Hogwarts School of Wizardry, I Wish!

Inspired by Leigh Ward-Smith’s entertaining post Six-Word Stories: On School, I’m going to share with you twenty-one six-word memories of the girls-only boarding school I attended. Why twenty-one? Because that’s my age … hah, hah, I wish. You won’t see me cross my heart and hope to die on that score.

All girls school torture for tomboys.

School tuck box. Lemon sherbets. Toffees.

Not on diet. Pudding third helpings.

Playing vinyl records on portable player.

Terror of lacrosse and hockey sticks.

Sadistic sports teachers with hairy legs.

Sent out of chapel for giggling.

Bogey up French teacher’s nose distracts.

English teacher sings Joan Baez songs.

Art class. Life drawing resembles Queen.

Swearing. Mouth washed out with soap.

Performance nerves. Messes up school concert.

Headache, tears of frustration over algebra.

Slide rules. No calculators. Mental arithmetic.

Writing science fiction instead of studying.

Midnight. Reading banned books by torchlight.

Talking after lights out. Nocturnal detention.

Chicken pox. Mock O-levels in bed.

Blank paper in exams. Time up.

School Prize Day. Nothing for me.

Wishing too late, I’d worked harder.

Previous posts related to school:

School, serpents and sin

A tribute to Roald Dahl: bad school reports versus literary genius

 

Neglected Structures & Overgrown Places #06 — Defunct Garden Clock

Garden Clock

I wonder whether this clock ground to a halt at 6.30 in the morning or evening and what time of year it happened. Perhaps it was summer, so the gardener was outside and missed his breakfast or tea as a result. Maybe it gave up the ghost at the same moment as someone died, a bit like the grandfather clock in the well-known song written by Henry Clay in 1876.

Wordless Wednesday — My Ancestral Tartans, Though I be a Southerner ;-)

Ross Tartan
Ross Tartan
Innes Tartan
Innes Tartan (Reid)

On Thursday, 18th September, the people of Scotland will decide if they want to return to political independence from the United Kingdom. The Act of Union was passed in 1800, when ancestors on both sides of my family lived north of the border.

Monday Morning #Haiku 30 — Sea-kale

Sea-kale

Wholesome sea-kale,
food of ancient mariners.
Protected species.

#

Please note that in the UK (and probably other countries), it’s illegal to harvest sea-kale that’s growing in the wild.

In the old days, this super-nutritious plant saved the lives of many mariners by helping prevent scurvy, but then Victorian foodies over-harvested sea-kale and now it’s so rare that it has become a protected species. But the good news is that you can buy packets of seeds and grow it in your gardens or allotments.

The ones in the picture above, I found amidst camomile flowers on the shoreline a few miles from my home and this was first time since my childhood that I’ve seen them in their natural habitat.