Calendar Girl

As I’m not much of an instant waker-upper, I frequently do stuff very slowly first thing in the morning, and then I speed up by my regular frustratingly slow pace later in the morning after coffee tea.

This morning was no exception, while I was making early morning coffee. As I strolled towards the fridge to fetch the milk, a bight colour amidst the dozen or so notices and reminder notes magnet-pinned to its door, caught my eye. The colour was red.

It was a bit bigger than post-card sized 2014July / 2015 June calendar. The red was the jersey jumper which Brynn had worn to school on the school photographer day, and the calendar is part of the set of photos which the school peddles to parents in aid of school funds.

You must excuse my apparent lack of knowing what goes on at schools in the twenty-first century. Not having really been directly involved in any sort of school activities since 1990 (before DIY colour-printing became such an everyday task), this type of product is new to me.

Our grand-daughter is a Calendar Girl!

Vaulting

For the first time in sporting history a New Zealand Equestrian Vaulting Team has been selected to vault at the world games!

2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Normandy

After thousands of hours of training the Kapiti Equestrian Vaulting Team will be representing New Zealand, promoting both our country and our region. The 2014 World Equestrian Games in France will be watched by a worldwide TV audience of 500 million people. So get excited, everyone, and give our team the support they deserve!

Brynn attends horse-riding classes, as well as vaulting lessons at the Kapiti Equestrian Centre at Waikanae. On Saturday 28 June 2014, we attended a morning show in which Brynn participated. Here are some of the snaps we took, including some of the New Zealand team which will be off to France in August.

Birdy at Cabaret!

Thursday 10 April 6:30pm – Cabaret time at Waikanae Primary School. Tonight, Brynn is… Birdy.

Jasmine van den Bogaerde (born 15 May 1996), known by her stage name Birdy, is an English musician, songwriter and singer. She won the music competition Open Mic UK in 2008, at the age of 12. Her début single, a version of Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love”, was her breakthrough, charting all across Europe and being certified six times platinum in Australia. Her self-titled début album, Birdy, was released on 7 November 2011 to similar success, peaking at number 1 in Australia, Belgium and the Netherlands. Her second studio album, Fire Within, was released 23 September 2013 in the UK and other surrounding countries.

Here is the official photo-shoot, before she left to be chauffeured by big brother Tyler.

Look at the camera, and watch the Birdy!

Berry Nice

Here is a shot of Brynn’s strawberries, which are surviving in a small planter box perched on the window ledge outside the living room. Consequently, no birds have been at it.

If you’re older than 62…

A notice appeared on the door between the dining-room and lounge: “Brynn’s Dance”. Free - tonight 8:00pm – 8:30pm, and in red “You have to Dance.” Please No Cameras, No Video and Not too meny (many) people!

Free “ticket” vouchers: numbered and signed personally by the host.

To accommodate Granny and to encourage the old fogeys, she added the reassurance “You don’t have to dance if you are older than 62!”

We will now sit tight and wait to see what transpires. It will surely be a bit of a battle to convince Brynn to allow a camera, let alone video, but I will try my best. The dance rehearsal went on for the larger part of yesterday.

At work and play

Saturday 4 January.  After a walk into the countryside this morning along Ngatiawa Road, there was time for some R&R after snacks and drinks. Brynn promptly convinced Granny that trampolining is not age-specific, and that it is fun when enjoyed by folks of all ages.

It was difficult to decide whether the noises were as a result of excitement or fear… or maybe a healthy combination of both…

All fall down! Great fun!

Meantime, there was very little R&R for Dad, who had to make the most of the sunshine by knuckling down with Mr J Deere to trim off at least part of the lawns, while the grass was still dry.

At this point, Granny needed a rest from the trampoline, and Brynn decided that perhaps Dad would give her a go with the mower. But Dad was intent on getting the maximum performance that day, so….

Brynn returned to the trampoline, quite obviously contemplating the universe, and how unfair life can be to the average nine-year-old…