More musical memories - Sheeran and Sonatinas

Exactly a year ago I wrote a piece about a piano concert and a rock concert. HERE  I didn't realise that my life was such a pattern of predictability as here I am twelve months later writing about the same things.

Yesterday was the annual piano concert for the pupils of a couple of local piano teachers. This is Sibs's fourth year and as usual there was an incident that we now come to associate with this concert. 

Year 1 - playing an octave or two too high

Year 2 - forgetting her music

Year 3 - the flyaway ponytail

....and then there's year 4

This year it all started well. She was pleased that she was one of the first to perform so that she could enjoy the other players. 

A few minutes into the piece there was a stray breeze and her sonatina music fluttered before dancing off the piano onto the floor! It threw her off guard for a moment but she kept going. 

So another year, another story.

there goes the music...

On the theme of music, the previous night we were at Suncorp Stadium enjoying slightly different sounds. Ed Sheeran was in Brisbane supported by Passenger and Rudimental.  I had managed to get some tickets when I was back in the UK in April and surprised Sibs with them for her birthday a few months ago.

I had heard that he was a good live performer but I was surprised how good one man and a guitar could be. It takes some guts and self-confidence to perform a stadium show with no fancy stage set up and just a guitar and a loop pedal. There were a few screens behind him, as to be fair if you were seated any distance away he would have been an ant sized spot! No-body seemed to mind this pared back look though.

I was familiar with his music but his live performance plays around with this familiarity. I was seriously impressed. His songs grew on stage with layers upon layers being added via the loop pedal and the crowd loved it. Whatever Ed asked, they obliged. It was a beautiful sight to see the sea of arms punching the air to 'Bloodstream' and then phone lights illuminating the stadium during ' The A Team'.



Here's a little clip of the 'The A Team'. (I'm not sure if it works on mobile phone view)

Every single time Ed Sheeran has performed in Brisbane it's rained and of course Saturday was no exception. It didn't deter the enjoyment though and my plastic poncho stayed in my bag so I just got a little bit wet!
He worked hard to keep us entertained and the show was over way too soon for my liking.

Sibs was seated some rows behind me with a friend and I glanced back a few times to see her on her feet with arms in the air. During the de-brief in the car on the way home I loved the fact that she has become as much a people watcher as me and had to smile when she told me all about the antics of the couple in front of her.

Great weekend of music.

Making memories.

My little trouper

proud: - feeling deep pleasure or satisfaction as a result of achievements, qualities, or possessions of someone with whom one is closely associated.

Dear Sibs,

I know you don't read this blog, but maybe one day you'll stumble across it and it will tell you about certain moments in your life. I'm sure you'll remember all the significant ones - the holidays and the events but just like me, you'll possibly forget lots of other smaller but precious ones.

You know how you like to write things down in random note books around the house? Those note books that we sometimes find in unexpected places and have a chuckle or a smile at the memory? That's a bit like my blog. This is where I write down some memories that we make....

Last week I was extremely proud of you. I know I told you, but I really want to remember it so I'm writing it here.

2015 has been a biggie with plenty of changes and challenges, and the diagnosis of scoliosis has seen you manage the wearing of a restricting back brace day and night. Do you remember how that's all that you were concerned about was the question of whether you could keep on dancing?

Your lovely dance teachers who have been so supportive throughout the years made sure that you could keep on dancing....and dancing....and dancing....

Then when you started your new High School you told me you wanted to audition for the dance group. (Did I show my apprehension? I hope not, and if I did I was just being super protective.) You were so thrilled when you got a place and I remember you telling me how good all the other girls were.

Last week you got to showcase what you have worked on during the year with this school group. It wasn't a big glitzy affair, just a small theatre of parents, family and friends getting together to support their girls.

You smiled beamed all the way through.

I couldn't take my eyes off you.

I remembered back to when you were three and we had just arrived in Brisbane and you said you wanted to dance. We lived a few minutes walk away from a dance class and one Saturday morning you dressed up as a fairy and I took you there. You beamed that day too.

I have since been lucky enough to see you perform in big productions on big stages and I have always been so proud but last week it was intimate and special.

Last week I got to see you dance.
I got to see exactly what you love to do and it was so beautiful to watch.

You had told me about the piece that you choreographed and I knew how excited you were to perform it. I was a bit lost for words...and just about managed to contain the water works!

"Let it Go" - music by James Bay, choreography by Sibs

You have been so resilient this year.
You have exceeded all of my expectations in the way that you have adapted to things and you need to know that you are becoming an incredible young woman.

You're a courageous little trouper.
I'm proud of you.

Caru ti,
Bupper
x

Look for the helpers.

The tragedy that has occurred in Paris has really touched a nerve with me today. 

Intuition is a funny thing. You can call it coincidence, gut feeling, a niggle, whatever....but when it kicks in it can stop you in your tracks. 

It's certainly stopped me today. 

I have a bit of a routine. I wake up too early and I go to bed too late. (Yes, I'm writing this at 12.30 am).  I do try and counteract this and wind down in the evenings but I'm just no good at getting enough sleep. One of the things I try and do is switch off from any screen time before bed. I'll usually just read or crochet for the last part of my awake time instead. 

For whatever reason, I didn't follow my usual pattern and last night I scrolled through Facebook and I saw a post from a friend in Paris. It was written in French but I got the gist and I wondered what concert she referred to that she was attending that evening. I sent a quick 'Amuse toi bien' (Have fun) message and I smiled at her "This is the life" comment. 

When I woke this morning I did something else that I never do. I picked up my phone and checked a news feed. I did it before I even got out of bed. 

Intuition....?

I saw the beginnings of the reports coming in from Paris. At that point a lot of things were unclear and there were only a few mentions of casualties but I knew that a concert venue had been part of the attacks.

As the morning went on I kept watching and reading the news and the stories were getting worse. I had to turn the TV off as it was too harrowing. There was that niggling feeling... I couldn't stop thinking about my Facebook exchange the night before. 

I checked my phone and eventually there was a message - 
"We are safe but it was a close call. We were at The Bataclan last night...."

It went on to say how awful it was in Paris.  I can't begin to imagine. 

Once I knew that my friend was safe,  I was quite emotional and I found it difficult trying to explain to Sibs what was going on. Having some kind of connection to the awful situation was increasing my feelings of vulnerability. 

All day today I kept thinking about the theatre, the concert, those awful moments of realisation for those innocent people. People in the wrong place at the wrong time...

I want Sibs to see the world. I want her to feel that she can explore but each time something like this happens it quietly petrifies me...

------------

Sibs and I went to a party tonight. I wasn't really in the mood but we danced and it was fun. On the way home we began to talk about the day and the conversation quickly moved to how the news and social media was dominated by the attacks in Paris. We spoke about the relative safety of where we lived and we tried to find a sense of perspective in the tragedy.

I remembered a quote that I read earlier in the day and it helped. 

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news,

my mother would say to me,

'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping'."

Fred Rogers

There are always helpers and there are great acts of kindness, compassion and care in the midst of the horror. There are good people with good hearts. 

The good will always outnumber the bad.

Paris est dans mes pensées.
Paris is in my thoughts.

Herman the German is back!

Herman is back!

I've missed Herman... It's true, when you can't have something, you want it more.

Herman and I were friends for some months. I looked after Herman until one day I had a slip of concentration and accidentally killed him off!

Herman was no more....

Now I should probably explain that Herman the German is actually a cake. No, he's not just a cake, he's a friendship cake. I wouldn't usually associate a gender with an item of food, but I will make an exception with Herman. He's a little bit special. You can't buy a Herman cake and you can't just decide on a Sunday afternoon to make a Herman cake - you have to be given the starter culture. It could be said that Herman is ageless and indefinite.

Well, maybe not quite indefinite....The story about me accidentally curbing Herman's existence needs a little explanation.

Herman is actually a version of those irritating chain letters that you got when you were a kid but it's without the irritating bit.
Basically you start with a bowl of gloop culture - aka baby Herman.  This is similar to a sourdough starter and this is what you look after for 10 days before it becomes cake Herman. You stir baby Herman daily and feed him with sugar, flour and milk on day 4 and then again on day 9. At this point baby Herman becomes too big for his bowl and you create four equal portions of him. You can then keep the chain going by passing on three of these portions to friends.  On day 10 you are ready to make a cake from your remaining portion. (I would usually pass on two portions, bake one and keep one going.)

On one occasion after feeding Herman the necessary ingredients on day 9, I then forgot to divide the mixture into 4 and just went ahead and made a ginormous, enormous feed an army sized Herman cake. The cake didn't work and I had no baby Hermans left! It was a sad day....

However....one of the friends that I had previously given a baby Herman to, had gone against the instructions of keeping Herman warm and loosely covered in a large bowl and had gone ahead and put him in the fridge - what a wonderful rebel she is!

So about five months after I had passed him to her she gifted me a refrigerated portion and even though it was touch and go for the first few days I revived him and he's back.

Yesterday was day 10, so I have given two portions away, I have one ready to go through the 10 day cycle again and I also baked one. The best bit is that it worked. Herman became a cake and he was delicious!

Next time I'll give one portion of culture away, I'll bake one, keep one going and I'm going to try freezing a portion, It will be like something out of a sci-fi cryonics novel! I wonder if he'll survive that?

It's always a well received cake whatever I do with it. There are many variations and the one I made last night had chopped up apple and a handful of cranberries.

Good to have you back Herman,


Link to the Herman the German Friendship cake website - HERE

Gratitude

There was a moment in my day yesterday that I felt a whole range of emotions and I haven't been able to shake off all day today.

It was just a normal Monday afternoon. Sibs was head in her books and laptop in the study completing her homework. She had returned from school, changed her clothes, helped herself to a snack and drink during which we had the usual conversation about what to have for dinner. Just so normal...

I went to collect the post and there was a report from our sponsored child in Zambia.

Sibs was reading it out to me as I was pottering around.

There was information about M's house, what she did on the weekend, what her favourite colour was and then when Sibs got to one question and answer she just stopped....

"The most precious thing that I have is......"

In the blank was the word "nothing".

We both just looked at each other with teary eyes.

I am sad that M feels she has nothing that she considers precious and I am grateful that we are able to make a tiny difference to her and her community in gaining some degree of independence and well being.

The conversations that have been prompted by our letters from M have been invaluable and I wish she knew that she makes a difference in our lives too.

World Vision website

Nostalgia

In 2010 I went to a Simply Red concert that was heralded as their farewell tour. I had been a fan since the start and as a poor student I saved up my pennies to buy their tapes. Their music was entwined with so many stories of my life and the memories that I had created over time. I was really excited to see these songs performed live.

I remember being at that concert and thinking that the other people there were all older than me. Upon reflection, they weren't. I was just in denial. It was the music that made me feel ever-young.
(Incidentally, they lied about it being a farewell tour, but I have sort of forgiven them for that...)

Last weekend I went to see Robbie Williams perform in Brisbane and the same thing happened again. I was with a friend some years younger than me and she mentioned that there were many more older people there than she expected. I didn't even consider that I was one of them!! (How conceited of me.)

You see, in my mind Robbie and I are still oh so young! I still think of him as a fresh faced prankster youngster and I'm just a few years ahead of him! (Although I have to say that close up he's not ageing quite so well....!

I lived and worked in his home town of Stoke on Trent when he was just starting out with his music career. It was when the rest of the world didn't know who he was. He was Robert back then, or Rob if you really knew him well. He was the local boy that had just signed this big record deal and was about to become famous.

It was a time when I was also starting out on my career path. I had just completed some post graduate study and I was spending a year putting into practise all the theory that I had learnt during the previous 12 months. It was my first ever regular and real paycheck job. The first time I lived totally alone in a little house in Stoke and then in a flat on the top floor of a lovely old terrace in Wolstanton in Newcastle-under Lyme. It was my year of finding resilience...making it up as I went along all by myself. More memories...

I think that this tentative connection is why I feel such a soft spot for anything Robbie Williams.
He's one of a few artists that I might have bought everything that he's released. I've just felt the need to support his success.

Like many other performers his music seems to hold me in the past. Not necessarily back to my time in The Potteries, but just over the years since then. I know that it's your sense of smell that is the most powerful in provoking memories but I can catch a bit of a song and I'm instantly transported back in time.

For me, a song or a piece of music can define an era, a year, an occasion or just a moment.

I hear Madonna's 'Crazy for you' and I'm in the little cafe in Ystalyfera drinking milky coffee...
"Sunday, Bloody Sunday" and it's a seventeenth birthday party...
 Bronski Beat's "Why?" and I'm in Dan-y-Coed on a drama residential course...
Anybody who's a Welsh speaker and who's ever been to Llangrannog will understand if I just say "Nefol Dad" and "Pan ddaw yfory"?

There's countless more that I could list but that would just be self indulgent and I wouldn't know where to stop! The power that a tune has to draw me back to another time is quite a pull.

So music is good for my soul - it makes me feel like a younger version of myself.

Thank you Robbie Williams for bouncing around on stage and belting out hits from a couple of decades ago. Thank you for taking me (and most of the crowd in Brisbane on Saturday night) back to a bit of our past.
The days after the concert I revisited so many tunes that have shaped my life, and I danced like a crazy woman in the privacy of my own kitchen....!

What songs would make it onto the playlist of your life?

Scoliosis - one year check up

It's been a full year since Sibs started her treatment for her scoliosis so time for a bit of a re-cap as we recently had a consultation with the spinal surgeon to review her condition.

The first part of the consultation is always an x-ray. We book in and after a quick gown change Sibs is then photographed with her brace on. The CD of the x-ray is then prepared and we head back to the waiting area. We read the same magazines as last time...and probably the time before that(!) before being called into the consulting room where Sibs gets into another hospital gown for a quick examination.

Dr A then studies the x-ray images on his screen, fiddles about with the mouse to take some measurements and compares the results from our last visit.



This time he informed us that the degree of the spinal curve had increased....

I could see that Sibs was disappointed but we were quickly reassured that this wasn't a big concern as we just needed to put things into perspective. Meaning - Sibs has grown 3cm in six months and the curve has increased by 1%. With a (self confessed) margin or error for his measuring, Dr A was not at all perturbed by the increase. Yes, in a perfect world the percentage would be lower and decreasing, but this is real life.
She is still under the 'magic' number of a 40% curve which is the goal to prevent surgery.

Her skeleton is still maturing and Dr A believes that she still has some growth to go so the next six months will be a pretty crucial time. There's nothing that she can do apart from wear her back brace as much as she can. Her body will grow as it will and we just have to wait and see.

On a 'normal' day my little superstar wears her brace close on to 24 hours. It's off when she showers and when she does some sporting or dancing activities but that's it. I don't take for granted that she is committed to wearing it. I know that she is trying so hard to prevent any surgery.

As I've mentioned in previous posts we are extremely fortunate that her scoliosis is relatively pain free and if her curve hovers around a mid 30s degree then any discussion around surgery is likely to be for the cosmetic look of her back. Sibs has indicated that this is not an issue for her and I'm so glad. In an upright position there is no sign of scoliosis. It does not prevent her from any of the activities that she enjoys and apart from some clothing issues she is coping beautifully.

Just in the last few weeks she has managed a pretty busy schedule of rehearsals and performances in a dancing show in the city. It's probably the longest periods of time that she has not worn her brace in the whole of the last year. She would spend a day at rehearsals and after a quick shower would be back in her brace as soon as she could. I was a little apprehensive that she would experience some back pain being without the support of the brace but thankfully this wasn't the case.

Watching her on stage was a joy. She smiled all the way through and I could see just how much she enjoyed it, actually, make that loved it!

In some of the potentially unforgiving stage costumes I have to admit that I was looking out for the shape of her spine and whether her movement appeared restricted. Biases aside - she did great!

We are approaching the hot Summer months now, so I know that it will become uncomfortable again. We'll just have to start cranking up that air con! I know she also gets frustrated at not being able to wear some of the let's say 'skimpier' summer outfits, but secretly I'm actually ok with that one!

So that's where we're up to. No major changes, no major decisions to be made just yet.

Oh and of course, each hospital visit is obviously followed by a treat at the nearby chocolate shop. Can't go past the thick Italian hot chocolate whatever the weather!

Just an update on a few weeks holiday.

Back to real life this week.

Back to lists, packed lunches, schedules and routines.

I wrote this post a week or so ago. I logged onto the computer this afternoon intending to write about something else and realised that I had never pressed publish on this one. So even though it's a bit out of date, I've just added a bit to the end and I'll write a scoliosis update another day. 

The last few weeks were a glorious mix of relaxation and activities. During the school holidays we managed to grab those few slow mornings that we craved where we just pottered around the house. Sibs came with me to my yoga classes and one morning we called back in the little French coffee shop around the corner to indulge (supporting a local business is very important!)

We drove up the coast where Sibs spent a bit of time with a school friend and I carried on a little further to Noosa. I packed a book and some crochet and prepared myself for silence and solitude. I almost ignored a text that invited me for a drink but decided last minute that I couldn't really turn down the words 'sundowner drink at Sunshine Beach'.... Could you?

Then followed a few days of girls time in Noosa where we got up early and visited Eumundi market and stayed out late and walked up and down Hastings Street. 

During the few days in Noosa we managed to fit in a late celebration of a few birthdays and managed a catch up with lovely L and the kids.

Afternoon picnics in my day were soggy cucumber sandwiches, warm orange squash and maybe a custard cream biscuit to finish. An afternoon picnic 'Noosa style' was a falafel salad, a grapefruit, avacado and goats cheese salad and a lamb and herb salad. There was also different types of bread and the best cheese platter outside of France. The cheese didn't last long enough for me to take any photos!

The cake was shared between the three birthday guests hence the number 95 - their combined ages!

The next day, as a birthday gift from her uncle, Sibs was treated to a hair appointment in a salon overlooking the river. It was almost like being on a boat looking out to the water at the pelicans flying past. 

That was definitely one of the slow and relaxing days of the holiday.

So what else did we get up to? There were a few shopping outings to spend the numerous birthday gift vouchers, a movie, some clearing out of accumulated stuff that seems to breed in my house and the expected holiday time baking to restock the freezer. The occasional meal out was another welcome perk of a no routine fortnight.

Towards the end of the holiday things got a little busier as Sibs was rehearsing for some dancing performances at one of the Southbank theatres. It was an exhausting but incredible experience for her but her smile on stage made every hour that she put in worthwhile.

I helped out a little backstage and got to experience that wonderful theatre camaraderie with the young performers all pulling together and supporting one another. Took me right back to my teenage years....

So after a houseful of people over the last weekend I am slowly getting myself back on track. The bed linen and towels have been washed, the floors mopped and meals have been prepared for the week ahead. 

Tonight it's netball for Sibs, tomorrow it's my choir night and Thursday there's piano for Sibs and singing group for me! (Why did I think it was going to be a quieter week!)

Life between the plans

I've been counting days and maybe hours until this evening. School holidays are here. No clock watching, no list making, no planning...

Even though Sibs is now a teen I still relish the time off with her and the chance to have lazy morning chats. School holidays have always been special times for me. The first morning off used to involve watching Play School in our pyjamas, but we've now moved on from there. Now it's just morning tea in our pyjamas where we ponder the day ahead.

When life is so jam packed with mostly necessary routine, it's an absolute luxury to take back control.

There's a little plaque with a quote that I bought on my trip home a few months ago that's hanging in the hallway. 

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans".

It's from one of my favourite songs 'Beautiful Boy' by John Lennon. The Double Fantasy album was the first LP that I bought for myself way back in the early 80's. I still have it and I still love it. 

It's funny how some quotes and sayings just stay with you, and this is one of them. Yes, I am a planner and a list maker and most of the time this works for me. Sometimes though I need to not know what's happening tomorrow. Just live the day and see what it brings.

These next two weeks we'll fit in a bit of shopping, maybe some painting and baking, some time in Noosa and time to catch up with people. I don't know exactly when all of this will happen....we'll just wait and see.

Happy holidays,

Spring time stuff and happenings.

Spring is here in the Southern Hemisphere. It doesn't last long before we get hit with the heat of Summer so I have to try and make the most of the precious few weeks left of cardigan weather.

Life here seems to be getting busier all the time. I feel like one of those hamsters in that perpetual round exercise wheel! I have swapped around my working week and slightly changed my hours so I'm often a little confused as to what day of the week it is. Sibs is involved in different music, dance and sports activities that have early mornings and now one evening to plan. On top of this, during this last week or so there has been extra music rehearsals and a strings concert, Sibs has joined a new netball team and I have joined a Choir and a singing group and have been to the theatre twice and to watch a band on Saturday night.  No wonder I'm feeling that there's fewer hours in my day. 

Those that know me well will know that whenever I get super busy I crave quiet time. It's my way of re-energising. I find that I have to talk myself out of that silly feeling of "I shouldn't just be sitting here" and enjoy the fact that I have the chance to do nothing for a little chunk of my day.  So in the middle of the mayhem of a Monday with a hundred and one different plans in my head I headed to the library for some escapism books and I spent some time experimenting with a new crochet stitch and some chalk painting.

The world didn't stop because I didn't mop the kitchen floor!
Then after a couple of hours I was back to crazy lady with a mission to do all the tasks on the to do list.

When I posted the above photo of the books on instagram last week my sister in law thought the top one was 'The Secret Strippers Club'. I'll just clear up any confusion - it's Supper Club! I can't tell you what any of the books are like yet as I haven't had time to read them!

So what else has been going on? Last week whizzed past and by the time it was Thursday evening I was ready to drop, However. I needed to think about a lunch that I was going to the following day. A lunch with 369 other women of whom about 367 were complete strangers! Not quite my idea of re-energising.

I had quietly ignored the emails that had been flying back and forth about this lunch with messages about remembering to book manicures, pedicures, hair, spray tan etc (!?) (Still not sure if they were serious or not!)

It was getting more and more like 'The Real Housewives of Brisbane' by the minute.

I did not take on the advice and did not source a Spring dress from an exclusive little boutique. I opened my wardrobe very late on Thursday night (possibly very early hours of Friday?) and made a choice between two frocks. I did manage to paint my toenails to match my dress though. Then just as she was getting ready to leave for school Sibs informed me that the chosen dress was a little 'granny looking'. Really!!

Out came dress number 2 and it was deemed ok....

But....there was a nail polish clash.

Breakfast of a coffee and a chocolate croissant helped me to decide on a better colour - even though carbs were a no-no according to the last email about my preparation lead up to the lunch! (Such a rebel!!)

I managed to muster up some enthusiasm and remind myself it was all for a good cause.

During the lunch, there was lots of champagne - "in a chilled glass please!" (told you it was like Real Housewives!), speeches, silent auction goodies, noise and more noise. Fours hours later I was done.

I met some lovely ladies and I met some interesting characters but I couldn't wait to kick off the strappy heels and stop.

I'm still in that hamster wheel this week, still not getting to bed early enough, still constantly planning the next day and then the next, but I'm getting on with it. I always say that it's about living the moments.

I almost didn't take my own advice and thought about not going to see a band last Saturday night because a little part of me thought that it was sensible to stay at home.  I'm glad I went. It was four hours of noise, but it was really good noise.

I have choir rehearsal tonight, a 7.15am breakfast meeting in the city in the morning, a get together with some girlfriends on Saturday night and on Sunday I will do absolutely nothing!

They say that Spring time brings new energy and I really hope that it throws it my way.

Thirteen

In what feels like the blink of an eye my girl who has a special place in my heart is becoming a teenager.

I can't begin to capture the joy and happiness that she creates.
(Is it too dramatic to say that? Will she think that I'm a right old softie?)

I do think it's safe to say that she knows that she is loved and she knows that I am proud of her and of the way that she is growing into a beautiful young lady. I feel really lucky that we still have valuable chat time and there are many life lessons that over time I'll share with her.  I could probably write a book of them, but I'm sure someone has beaten me to that!

Now as she hovers on the cusp of the next milestone in life I wonder what's ahead of her?

Her dreams are not my dreams and vice versa but I do wish her certain things.

• I hope that she continues to approach life with a smile on her face.

• I hope that she maintains the compassion, kindness and respect that she has for others and can practise this on herself too!

• I hope that she makes life long and meaningful friendships with people that will love her as she deserves to be loved.

• I hope that she finds her voice in the world and isn't afraid to use it.

• I hope that she can keep building her resilience and that her heart will be strong enough to manage those challenges that will inevitably come her way.

• I hope that she never forgets that I will always be her biggest supporter...Yes, there will be times that I won't necessarily agree with everything that she chooses and does...(I'm not that naive), but I will be there for her. 

So to my teenage Sibsy girl - get prepared to over-live your life, open your eyes and embrace opportunities, give things a go, have fun along the way, and don't forget your manners!

Love you now, always and forever 

(and more than you'll ever know...)

Cariad mawr,

Bupper

xxx

PS, My other hope for her is that the pierced ears that she has patiently waited seven years for won't hurt too much!

Some images from Minjerribah - Stradbroke Island

This is a photo post with a few sparse words here and there.

A few weeks ago Sibs went away camping to Stradbroke Island known locally as Straddie, or to give it its aboriginal name - Minjerribah.  It's an island just off the coast of Brisbane and it takes 25 minutes to get to via the passenger ferry or 45 minutes via the vehicle ferry. 

I don't really do camping.... so I stayed at home.

I knew that I would miss out on the beautiful views and tranquility of the sun, sea and sand, but sand in tents and I just don't get on! So with the instructions of "have fun, take care and lots of photos" I waved her off. 

She got to spend time with her cousin, her uncles and her dad and she swam, sand surfed, fished, cooked around the camp fire, walked, talked and took a hundred and one photos!

Sibs planned to write a blog about Straddie so I asked her to choose some photos and I uploaded them and left them in a draft post.  However, life got in the way and things like homework and socialising kept eating into her time so the photos have just been sitting here. 

I wanted to write a blog post myself this week but the words just didn't come to me. That sometimes happens. There's lots going on in my head at 1am and by the next day....nothing!

So I'm just going to take advantage of these images. It seems a shame not to share them.

This is Winter in my little corner of the world. Not bad is it?