Five for Friday {London part 2}

Wowsers what a week!

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs to share some more of the amazing happenings I have been having this week on the other side of the world.

1. Week 1 of my schools study tour of the UK is almost over. I am feeling so blessed to be here but am also appreciating all of the hard work (mentally & physically) that we are all putting into this trip. The schools are amazing (for all different reasons) but it is leaving all of us with a ton to think about, act upon and find out more about.

This is a picture from Jesmond Gardens Primary. More pictures and details to show you later in the week but their play spaces are amazing.

Last weekend was spent in London {read more about it here} so I am going to finish my 5 things with:

2. Walking around, Hyde park & St. James Gardens.

3. I am a huge Nottinghill fan, I was so excited that I finally got to visit Portbello Rd markets & get my pic taken at 'the' blue door.

4. Convenant Garden Markets- love, love, love!

5. Dinner at Union Jacks (a Jamie Oliver restaurant)-OMG! Absolutely delicious food. Amazing place too, right in the middle of Covenant Gardens and completely laid back and funky.

And there was a busker outside the restaurant. Good company, food and tunes made for an amazing night.

London Baby! part one

I am feeling very, very lucky to be part of this amazing study tour {regardless of missing out today, being stuck at the hotel in bed with a nasty cold.. but it's giving me a chance to blog so there's always a bright side}. We are almost through our first week in England and will be heading to Scotland in a few days.

We arrived in London on Friday and had some free time to check out London town. Because I have been here before I was able to catch up with one of my wonderful friends and just chill out enjoying the city rather than being in a mad rush to do everything.

A recap of London:

Friday
Regent's Park

 Camden Lock Markets

With a stop at Chin Chin Labs for some Peanut Butter & Grape Jelly Sandwich Nitrogen ice cream with caramel sauce. Seriously cool & disgustingly delicious!

Saturday
King's Cross station to visit Platform 9 and three-quarters. If you have never been it is free and the best fun ever!

Royal Palace Staterooms Tour- you are not allowed to take pics inside but it is amazing! I am so glad I went, it's a lot bigger than it looks from the front and the grounds are huge. 

If you are an art geek like me, the collection that was on view was worth the visit. It had a large collection of dutch masters including Rembrandt.

And a few other places but I will save that for later because this is turning into an essay!

I will hopefully have some time during the week to write about the amazing schools we have been to so far. The learning spaces are incredible! Currently on a 'I wanna try that' overload.

5 for Friday and a Freebie!

It's so nice to be writing this today with a smile on my face! We had a good week- an entire week without one of my poppets having a severe, classroom wrecking, melt down- and it's ONLY taken ooh 28 weeks of school to get here. Little M's broken arm was horrible but overall it was still a good week.

I'm linking up with Doodlebugs again, my last one before I go away, to share the goodness!

I visited my Poppet with the broken arm last night. She end up with pins in the wrist and elbow and having her arm wired. Fun! We made cards & I bought her some sticker books and a toy as a present.

It's finally spring! My gorgeous Daffodils.

The weather has been gorgeous (24C) until Thursday so it's been a wonderful start. The sun has made our lemon tree come back to life! I couldn't believe how many buds had come out in a few days- it was completely naked Monday.

Just incase you were wondering about my Study Tour trip... :)

X is for X-Rays- we made these by tracing around our arms and gluing down cotton buds for the bones. Idea found on Pinterest by one of my unit peeps.

I visited my Mum on Sunday and was sent home with a boot load of stuff including these Pyrex dishes & a green glass jug. The orange sunflower dish and I are in love- it was meant to be :)

This week we have been writing procedures and we made toast. And nobody was injured, put butter on the ceiling, each other, licked the knife or anything! 

 They made a mess of the butter, which I pinched out of our staffroom fridge. When a teaching peep asked what had happened to it and I explained by saying "But no-one licked it or put their face in it- it's safe" he laughed. Let's face it, it could have happened :)

This poppet does the best drawings! I love the bubble head style and he even included his school polo top in the picture. The kiddo is a cracker!

And now for a Freebie!

If you would like the toast template I have uploaded it here just for you! It's basic but might be handy.

Have a great weekend,

Currently September

Time for another link up with Farley and I am so excited about this one because it is officially September!! 

Listening-
Just got home from work (just before 6) because of a leadership meeting to find the hubby cooking steaks for tea. And they are delicious.

Loving-
It is officially spring here in Australia and the weather is freaking gorgeous! I strolled around the lake Saturday and it was nice to have bare arms. 

Two days into spring and we've already had almost a week of short-sleeve weather and super sunny days. It's amazing & was desperately needed to help cheer this girl up.

Thinking-
Only 10 days until I leave for London for my Study Tour . I can't believe it has come around so quickly. I have slowly been putting stuff aside to pack but now I should make it a reality & start. I should stop mentioning it but I am getting excited. Except for the 24 hour flight to get there but I'm not dwelling on that :)

Wanting & Needing-
My poppets are not an easy class behaviour wise this year. It is getting to the point where it is tough to get through the week with my sense of self and cheery-ness in tact. I am leaving for the UK next week which is a week before term finishes and I am really looking forward to the 'break'..... But I really need a few more Me's to be able to squeeze everything in to the next 7 days of teaching.

Love-
Some me time would be great! My hubby and I have had a big chat over the weekend that I am so absorbed in work at the minute that I am a huge stress ball. The week after the study tour my teaching buddy and I are heading to Paris {yeah I know, tough life} so I am really looking forward to resting after all the education stuff. When I'm home more walking, yoga and the odd Combat class would be great, as well as some more sewing like my cushions that I made for a mate last weekend. 

Can't wait to read some of the other link up's!