Song, Birds

The new level of music lessons is pretty radically different to how it used to be and Eloise is taking some time to adapt, which is interesting to watch.

It's much more formal with the kids sitting in a row with chime bars at the ready while an actual lesson with teaching and so on happens.

It's taken Eloise three weeks to come to terms with the format. Last week she absolutely hated it, very shy when she was put on the spot and not happy about sitting still and paying attention. She found it quite distressing, and probably I didn't help as I became quite frustrated at her unwillingness to concentrate, in retrospect a mistake.

This week she was very much happier, and I was much happier too as I let her get on with what she wanted to get on with and just filled in for her where she didn't want to participate and I think that she's getting used to the format much more.

Another part of the problem I suppose is that we've joined the class weeks into the term - there were no other classes that were convenient for us - and the other children have been doing it for three months more than Eloise has. But their progress is quite impressive, even the young siblings are singing along when they have to and are very attentive, apparently with very good concentration.

So I expect that if we persevere that it'll be really beneficial for Eloise.

On the way home, after a stop at the playground, we saw a flock of corellas - tropical birds to you and me - roosting on a telegraph line at the bottom of the road. A sizeable flock of probably fifty birds has been hanging around for weeks now, there being a house locally with a comprehensive bird-feeding facility, and they make a hell of a hullaballoo.

We went down a little bit later and as the sun went down and their wire fell into shadow they flew away, probably seeking out some warmth somewhere as out of the sun it's pretty chilly.

Matilda Catches Fish Shocker

In an unpopular move with she who must not be obeyed we went to the beach this afternoon under still grey skies which obscured the horizon though the air was so clear that Moreton Island and the Glass House Mountains were stark across the miles of water.

Maybe it was the weather conditions that allowed Matilda, after years now of constant practice, to actually catch one of the little fish that flit around in the shallows and hide just beneath the sand.

A lady we met said that it was a Toadfish, a worrying development for Neighbours characters, so called because they inflate themselves when distressed. We thought it was a Puffer Fish.

Who knows, we may both be right.

Anyway whichever one of us might be correct, we both suspected it might be at least mildly poisonous so it was a good thing that Matilda, never having caught a fish before (one unconfirmed previous incident aside), and totally against type, didn't seem to know quite what to do with her catch, and left it on the sand for Eloise to play with.

Washing Bicycles

It's bike maintenance weekend what with Nicole noticing my back tyre was flat precipitating an outing for the puncture repair kit, and a bout of bike cleaning this morning.

Eloise threw herself into it wholeheartedly buffing and polishing her little pink pushbike while Nicole degreased every cog and chain she could find. Eloise wanted to go the whole hog and clean her chain too but not much investigation didn't reveal a way to remove the chainguard so she had to make do with purely cosmetic cleaning.

Dreecht

I think that's Scottish for wet. Which it has been for the past couple of days. Continuous light to medium rain. And cold too. But obviously not cold enough for you-know-who to actually put on a jumper, not without a fight.

So Nicole got a lift into work yesterday and a lift home too. You might have thought the lift home would be implcit to the offer of a lift there I suppose.

And at swimming we were treated to the sight of indoor fog as the heated pool evaporated and condensed two feet into the air making for a very strange swimming experience.

It's been bad dog days with no walk yesterday and a brief one today while Eloise was dancing creatively. We went to the forest, and in the midst of all this damp and chill, would you believe the forest is flowering.

And in pursuit of indoor activity, we've been shopping and to a Picasso exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art. Which was fun, but not as good as the Warhol one.

But the forecast is looking up, it should be 20 degrees tomorrow, according to the weatherman,. Shorts weather eh!

Promotion

I applied for a Clinical Nurse post before heading off to Auckland. I think I spent 30-40 hours writing the five selection criteria. I was shortlisted and had the interview today and was told unofficially this afternoon that I was successful. Hurray.

I have also been offered a place for the Master of Advanced Practice degree. I am busy applying for scholarships and research grants.

We went out for a celebratory meal this evening at Ragazzi's in Grange which was very nice.

Tis a Chill Wind

Tis a Chill Wind that blows from the South, in this case.

We thought, after an attempt to go to an exhibition that ended a month ago, mercifully aborted before we even left home, and after some playing at picnics in the garden, to have a bash at the beach.

What was a lovely warm day inland chez nous turned into a somewhat chill one at the beach with a brisk wind blowing across the bay.

And what with the Little Un dressed only in her Sunday Vest, the females retired to the sheltered playground whilst I walked the dogs across the windswept sand flats.

A brisk walk - to complement the brisk wind - and I met up with them at said playground where some good-natured frolicking was done prior to the arrival of a Greensleeves-tinkling ice cream van, from which we availed ourselves the local equivalent of chocolate Mr Whippy, which, whilst tasty, left us even colder and soon on our way home.

Make Up

Imagine Nicole's face when she saw what Eloise had surreptitiously perpetrated upon herself, in permanent marker (well, freezer bag marker, next best thing).

Pedal Power

I was resigned to hours of hell when I reluctantly agreed to allowing Eloise to bike to the brook today at about 3.30 with 2 hours of light left in the day, after all she normally makes it about a quarter of the way there before abandoning her transportation.

But today, not only did she make it all the way to the brook, but she did so at reasonably high speed, requiring only intermittent assistance. And my resignation did add to my patience.

Her speed was due to her having discovered the brakes on her bike and the fact that they work so much better when travelling quickly.

It would be a lie to suggest that it was an unbridledly joyful experience, but it was so much more pleasurable than it might have been.

And we were home only shortly after dark too.

Back to Swimming

Back to swimming yesterday and I admit I had to have a quick think in order to remember what time we were supposed to be there after what seems like quite a long time off.

Eloise's regular teacher Fiona was ill so it was back to Sarah who was her teacher for a whole week when she went back into the big pool, but she made a big impression on her that Eloise was pretty happy to go back to her. Hopefully this hasn't burst the Fiona bubble.

So I sat by the side with my large Flat White whilst the class of three did there thing, jumping in and swimming around and generally having a good time.

In fact she did very well, swimming around some of the time without any flotation, but she needs to work on lifting her legs and derriere whilst doing this in order to maximise her kicking efficiency.

Afterwards, back up to the mountain as per usual where Her Nibs ordered milkshake and mango cake which she then point blank refused to eat, prior to being untempted by baked beans and somewhat reluctant to put it mildly to sleep, even though without realising it she was actually completely knackered....as was I.

Meteorological

Tempting the weather god in writing has precipitated (no pun intended) rainfall last night and today, so when Nicole was getting ready to leave for work this morning I good-naturedly offered her a lift into her orifice, which snowballed into a somewhat rushed first-thing runaround fiasco.

Still we got her there for eight o'clock before coming back home to have more breakfast and to watch the latest children's TV rubbish (Go Yabba Yabba or Yo Gabba Gabba or something is the new one that Eloise quite enjoys) - today was a Pinky Ponk day in the Night Garden, if you're interested.

Although the rain was somewhat gone by the time it came to leaving time, I drove Eloise to Nursery today, then to College where I found a free all-day parking spot which was a result. The rain, of course, re-started soon after arriving.

Today was a theory day at college and we learned how colour slide film works and how the development chemistry works. It's really fiendishly clever. I don't want to explain it to you though.

The rain had pretty much cleared away by home time so I took the dogs out for a quick walk before picking the ladies up again, and as we were coming back from nursery the overcast began to clear away and the sun poked its little head beneath the clouds to perform some meteorological magic for us as we chatted in the road with Val, prior to Eloise having a play with her guinea pigs.

Guinea Pig play today involved driving Cherry Pie around in a little pram. The pig didn't move an inch; she must have been terrified. Still as Val said, "That's what they're for."