Make new friends, but keep the old - one is silver and the other gold...
I spent this afternoon with a friend from primary school. Michelle was the year above me, but we had split classes, so we were in the same class when I was Year 3 and Year 5. We were very good friends, but we rather lost touch, as tends to happen when you're that sort of age. However, thanks to the joy of FaceBook, we've been able to get back in touch. As she's still living near me we decided to meet up in Greenwich. We went and got milkshake & then wandered along to the park to sit and chat. We talked solidly, mixing up reminiscing with an attempt to do some catching up. Lots of people had been talking on Facebook about Mr C being furious with our class for not being able to cut in a straight line & I'd been utterly perplexed. When Michelle asked if I didn't remember him bending the bin out of shape in his rage, though, it suddenly all clicked into place. And we both laughed over the disaster that was out class singing "O come, all ye faithful" - when Kitoto was told not to sing at all & Mr C was telling us to open our mouths wider, stretching an elastic band to demonstrate - of course, it snapped & went pinging off & we fell about laughing just as Sr Genevieve, the headmistress, walked into the classroom. And Michelle remembers the time Mr Corrigan accidentally made me leap into the air with fright. And Roy being a star in the Christmas play in a silver tailcoat with a bright pink lining...
I didn't really keep up with anyone from primary school because I'd gone off to a completely different school, in a different area, and was doing different things. So it was good to have someone to "do you remember when" with, but also to just chat to generally. Michelle went to art college and has gone into design work, and we talked a bit about that; and we talked about history, and about Cambridge; we talked about The Youth Of Today & How Disgracefully People Behave In Public; and we just talked, easily, unhesitatingly, about anything that occurred to us to mention. It was a really nice afternoon. But time rather flew past, so suddenly it was five to five and both of us were needing to get off home. I pretty much ran/speed-walked the whole way up to the top of the park (for those of you not familiar with it, it is a massive great big huge hill) and then across the heath and through the village to get the bus down to Lee. Which was absolutely jam-packed. Blegh. I then steamed on homewards to arrive about 5 minutes after Katie did. I sped about getting changed and grabbing together first aid kit/register/forms that had come in last week etc and then descended to flop limply onto a sofa & look pathetic.
At about ten to six Jess and Pim came by and we all walked up to the park together, where presently some Brownies appeared. As the Juniors had their disco & the Infants were coming back from school journey this evening, we were not expecting a horde. We had TK, DW, EO'M and VN by about five past six, so they played catch while we waited another five minutes and then took ourselves off down to the playground. There was an awful lot of very joyful leaping about and climbing and swinging and sliding and seesawing done by the Brownies (sadly there is a notice posted saying only under 13s may play on the playground) while the Owls congregated on a handy bench and worked out when to start next term & also when we are going to have our planning meeting. Presently we gained a very tired-looking RB, who had been desparate to come as she'll be on holiday next week; and a little later we gained DB, who was also very sleepy looking, but equally keen to come to Brownies. I would just like to point out that they all played together beautifully and did not screech or otherwise bring Brownies into disrepute. They took turns and let other people play and were generally Very Good Indeed.
After a good while of playing on the playground, we got everyone together and went across to the main grassy bit of the park, to have a chat about what they thought we should get with the Active Kids vouchers. There was an awful lot of thought and discussion. They are very keen to have a jazz dance class; and we explained about how maybe we could manage to buy some things using unit funds - like a largeish ball for playing catch - but things like parachutes are very expensive, so it might be better to get one using the vouchers, rather than trying to save up. They all of them looked very solemn and serious about being involved in helping to make these decisions on behalf of the other Brownies. Sadly that often makes me want to giggle, which would be rather awful, so we wound up the discussion and went on to have races. We had a wheelbarrow race, a hopping race, a backwards race, a frog-hopping race... I also set them to rolling down the hill, which was wonderful to watch as various of them went decidedly sideways - EO'M ended up miles away from everyone else, and VN, her cousin, managed to roll past and round various of the others and ended up miles away in the opposite direction. As they were all hot and tired we played sleeping lions, at which VN eventually triumphed. They looked incredibly cute and peaceful lying on the grass... We had some singing games next, then a relay race, after which there was more flopping about though EO'M and VN went leapfrogging off quite splendidly and the others then picked themselves up and presently they were all flinging themselves about in a most gymnastic and exhausting-looking fashion.
All too soon it was time to go home. So we had Brownie Magic and then Brownie Bells and then we went up to the gates together & once all the Brownies were vanished with their various adults, the Owlery pobbled along back through the park to go home. Or, in the case of Barn Owl, to Scumford, but sometimes people will do that sort of thing. Oui. Oh, and I forgot to say: as we were waiting for people to appear, the Brownies suddenly said: "ooh, look, a dalmation". Of course, it was Zachary, out with my uncle, so I promptly hurtled across the road to fling myself onto Orishe for a hug as I've not seen him in ages. Zachary then leapt on me in a bid to join in, but these things will happen. As they were off to the heath I bopped back to rejoin the Owls, in time to hear DW explaining that "I know him - he lives on my road - in the pink house". Ah, so much Brownie-joy...
I didn't really keep up with anyone from primary school because I'd gone off to a completely different school, in a different area, and was doing different things. So it was good to have someone to "do you remember when" with, but also to just chat to generally. Michelle went to art college and has gone into design work, and we talked a bit about that; and we talked about history, and about Cambridge; we talked about The Youth Of Today & How Disgracefully People Behave In Public; and we just talked, easily, unhesitatingly, about anything that occurred to us to mention. It was a really nice afternoon. But time rather flew past, so suddenly it was five to five and both of us were needing to get off home. I pretty much ran/speed-walked the whole way up to the top of the park (for those of you not familiar with it, it is a massive great big huge hill) and then across the heath and through the village to get the bus down to Lee. Which was absolutely jam-packed. Blegh. I then steamed on homewards to arrive about 5 minutes after Katie did. I sped about getting changed and grabbing together first aid kit/register/forms that had come in last week etc and then descended to flop limply onto a sofa & look pathetic.
At about ten to six Jess and Pim came by and we all walked up to the park together, where presently some Brownies appeared. As the Juniors had their disco & the Infants were coming back from school journey this evening, we were not expecting a horde. We had TK, DW, EO'M and VN by about five past six, so they played catch while we waited another five minutes and then took ourselves off down to the playground. There was an awful lot of very joyful leaping about and climbing and swinging and sliding and seesawing done by the Brownies (sadly there is a notice posted saying only under 13s may play on the playground) while the Owls congregated on a handy bench and worked out when to start next term & also when we are going to have our planning meeting. Presently we gained a very tired-looking RB, who had been desparate to come as she'll be on holiday next week; and a little later we gained DB, who was also very sleepy looking, but equally keen to come to Brownies. I would just like to point out that they all played together beautifully and did not screech or otherwise bring Brownies into disrepute. They took turns and let other people play and were generally Very Good Indeed.
After a good while of playing on the playground, we got everyone together and went across to the main grassy bit of the park, to have a chat about what they thought we should get with the Active Kids vouchers. There was an awful lot of thought and discussion. They are very keen to have a jazz dance class; and we explained about how maybe we could manage to buy some things using unit funds - like a largeish ball for playing catch - but things like parachutes are very expensive, so it might be better to get one using the vouchers, rather than trying to save up. They all of them looked very solemn and serious about being involved in helping to make these decisions on behalf of the other Brownies. Sadly that often makes me want to giggle, which would be rather awful, so we wound up the discussion and went on to have races. We had a wheelbarrow race, a hopping race, a backwards race, a frog-hopping race... I also set them to rolling down the hill, which was wonderful to watch as various of them went decidedly sideways - EO'M ended up miles away from everyone else, and VN, her cousin, managed to roll past and round various of the others and ended up miles away in the opposite direction. As they were all hot and tired we played sleeping lions, at which VN eventually triumphed. They looked incredibly cute and peaceful lying on the grass... We had some singing games next, then a relay race, after which there was more flopping about though EO'M and VN went leapfrogging off quite splendidly and the others then picked themselves up and presently they were all flinging themselves about in a most gymnastic and exhausting-looking fashion.
All too soon it was time to go home. So we had Brownie Magic and then Brownie Bells and then we went up to the gates together & once all the Brownies were vanished with their various adults, the Owlery pobbled along back through the park to go home. Or, in the case of Barn Owl, to Scumford, but sometimes people will do that sort of thing. Oui. Oh, and I forgot to say: as we were waiting for people to appear, the Brownies suddenly said: "ooh, look, a dalmation". Of course, it was Zachary, out with my uncle, so I promptly hurtled across the road to fling myself onto Orishe for a hug as I've not seen him in ages. Zachary then leapt on me in a bid to join in, but these things will happen. As they were off to the heath I bopped back to rejoin the Owls, in time to hear DW explaining that "I know him - he lives on my road - in the pink house". Ah, so much Brownie-joy...