Project 366 : Photo diary week 38

 This week, the lurgy hit. As a teacher, I'm quite used to getting a cold when we all go back to school. What with a total change of routine, feeling tired and needing more sleep, plus having dozens of kids coughing and sneezing all over you and not always remembering to put their hands over their mouths. (That's one advantage of them all wearing masks !) Juliette was the first to have signs of a cold, then mine started a day later and Pierre at the end of the week. It's basically just a really bad cold - a runny nose that means I have to keep walking into the corridor and taking off my mask so that I can blow my nose, then going back into my classroom and disinfecting my hands, a nasty cough and just a general feeling of being run-down. Then Juliette's friend, who is now in a different class to her but they get the bus together and still talk a lot, said that one of her classmates is off with coronavirus - but only half of the class is confined. And one of my pupil's parents messaged to say that the little sister has coronavirus so he'll be off for a week then will be back if his test comes back negative. For peace of mind, I decided I should go and get tested, but it would have to wait until the weekend and by then, it had started to shift. Even if it did come back positive, you only get a week off then need a new test and, if it's a pupil, the rest of the class stays open now anyway. Not how sure this is going to evolve ! :-/

Sunday 13th September - Juliette called from her sleepover to say she'd be home in the afternoon, so I didn't even bother cooking Sunday lunch. I used up leftovers with Pierre then cooked the roast dinner in the evening instead. Pierre went out with his friends on his bike in the afternoon so I was home alone. Didn't do anything special though. I just caught up on washing. I'm not even sure this tiger onesie fits Pierre any more but it's cooling down in the evenings so he might want to wear it soon !

Monday - Work in the morning then my afternoon off - aaaah ! I spent it catching up with marking and going to the supermarket to get a new Sodastream gas canister. Very exciting - not ! We're still enjoying taking Didou the dog out for a walk after dinner every evening. The nights are starting to draw in though. A few weeks ago, we'd be coming home in blazing sunshine, then we would have the sunsets on the way back. Now, the sunset is happening just as we head out and it's starting to get dingy on the way back.

Tuesday - Another sign that autumn is arriving and summer is basically over. Our fruit bowl currently has apples, grapes and figs in it. Gone are the strawberries and raspberries from just a few weeks ago. Today was a busy day at work. After lessons in the morning, I spent my free-hour sorting out a computer with a webcam with Windows 8 with the school librarian (we discovered the app wouldn't work on Windows 10) then spent the afternoon in a video conference with the Norwegian researchers and Spanish, British and French teachers for the Critical Thinking project. It all got put on hold during confinement so now it's kicking off again. I need to sort out a new lesson plan using critical thinking. I thought maybe I'd look at all the myths and fake news surrounding coronavirus and how to stay safe, then moved towards they myths of Thanksgiving, which should be easier for the kids to understand in English hopefully !

 

Wednesday - Just the morning at work then headed home ... and slept all afternoon. Oops ! Not feeling great though and coughing kept me awake last night, so it probably did me good. Juliette flaked out too. Hmmmm.

Thursday - A full day at work, then had a quick get-together to give some retirement gifts to one of our cleaners. She's lovely and has been with us for years, so it made us laugh when, the next day, she left a thank you card in the staffroom along with a tin of biscuits and two tins of chocolates ! Took the dog out and looked at all the flowers springing up in the fields. There are loads of really random flowers that I've never seen before. No idea what these ones are, but they look pretty cool and add a lovely splash of colour against the dark green grass.

Friday - This was dinner and I spent the whole time thinking "there's never going to be enough" ! I had a couple of large veal fillets that I chopped up and fried, along with some onions and mushrooms, before adding some cream. There was pasta to go with it, but it still didn't look enough, so I added a small tin of peas and carrots. It still didn't look enough but it turned out, there was plenty. I went from cooking for five to four after Madhouse Daddy died, then to three when Sophie went to England to study, plus Pierre eats like a sparrow, so I really need to reduce quantities. It's the same with rice, pasta and potatoes - I always end up adding more then they're not needed. Luckily Pierre can use them up for lunch so it's not wasted.

Saturday - Phew, we made it to the weekend ! I had planned on heading to the local covid testing centre but actually felt better after (finally !) a good night's sleep. Checked out symptoms lists online and I think it's just a bad cold. Treated myself to a lazy day. Went to McDonald's then the cemetery with Juliette and the weekly shop in Lidl. That was it - settled into bed with a book (a children's book, just for ultimate feel-goodness value !), then read and slept all afternoon. Aaah this is definitely the way to get over a cold ! 

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