Mad week

I need a lap top or an iphone. We have had a very busy week and I just haven't gotten to the computer. Last week the kids did a musical at school. They do one very second year and all the junior school children participate. The musical was called Papa Martyn's Christmas and it is based on a folktale of Tolstoy's called Where love is, there God is also. Here are some of the children warming up before an evening show.

There were four performances and two were in the evening. On Wednesday I drove to and from the school four times! I love living in the country and having everything close but I was in the car for two hours that day! On Thursday night when we dropped Jossie and Toby off doe the evening performance we stayed and watched the show. I cried a lot.

Toby was in the choir. You can't quite see him in this shot which may be a good thing as sometimes we could tell that he was somewhere else in his mind!

Jossie played a shepherd and she and Eden were obviously aware of us sitting in the front row. Mim directed the musical and she and all the staff and students did a wonderful job. Everyone is pleased it is over, though, because it is an awful lot of work! Mim came over on Saturday night and we had porchetta, smashed potatoes and Eton Mess. I vow to always keep meringue nests in the cupboard, raspberries in the freezer and cream in the fridge because spontaneous Eton Mess is brilliant.

On Monday morning I rose bright and early and drove with my colleague Kate to Leeton for Rewarding Readers training. It was intensive, rigorous at times and very worthwhile. I have stayed in two Canberra motels and one in Sydney for work but the motel in Leeton is by far the most interesting.

I forgot to take photos of the outside and the photo above is the best I could find online.

It was very grand in a shabby sort of way. It smelt very old, but not unpleasant. I felt like I was in Brides of Christ, though I couldn't say exactly why.

This is the view from the very wide veranda outside my room. I had the door open because while it was very warm, hot almost, outside, the high ceilings and sheer size of the building made it very cool inside.

Not many motel rooms have fire places like that. I know I should have gone for a wander and explored the town like Kate did. We finished the course for the day around 4.30 and dinner wasn't until 7 but I just made myself cups of tea and read Suite Francaise in the quiet of my room. I finished it that night and I suggest you all read it. To think that she was killed at Auschwitz before she could finish it....

After a second, excellent day at training I arrived home last night. Toby had a birthday party to attend at Noah's Ark after school. I decided to give Jossie and Bethany a treat so we all stayed to play. Actually, I sat comfortably and read for the majority of the time but discovered that Bethany is not at all fearless when it comes to big slides. I had to leave my dignity at the table and climb up many levels of equipment to put her on my lap and take her down the slide. You can see how hesitant she is here.

Now I have 33 assignments to mark so you may not hear from me for a little while....... you can't ask for extensions when you are the marker.