Top 5 Tuesday

Hello, hello my lovelies,

How goes? I don't know about you but once this lockdown is over I am going to be the size of a horse! 😀😀

On to today's Top 5 Tuesday. This is run by Shanah over at Bionic Book Worm. She lists a topic thread each week, then you answer with your matching top 5.

So this weeks theme is:
Top 5 sanity savers - things I'm enjoying whilst in isolation.

1. Sleeping
I don't know about you but I love my bed. Normally, I'm on the go. I have a 45 minute commute to school and I'm there by 7.30am and then leave at 5.45pm so it's a long day and I am always tired!
However, whilst I love being in bed, since the lockdown, I have not been sleeping at all well. I think it's because my days are a lot slower and my brain isn't saying, "Go, Go, Go!" all the time. The upside is that I don't have to get up so it really doesn't matter!

2. Reading
I told myself at the beginning of lockdown that I will read constantly. That hasn't happened at all. I haven't always been in the mood for reading to be honest. I am definitely reading more but not as much as I thought I would.

3. Baking
The reason I said in the intro that I would be the size of a horse is that I love baking. Nothing fancy, just simple things. I've made scones, flapjacks, peanut butter biscuits, pasties plus I've batch made soup and other meals. BUT, I live on my own and if I make sweet treats, then I have to eat them! Oops. Fun though!

4. Me time
During a regular school week I don't have time to stop. When I get home and I've eaten and tidied away, as soon as I sit down to relax I'm falling asleep. I always have either Saturday or Sunday as a school work day which leaves the other day for shopping and cleaning. This means I don't really get any specific me time. Now in lockdown I have plenty and I'm loving it.

5. Being mindful
The weather is getting nicer now thank goodness and last August I moved to my lovely house having spent 5 years in a very small flat with no balcony or outside space. If I had still been there now, I would be going stir crazy not being able to get any fresh air but here, I can open the French doors and look at the garden (it's so untidy and I'm so not a gardener. I have no clue!) and the birds. With everyone in the same boat at the moment, I've had the time to be mindful of just how lucky we are. I know there are a lot of people going through grief and anxiety at the moment and my heart goes out to you all, but now, with less traffic, there is less pollution. I can hear the birds sing. I can appreciate the outside for being a luxury and I certainly don't take anything for granted.

What are your 5 sanity savers or things you've been enjoying during lockdown. I'd love to know.

Happy reading,

Allison xx

2020 Goals

I'm sure I'm no different from anyone else who, when it comes towards the end of the year, starts thinking about goals for the year to come. Not only are we nearing the end of the year in this case, but it will also be the end of a decade (gosh that makes me feel old!).

I've had quite a bit of time to mull this over and have some things to consider over the next few months. I absolutely love where I teach at the moment, but I moved house last summer and I am now a 40 minute drive away from where I work. So, do I stay where I am, knowing that I feel confident, liked, appreciated etc or do I think about moving school? At the ripe old age of 50 (soon to be 51 in 1 week 😮), do I really want to go through the interview process and put myself up against much younger teachers? Something for me to mull over me thinks.

What about reading goals... I don't really like to set a target of reading so many books a year. I just want to read, read, read and enjoy it. That is good enough for me. However, there are things I do want to do within that:

• I really want to build this blog; continue with book reviews and posting relevant content about children's books. I need to try and get, retain and gain followers.
• Build my Twitter feed.
• Review more on NetGalley
• Be in a position to review MG books, prior to their release
• Alongside the blog, I'm also thinking about keeping some kind of reading journal. I'm just weighing up whether or not I'm doubling up on what I'm doing, but I do love writing things down as well as typing.

Moving away from reading, I want to start baking again. The reason I haven't, and why I may still not, is that I live on my own. If I bake, I have to eat it! I know I could probably take my baking into school or something but then am I just throwing money away or would I say that that money is going towards my enjoyment (the actual baking) and my friends enjoyment (the eating)?

This next goal fights against my previous goal (or maybe even answers one of the questions)... I really need to lose weight. Again, living on my own isn't helpful with this as I have no-one to spur me on and I'm not one for going to weight loss groups so I guess I will end up seeing just how much I want this to work!

Finally, as I mentioned before, I only moved to this town last summer. I was working 2 jobs to bring more money in, but it wasn't doing my health any good; so now I have a little more time on my hands, I would like to start to somehow make friends here. Any ideas how to go about this?

So there we have it. Some things to aim for. I will look back in 6 months and take stock of how things are going. I may even add more as time goes on. 

Have you got any goals? Can we help each other in any way? I'd love to hear yours.

Happy reading,

Allison x

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my brand new blog where I will be reviewing children's books for readers from 5 upwards.

I can't wait to get started and I hope you will follow me on my book journey.

Happy reading

Allison x