Are you sitting comfortably?

Gosh - not sure where to start today as I have so much I want to say and share LOL. So ... are you sitting comfortably as today's explore prompt was kind of about sitting. So that is where I am going to start.

 

Shimelle challenged us to think about where we sat and what it meant, so that is just what I have done and, as I am also starting a week in the life project today I have remembered to take lots of pictures of my day so far.

So let's look at seats first. I am going to start with the seat I am NOT using at the moment, but one where I seem to spend most of my waking hours during term time. This is my office seat at school. I actually have a beuatiful office. It is large (you can only see a small part of it here) and it has a small balcony and french doors. As it is on the first floor it is like being up in the trees and I have views of gorgeous woodland. Not that I actually get to look at the views you understand! Anyway, this is my work seat ... sat behind the desk.

 

I guess I always feel different sitting there than I do anywhere else as I am in ‘work mode’. I stop being Scrapdolly and am ‘Mrs Headteacher’, calm, in control, busy and focussed. Well most of the time anyway.

My office is filled with things I have made or that the children have bought me over the years. It is also filled with files and paperwork and filing cabinets but they are all behind doors and in cabinets and so the effect is of an interesting place to be. I make sure there is a lot to look at as it is room the children come into and they love to look at things and fiddle with them. They know it is a room where they are allowed to touch things, allowed to chatter and giggle and that is important. Inevitably, however, and there is no way round this, it is also the room where I have to see naughty children and explain what they have done wrong and help them see how they can make sure it doesn’t happen again. It is also where children come when they are upset about something and want to sit and have a chat and often a cry and some reassurance. Sadly this means an essential in the room is a box of tissues … and not just for children either!

However, it is not a seat I am using at the moment.

When I look round our home there are many places I sit, but I guess one of the most sat in seats is this one.

 

It is my scrap room and study. I do sit here to work occasionally, but largely it is where I am creative and in the holidays I spend a lot of time here. It has wonderful views across the garden and the heath beyond. It is always clean and tidy – I am rigorous about clearing away after every single project – and it has lots of things I love all around. It is a room I feel very happy in. On the opposite side of the room Nigel has his desk and editing suite so most of the time we are in the room together, which I love. I would hate for us to have separate studies. We debated it as we do have 2 studies but we use the other as a library

This is another place I sit – my seat in the lounge – well my morning seat. It is very funny – we have two sofas in the lounge and we sit in different ones morning and evening. I always sit in this seat for breakfast and in the other when we finally sit down in the evening. No idea why we switch or when that switch started … it just did.

 

You will notice on the seat next to me a cat blanket. I stress this isn’t because I worry about the cats leaving hairs on the seat or scratching the leather. I long since gave up worries of that nature. Seats hoover and the leather is scratched to pieces as we bought the suite three months before we bought the CFH and they scratched it – all accidentally – when they were babies. They have never scratched anything deliberately, but kittens are not good at retracting their claws and are very good at rushing round madly at 100 miles an hour with their claws out. Anyway it is not there for any reason other than the cats don’t like to sit on cold leather. Spoilt – surely not!

I thought I would share my bed too – not dressed up for the photo, just as it looks every day. I think we hit being really old last year when we bought a new king size bed that adjusts so you can have the head raised, the feet raised, both raised. I love it. So I often sit up in bed reading.

 

Other places I sit include my beloved sun lounger in the garden. You can tell I am a sun worshiper by the permanent tan. I love to sit in the sun and read. I am NOT a beach person – hate it – but love sitting in the garden. It is very peaceful, no road noise, just birds and planes.  The photo was me in the garden just an hour or so ago – yes with Starbucks …. Of course.

 

The seat I also sit a lot in is the car – so a quick photo of Nij and I in the car this morning.

 

 Finally the seat where I eat every meal except breakfast. I have porridge for breakfast and it is eaten in the lounge when I am not at work and int he bedroom when I am. (I am blessed to be married to man who has brought me breakfast in bed every working day of my married life xxx)

We have a perfectly good dining room but I am afraid we eat all of our meals in the kitchen unless we have company. For years - 17 in fact - I didn't like our kitchen. It was dark cherry wood and I had always wanted a white kitchen. Three years ago we changed it for light units and I love it. It is always sunny and one of my favourite places in the house.

 

 So - I sit comfortably and I hope you did too!

Before I go on to share my photos from what was a great day out today I had better share some scrapping.

I made a second page for my Explore prompt for the weekend, a page based ont he week's thoughts about perfection. It is another page to go into My Freedom album and so is another double page and I apologise as the digital join putting the two paper pages together isn't great, but you get the general idea.

 

 

 So, onto a week in my life ... and here is part of Monday.

My day has been great today as the sun shone and we headed out for a great walk in the sunshine. We had breakfast at about 8.30 (and now you know where I sat for that) and then headed off to Sandbanks.

I really do count myself blessed to live where we do. We have world famous beaches here and whilst we are not beach people it is nice to see them. people come here for holidays and yet we get to enjoy it all of the time. I love my home town of Poole.

Anyway, we headed off to the ferry to go over to Studland.  You can drive round (we drove back) but it is fun to use the ferry from time to time. It is an old chain ferry and is something I love going on.

 

The picture of me ont he ferry has the Haven Hotel in the background and .... interesting fact ... it is where Nigel proposed to me.

 

 

 

Once the other side, on Studland, we parked int he National Trust carpark by the Bankes Arms and walked down to Old Harry Rocks.

 

 

 

This is the view over to Knowle Beach and Shell Bay 

 

 

 

And here is Old Harry

 

 

 

 

 Sat ready to have my picnic.

 

 

 Our view whilst eating lunch

 

and the wonderful fruit salad that was part of the lunch

 

 

   

Just pictures of us taken by random people

 

an artist at work

 

Journey back to Poole via Corfe

 

Our local Town Crier who is such a nice man. He is coming up to 50 years service to the town of Poole. we had quite a chat to him.

 

I bought two new swimming costumes ready for my trip to Champneys soon, but the real reason we went to Poole was of course, these

 

 

Boo sunning herself in the garden

 

and her beloved Daddy doing the same.

 

So all in all a great day so far. I popped to the vets a little while ago to get more painkillers for Fiki who is suffering with his back and leg again and it was gorgeous to drive there and back with the roof down and Bat Out Of Hell blaring out. I am not sure what I am going to do with the Week in my life pictures, but if nothing else I will have a record of the day on my blog.

Today I am thankful for

A lovely sunny day out

 and just have to add the photo our neighbours have just e mailed - 2 herons sat in one of our pine trees this morning. Awesome!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Scrappyjen]

ThanKyou for sharing those lovely thoughts and photos. A belated happy birthday. We were away this weekend so I missed those posts. It sounds as though you are really relaxed- just what holidays are about! Jenx

[Mary B]

Wow what a great day. Love all your photos.

[Kat]

Fabulous photos again, Karen. And what a great day you had! Sooo jealous!! ::)

[mary]

great photos, and what a fab day out,look forward to your next trip.

[Jayne]

Love that we are not the only ones who swop seats as the day goes on lol Love the LO and am quite jealous of ur sun Hopefully we will get a bit of it tomorrow :)

[katrina]

Great pictures, Poole looks gorgeous, I went there when I was abouy 12 but don't really remember it. Jealous that you had the sunshine, Chelmsford has been cloudy all day

[Katie]

Lovely post - I'm not doing the Explore c;ass but enjoying seeing everyone's posts popping up as a result. And your post prompted me to have a think about where I sit :-) Love your pictures from your walk too. I am so missing the English summer right now!

[Mandy]

What an incredibly beautiful place to live. We live in the Midlands... not pretty but easy to get to pretty places in all directions! Enjoyed reading about where you sit/stand/sleep for the explore prompt.
Mandy

[Karen Taylor]

A great post Karen, thank you for sharing your lovely day :)