A fête worse than the Chalet School

[EmilyAlice]

Roll up, roll up!
Bid for a mortgage on the doll's house! Pin the tail on the St Bernard! Guess the weight of the handsome doctor! (Or pin the tail on the doctor and guess the weight of the St Bernard). Knit a lime green liberty bodice against the clock!
The Chalet School fête is open.....

Yes, thats what I assumed - and given that, Cherry is pretty much an abbreviation, no? So I claim them both simultaneously as EBD's preferred cello name.

Yeah, I love Grizel. Her character development is great - she's (obviously) not one of those cured-in-a-single-book Problem Girls, but she's not nonsensically static like Margot Maynard either. And she finally gets her happy ending...

This thread is like a secret sin.

Nell my love I find Jack fanciable because the solid lump of comfort would provide me with a big house, Anna, Rosli and even Beth Chester. I would faff around writing stories and pop out the odd baby as I believe in steaming ahead with 'real' families.

I always skim the plays and wonder that I have seen many comedies and plays that have raised s smile and even a laugh but I have never needed 2 handkerchiefs not yet fallen slowly sideways off my chair morning softly. Not without drink being involved and they just don't drink do they apart from the hated Brandy and the odd light country wine.

I mean all those other women would hate joey. She's the epitome of smug and annoying. Why isn't madge invited to the reunion?

I love madge! And Jo tells her she's fat and ruins her mini break with Jem as she goes to fat camp instead.

She's so bloody personal telling Frieda she has lines and looks like a scarecrow. Ffs.

Thanks for explaining revers. I think the gentian blue sounds horrific. But then never understand it changes again to 'special dresses' of any colour but all the same style. That sounds nice but then seems forgotten after that book and we return to blouses and skirts.

Imagine that would cause a riot with today's parents.

Love Grizel. She's real. Could see her introducing wine into the staff room no worries.

still she bags a doctor as they all do in the end. Daisy is a doctor and still has to marry a doctor.

Clearly I am getting hysterical and need my husband or any ransom doctor friend of his to give me a dose. no rudeness intended.

Someone was all set to be a barrister - one of the Lucys? But then she married a housemaster so obviously wouldn't have time for her own career. But she was happy so that was ok.

I am quite certain that they've all been at the "light country wine" to make the pantomime bearable, and this explains the uncontrollable mirth. And I completely love the chapter where the staff are pondering which dress design to choose - it's one of my favourite accidentally-hilarious bits of the whole series.

Madge's absence from the reunion is just mad, not least because IIRC it's pretty much unexplained. They get Mollie Maynard and Sophie Hamel but no Madge when it's her bloody school! My theory is that if Madge were there, Grizel would gravitate towards her rather than Joey, and that couldn't be allowed...

Empress yes I hate that bit! It's Julie Lucy. It's the breezy way Jo just goes "oh well that's all off" that gets most on my wick. There's no indication that Julie might have had to really wrestle with her decision, no acknowledgement of Jo's own good fortune in being able to combine marriage and a career she loves, certainly no suggestion that a woman might want to combine a career with marriage - FFS there is more disappointment / catastrophe / sense of importance about the cancelled picnic in Rosalie!

I am struggling to decide whether gaining an Anna and a Rosli and even a Beth Chester is enough to compensate for having to marry the solid lump...

Loving this thread. I have all the armada books which I still re-read regularly at nearly 50 Looking forward to getting some of the ggb originals too over time. Would love it if someone could send me the one drive (altho rarely have time to read atm I am sure long winter evenings will come to my rescue)
My first was 3 go, and I followed on from there. Got Janet from the library fairly early and was thoroughly confused who everyone was! Eventually got some of the early ones and finally realised how long the series was so things fell into place.
Have to confess went to Murren for our honeymoon and took the dc's there last year for our anniversary. Sad that the funicular is now a cable car.
Have been to Obergurgl but was ill so missed the innsbruck trip. Definitely want to try Acensee but needs a bit of organising. Nel's trip sounded amazing

Yes agree hated the airy Julie Lucy bit where she marries her brothers housemaster! After all those lessons of 'logic' and law from was it Rosalie?

I remember Charles jetting appendicitis and joey glad that he was coming home with Laurie Rosomion as he's a doctor! Er ffs Daisy his wife was a paediatrician with medals! Probably far more qualified than a Devonshire GP!

nell I have pondered my life with jack far more than is mentally healthy and my view is that as long as I had access to the light country wine it would be bearable.

Anna well that worthy handmaiden needs a bloody medal. Of course she does it all for love of her mistress.

And what is 'parsing* con mentions missing it after saving Leilas life?

The spoilt one who pined for her mother in hospital!

Madge wasn't even in Australia in reunion was she? It's totally nuts.

I like madge. Love the way she goes all brisk and snappy after Canada and not embracing middle age. Incidentally how old would she be when the twins were born? 40?

Thank you for the link - I am already deep into Highland Twins The pseudo accent is a bit annoying

Ah so highland unlike the swearing girls on the train.

Poor Betty. Can't understand why Jo never sorted her out years ago as she had such an unhappy childhood. Not like her not to rush to the rescue and be motherly.

cherry is named after Nells sister that died.

It was her chello. Think In Gay we are told Bill lost all her family to illness in one year, guessing flu. Poor bill. Love Bill.

Last night I stood outside and tried to read the weather signs. Was the moon tipping or waining? Was the sky a hard brassy blue? Was there a frost coming?

I closed the windows and covered all my plants in straw and matting just in case.

Evie would be so proud of me and I put all the tools away safe in the shed too. But then I not a slapper like Betty wearing wheezes and lipstick. Ye Gods.

I assume Cerita is pronounced Cherita to go with 'cello. It wouldn't make sense any other way!

Oh, of course you must be right. It had never occurred to me in the 40+ years since I first met Cerita the cello.

And what is 'parsing con mentions missing it after saving Leilas life?*

A particular form of torture to which the young used to be subject. It meant taking random (nonsensical) sentences to pieces, and naming all the different parts of speech. Subject, predicate, subjunctive clause and so on. English teachers used to have to teach this stuff, and it was on the O level syllabus till the year after I did O levels not that I'm bitter and twisted about it or anything.

Hmm. If you had to choose, who would you rather marry - Jack or Jem? Solid lump of comfort versus Sir James, the big man on TB?

Meets love of life
Jem: as she rescues Frau Berlin from a burning train carriage (you plucky, plucky girl!), then falls on her little sister at the ice carnival and carries her home.

Jack: lusts after the 15 year-old schoolgirl sister-in-law of his boss.

Courtship

Jem: Gentlemanly attendance as doctor to Joey/other schoolchildren, has Joey's Elsie book read to him, is missed when not there during the flood.

Jack: Speaks to Jem and Madge long before speaking to Joey, then almost carries her home when Robin goes missing in the cave. Solid lump of comfort scene. Then helps Joey, Miss Wilson etc escape over the mountains and does he-man feats like knocking the Gestapo's heads together with a right good will, and swinging full-grown women around his shoulders.

Home-making/providing
Jem: Die Rosen, St Scholastika's summer house, The Round House
Jack: Plas Gwyn, Cartref (I think), Freudesheim
Attitude to birth control
Jem: clearly practices some form of birth control due to spacing of the Russell children
Jack: are you kidding? Catholic = 11 children. Even if you're a doctor and should know better.

I think I'd go for Jem. Plus then I'd get to be Lady Russell and have Marie and Andre running around after me.

Parsing in These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder:

"Scaling yonder peak, I saw an eagle wheeling near its brow"
"'I' is the personal pronoun, first person singular, here used as the subject of the verb 'saw,' past tense of the transitive verb 'to see.' 'Saw' takes as its object the common generic noun, 'eagle,' modified by the singular article, 'an.' '"Scaling yonder peak' is a participial phrase, adjunct of the pronoun, 'I',' hence adjectival. 'Wheeling' is the present participle of the intransitive verb, 'to wheel,' here used as adjunct to the noun, 'eagle,' hence adjectival. 'Near its brow' is a prepositional phrase, adjunct of the present participle of the verb 'to wheel,' hence adverbial." After only a few such sentences, Mr. Williams was satisfied. (and along with hearing a speech summarising US history, decides she knows enough to be a certified schoolteacher!)

Or less formally, just figuring out what a long complex sentence is on about (at the Chalet, usually in German with its predicate at the end of the sentence).

We had to do some in primary school and ds did a bit for Y2 SATS, but I still have no bloody idea what the difference between a verb and a predicate is!

And is construe just translation into Latin?

Hm.
Jem - knows everyone, can wangle visas and stuff out of the Nazis. Clearly has money but can't recall evidence.
Jack - inherits various houses (Merry Maids), knows all sorts of people. Suggestion of Top Secret war work (Jack as 007?)

Jem comes across as slightly more smug and patronising to the young, but Jack's hardly immune to that. Jack is supposed to be a lovely father (when he's there) and Jem seems to be more absent.

Can I have Gottfried instead?

Joey in conversation with Hilda, in Althea: " Jack actually got a whole night in bed and I'm bouncing!"

TMI?

Definitely TMI!

Yeah, I'd definitely pick Jem over Jack, pretty much for all Cheddar's reasons. The Russells are just a far far better family than the Maynards, easily - not just because Madge is brilliant and Jack is ugh (although tbf that alone would do), but they have the best children (I like Sybil and Josette, and Ailie definitely shows great promise) and also just go on about their life contentedly and quietly. I have only properly learned to appreciate Madge and Jem as an adult, though - as a child I found Madge likeable but unreachably grownup, and I actively disliked Jem simply because he is of his time, I think.

Thinking about it now, I wonder if that's roughly the reasoning behind the repeated 'Jo might be a wife and proud mamma, but she's still a schoolgirl at heart' stuff. Because I don't remember ever feeling that my (many) favourites among the staff were unreachably grownup - that was definitely the effect of marriage, motherhood etc.

I'd probably choose Jack over Reg though...

There is an interactive display about different types of clouds in my local museum. I always want to see if it holds any info on the mysterious tiny wisps of cloud in an otherwise clear blue sky which indicate certain storm ahead, but I think they've been unforgivably excluded from mention.

Empress that is actually brilliant.

I'm also delighted that Cheddar has reminded me about the bit where Jack knocks the Nazis' heads together. That bit is comedy gold.

Hi all, new to this thread and unreasonably excited to read of the existence of the one drive! Any chance of details? Pleeeeeease!

Good grief 'parsing sounds like torture.

Empress wasn't Joeys hands soon to be full anyway so we're they just having sex to enjoy rather than procreate?

I don't know yes I think Jem has the edge as of my dh said things like 'bless the girl what will she do next'i would have to kill him.

Madge has Andre Marie and Rosa so more help. Defiantly prefer Madges girls, I think Jo is vile about Sybil considering Margot is a bloody psycho and a spoilt brat to boot.

Remember the conversation in I think 'war' where they are discussing Lydia, Jacks sil, and madge says 'the doctor told Lydia she only had herself to blame for her sons death as if he had been brought up obediently the accident wouldn't have happened'

Now that's a doctor who knows how to treat a grieving mother.

Again when Josette is scalded it's poor Sybil who gets the blame! She's bloody 10! With all those servants how can it be a child's fault? Jo blames her too and Jem won't speak to her!! I found that really horrible.

Jo never gets blamed for Margots or mikes terrible behaviour!