A Level results day

Today is the day so many 18 year olds all over the country have been waiting for - results day! In England the system is a bit peculiar in that students apply to university and get offers that are usually conditional on their results, and in some cases the offers are tough and very specific - as was the case for Thomas.So all summer they wait not knowing which university they will be going to, as they don't know their results. Cambridge University gave Thomas a tough offer, as is expected for Engineering as it is such a tough course there, but thankfully he did very well and met their offer requirements and so in October will be reading engineering at Cambridge University. It was such a relief and he is so pleased. The amount of students achieving top A level results this year has fallen, it's the lowest proportion in a decade which is understandable as the new A levels exams are much harder since the then Minister of Education Gove decided to up the stakes a couple of years ago. Tonight we will crack open a bottle of bubbly and we are ordering take aways from a lovely local restaurant as we cannot go out and leave Xena. 

It will be lovely for us as parents to have both Thomas and Adam at the same university as when we visit we will see both of them!

Some less happy news - last night Xena's breeder told me that one of the puppies was being returned to her. Apparently the family that took her sent her away to residential training after only 4 days of her being in her new home, and I gather things have not worked out. The breeder is understandably upset as she vetted everyone so carefully - she certainly was the most thorough and nicest breeder I have ever known, but I think the family taking the puppy misrepresented their situation to her. When Gavin heard this he immediately said 'should we take her?'. For a brief moment the idea did flash through my mind but no, two puppies from the same litter is too much hard work even though it would be double the cuteness - it's better to get a second when the one is older. I think the breeder may decide to keep the puppy for herself. Today Xena is 10 weeks old, a photo of her in extras.