Nigella Lawson or Fanny Craddock?

It looks like I might have a challenge to meet on Boxing Day. Keith's family come for the day and Keith, being the Jamie Oliver of the partnership, always undertakes to produce the culinary delights. But this year, it looks as though he might have to pass that task on to me. Unfortunately, I don't really 'do' cooking. One of my colleagues as horrified the other day when I told her that, under normal circumstances, Keith does most of the cooking as I only have two menus - salmon with salad or salmon with vegetables. I did exaggerate slightly but Keith is so much better at it. For one thing, he's actually interested in doing it. As the French say, the French live to eat whilst the English eat to live and I'm afraid I am very definitely in the English camp there.
Still I shall have Keith shouting out orders from his couch of pain and if it turns out to be inedible, well we will have been spared the burden of exercising it all off in the New Year. Come to think of it, maybe that's why his first thought was to cancel the visit....
I mean, no-one's going to die of starvation, are they?
Hmmm, I'm starting to get nervous now.

Lights, camera, action!

Our first (of two) presentations of our Nativity play for the parents this morning. Everyone performed beautifully and 'Joseph' did not sit there sucking his big toe today, there was not a dry eye in the house (Well, slight exaggeration but you know what I mean). The only problem was that one of the shepherds insisted on battering his sheep into total insensibility. A small price to pay.

The cloak of anonymity

There's been a lot of anonymous activity on my blog and on some of those I visit lately. It's rather like an infection. It begins on one blog and spread to others, persumably through the links list. I decided the last time I was visited that, from now on, I would treat the perpetrator with the contempt he so obviously deserves and ignore any further comments. However, having noticed his inimitable (lack of) style on at least one other blog, I would just like to send him the following message.
Your activity, whilst scarcely entertaining at the onset, is now unutterably boring.
I know your IP address.
I know which pages of my blog you have visited (a considerable number) and when.
I know which blog you were visiting when you discovered mine.

Let's hope that Santa brings you something nice to take your mind off insulting people in the blogosphere!

I told you not to wake the baby!

When the shepherds were minding there sheep, suddenly in the distance lost of Angels appeared. the shepherds pourt there hands over there eyes because the angels light was so so bright. They could hardly see so they went to Bethlehem to see baby Jesus. he was asleep. "Don't wake him up," said Mary qwietley. "OK," said the shepherds. "He is so cuat (cute)" said the shepherds. The lambs said bah Baby Jesus woke up.

The above snippet was taken from the story of the Nativity which my class are currently serialising and was written by J. aged 6.

The Leg

Keith is still laid up and is now barely able to stand or walk as he still can't put his full weight on the broken ankle and the one which is presently giving him problems is now so painful he can hardly bear to move it.
"It's venous eczema," said his doctor on his first visit. "You need to keep the pressure bandage on and I'd like the nurse to see it."
"I don't think you should be wearing that pressure bandage," said the nurse when she visited, "I'll just bandage it up for you."
"It's cellulitis," said the locum on his visit the other day, "but you're on the best antibiotics for it."

In that case, why is it not only not getting any better, we wonder, but actually getting more painful each day?

Tomorrow there will be another visit from the doctor. And the latest diagnosis will be....?

Take three hundred and counting...

A staple part of daily life at the end of the autumn term in a primary school is the production of the Nativity play. In my last full time job, there was a tradition of using a real baby for Jesus. He (or she) lay in a full sized crib and was not touched by any of the other actors, so was quite safe and, oddly enough, there always seemed to be a new born candidate produced at just the right time.

In my present school, we are sticking to the artificial substitute and daily rehearsals include exhorting Joseph to pick the baby up gently and remember to support his head as he hands him to Mary. Producing a Nativity play with 22 children is a bit of a challenge - especially when it comes to crowd scenes, which have to be adapted slightly, but we're getting there. (Picture me, if you will, wearing my green visor, megaphone in hand.) Mind you, we are thinking of transforming one of the shepherds into a sheep if he continues to go AWOL - but then someone remembers that the shepherds are doubling up as the crowd, and if we did that, we'd only be left with a crowd of three. See, I told you some adaptations were necessary. Maybe a little imagination on the part of the audience will be helpful too.

On the road to recovery?

Keith is still on a bit of a roller coaster, leg-wise but the doctor came again today, gave him another 2 lots of antibiotics and told him to 'keep taking the tablets' as well as resting his legs and wearing a pressure bandage. His temperature seems to be back to normal now - you can tell because its fall is in direct ratio to the number of insults that issue from his mouth but he's still not eating much more than the odd Cup a Soup, which should give the diet a good boost. It takes a bit of time doing the old Florence Nightingale routine but I have managed to get a few other things done this weekend too:

Counselling course and workshop
Counselling homework (in advance too!)
Washing, ironing, shopping etc
Present buying and wrapping
Card writing
Should I go on? Give that girl a gold star!