Summery summarish

Definitely not been in blogging mood recently. I don't know why because everything in our garden is really rather rosy - Casa Rosales is living up to its name quite literally.

The week after my mum left was a really long one. It seemed she'd gone too soon and although she'd only been with us for about 6 days, the place seemed really empty after she left.  And I caught the bug that had laid Mateo and Ruy low - a sort of flu-like cold that sapped all energy and left me with a cough on my chest. I have been rattling and wheezing like an old smoker for the past week or so. Coughs are horribly exhausting, aren't they?

Well, this is a summery summary - though knowing me, it'll go on forever, hence the title...I'll get on with it. (Though today is a little cool for really summery and we've been promised a thunderstorm ...however, I can see only blue sky and little white clouds from my little window here. I understand from Radio 4 news that the UK seems to have a sunny Bank Holiday for a change! Hurray!!)

Briefly:

• Just before Mum came, I planted 24 sunflower seeds in 24 little yogurt pots and 23 of them have sprouted and are growing very nicely. 

• I have also bought and planted some lavender, some variegated mint and am buying a geranium a month from the local market - so far I have two - I shall have lots more!

• The potatoes we put in a few weeks ago are also sprouting nicely both in the container FR made and in a little furrow in our ploughed field. We're not entirely sure why we had the whole field ploughed but when someone arrives with a big tractor and a rotivating thingy, you can't ask them to do just a couple of stripes...

• FR and I have been walking in the countryside around our lovely village and have officially deemed it 'perfect'. For both of us, in some nostalgic way, it reminds us the countryside of our childhoods - the smells of the hawthorn and wild garlic and the sound of little streams bubbling up - we both spent time close to nature, FR more than me, but it worked its way into our subconscious and has stayed there.

• I've been busy at work, with the other teacher, preparing our students for their written exams. We do both Cambridge and Trinity Board syllabuses. This Saturday morning was the Trinity written exam and as this is the first year that we have done this syllabus, the other teacher and I were probably as nervous as the students as we were invigilating under the silent and mysterious eye of a Trinity College Inspector. He arrived and walked in without introducing himself and sat at a desk until the exam finished, then rose, said, 'have a nice weekend' and disappeared again. We are hoping all went well for all concerned.

• We have bought some bamboo and some trees for our garden - not lots, but some lovely ones - and something that smells divine but whose name escapes me. We are waiting for them to be delivered and FR has dug long trenches down one side of the garden ready to accommodate them. The bamboo is a cunning plan to disguise the fence without completely blocking the view...hope it works as it was my idea and tall bamboo plants are not cheap! 

• I impulsively wrote a little piece in a travel blog competition and whilst I have no illusions of winning anything, if you feel like reading it, voting for it or even writing something yourself, please visit the page here.

• I've been researching some serious chocolate-making - more of which later - however, I shall probably stick to the fun sort.

• I've decided to stop teaching at the Academy next year - obviously, more of this later too.

That's the summary. Even as I write, things are happening - the guttering man just called and he's on his way to put us some guttering up, so that next time it rains we won't get soaked as soon as we step out of the door by the rain that falls directly from the roof. FR has phoned to say he's hiring a hole-making machine for the tree planting exercise and that he's had to pay also for Ruy's end of term trip and commemorative t-shirt...Ruy's off to Cazorla for a three-day adventure, where he and his classmates will be doing all sorts of outdoor activities, including rafting and rock climbing.
Time is whizzing by and the children have only another few weeks before term ends...


Breathe deeply, hang on to every moment - is it just me or is time really flying by for everyone else too?