The Block

So, here is the site of our new house ... a half-acre block of land in North Croydon.

We have paid the deposit and settlement is on 28 June.  We are pretty exited about this block as it has a gentle slope and a fantastic Northerly aspect.

What's so good about it is that it is up high on a hill with 180 degree views.  Really looking forward to building a fantastic house which will take advantage of these!

A not-so-good panoramic as I think I dipped in the middle!

Packing Up the Old House

Having sold our house in Warrandyte in March, we have been spending the last few weekends packing everything up and putting it into storage.  We have only this and next weekend left before settlement on the house, so we arranged for the kids to join us to help pack and move everything.  As a "thank you", we shouted them to lunch at one of the local cafes.

Looks like they enjoyed it!

Chorus Convention :: Day Three

Well, I arrived home at 10:30 tonight after three of the most wonderful days at the Sweet Adelines Convention in Sydney with my wonderful chorus, Vocal Vibes! 

This morning, we had the opportunity to sleep-in a little after such an exciting day yesterday.  Then, after breakfast we headed back to the auditorium for some workshops presented by the judging team.  These were really worthwhile, with the top three choruses and quartets on stage being used as display choruses, to show us how to improve our sound and technique.

Then, after lunch we had the final Sweet Adelines Showcase, which was a wonderful presentation of the best that Sweet Adelines Australia has to present, including performances from the top three choruses and quartets.  Then, more awards and medal presentations, and a final celebration mass sing from everyone in the audience, where huge balloons were bounced around.  Then, we gathered our suitcases from the storage area, hopped onto the airport buses and made our way home.

What a wonderful, memorable experience!!  I loved the time I spent with my friends at Vocal Vibes, as well as making some new friends from other choruses around Australia.

Chorus Convention :: Day Two

We woke fairly early and got ready to go and see the opening of the Chorus competition.  Twenty-three choruses will be competing this year, so it will be interesting to see where we are placed.  Two years ago in Canberra we came twelfth, even though Vocal Vibes was only three years old at the time (compared to 25 years for some of the other choruses) and it was our first ever competition.

Director Lorraine, Tamara, Sam & Bridget

Di & Cathy - having fun!

After viewing the first few choruses, we headed back to the apartment to start getting ourselves ready for our performance.  We were the 20th chorus out of 23, so we were not going to be on stage until about 4:20pm.

Hair & make-up time!

Awfully overdone, but required for stage.

Then, we gathered in the hotel foyer at 3:30 for the bus to take us to the auditorium.


Last minute adjustments

Kerrie, Debbie, Alison & Margot who together make up our Platinum Quartet

Vicki, Faye, Lara & Claire

Then we were on the bus and arriving at the auditorium, off the bus and backstage having our final rehearsal before all of a sudden it was our time to line up to go on stage.  Then, two years of work culminated in a six minute performance - firstly "At Last" and then a medley of "Steppin' Out" and "I Can't Give You Anything But Love", which resulted in a resounding applause from the audience.  Then we posed for our professional stage photo ...

Finally, we made our way off stage and back into the audience to watch the last three choruses, after which there was a few speeches, general awards presented and some other performances from prospective choruses (new ones which are not registered yet with Sweet Adelines International).

 

Then we returned to the hotel and gathered in the Director's apartment to hear the results.  We came 10th!!  This is a fantastic result, especially when we know that most of the nine choruses ahead of us are very VERY good!!  Also, so are a few that came after us.  We were all very excited and overjoyed by the result, especially Lorraine our Director, who will be retiring after this Convention.

 

After lots of hugs and kisses, phone calls home, champagne and celebrations, we returned to our own apartments to change and head off to the auditorium again for the big party.  Such a great time, with hundreds of women gathered to celebrate, sing and generally have fun until all hours of the morning.

 

  

At about 2am we wondered back to our hotel (about 15 minutes walk) and fell into bed.  What a wonderfully exciting day!

Chorus Convention :: Day One

I flew to Sydney last night with two other Vocal Vibes members, Lara and Vicki and then hopped in a taxi to the hotel, arriving at 10:30pm.  Pretty tired, but very excited about what was to come.

Firstly, we had our scheduled chorus rehearsal for an hour or so and then the 2014 Sweet Adelines Convention began with the opening, where we all gathered in the "Harmony Bazaar" and then were led into the convention hall by a fun little four-piece marching band, which just set the mood for the rest of the weekend.

Then there was the Opening Ceremony, where the banners for each chorus from across Australia were paraded onto the stage and at the end we all stood and sang "We are Australian" ...

 

 After that, we were given free time for the rest of the day until the evening when we all went out to dinner and had a fun time, returning to the apartment early-ish so we could do our nails and get to bed early, ready for the big day tomorrow.  The girls in my apartment - Bharati, Elizabeth & Stephanie - weren't confident to do their own nails, so I ended up painting everone's.

 

 

 

 



Chorus Convention - Day (Minus) Two

I'm getting pretty excited now ... on Thursday evening I will be flying to Sydney for three days of fun with the girls from my chorus!

These women in the Vocal Vibes Chorus have been (apart from my beloved family) the source of such great happiness in my life!  To sing (for me) is to express joy - and to be able to do it with this group of lovely ladies just multiplies the experience!

Only 48 hours and six minutes until I get on that plane!