Harrods Take II

Harrods rivals Winter Wonderland when it comes to entertaining the kids.  The food displays had them in raptures and Steve diving into his wallet.  We sampled Belgian chocolates (very very high quality!) and sushi, not that the two go together that well.

Cheese, pies, sushi and marzipan fruit!

After the food halls it was up three floors to the toy department, where many of the staff demonstrate the very-latest (but very overpriced) best-selling toys on the market.  There were a lot of "Can I have......" which we fixed with the timely purchase of some sticky rock sweeties that lock the jaw for a couple of minutes at a time.

After toys it was up to the pet department, where we saw a big big dog shopping for a collar with his (presumably very wealthy) owner.  He was gorgeous, but wet and therefore a bit on the nose.  Funnily enough it was raining outside.  Have I mentioned it rains quite a bit over here?  Anyway, there he was - one gorgeous smelly dog shopping in Harrods. Love it!

Pooch shopping in Harrods, £2m diamond necklace, fine dining

We also saw a diamond necklace that I've put on order for when I win lotto.  It was a steal at £2 million pounds. The photo I took of it is rubbish - I was too busy watching out for security guards who might have thought I was being literal with the "steal" bit.  And that lovely restaurant room is one of many dining options in Harrods, others being little cafes and stands nestled within the food halls, many of which surround a "kitchen" so that guests can view the food being freshly prepared.  One stand was exclusively for oysters and champagne.  Carmel would have been in heaven!

After Harrods we had lunch with the gorgeous Miss Margot and then it was home James!  And so ended 24 fun, busy hours in London.

Winter Wonderland

Friday 23 November was a big day.  Up at 6:20am, at school by 8:00am, 5 lessons on, home by 3:40pm, packed and out of the house by 4:25pm, on the train to London at 4:57pm!  Non-stop.  Phew!

We were heading to Hyde Park to check out Winter Wonderland with Kelly and her husband Nick.  We dumped our stuff at Hotel Simeon in South Kensington and caught the tube over to the park.  Winter Wonderland has mulled wine. I was happy.

It also has rides, German sausages, a large talking tree, an outdoor ice skating rink and loads of market style stalls.  We wandered around wide-eyed, just soaking up the atmosphere.

Little M started to fade at about 8:00pm and I wasn't faring too much better, so back to the hotel and straight to bed!

What to do when the inevitable happens...

Last week, just as I was about to perform a demonstration of a precipitate reaction, the inevitable happened.  The kids had gathered around the front bench, I had finally got them quiet and then in that initial moment of silence Harry let off a loud trump (English for let rip, busted his guts, baked an air biscuit - get my drift?).

The class snickered.

Not batting an eye-lid I fixed Harry with a Bronwyn Bishop inspired death stare, put my hands on my hips, deepened my (permanent) frown lines and began a lengthy tirade into the dangers of trumping in the lab, including mention of....

noxious fumes, naked flames, possible explosion, high level of recklessness, putting classmates at risk etc etc etc.

There was silence.  They weren't quite sure how to take it, was I serious, was I not?

Inside I was killing myself.  This was a good trick and about time I got one back.

Harry lost his triumphant look, the class remained silent and without further ado I slipped neatly back into demonstration mode as though the trump had never existed.

Miss Price one, class none!  J

Jammie Dodgers - they're jamtastic!

How's that for the name of a biscuit?  And not just any biscuit, apparently Jammie Dodgers are the most popular children's sweet biscuit brand in the UK and are bought by around 30% of its households.

Jamtastic Jammies!

Jammies are made from shortbread and raspberry flavoured jam and have been produced exclusively by Burton's Biscuit Company in South Wales for the last 50 years.  I've tried to find out the history behind the name but had no luck.  They have been featured on Dr Who as one of the Dr's favourite snacks and the kids have given them the big thumbs up.

I haven't tried one yet, I think I'd rather use up my 83 calories on cheese or chocolate or perhaps on some of the mulled wine that has just starting appearing on the shelves for Christmas J.

A little gem

Here is the response I got from a Yr 8 boy who I gave a lunch time detention to.  His task was to think about his behaviour, why he had a detention and how he might improve in future.  Reading it, I marvel at his left of field thought processes, his honesty, his spelling, but most of all his "Sorry Miss, won't happen again" conclusion J.

Up for air

Ok.  My nose is only just above the water line.  I am one small step ahead of the kids and the workload required to stay there is relentless.  The classes just keep on rolling and to make matters worse some of the behaviour this week has been less than inspiring.

On Thursday I brought out the big guns, seating plans and detentions.  Not popular, but they're making my life that little bit easier.

Highlight of the week included me performing (in my opinion) a very skilful demonstration of a heart dissection.  In preparation I watched a 5 minute "How to perform a very skilful demonstration of a heart dissection" clip on youtube and then watched it again and I am now a dab hand with the surgical scissors (far preferable to a scalpel if you're planning on doing one).  Not only could I point out the 4 chambers, the thicker walls of the left ventricle, the aorta, pulmonary artery, pulmonary vein and vena cava, but yay me, also managed to find a valve (well at least something that I called a valve J).

Lowlight of the week - a stool throwing incident in my dysfunctional year 11 class.  Only 9 students, but with a Mr Steroids, a Mr Painful and a Miss Violence, the class is a bit of a nightmare.  Unfortunately after provocation (that I didn't see) Miss Violence decided to retaliate by throwing a stool at Mr Steroids.

"No, no, No, NO, NO!" I said, which was about as effective as wet toilet paper. 

Thud went the stool.

Luckily there were no injuries, as far as stool throws go it was actually quite gentle, more of a light toss.  The incident has since been reported and perhaps Mr Roids and Miss Violence will get another talking to from the Deputy Head about what is and isn't appropriate behaviour in class.

And would you believe it but I am now 33.33% of my way through my 6 week stint at St Joseph's, each additional day is another 3.33%, not that I'm keeping tabs of course J.

Guy Fawkes night

No sooner had we arrived back at Billericay, we were out the door again.  This time to the Billericay Bonfire Night, one of thousands of bonfires held throughout the country to commemorate Guy Fawkes and the failed Gunpowder Plot way back on November 5 1605.

As background.....

After Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, English Catholics who had been persecuted under her rule had hoped that her successor, James I, would be more tolerant of their religion. James I had, after all, had a Catholic mother. Unfortunately, James did not turn out to be more tolerant than Elizabeth and a number of young men, 13 to be exact, decided that strong action was called for.

A small group took shape, under the leadership of Robert Catesby, who formulated a plan to blow up the Houses of Parliament. In doing so, they would kill the King, maybe even the Prince of Wales, and the Members of Parliament who were making life difficult for the Catholics.

To carry out their plan, the conspirators got hold of 36 barrels of gunpowder - and stored them in a cellar, just under the House of Lords.

But as the group worked on the plot, it became clear that innocent people would be hurt or killed in the attack, including some people who even fought for more rights for Catholics. Some of the plotters started having second thoughts. One of the group members felt so strongly he sent an anonymous letter warning his friend, Lord Monteagle, to stay away from the Parliament on November 5th.

The warning letter reached the King, and the King's forces made plans to stop the conspirators.

Guy Fawkes, who was in the cellar of the parliament with the 36 barrels of gunpowder when the authorities stormed it in the early hours of November 5th, was caught, tortured and executed.

It's unclear if the conspirators would ever have been able to pull off their plan to blow up the Parliament even if they had not been betrayed. Some have suggested that the gunpowder itself was so old as to be useless.

Even for the period which was notoriously unstable, the Gunpowder Plot struck a very profound chord for the people of England. In fact, even today, the reigning monarch only enters the Parliament once a year, on what is called "the State Opening of Parliament". Prior to the Opening, and according to custom, the Yeomen of the Guard search the cellars of the Palace of Westminster.

On the very night that the Gunpowder Plot was foiled, on November 5th, 1605, bonfires were set alight to celebrate the safety of the King. Since then, November 5th has become known as Bonfire Night and is traditionally celebrated with fireworks and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes.

Billericay Bonfire Night 3 Nov.  L-R Burning the effigy, lighting the bonfire, Emily's light-up hair
spectacular fireworks, the massive bonfire flame that looks a bit like a dancing chicken.

I loved learning about the history of this night.  Plus I now want to watch the movie V for Vendetta, which apparently is all about Guy Fawkes and the events leading to the failed Gunpowder Plot.

The magnificent Lake District

This post is all about the scenery.  The pictures were as we travelled between Keswick and Kendal, and via the towns of Grasmere, Windermere, Ambleside and Conniston.  Most were taken after stopping on the side of the road, or doing a u-turn and then stopping on the side of the road!  Stunning scenery like this demands u-turns and random stops and I'm hoping the pictures will speak for themselves....

And my favourite photo of all, taken just after leaving Windermere and heading towards Conniston..