Here at the top end of Surrey it is very damp. Fortunately none of it is on my workdesk but I'll tell you about it anyway. It was PE this afternoon, a change to the timetable, and since I have a split lunch-hour the classroom was empty when I came back. I finally worked out where they all were when the screaming started, and hurried over there.
The heavens had opened half way through the PE lesson and everyone was huddled under a tree (not a tall one!). At first there was mostly laughter, but they're only 9 and pretty soon the screaming increased. After a particularly violent crash of thunder which coincided with a huge bang of lightning, the child I support started screaming continuously. 'What's the matter?' I yelled, as everyone else legged it back to the classroom. 'I'm freaking out!' he shrieked. Poor boy, he was really very upset, it took ages to calm him down.
Anyway. All in all it has been a crap day. This morning we were told that none of the teaching assistants would be able to take time off in lieu again, and that if we work extra hours ('if'!) we'll have to be paid. This isn't very convenient for some of us, who have a small pension or claim tax credits or housing benefit. It means that those people will have to fill in loads of forms and present documents to prove how much overtime they have received, and at the end of it all the money will be taken back from them anyway. Pooh, it stinks. Much tension and carping and a senior TA lashing out, as she does when cornered. Ugly stuff.
So, on to the frippery! On my desk today was this (I've had to photograph it upstairs cos the light is appalling in Scrappy Corner):

This is me using up some Jenny Bowlin goodies that I received in a kit back in the Bad Girls days! I was very pleased with the flowers, which were a bit sticky to make because I couldn't find my wide double-sided tape, grrr.

The scallop-edged crepe paper ribbon was particularly effective, I thought. It would be extremely easy to make either of these strips with decorative scissors, although my scallop scissors are too small really.
Also on my desk today, some stash I received in the post:

This is my prize for the challenge I uploaded for the cybercrop at A Trip Down Memory Lane. These lovely ribbons and trims - and to think that just ten minutes before I opened it I was looking at that Websters Pages brown ribbon and wondering whether to buy some! :D Thanks Mel and Jill, I'll be putting them to good use!
I got these today, too: some Sizzix Letterpress plates:

I got these on a bit of a whim after I saw the results here. They look fab, all nice and chunky! I hope I've got some paper thick enough to use with them - have a look at that link and you'll see where they've been used very effectively with felt.
Finally, something that IS still on my desk - a layout I'm working on. I'm doing the sneaky peek thing because I should have finished it by now, but sadly one of two images I painstakingly fussy-cut from the patterned paper, has disappeared. Outrageous! I simply can't find it anywhere, and my desk is pretty tidy just now. (I promise I'll show some pics next week!).

If this is all new to you, pop over to Julia's blog where all will be revealed, and where there is a great big sod-off list of other blogs for you to have a jolly good nose around! :D