RhianCaroline

5 blogs of Christmas: #3&4

 
 
 

Home made tags and crochet coats for gifts.

 

The glorious return of the Christmas wire. More details here.

5 blogs of Christmas: A mix

 

Here's my banjo-heavy-redneck-wannabe-not-traditionally-christmasy mix tape for you all :) Download here.

1. Christmas Eve - John White
2. Walk Out To Winder - Aztec Camera
3. Santa Claus Is Back In Town - My Morning Jacket
4. All My Bells Are Ringing - Lenka
5. The Man in the Santa Suit - Fountains of Wayne
6. Don't Shoot Me Santa - The Killers
7. Xmas Prison Blues - Seasick Steve & The Levil Devils
8. Hard Candy Christmas - Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers
9. Christmas Lights - Coldplay
10. Holiday Mood - The Apples in Stereo
11. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing - Sufjan Stevens
12. Winter Winds - Mumford and Sons
13. Unreasonable Dream: Christmas Night - Emily Barker & The Arctic Circle Ensemble & The Puffin Voices
14. But For You Who Fear My Name - The Welcome Wagon
15. The First Snowflake - The Boy Least Likely To
16. White is in the Winter Night - Enya

1, 8. 11 and 14 are probably my favourites right now. Not including Mumford of course...

5 blogs of Christmas: Trim the tree

In my mind bunting should be used for all and any holiday/celebration/event. So it was obvious I would need it for my tree this year.
What with the crazy PGCE I am doing I have only just put [one of] my trees up this last weekend. I have a feeling I will not finish decorating my house by Christmas, but as long as my tree is pretty, everything is fine.

 

Here's a handy how-to for making your own miniature Christmas tree bunting :) You can click on the image to see if full size.

 
Happy bunting!

the leaves have fallen at an alarming rate

 

There's a forest growing in my front room <3

Standing in the shadows

Weddings and snow and ice and lesson plans and Kimberly Scott and not enough fruit and fingers frozen to the bone. Heels too high, crazy people, makeup wearing dry, crisps and coke (for the American) and back to school on the Monday.

 
 

I designed and made the invites for this pretty bride, then I designed the Order Of Service for her, then I second shot her wedding with Kim, of which I will one day get around to editing into a stop motion, then I went to bed for 10+ hours.

 
 
(Photo Credit for the OOS shot: Kim)

Would I shoot a wedding again? Maybe.
Would I shoot a wedding again during the coldest November we have experienced in a while? Probably not!

 
Credit: Kim

sick days

 

So I've had to take 2 sicks days this week. This is not something I really wanted to do during the first term. As trainees our schedule is hectic, I am at school teaching 50% of a full timetable from 8.30 am - 3.30 pm. I get home around 4, and then work till between 8 and 9 every evening.
I decided before starting this course I would never work any later than 9pm each evening. It's working okay at the moment, I'm managing my time to the best of my ability, and am keeping up with planning the lessons okay.
We can only take 8 sick days over the whole year if we want to graduate with the rest of our class. Any more than that and we will have to make up the time at some point before we can graduate. Considering this is my shortest term, weighing in at just over 6 weeks, I really wanted to be able to get through this term with no illness.
This was probably not so much positive thinking as deluded thinking. Let's face it; I'm working in a school. With hundreds of young people, sneezing and coughing and spreading their lovely young people germs. Not to mention it's November. And freezing. The concept of not coming down with a nasty bug/cold was probably never going to occur.
So the last two days I have barely been able to talk and definitely not been able to breathe. Yet all I can do is kick myself for having to use 2 sick days. To lose the lessons I spent hours planning. To not have had a clear run at full attendance.
Blahblahblah getoverit.

Diana's first day out

 
i took her to the forest and bathed her in sunrays so bright and chilly she couldn't help but be overwhelmed and euphoric at the wreckless abandon with which i used her.

 
 
she struggled and complained at the changing face of the temperamental welsh weather. clouds and shadows and grey movements of sky were too much for her pure sensibilites.

 
 
 she held her secrets close to her breast, whispering them steadily in the streaming bands of sunshine that moved across her face. all the while holding the best till last.
ethereal and ghostlike she created images of love and light and banished all cloud and gloom.

 

mini diana enjoyed her first day out. 

Parlez-vous anglais?

Bonjour belles personnes!

I am going to Paris on Friday, I can say:
'hello my name is rhian.'
'where is the toilet?'
'carry on forwards.'
'do you speak english?'
'turn right.'
'turn left.'
and
'that is fabulous.'

I think I am good to go.

truth

 

I remember Kim posting something to herfinal project blog about how her CFS was such a hidden illness. How you couldn't tell by looking at someone whether they had it or not.
And I remember thinking, 'Huh. I wish.'

Because this is the face of me with CFS. I don't know what others look like, whether they hide it well or just don't have photographic evidence of them selves when they look like this.
But more often than not. This is my face. This is my face after 10 hours of sleep. After days spent doing not much more than some design work and reading in bed.

It may well be that I inherited my dark eyes from my father. 
And you may not believe me when I say this is me not looking so bad. Had I not had 10 hours sleep or such a relaxed timetable, I would be looking much worse. Much more like I had done ten rounds with a award winning boxer.

When people say they wish they could go out without makeup, that they wish they weren't so dependent on it, that they wish they didn't get their self esteem from it, or use it as a mask. 
I immediately think to myself, well shucks. How nice you get the chance to think about that.

I don't use makeup as my crutch. As my self esteem. I try not to take any of my self esteem from outward appearance truth be known. 
But if I do not wear makeup. This is me. This is the truth of my condition. The truth of it's all encompassing, hold over my body. 
I would rather not be told all day long how tired I look. Some days it is impossible to hide. I have been passed on that lovely compliment whilst wearing full make up. But on the days I can pretend to be normal, on the days I would like to pass for your average 26 year old, make up is my only way to do that.

I don't judge myself anymore. It is a necessity. 

shots from around the house

 

I'm off to Hop Farm! Travelling to London tonight because I'm only going for the Saturday.
More blessed Mumford and Sons, hurrah.

I've been taking quite a lot of photos this week. Just mundane, every day things. Just like I used to. It's been nice :)
Maybe soon I will remember how to blog.