Good evening, and greetings to our new Followers in Poland and Azerbaijan .... !

I've been to London Town today, wheeler-dealing with regard to life post-SF, and not without success, either. But more of than in due course; suffice it to say for now that I don't think I shall be at too much of a loose end.

On the train coming back, though, I really did nearly laugh out loud. I was sitting facing an earnest looking chap, who looked as if he was in middle management or something similar. His phone rang (as did just about everyone else's, and the carriage was full of vitally important phrases such as 'Yeah, I'm on the train', and other such thought-provoking statements) and he looked concerned.

Chap: Hi Tim. (Pause) Yeah. Oh, right. Yeah, good idea. Thanks. Yeah.

I thought that something was amiss at the office, to judge from his concerned countenance. Sonia might have left suddenly, perhaps, or Steve had given in his notice.

Chap: Yeah. Great. Chickenburger, I think. Yeah, chickenburger.

I now realised that things were not so bad after all.

Chap: Er, yeah. Double-breasted with cheese. Thanks.

By this time I was more than faintly amused. Earnest (for that is what I mentally called him) rang off. Within seconds, his phone rang again.

Earnest: Oh. Yeah. Er, medium.

I averted my gaze and studied the passing visual delights of Slough. Think Betjeman.

Anyway, Holby City was great tonight: metaphorical to a fault and full of dramatic irony. I do like the way Mr Hansen does things, and I wish I had his cool. I bet he's better at repairing helicopters than I am, too.

As for your LMs, well, I can't hear a thing, so I think I can happily assume that Mr Bryan's touch on the tiller has been effective. It usually is.

Btw, Miss (Harriet) Lade is the best at getting the boys out of bed in the morning: no-one has left the lodge after 7.27am so far this term! (I hope Miss Alex isn't reading this!) (Bet you are, Alex!)

Goodnight.

'twas shoe-cleaning night tonight, judged by Miss Alice C and boyfriend Ed, and another four expert shiners managed edible rewards, which went down well. 'Twister' proved as popular as ever, with many a torso managing the most remarkable contortions .... ! Powdery cookies, pink biscuits and apple juice all did their respective bits towards making the lodge a happy place.

One of the boys' helicopters failed to proceed, unfortunately, despite a few running repairs carried out unsuccessfully by your correspondent, so there was no flying tonight. I think I may have to invest in a socket set, rather than a Philips'screwdriver. In fact, come to think of it, I did actually own a socket set when I was a student, bought for the purpose of ensuring that my first car, a 1958 Ford Anglia, was kept up to the mark. It lasted two years and then conked out, amid a haze of blue smoke. It had also lost at least one of its three gears by that time, so I was glad to be shot of it and to acquire my father's Morris Oxford estate car, which he generously sold to me for the sum of £25. I'm ashamed to admit that I sold it for £40, a few months later.

Post-lights out behaviour last night was excellent, after our lodge meeting, and from what I can, or rather, can't, hear at the moment, all is well tonight, too. Although we've just had a fire practice, so they're probably warming up after a few minutes in the garden ...... ! (Only a few, dear mothers, don't worry ... !)

That''s it for tonight; Mr Bryan's on duty tomorrow night, so I hope things will go well. I'm sure they will.

Goodnight.

What a quick leave-out that was! Still, Mrs C and I had a great time - as I hope you did - with choir direction for one of our local churches on Friday night, walks by the sea and through the countryside of Thomas Hardy, organ-playing for the service this morning, a superb Sunday lunch, a good read ('Solar', by Ian McEwan: I recommend it if you haven't read it) and a rather fine episode of Casulaty (See? I still can't type it!) on Saturday night. I found a very nice New Zealand sauvignon that proved to be eminently quaffable, and an excellent claret to accompany our beef at lunchtime. I looked at our house yesterday, and I thought that it bore an uncanny resemblance to Hardy's place at Bockhampton, which is good for a Hardy enthusiast - and if I get round to it, I'll post pics of both of them, and you can see what you think.

Tonight all has been well, with silence after lights out. We did, I admit, have a little bit of a 'difference' just before Short Leave, with your correspondent not exactly losing, more just misplacing his rag, but we had an amicable lodge meeting this evening, and we all seem to be friends again now. If you get a chance to back up my exhortations to the troops about how excessive chatting after lights out is a tad selfish, that would be great. I always tell them that there's no place in Newton for those who want to 'swim around in Lake Me'. (An American business expression, I'm told ..... !)

Cheddars, cookies (which were pronounced to be 'rather powdery' by one of our resident critics, and having tried one I'm tempted to concur), apple juice and an ancient videotape (remember them?) of The Simpsons all came together to make for a pleasant and agreeable evening.

Mrs C and Hannah C have now seen Isla's 'sister', and we have informed the Newtonians about her (not that) imminent arrival. I think she'll be here at the beginning of next term. We can't decide on a name, but there's a favourite, and more about that in due course.

Goodnight.

So sorry about the absence of posts recently: it was Tom C's 21st yesterday, and the celebrations have lingered on .... ! We had a great time, and a feast of a meal last night, including, if you can believe it, 'mouse wine', served complimentarily by the proprietor of the restaurant. I'm sure you've all sampled said tipple, but lest you should not have done, it's a bottle of some spirit or other with a dead mouse at the bottom of the bottle. You can try it at Xi'an's in Summertown. Tell Gary I sent you.

I think that's enough for now.

Goodnight.

I sometimes wonder what on earth someone of my age is doing looking after a lodge of 27 ten and eleven year olds. Many years ago I was told by a member of staff at another school that 'housemastering is a young man's job', and for a while I thought they were probably right. But when a LM comes up to you, flings his arms around you and asks 'Sir, why do you have to leave?' and then bursts into tears, you feel like crying yourself, and you remember why you do this amazing thing. I reassured my charge that whatever happened, I'd always be there for him, and he regained his composure, but such moments really do make one realise just what a privilege it is to look after your little men.

'twas a good evening in Newton tonight, with the cleaning of black shoes, and four worthy winners being rewarded edibly, which went down very well, although there were a couple of protestant voices that opined that they'd never won! They will: don't worry.

I was regaled by numerous jokes and riddles tonight, some of which were very amusing and some of which were very clever.I reciprocated with the story of the three bishops on a conference, each of which knelt down at the end of the day and asked the Almighty about whether some unlikely sporting event would occur. The first two received the response that yes, it would happen, but not in their lifetime, but the third, who enquired of something particularly lucidrous and outrageous, was told that yes, it would happen, but not in His (Her) lifetime. It's funnier if you hear it live, I must admit. The former Lord Lieutenant of Dorset told me that one. (If you're reading this, Philip, it was very good - and you told it rather better than I did ..... !)

Elder daughter Hannah passed her penultimate exam, you'll be glad to hear (no doubt!), so now she's just got finals and one more piece of coursework to do and she'll be Miss Hannah Cheater, BA (Hons.) And we shall be v proud parents! Just think, it all lies before you .... ! And Tom is 21 on Wednesday, too: where the Dickens did those years go? It seems only yesterday that he was at SF.

Make the most of these days, my friends - and enjoy every moment. They grow up very, very quickly.

PS: There's talk of Isla getting a little 'sister'.

Goodnight.

A brief post tonight, just to say that it's nice to have all your LMs back again, and that notwithstanding just a tear or two (which were quickly mopped up), all is well. Hannah and I were watching Notting Hill, which we both enjoy very much, and two little men came down to see us. (We paused the film (it being a 15, and therefore not available to the young) and after a couple of lighthearted moments and, yes, I confess, a reassuring hug, the distress evaporated, and they went back to bed happily. It's now 10.02, and we've heard no more, so I suspect that things that might have been a little awry after what will have been wonderful weekends are now back on an even keel.

Worry not, and sleep well.

Goodnight.

Three posts to go until I hit the magic 450 mark! I was asked yesterday whether I would continue blogging from deepest Dorset: I said that I might think about it, but quite whether anyone would be interested in the activities of a sexagenarian and his spouse I very much doubt.

Anyway, to return to 'the now': tonight has been one of those very special nights. Everyone was in a good mood, everyone was fun to be with, and games night, as it was tonight, went extremely well, with Miss Lade getting fully into the Newtonian swing of things and playing along very happily. For those who didn't want to play any of the games on offer (although most did), the two computers offered solace, and were used very sensibly and fairly.

I must tell you about yesterday's biscuit upgrade: we went into the HMDr, and there were the usual array of glistening silver coffee and tea pots (well, they're not really silver, of course, but they look the part), and, to quote the erudite Dr Dean, 'the most positively evil-looking, creamy-topped things you've ever clapped eyes on'! They were absolutely superb, and I confess to consuming more than just one. But not a word to Mrs C, if you wouldn't mind. (Dr Dean had two, too.) A bit of a come-down, therefore, to see that tonight's lodge biscuits were the rather more humble Digestives, which, as you may recall, are particularly fine when consumed with its equally humble bedfellow, Cheddar cheese. Unfortunately we are at present a cheeseless lodge, so I was unable to enjoy the aforementioned combination.

Tomorrow many LMs will be at home for the double credit weekend, so I hope you all have a wonderful time, and we shall ensure that those who stay with us have a good time, too. Mrs C and I are starring in the annual edition of 'Call my Bluff', which Mr Music-Price organises each year, so I'll let you know how that goes.

I'm off to watch my new favourite programme: 'Ice Pilots'. I've always wanted a pilot's licence. Now there's something I could blog about ......

Goodnight.