April

In case anyone was worried that Jessye didn't get to hold a koala, here is the picture that was omitted last blog. Note that Jessye is now the same height as me!

The last days of school holidays were a chance to get outside with the dogs a bit more than usual. Joey came with us one day when we stopped, firstly, at the cemetery to make sure our plants were surviving the drought (no worries there - they seem to have gone wild) and then at Princes Park where dogs are legitimately allowed off the lead unlike Carlton Gardens where there seems to be an unwritten law that says it's OK at certain times but one always feels a bit naughty. You're always sure to make new doggie friends there.

Back at home Rosie and Sophie had a cooking contest with Joey as the judge. I can't remember who won but the judging was very serious and involved many criteria.

Before Jessye went back to Howqua we took in a movie at something called the Halfpipe Room at Melbourne Central where you recline on huge beanbags, two people per bag. I got Sophie for a partner. At the end of the movie when the other patrons had exited the girls got a bit carried away until an usher showed up to see if the room was clear.

My very dear friend Sandra had a birthday last week and chose to celebrate by coming to an MSO concert of Elgar's Dream of Gerontius and drinkies afterwards. The tenor soloist had given me his roses so I passed them on to the birthday girl. Sandra came with three good friends, from left to right, Fiona, visiting from Gisborne, Mandy and Philippa - all kiwis except for Mandy. I've had tennis elbow for a little while and have been seeing a physiotherapist who is excellent and it's manageable with work but Mandy is a physiotherapist too and has sent me some interesting reading material on the subject. Philippa and her husband have also had tennis elbow and were cured by a Chinese acupuncturist so she gave me his details and I have an appointment to see him in a week so not only was it a nice birthday celebration but very useful medically.

In the first week back at school Rosie performed for the first time on the horn in an after-school brass soiree. She had to wait ages to play and did superbly playing Old MacDonald Had a Farm with piano accompaniment. I didn't get a good shot because I didn't want to be too conspicuous while she was playing so only managed a blurry action shot just as she had finished and was about to get up. The applause was thunderous!

Mostly because of my dodgy arthritic knee and the advice I've been given by my esteemed orthopaedic surgeon to avoid stairs in order to postpone surgery for as long as possible, we have been househunting for a nice flat one-storey house somewhere in the city/MLC/Lauriston triangle. It's quite difficult because there are very few 4 brm houses for rent in what is a very tight rental market generally in Melbourne at the moment but we've seen three possibilities which for various reasons are not ideal but give us hope. Firstly, a modern, swish place in Kew.

Then a comfy place with a nice pool in Hawthorn.....

Then another Hawthorn house with a more swept-up renovation......

to be continued....

While on the house and moving topic, we had Sophie sit the scholarship test for Year 5 entry to Lauriston (Jessye's school) since, if we move in that direction, it would be a pain to travel to North Fitzroy Primary where she is currently in Year 4 (Sophie has expressed keen interest in the Howqua year away experience). A few weeks after the test (divided into 3 parts: reading and viewing, writing and maths) she was invited to an interview with the Head of Junior School (Prep to Year 6) and the coordinator of Year 5 and 6. They asked lots of questions and were very nice. Sophie talked knowledgably about the authors she liked reading and said "yeah" when they asked if she was good at maths. She was perky when they talked about the art and sport on offer, sport especially. Anyway, a few days later her test result came in the mail with an offer of a 50% scholarship for the next 8 years at Lauriston. She did particularly well in the maths, achieving around the 95th percentile of all the kids who sat the same test nationally (most of the schools use a central agency to deliver and administer an identical test). She was above average for the other parts too but it was obviously the maths that swung it for her. HOWEVER, Sophie has a wonderful group of friends at her current school and today it just struck her how much she wanted to stay with them until graduation from primary school at the end of year 6. They had all just been together at the park for someone's birthday party and I guess that made it all the more immediate today. She came into the room crying while I'd just started writing the bit about her scholarship and said "I don't want to go to Lauriston next year". We talked and I quite understand how she feels so I've reassured her we won't decide yet (acceptance of the scholarship is due by the end of this coming week) and that we don't want her to be miserable. Yesterday Peter heard her talking to Rosie and this morning she also said to me that she wants to go to MLC after all. Most of the girls from Nth Fitzroy whose parents choose a private school go on to MLC so I guess that, now it's become a topic of conversation for her all of a sudden, she is realising the importance to her of knowing some people when she goes to her new school. I've been wondering myself whether MLC might, in the end, be a better fit partly because of the size and therefore greater likelihood of Sophie having a good quality musical experience there. Both schools appear to do very well academically for their students so she can get that at either. The major differences are size and all that implies, good and bad, and the Howqua year which is a Lauriston specialty. MLC has something similar but just for a term. Watch this space for more tantalising educational traumas.