTS of DST and some teeny tiny pearls.

I was so tired when I got home, I went to bed at 9pm.

And back to work today.

Love Soojay xx

Drugs!

Went on a drugs course today...my head is spinning. (because of the amount of info - NOT drugs LOL!)I was hoping to get contacts and information on how to get help for pupils but it wasn't that sort of course. It was VERY good..the guy running it was very dynamic and funny. It was originally a two day course but because of budget cuts - was crammed into one day. One of the great things was it was just 4 miles down the road from me :)

Another busy week at work.

At home Both Dan and Meg have been ill with head colds- both feeling better after a couple of days rest though.

I finished my Nick Sparks book ( brill as always- and i sobbed - as always!)

Looking forward to ATDML retreat - only a month and a bit away now. And off to Ally Pally on Sunday for the day :D

I thinks thats all my news for now.

Love soojay xx

Thank Heavens its the weekend!!

This week has been MANIC and to tell the truth a bit rubbish. Don't get me wrong I have had worse, much worse. Its just the time of year i suppose, its getting so dark already and cold.

Work has been so busy that I have had no time to talk to my boss who's desk is about 2 foot away from mine! We have both been in early and out late too ..to try and get everything done.

My poor sis , who should be happy to have had the last of her chemo, is instead in hospital feeling awful :(

Dan was off college sick today ..Meg must be brewing something because she came downstairs screaming that her eyes were blurry and was panicking...it was a hypo (low blood sugar - she shouldn't be low after tea) :( Will have to keep a close eye on her - there are loads of tummy bugs and colds about already. She is really scared and has already said that as soon as Derek goes to work tonight ,she is coming into my bed.

We had to have the upstairs loo replaced as it was coming away from the wall and Dan managed to pull his bedroom door off the hinges - all sorted now but i do feel a bit drained.

I heard today that an x pupil is very unwell and that has upset me.

Thats why I am glad to see the end of this week and look forward to relaxing this weekend.

I did get one pleasant surprise today that made me happy , another x pupil popped in and told me he is at college and is enjoying it - I was so worried that he might not be doing anything - What a star!! :)

ahh well hopefully there will be sunshine and scrapping tomorrow . Night x

Love Soojay xx

Is it only Tuesday?

This arrived yesterday and as its Nick Sparks, I just HAVE to read it. I am a sucker for all his books and have got every one. I have just started "The Host"(Stephanie Meyer's first book) which i bought over a year ago. I Think it will be really good once i get my teeth into it but for now i will be reading this one. All his books are about romance but always have a twist and nearly always make me cry!

Watched the Prince of Persia this evening while Dan And Derek went to football. Very easy on the eye as you can see .......................sigh. I really liked the film too.

Another busy week at work - at least the time flies .

I DON'T like that it is dark when I get up in the mornings now or that it is getting dark earlier and earlier each night. Definitely NOT a Winter person.

My car passed its MOT today thank goodness :)

Right I am off to bed with my book and a cuppa.

Love Soojay xxx

You won't see this again for a long time!!

I'd quite like to be sepia- my skin looks so much better sepia colour!

Anyone who knows me, knows I hate having my photo taken. Sometimes you just need to have one. So I asked Derek, who took hundreds!! Most are awful or inappropriate. Of course he aimed the camera at my chest.

These are the ones that don't make me want to run away and hide or stick a bag over my head.

I wouldn't mind being in back and white.

Right that's your lot for a few years :D

Love Soojay xx

What a loooong week!

In The Good News...finally got my car back all shiny with a new door on the back. So Happy. Derek's car cost £800 but it was £100 less than we thought and he has it back again. Mine has an MOT on Tuesday so once that is done with hopefully we can relax a bit.

First full week back at school - talk about manic!Managed to get everything done but not sure that will last. Got a wonderful letter from an ex pupil (made us cry!) making everything worth while.

Difficult to get a photo of Dan fully dressed at the weekend! He is chilling watching football AND WWE (at the same time- very annoying!). He had a good week at college apart from yesterday when a boy who used to go to his school started threatening him- told him to watch his back. Dan came home saying that he couldn't fight with this boy as he has a heart condition and he didn't want to get in trouble and now doesn't want to go in on Monday! I am so angry :( . Dan has a communications book for college so I will put it all in there and phone them on Monday to see what they are going to do about it. I have told Dan to always report anything like that so the boy gets the message that Dan won't be bullied.

Meg didn't want a photo on her first day back

But I managed to persuade her to give me a watery smile. She had a good week. Can't believe that this is her last year!

Derek and I have managed to go for a walk every day and I have been walking to and from work each day. I might carry on when the weather is good and on the days that I don't have to pick up Nats.

Love Soojay xx

23 today

xxx

Back to school

And my feet hurt!

A manic morning with all of us getting up and ready - ohh and we only have one loo at the mo. The Bathroom one started to leak so is being replaced on Weds and can't be used till then. Slightly better for he rest of the week as there will only be three of us at a time.

Derek and I have managed to carry on with our daily walks after tea even if it is just to walk into town and back.

My car has gone in for repairs FINALLY - its been eight months since it was damaged! Hope it doesn't take too long. Derek's is going in on Weds for a new (expensive) clutch.

Dan seems to like college although he went to his room and i have hardly seen him tonight. He did say he was chatting to someone and got told off for being late to a lesson.

Meg is just happy that she only has one PE lesson a week now but has loads of food tech and art - all she is really worried about is how she looks and what boys are in her class!

I think i may need an early night if i am to last the week. When's half term?? ;)

Love Soojay xx

SOFA

Today is the first day of a challenge a group of friends and I have set ourselves SOFA or September's Operation Fat Arse.

I want to be healthier and hopefully slimmer. So for September healthier eating and at least 20 mins exercise a day. Only on day one so it has been relatively easy.

I took Dan to College this afternoon to pay for his overalls and boots/shoes. He is doing a pre foundation course that will include cooking, gardening, animal studies and construction. He needed lots of different clothing! The guy sorting the overalls seemed surprised that we came from Eye but it is only 15 miles compared to the 35 miles he used to travel to school!

I am back to work tomorrow - training and catching up on stuff- typical that the sun seems to have remembered to shine!

Ohh and you didn't pray hard enough for Derek's car- £900 next week for a new clutch. While i am quite happy not being mega rich, it WOULD be nice to occasionally NOT have to spend my whole months wages on appliances or cars that have broken! ....sigh. Soon be payday again :D

Love Soojay xxx