Stop the world, I want to get off!

I guess that I left blogland for nearly a week, because there just wasn't the time and energy to be here, as well as doing everything in real life that needed doing. I have been reading your blogs, so I know that Sue at The Quince Tree has an immaculate fridge, and I have serious fridge-envy; Ilona is off to Scotland tomorrow, and I wish I was going too! Then Albedo and the BH have planted some raspberries, and it sounds like Silversewer is off on a jolly as well........hope everyone is well.

So, what's been happening here, then?

The dust had barely settled on the new Headteacher appointment when we were thrown straight in to organising the official opening of the new extension of the school - they've been using it for a year, but we hadn't got round to having the bods and dignitaries out to cut the ribbon or open the curtain over the plaque - and now we have only just over a week to get it all sorted. A lot of the background work has been done and now it is just the detail - and one huge thing no one told me about is that I have to make a speech - aaaaaaaaaaaaargh! I've got just that week to think about that.

The garden has taken off and I have seedlings coming up beautifully in the verandah. Sunday afternoon I had to do some repotting, and they are all looking very healthy. There's just the matter of the weeds in the raised beds to deal with before I can plant them out in a day or so. I did manage to get 20 lettuce plants out, which I bought as plug plants and then potted up. They seem to be doing very well, but I am watering them every day in this "drought" that we are having in the East.

The chicks are going great guns - tiny feathers are now appearing amongst all the fluff and they are so cute. Rather smelly, in my lounge, necessitating the use of lots of fragrant candles and having to be cleaned out daily, but cute nonetheless. They may be moving shortly, as the next hatch is due tomorrow. I bought some chocolate orpington bantam eggs from good old ebay, so fingers crossed that they do hatch. I have had a message from someone else who bought partridge orpington eggs from the same seller as I did, with the disappointing nil points hatch. He also had absolutely no fertile eggs in the 6 he bought, so we have done a deal and I am going to send him some of my eggs. I had hoped to swap some, but he hasn't a cockerel, so that put paid to that idea. If we get the payment sorted, I am hoping to get those in the post to him tomorrow.

The girls have both been to the dentist today - the EFG to the local one for a filling with the FH as her chaperone, and I had to take the YFG to Cambridge to the orthodontist for tightening and alterations to her braces - and now she is in a lot of pain, as she is each time she has them altered. I suspect I may be up a couple of times in the night, once for Nurofen and once for Calpol administration. She has been to gym with me tonight, and worked hard, but I could see that she was in pain.

I went to a nearby chapel out of the village on Sunday evening to a service which my mentor Local Preacher was taking and I was priviliged to meet an old gentleman called Fred who will be 98 on Thursday - he was lovely! He said he hoped to make it to 100, but he wasn't confident. I pray he does, and that I can meet him again.

On Friday I made some ginger cakes: three - one for chapel craft meeting in the morning, one for the staffroom to say thanks to the staff for all their efforts over the HT work, and one for a member of staff and his wife, as his wife is quite ill. They were all well received but the FH was miffed that there wasn't one left for home so I set to and made three more yesterday morning. I think that I will share the recipe with you tomorrow - although I may already have done so, way back in here somewhere - it will bear repeating as it is a fab cake and always brings me compliments!

Good night :-)