*proud mama moment*

Indulge me for just a minute, please. I have written previously about my concerns over Freya settling in to school this year, and also about the enormous pressures that are placed on the children at school at such a young age. At Freya's school, they hold a celebration assembly on a Friday morning to which parents and friends are invited; I toddled along this morning, as I usually do, to join in the singing and to share in the applause for any children being rewarded for whatever reason this week. The '*name of school* pig' is awarded in celebration assembly to one child, only if a teacher has put forward a special nomination to the headmistress - some weeks the pig stays at school because there are no nominations. The recipient of the first pig of this school year is...*drum roll, please*...FREYA!!



She gets to wear the piggy badge until next Friday, and the wooden pig that she's cradling in the photo sits on her desk for the week. If there is an award next Friday, Freya has to hand it on to the next person in assembly, otherwise it goes back to the head's office. Her teacher said that she'd been "working her socks off" since the start of term, and that she'd "settled really well" - such a relief.

In other news, Anja, Ed and I have been hard at work in the garden again today, after the rain scuppered any chance we had of getting out there yesterday. I got ten winter pansies free at the garden centre this morning, because I'd spent over £10, so Anja claimed these as her own, and planted them in my blue pots; she has taken to referring to them as "my girls" and has been talking to them, and encouraging them to grow!



Do you garden in pink sparkly shoes worn on the wrong feet?



We've just about finished the patch at the end of the drive; the grasses are in, and I'm really pleased with how it looks. They should all spread a little to fill in some of the gaps, and hopefully this patch will now require very little in the way of maintenance, just the odd bit of trimming back from time to time, and perhaps some removal of weeds. Because it's a long, thin patch, it's difficult to get a decent photo, but this gives the general idea:



I've also planted up six pots with a variety of daffodil, tulip and crocus bulbs for some colour in the late winter/early spring months; I've never planted bulbs before (I am a hopeless gardener) so I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed that I've done it properly, and wait to see what happens in February/March!!