Pretty Vacant

It's been quiet in my little corner of Blogland for a few weeks. Must be the time of year - there seem to be so many other things that need doing first, and I'm obviously not the only one who's rationing time spent in front of a computer.

I have to say I have missed my almost-daily contact with the lovely people who visit here regularly or when they can, and I've tried to keep in touch with the news even if it's only by means of the occasional sort of commando-smash and-grab-blog-raid. Oh. Just remembered that these days "going commando" means going out without knickers. Never mind - you get the gist. And as sometimes I was still in my nightdress it's pretty accurate anyway.

So - in the last few weeks Colin's finally officially graduated with his PhD and also picked up a Dean's Award for Excellence in teaching (clever boy), Mads has finished both school and final exams, Soph's gone on a 4-day hike which has both seared her in 38 degree temperatures and nearly drowned her in freezing rain, and Em has made the final preparations for her trip to Canada. Plus, of course, the usual domestic chaos, some irritating health issues and assorted minor disasters along with the more pleasant social occasions.

Amongst my bloggy friends lately there has been turmoil and difficulty along with the happiness most of us thankfully manage to feel much of the time. Today is Thanksgiving day in America, and while we don't celebrate it here, it seems a nice day to appreciate the good fortune I have, and to wish those who are going through tougher times better fortune in the coming months.

I can feel a homily coming on, so I'll stop before someone offers me a job writing those twee little messages in greeting cards.

Love and happiness to you all.

Emma.

I don't think I've introduced Em yet. We rather like her. Not of the mainstream, emotionally complex, loving, thoughtful, full of empathy and as mercurial as a monkey on Ritalin.

She's about to go on tour to Canada with her school band, (Nov 24 to Dec 11), so once again music is taking one of our girls to places and people they might not otherwise have the opportunity to discover. For my lovely Canadian bloggies who have asked about her itinerary:

She travels first to Vancouver where they stay for 4 nights, then on to Kamloops in British Columbia via the Kokahalla Highway, then to Kelowna, Vernon, on to Canmore through the Rockies and Banff, then Calgary, briefly at Drumheller, then Edmonton and home. Local schools are hosting them, and they'll be billeted by school families with a few nights here and there in hotels. The bands will play at each host school, but they'll also have time for an ice hockey game, lots of sightseeing and touring around and generally exhausting their teachers. They are very, very lucky kids.

Anyway, here she is, variously (because I still can't figure out how to format and caption photos properly):

1. At Lake Elizabeth in the Otway Ranges, Southern Victoria. The lake was formed after a landslide formed a natural dam wall in 1951. It took them a while to figure out why the river below had dried up, and when they went exploring, found this. Very isolated, beautifully eerie.

2. Singing in her school choir. She's in Ghanaian dress because their teacher did some amazing workshops in Ghana and came back to pass on the rhythms, songs and drumming techniques of the region. Magic.

3. With the saxophone that is taking her to Canada.

4. With the croquembouche I made as her 16th birthday cake. The rest of us got some eventually. And no, that's not a tatt. It's a pen doodle she probably did when she should have been paying attention in a maths class. Ah, well, nobody's perfect.