Long time, no see

So, after an absence of three months (nearly), I thought it time to resume blogging duties- this may take some time to read! Lots to tell!

The last few months have been fairly quiet in some respects- just pootling along at work, although I did try and resign, only to compromise that I would try going down to four days a week next year and move over to the Media department. This was just before the bombshell that if our English department wanted a new head, one of us would have to be made redundant. So, hi-jinx have ensued and the head has shot himself in the foot, as he has now lost three excellent members of staff who figured it was time to look elsewhere. I'm going to hang on and see how going part time works. I am very angry about the whole thing, for reasons I don't want to go into here, but the whole thing is just rubbish.

I feel a bit weird going part time, but the rationale behind it is to a) save my sanity and help me deal with the depression I've been battling for a couple of years and b) to keep working on my journalism. I recently had a review published on the Fat Quarter website: http://www.fat-quarter.co.uk/archives/1327 and have a few more ideas in the pipeline- the extra day will free up time for research and writing; something that can be in short supply at the moment.

In terms of crafting, I finished my Adamas shawl (and few other bits!)

I also have taken up a spot of embroidery- the Mary is for my mum and the peacocks grace a bag I've taken to carrying around. I'm also attempting to stitch a Tenniel drawing of Alice, but we'll see how that works out... At the moment, I'm knitting a Mountain Peaks shawl in some yarn I dyed myself.

So, currently, I'm listening to an album I loved when I was 17 and feeling nostalgic. I'm enjoying the weather (although snails ate most of my seedlings a couple of weeks ago... gutted.) My exam classes have left- and I felt a little bit emotional seeing my Year 11s off; despite the fact that they drove me mad and I saw them nearly everyday, I watched them in their last lesson and realised how much *some* had grown up. It was a surprise even to me.

So now it's downhill all the way to summer!