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

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!)

Everyday stuff.

Today is a bit of a scorcher in Brisbane - it's predicted to reach 38 degrees this afternoon, that's a 100 if you work in Fahrenheit! That's pretty hot for October, so I'm staying indoors and catching up on a bit of house stuff which obviously means browsing through photos on the computer!

Here's a few visuals from a couple of weekends ago. 

This is the Bougainvillea that is on the walkway down at South Bank next to the Brisbane river. The flowers are such a vibrant pink above your head. Such a shame that it also produces the most vicious spikes! We have a Bougainvillea at the back of the house and we have tried to tame it back and contain it as it can also make a beautiful mess when the flower petals drop. 

I've just taken this photo a minute ago on my phone. The contrast in the colours is pretty stunning.

Twmff the cat is asleep somewhere behind that wall trying to shelter from the heat. He wouldn't appear for a photo....I don't really blame him today.

Talking of lovely colours, Sibs was so delighted that this year she had a 'real' ballet costume for a performance that she was part of at QPAC recently. Over the years some of the costumes have included a white leotard for a goat, a pink leotard for a flower and a red and white stripe outfit for a doll. It's all been very age appropriate but she's been desperate for a proper ballerina look. Imagine her excitement at being able to wear a tulle tutu? Yet another growing up step.....

I don't venture into the city too often at night, but each time I do, I always stop and admire how lovely it is. The river bank was full of neon clad runners a few Saturdays ago. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera or a phone with me to capture it. Let's just say it was colourful, noisy and spectacular.
This is a shot on the way home after a performance and the city is all alight.

Straight after this photo we luckily got a message from a friend advising avoiding our usual route home as the rugby game between the Australian Wallabies and the New Zealand All Blacks had just finished and the roads around the stadium were blocked.  We didn't want to know the score either so went the really long way home up Mount Coot-tha. At one junction there was a taxi next to us and Sibs gave me strict instructions not to look at it as the people inside would have given the result away!

Quick shower later and the two of us - actually make that three as Twmff came to join us, watched the recorded game. From pink tutu ballet wearing girl to rugby fan in one swift move!

After such a late night the Sunday lie in was quite welcome. It's never quiet for long though and the much dreaded dismantling of the trampoline happened with Papa helping out. The trampoline is an Australian childhood essential. It seems that if you have a patch of grass then it will have a trampoline on it. Sibs got hers for her fifth birthday and has loved it since that day. It was showing some signs of wear though and we didn't realise quite how much until we inspected the underside and noticed that it was rusting away! Sadly that was it - the trampoline had to go.

Not much else has really been going on.

I've been dipping in and out of my crochet blanket.

I'm enjoying the challenge of the different stitches but it's not a rhythmic, getting lost in time, type of project. I have to concentrate! It does feel lovely and soft and I'm sure that I will enjoy using it in the cooler months. 

I've ordered my first lot of wool on line today. I'm planning a ripple blanket - now that will be something that I'll be able to get lost in time with! 

I thought the shades were a little more subdued....but now I see them next to my current blanket they look exactly the same! I still don't quite know who I am with all these colours! 

I've also got some wool ready to go on another baby blanket. That will be quite soothing as I don't know whether the bub will be a boy or a girl so that blanket will just be cream until I know. Just got to decide on the stitch and remember that babies are small! (The last baby blanket I made turned out bigger that I planned and the little sweetheart looked a little bit lost in it!)

Well, best get on with some of those things on my to-do list....

Have a happy and safe week,