Tea Room 17 - The Tropical Beach Hut

[amberlight]

Welcome to the 17th version of the Tea Room. We find ourselves on a tropical beach, with the tea room now in a beach hut on stilts, the waves lapping on the golden sands beneath. Palm trees surround us. Our virtual gardener/beach surfing dude/handyman, Mellors, is here to tend to your every need. He looks like the person of your dreams (male, female or otherwise ). There are of course holidaying Bishops and other leaders of faith, the Camels, the Bison, various guinea pigs, the tea room horses, a life-size cut out of George Clooney, the NMBs (please don't ask me to explain how Mohawk Babies joined us, and a wide variety of other virtual followers. We chat, we relax, we share how life is. All in need of friendship are most welcome. The kettle is on...and the distressed chintz sofa has of course made the journey over. Enjoy.

Gosh, I have never had a message deleted by MN before. Feel suitably chastened. I thought you had to request it yourself - how do they know that you have said something really stupid? Do they read everything or can anyone get anyone else's messages deleted? Off to bed now before I say anything even worse.

Scout - I saw the end of the programme, when they were getting their offers of school places.

I think (although this is a simplification) that there's probably a town/country divide here. As UniS says, in rural areas there may well be one primary school and one secondary school and if both have enough places then everyone goes there. In larger towns, though, people have to choose between several alternatives. Many of the problems I see are where parents make 'choices' they are never likely to obtain - such as choosing a school which is 5 km away when the last distance at which it has awarded a place in the last 2 years is 800m. It's not actually a 'choice' system at all - parents get to express a preference but over-subscription may mean that their preferences can't be accommodated.

Sorry. Does that help or not?

oo-er - slapped wrists for serpent and JBM - tut!

I love reading the posts here - it's like slipping into a really comfy pair of slippers and falling into a saggy ol' armchair. :)

Not going to attempt to answer anything as have just had to finish a bottle of wine (Dad is teetotal and quite capable of leaving half a bottle of white wine in the larder until I return from Down Under next year).

I have a new laptop! it is rather lovely and shiny and I Like It A Lot. I have never had a brand new one before, I am Very Excited. [saddo emoticon].

I am also :( because tomorrow I am back on a plane with miniThumb - finally we are "going hooooome" so he should be happy but odds on he'll start asking "where's Granpa" as soon as we leave the country. It's been a lovely trip but not long enough - I could have done with another week and then I could have fitted more in, including a meet up with Smallbunch (which had to be cancelled last minute due to increasing time constraints). Next year we'll get it together a bit better and hope to organise a bigger meet up in advance :)

Bon voyage!

merci mille fois - it's going to be Interesting, I can tell

What on earth???? What did I do? Could someone explain please what occasioned slapped wrists and shocked emoticons?

no idea, it all happened before i got here. Perhaps Small could give you a kindly hint...

Oh, I see.
I apologize and will do so to the person in question on the other site. I was trying to be helpful to UnSerpent in identifying someone whom she didn't know but that's obviously me not being internet savvy enough.
May I just say, however, that I do not appreciate being spoken (or written) to like a thoughtless fourth-grader. :(

it was a tad brusque, Small - gently gently in our tearoom, I thought?

Well, I live in a slightly larger town (not as big as ye ol' university town 20 miles away, mind) that has lots of schools. I do Guides in a village seven miles away and the unit feeds from that village and the even smaller surrounding villages. They all have one primary and Guide-village has the college, so it seems all of the Guides go their. Except for a couple who live even further away.

It's all so confusing.

Good luck for today, amber!

Safe journey back, thumb. Let us know if we can post any treats from home to you.

Feel grim -- have booked a GP appointment for this morning (oooh, lovely new password for on-line booking means I can make an appointment any time).

"...go there" not their -- gah! I blame the silly o'clock wake up.

We saw the programme on schools admissions too. And to think that sort of thing happens every year! We will shortly be applying for DD's secondary school place, and will be applying for the faith school, which is oversubscribed - I would HOPE she would get in though! Thing is, I don't like the local secondary, and it seems more and more parents are choosing other further away secondary schools. I guess I need to check those out too, just in case!

We live in a 'village' which has become attached to the city over time - but still has a distinct feel ifyswim - and has two primary schools - one associated with the church and another that isn't, both with reasonable results. My next door neighbour's twins are a year younger than mistlechick - she went through the applications process and although we can walk to both (and mc has been able to since he was 3) she got given a place instead in a school closer to town in one of the estates. Needless to say, she wasn't pleased as that schools results are pretty awful - which reflects the fact that there are places available (and probably results from where it is too). She has managed to find them a place at a different local school a bit further out, but the one assigned to them would effectively mean that she wouldn't be able to go back to work. So, yes can be a bit of a nightmare - but more likely if you're in an area of large population and with lots of different schools to choose from.

Amber - thinking of you and fine lad today - I found this manual on old tractors that I thought you might like to have a look through whilst you're waiting.

DS is home, eye very sore, needs to rest for a few days. Now dh is having tests and may need an urgent operation. I am slumped over my computer in some despair and exhaustion.
Who's for brandy? (Virtual, of course)

I'm so glad that it's gone well (as much as it can) for the Fine Lad. Now fingers crossed for the ... err ... what shall we call him ... Fine Husband.

hello. n teeny tiny netbook. so keeping it teeny tiny.
amber- chocolate.

schools, i guess have been this way for many years, certainly were when i went to secondary nearly 30 yrs ago ( in london) i DID get into 1st choice school.

((((HUGS))))) Amber re DS and DH. And wine and chocolates and whatever is needed. Priest hole duvet?

Won't be around this weekend, have a nice one everyone.

More ((hugs)) for anyone who would like some due to worry over loved ones, leaving their family on the other side of the world, worrying about schools, etc.

We are very lucky that the one primary school I would choose for Wriggle is actually the closest (only 3.5 miles). Of course, I'm not sure about schools at all, although I remind myself of Small's wise words when I feel most inclined to opt out of schools altogether.

Has anyone any ideas where we should go next? With autumn approaching, I fancy somewhere close to a huge horse chestnut tree, surrounded by drifts of crackling leaves, with a vegetable garden growing pumpkins and clumps of Michaelmass daisies, where Mellors can build bonfires on misty mornings ... I think a cricket pavillion with tearoom on the edge of a large village sounds good. Wriggle's nursery is in a cricket pavillion; it is freezing cold ...

I'd just noticed that we were closing fast on the 1000 count. A cricket pavilion sounds perfect. UniS has been teaching me how to play cricket. I can bowl a mean googly.

Have I ever uttered any wise words on schools? I doubt it, least of all to a teacher.

I'm tottering off to bed now. Night night.

You said that the most important aspect of going to school was to learn how to cope with people who don't like you. The hardest thing to do in life!

Bonne nuit!

Hi guys,

Ooh, what did you guys say! Deleted my mn!! So, what, do they read everything?

We are moving specifically to send LittleO to a particular school. A school I am not allowed to mention on mn it seems. Tis controversial it seems. I see the flaws but think the pros outweigh them and that me and dh will counter the mumbojumbo. In Ireland the school situation is dire, I think 98% of schools are run by the catholic church. V v old fashioned, and not in a good way at all.

Amber - Glad to hear Fine Lads op went well. Sorry to hear bad news about hubby though.

Actually AandO, I'm glad you asked - this is a bit awkward and I am very sorry but Serpent and I accidentally and thoughtlessly outed you. She asked something to do with the other site and I answered, foolishly, but trying to be helpful. Real names and initials were used, and it was good that Small (I assume) reported the posts and that they were deleted before any harm was done. I am really sorry, it was purely by accident and trying to be helpful. If you want to know exactly what was said, please contact me on the other site. I sent you a message there. Again, I am really sorry.

Man alive, what a night. DS's eye is hurting hugely, DH still can't eat anything without feeling absolutely dreadful and is spending 95% of his day and night asleep. I'm totally out of my routine and trying not to panic.

Arrk Amber - sounds awful. Both lots of eye surgery I've had were really painful the first few days, but got rapidly better after that