We've just had a fantastic weekend walking in the peaks with Tim's parents. We did a long walk on Saturday from the Derwent Dam up and along the Derwent Edge, it was about 4 hours and I was quite proud of myself for keeping up, I actually felt quite fit! Maybe that gym membership is paying off!!!
Tony, Judith and Tim



There were some very beautiful views







These few photos were taken overlooking the Monsal Dale (hope I have spelt that right), we didn't walk it this time but Tim and I are hoping to do it in September.



On Sunday we walked up from Castleton past Perveril Castle and down through Winnits Pass, was another lovely walk, and next time Tim and I will do the big walk that Tony and Judith told us about.

Better scoot, my dinner is ready!
xxxx

Our new garden dining set!!!

Hi,

Tim and I have just had the most productive evening of gardening! We saw this table and chair set (four chairs comes with it) ages ago but it cost far too much, then we popped into Focus on Sunday and it was half price!!!! We got it for a bargain!! So we had dinner outside then spent the evening making our lawn look nice, Tim mowed and I raked, then I trimmed the adges the mower couldn't reach and raked some more...!!!! It now looks fab!!! We are going to do it again next Tuesday or wednesday to make it look great for my hen party!!!!
This spot below is a right sun spot in the evenings, I am imagining in the future putting up an archway to grow roses up and a little bench in the middle to read books on long, warm summer evenings... (that is when I am not writing reports, planning, doign assessments or preparing staff meetings!)
Our gorgeous boys loving the warm summer evening! A few hot air balloons went over tonight, it is a perfect evening for it! It's just a ruddy shame that the sun shines on days we are stuck inside at work then rains all weekends... ragh! It would have been wonderful at Bosworth if the weather was like it was today, oh well!

Above is my gorgeous Oscar!!!!

Well better scoot, bye xxx

I have finished my reports!!!

Hi,

I am so pleased I have finished my reports. When I looked back at the past few years on my blog
I am a bit behind schedule in 2007 I finished my reports on the 3rd June!!! And 2006 I finished them on the 18th... Well at least they are all done, unless my head teacher thinks they are no good and makes me do them all again... fingers crossed!!!

I now have a lot of marking to catch up on and assessments to complete, it never stops!!!

I thought I would add a photo of my gorgous boy Einstein as I have been so busy writing reports and doing school stuff I haven't taken any photos. Tim and I did have a bit of a day off yesterday and went to Bosworth Battlefield (a pre school trip visit) it was a shame as it rained and was freezng cold so we didn't get to do any lovely walks like we had hoped, but we had a good look round the exhibition and I am feeling more prepared for my trip now.

We then popped into Leam to see my lovely friend Katie, I miss her so much, and we had a wander around town. I miss leam so much, I miss the books shops and the bars and the restaurants and the park... although when tim and I drove back into our road and pulled up outside our house I did have a lovely feeling of 'I'm home', which was nice. Our carpet is still going very well and nos pillages yet, I will let you know how if that's the case after my hen party the weekend after next!!!! (which by the way I am SO excited about, I know NOTHING??!!!!)

Well no gossip, no photos and no exciting news, sorry!

Big hugs, gemma x

hope you all have a good week and let's hope it whizzes past so the weekend comes around again really soon!!!!

Our new mirror!!! (and giraffe!!!)

Hi,

Here is our new BEAUTIFUL mirror and our giraffe!! (He was in the sale and we couldn't resist!!)

Not sure where he is going to live yet, he may move about till we find a spot we really like him in!

I thought I would add this picture in below of our lounge the day we moved in... we took up the carpet and was left with a stinky room of half decayed underlay!!! What a difference to how it looks now...
Our hallway with Mum's poppy picture, it looks much better there than being lost in our big bedroom.
Below is our study, the room we were in with our sofa and TV, now has our computer, it looks great!!!

We just had a lovely weekend with our friends Anna and Craig. Was great to see them and catch up on all the news and gossip. We went for a walk around Carsington, had lunch in a little pub, played games and watched a few movies. Now I am desperately trying to get my planning done but at the same time being distracted by my blog yet again!!!!

BYEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeee xxx

WE HAVE CARPET!!!

Hi,
We are soooo pleased, we have our lovely new lounge, hallway, stairs and landing carpet!!! It looks amazing, and is so soft to walk on and warm!!! We have been really busy moving all our furniture into our new lounge and it looks great! I have also just finished dusting our new downstairs study!!!

For those of you who saw our house when it was at it's worst you are going to be amazed next time you see it as to how much work Tim and I have actually done, we feel very proud of oursleves!


Well better scoot, I have ridiculous amounts of school work to do and have finally kicked my butt into gear to get it done... bring it on!!!!!!

BYE XXXX

Hello,

So we have had a madly busy week of DIY!! We are desperately getting ready for our carpet TOMORROW!! WOW we can't believe it is actually going to happen, how wonderful will it be to walk on soft floor and have a great big lounge to relax in!!! Our cats are going to have a field day scratching it so we have our scratch post ready to shove them on every time they even think about scratching our carpet!!

I thought I would put some photos on of our front garden so far, Tim has been working hard on planting stuff and tidying it up, Grandma helped us at Easter in pulling up loads of weeds but the little buggers are starting to come up again...! ragh! Tim thinks this area will get even more flowers by the end of the summer and look even better so I will keep you posted on photos. I think it looks lovely now, much better than when we moved in.

We have been really busy doing all the last minute finishing touches ready for the carpet. I have glossed the doorway tim built and all the last bits of glossing that needed finishing. We have spent tonight moving all our furniture and DIY tools from the lounge and I am now just about to do a big stylee hoovering session. Oh we are so excited!!!!

I am on a course tomorrow too so that's another bonus! I feel ready for a day of just listening. My mind is so full of house stuff, carpets, weddings, writing reports, marking writing optional SATs and marking and planning for BIG writing on Friday. My mind just can't remember things. I am constantly having o set myself reminders...

well I had better scoot, chat soon, Gemma xxx

Hello, above is Tim's door frame so far. He has whizzed through building a stud wall and adding a door frame, iot is ready for me to now paint then gloss, then he can put the door on! We will then have a big bathroom!!! Of course we will have to take down the inside walls and then put a new bathroom suite in eventually, but that will be a while in the future as we collect together our pennies!!

Below is our gorgeous garden looking really lush, we had a BBQ today as it was soooo hot and sunny all day. The cats are loving it!
I am now making a start on our porchway. I have taken off the old skanky hooks, filled in any holes and skimmed some areas that were not even. I then sanded today and have just started painting the ceiling and one wall. I think it will look fabulous and be such a warm, welcoming area for our guests!!

Below is the wall I haven't painted and the right hand side wall is the bit I have painted... it took me ages to go around all the pipes... one day we will box it in to a cupboard.
Above are our new hooks we have bought for coats. Aren't they sooo pretty??? We want hooks for coats and eventually get some shoe racks/a chest to put shoes in.
We went to IKEA yesterday to get a TV stand and we also bought some shelves, they will fit perfectly in the area opposite our downstairs WC. They will create lots of storage space for our boxes of books and things we haven;t unpacked yet!
We also have some really exciting news, we have invested in some carpet!!! We are so incredibly excited about it, we have been desperately saving our pennies and have finally got enough to get carpet in our lounge, hallway, stairs and landing. We need to save a few more pennies to get carpet in the bedrooms so that will be our next project in Autumn maybe!

I will put lots of photos on my blog as soon as they are fitted (hopefully Thursday!)

big hugs, gemma xx

Hi,

I hope the link worked at the side to Mum's blog, she is doing the most amazing embroidery and art work! And don't you just love the bags she made me, Ant and Grandma!!! I love mine!

Off to start planning, BOOOOOOOOOO!!!

hugs, gemma x