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Memories of Christmas Past
Tonight, Boy the Younger came running down to the office, eyes shining, calling me to come out into the street. “Mummy! Father Christmas is going down the street in a sleigh!” We ran out and there...
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Antony Worrall Thompson and the Shoplifting Incident
I was very sad to read in the paper about the chef Antony Worrall Thompson’s recent arrest for shoplifting. I am not a particular fan of AWT but I am always saddened to see any human being in distress,...
View ArticleSunday Poem 121
Is this better? The Unexplorer – by Edna St Vincent Millay (1892-1950) There was a road ran past our house Too lovely to explore. I asked my mother once – she said That if you followed where it led It...
View ArticleInterruptions
Can someone please explain to me why, apparently, everyone is determined that I am not going to get any work done tonight? Today has been a busy day. Lady Marjorie’sbrass and fol-de-rols this morning,...
View ArticleSunday Poem 149
The Sunday Poem is back my darlings and it is short, sweet, lush and beautiful. Landscapes (1. New Hampshire) – by T S Eliot (1888-1965) Children’s voices in the orchard Between the blossom – and the...
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Teenagers scare the living *&!* out of me (c. MCR)
Last Wednesday it was Boy the Elder’s 15th birthday. As if that wasn’t scary enough, I sanctioned the invitation of five of his friends to stay, on the condition that they camped in the garden. The...
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Mending Children’s Shoes (and Grown-ups’ too)
Boy the Younger in his Sunday best When Boy the Elder was little, he never wore his shoes out because his feet grew so quickly, there was never time. Boy the Younger, is growing at a more respectable...
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Our little family has grown – by one hamster
BTY’s Hamster Boy the Younger has just purchased a hamster. He has wanted his own pet for ages but I refused on the grounds that it would be top of the pops for a week and I would end up cleaning up...
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Which chores can your children do (or you for that matter)?
Whilst I was languishing in my sickbed, a check-list came to my notice that was written by that pioneer of children’s education, Maria Montessauri. My own boys have been particularly useless and...
View ArticleSupper time in the Raven-Hill household
Boy the Younger: What’s for supper, Mother? Me: Chilli Boy the Younger: Oh brilliant! You make the 2nd best chilli in the world! Me: 2nd best? Who makes the best? Boy the Younger: Lucy (his sister)...
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