Back to School Shopping

                                          Franny models Dad's tweed jacket

My school shoes

Tomorrow is Franny's first day of school- can't believe it- and we still needed a few things for her and for me: we finally got word about what school I'll be going to! Although we have no official letter, Mom has been talking with the admissions folks and there is a spot for me at Bishopsford Arts College. This wasn't our first choice of schools, but I really like what they say on their website, and their curriculum for Year 10 looks great. Plus, it's only about a 20 minute bus ride from the stop right up the street. The downside to the news is that I won't be able to start school on Wednesday with everyone else- we need to have a meeting sometime this week at Bishopsford, where we'll sort out things like my class schedule and what we need for my uniform, and then I'll start a few days later. Luckily, there are three other students in the same boat, so I won't be the only one starting late. Nevertheless, we're all relieved we have finally found a place and will be starting soon!

Both Links Primary and Bishopsford Arts College have uniforms, so the past couple of days we've been getting white blouses, grey trousers, brogues, etc. Franny has her first day outfit set: grey pleated skirt, white blouse, and green and yellow school tie. (we'll post pictures of Franny's uniform tomorrow). Today we went to the Strand and Oxford Street looking for school shoes (we were also going to visit the National Portrait Gallery, but we had gotten a late start and ran out of time- another day!). I found black leather brogues from Topshop, which will be perfect for school. We also stopped for lunch at Canela Cafe, a small Portuguese/Brazilian eatery near Covent Garden where we had delicious chicken stroganoff, carrot and leek soup, and vegetable lasagna. We also wandered through a little antique market, where Dad found a fantastic tweed jacket; he'd been looking for one for awhile. It was different from our usual back to school shopping- yet another new and exciting part of the year.