Heatwave! It is so hot I have had to close the curtains against the sun, have fans running and am trying my best to keep as cool as possible. It was very warm yesterday but at least there was a breeze. Today, it is totally still and airless. No chance of sitting outside for me until very late afternoon.
The fish are all going mad, the heat brings out their spawning instincts. Got this shot of a water lily yesterday:-
Time for the final entry concerning my Junior school.
We had no dining hall or kitchen at my junior school. There was no choice in those days, you either had school dinners or you went home for lunch which was not an option in my case. You could not take sandwiches or snacks.
So, each day we had to line up in an orderly manner in the playground and then we were marched along the road, across another road and into the grounds of St. John’s church. We had to wait patiently outside until the doors were opened. Great in the summer, but in the winter we would either have to stand in the pouring rain, the sleet or snow, fog or bitter winds. When the doors opened we would march in and take our seats in the church hall and our dinners were then presented to us.
School dinners! Even now they raise a shudder. Of course they were not cooked on the premises, they were brought in from outside and just dished out by the dinner ladies. They were disgusting. There never seemed to be much variety except on Fridays when we had fish (full of bones). The rest of the week it usually consisted of a lump of gristly meat, greens boiled and boiled until there was no goodness left in them, scoops of mashed potato which were o.k. until you bit into them and then you would encounter large hard lumps that had not been mashed. All this topped with lumpy gravy. The food was only tepid at the best of times. To this day, I only have to encounter a piece of gristle or a lump in my food and I gag, I truly do. Most of the time I would push it around my plate despite the wrath of the teachers who insisted we ate everything. Dessert was usually more palatable so I did get something to eat during the day even if the custard was also lumpy. No chance of obese children in those days, we simply could not eat the food! Then we were all marched back to the school again for afternoon lessons. I remember I was always hungry and could not wait to get home so I could fill my rumbling stomach.
I think the highlight of my Junior school was the school play. I always loved plays and acting and took an active role in the drama group at my next school. Yes, we did get off lessons to rehearse, but I think it was the chance to be someone else, to do something different, to dress up. We had the Christmas nativity of course where I was usually an angel but that was not the same as a proper play. We only did the one that I remember and it was The Pied Piper of Hamelin. I think one of the teachers wrote it and it was based on the poem. We all had a great time rehearsing , I remember laughing a lot and the teachers were much more relaxed and more outgoing than usual except, of course, for Miss B. I never saw that woman smile! For some reason, only the girls were allowed to be in the play - maybe they thought boys could not be trusted, I simply do not know. Maybe they had a play of their own but if they did, I do not remember. So, I got to play a man - in fact I played a man in most of the school plays at my Secondary school, but there was a good reason for that. It was an all girls school, so someone had to do it!
We had to perform The Pied Piper for the rest of the school and then , one evening, the parents were all invited. Looking back now, Hamelin was supposed to be overwhelmed by rats. We had five of them! I wonder if those girls who played the rats remember it now?
I still have the photo:-
The dreaded Margaret N. was older than Jean and I and left one whole year before we did so for my last year at least the bullying stopped although the damage was done and I found it hard to trust anyone after that.
Now I am going off to get a cool drink and maybe a cool shower. Hope you all have a good day.
15 comments:
Your experiences in school were alot different then mine as far as how they took care of you. Our school lunches were pretty good, I usually brought my own tho. Which child is you in the picture? Linda
which one are you on the picture, is it the one at the back with the beard?............Jules xxxxx
http://journals.aol.co.uk/jules19642001/Itsmylife/
I used to love school dinners apart from once but that's another story. Same as you I have to stay in today. The lily looks gorgeous
Beautiful shot of the lily. Yuck on those school lunches. Wonder why there was not any boys in the school plays? At least in the plays you go to have a bit of fun. Hope your nice cooling shower makes feel more refreshed and you have a good afternoon. Helen
Oooooh, school dinners. They sound as appetizing as mine did. Yuck. As for the heat, I am reclining with a cool drinkie!
Su
x
The water lily is spectacular. Reading about your experience in school is so elaborate that I can transported to that time and place. You are an excellent writer Jeannette. Look forward to reading your journal. The class picture gives real life to the story.
Gorgeous waterlily. Question. WHY are you not published? You're an excellent writer. Hugs. Barb- http://journals.aol.com/barbpinion/HEYLETSTALK
Bleh...those school dinners! I thought I had put all thought of them behind me. Now you have reminded me of yellow cabbage, something that was called meat and yes, lumpy mashed potatoes. Do you remember having stewed prunes....yuk yuk yuk!!! At least my school was a brand new building and we had our awful dinners served on site. That lily is really gorgeous....Hope you get a bit of a breeze, we have one now and it makes life bearable..:-)
Sandra xxx
School dinners! Semolina pudding! Yuk! Never had them for long, thank goodness. Take care.
Sylvia x
First of all, may I just say that I sympathise with the fish :o) :o)
We used to have to go to another school for our school dinners too, but I think they were ok, especially the roast potatoes! I'm still in touch with a schoolfriend, from when we were 10!
http://journals.aol.co.uk/irisclyde/LaDolceVita
Our school dinners were not too bad as they were cooked on the premises.Only thing I hated was when the teacher said stand up all those who have free dinners and I was one of them. . .humiliating!Can tell thats you in the photo!!
Gah! The school lunch sounded horrible! My schools all had rather tasty lunches. But then, we had proper cafeteria and kitchen facilities. I remember they had choice of fish sticks (no bones) or cheese pizza every friday. The school was large, so not every student could go to lunch at the same time. If you had early period lunch, you got to have pizza. Late period lunch, very often they ran out. I hated having late period lunch...no pizza and I was STARVING by then. LOL
Brilliant story jeannette - thank you so much for sharing. Our school dinners were held in the junior classroom as it was the bigger of the classrooms. I played a bloke in our school play. Dr Brown I was but I can't remember the play but my picture was in the paper and I had the worst lines in the whole play to remember!! :-)
Excellent entry Jeannette, brought back lots of memories for me too. Yes, those dodgy school dinners were still around in my early school years. Sandra reminded me of stewed prunes, blech, and you reminded me of lumpy custard AND lumpy scoops of mash, blech blech!! They were awful, and you had to eat every bite. Wasn't until I got to my upper school that the pizza, chips and other fast food type dinners were brought in. Thank you for pointing out which is you in the photo :o) I loved school plays too. My middle school was well known for putting on great plays every year. I was usually in the choir because of my great singing talent, ahem, not!! Really enjoyed this, thank you my dear, and sorry for the epic comment!!
Sara x
Looking at this photo it reminded me of one that I have. It was taken on Coronation day and I was dressed up as a canterbury bell!! I'll have to dig out and put it on my journal so that you can see it.....Jill
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