Tea Room The 24th - San Francisco Painted Lady!

[Tee2072]

Welcome to the 24th incarnation of the One-Child Tea Room. Not that you only have to have one! Just so long as you enjoy chat, tea, coffee, cake!!

The usual rules apply - no bunfighting. If you like that sort of thing, go elsewhere.
Other rules: bring . Or .

Our ongoing voyage take us to one of San Francisco's Painted Ladies!

We've brought the Aga over, it's in the back in the cosy kitchen overlooking the back garden. The chintz sofa is in the front room, under the bow window! All of the pillows and duvets have come along as well!

What's that? The Priest Hole? It's just over there --> behind the bookcase!

Mellors is upstairs, preparing the bedrooms for naps and such.

The aspidistras are thriving as they overlook Nob Hill! The horses have found themselves stabled in the Garden, which is much larger than these places usually are in this city!

So come in and have a seat!

::tea hurries off to Powell Street to catch the Cable Car to Ghirardelli Square::

Now I'm a "dinnerlady" who baulks at saying grace before pack lunch BUT the year 3 girls demand it and plead for it to be their turn to say grace... The yr R and 1 kids get must annoyed if I miss saying grace OR if I say it "wrong" ie not the same as the dinner lady who normally supervises them ... wwyd.

Can some one pass me a doughnut please?? with icing and sprinkles. and a large mocha?

Shoulder is seemingly not as bad as last week. Dr has referred me to physio... we shall see what they reckon in time.

Boy has new bike. very very pleased with it. has been for 1st ride and was fine, he can change up gears OK but down will take a bit of practise ( twist grip shifter) . He wants to take it shool for show n tell tomorrow. I will let him if teacher says its OK, he's riding to school any way so I will just have to leave a lock key with teacher. They are looking at transport this half term.

Here - doughnuts, mocha and extra sprinkles are all available

Have just iced 60 odd mini cupcakes for forest school bake sale. On a matter of principle they are gluten/wheat/dairy free jic there are any children who need one of those. They have green icing and teeny tiny rice paper rabbits

OOh, thanks CMOT.

Can someone explain babies to me in words of one syllable? One second he's wide away, babbling away, no sign of sleep. Next second...zzzzzz.

I avoid all RE threads. I am very spiritual but not at all religious. Also, as a visitor to this land, especially living in NI, I avoid all conversations about religion anyway!

Maud, don't confuse RE on the school curriculum with schools proselytising - it is teaching about religion and developing a non-religion-specific spirituality (if done properly). Collective woeship is another matter.

DS does that Tee - especially in the car he can be chatting away, then fall asleep mid sentence. Wish I could do that

Maud: I thought that I was saying things you knew; but I did think that our non Brit TRoomers might need a bit of context. I hope you didn't think I was being patronising, as that wasn't what I meant to be.
On the RE thing again: it does strike me that folk like myself (ie tolerant whether religious or not) are always on s sticky wicket when talking to the untolerant membrrs of s religion. After all, if you arr going to beieve you know the only way to eternal salvation it is entirely reasonable on your part to not want other 'false' opinions confusing your offspring.

Unserpent - have just very happily sung Israel in Egypt which might have a bit of a different slant on water and religion... Lots about the enemies being drowned when the sea rolled back in - sounds sad about it at times and very happy at others!!!

Stressed at work - so excema has broken out on hands, face and scalp. Nice

MT looks very cool in his karate uniform - he has his first coloured belt now. And he did a lot better at football yesterday. So is feeling a bit more positive - he was feeling down as he had been put with the 2nd years (he's bigger than most of them) and found he wasn't as good as them.... have sorted out that problem now though!

Parents evening the week after next, so will perhaps do a bit of considering what I'm going to say. we've suddenly got the right level of books at least.

In dear ol B the 1870 education act came after many villages and boroughs of towns and cities already had very well established schools set up by the church of England. After LOTS of bunfights the churches held on very tightly to their grip on education.

<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.fr/imgres?imgurl=victoria.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/_assets/gallery/thumb/gallery_31012009_e279700.jpg&imgrefurl=victoria.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/browseTitle.php%3Fletter%3DT&usg=__HEFA_pMayZzJfeAfNHEdbjtRTGk=&h=89&w=120&sz=11&hl=fr&start=10&zoom=0&tbnid=_ufvAcY_g89VFM:&tbnh=65&tbnw=88&ei=dk55TYfKC8Wt8gOAvdC2BA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpunch%2Bmagazine%2B1870%2Beducation%2Bact%2Bchurch%26hl%3Dfr%26sa%3DN%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.google.fr/imgres?imgurl=victoria.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/_assets/gallery/thumb/gallery_31012009_e279700.jpg&imgrefurl=victoria.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/browseTitle.php%3Fletter%3DT&usg=__HEFA_pMayZzJfeAfNHEdbjtRTGk=&h=89&w=120&sz=11&hl=fr&start=10&zoom=0&tbnid=_ufvAcY_g89VFM:&tbnh=65&tbnw=88&ei=dk55TYfKC8Wt8gOAvdC2BA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpunch%2Bmagazine%2B1870%2Beducation%2Bact%2Bchurch%26hl%3Dfr%26sa%3DN%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1

Christian ethos assemblies and collective worship used to piss me off a bit but now I live in a country that doesn't have this I see the social and emotional benefits of assemblies. Especially for children from non-faith families and am sad that Milk doesn't experience the uplifting elements of a very good assembly and feel sad that she may never blow the roof off singing with hundreds of other children.

GAH - the link didn't work. It was a punch cartoon of various men discussing education while the poor children waited to be educated !

I rather like the role that the CofE plays in the English social fabric, to that extent it isn't a religion, never has been - always a point of compromise and state structure, but that's nice, in terms of history, being born, married, die with a rhythm that is shared through the centuries. I like assemblies and judges going to church and things in the name of God and Queen

weirdly though I don't think of it as terribly religious more akin to singing rugby songs and group belonging
(aware this might be very offensive to those of true spritiual belief but I think there is the Church of England the then religion ).... maybe I should shut up

www.mediastorehouse.com/image/the-three-rs%3B-or-better-late-than-never-1870_1233124.jpg

Serpent - I don't. I am very clear about the difference between educating/informing and recruiting. And equally clear about the difference between RE and collective worship, after many years as a governor of a C of E school. As I said, I think it would be a loss to ditch RE from the curriculum, but it does seem to me anachronistic that the law still prescribes an act of collective worship of a mainly Christian character and (in my view) it would be better to allow each school to determine whether to hold an act of collective worship (and of what sort).

Oxeye - You're quite right. The church is woven into the fabric of society which as a wishy-washy Anglican I find quite comforting too but then, that is exactly what some people find so objectionable.

As someone from a country with a very definite separation of church and state I find this conversation/debate very interesting. I went to RC Elementary and High Schools. In Grade School religion class was definitely RC doctrine, etc., but in high school it was broader with each year themed (for example, sophomore year was morality and I think that's why we watched The Breakfast Club over three classes). My sibs went to public school and to get their RE classes they went to CCD one night a week for a couple of hours.

Breakfast anyone?

::dances the dance of the full nights sleep::

What ya got, Scout?

In school early this morning to prepare for assembly! Just about to find an uplifting powerpoint of images (as supplied by my MIL who is very excited by her new computer) for the children to look at as they file in.

I used to be violently against the collective worship element of primary school, but now, like Tea, I am coming round to it. Partly because, when off on long walks in the depths of the countryside where no-one can hear me, I still like to sing Onward Christian Soldiers and When a Knight Won His Spurs and partly because I was chatting to our local vicar - who is extremely open-minded and not vicarish at all - and he said that people nowadays have no idea what to choose for for weddings and funerals because they don't know any hymns. So I have started teaching our school a few classics - I think I asked you lot for some suggestions at the time. Especially for funerals, I think hymns learnt at school could be comforting.

I agree with that, Serpent - The Lord's My Shepherd is a funeral classic. All Things Bright and Beautiful often crops up in weddings, too (in fact my sister had it at hers) We had Fight the Good Fight for my Mum's funeral. All assembly classics.

Ah. Assembly. You know That Wooden Lecturn is still in our school hall thumb

I agree about the classic hymn thing and frankly I like church woven into society as long as it accepts that social role and doesn't try to prosthletise. I mean many good lessons learnt from taking baked beans to old ladies at harvest festival and our end of term Easter Bonnet and egg parade loom, neither of which have a great deal to do with our lord on the cross. Rhythms of life.
The best example to me is Stir Up Sunday. I think of it like the Archers, Sunday Roast. It is in some way the very constraint that is the comfort. But it should not be confused with doctrine

Yes please for breakfast. I think I'd better not comment on the CofE thing since I'm part of it and really do want us to teach children the basics of each faith but also have them understand that ours is historically a Christian country with many rich traditions based around that faith. It saddens me immensely when I sit down with teenagers from professional families in middle class areas, and ask them if they can tell me anything at all from the Bible...and they can't. If they don't even know what it says, how can that lead to any sort of rational decision on whether to take up a faith or not?
Anyway, having not done a very good job of saying nothing, I'll take my bacon sarnie and go sit outside for a bit in the sunshine.

Batten down the bishops, SF is under a tsunami warning. Scheduled to hit, if it does, at 0815 local time.

Seriously, my brother lives in Berkeley and I'm a bit worried. He's probably far enough inland but with the entire coast still asleep, how can they possibly be preparing?!?! Unless sirens are going off, I suppose.

::tee tries to breathe::

Thank God we're not still in Hawaii - they're evacuating all over the place there. :( Sirens blaring in Hawaii.

Heck Tee - really hope everyone will be ok over there...

The Pacific coast of Mexico is also on alert. They estimate that the tsumi will be hitting the Baja California (next door to SF) at about 10am local time (+5GMT)and then moving south. Mr. H has a sister in Acapulco, also on the list of danger spots. The good thing is that everyone has plenty of warning. It's blanket news coverage here since the wee hours.

Just spoke to my brother. The actually prediction is for a very high tide and not much else. So much for international news.