Five on Friday

It has been another busy week, second last of term. Most of the school events are now over and I am grateful for that. Today I am once more linking up with Amy at Love Made My Home, where you can find Five on Friday. Quite possibly this post is going to bore you beyond belief. But life is like that sometimes and I want to record it all, be it exciting, dull, frustrating or fun.

:: This week I made cordial with the last of our redcurrants in the freezer. I diluted some still hot to have a taste. It was wonderfully fresh and tasty. I am glad I did because the cordial set in the bottle and is now jelly. Honestly, if I wanted to make jelly, it would be much more trouble. It is the most beautiful jelly, just enough wobble to hold together but not rubbery. It'll be difficult to get it out of the bottles.... I had some on a crisp bread for supper. Lovely. 


:: Thursday night was Annie's P7 presentation night. It is the day when they get their P7 project back and the HT tells the audience a little about the children's memories of the school. It was excruciatingly boring with a few highlights. The children didn't actually get to say anything, the DHT read out what they had previously written down. There was a relatively small variety of bests and favourites and what would be missed. Interestingly, most children loved maths. There were a couple of boys with a sense of humour. One answered how much he had enjoyed the Happy Monday Assemblies, later that he was going to miss them and later still, they were going to be one of his best memories. The DHT's puzzled face was funny. These Happy Monday Assemblies are infamous in the upper school for being excessively tedious. Another boy had the giggles, which in turn made me giggle. I hope I didn't make the giggles worse for him. I was sitting next to his mum and he would have spotted me going redder and redder. For one boy, clearly someone else had filled in a gap in the questionnaire. His surprised face was funny when the DHT read out that most of all he'll miss one particular girl. I admired his maturity for taking this so well.

:: There were two sports days at primary school this week, upper school and infants. I wasn't allowed to go to the upper school one because I am an embarrassment to Annie. I don't think I am that bad. She still cringes when I mention my little victory dance last year. I was just happy because I was proud of her. I had told the little ones I wasn't going to be able to come and watch them race because work was busy. I felt guilty and made time. Unfortunately I was late for the infant flat races and I missed seeing James win the potato and spoon race. There were no other races because the rest of them were cancelled due to incessant smirr, causing the pitch to be slippery.


:: James was pupil of the week for 'always being a good friend and always being mannerly and polite'. He has good social skills my wee man and I am very proud of him. This achievement pleased me even more than the good school report he brought home. School is a struggle for James and I really appreciate that his teacher celebrates with James his strengths.  Look at his cheeky happy face! It is just a shame that he is not always polite and mannerly at home :-)

:: And finally, I m looking forward to a night out with the PTA this Saturday. We have worked hard this year and an evening of laughter, drinks and chat is perfect to celebrate an excellent fundraising year. We organised countless fundraisers, contributing with over £9000 to school resources, including some that no PTA should have to fund. I am planning to be skipping all the way home.

I am hoping to recover from the night out all Sunday and maybe dedicate some time to knitting or sewing, or maybe both. I am also hoping to go for a jog with Jack. I took Jack jogging last weekend and it was fun. I hadn't been running since March because plantar fasciitis is giving me grief. We are a good team, Jack and I are. He likes to stop and sniff, I like to stop and catch my breath. I will of course also spend some time entertaining the children, or at least facilitate entertainment.

How was your week and what are your plans for the weekend? Do tell, I would love to know. Whatever the weekend may bring, I hope you'll enjoy it. 





Comments

  1. O dear a bottle of jelly, perhaps stand the in a pan of hot water on the stove and once liquified pour them into jars to set, it looks a lovely colour :-)

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  2. Lovely cordial/jelly. At least it tastes good. School presentation nights can be a bit of a drag, although at last year's one I got a bit teary as it was my son's graduation from primary school and they played sad music as they all marched in. I was trying to control myself the whole way through, lest I embarrassed my son! Congrats to James for pupil of the week, how good is that! Enjoy the PTA night out, sounds like you deserve it.

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  3. I'm laughing, you write the best posts Christina. I shall be trying not to look too competitive at sports' day next week. Well done James on his award. My littlest boy got a commendation for being polite to the teachers and other pupils once and it's still stuck up on the kitchen cupboard. Those are the ones that mean the most aren't they. (He was actually quite mystified as to why he was given it, but it's there in writing, that's good enough for me.) I hope you have a good night out on Saturday, it is very well deserved, that's a phenomenal amount of fundraising. CJ xx

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  4. Hmm.. I wonder why your cordial set? I guess your berries must have a lot of natural pectin. oh well - as long as the flavour is good, right? School is almost out around here too. We have 5 more school days with kids and 1 day without them. I am already counting the minutes!!

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  5. I am excited, as I have two daughters and 3 Grandchildren visiting this weekend so highly likely to be soft play, arcades the park, a donkey ride....your must be a proud Mama with James getting an award. Have good night out on Saturday.

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  6. Even though your cordial set to jelly, it still looks beautiful and I can just imagine the taste of red currants! I can see the jars being a bit of trouble though ... I hope you enjoyed a laugh and were not too annoyed at the change. It's so nice that your son's teacher is encouraging him no matter what his grades are. My son too has always had to struggle, and is still struggling in high school (age 17). The hard work pays off, but despite all of that, there is more to life than grades and doing well. He's a really nice kid, and he has a great understanding of people and what is right. I saw a t-shirt on a little boy last week that said "Nice guys finish first" ... I found that heartening. Have a great weekend!
    Wendy

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  7. The cordial sounds so very delicious!! Maybe it was cooked too long to have it set up like it did? I'm just guessing.
    And such a sweet, sweet smile. Love Jame's freckles too. Adorable. Congrats on his accolade.

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  8. Congratulations to James on his award - what a lovely award to receive - and to you and your PTA colleagues too on raising that huge amount of money, I hope you have a great night out to celebrate. I hope your foot is recovered - I have the same problem in my right foot, it's painful and annoying. Sports days are a distant memory for me now, I always managed to hide when it was parents' race time! Hope you managed to get your unintentional jelly out of its bottles, sounds lovely! Have a great weekend Christina. Jane xx

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  9. I do so love reading your posts, they always make me smile - even when your cordial turns to jelly! Phew, that's a busy week you've had but not long to go til the holidays and hopefully there will be an opportunity to put your feet up too. Enjoy your PTA outing, and have a happy weekend, hugs xx

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  10. Not at all boring!!! I hope that you can work out how to get the cordial out of the bottles though! It sounds as though school things have been very busy at your house. Congratulations to James for his pupil of the week award and for winning the egg and spoon race - that is a hard one to win!!! Sounds as though he is doing pretty well with school things right now. You must be very proud of him I am sure. Hope you have fun tonight at the fundraiser! Thank you so much as always for joining in. I hope that you have a great weekend! xx

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  11. The colour of your cordial/jelly is wonderful - I guess if you can get it out of the bottles it will spread like jam on scones? You sound as if you are very busy with your children and their schools and must be very proud of all their achievements:)

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  12. Wonderful school events for the kids! Cute photo of your little one too. And, that raspberry cordial...looks so YUMMY! Oh, I wish I had a bottle of cold cordial right now!!!! It's 115 degrees here in Tucson!

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  13. I love James' happy, cheeky face and well done to him for being pulling the week. Hopefully one day he'll realize those nice manners at school are skills transferable to the home environment too :-) Have a great time with your PTA friends tomorrow evening. My husband's going away for a week so tomorrow we'll be busy packing for his flight on Sunday. There will be the usual gymnastics and church and a party on Sunday afternoon. Not looking forward to solo parenting next week. X

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    1. Sorry, it's pupil of the week, not pulling. Silly tablet!

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  14. I had exactly the same problem making redcurrant cordial - it makes me think there must be so much pectin in them that they'd make a good addition to strawberry jam.
    Hoping for some summer sunshine this weekend.

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  15. Wow it sounds like quite a week! I love the idea of a victory dance, if I ever have children I shall definitely be doing the same! well done to James he looks so happy. The cordial looks lovely as jelly! Enjoy your night out with the PTA that's such an achievement! x

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  16. Ha! Well, I bet that cordial made a really nice jelly. Too bad the bottle neck isn't just a little wider. :) Interesting that everyone would just sit and listen while an adult reads things out loud that children wrote. Would be much nicer and surely more entertaining if the kids did their own readings. Bravo to James. My days are always filled with crochet though I probably should add cleaning and organizing to my to do list one of these days. Best wishes, Tammy

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  17. Hmmmmm jelly cordial, pour it or dollop it all over vanilla ice cream ?
    Yummy!
    best daisy j x

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  18. Hi Christina - I'm generally considered an embarrassment to my daughter too and she really suffers because she can't escape as I work at her school. That's a lovely picture of your wee boy.

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  19. You've made me laugh again Christina! I made a liqueur from red currants a few years ago and that turned to jelly too! Delicious but definitely not a drink... Too much pectin apparently. Well done James... And well done you too on being an embrarrassment to your children. A mother's role in life I've always felt! My else desk refused to acknowledge me once when I turned up to collect him wearing a hat. He walked straight past me as though I didn't exist!
    }

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  20. Love your post today. Feels real and just like me! what am I doing this weekend. It is Bloke's turn to take the children to ballet then on to a party. So I have the whole morning to myself. Little blog, finish one of my knits and then plan a lesson for Tuesday as I am being observed. UH! Tomorrow I am belly dancing out on Ironbridge with the sisterhood so busy, busy. Hope you have a good weekend too. Jo x

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  21. Ah what a little star James is! Well done! Cordial looks lovely even though it's solid. My solution would be to add a little vodka and give it a darn good shake. Not boring at all Christina, just reassuringly normal! Have a brilliant weekend. xx

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  22. Not a boring post at all, Christina, made me smile. Please pass my Congratulations on to James - he is quite obviously a star. x

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  23. Not boring in any way the cordial looks amazing, great colour. And well done to James! X

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  24. Hey Christina,
    Life is life, my friend. I absolutely love the picture of James.
    Leanne xx

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  25. Well done James on his award! You made me laugh Christina! I made a jelly once - it was so hard it bounced! X

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Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment, I love to hear from you, I really do. I sometimes reply by email but I am not all that reliable... Christina xx

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