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Sounds like a good plan, Pigale! Nice to have your friends over.
I love cherries- a pity you can't pass some over the line!
It must be difficult though for working mums with children having a day off school midweek? Surely it means organising child care? Better the way we do here in the UK as most parents - or at least one - are 'free' at the weekends to look after their children.

Elle, get on a plane, then take a train and then a bus, and come and pick them up for yourself! As many as you want !
If you can climb up trees, there are plenty right at the top and those are usually left for the birds.

Working mums have indeed to rely on someone to look after their children on Wednesdays, either all day or just the afternoon, depending on which class the kids are; it can be a Granny if at all possible, which is ideal of course - but there is no school on Saturdays either. The hours are just longer on other days, to make up for the difference, and there is always homework to be done as well - though not quite as much as in my days!

There I go, showing my age again, but it really seems to me that youngsters have less work to do now, and consequently know less (this links up with the grammar not being so well taught nowadays - but lets not go back down that lane!)

There was an article I think in the Times - and it was also mentioned on the radio - that homework should no longer be given to children as it "stresses them out"!!!!!
and you were saying.........!

Yes, I was saying .........! I can't remember feeling 'stressed' in anyway, i feel it just taught us self-discipline, how to organize our work load and at the end of the day, all this prepared us for our working life.

When you think that nowadays kids must have two weeks holidays after seven weeks' school (mid terms)!
I can't imagine how they can be prepared for their future profession life. Are they going to tell their boss ' Sir, I have just worked for 7 weeks, I am entitled to 2 weeks off now' ? !!!

Mind you with the present unemployment rate, the boss in question would have no problem finding a replacement!

All I can say is that I am glad to have been born when I was!
I finished my studies at the end of June, and a week later I was offered a job starting 1st September - perfect to have a nice long holiday before starting a career!

Just picked up on this gigantic link... Regarding cherries. We had 3 large cherry trees when children & my father used to put stockings over some of the branches to deter the birds. You can imagine what it looked like with legs sticking out of the trees!!

Hi Redcoral,

Did it work though, or did the birds get used to it after a while?

My husband put some old CD rom around the veg garden one year to protect young lettuce etc; it did not deter the wood pigeons for very long, but on the other hand it attracted magpies as they were so shiny in the sun!

That's a brilliant idea Redcoral. Last year, for the first time, my young Victoria Plum tree produced fruit and every one was either nibbled or stolen by either birds or other tiny creatures. This year I'm going to try your Dad's stocking trick. That'll add a bit of colour to my garden. Pity I threw away all those ghastly "American Tan" tights from the back of the drawer. I could have created an orange theme for this year. I'll just have to content myself with "mink"! Perhaps I'll take some photos. Thanks Redcoral's Dad.

You and I are obviously 'on the same page', Pigale! I couldn't believe that to do away with school homework was seriously being considered! As you say the standard of education has dropped enough already. (And yes, we are definitely betraying our age)
A pity no -one is coming on here to defend the idea- we could have a good argument / discussion re the pros and cons! (not that I can see any 'pros'.....)
Must just speak to Rusty , then go and do something useful..... like cleaning, hovering ...UGH!
Talk later.

Hey, Rusty!
Only a bit of blue sky? oh dear!
Wester Ross is as about as far away from you as Manchester is from me! Mind you, we use to return there regularly when the girls were at Uni there.
We always used to have similar holidays to you and the boys when our kids were young.
We all hated crowded holiday resorts with a vengeance, and used to find way out places in the countryside where we could all walk and climb and/or spend time on the beaches, playing ball games and building sandcastles (with moats and turrets!)
The children never went to fun parks!
Those were the days......
Ah well, things to do.......!
What have you got planned for the day?

Elle, I am going to watch Royal Ascot on my television set.
Your holidays seem very much like mine.
First things loaded into the car were boots, cagoules, fishing rods, binos, and camera!
Gruinard Bay in Wester Ross was a favourite place.
Beautiful beach (on a busy day there would be ten people on it!) at the bottom of the mountains.
Good sea trout rivers flowing into it. Great walking, and the serious mountains not too far off.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=gruinard+bay&hl=en-GB&rlz=1T4GGHP_en-GBGB609GB609&tbm=isch&imgil=g5n_epGvkPh8tM%253A%253BYhUTEYNnQJCz8M%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.landandlight.co.uk%25252Fwester-ross%25252Fgruinard-bay%25252F&source=iu&pf=m&fir=g5n_epGvkPh8tM%253A%252CYhUTEYNnQJCz8M%252C_&biw=1112&bih=566&usg=__fpVfR69u4GG0tDqxlJ_EEyURe8s%3D&ved=0CDIQyjdqFQoTCP3Bn6nilsYCFcuGLAoddN4Fbw&ei=Pm2BVf2qAsuNsgH0vJf4Bg#imgrc=g5n_epGvkPh8tM%253A%3BYhUTEYNnQJCz8M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.landandlight.co.uk%252Fgallery-images%252FGruinard-Bay.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.landandlight.co.uk%252Fwester-ross%252Fgruinard-bay%252F%3B1200%3B429&usg=__fpVfR69u4GG0tDqxlJ_EEyURe8s%3D
I wonder if the link shall work?