School days

I caught up with some old school mates the other day (30 plus years ago we were at school together how the hell can that be??)

And we laughed ourselves sick remembering some of the rubbish we had to do - like this little ditty every morning:

"I must, I must, I must improve my bust" accompanied by us all flapping our arms back and sticking out our non-existent boobs.

I also have a vague memory of walking with a book on my head and not letting it fall. An important skill I retain to this day. Because it is a vital life skill.

I went to an-all girls Catholic School. I'll just let that sink in.

Our uniform was brown and yellow. Our tunic was brown with buttons down the front and a yellow round collared shirt.

It was beyond hideous.

The words Brown Cow were bandied about by kids from other schools. It was not inaccurate.

Our principal was a big battleaxe of a woman and a nun. She took great delight in whacking girls on the legs as she passed them.

We had to kneel on our desks at the start of term for our hemlines to be measured so they weren't too short.

One time, I had to go to the Nunnery where they lived which was next to the school. I saw their knickers on the clothesline, scarred me for life.

Us bad girls used to sneak down to the Cypress trees on the fence line for a secret smoke, nick off for hot chips at lunchtime and tuck our skirt under our bras to shorten our skirts.

I just feel so lucky to have old friends that I can share those memories with.