To ask all Chaletians to get ready for Madame's birthday?

[LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett]

Pop to the splasheries my lambs and after you've brushed your hair till it shines we'll have a quick practice of 'I sing of Margaret so fair'.

Once we've finished casting the movie, that is....

When I first read the Lady Acetelyne Lampe bit (when I was a kid) I read the first couple of pages and had to check that it actually was a Chalet School book as it didn't seem like it!

I did exactly the same thing. And of course there was no google in thems days to look up what an acetelyne lamp was. Peggy was only about the second or third CS book I read, and my first from the 'middle' part of the series, so I had absolutely no idea who any of these people were. My theory about the truly strange episode with the feathers in Joey's garden (what was Anna thinking to leave unplucked chickens hanging around?) was that EBD had heard a similar story in a sermon and just had to work it into her story.

Who's turn is it this evening? Would it be terribly bad form to say I'd actually prefer stitching sheets sides-to-middle over yet another teejus evening of paper games?

I think it's the mistresses doing Mrs Jarley's Waxworks again.

So we'll have cold chicken, bread-and-butter and ices !

Yawn! Why can't the staff do something original for a change?

I once played at being Mrs someone Mock-Tudor with my solid lump of comfort while we were working and someone overheard- don't think he thought it was funny but it was to us at the time

What do you think of the non-chalet books? I'm reading the transcript of Janie of La Rochelle ATM, quite like it so far. I really like Janie.

Thanks Tinuviel. Will just have to keep trying!

I found the start of Peggy very strange as well. In fact while Armada were 'abridging' they could have left a lot of that out.

I do hope tonight we get to play whatever card game the staff were playing during the week. All I could hear from the staffroom were howls of laughter.

Miss Annersley seeking out Jack's advice really annoyed me too, even worse than the continual "we must ask Joey for she really understands girls" thing which at least has some insufficient justification. Bloody doctors.

I am clearly the only person who quite liked the Lady Acetylene Lampe. It is exactly the kind of embarrassingly awful thing my closest friend and I would have played endlessly at 12. Or 17.

When I was doing the Mock-Tudor thing we were in our 30's TBF we were building dry stone walls so you need something mad to keep your mind off the mud.

Look here you lot. I am word and note perfect in Did You Not Hear My Lady, I have got wilting edelweiss wound into the plaits round my ears and if you don't hurry up I will have finished knitting the lime-green twinset and the whipped cream will have gorn orf.

When is her wretched birthday anyway?

Summer term sometime, judging by all those picnics.

I am 64 you know and have been reading these blasted books for over fifty years. All this hanging around on mountains and falling into rivers isn't good for me....

How about a game of Impertinent Questions? I'll start - Who drank my brandy?

Emilyalice her birthday is on July 4th.

That was Miss Wilson drank your brandy, Tinuviel I saw her and so did Mary Lou who was hanging out of the window practising some German verbs. (I believe that's what it was)

Wassshn't me, hic! Well maybe a swig or two, but shtrickly for medicinal purposes, you understand. Since Mitagessen I have prevented assorted mistresses from falling into precipices-to-be that only I can see, used my Guide cord to rescue those I didn't stop in time thus nearly wrenching my arms out of their sockets, ventured into caves to hide/retrieve crucially important papers (the School's Ofsted report for starters) oh, and I missed Kaffee and Kuchen because I was stuck in a herdsman's hut playing the zither for community singing to keep everyone's spirits up. After all that, I was still, grey and to all appearances dead, and I'm afraid it was either Matron's special milk or your brandy.

Who stole Hilda's contact lenses?

I seem to remember Madame's birthday is July 4th. Hooray, I've still got time to go and buy a dainty coffee set. Or have I got it wrong?

I heard that Madame has enough coffee sets to open a china shop.

Busy day you had there, Doris but didn't you get sung to by Joey or The Robin? A quick burst of The Red Sarafan makes it all worthwhile.

Just don't get a necklace as she doesn't care for jewellery!

Gosh what japes Doris .Joey will probably write novel about you.

I've hidden 2 hairbrushes in the head of dorm's bed. Can't wait to hear her screech.

I am practicing my girlishly pretty folk dancing for the big occasion. Anyone fancy joining me in the dance the Karpeles sisters are doing ? Get those hankies darned and gymslips pressed and we're away!

Damn staff - you can't trust them at all! I will join in with your folk dancing, Doris. I've been a morris dancer - I can waft hankies! Maybe we can do a display of folk dancing for Madame's birthday and Robin can sing The Red Sarafan again. She's a bit of a one-trick-pony, that one!

Well, you're obviously going to fall off a mountain, or something, for that bit of sacrilege Tinuviel!

I'll still rescue you even though you were mean to me Tinuviel however I will probably nearly die in the process so you will then have Joey to deal with!

So long as she doesn't sing to me, I don't mind, Robin.

Nell, someone will rescue me - they always do! And if I do, then maybe I'll get some of my brandy back - purely for medicinal purposes!

If I did that folk dance, the floor would be (hmm) damp.