Weekly Flylady Thread 6th September 2021

Dizzy_Imp

Ahh....the sofa...at last!

Apologies for being MIA, but as usual life has been chaotic. I think I've caught up with all the news, but forgive me if I've missed anything.

Patio laying still going on.  It's huge. I mean, really huge. I've been popping out with coffee and ice-cream to keep the builders happy but I'm glad it's not me working out there in 1000° sunshine.  I've been keeping on top of the dailies and a few extras where I get a couple of spare minutes, but no real progress where its needed, which is annoying.

Anyway England v Poland on the TV, so I'll be painting my toenails...

TTFN x

Fayolle

**Creeps in at the back of the room…..**
Very little achieved here, beyond making frequent visits to the WAC, head down at work trying to clear the backlog, cooking meals and tidying up afterwards.
Struggling with the heat, having been hopeful that a cooler autumn was here. Watering the allotment, the pots and the greenhouse. A couple of flashes of lightening here and 10 minutes of rain, but that was it.
DH picked all the plums, I now have 3 carrier bags to turn into something useful, probably jam, as the freezer is stacked full.
ASB - big convert here to veggie chillis and bolognaises, using lentils to bulk them out. Red lentils disappear nicely if cooked enough, which might help.
Pigpen - you are amazing, your home schooling sounds so well planned.
Thank you for all the hugs, so much appreciated xx

pigpen

Fayolle said:

Pigpen - you are amazing, your home schooling sounds so well planned.

We are totally winging it lol. She LOVED the confidence building thing this evening. She came out of that with a big smile on her face.  Cello lessons are Thursdays 6pm.. trying to decide whether to walk or get on the commoner wagon.. ;p She was doing pre-GCSE maths this morning which she whizzed through.. She has 1 sheet of that left to do tomorrow and an english comprehension on the Antarctic.

I have been bitten on the back of my arm at some point today.. I hate the outside!!

pack ups and uniforms sorted.
Talked to Meem about financial contributions too..

Stuff printed for tomorrows lessons . I've found a bunch of useful resources on the TES website too which we can utilise.

Thursdailies..

Let sisters woofs out.

Post parcel

take some snake and pygmy pies to my mothers.

pick up prescriptions

make Pixie an opticians appointment
List more stuff

buy a 4ft mattress with money I don't have..

Valli

Two days at the chalkface.  The heat of the past two days, plus the unscheduled hedge cutting, means I ha t done as much as I would have liked.
green (garden waste) and recycling bins out.

[Deleted User]

Morning all,

It is much cooler today which is lovely. The children and chickens are eating their breakfast and I am enjoying a cuppa.

Beds have been made, uniforms laid out and packed lunches made. There is enough to make up a WM load, but I am going to hold out until tomorrow as part of my bid to reduce our electricity bill, like you Kaz I have looked at changing but prices are rising everywhere so I am going to stick with my current provider and be super careful with usage. Today also promises to be a NSD which is also pleasing. 

Piggers - I think what you are doing is fabulous. A friend of mine homeschools her daughter and has done since Year 7, they are both very relaxed about it - it is working well for them. I confess that I may be tempted to do the same when the time comes - I have become so disillusioned with the secondary system, lesson plans entitled "how to answer a 20 marker question on XYZ" - so basically can you score enough points on an exam question in a set period of time, not 'write an A4 side summarising your views on Marxism" etc. 

I am going to do 15 minutes wood chopping today as well, we need to use solely free wood this winter to see us through. 

I will bob back in later, have lovely days all xx

Natty68

Morning. Well I'm having an enforced  housework/cleaning day.. lol

There's no internet, tv or phone working as it's down and won't be up till about 3pm. Bloody virgin..

Hopefully we don't need to print anything as that's offline too..😵‍💫😵‍💫

Plus I'm waiting a call from the Dr..aaah!!

Thankfully we have plug in radios around the house and we can still watch our recorded things on the TiVo. So I've found an 80s programme I recorded. 

Also had to cancel my 10.30 peer support meeting as I don't want to use it on phone data. 

Still at least I'll probably get something done. If not then I'll know I'm a lazy moo...lol

So me and my phone are going to be attached by the hip till the Dr rings.. lol

Have to go to the storage place today as well as pack up some bits too. 

So I'm off to strip the bed and put on the wash then shower.

Hugs to all xxx

Mademoiselle

 A very gentle pottering morning here, I'm just 'being' here for DD1 as it's her turn later on today to choose which service and which hospital she can specialise in (she's finished the studying bit and here they have a national exam to rank them and then number 1 chooses what and where and so it continues).  Very stressful to see opportunities going before you get to choose.  She is so stressed by it all, it's worse than the exams themselves.   I think that we will then go into town for cake and coffee to celebrate! She can then call herself doctor (French interne is equivalent of houseman/registrar/junior doctor).  We can then also start planning where she will live and finding accomodation etc, work starts 2nd November.

WM on
HHI done (basket empty)
Dinner planned 
Lunch planned

pigpen

ASB.. This is one reason I am thrown, a lot of people HE primary age children then send them to school for year 7, I get why, the world is so focused on gcse's etc but it is so incredibly easy to do those online now with iGCSE's or to go to an exam centre to sit them and it is stuff the parents may have not studied. As a parent I don't think school gives children a good grounding for life any more, I am beginning to think an apprenticeship is a much better idea for many young people because the stuff being taught in school is pretty much irrelevant in real life... unless you go on to teach the same information.. being forced to learn a language you will never use or geography which is what maps were invented for seems a bit daft.. history is great, I like history, I like information.. but unless you have a specific interest I don't understand why it is forced on the young people.. the extra time could be so much more beneficial put into the things they do like. I also think they should add elocution lessons, put more emphasis on spelling and grammar .. some of those facebook posts make me want to cry or scream or both!! Those who do not know one 'their' from the other 2 or the difference between brought and bought.. and the people selling 'chester draws' and 'walldrobes' and 'whoevers' .. if someone has a true difficulty then that I can accept but when it is just because they haven't been taught the simple things it is just inexcusable, there is a lot of disillusionment with the education system with the lack of career progression beyond and the lack of opportunities to achieve anything beyond minimum wage particularly in less well off areas of the country and making matters worse is that in some families this is 4-5 generations deep now. Failing young people on a basic level when they are forced do a BTEC in PE seems insane.

I do tend to have different opinions on most matters to the rest of the world but looking at my own older children only 2 have managed to achieve employment above minimum wage since leaving school, OH went to an independent school, has a degree (computer and electrical engineering) and is a qualified bench joiner, and is working a minimum job in a pub kitchen.. I can see why people are disillusioned with education in secondary schools. I appreciate how difficult it must be for teaching staff who can see it from the futures point of view and how this stuff is not helping the young people prepare for the real world and that the red tape and bureaucracy mean their hands are tied in what they can and must teach.. education is now not what most people went into the profession for, and I am thankful for those who do it anyway! AAaaaaanyway... ranty pants shall be put away until next time.

Squeak has her pre-GCSE English this afternoon so we are filling in this morning with maths worksheets, TTRS and some cello practice.. Her lessons have been schedued for 6pm on Thursdays starting next week. I have her on with her maths and there is the english comprehension text to read before lunch.

Spoken to the 'assistant inclusion officer' at school about Dot, who spent most of yesterday evening yipping like a demented chihuahua and rolling on the floor. I have sent her into school today with pencil grips (She had to have green ones!) and a resistance band to try on the chair legs.

OH has a stepladder to put in the shed (It's been on the landing for weeks) and the christmas tree brought back from Meems can go up in the loft. I might have him take the mirrors down from DS2's room so I can thrust a bucket of water and sponge and a paper-scraper at him and get that room finished decorating before the bit I have already done needs redoing! Then I can take his stuff out of the middle room and get it put away.

There is still a lot of landing to clear. I need to empty a chest of drawers so Meem can get some of the stuff out of the middle room..

Thursdailies..

Let sisters woofs out.

Post parcel

take some snake and pygmy pies to my mothers.

pick up prescriptions and thrush cream

make Pixie an opticians appointment
List more stuff

buy a 4ft mattress with money I don't have.. but I need the underbed storage so need to build the bed.. and Meem is on about sleeping in the girls room when DS1 is here.. and DS1 needs a firmer mattress.
Order double bed sheets from dun3lm.. they have a super cheap range which will do nicely for the grotties and cost about £4 per sheet.. I can just about scrape enough for 2 of those.

Boss OH to do various fun tasks
Boss DS2 to strip wallpaper.. I am taking necessary equipment into the bedroom.. once it is done I can put the underlay down and clear some landing.

[Deleted User]

Piggers - rant away. I teach mainly girls (subjects I cover are quite "girly" apparently) and a lot of them are considered by heads of years and SLT to be the troublemakers - because they will defy the rules and get their nose pierced/roll their skirt up/come to school with false lashes on. That "tag" never really leaves kids like that, so they continue to do things their own way and are happy to spend a day in isolation (my most detested form of punishment - but that's a whole other rant) if it means they can be who they want to be. 

In my classroom they thrive, because I choose as a person to ignore their "naughty" rule breaking, applaud them in my head for being gutsy and not letting our ego driven male leadership team tell them who to be, and we get on with our learning. Some of the lesson plans for my child development course are decades old, and we are told to use them. I don't - I write my own. I remember one day I brought in a Call the Midwife DVD and we watched an episode - they loved it, and learnt so much from that not just related to their course but history as well. 

I no longer teach the PHSE course because I was too annoyed with the poor content around personal finance and budgeting, and my offers to update the schemes of work were overruled, so I was taken off the course and replaced with a shiny, new, biddable NQT. 

Moan over.

I relented and put the WM on, as the forecast for tomorrow is hideous. Successfully sold a large item on FB, next job is to order a couple of fertile chick eggs for DDs incubator.

kazwookie

Morning

Walked with Oh to his hair appointment

Posted eby parcel

Bought spud and onions

Cleaned out salad draw in fridge

Clean floor in kitchen

Now off to cut the grass before it gets too hot, the weather people say we are in for thunder etc today, currently no sign of that happening