You’d be forgiven for thinking I’m defying the laws of physics again by making fake snow in my studio but in fact this pic was shot outside in my garden.

Only yesterday we were remarking that it’s the end of January and we’ve only had to scrape ice from the car twice this year. We’ve had a mild winter despite it being brutal in many other senses. There has been so much rain that lots of poor folks around here have been under water for a month and I can’t remember a winter with so much high wind. We’ve had 50mph+ winds so regularly this year we have become quite used to it. So, this was quite unexpected.

So tonight, to find myself looking out on this scene as I pulled the curtains shut seemed both strange and noteworthy enough to photograph. I know it’s not the greatest photo I’ve ever taken but I’m so very frazzled having been working on admin for my teaching qualification from 7am this morning until 5pm tonight with just a short half-hour break for some lunch. It took me five frames before I realised I couldn’t get the exposure right (nothing but blackness) because the lens cap was still on and it had nothing to do with the flash not being flashy enough or the camera setting being wrong.

The worst of it is that last weekend, by this time, I'd prepared all of my lessons for the forthcoming week, only half of which I got to do because of the O word so I lost valuable practice time. This week, because of the O word, there has been no time for the class teachers to do the week's master plan so I've not been able to plan my own lessons because I don't yet know the overall shape of the week's teaching, which means I will be preparing by the seat of my pants on the night before each lesson. I'm also going to go straight into another assessment with no practice in between. It's incredibly frustrating and demoralising.

I’m only half way through this teaching practice and I wonder if I’ll ever recover from the tiredness and stress. What’s most frustrating is that I’m working myself into the ground and failing to meet anyone’s expectations. I am now seriously worried that I’m going to end up in the same position as David by Easter. I need all of my friends out there in cyberspace sending me good vibes - please pbasers, help me to survive through the next few weeks!