At the moment I am leaving for work just as the sun is rising and returning home just as it is setting. I took these photos balancing right on the top of a gate at the top of the drive. Despite the very low temperatures it has been bone dry so the roads are clear and we have taken a chance and brought the cars down to the house this evening. Yesterday morning after walking carefully over the black ice all the way up the hill I was extremely cautious driving the 3 miles to the main road. I'm never too sure how icy the conditions are and prefer to take all precautions even if that means staying at 15mph. At least I know that if I do slide off the road it will only be a gentle bump. Tragically on the news we heard that yesterday morning a teacher's car slid on the ice, hit a van and was shunted onto a level crossing and into the path of a train, with fatal results. Even today the police were saying that (due to inexperience) there were many accidents that could have been less severe if people had driven at slower speeds. It is the inconsistency of our British weather that causes so many problems, sudden cold spells, floods, heat waves or even 'leaves on the line'.
Work passes by in a flash, I feel like I'm on the go all day. And while not 100% I'm feeling a lot better. One of the disadvantages of teaching the reception class is that I am on playground duty every afternoon though it is nice to get outside for some fresh air. The children have access to the outside through most of the day but my domain is usually the classroom where I 'supervise ' the playground through the enormous picture windows. Thanks to all the detailed planning left on my lap top by the previous teacher I am able to ease into teaching this class without having too many things to worry about at once. Task for tomorrow is to install the correct software on my lap top while it is attached to the interactive whiteboard so that I can actually use the whiteboard.
