Some days....

....in life feel almost too hard. This was one of those to my little girl. She was dealt a pretty big injustice that caused her quite a bit of upset. We took time to work through it, aided by fish & chips, a play in the sea and some garden time - including giving our lovely bunny some treats.

Then as I settled her down in my bed, a dog came into our garden, into the rabbit run and killed our beautiful little Bert. The poor girl heard it all and saw some of it from the window, while I had to try deal with it. B was with us before the owner had departed and helped me tell Katie while I sorted Bert. She was already freaked out and frightened, and just completely fell apart. When we settled Bert into a basket, she laid sobbing on the sofa with B playing the piano to her. She couldn’t bear the idea of going out the room from Bert. She finally agreed to lie in bed, still distraught and eventually fell asleep holding my face & hands to the Mozart Bassoon Concerto on repeat.

It wasn’t restful sleep, but she did sleep some, as long as I laid right with.

NB: this photo was taken with her blessing- she wanted it, and she was ok with it being real.


Festival Day 3:
It had been a huge day for Katie before the horrible end to it. She’d had several classes this morning. She’d played a beautiful duet with mummy- Pachebels Canon for bassoon and piano. First place. A gorgeous, gorgeous playing of a Chopin Mazurka in her huge piano solo class. First place. We went in the sea after and had a glorious time. We did some bits at home before a quick run through with B of her final class. She played her two skills class- a stunning bassoon Romance, and a seriously classy bit of Gershwin on her clarinet. She absolutely killed it, wiped the floor and got the highest marks by a significant number. But she was then very publicly disqualified for playing two woodwind instruments. despite them always knowing that she was going to and letting her do it anyway- you have to pre declare what you’re going to play. The committee disqualified her for a rule that doesn’t exist. She stood there at the front and clapped & smiled for the pre-grade 1 child who was awarded the trophy she should have been holding. She showed so much maturity and grace. She fell to pieces when she came out the venue but boy did that kid hold her head up high. A totally furious B took her for a fish & chip supper and a play together on the beach.