It's a Mannequin Officer...

...is what I will say when I get stopped while depositing this body in the lock up. It is my lovely mannequin girl who has to go to there for now, so that her room can be turned into Andy's stay at home office. I have set myself the target of two weeks to get the little room emptied, and then he can work in there and I can sort out the rest of the flat without disturbing him. I also need to get it cleared so that, once he is in there, I can put up the big cat tree I ordered today. I have been promising Oliver that he can have one once there is enough room, and I ordered it today to encourage myself to get it done. 

I managed to throw out some teaching degree essays and course work. One of the essays was on spelling-how children learn to do so, and I couldn't even bring myself to read it so it had to go. All of it has been in Mum's loft for the last 25 years so I don't need it. When I have finished this massive task I have set myself there is a problem in that I don't want to bring all of that stuff back. I am already forgetting what is there. So we either move, or I just go down and get rid of it. I can't worry about it now, but I will continue to try to get rid of some of it as I go, rather than store it for no reason. 

I have never wrapped up a body before, and have also never sat and stuck cloves into an orange. I had to make Christingle candles with Reception on Wednesday, using cocktail sticks and sweets and I really enjoyed it. Then I had a conversation with one of the teaching assistants at break time about how her family used to do lots of baking in preparation for Christmas and how her Mum made the kids make decorations such as oranges with cloves. Anyway, it was very therapeutic to do, if a little painful, as some of the cloves are quite sharp. The red berries are cranberries, held on with cocktail sticks and I only had a tealight which is also held on that way. It smells delicious if you sniff it closely. I also strung some cranberries up in the hope they might dry out so I can use them to make a wreath. I have made a couple of wreaths in the past and quite enjoyed it so am going to try to make one tomorrow. I have cut a couple of long pieces of red stemmed dogwood which bends and weaves beautifully into a circle. I also cut some bay, forsythia and will get ivy tomorrow. It will make a change from packing the back room!

I found my small collection of old typewriters. This one is a lovely colour. I think I would call it pistachio green. It works ok too and I had a go with it this afternoon. It is so satisfying to do, though I wouldn't want to use one long term in comparison to a computer keyboard as it is quite hard work. 

 The case of this one is a dirty blue grey colour, and is slightly paint spattered. It doesn't promise much, so it is a lovely surprise when you find the bright gem inside.