Survivor.

So...I survived three days in the realm of the Squirrel Killer.I had been dreading the morning when the Fathers were coming in as a celebration for Father's day on Sunday but in the end it all went OK. We had a few grandparents too and a  few Mums as stand ins. The morning ended with the whole school attending a Sausage Sizzle.Of course after having all these visitors early in the day it was hard to get everyone back on track. It was strange how some children who I have never had trouble with before suddenly became unhelpful and stubborn. There was a huge fall out over lunch between two girls which took awhile to sort and I felt like the whole day I was walking on eggshells trying to keep everyone happy and busy.I was worn out at the end of the school day and thoroughly relieved when the bell went. They all disappeared out of the door and I started to tidy up...and then one of the girls, who had been an utter pain all day, came back in. She gave me a hug and said,"Thank you for being my dad today," and off she went.

Show me the way to go home!

So...I had a fairly straightforward day in school yesterday but today was a completely different kettle of  f̶i̶s̶h̶ goblins.I was expecting a trainee Teacher Aide for the morning but they did not show up and I heard nothing about there whereabouts.We had maths first. I was to work with the Year 1's. The trainee Teacher Aide was to work with a group of Year 2's and another Teacher Aide came to take another group of Year 2's away. The Year 2's were to work on P.61 and 62 of their maths books...."We did those on Tuesday" said one."No you didn't" I said. It said P 61 and 62 on my planning sheet....but it turned out that they had done it.I flicked through to find another page to do."Do P 52 and 53" I said."Done it!" was the cry.Eventually we agreed on P 80. I left the Year 2's to work on their own and I went off to work with the Year 1's.When it came to Reading Groups the fact that there was no trainee Teacher Aide there again messed things up. Another Teacher Aide came and took a group away but I sent the wrong group by accident. She should have taken the 'Bananas' but I sent the 'Apples' instead. I had been looking forward to getting rid of the 'Bananas' for 30 mins too...what an idiot. I had to set two groups working independently....not easy when your 6....while I worked with the 'Bananas'.After Morning Tea we had Word Study.....in walks the trainee Teacher Aide!"Oh hello!" I said surprised."Hello, I'm here to cover for Mrs B as she is covering for Miss A. It's what I have been doing all morning."She looked as pleased about it as I was as pleased to see her. She ended up working with the three most able who could have quite easily worked on their own'. I don't think she took her hands out of her pockets or smiled for the half an hour.I juggled the rest."Now come on tidy up quickly," I said at the end of the session, " Mr A (another one) will be here to take you to P.E soon.""No he won't," pipes up Little Miss Know- it- all, " he is at a meeting in Toowoomba. His daughter told me."I was just in mid panic that I would have to fill in for another hour because I had not been told there was no P.E when a large woman with dreadlocks stepped in......she was a supply teacher covering for the absent P.E teacher! What a brave ...or foolish woman!I was pleased to get rid of the lot of them!Two of the more able had a spat today and ended up in tears, one of the quietest girls turned into a stubborn monster, three cried over nothing and were just over sensitive, another one wanted her Mum......"so do I!" I snapped " but she is on the other side of the World and you will see yours at teatime and I won't see mine till next year!""Oh, we only have you for one more day," said someone sadly at the end of the day.I wasn't sad. I was delighted but I am dreading tomorrow....it's a Father's Day special....Dads are coming in for the morning.....(that is if they have one)....I had two in tears today because their dad was not coming.....Oh joy!Bring on the weekend.

'I'm still here!'

So......hellooooo! I'm still here!We have been very busy.'Oh!' I hear you exclaim 'does that mean busy building at last?'Well...no. It doesn'tWe have been once again to Brisbane at the weekend to do a tech job for Will's sister Wendy and we came back Sunday evening.Today Will was called into the Cheese factory as the other Cheesemaker is ill and I was doing supply in the other prep class (the one I have not yet been in) at the school in Stanthorpe.We are both off tomorrow and are glad of it.I feel we haven't stopped since last week but poor Will must feel worse as he was working until Friday and back again today.We both felt cold in Brisbane, weirdly even colder than we normally feel up here on the Granite Belt. We spent Saturday catching up with friends and their families and Sunday out at Wendy and Geoff's.We came home to find the fire I lit last Tuesday still smouldering and, finally, one of our hens has gone broody.All 11 hens are now laying and some days we can have up to eight eggs at a time. We have been leaving some in the nesting boxes hoping that one of the hens will start to sit on them.We came back to find Keket had gone broody.She was the last hen we would have picked as she is one of the youngest and has been the most rebellious, escaping the pen at any chance she got. We now have to wait 21 days for the eggs to hatch.I managed to make it through the whole day at school today which is more than I did last Monday. I had a good day though I was nervous going into this class as I did not know them or what to expect.My question at roll call today was "What did you do at the weekend?" I was not expecting the answer "I killed a cow" from one fair haired lad."Why?" I asked horrified."Sausages," he said.In the school reception area the 'Sunset Pictures' that I did weeks ago with Toerag and Fidget's class are now on display there.I am back in again on Wednesday until Friday...back in the realm of the Squirrel Killer.

Fire...then Water!

So...yesterday evening the rain came and it didn't stop all night. It finally ceased about 3.00 pm this afternoon.The dam has risen to the highest I have seen it and our new water tank is almost full. It is very unusual to have all this rain in winter as it is usually the driest season but that's 'La Niña' for you. We are glad of it.We had about 70 mm in 24 hours.

Pyre!

Today I have mostly been burning wood!