A Cup of Tea

Hello!

Come on in, sit down and I'll pour us both a cup of tea...or perhaps you'd prefer coffee? Either way, you're more than welcome to a cupcake or two while we chat and catch up after so very long.

As I poured the first cup, I'd tell you that I can't believe over a month has passed without a blog post. I'd confess that the last couple of weeks have been insane, what with school work and everything piling up on me. I'd reveal my renewed admiration for those bloggers that update their home on the internet so regularly, and I'd ask if you know what their secret is. I have a sneaking suspicion it may have something to do with better time management skills than I currently possess!

As we sipped our tea, I'd tell you about my school and teaching life at the moment, and though I love it, how glad I am for a little break during the Easter holidays! I'd explain that I'm currently in the throes of planning for the next three months, and though I'm hating the tedious typing part, I'm getting really excited by the themes I have in store for my class until the summer holidays. I'd probably tell you lots about my little class, and how I'm mad about them, though they have me tearing my hair out some days! If you were interested, I might tell you a little about some of the projects we did in the last couple of months, including making giant salt-dough maps of Ireland, the UK and France (messy but great fun!) As we drained the dregs of the first cup of tea, I'd tell you how lucky I feel to be in a job I love with great kids and staff - having had some not so pleasant experiences doing substitute work in schools before Christmas, I really appreciate what I have now, even if the workload is intense! Then of course I'd ask you what your working life is like at the moment, and how you manage to maintain a healthy work-life balance.

Sneaking another cupcake from the stand, we'd move onto chat about all things crafty. I'd ask you what you're working on at the moment, and how you fit in creative time with a busy schedule. I'd tell you that my scrapbooking has really taken a backseat at the moment, as have all crafty endeavours, but I'm hoping to improve on this during the Easter holidays. I'd giggle about my renewed love for Jamie Oliver and his fifteen minute meals (which ALWAYS take me more than fifteen minutes, incidentally!), which I've been making and planning since I finished school. Yum! Talk would inevitably turn back around to blogging, and I'd admit that although I have been a very bad blogger, I've been keeping up to date with the very inspiring blogs of lots of lovely ladies from around the world. I'd explain that though I may not comment as often as I should, I'd love these people to know how much they inspire and delight on a daily basis. I'd ask you what your favourite blogs are, the places you go for inspiration and stories and enlightenment? On the subject of blogging, I'd excitedly tell you that I got a new laptop yesterday...a MacBook Pro! You'd probably laugh at how ridiculously ecstatic I am, and I'd ask you if you have a Mac, or if you've any advice or experience with MacBooks?

As we made our way towards the bottom of the second cup of tea, talk might turn around to friendship. I'd tell you that I've learned the hard way how tough it can be when a friend you thought you could rely on turns out not to be so reliable after all! Then, I'd smile and explain that I'm very lucky to have a small group of close friends that I'd be lost without. I might tell you about a very special friend that has had a bit of a tough time recently. We spent today together, having loads of tea and chats, and I can honestly say that she's a star, so brave and so sweet! We'd chat about forging friendships over the internet, and I'd tell you about some happy emails that I'm exchanging with one especially lovely lady at the moment, and how it's really cool to find someone you have so much in common with!

While dusting away the crumbs of the cupcakes and slurping the very last of the pot of tea, I'd tell you how lovely it has been to share a cuppa with you. I'd laugh and tell you that my sister has already informed me that my plans for the Easter holidays already read like a 'tea crawl', i.e. an attempt to visit as many of the tea and coffee shops as possible in our local town!! I'd admit that this is definitely a challenge I am willing to undertake! As we waved our goodbyes, I'd invite you around soon again, and promise that I won't leave it so long the next time!

Sinéad
xxx

P.S. Today, I am joining in with 'Let's Sit and Have a Cup of Tea', a lovely idea started over at Abi's blog. Do pop over and say hello!

P.P.S. Thank you Abi for getting me back blogging again!

Mid-Term Break



Can anyone tell me where my four-day weekend disappeared to? It actually seems like about five minutes ago that I finished school on Wednesday afternoon, with lots of plans for work and relaxation during the mid-term break (which is the Irish equivalent of half-term, only shorter!).  And now it’s Monday again...how did that happen?! Last week was super busy (even though it was only three days), what with Pancake Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, along with the usual day-to-day lessons. On Tuesday, I actually made pancakes with my class, which was SO messy but a great laugh – lots of chocolaty faces and some hilarious photos!

So I was definitely ready for a rest during the mid-term break. I did get some nice sleep-ins (sweet!), did a spot of shopping, had coffee shop dates with my Mum, sister and friend, did some lesson planning and resource making...and I scrapped!! It was the first time I had scrapped a 12x12 in ages, but Miss Smith’s inspiration was just too much to resist :D

So this is the resulting layout, which I’ve titled ‘Mona Lisa Smile’. It features a photo I took when I visited the Louvre in Paris last summer. Of course, the main attraction and most well-known piece in the magnificent and extensive gallery is Da Vinci’s famous lady with her mesmerising eyes. I wanted to document the absolute mayhem and throngs of people muscling in around the painting, and how difficult it was to get a decent photo. Though it might be hard to make out from my photograph of the layout, the picture is of another tourist’s camera angled towards the Mona Lisa. I liked the idea of framing the painting in the camera’s viewfinder, and it was by far the most interesting picture I captured in that part of the gallery! The page design is a little different from my usual, and was inspired by the first Telling Tales prompt, which focused on blocking out the design in boxes, and then moving them around until aesthetically pleasing :D It’s definitely an idea I would use again, possibly over a double page spread with more photos.  

 

Hope you have a lovely week...with no more disappearing days!

 

Sinéad

xxx

 

P.S. My photos are either too big or too small! Any ideas about how I can get a size between 'large' and 'x-large'?!

Here and Now

So I think you could safely say I'm struggling a bit to fit blogging in around a VERY hectic day-to-day life...well, I did warn you that the posts were going to be sporadic! Since I last posted, I've been up to my eyes with schoolwork, lesson planning and preparation and the like. Fun times! I adore the classroom side of teaching, it's just the paperwork can be a bit of a pain at times. I've also been following along Miss Smith's online scrapbooking class 'Telling Tales'. While I haven't really been doing much of the crafty stuff (yet!), I'm really enjoying the mix of scrapbook, photo and journalling prompts arriving daily in my inbox. One of the journalling prompts was about documenting the here and now, the little daily things, with a series of simple questions. I think that this aspect of scrapbooking, emphasising the mundane and the trivial, is so important. We'll all remember the birthdays and festivities and big events, but it is the everyday detail that can get lost and forgotten. So I said I'd give it a go...

What are you working on?
Day to day lesson planning, ideas for my ‘Journeys Far and Near’ theme, classroom decorations, trying to think of ways to build this spanking new blog

What music are you singing along to in your head?
Country Roads, having done it in school this week: 'Almost heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains.....aarrggh, going to be singing it all night now - and more than likely aloud rather than in my head!)

If you had a day off to yourself tomorrow, what would you do?
Have a lie in (a.k.a., anything past 7.30am!), bake something from scratch for breakfast, scrapbook, go shopping with my sister and visit numerous coffee shops with friends, cook a Jamie Oliver 15 minute meal in the evening (seriously, the flavours he can fit in are amazing!) and curl up by the fire

What have you learned this week?
When somebody dies, it is impossible to know what to say to the bereaved person – there simply are no words to express grief and pain

What was the last thing that made you laugh?
The children in my class repeatedly asking me if their good behaviour is ‘brownie-worthy’! They get 'brownie points' for whole class positive behaviour, and they are literally OBSESSED with my brownie tray display :D

What are you enjoying on TV?
Grey’s Anatomy, old episodes of Friends, whatever I happen to tune into at the weekend as I am TV-less from Monday to Friday (sadface)

What are you reading?
J.K. Rowling’s ‘The Casual Vacancy’ (and I’m really enjoying it, despite all the criticism and bad press it has received)

What was the last really yummy thing you cooked?
Well, it doesn’t really count as cooking per se since it only involves melting, mixing and chilling, but I made chocolate biscuit cake for my class yesterday as a treat – they were delighted :D

What is inspiring you?
Reading blogs, new friendships, Pinterest, Miss Smith’s ‘Telling Tales’ scrapbooking class

What are you worrying about?
Getting everything I need to do done on time, my very first set of parent teacher meetings next week (help!)

I really enjoyed doing this, and might make it into a regular thing. I think it could be really interesting to compare how my answers might vary also...something to think about!

Thank you so much if you're still reading :D

Sinéad xxx

Post the Second...Ode to My Camera

So...I'm slowly getting my head around blogging, I think! And thanks to Abi, I now know how to add photos, because I don't know about you, but if a blog post has no photos, I just can't warm to it. I need the visual element as well as the written word to grab my attention and keep me interested - but maybe that's just me! Plus, I love photography so a pretty picture is always a winner in my eyes :D

Anyone for Scrabble?!

Which brings me to the topic of this post, namely my 50mm lens. Maybe I should backtrack a little though, and tell you the whole story... I got my first DSLR camera last July, a Canon 1100D. Now, I had been craving a DSLR for a VERY long time. I looked longingly at other people's cameras, and oohed and aahed over the stunning photographs posted on various blogs and photo-sharing websites that originated from the lens of a DSLR. So I researched and read countless articles online and watched YouTube videos, and eventually decided to take the plunge and treat myself with the money I had earned from my summer job (working in a butcher's shop...I know, not what you'd expect and certainly not the most glamorous of jobs, but hey, work=money!). And so my Baby came into my life. I don't use that capital letter lightly...my new camera really was like a baby to me :D So much so that at the end of a wonderful three-day trip to Paris only a week after I bought it, my friend that I travelled with was also calling it Baby!

Christmas baking 50mm style!

So the love affair continued, and many, many photos later, I am completely thrilled I took the plunge. I love the creative control that a DSLR offers, the beautifully vibrant or delicately soft images it can produce and even just the feel of it in my hands. (Is that weird?!) But as the saying goes, much wants more, and after a few days with my cousin's 50mm f/1.8 lens, I was seriously tempted to invest in a new lens to upgrade Baby. It was the shallow depth of field that won me over, that dreamy softness that results from having the lens wide open to suck in as much light as possible. And so, with my first pay cheque from my first 'real' (a.k.a. non-butchering) job, I treated myself to the 50mm lens before Christmas, egged on by my Mum and a very persuasive salesman! It has been SO worth it :D I absolutely adore the images this lens can produce...gorgeous portraits, detailed still lifes and amazing pictures in low light, even without editing. I still have so much practice to do, and tons to learn, but suffice to say that this lens was worth every cent of the €139 I paid for it - an investment!

Mulled wine...love how the steam is captured!

Thank you if you've managed to read this far and haven't gotten bored yet! I even included some pictures taken with my beloved 50mm to keep you interested :D

Sinéad
xxx

P.S. Anybody else participating in Miss Smith's class Telling Tales? I got the first prompt this evening and love it so far! Though my participation will depend on school workload...anyone want to correct some copies for me?!

Just Testing...

Hello world...

After deliberating and wondering and procrastinating about jumping onboard the blogging bandwagon, I have finally taken the plunge! Scary times!
So...a little bit about me! I'm Sinéad, I'm a twenty year old primary school teacher from County Clare in the west of Ireland. I just qualified last May and I started my first job in late November, and am loving it so far (though it is super hectic as I teach in a multi-class setting!). I love scrapbooking, photography, crochet, cooking, baking, music, teaching, crafts, reading and about seven million other things :D
I'm not sure if anyone will be interested in the random (and possibly sporadic depending on my kinda insane schedule!) posts, but for now, let's just see how this thing goes :D

Sinéad
xxx

P.S. This blogging lark is totally alien to me (including adding photos...Blogger doesn't seem to like my pictures, sadtimes!)...so any help/advice would be gratefully appreciated!
P.P.S. This blog would never have happened if it weren't for the encouragement (and gentle nagging!) of Miss Smith and Abi so thanks a million :D