The prospectus for Sherborne arrived today.
It is a good thing it was a free prospectus, because it is so beautiful and charming that we could never have afforded to put our names down for the prospectus, never mind the school fees.
Nevertheless it is an amazing school, and is actually my very top favourite for Oliver to go to, if only he doesn’t turn out to be too thick, which unfortunately I think he might. It is wonderful in every possible way. It even has some girls handily included, although they are safely stored in a school on the other side of town to be wheeled out on special occasions when the boys are not doing anything of serious importance, as an outlet for any male interests not sufficiently catered for by shooting and rugby and cricket matches.
I think it looks fantastic and we will have to go and talk to his current school to see if they will support putting him forward for it: he will have to get his finger out for them to agree to that, because of the 55% at Common Entrance. At the very least he will have to manage another couple of notes on the flute.
We went into Kendal today, to a taxi drivers’ meeting and then afterwards to spend money on things in the shops whilst we had the opportunity. It was terribly wet, when we went out to empty the dogs there were some sad drowned slugs in a puddle on the path. It has been raining for days now, the dogs have been refused admittance to our bed because of the late night walk making them horribly wet and smelly.
I think this is reasonable behaviour, but we can’t explain it to them, and they sit on the rug looking forlorn and betrayed and anxious, because of course they think must have done something dreadful to be so unwanted, but they don’t know what it is. I feel awfully sorry for them, but not enough to relent and have muddy dog marks all over my lovely white bed, so they have to creep round to Mark’s side of the bed and get in there when they think I am asleep. I kicked one of them off the other night, she was so cross she went downstairs and did a wee on the carpet which she knows is the thing that upsets me most.
We did not take the dogs into Kendal. We had got to go to a meeting in the Town Hall, which is a great and glorious place, a proper town hall with pillars and oak panelling and dignified banister rails, and I got carried away by the gravitas of it all and found myself volunteering to do all sorts of things that I will almost certainly forget all about and then look like an idiot when we have got to go to another meeting in December.
After that we went into the town centre to buy some dried fruit to put into Christmas confectionery manufacture. We discovered a shop that sold strawberry flavoured raisins, which sounded promising if unusual. I shall let you know how they turn out.
We very nearly stayed in the town and went to a Thai restaurant for lunch, because I have never had Thai food and think it sounds nice, but remembered in time that we don’t have any money, so we went to Morrisons on the way home and bought a piece of bread with cheese and a foreign sounding name, which was just as filling and only cost a pound between the two of us.
I am having issues with Mark’s eating habits at the moment, he eats like a bulimic without the vomiting bit. As the weather gets colder, especially when he is working outside, we keep having to stop doing whatever we are doing in order to shovel more food into him. I am going to have to do some more baking next week, he is a human tapeworm, it is as if he just absorbs everything you put in front of him. If I ate the way he does I would look like a pale pink Matterhorn when I took my clothes off.
So it has been a pleasant, if unexciting day in the Lake District rain, which has cleared now for the first time in days. I don’t at all mind the rain, but it is nice that it is dry now.
The dogs will be pleased as well.
