Sam's SATs results

A while ago I posted about how well Katie is doing at school. Since then Sam has had his end of year report and achieved level 6s in maths and Science. English results will be out in September. He had a good report, is 'maturing' and less 'chatty' in class and making good progress in all subjects. A letter dropped on the mat yesterday from the Assistant Head letting me know how pleased they were with Sam's Science and progress. According to the figures released with his report only 3 students achieved a level 7 in science! A good start to his GCSE years!

Meanwhile Katie has been given 5 practice 11+ maths papers to complete over the holidays under test conditions. So far so good, she has done two papers so far and achieved 82% and 93%, but boy does she get herself into a state while doing them. I guess she's a perfectionist like her mother! There was nothing on the papers she didn't know how to tackle, the loss of marks came from mistakes in her calculations and a lack of time to be able to check her work. Fortunately, even though the 11+ test date has shifted from January to November she still has plenty of time to get used to timed conditions.

So once, again, I'm a proud mum.

Back to the packing!

Cotswolds

We've just returned from a lovely weekend visiting friends in another beautiful place, Bourton on Water, AKA Venice of the Cotswolds. Luckily it wasn't affected too badly from the flooding although there was evidence that things weren't as dry as they normally are (see photos). We got lucky, the sun came out although it was quite chilly for this time of year (no surprises there then)!


The river Windrush, gushing!

our lovely Kate.



These were some quaint cottages at Stow on the Wold. You can just see a stream at the left hand edge of the photo, it obviously casued some concern, see next photo:





The river had burst its banks at the edge of the Trout farm at Stow.




Sam, enjoying the added water attractions at Bourton!



Us! Not a bad piccie considering I just held the camera at arm's length and clicked!



Watching the fast flowing water at Stow.

The river, breeching the entrance to the trout farm at Stow.

Let's hope there's more sun and less flooding at Coin, Spain next week!

Sad Eyes(Guy Roche Remix)-Enrique Iglesias (EnriqueFeatAsif)

Sad eyes.

One of my fave songs by Enrique, I've been listening to it today and hadn't realised that another of my faves, Bruce Springsteen has sung it too.
Which do I prefer? I think Enrique's. Simply because his voice is far sexier :)

You decide...

Bruce's


or
Enrique's


Not so keen on Enrique's Ping Pong song on the other hand:

Perhaps it will grow on me.

Busy with photos

I had 8 months worth of unorganized digital photos! They're sorted and baked up now. Took a while, but it was good to look back on the last 8 months. We've had some fun. Here's a quick look at some of the best...









Even the stuffed animals got out and about for some sightseeing from the car window... but Charlie the Chimp got travelsick, just look at his face!



In April we decided to decorate the study, this meant moving everything into the conservatory....


Since then, all it has done is....

Veggies, flowers and digging.

I have a great sense of satisfaction this morning after a hard day's work yesterday. We needed a path to our shed, stepping stones just weren't good enough when it rains (I keep my tumble dryer in the shed). It took me two hours to remove dirt from turf (redistribute dirt into new flower bed and lug turf up to brown recycling bin in the garage)and dig down almost 3 inches ready for Lee to lay the new path (my choice, I like to be outside!). You can imagine how my muscles ache this morning, no need to do any exercise today that's for sure! Once the path laying was underway I had to carry the bricks/stones from the top of the stairs by our garage down into the garden, that was the hardest bit!




Once the path was laid I thought it was about time I put up some photos of how busy I've been these last few months. Here you go... enjoy!








My babies (spinach, lettuce, carrots and spring onions):


My real babies!

(a friend on the left, Katie on the right)


Oh yes, and my final joy, I've now lost 4 pounds since the beginning of May...slow but sure, perhaps that way it will stay off!

The countdown begins!

Less than a month til we set off to Spain, which hopefully will have alot more sun and alot less rain than here!

My cases are out and half packed (yes, I'm that sad!) with all sorts of loverly new summer clothes and shoes.
I'm a measly 3 pounds lighter than I was when I started seriously trying to lose some weight back at the beginning of May, but I've got a nice hourglass figure now and probably got alot more muscle in my legs, and I'm a whole lot fitter (I can run at 10km/h, the max speed on my treadmill whereas in February 6.5km/h was seriously hard work!). I've done quite a few 5ks on the treadmill and outside and am now training for a half marathon in October! Come and join me and a whole bunch of other joggers/runners.
My home grown spinach,lettuce, carrots and spring onions are deeelicious, but my tomato plants are looking a bit weedy. They're no replacement for the odd treat though... Walls Feast vs homegrown veg...no contest!