Sir James Talbot tackles Mrs. Jack Maynard's Displaced Organ

[QuaterMiss]

Would I be unreasonable to initiate legal proceedings against this man?

Previous thread here:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3624032-Not-to-have-realised-until-now-that-Joey-Maynard-s-displaced-organ-was-a-prolapse?

With thanks to Jemima232 for rifling through Sir James’ archives to supply the title of this one.

I assumed the bedding thing was to do with its being wartime and fabrics being rationed

Yes, I meant Wrong School

Fabric rationing makes sense as a reason for requiring pupils to bring their own bedding. Rationing continued for some years after the war ended, didn’t it?

I've always been intrigued by how often sewing sheets 'sides to middle' seems to happen as a punishment -- I can only assume that sheets were made of less hard-wearing fabric and used for far longer periods until they wore out. (Do you think Matey would have viewed fitted undersheets as cheating? )

Mind you, I'm always fascinated by Matey (whom I know from my distant days on the CBB is a mysterious figure in terms of her actual identity in that 'Matey' is not always Gwyneth Lloyd?) she's not a mistress, and unlike some other school stories where Matrons are purely there to look after the health of the girls, in some ways she's more of an upper servant or housekeeper, also looking after linen, laundry, the storecupboard but staff and girls are rather afraid of her and she regularly wanders freely into lessons to pull girls out to tidy their bureau drawers!

I think if I were the mistress of a class where a member of the domestic staff came in and demanded that a girl leave my class immediately and do something completely non-urgent like tidy her drawers or remake her bed, I would have words.

I can only assume that sheets were made of less hard-wearing fabric and used for far longer periods until they wore out

I'd assumed that the middles of sheets wore out more quickly than the sides (tucked safely under the mattress, no doubt with hospital corners) however hard-wearing or not the material. On the same principle of "turning collars".

But that would then leave you lying on a seam in the middle of the bed, which I'd imagine would be quite uncomfortable to lie on. Even if you were lucky enough to have had yours done by Gisela (was she the one known for her wonderful needlework?).

I always imagine a plumeau must somehow be vastly superior to a duvet.
Smarter feathers, perhaps.

Noooooo ... Matey isn’t domestic staff! She’s definitely C-suite - Chief Executive, Health and Domestic Affairs.

She manages her own department and is part of the Senior Leadership Team. She is senior to all teaching staff apart from the Heads. That’s why she can turf girls out of lessons when she sees fit.

There are other Matrons individually in charge of the school Houses - but ‘Matey’ is a boss. She probably has a lot of CS shares.

Well, yes, @LaMarschallin, but have you ever had a sheet that has literally worn into holes in any part? I haven't, and I've had all my linen for aeons, and am a restless sleeper who intermittently shares a bed with a lively small boy as well as a DH. Maybe if you only had one set of sheets, so they needed to be laundered and put straight back on the bed, rather then being interchanged with other sheets? Or the CS girls never cut their toenails? Or apple-bie beds?

I believe there was a special flat-stitching technique for sewing sheets sides to middle which left you (if you got it right) with a flat, barely-discernibly seam down the middle to ensure it wasn't too uncomfortable. (But imagine all those naughty Middles being kept in for punishment sewing by Matron. Hard to imagine them producing a flawless flat seam...)

Well, yes,*@LaMarschallin, but have you ever had a sheet that has literally worn into holes in any part?

No, not holes but I have had some go very threadbare. Admittedly, they were ancient ones that grandparents passed on when I first set up home ( I'm in regal company - Joanna Lumley says that you sleep on 2nd hand sheets if you stay with the queen. Mind you hers were 2nd hand from Britannia when it was decommissioned. Mine, er... weren't.).

Was in a position to get rid of them then though.
I have seen sides-to-middled sheets used as undersheets.

But you're right. You wouldn't want your sides-to-middle done by actual middles!

(Remember in Little Woman the sisters making hemming sheets more palatable by naming them after continents and talking about them as they sewed?)

How do you sides to middle a sheet? Do you cut it? Fold it?

My grandmother told me about during the war they cut old sheets down the middle and hand stitched them sides to middle to make them last longer. She could sew beautifully - a skill I haven’t inherited!

I gather you cut the worn sheet down the middle, which gets the worst of the wear and tear, then sew the unworn edges together, so you have a new, strong 'middle' with a seam running down it. Then you hem the new sides. I think.

Raises hands to say I had sheets turned side to middle when I was a child. The winter flannelette sheets in particular wore holes, around feet level. They were then used as undersheets. The blankets and candlewick bedspreads we had as bedding were so much heavier than duvets so there was more friction around the feet area causing the wearing. I don't think its an issue of bedding not being as robust as today.

On the topic of mending, I do note that the girls in the books are forever "rending a tear" in various garments. I get the impression that some of them must have looked like rag dolls by the end of term, with the amount of patching and mending that must have been done on their clothes!

One of DS' bedsheets did develop a hole in the middle a couple of years ago - let's say his bedding used to get a lot more laundering than mine (pukey kid prone to nosebleeds...) so it can happen.
However it was a fitted sheet, so turning it sides to middle would not have been an option.

However it was a fitted sheet, so turning it sides to middle would not have been an option.

Do you think Matey would have listened to that type of excuse?

Do you these would be similar to the crispy potatoes they are always having for their special dinner the first night of term?

Thank you Parker et al for Excitements. Particularly for the transcription typo in the expedition to Berne. Inter V are having their usual featherbeds of whipped cream, along with Leckerli

'with a shite sugar bear for decoration'

Thank you funnel! And thank you parker. have been steadily reading from the beginning again, having only ever had the armada versions. up to 'head of the'.

never knew about Joey throwing not bombs at napoleon's tomb, and poor bloody simone. anxious, homesick and unhappy, and being slapped around the face every ten minutes and shouted at.

with a shite sugar bear for decoration

I’m so glad I got my disclaimer in first. Shows the state of my dictionary that it didn’t pop up in the spell check.

I hope I did make it clear that it enhanced the reading experience rather than otherwise

Having come to Excitements after reading all the other 50-odd in order 'a shite sugar bear' seemed totally logical for a moment, until I realised EBD was unlikely to have described it thus (can you imagine the reaction ... someone dares to say 'go to hell' in one book don't they, and Armageddon ensues?)

I’m just rereading Camp which never was my favourite and Juliet has told Joey off for being vulgar.
All Joey said was that Juliet forgot to pack the hot chocolate because she must have been daydreaming about her new fiancé!

“Pillows of whipped cream and a shite sugar bear” would be a great thread title

Also “I went to the Chalet School and all I got was a Solid Lump of Comfort”

“I went to the Chalet School and all I got was a Solid Lump of Comfort”

I would totally wear that. Well, as long as it had an image of Jack advancing on Joey with a syringe...

Do you these would be similar to the crispy potatoes they are always having for their special dinner the first night of term?

Omg where did you get those?

I’ve been dreaming about them for 30 years.

I’ll just get preparing my lake of molten butter.

I did write a response on the potato balls yesterday but it mysteriously disappeared.
If I may be so bold as to answer for Parker, I googled it and those are from Tesco but it looks like Asda do similar. You can fry or oven bake, serving with butter a la Chalet School optional. Frying then serving with butter sounds like the route to a heart attack to me!

Frying then serving with butter sounds like the route to a heart attack to me!

But what a way to go.

So I’m off to Tesco, see you all later.

You’re right they were from Tesco’s. I don’t remember ordering them and DH claims he didn’t do probably one of the DT’s added them to the online order whilst they were home from Uni this summer. They were very nice - might add another bag to next weeks order!