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Hi again, sorry about long interlude - It was time to 'skype' my English friends.

I took the time to google A Feeling of Power though, and Yes ChrisE, it sounds both powerful and interesting. I did not read all about it but will do later.

As to the correct usage of language, it certainly is the same with French; how can you expect a language where every word has to agree with the other re masculine/ feminine and singular/plural (except when it should not agree) to survive the age of textos ! Unfortunately it is not unusual to hear youngster - and some not so young - say something like 'If I would have known, I would not come'
(rough translation just to give you an idea)

I am also in disagreement with people who think that phonetic spelling should be adopted - to me, an elephant without its PH is an elephant without its trunk !

hi all
My daughter was having to cope with two types of spelling and it was a nightmare but we were told it was easier to use phonetics,why does everything have to be easier
I feel very un pc as I dont use face book twitter or instagram and I dont take selfies either.The only reason I started having a cell phone was I used to to walk 4 dogs very early in the morning so my husband decided I needed one in case I was mugged!!! since they weighed in total about 15 stones there was little possibility of that happening,we did report a flasher though
Our local school has banned parents dropping off children on the main road so now you have to run the gauntlet of them in Asda s car park,what happened to walking to school.Lovely morning here but we will be back to rain next week.Just about to feed the birds we have a flock on longtailed who love sunflower seeds so the Amazon man will be busy bringing bird food this week,my live mealworms come via Royal Mail but our postman holds the parcel as if it was a bomb

Morning everyone,

Hi Doglet,

Beautiful morning here too, but rather parky ! no idea about weather next week, we'll see.

Here, being a village, there are school buses for kids who live a fair distance from our college (Some come from smaller villages/hamlets around), and others walk to school. Nothing against parents dropping their child wherever they want - but of course both the school and the college are a distance away from main road dangers.

There is a agricultural coop in the village where all grain is collected, and I get a couple of big bags full of various seeds, including sunflower, free from a guy who works there - basically what he brooms off the floor; very useful and quite a variety of seeds!

I also buy a lot of grease balls to hang off trees, birds love that particularly when it gets cold - sometimes I put a cheap pack of marg. on the window cill and watch them coming to eat it. BUT, not sure how to go about that with three cats around the house now !!!

BTW, I don't use facebook, twitter, and don't even know what Instagram is !!!

Morning!

Doglet, I'm wondering what use your cell phone would be to you if you were mugged! The muggers would surely have taken it??!!
I'm interested in the two types of spelling? I thought - in my innocence - that there was only one type - the correct version?!
Perhaps you could explain for those of us who don't understand ?
I think using phonics to learn to read is much the most sensible way ( that 'look see' method was awful) but I've never come across a phonetical way of spelling. Certainly my grandchildren just earn words as spelled in the dictionary.

Pigale, my cats have always unfortunately chased birds - but they wear a bell on their collars to warn of their coming! It helps a bit! the presence of the cats has never deterred the birds from feeding at the bird table though.
Our two squirrels are very tame and come and knock at the kitchen window for their nuts!

Good idea about the bell on collar Elle, I have not put a collar on them yet because they are so young (barely 5 months) and are still tend to 'tumble' down trees (after having climbed as high as possible!) ; I would not want them to get strangled; I will though, once they are a bit more confident and experienced.

Are your squirrels of the Grey variety? Mine (red) are not tame at all and are just happy jumping from top of one poplar to top of the next one! There is a big oak tree at the bottom of the garden, which provides them with a plenty of food to hoard away somewhere. I also have a tatty old shed and I am sure some animals hibernate there - perhaps some squirrel, not sure, but my dogs used to be very interested in that old shed !

As to the phonetic writing Doglet, I too would be interested to hear as to how the child switches from it to 'real' spelling !

Cat collars aren't like dog collars, Pigale - they come with a bit of elastic in the collar, so that if by any chance the cat does become 'caught up,' the elastic will stretch enabling the cat to get free. Mine all wore collars, complete with tags, from first going out.
Yes, we have grey squirrels. Our two present ones are the children of the previous one that used to come.
They - and their mum - have always been very tame. They tap on the window if I haven't seen them and take their nuts from my fingers so gently.
Mum used to come in and sit under the dining table, next to the dog (previous one), eating the nuts!

Ok Elle, you have convinced me!

I shall invest in three cat collars next time I go to the shops - Mummy had one which was so very tatty that I replaced it by a flee collar - she just needs a bell !

Temps rising up nicely, due to reach 19/20 again today - good while it lasts !

Hi Elle/pigale

It was called free expression ,the teacher told us that the correct spelling was "binding childrens minds" and they want to free them to explore.We did complain to the head but got the same reply,so she had a spelling list each night which did help

Hi again,

Was it an experiment on a National Level, or did it only take place in that particular school?