Ganeida's Knots

We are almost done. Everyone is so tired & the girls had a ding~dong go at each other in the car coming home last night. Rather spoilt what had been a pleasant evening up until that point. Liddy making a wrong turn & taking us into town & over the Gateway Bridge, heading north towards my mum, did not help things. Our friends in blue were out in vast numbers too making her incredibly paranoid. These things happen but Liddy got anxious & then tended to speed & speed doesn't make Ditz a happy Ditz. She said so, which was unfortunate. Liddy was already scratchy & no~one was in the frame of mind to reel in their emotions & remember to behave in a Christ~like manner ~ or see the thing from the others point of view. Whatever I said I was being unjust, unfair & unsympathetic...oh, & blaming whoever I was talking too. I just love being the meat in the sandwich. I think everyone was hungry & needed to eat.

We had no trouble getting in this time. I have made a note of all the trouble points & managed so Liddy avoided getting into trouble. Liddy & I dropped Ditz of, parked the car, checked the theatre lock out times & walked through Southbank eating icecream, much more pleasant with company than on my own as I have been doing all week. We got back to the Playhouse in plenty of time & wandered up to the lounge which doesn't have half bad views & sports a substantial bar though Liddy thinks my propensity for people watching should be curbed in public places. The whole point of people watching is being in public!

We enjoyed the concert very much. The band conductor was a little round man who bobbed & wobbled as he waggled his stick about. The mandolin conductor looked anorexic, jerked his bows stiffly as if he wished us all somewhere else, & tried to pretend none of us where there. He didn't use a baton but wafted his hands about in the most fascinating way. The guest male singers were all from the Ten Tenors & had me riveted. No, I'm not musical but musicians fascinate me with the things they do. Every single one of them bent at the knees as they breathed in then rose on their toes as they breathed out. It was all I could do not to disgrace myself with a fit of the giggles. Ditz does the same thing with her flute. Breathe in, the flute bobs down then swings up as she releases the air & it's all done in time! Weird.

We began with the orchestra doing a medley of carols. The audience was tending to be noisy & we were anxiously awaiting Ditz's appearance. They were so noisy the first notes of Hodie Christus Natus est were lost. The kids sing this a Capella though we had a harp last night. Then suddenly everyone heard them & there was this astonished silence. It really is a showpiece choice. The kids sound ethereal. Ditz was up the back, as I knew she would be, because of her height & hard to spot.

At interval Liddy struck up a conversation with the old gentleman beside her. Yes, he told her, he'd been to every Christmas Concert for the last ten years. Some were excellent, some not so good. What did he think of the Vocal Manoeuvres kids? Liddy enquired injudiciously. I would never have asked that particular leading question. Oh, they should have sung in English & chosen something more Christmassy & in the spirit of the festive season. I sniggered into my program while Liddy was forced to admit her sister was one of the singers & jabbing me with her elbow. Nothing, Liddy complained to me later, about the quality of the music or how they sounded! Oh well. You can't please everyone & we appreciated it.

My mother is coming for the matinee performance today, Ditz has the evening performance & we are all done. Any more of this & I think my girls would literally come to blows. Dearest is feeling neglected. The cat's off his tucker & moping & I am just plain exhausted. I need a week to recover & I won't get it. Oh well.