A Pinterest Fail

I had some rhubarb tucked away in the freezer and found a lovely recipe on Pinterest for Rhubarb Marmalade.  I thought it would be a nice addition to my food hamper gifts.

As you can see, mine didn't look quite like the Pinterest one!! 😆 It tastes lovely but I'm not sure if I'll add it to my hampers.  Ah well.  Recipe HERE if you're interested.

I went back to work on Tuesday.  I'm still coughing a bit but feeling better each day.  I might be back to full health by Christmas!

Only 3 full and 2 half days of teaching left.  Cannot wait!!!

Still sick

I'm getting really fed up with this now 😷 I'm now into my 4th week of this lurgy!! I really thought a weekend of rest and taking the meds would have me back up on my feet. But no.  I've called in sick again today.

Fortunately it's my non contact day so I'm not inconveniencing my poor colleagues too much. The Deputy Head took my class for the first 90 minutes and half of that was assembly! Then the RCCT teacher took over.  But it does mean my planning/marking/assessments will be behind.  Ah well, looks like I'll be busy during the holidays.

So, I'm trying to be positive and am thinking about what I've learned from this.  And hopefully next time I'll bounce back quicker. 

1.  I should have gone to the doctor sooner.  I know that when I get a rotten cold  I get infected sinuses so should get the antibiotics sooner.  Over the counter medicines, honey and lemon drinks and steaming with menthol doesn't work on a bacterial infection.

2.  I know that if I get a second cold sore I should get the antiviral tablets quickly to halt the spread.

3.  I need to take time off work sooner and not keep dragging myself in.  I've made myself sicker by pushing my body too hard.

4.  I need to stop feeling guilty about taking time off.

No 4 is the hardest one, I really need to work on that one.

Sick

Time to follow the advice I give everyone else at school.  I'm off sick today.  This dreadful cold/virus I've now had for 3 weeks has given me infected sinuses and multiple cold sores.  I just couldn't go in.

Luckily I managed to get an early telephone appointment and have got some kickass antibiotics for the infection and antiviral tablets for the cold sores.  I've taken the first doses and am feeling queasy so fingers crossed that means they're working already.

As a profession we are so bad at looking after ourselves.  The staff room has been full of poorly teachers this week.  I'm feeling very guilty as it's the first Nativity performance today and I'm missing it.  They'll be absolutely fine but I still feel terrible I'm not there to cheer them on.

I have no plans for the weekend except catching up on sleep as I've been unable to lie down in bed.

Hope everyone stays clear of the nasty bugs!!

Santa Tree

 I put my tree up 🎄 complete with all my wee Santas 🎅 It's definitely put me in a festive mood!!

Ho ho ho!!!

It's December and I must confess I'm getting into Christmas mode already.  Probably because I've already spent weeks singing Christmas songs at school getting ready for our Nativity.  First performances are this week!! I treated myself to a dairy free Advent calendar from Heavenly Chocolate 😋 and I'm actually considering putting the tree up this weekend 🎄

A quick pop into Sainsbury's the other evening scored me some bargain pate although I didn't notice at the time it wasn't British pork.  OH doesn't like pate so I don't make it any more.  It was lovely on some GF toast!

I also got 2 packs of GF stuffing reduced.  I think I might add some chopped apricots to it.  I already have a nice veggie stuffing in the freezer so that's one more tick on the Christmas meal list.

I didn't get any chicken bargains so next week's soup for lunches was an assortment of what's in the fridge and freezer.  I came up with Broccoli soup made with the ends of 2 opened bags of frozen broccoli, 4 bendy carrots, 3 small onions, stock powder and a tin of Basics potatoes.  It was quite nice but was missing something.

So I added a full pack of Aldi's soft goats' cheese and it was yummy!  I served it with a sprinkle of grated hard goat's cheese and some Ancho chilli flakes.  Lovely! 😋

I've got a huge food delivery order coming on Tuesday evening that I hope will see me through December.  I've got a few extra things for my storecupboard as well as my monthly shop. Sainsbury's is a nightmare in the run up to the big day so I try to avoid it if I can.  I'll use the Lidl which is round the corner for any fresh stuff and tbh if I've forgotten anything I'm not fussed.  We won't starve.

Have you started getting into a festive mood yet? 🎅🎅🎅

Progress

I survived my busy week including my union meeting and the first Parents Evening thanks to Benylin and Sainbury's Cold and Flu tablets!  This is a proper stinker of a cold 😷  Plus my car was serviced (£168 at my wee local garage instead of  almost £300 at the Honda garage!) and my bedroom carpet was finally fitted 😊

I've still got a few finishing touches to do before I can say it's finished.  But here's a wee peek at something my Lovely Mum has been working on for me.  It's absolutely stunning 💜💜💜

Today we took advantage of Historic Scotland's free ticket giveaway and went to visit Tantallon Castle  which is about an hour's drive from here. It's a fab ruin with a lot of Scottish history due to it's strategic location on the Scottish/English border.  I always muse that if I'd lived back then I'd have been a cook and not a lady!!  The bit on right hand of the photo is the kitchen below and the dining hall was above.  The big open fireplace was still visible and the slop drain was still intact (basically pour everything down a hole directly into the sea!!)  You can climb up old stairs to the top of the towers and look out to sea and The Bass Rock.  The castle has stood above the cliffs since 1350 and has survived the harsh North Sea winds and attacks from The English!!  And all built with just basic hand tools.  I love history!

And so to a modern building issue.  My upstairs bathroom toilet isn't flushing.  Thank goodness OH is handy when it comes to these things.  He managed to get the part at B&Q but needs to do something with an angle grinder to make it fit.  It might take a few days before he can finish the job but way cheaper than calling out a plumber!  I've promised him a surf n turf dinner next weekend! 😋

I feel like I'm definitely making progress in my wee house 😊

Who was it??

I don't know anyone who's got a rotten stinky cold at the moment so I have no idea where I've caught this one.  I managed to avoid the vomiting bug doing the rounds at school for the last few weeks but I'm now floored by this.

I was just a bit sniffy yesterday but today it's the full on sneezing, blocked nose/sinuses and throat on fire.  Not good when you talk all day for a living! I was home at a decent time tonight but tomorrow night I have a union meeting and on Thursday night it's Parents Evening.

Since staying in bed isn't an option it'll be the usual paracetamol and honey/lemon remedies to get me through the week.  Urgh!!