Ray-less Rhody

What a strange day today was - in a good sort of a way :)

Period 1 I had my lovely year 11 class. As they were working, I (the responsible teacher!) let out a mild but nevertheless unmistakable squeal! I thought it was a lump of paper that a child had pushed into a small air vent/grille down at ground level but when I tried to dislodge it with my foot it didn't seem quite right. I bent down to look closer - then out came the squeal when I saw that the 'paper' was in fact a dead mouse that had somehow got itself lodged in the vent and died. And it really was very dead. Crisp in fact. Of course the students all wanted to know what was going on and rushed to the front to my rescue see the spectacle.

At the end of the very same period as the class was dismissed one of the boys gathered quite a few of them around him and opened up a large piece of paper for people to sign. He had a large cake tin too. It turns out one of his friend's birthdays is on December 28th - plum in the middle of the long summer holiday and right after the Christmas festivities. He and some buddies had decided that it wasn't fair that B didn't get to share his birthday with all his friends at school so at some point they'd all decided to make today his 'unofficial' birthday. How cool is that?! B had no idea it was going to happen - I only wish I could have seen his face!

And people wonder how anyone can teach 15 and 16 year-olds - these guys rock!!

I've been to the dentist this afternoon - a quick repair on one chipped filling, confirmation of 1 cracked tooth (to be fixed at next appointment) and one broken tooth that might have to come out (getting second opinion and exploring other possibilities with another dentist in a few weeks) - ka-ching!!

On the way home I stopped in the grounds to take some shots of the rhodedendron swathed in the last of the days rays (yes - we had sunshine again today!!) Just as I was about to start shooting a colleague drove past so I stopped for a chat. When I turned back 2 minutes later the rays had gone :( Rhody still looked very nice and spring-like though so gets to be my blip for today - a very good day :)