Rather self-indulgently, I want to share the vision of the trout we ate tonight. No, I don't fish - but we have a great fish van which comes on a Wednesday, and these beauties were firm, shiny and smelled of the sea rather than fishy. Their flesh was almost salmon-coloured, rather than the rather insipid pink I associate with lesser trout, and the flavour, after grilling with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and capers, was to die for.
And before that I was delighted to learn that one of my private Higher English students has benefited from the work we did on preparing her to write her Personal Study under exam conditions. She passed this particular NAB first go - a tribute to the important place of organisation and prior discussion in helping pupils with their critical analysis of a text they haven't been taught. I have a feeling that not enough time is spent on this, and yet it's something that weaker students can do well in, even if a traditional "closed book" exam leaves them struggling.
I think I deserved that trout.
