Brianna's Debutante Ball...

Brianna was presented at the Tenison Woods College Debutante Ball on Friday, July 30, 2010 and was partnered by her friend, Alex.
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We stayed at a lovely Bed & Breakfast called Colhurst House. Our host, Patty, generously let us have the run of the house for photographs. There are 6 rooms, each beautifully decorated and pristinely maintained. Olde world charm with modern appointments.
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Our breakfast this morning was home cooked and delicious. The fruit salad compote comprised finely diced and chopped watermelon, apple, banana, strawberries, honeydew melon, mandarin with fresh red currants, blue berries and mulberries, topped with vanilla yoghurt - heaven! Then I had 2 perfectly poached eggs on toast with bacon and a lovely strong plunger coffee to finish.
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This is the sitting room at Colhurst House.
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The front entrance to this majestic old building.
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Colhurst House was built in 1877
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Brianna's hair was styled by her cousin, Bianca.
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Our beautiful daughter, Brianna, all ready for the Ball.
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We had a professional photographer do lots of pictures of Brianna and her friend, Maddy.
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Don't they look like two Southern Belles, decending the staircase?
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Alex & Brianna - the partners all wore black tail coats with gold waist coats and cravats and white gloves.
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Kirby & Brianna
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Alex & Brianna with Maddy & Euan
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Maddy and Brianna have been best friends since Yr 8 in High School...
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Clowning around for the photographer...
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The stage theme for the evening was a flower shop - each debutante was presented with their bouquet by their partner who selected the flowers from the florist in the shop.
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Here Brianna is presented to the college Principal and Father Richard, the college/parish priest.
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Finally, the presentation is finished and they get ready for their dance, entitled the Lily of the Valley Waltz.
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After the official dance, the girl's fathers and the partner's mothers were asked to join them for an informal dance. Angus was very proud of Brianna.
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18 Debutantes
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Alex and Maddy (her bouquet was tulip buds with feathers)
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Alex gave Brianna an engraved bracelet and Bri gave Alex an engraved hip flask.
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Brianna and Michael (cute couple)...
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Angus & Julie (cuter couple) ...
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Shoes off, dirty hemline... time to go home!
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Tired and weary I am today.
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Cheers - Joolz

The most creative job in the world...

It involves...

taste,
fashion,
decorating,
recreation,
education,
transportation,
psychology,
romance,
cuisine,
designing,
literature,
medicine,
handicrafts,
art,
horticulture,
economics,
government,
community relations,
pediatrics,
geriatrics,
entertainment,
maintenance,
purchasing,
direct mail,
law,
accounting,
religion,
energy
and management
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Anyone who can handle all those tasks is someone pretty special.
She is.
She is a homemaker.
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~~~Author unknown ~~~

MasterChef Australia - Woo Hoo Callum!!!

Way back on April 25, MasterChef began and this young bloke caught my eye. He was #41 out of the top 50 to be picked. Callum is 20 years old and hails from a place called Nuriootpa (okay, say it with me... Noori (as in nyoori) - oot (like soot)- pa) in the Barossa Valley, South Australia.
I thought here's a young kid who has a lisp, a nervous blink (oh, and don't the ladies just love that!) and a bit of acne, but he's really cute. We've cheered him on each week, sometimes, nay, many times marvelling at his creations, other times cringing as he put up a car-wreck of a dish. But he is so endearing and has been a joy to watch. On reading about him in The Advertiser it was lovely to see that he completed Yr 12 in fine form with a TER of 95 and is a keen sportsman who was on the Basketball, Soccer, Table Tennis, hockey, badminton & tennis teams in his final year. My aim is to order his macaroons in his restaurant someday!!!
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Tonight he has made it through to the Grand Finale and will face off against Adam Liaw, a 31 year old lawyer who also hails from Adelaide, although he is currently residing in Tokyo, Japan. How exciting that it is two South Aussies in the GF?! I seriously don't mind who wins now as both have been on my favourites list from the get go (but Go Callum!) and it's a wonderful achievement just to get down to the final two.
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Joolz :)

All clear...

Brianna's test results all came back with nothing to show as abnormal. Her levels were all normal so that doesn't shed any light on why she is so lethargic and has no appetite. Maybe it is the Deb Ball jitters, who knows? We'll get that out of the way then see how she goes. Thank you all for your well wishes.
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Cheers - Joolz

Lucky me...and poor Bri...

I had a lovely birthday and was thoroughly spoiled with some great gifts. My friend Helen gave me this stunning planter with even prettier tulips in it.
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Angus and the girls gave me a big bottle of my favourite perfume, Flower Bomb. Smells like floral fairy floss to me. Angus also bought me a lovely big new suitcase for when we travel overseas later in the year.
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Sister Sue gave me this candy bowl with more chocolate than is pictured here (someone has been helping themselves)!
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Sister Janine made this mosaic pot for me in my favourite colours of blue and white china. She bought a few old plates from antique shops (.50 cent plates) proceeded to smash them then covered a terracotta pot.
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Sister Maz gave this memo folder with sticky notes & seven day reminder sheet so you can write up what's happening for the week ahead. The little angel is a fridge magnet for memos too.
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Sister Leanne gave me this lovely planter with a huge Spathiphyllum (Peace Lily) and the Sisters coloured plaque in the photo above and some chocolates (which I. do.not.need!!!).
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My Mum gave me this Mary Gregory glass vase. She and my Dad used to collect this glass and this piece was bought in 1984 on their travels. It dates back to late 1800's - early 1900's and is American. A lot of this glassware is known as ruby glass but this piece is clear glass.
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I finished a busy week at work by going out for dinner again on Friday night with our friends in Mt. Gambier.
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Brianna has been feeling off colour over the past week so I took her to the doctor on Friday and he ordered some blood tests to check her levels. She has been low on energy, has no appetite and been a bit head-achey, sleeps a lot but is still tired too. Anyway we fronted up for the blood tests yesterday morning at our medical clinic. The lady sat Bri in a chair and we were all chatting away, talking about netball then she took the blood sample and was putting it in the phials when Bri decided to pass out!!! One minute she was okay then the next she had her head in her lap, out cold, then we had to get her onto the floor, in the recovery position. Quite scary for me but she came around quite quickly and we reassured her that she had just fainted and she was soon okay.
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Needless to say we didn't get to netball. I kept Bri home on the couch and we spent the day watching movies, taking it easy. I wasn't feeling too good myself so maybe we picked up a bug or something.

Another year older...

Today is my birthday. This is a pic of my mother and me when I was about 4-5 months old. She was a swish 34 year old, wasn't she? How time flies - now she is 80 and I am 46!
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It is tradition at our work that the birthday person has to bring in a cake for 'morning smoko' so I made 2 batches of muffins this morning. Cinnamon Crumble and Triple Choc Chip - ahem, I'm afraid you'll have to ask Betty Crocker for the recipes! The cinnamon crumbles are my favourite!
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After a full day in the office, we are off to Mt. Gambier for dinner at a nice Thai restaurant, Wild Ginger. It will be yummy! Lucky me!
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Cheers - Joolz
(It is also Bastille Day in France!)