Some Fretwork and the Interminable Christmas Play at the Chalet School

I have read Juniors and I agree. It was a pleasant read, but not really anything more. It might have been better of it was set in a term EBD did not cover...

Fill in my gaps? Gosh, that sounds wizard!

Latest just in from Joey's cave, the hairphones turned quite white during the catastrophe the late unpleasantness, and what's remained on Joey's bonce has gone curly. Meanwhile there's no sight of the lady herself - maybe she and her solid lump of comfort have got lost in the underground passages. We'd better send in the Mafia Bruno/Rufus with a flask of special milk.

Hmmm, Juniors, what to say without spoilers. Well, it's set parallel to the events in Princess but seen from the Juniors' perspective. A lot of the plot revolves round a device the author's come up with to resolve an EBD inconsistency, and it didn't work for me. I preferred the inconsistency - it was something I'd never even noticed, much less been bothered by! She has the juniors behaving in a way that I simply don't think would have crossed EBD's mind, and then they go from that to seeing the errors of their ways with very little explanation, and what explanation there was didn't convince me. I think what the author might have been trying to do was fill in some of the gaps in Princess but without actually writing anything that would have been significant enough for EBD to include in the original - which is a big ask and perhaps didn't leave her much scope.

Oh, dear lord, I don't think I can bear to buy any tickets for the raffle this year, if the prizes include Joey's discarded earphone as well as the obligatory lime twinset. I shall have to start passing myself off as a scholarship girl - it may earn me a tired lecture from Joey about how Our Lady was the wife of a carpenter, but that's a price worth paying to avoid having to feign delight with winning a rogue coil of plaits.

Is it possible to expand on the underwhelm of Juniors without getting too spoilerish? I haven't bought it yet, but I've been intending to.

The juniors lucky dip could have plaits with ribbons on the end to pull, they could be attached to the prizes! What fun, it's bound to go down well with the locals for no particular reason.

And we can all wear an appropriate hairstyle according to the stall we are on. Excellent idea - and I bet it's never been done before. The juniors could have some sort of lucky dip where you have to pull a ribbon to reveal the prize? massively overthinking this

Emily, you forgot to mention Joey's haircut. But it's all turned out OK, because she's given permish for us to use one of her ex-headphones for raffia and the other as a raffle prize. So that's got our Sale off to a topping start, nicht wahr? We could even have a hairdressing theme, hairstyles across the world or in history, something like that. Not sure where the Juniors' lucky dip or the clock golf would quite fit in, but we can work on it.

I'm afraid I was a bit underwhelmed with Juniors - not my favourite filler. Anyone else read it?

Oh my, another move, so confusing. Are we changing uniform or keeping the old one? What one were we on anyway??

Gosh, this coach journey is long, isn't it? Good job my new copy of Difficult Term has arrived so that I have something to read each time we stop for a flood, avalanche etc.

New term starting soon - is it the term of the Millie's panto and will we all get parts? And have we picked a theme for the fete yet? I'm sure we all want to be really original this year.

Buon giorno, miei agnelli! I'm very pleased we've moved to Italia, it borders Belsornia (I think?) so very convenient for me.

So, what have I missed?

I'm pretty sure there's references to Joey gluing pictures to some kind of backing in one of the early Hobbies Club scenes. I think it's a given she didn't paint them herself :o

Yes, Guides has the Pretty Maids bit at the start, with the original snails on the window episode. It's apparently near Foxlease, which is a Guiding activity centre that is still used today website

In fact, don't forget the Sale - we simply must have a decent turn out.

Latest from the cave - in between working on the next Christmas play, Joey is churning out charming jigsaw puzzles for the sale. It's not like there's much else to do in the cave with only her solid lump of comfort for company.

Having said that, I wonder what Joey used as the base don't think that's the right term but you get what I mean for her jigsaws. Presumably you didn't buy the board with the picture, just to cut it up? Or did you? I think it's more likely that you had to draw/paint the illustration yourself, but we know that Joey wasn't much of a painter, so did someone else do it for her? And do we ever see Joey learning to fretsaw?

I lent my copy of Guides to a former colleague who wasn't a CS fan but was keen on the history of guiding so I thought she'd find it interesting. She never gave it back, and she's left now. I think it's lost to me. I seem to remember liking it - isn't that the one where we see a young Joey and Madge visiting Pretty Maids at the start?

Fantastic, I'm sure the play will be just the thing. Italians are very emotional, they're sure to be weeping before the first carol's sung. Think of what we'll collect for the San!

In fact, don't forget the Sale - we simply must have a decent turn out. I've had the distillery going full time, but for some reason don't have that much to show for it. Still, the tasting has gone well so I think we can all agree that it's a sure fire winner for the bottle tombola.

Guides is quite a good read so far, I'm finding it interesting partly because I'm a Guider (or leader in charge, as we are called nowadays) myself. Foxlease where Madame goes to train actually still exists and is used by Guiding for all sorts, and will hold our national archive when there's enough money to house it properly.

I've also got Juniors. Suggest we head to Mushy Pea and lock the doors from the inside so that no interfering prefects (they're so on the spot) can come and hustle us out onto the hockey pitch.

Latest news from Joey's cave - she's started work on next year's Christmas play. I hear it's going to be her most spectacular and most moving yet, so we can get casting as soon as we're settled in our new home.

Rue, may I join you in Mushy Pea? I have been given Juniors at the Chalet School..the new fill in!!

Oh dear Rue I fear Matey will spy those gaily-jacketed first editions a mile off!

Happy Christmas, all - and congratulations Cheddar on a well-earned Margot Venables Josephine M Bettany prize! And goodness me, at this stage of the day am I ready for that distillery...

I just wanted to gloat let you know that I've got The Guides at the CS and Deira Comes to the CS, both GGBP fill-ins, for Christmas, so I'm afraid I won't be traveling on the motor coaches. I'll be huddled in the wreckage of Mushy Pea, reading under my covers with no bed jacket on.

Let's hope Matey has gone with the rest of the school and doesn't find me, otherwise I'll never hear the end of it!

Buon Natale a tutti!! So it's hey for Italy and the mafia as we leave the smoke-blackened yurt complex behind us.

Sings merrily to keep everyone's spirit up.

"Wee fish ewe a mare egrets moose
panda hippo gnu deer"

I've done it! I've saved the distillery!

I missed the play, I'm so sorry for letting the school down like that. I'm sure everyone missed my starring role as 5th villager.

I'm sure the distillery will dismantle into a small package that we can transport easily, even if we end up having to travel with Jo via a cave. Of course, it is made entirely from delicate glass elements, but what could possibly go wrong?