I welcome little fishes in with gently smiling jaws!

I was reminded of this poem on Wednesday when the doors of the hall were opened and 160 new year 7s, with shining morning faces, poured through to begin their secondary school education.  The full poem, as you will likely know, goes:-

How doth the little crocodile

Improve his shining tail,

And pour the waters of the Nile

On every golden scale!

How cheerfully he seems to grin,

How neatly spreads his claws,

And welcomes little fishes in

With gently smiling jaws!

But rest assured, I have not yet been known to feast on any part of a year 7 student ....

On to other things.  The nasty boot, which has been my constant companion this summer, has gone, the bandage has been removed and my battered, puffy, scarred foot is once again in daylight.  It was an interesting experience wearing the boot:  complete strangers struck up conversations in queues, on trains, in restaurants and at the car boot sale.  People got out of my way, apologised for bumping into me and offered me seats.  The assumption was that I had done something to my foot by accident and I had to explain that, actually, I had decided to put myself through the last, very boring, six weeks of inconvenience.

We did have some amusing times together, the boot and I, particularly with the business of keeping clean.  One hotel in which we stayed had no bath (didn't check in advance - lesson learned) but, luckily, did provide little plastic bags to dispose of STs, etc.  I discovered that the plastic bag was a lovely snug fit over my foot and its bandage so that was how I showered for several days.  We also had a few days at the Scottish estate and there is no bath there either, only a shower with a waist level barrier around it.  I knew that I would have to shower with my foot over the barrier in order to keep it dry and I was so focused on this that I forgot to take the shoe off my good foot.  Once I noticed the squishy feeling, I was so suprised that I immediately put my bad foot down in the shower to get my shoe off!

In two week's time, on 21st September, it will be the Vintage Bazaar at Hartley Witney.  There will be lots of exciting stall holders there selling lovely things and I shall be there too. Here are some of the things which will be coming with me ....