New coat

She has been begging for a new smart coat. She also wants to ditch her practical (and still cheerful) snow jacket type coat- her friends are saying it's not a proper girls' coat/it's not pretty enough. J found this beauty on eBay and I bid & won. In the Christmas chaos, it took until last night to arrive but it's so beautiful. It suits her perfectly. The fabric isn't quite as formal as I expected so I conceded to the previously agreed plan of it being only for best and said she could wear it for school. She was very proud of it. And looked absolutely beautiful- also disturbingly grown up- in it.

When she came out of school she was a bit grumpy. They'd had to do actual work today which wasn't in her plan for the week! However, as the evening progressed we established that she'd also watched the infant nativity and later had watched the county music service staff giving a brass concert!

With the pressure of concerts and exams gone and a (slightly) less manic schedule of performances this week, music practice has been returning to its normal & she's been so glad to have it back. We had a lovely time working on a new piano piece, she learns them so quickly. Her clarinet holiday assignment work is coming on brilliantly too. I love seeing her delighted to practise and thrilled when she does well.