Class of 18. No need for new school shoes

I'm reading Tinker Tailor Soldier by Le Carre for first time. Required such concentration to understand what was happening. But pervading gloom was rather cheering.

V exciting about Move. Haudin.
DD is possibly going to be there next year too! Our local Ed students and Glsgw students have all stayed at home, because the rules are so restrictive in Scotland ATM for unis. Ds2 and 1 still have access to library, and campus takeaway outlets (although I don't think ds1 is a library person, whereas ds2 thrives on a "workplace")

No news from either of them atm which is probably a good sign. Ds2 room still has stale crusts and bags of rubbish dating from his departure..there is a lot of catching up on the considerable squalor that living 24/7 with five people has created. The sun shone brightly this morning and bounced off the house opposite - my running attempt 3, has succeeded, I feel like I can tackle something concrete. It's the uncertainty of everything that gets so draining. The milkman delivered some free coconut yoghurt this morning, felt disproportionately excited...hmm

I hope so. Between the pandemic and the different selling systems it will be tricky. We will also need a house which can be adapted easily for Dd 's needs.

DD heard today that they are online till the end of the academic year. She predicted it but I think is still disappointed. There will be a few additional exceptions but though she is lab based I’m sure the 4th/5th years will take priority.

Exciting news about the move NoHaudin! I remember you know the city well so hope you find a new home easily.

Dd has been at home throughout, only visiting her hall room for a few days when she has gone up for medical things.
TBH it has been better for her and the few days she has spent in halls have confirmed that she was right not to return. (Very annoying to get bills for damage when she isn't even there though).

As Dh retired in October, we are planning to move to her university city, hopefully this summer, so she will continue to live at home. She is doing her degree part-time now so still has a while to go.

DD has been back since Boxing Day as she has been working and she says she can do Uni work better there. I am happy she has friends around her. Not started her dissertation yet but has signed up for a house for next year so she had better crack on and apply for her Masters.

DD is still at home, and likely to be here till Easter probably. She seems to be working away fine and it has been lovely to hear her interact with classmates on their teams virtual labs.

I'm glad I think that she is on a 5 year course, because I don't think she would be anywhere near ready to graduate this year. For those that are, have any of them made concrete plans yet to go on to masters, or will they look for jobs?

Ds is at home and I can’t see him going back at all this term. His course is three years and term 3 is revision only and no new material, lectures or seminars so I guess his university experience will end with a whimper not a bang (to paraphrase TS Eliot).

Mine was originally due back on the 11th because of the practical nature of the course, that went back two weeks then to the current "mid February". Looking at the course dates I think it will be very much later than that and this will be the second year with a term's virtual teaching. It's a four year course though so he should finish with a normal year.

How is everyone? Dses back at uni now, I'm trying to persuade ds1 to redo 3rd year, but I promised him I won't mention the "subject" from now on. At least he is aware it is an option. He is enjoying long walks in his uni town and he has sorted out his strange sleep patterns since returning, a sign of motivation. Writing his dissertation and ringing me up quite often to discuss "film" and "drama". Well at least it isn't politics.

It's good to see updates on our 1999-2000 contingent.

I'm pleased to report than DS's health is stable and he is more happy and settled in third year than he was previously. He got temporary work at a local supermarket when he came home for the first lockdown and they were able to keep him on their books so he has done some shifts over the Christmas holidays.

He has decided on the area of study for his dissertation, and is doing some reading.

You might remember that he didn't settle on A-level subjects until the autumn half term of Y12 and then waited until the last possible moment to start his UCAS application, so it shouldn't be a surprise that he hasn't given much thought to what he will do when his course finishes this summer.

Happy Christmas everyone and enjoy your DC's.
Mine being a bit loud. I'm lying low to do the stockings but I think they are still wide awake upstairs. Tomorrow/today Father Christmas is using the chimney in the living room so I've put the stockings there.
DS brooding about next year. I hope he has some sudden epiphany on his future employment...
Hardwick it is lovely to hear your DD is so happy in Scotland, long may that continue.
Knot, very best wishes.

Knot, ive never heard.such nonsense, of course ds needed to come back. And back and forth if needs be.
And Hardwick, you too did entirely.the.right thing.
,
Ds1 still fine, speaking to a counsellpr once a week that I arranged before he went back in sept, otherwise I think he would have been on dangerous path, up one minute then dark thoughts the next. Two weeks in isolation even with his flatmates wss super hard for him, he needs the fresh air and scenery to stay on keel. But fine since he got out, rings quite.a bit though to chat about films, series, and.doing choirs etc online well no singing, just.chatting together by zoom.

I realy look forward to time he can be here in London and not.feel in suspended animation, he is much happier with his peers atm, dicey though.it is. Maybe coming home.20th dec. He wants to see Oxford all magical, shops open, possibiliyity of meetings.

Dd has been dye-ing cotton.and making costumes. Going to college.twice weekly. Breaks up the day to have her enthusiasms.and.follies on tap, hope.ds.can eventually enjoy life here in same way,.London doesnt seem to inspire him much sadly...

I have been keeping my mouth shut because there always seems to be someone quick to judge how other people live their lives. I am not a granny killer, I've been holding two of them up since March and I could do with a break now. One had a major health diagnosis due last week and I didn't think I could cope with it on my own so I didn't tell DS he had to follow the rulez and stay in his accommodation for two weeks of no lectures, no nothing. I went and fetched him before the english lockdown. It was better for him and very much better for me to have some company. The mental health exemption is in the lockdown rules for a reason.

It's very quiet here now, but I thought I'd pop in and just wave hello.

DD1 is having the best year of her life I think. She is in Scotland, and so under different measures than we are at home, but is really happy in her flat this year and loving working at home. She has only had one in person tutorial, which was last week and she loved it. She said everyone was so happy just to be out and seeing other people that it was a fantastic group. She is going to be away for her 21st though, which I am sad about. Under normal circumstances, she could at least celebrate with friends if not us. In my mind she'd go out clubbing and wake up the next morning with her mascara still on. The reality with only one flat mate, is likely to be a bit more mundane.

MIL died a couple of weeks ago, and so we all got together for the funeral. We rented a house together, even though we strictly shouldn't have. We decided that the whole funeral and clearing MIL's things out of her sheltered housing in less that a week would be unbearable if we could not be together and so it was a risk we needed to take. At that point it was still a very real possibility that DD1 or DD2 could find it difficult to get home for Christmas and with losing MIL very quickly and unexpectedly we were all a bit broken. The time together was quite healing.

My school has had it's first bubble closure. The atmosphere in school changed very quickly initially because some of the SLT were included in isolating, but we have all got used to the slightly quiet corridors. I think the lack of contact between year groups this term has made it relatively easy.

We got DDog groomed today for the first time in years. He stinks of dog perfume. I'm sorely tempted to rinse him under the hose just to calm the smell down a little. His fringe is super neat though, which is lovely.

I hope everyone else is muddling along too, and your DC are coping well with the new ways of being.

DS is in a teaching bubble of nearly 30 and a flat bubble of 6. I thought you could only be in one at once but it's education so different rules seem to apply. Once of the big bubble tested positive this week and DS was holding his breath while they looked at the seating plan and who was where, when, with who. They have all been responsible social distancers apparantly and he still has his freedom.

Ds1 now about to start self isolating in his flat of 8. All a bit strange, someone who is a close contact of one of flat dwellers but not a household member, but so close a contact that they have decided it counts as household (bf). I said wait till you are contact traced and by all means isolate but if you aren't a close contact of that individual and he doesn't live in your house, legally you aren't bound to self isolate. Or is he part of their houshold bubble, in which case are none of the rest of them allowed bfs and gfs extra terrrestially? All it proves is that most student bubbles will be de facto very much larger than they let on.
Anyway they are all self isolating conscientiously but who knows about the other partners who live out?

She likes hanging artworks up!
Ds2 has told me the kebab takeaway on campus is so busy he has not managed to get a delivery call thro for 10 days. I advised calling at tea time not supper. He said at tea time he was too busy with the decline of the Roman empire.

Either hang it and let it be art or make it into a bag. There is a bag made all of one piece without any cutting but you need a couple of yards of length:

donisdelis.blogspot.com/2009/01/little-tutorial.html

Too big for a scarf, too narrow for a blanket

I think it is an artefact rather than garment

DD weaving from lockdown

I am supposed to be weaving fabric for a swing dress, I thought I'd wear it over a long sleeved t shirt and thick tights. This involved measuring myself and acknowledging the inches and pounds I'd gained since February. I've now lost half a stone so I might look at it again.

Earlier in the year I started a jacket, it's at that stage where it's rested for months and probably only needs a couple of hours to finish it.

I've had a cold for about six weeks now. Definitely need the red flannel petticoat.

I can hardly put tights on without falling over. Dressingowns will come back into fashion this winter mark my words. Those ones you wear with curlers.

Ds2 is getting a bit despairing in his self isolating flat. There is nothing to do he said but wait for the next lecture on the Fall of The zRoman Empire.

Knot...are you weaving anything ATM? I am going to cheer everyone by posting pic of DDS latest creation in next few hours if I can make tinternet work.

Yes it's the extra layer I miss.