365 days project - week 38

Day 267 - Autumn red

Day 266

I love cute stationery. I think I may have bought a load of bookmarks as a prize for the students, but I ended up keeping this one for myself. Oops!

Day 265 - Never enough time

So much to do and never enough time.

Day 264

Lovely clear night, so I thought I'd try to get a decent shot of the moon. I think I should really have used a tripod to get it sharper.

Day 263 - Jaws

It's my little brother's birthday so we all went for a trip to Alton Towers. I was very careful about where I took my phone out, as I didn't want it falling out on any fast rides. I did, however, manage to take it in the Aquarium, which had some really impressive tropical fish, rays, and the sharks you can see here.

Pretty poor quality from my trusty iphone as there was no flash photography allowed, but it was still a pretty impressive sight.

Day 262

Day 261

He looks so sad! He really isn't; he's very cheerful most of the time.

365 days project - week 37

Week. From. Hell.

Day 260

Day 259 - Overgrown

Day 258 - Where troubles melt like lemon drops

Such a miserable and stressful day.  I got home and the most beautiful rainbow was stretching across the sky.  Gave me a little bit of hope.

Day 257

I just want to be able to sit on the sofa, read a magazine and do nothing.  Instead I have to tweak my lessons, prepare my spiel, and generally stress out before tomorrow's Ofsted inspection.

Day 256 - 'O'

O is for Ofsted!  I have a big inspection over the next 2 days at work.  I've only been in my new position for a few days, and it appears that my faculty will be under the spotlight.  I'm too stressed to take a decent photo.

Day 255 - Looks like rain

Day 254

365 days project - week 36

So, I've hit the ground running. Back at work into the first week of teaching, and the first week in my new job as Head of Faculty. It's been really hectic with the usual start-of-term madness and all sorts of issues to sort out. I finally started to breathe a sigh of relief that I was getting to the end of the week relatively unscathed when I dared to open my emails and see the dreaded 'O' word! Yes, we have Ofsted schools inspectors coming in next week.

So much to prepare, so little time! So, I may go a little quiet for the next week or so as I frantically try and get everything sorted and wow these inspectors.

In the meantime, here are this week's photos...

Day 253

Another loooooong day. I had a busy day's teaching, then a long meeting, followed by a parents' evening, so I managed to set off for home just as the sun was disappearing over the horizon. Managed to catch the last colours of the sunset as I was driving home.

Day 252 - I bet they're fun guys!

Excuse the naff pun.

They're growing in my garden, beneath my cherry tree - loads of them.  Does anyone know if they're poisonous?  There's every chance the dog will eat them as soon as my back is turned.

Day 251 - Buddleia

Day 250

Day 249 - Spiral

Day 248 - Courgette soup!

There does seem to be an excessive amount of courgette photos in my photostream at the moment, but the good news is that they might finally be coming to an end.

I've made a big batch of soup to keep me going through the winter lunches at work.

Day 247 - Had enough!

Friday and I'm exhausted! It's been a manic week at work, and I'm still trying to find my feet with my new job. Carphone Warehouse have really messed up fixing my phone so I've had to return it again and got stuck in a 2 hour traffic jam on the way back. Other personal stuff in my life is starting to wear me down a bit, so I just feel a bit like this today :-(

365 days project - week 35

So, I'm back at work now after 5 weeks of summer holidays :-(  I've got a new position which has meant that I've really felt the pace, trying to find my feet and get through the usual beginning of term madness.  As a result, I don't think I'm going to have that much time to put into my photos for a little bit, but I'll try my best.

Day 246 - Urban sunrise

Day 245 - Another brick in the wall

Boo! Back at work today. It's hard getting back into it after 5 weeks off. There's so much to do and so little time to do it in. I think my 365 project may not be getting the attention it deserves over the next few weeks.

Day 244 - Marrowstravaganza!

They're taking over!  And they're enormous!

Day 243 - Boudoir

Eek!  I'm not sure if this is a bit racy, but the light in my bedroom this morning was great and I've wanted to have a go at some boudoir pictures for a while now.

Oh well, nothing ventured ...

Day 242 - Rooftops

I'm feeling the effects of last night's excesses, I'm afraid, so really rubbish shot today.  Sorry!

Day 241

Ok, so this ended up as a bit of a cheat. My friend is visiting this weekend, so we had a night out to celebrate. It was only when I got in that I remembered I hadn't taken my 365 shot for the day. So, this is technically a few hours out, as I got back after midnight, but I'm going to have to make my own rules up and say that as I hadn't been to sleep, it counts as the same day!


Anyway, I had a big shopping spree to get ready for going back to work. I bought this gorgeous satchel. It's lovely and big and squishy, and although it may be a bit of a cliche taking a satchel to school, I don't care!

Day 240 - Preparation

Argh!  Only a few days until I go back to work.  I've been in today and am now starting the miserable job of getting myself all prepared.

365 days project - week 34

Back from Ireland, but now I'm having to get back into work mode.  Term starts on Wednesday, and I've got lots to do to get prepared, especially with my new job.  Definitely the end of the summer now :-(

Day 239

Still pouring down with rain.  Miserable day with no inspiration when I spotted some flowers I hadn't photographed yet.

Day 238

For Wall Wednesday

Day 237 - The Burren

Day 236

Day 235 - It sure is!

Day 234

Day 233

I've had my eye on this field for a while.  (Yes, I am a geek!)

Day 323 - At the Allotment

I thought I'd try out my new grad grey filter today.  Seeing as it's such a miserable day, I had a go at getting some dramatic skies.

Not sure I've cracked it yet.  Any advice would be more than welcome.

All about Ireland

I've just come back from a 3-day trip to County Clare in Ireland, so have a few new photos to share.  I've never visited Ireland before, and have got to say it is the most beautiful country; the landscapes are just breathtaking with so much to see.

I'll stop waffling on and post the pics:

365 days project - week 33

Got back from my holidays with a bit of a bump this week!  The South of France was glorious sunshine from morning to night every single day.  Oxfordshire is not quite the same this week; it has been grey and miserable with plenty of rotten rain showers since the minute I stepped off the plane.

So, not the most inspired photos this week, but I'm going to Ireland for a few days next week, so to inspire me to make the most of those heavy grey skies, I treated myself to a grey grad filter.  Expect lots of moody landscapes to come (and possibly some serious lust for a proper wide-angle landscape lens)!

Day 231 - What's in your bag?

It's a pretty grim day outside and I'm rather lacking inspiration, so I thought I'd have a go at one of these shots.

Not the most exciting handbag contents, but I have a good clean out as often as I can as I can't stand having junk in my bag.

Day 230 - Chocolate courgette cake

Still got lots of courgettes to use up, so I thought I'd give this recipe a try.

The verdict is that it's pretty delicious!

Day 229 - Rain rain go away!

Day 228

I had to send my iphone away today to be repaired as it's having problems getting a decent reception.  In return, I have been given this ridiculous plastic toy phone which I HATE!!  I keep pressing the wrong buttons, none of my contacts have copied across so I keep having to check my ipod to get anyone's number.

I would love to smash it up and I can't wait to get my real phone back.

Day 227

My beautiful boy loves watching a bit of TV.

Day 226

My brother looked after my dog whilst I was away so I popped out today to get some of his favourite coffee eclairs as a thank you.

Day 225

Another iphone shot which I will upload as soon as I've got my phone back.