Military Manoeuvres

Well, Girlie went off on Friday after school on military manoeuvres somewhere near Folkestone (hilly, windy spot near the English Channel crossing and Dover).  Bless her; she puts up well with being called 'Sarge' and 'Combat Barbie' on Fridays when she begs a lift off me so she doesn't have to catch the bus to school whilst wearing her fatigues!

Her perseverence paid off this weekend.  I got a text during lunchbreak yesterday practically squealing (in text speak of course) that she'd finally fired a rifle.  What's more, she'd hit the man-shaped target 18 times.  We are all going to have to be so much nicer to her now she's a crack shot.  Thank goodness the school keep the rifles locked down!

At 14 years old she is a proud member of the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) based at the Boy's Grammar School across the road from her Girl's Grammar School.  We were in total shock when she expressed an interest in it (and I was openly jealous as i would have loved to do that when i was a teen), and of course, she's not so proud that she'll catch the bus to school on Fridays in her uniform!!  Nevertheless, her schoolwork has improved dramatically (despite being AWOL for manoeuvres on occasion) and we are very proud of her.  She has no intention of joining the armed forces when she leaves school, but rather is thinking ahead about university application forms!!  So mature :-)

She will be so cross if she knows I've posted her photo here, but heh!  (note to self: buy bullet proof vest) -

Anyway, The Boy has discovered something called War Hammer - i don't understand this stuff at all!!  All i know is that he spent his entire Saturday in a shop making a model of a futuristic tank, spent a fortune (all his savings) on a handful of weird figures sporting weapons and came home reaking of glue.  This can't be good, but it seems all the rage with both his peer group and older friends.  I am going to have to investigate but i'm not sure woman are even allowed in these places!?!

So now this blog's reference to chocolate!!

Mexican March at our Pennington Pop-Up Charity Restaurant is under a week away, and so we experimented yesterday with delicious results (and improvements and tweaks that we have made note of).

Thank god for the Aztecs, or whoever it was over there that discovered chocolate.  And then to those who thought it would be a good idea to serve chicken/turkey coated in chocolate and chilli sauce.  I loved Mole as a child when a family friend married a Mexican, opening up a whole new culinary world for me.  I am so excited about next Saturday!  We found a milder version for those with sensitive tastebuds, and even The Boy ate that which is a good sign!

As for the proper chocolatey stuff, we've saved some for Girlie, who tastebuds are as tough as her CCF boots!