Snow bound

At 6.20 this morning, the phone rang. It was the snow-line tree from school, informing me that school was closed today. 6.20! I ask you.

Well, I called the person below me in the tree who, sensible woman, let her answer phone take the message, and then, because my heart was pounding so hard with the sudden noise shock and there was no way I was going to get an extra half hour kip, I went downstairs and made a cup of tea.

Yesterday, we were sent home an hour early as the snow clouds gathered. I was one of a handful of designated staff asked to be prepared to come into work today, in case it was decided to partially open the school for Year 11. But as my services were not required on site, I thought I would use my directed time at home to work on my scheme of work for 'Romeo and Juliet' which I have just started with Year 10 for their coursework. I would also have a designated slot mid-afternoon to watch more of my DVD of 'Jam and Jerusalem.'

'Can't we do something other than Shakespeare?' asked one boy.
'Something other than Shakespeare for your Shakespeare coursework?' I said. 'The clue, dear child, is in the title.'
'So we have to do Shakespeare then?' said he, catching on quickly.
'Indeed,' quoth I.
'Well, do we have to do Romeo and Juliet?' he said. 'It's boring.'
'Oh,' I said. 'So you've done Romeo and Juliet before then, have you?'
'No,' he said.
'Then unless you can come up with an alternative Shakespeare play for which you have a preference, I'm afraid we're sticking with Romeo and Juliet,' I said.

Both the boy and the rest of the class failed to come up with an alternative. One child said, 'What's that one with the witches?' and another said 'To be or whatsit thing.' But that was the best they could manage. So wish me luck with the whole Shakespeare thingy doo-dah.

So before I started school work, I went and dug the chickens from the snow drift that had gathered around their pod. And then they refused to come out unless I held their layers pellets breakfast in my cupped hands for them to eat from, and I'd supplied them with warm drinking water, some sunflower seeds and a whole cabbage.

And then Andy and I did a walking raid on Sainsbugs, as the local radio station said were going to suffer a blizzard over the weekend and I developed an irrational fear of running out of tea bags and apples. But then I did dream last night that we had a rabbit the size of a ping pong ball, so am clearly suffering some sort of snow induced brain freeze.

Wherever you are, I hope the snow isn't causing too many disruptions to your day, and that if it is, you are enjoying your bonus time. Things will return to normal all too soon. For happiness can sometimes appear through a door you'd forgotten you'd opened.