Rochelle's 18th

Bridie, Glen and myself went down to Plymouth at the weekend to celebrate Rochelle's 18th birthday. It was a great night and Jamie and Chrissie managed to entertain us all once again. It was a beauty! Chrissie was full of dance moves while Jamie recovered after a quick coffee break to ensure plenty of wine got drunk.

The sparkling candles went down a treat with the gorgeous coffee cake and Morag did a fantastic spread of food which Glen decided to add to by sending out for MacDonalds. Unbelievably, to me anyway at my advanced age, Jordan and Roxanne weren't going out clubbing until one am! What's that all about? Their night begins when I've been in bed for two or three hours.

End of school

For the last day of the school the entire staff was invited to the Balmer lawn in the New Forest with the leadership team making an advance reccy of the place on Tuesday eve in addition to the Weds night.

It was a great couple of days although tinged with a good deal of sadness. I must have played tennis for around 6 hours and was completely shattered forcing me onto the croquet which was a mistake in bare feet. I whacked my foot and got stung while playing which wasn't nice but the alcohol numbed the pain.

I had a 3am finish on Tuesday and a 4am finish the next night which meant Thursday was a bit of a blur. I barely slept at all but had a good time with a bottle and half of whisky cleared in the two nights. I'm no sure I would have been doing forward rolls into the pool otherwise. The handstand entry and backward rolls were even worse. It doesn't help the other teacher being fit, being a gymnast and graceful. I almost emptied the pool every time I jumped in.

25th Wedding Anniversary

Last weekend we had a party around the chiminea with lots of family to celebrate our Silver Wedding. We had a great time although Glen managed to have his first alcohol induced sickness after several cans of cider - Jamie!!

We were given a wonderful pendulum clock with chimes and bought each other rings. First time I've had a wedding ring for years after losing it on Bournemouth beach.

Maria

Aren't some people naughty. Bridie and Alison have been playing with Maria like some kind of toy. This is an abuse of her human rights.

Sparkshop Update

I am not sure why but it has been a while since I last updated the blog and in that time Sparkshop finished a creditable 4th in the previous league and have enjoyed a winning start to the new campaign.

Two things stand out from the past season. We managed five consecutive wins despite my finishing as top scorer but more impressively we brought in some new faces who gelled quickly into the team with Richard securing a well deserved spot as player of the year. He was outstanding save for one moment which was adequately covered previously.

We started again after a week long break and the game saw the return of the skipper Kev after a period sidelined with a bad back suffered on the driving range. He managed the entire game despite wincing several times and even scored to secure a 3 - 2 win.

Richard Dougie Matt C New Matt Kev Iain and 3 pint Pete

Dougie had an outstanding game and that is meant seriously. He anticipated well and intercepted on several occasions as well as commanding the defensive area. Pete has played a few times now and is aided by a few pints before the game starts. Matt returned after a dodgy stomach whilst Dom had disappeared for some reason - limbering up for his holiday with Kev?

The start was fairly even although the opposition had the bulk of possession without doing anything with it - something we excel at - the not doing anything with it part. It was a tight affair though until Matt lashed home a rebound after Pete had shot across the keeper.

Almost immediately he conceded a penalty though with a push in the back spotted by the ref. Many would not have given it but the decision stood and we were level. However, from the kick off a through ball found Pete who deflected the ball into the path of Kev who had simply to knock the ball into an empty net which he did without much fuss. A similar goal followed soon after with Pete finishing with a fierce shot into the far corner leaving us comfortably ahead.

Sadly we did not quite manage to escape without alarm as a second came close to the end. It was a slightly nervy last minute but Sparkshop survived to secure a 3 - 2 win.