Some Fretwork and the Interminable Christmas Play at the Chalet School

Can someone please send me details of the one drive?

I’ve had a fantastic few weeks catching up on some of the books I’d never read on the one drive thing (thing being the technical term, obviously).
But I can only open the word files and not all of the books are in that format. I’ve tried to download calibre onto the iPad and it doesn’t seem to be working.
Anyone got any other suggestions?

Fretwork is fine but I'd rather be messing around with Ferry's car. Nobody else can ever think of touching it, else beware my wrath. I am new here so I am going to imprint like a duckling on a much older prefect and beg for a link to the shared drive if poss

Know done before but cast for a mini series

Jo.... Gina McKee

Ann’s... Dawn French

Madge.. Phyllis Logan

miss A.. Jenny Aggater

Miss W.. Jamie Lee Curtis.

Jack.. Stephen MCGann

Jem.. Hugh Bonerville

Matron... Melissa Mc Carthy

Mary Lou.. Emma Watson

Were you able to do the delightful local custom of getting a fork, going to the counter and choosing you own cakes?

But where are the bread twists prettily served in little baskets? And the cakes bursting with honey and nuts?
Thinking about it, it’s lucky none of the girls had a nut allergy otherwise there would have been even more near fatal incidents!

I'll have one of each

This could be expensive and addictive, especially if there are pillows of billowing cream involved. I've just discovered that the German Gymnasium (posh restaurant in Kings Cross) has a special Kaffee und Kuchen menu. At 4pm, when a little bell rings to signal the start...

DD2 has been proclaiming it very Chalet School weather. Snowy, with blizzards coming up suddenly, and the snow so dry you can brush it off! She's gone off coasting (or sledging as we call it)

Gruss Gott, everyone.
Shall we pop out between blizzards and have a snow fight? Let’s make sure the new girl has her face well scrubbed with snow. Just make sure no one scoops up a stone in their snowball. We don’t want any accidents!
Then when the ominous yellow cloud appears we can race back to the school, stragglers caught in the blizzard feeling their way along the fence which keeps out the nosy parkers, and Matey will order us into hot baths.
Simply topping!

Yes, I can't imagine there being any innuendo in a Chalet School panto.

Mrs Brown actress probably a bit old for Jo except in the very end of the series. Have realised - as reading various Chalet school books to DD - that Jo has produced 9 children and is still only about 32 years old.
Currently reading 'Excitements at the Chalet School' which is not too bad. No-one's nearly died yet but I expect that will come around eventually. St Mildred's are keeping the panto to themselves so no children needed to act in it this time. And weirdly the form at the centre of the book - Inter V - has children who are 13 (the triplets, who else?) and a 17 year old in the same class.

We're currently in the middle of doing panto and I realised why the Chalet ones always seem rather flat to me. No innuendo! I suppose that's not surprising, although the worst innuendo jokes were back when the vicar played the dame and wrote them. those he did off the cuff on the night were worse.

I was at Paddington 2 yesterday. Anyone else think the actress who played Mrs Brown would make a great Jo?

Crikey, are you in dear little Tiernsee for your hols, Nell?

What's it like in the winter? I hope you haven't participated in the ice fair, it can get very rough you know. Best to look on from a safe distance necking gluhwein. I hope you remembered to take your hobnailed boots.

Oh, and Happy New Year, everyone! And something to look forward to this year, GGBP are publishing Last Term at Taverton High by Helen Barber who wrote the lovely prequels to the series. I got seriously excited when I saw the title, thinking it would be about Madge's last term, but it's Rosalie Dene. However, if it's like the others by the same author it'll be a good read. I do hope she does some more prequels, though.

The perils of marrying a man who isn't a doctor.

Too naïve. Lost an "o" there somewhere.

I like to think that Dick and Mollie were just to naïve to know where the babies were coming from They always seem to announce it in tones of surprise.

Happy Christmas all.

We've just put our (artificial) Christmas tree up and been astounded at the size.
I'm sure it was huge when we first got it. Even my youngest will be almost looking down on it. I nearly went back up to the loft to see if we were missing a bit.
I think I might buy a new one in the January Sales..

I hope everyone’s shoes are filled with Bon-Bon’s! Merry Christmas!

Mainly though I popped in here to wish you all a very merry Christmas from the dear little Tiernsee! smug who me not at all

Without any real evidence for it, I always feel like Mollie Bettany keeps having more in the (poss subconscious) hope that one day she'll get to keep them with her. Even knowing why they're better off with the Russells (health-giving alps vs deadly India!) etc etc, I feel like maybe there's a sort of instinct thing going on there.

Fascinating that EBD pays so much attention to questions of child-spacing in a girls' school story though! There are detailed considerations of both Jo and Madge's obstetric histories at various points... I am very much with Madge on the sizeable gaps and relatively restrained overall family size, but I suppose it's different for wholesale folk!

I will sing at the Christmas concert. I won't have such a beautiful voice as Jo who at 17/18 years apparently has the same vocal quality as a choirboy but I will do my best

I am reading Jo Returns to the Chalet School to DD. Am particularly enjoying Jo writing her first book and going back to take out any particularly mad schemes so that her potential readers don't get any ideas. There's a certain irony in EBD including these kinds of ideas in her books (Polly has rung the alarm bell waking up the entire valley) while also suggesting that authors shouldn't include them in there.

Also had forgotten how many children Jo's brother and wife produce in such quick succession. They are visiting and announce that they are going back to India for the next 3 years, leaving behind all their children including the 10 month old baby - but there is already another baby on the way due in about 4/5 months time. They certainly didn't hang around!

It's a good job that Madge and Jem apparently seem delighted to take on the entire family's children. If it was today I could see the post in AIBU. "My brother wants to leave his 4 children with us, including a 10 month old baby. I already have two babies of my own. AIBU to want to say no?"

All together now:
Happy Birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday our dear Jo
Happy birthday to you.

Followed by:
Freudesheim's burning
Freudesheim's burning
Too many candles
Too many candles
Blow them out
Blow them out
Trust Joey
Trust Joey

And we can all have a good laugh about how wholesale she is and that no one else would ever think about having 99 candles on the cake while Anna clears up the mess.