Marshmallows and Moving

We have a pastor at our school, and today she took assembly. (We also have pasta in the canteen, but that is a completely different kettle of spirituality in that pasta never takes assemblies mostly because it would either a) dry out or b) go soggy before it reached 'The Moral of the Story' moment.)

Today, our Reverend wanted a staff volunteer to help her with assembly. She was brandishing a large tub of marshmallows, so we all looked decidedly afeard and stepped back as inconspicuously as possible. One of our number did not step back as quickly as the rest of us, so his forward stance was taken as his willingness to be 'The Volunteer.'

Anyway, through a series of events that I shan't go into, the poor volunteer, who goes by the name of Paul and puts himself through heroic acts like participating in triatholons for charity, ended up with a face stuffed with 20 marshmallows and the definite look on his face of a man who needed to get to the loo NOW before an accident occurred. I didn't blame him. Part of my non-volunteering stemmed from the fact that certain foods make me heave and amongst them is the marshmallow.

The students were entertained though, so that's okay.

Back chez le Manor Heather announced that she had 'plans' for my soon to be ex-writing room. Blimey, I thought, as she regaled me with ideas about the positioning of sofas, beds, TVs and shelves, give us a chance to move out first. What I didn't tell her was that I, too, have been having 'plans' about what I'm going to do when I take over her room. For ages. In fact, before she even moved back home two and a half years ago after her graduation.

Anyway, as Andy very astutely pointed out to Heather's boyfriend when they were having a manly discussion about 'The Big Move' which will take place this weekend providing my Year 11's don't finish me off first, is that it's all part of my cunning decorating -by-stealth plot.
'Because when you finally move out of the soon to be ex-writing room,' he said, 'there will be an excuse to get it revamped as a second living room.'

I didn't realise I was that transparent, but too right! I'll be ripping out cupboards, adding a fire place and laying a wood floor before the front door is even closed! And installing wallpaper with huge flowers 'pon it - that goes without saying.

But that is some time in the future and we're not counting days. Unless Heather is still in residence when she is 30, then I might have something to say about it all.

I'm already looking forward to moving upstairs. Upstairs seems a lot more cosy. Plus the room is at the back of the house and catches more morning sun, and being a morning person, that is when I want to be a-sun catching. The cupboard space is more agreeable, too. I have a hate/hate relationship with the cupboards in my current writing room, mostly in that they are a swine to open and a swine to close.

I've been thinking I ought to re-name my new creative space. I want to call it something other than 'The Writing Room' or 'Mum's Study.' I was having a discussion with some Year 10s the other day about names, and one of them asked what I'd like to be called if I could change my name. Without a moment of hesitation, I said, 'Scarlett Daisy.' Not sure where that came from; but then I also knew today that one of the Year 11s dogs is called Freddy, so I suspect my psychic ability might be reheating itself after a year of lying fairly dormant.

So, for what shall I be using this new room? I shall be writing and reading, sewing and knitting, learning Italian and meditating, sitting and staring and throwing shoes out of the window at that bloomin' ginger cat that appears every now and again in the back garden to terrorise the Misses Pumphrey and Slocombe. And I shall be bee-watching as I'll have a goodly view of the topbar hive. I suspect I shall also be dusting off my Tarot cards and restarting my absent healing journal.

I have tried to make an acronym of all these things, but the lack of vowels (one miserly 'i' for 'Italian') scuppered my plan to come up with something witty and original and the best I could manage was a very tenuous 'wormskins' and that didn't include 'b' for bee-watching or 't' for Tarot.

So for the time being I shall name the room 'Scarlett Daisy.'

May God bless her and all that is created therein!