Cutting Back

We spent this afternoon just clearing the garden up. This should probably have been done in the autumn but we just didn't get round to it. While Peter kept lovely and warm pruning the apple tree with a saw Alison got frozen cutting back soggy dead plants to make way for new growth. Just as her fingers couldn't take any more cold she decided to attack the Yukka plant. It has been growing amazingly and after removing two very large sections she could then start to get some of the dead leaves off and found loads of smaller new growth underneath, most of which has also come off and it's still huge.
Hopefully this week being half term Alison will get some good days outside and also get more wallpaper removed form the stair well. Decorating has been a slow job recently as she can't stand on her ankle for long periods (it's healing but slowly) and her arm which started playing up in Tanzania starts up again if used for long periods, but we're getting there very slowly. The bedroom just awaits a border around the top and curtains which we ordered last week, photos will follow on completion.

First Day in School

Yesterday was Alison's first day ( or should we say morning) in an English school and she really loved it. Although she has taught year one in computing being in a class with them was totally different as she had to work out just how much they should know about the basics such as reading and writing. It really helped that she found out that she already knew a couple of staff, one of whom was in the same classroom as her. As the day starts at 8.40 it means that Peter can get out the house way before Alison needs to think about hogging the bathroom etc and so morning bliss can remain in the Roots household.