Blackberries

I went walking in Abney Park Cemetery today after dropping off my last rent cheque for the Stamford Hill flat (it sounds like we're good to go for moving in to the Clapton place next Monday. Oddly, we're also meant to sign the contract on Monday? So paperwork and moving on the same day? Am I the only one who think that sounds a little weird?) Since it was such a lovely day out and since I had a handy plastic take out container with me I thought: let's pick blackberries!

Here are some helpful hints for blackberry picking:
1. Wear smart shoes. Blackberries are thorny, flip flops are not advised.
2. I'm not sure if this is true everywhere or not but in Abney park the blackberry bushes are frequently growing in tandem with stinging nettles.
3. Stinging nettles look like this:
4. It is not sacrilegious to stand on headstones in order to reach juicy, delicious blackberries
5. blackberry juice stains. Maybe endeavor not to use your shirt as napkin for finger wiping.

The tykes: they be TINY

Today the little 'uns were supposed to go to Kew Gardens on a super special trip- which would have meant that I only taught the nursery children and then had the afternoon to do my lesson plans for next term- but the weather was changeable (sunny, rain, one person claimed they saw some snow) so they stayed at school and I had three surprise extra classes.

Fortunately I'm flexible and up for a challenge.

So I taught them a new song I found in a GOOD tiny tykes song book. Niki Davies, I am a fan. It was about plants growing and has a wonderful chorus that I found fun to sing- which is good as I got to sing it a lot.

The first verse is about a seed that is asleep under the ground. One of my nursery classes clearly needed a nap because their action for that was to lie face down on the floor and then stay there through the next 3 verses. The next few verses are about sprouting, growing leaves and waving in the wind, and flowering.

I have been the early years music teacher for five weeks now- and this is apparently about the amount of time that I needed to be really known by the nursery classes. The reception (kindergarten) classes have been pretty free with the hugs and cheek kisses for a while now, but there was a marked increase in affection from all of the nursery classes this week.

I go around to the various classrooms in the morning to both get a chance to spend time with the kids outside of music class and also to get them thinking about music class for the day. You know "Oh! Miss Casey is here....Simama Ka Simamamamama ka!" This morning Miss Kate, one of the nursery teachers, had me join in with their finger painting. I've still got fluorescent green paint stuck in random crevices around my fingernails. So much fun! Though it took a little bravery to shove my entire hand into the plate of paint...I haven't done that in quite a long time.

The best part of the day though was right as the kids were leaving- Laine and Grammy showed up! They had trekked all the way across the park to make it to the school. I paraded them around and sang one of the tyke's favorite songs with some reception stragglers whose parent's hadn't shown up yet. It was very satisfying to walk through the school with Laine and Grammy and A: realize how many of their names I do know now and B: have so many of them say "Good Afternoon, Miss Casey" and make a cursory attempt to shake my hand.

The tykes, they're pretty terrific