March Mayhem

The rain continued on into March. The rain continues on into March. The rain will very likely, most probably, perhaps certainly, continue on into March.

Four storms within a couple of weeks, dumping copious amounts of water onto our tiny rock of granite stuck in the English Channel. The peak was during the night of March 4th, where we awoke the following day to flooding.

My commute - normally 25 minutes - took 50, as I had to turn back twice before finding a lane which was not barred by a deep pond. (I may have stopped for a few minutes to photograph and film. Who wouldn't?) The first one, at the bottom of Donkey Hill, was a flooded valley, water stretching up across the fields as far as the eye could see. There was a handy abreveur situated there, manfully doing its best to channel water safely into an underground douit, but it was outclassed. The water was so deep that I didn't dare expose the electrics on the bicycle. I did, eventually, sail through a relatively shallow puddle, holding my breath and coasting across gently. To have turned around would have added yet another ten minute ride.

Meanwhile, at home, the flooded vege patch/firewood stack had spread all the way across the far side of the garden, the patio around the shed boasting an inch of water. The ground had been soggy for weeks but this was the last straw. Or the last few hundred gallons, I suppose. There was absolutely nowhere for the water to drain and it was, in any case, being topped up by water flowing from the (slightly higher) field next door.

My neighbour, Dear Nicky Next Door, started pumping out her well in the hope that the ground water would then flow into it. Richard went out and bought a pump, dug a trench and sank it into the ground. (We have great plans to dig a soakaway so that we are more prepared next time and can start to pump water before it gets to surface aka crisis level.) It took a couple of days, but the level in the flower beds started to subside, the water disappearing although the soil was still soggy. I fear for my little apple tree... the camellias, the pittosporum and the hydrangeas... but will just have to Wait And See.

We had a slight 'discussion' as to whether the dehumidifier, or leaving the shed wide open to the drying wind, was the best way of drying out the shed before it started to rot. Compromised for a bit of both.

Then we paused, and waited for the rain to stop.

Meanwhile, at school... parents' evenings looming; parents taking their children out of school on holiday, with an hour's notice, in one case; parents voicing their opinions. Sometimes, all those years of professional training and experience, not to mention successfully parenting two wonderful human beings, seems irrelevant and I obviously (in some quarters) really do not have anything to say about how A Particular Child is best taught. Hmmm.

March mayhem? Indeed. But 'in like a lion, out like a lamb'. Spring is most definitely coming as flowers start to erupt on the grassy banks. Celandines flood yellow everywhere I look; primroses stud the banks; violets hide in the hedgerows.

Then, of course, the mayhem rapidly accelerated as Covid-19 took over. Have documented thoughts elsewhere, but by the end of the month we were almost self-isolating, with a lockdown imposed by Guernsey. Not to mention Jonny and Adele occupying our newly-created tiny 'guest wing'. I'm quite proud of the lovely little suite of rooms I have created...

So, here we are. The days are getting longer - in many ways. The sun is brighter: and we try to stay bright, trusting that God will bring about great good and His glory in an overwhelmed, panic-stricken, helpless world.

March mayhem. Not madness. Just merriment.

The month began with snow... #saynomore #hugelongblogpost

Then it all calmed down. A few days later the temperature rose ten degrees and the sun was shining. Not, of course, all the time. Typical March: one on, one definitely off - cloudy, murky, raining. For the first half of the month, anyway.

Grape hyacinths just outside the front door...

'Little guy' not so little any more... producing a long tendril, carrying offspring.  #morelittleguys

The month was filled with fun.

At school, we had all kinds of challenges which had little to do with teaching but, perhaps, a lot to do with education in many areas.

First off was 'team building'. Teachers and teaching assistants working in one part of the school were requested to go on some kind of team building activity; perhaps playing golf, or watching a film together as one of the other teams had done. Our ideas ranged from a chocolate-making workshop to an adventure activity involving problem solving (at a cost of a mere £50 plus....). Putting aside my strong objection to being required to take part in a work-related activity in my own time at my own expense (yes! really! #worldofeducationworkers #neverheardofcorporatefunding), I went, with half a dozen colleagues, to take part in a quiz.

It was GREAT. A fundraising event held by parents for and at the Upper School (our secondary education department), it was a really good evening. The questions were all based on school subjects and were easily doable or guessable. We had to guess quite a lot.... the History round was surprisingly tricky and quite informative. Who would recognise the name of the inventor of the 'kitchen time saving device' and then correctly identify said device? (Our 'educated' guess of microwave was CORRECT!)

One round involved building a world-famous landmark out of spaghetti and marshmallows. Trying to guess what the children might be impressed by, we went for the pyramids of Egypt. We even managed to make a (very sticky) marshmallow mummy. It was very hard to tell from the faces of the Year 7 children whether we had impressed them or not. Possibly not. Their response seemed rather like that of an indulgent parent, looking at the attempts of their three year old to reproduce the Mona Lisa... or the wonders of the ancient world, in this case.

Anyway, we came a very respectable fourth out of 15 teams. It was also a fun evening of reconnecting with former parents and pupils (including one young man who was almost unrecognisable as the nine year old I remember) and, of course, building stronger relationhips with our team.

Otherwise, March is building up to the End of Term and the School Production. And Production It Is.  This year, the musical 'Seussical', based on the books of Dr Seuss, has been chosen. We were treated to the opening sequence one assembly: much polishing to take place, apparently, but to the untutored eye it was already impressive, worthy of a West End production.  Rehearsals, rehearsals, rehearsals was the Word of The Week... the last TWO weeks of term, in fact. More to come in April...

On top of learning lines and songs and, in the case of Year 6, complicated actions, the children had other tasks to achieve. Complicated Science homework for National Science Week, including designing a poster; an art competition for a play promotion poster; and taking part in a photography competition. (Staff were required to enter as well: I managed to drag something out of the archive of photos we took in France at half term, but it did motivate me to snap various other 'nature inspired' shots as we went on walks...

With all of this, there is no time for any charity fundraising: for the first time since I arrived at the school, we are not supporting Sports Relief...

Instead, we had an 'Outdoor Neuroplasticity Challenge Day'. I was indeed challenged in trying to come up with an activity which would engage 4 year olds equally as well as 11 year olds... and help them to work together in a team. Solution: build a Lego tree house in honour of our former head, who is seriously into Outdoor Learning and was visiting especially to officially 'open' our new outdoor classroom.  I had various 'Mr Walton' figures, from a block of wood sporting his photograph to a heavy metal Darth Vader figure (Mr Walton after eating a big dinner' and a Lego figure, appropriately dressed for hiking with hat, backpack and waterbottle. The children had great fun...

At home, we Skyped family: missing them so much and yet rejoicing in their adventurous and exciting lives. We watched the Six Nations Rugby, and a New Zealand film 'Hunt for the Wilderpeople', which brought back many memories, including the time we ended up being part of the background on John Campbell's news programme Campbell Live (we were in Manganui World Famous Fish and Chip Shop at the time) and stumbling across a huge car wrecker's yard at Horopito....recognising much of the scenery from our visits there.

Richard acquired a mechanical log splitter - and a load of firewood, just in time for another spell of cold weather. Many happy hours spent splitting and stacking wood: much easier than using a sledgehammer.

And the clocks 'spring forward', giving us an extra hour of life in the evenings. Time to get out in the garden...

Celandines heralding spring

Fattsia survives the snow

Evening view... con trails melting into the atmosphere... 

This beetle was covered with tiny crawling dudus... mites? aphids? spiders? Fast-moving on a sluggish beetle, yet he flew away out of the jar the next morning.

Another beetle, iridescent blue.

Thistle. #beautifulintherightplace #butnotinmygarden

End of the month - nearly - meant end of term. Endless Seussical rehearsals for my class; admiring the amazing Lego treehouses (I couldn't bear to break them up until the very last minute, holding an 'exhibition' in the classroom for the rest of the school); and....drum roll...coming runner up in the inaugural House Photography Competition with a photo of mistletoe-adorned trees lining the Canal D'Ille de Rance.  I'd only entered as a show of support. When the result was announced in the final assembly, I'd been so busy practising my 'jolly well done' smile for the winners that, shocked, I found myself clapping...myself!  #definitelynotaphotographer #notarty #supersurprised  I can't help feeling just a little bit happy that my little photo did so well, when the competition was judged by a professional photographer.  (Thank you, John Fitzgerald!)  Here it is...


The day after: the treat of a spa day at a local hotel with my good friend Kareena. Brunch, pool, sauna, spa, afternoon tea, chat, reading.... #supertreat

End of the month: finally: Good Friday.

Motorhome to France.
Another ferry crossing.
Another fortnight.

Filled with adventure
Pickle takes up residence
in her home on wheels.