The School Registrar swept past me into the staff car park with a brief wave of her hand. I turned and watched her expertly reversing her 25 year old canvas-topped, long-wheel-base Land Rover into a free parking space.
She descended briskly from the battered, mud-splattered vehicle, long blond hair swept into a neat chignon, tailored jacket and knee length skirt, pearl studs and necklace, kitten heels tip-tapping on the tarmac.
We stopped for a moment to admire her new wheels. A present, she said, from her husband, ideal apparently for towing a horse box, and she initiated me into the mysteries of double de-clutching and the necessity of always keeping a waterproof hat in the glove compartment in case it rains inside the cab!
"There is nothing" I said, "more stylish than a beaten up old Land Rover. With heels."
Good grief - what's she Director of Studies of? Parking? High heels?
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing more stylish than having the capability of pulling a horse box ... one day, one day ..
ReplyDeleteHmm... I have never read any Jilly Cooper but have just been given Wicked by a friend. I'm a teacher see...
ReplyDeleteI have a similar colleague who glides by in her fancy Mercedes every morning, nearly knocking me off my bike. It too was a gift from the husband.
Maybe I need to find myself such a husband...? Hmm. Must think about that one.
Snuffy
Hi, Marianne. Was missing you.
ReplyDeleteLizzie x
Jilly drives a battered Polo, I can reveal...
ReplyDeleteA Director of Studies in a canvas-topped Land Rover - style AND content!
ReplyDeleteArriving by any kind of car is seriously frowned upon at my grand-daughter's little primary school these days. The only possible virtues are to slog it out on foot. Or on a little scooter, as the case may be. (It is my fate to wheel the thing home again afterwards.)
ReplyDeleteMummies driving 4X4s (or indeed soft-topped land Rovers) are as despicable as smokers will be, who dare to light-up in public after July the 6th (or whenever).
Glad to see you back though.
We live deep in the country Beatrice, so I guess the rules are different. Buses every two hours between 10am and 6pm, not Sundays, so we all have to drive, but the roads are relatively empty.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I agree that 4x4s are anti-social in town, beaten up canvas topped ones are allowed when you actually have land and horses, I think. Essential really.
I just loved the contrast, the dissonance in the image there. As Dick says, style and content. Beat that.
Jilly is obviously seriously stylish too SAHD. She even has the chutzpah to have mongrels, almost unheard of in the country. Actually, I was looking round the staff room the other day and I think I feel a Jilly Cooperish book coming on. Plenty of material there! and the students ...
Hope your dreams come true M&M and that they don't turn into nightmares.
I've been missing you all too Lizzie and will visit asap. Half term has arrived!
Snuffy, I have driven a Mercedes and a Land Rover in my time and I know which I prefer! I now have a beaten up Renault. It does the job.
Never had a mercedes but do have a knackered old landrover which needs a fortune (which I haven't got) to make it roadworthy. I'm holding onto it until the lottery win!
ReplyDeleteBack again. Have just been reading your blogs and I relate so much to so many of them. I am fortunate in that I have the same lovely husband I married 27 years ago, but we have a daughter with learning difficulties and she too has many ADHD tendencies. I have spent the last 15 years, since she was 7, battling with LEAs and social services to get the help and support she needs. It is so demoralising, and quite frankly, immoral, that parents and children alike, are treated with such contempt.
ReplyDeleteHope you don't mind but I'm going to link you to my blog.
If you live deep in the country, what on earth was she doing in kitten heels? And out of interest, how was she keeping the chignon in place? I've always wanted to know how that is done. For when I'm Director of Studies.
ReplyDeletePigx
driving a landrover with heels is an inspired combination marianne, as the heels will easily kick through the rusty floor to help to try and slow the thing down when the brakes fail.
ReplyDeleteInspired Rilly. I hadn't thought of that. Lovely to see you again.
ReplyDeleteThat's why you need indoor shoes PITK - see early blog re shoes. It's a reaction sort of thing - you know the stuff we ex-convent school girls do to keep our ends up. She's another such. As for the chignon - it's a mystery to me.
Hang on to your landrover @themill and the husband if you can. My ex was on the TV last night, briefly, with his new wife - very strange to see him in his new identity. Still feels fraudulent somehow. Thank you for linking. Will try to carry on posting. Not always easy.
I have very mixed feelings about the way we label children now - is it helpful or not? How to manage difference? In the end, my conclusion is that you have to do most of it yourself. Any help seems to be patchy and often downright inappropriate and misguided. Don't believe everything they tell you. Trust your instincts. We're now climbing the foothills of GCSEs. Wish us luck.
You're all going to HATE me but I must confess; I have a 4X4, I smoke and I (confidently) wear high (not kitten - they're for the unsure) heels.
ReplyDeleteDid have a beaten up Land Rover in the UK but the double-de-clutching played hell with the Jimmy Choos...
Heavens, I've got Portuguese readers now. How do they read my English I wonder? I surely cannot understand a word they write. It could be extremely rude for all I know. What's going on?
ReplyDeleteLand Rovers and Jimmy's - I must introduce you to my colleague Debio...