chapter 2 catch up

Well, we drove down to Victoria in 2 days, landing at Tim and Janet's where we had a lovely couple of days with them. It is always so special to see them, especially as their visit to us in Sept was cancelled because Tim was sick. They have lovely healthy vegies growing. some of which we consumed with relish.




After an all-too-short stay, but with every intention of catching up more, and with lots of others on the way back north, we went down to Melbourne to Kristine and John's, Charles picking up his evening suit for Felicity and Chris' wedding, and a Christmas catch-up dinnner with the Braddy family.



Down to Charles' brother's farm in the Western District on Saturday for the wedding that evening, a grand affair for which their garden was at its most spectacularly beautiful. It was a happy occasion for all, magnificent setting, delicious food and lots of dancing. The following morning was brunch, with perfect weather for the entire weekend. Gillian came from Tower Hill and took us back to her place on Sunday afternoon, where it rained and blew a gale for 2 days, until we picked mum up at Avalon on Tuesday. Gillian's house was auctioned, unsuccesfully the next day in Melbourne, which she and Charles attended, and she stayed on until Sunday morning. As you can see, it was tiring work, helping mum sort and pack, as mum's house sold the day after we arrived. From then on it was go, go, go, to get the house packed, garage sale organised, saying goodbye to friends (very hard) and finding a carrier that could move her before Christmas.




Two days into this Charles 93 year old Mum, Edna, was put into hospital with no pulse in her right leg and her toes starting to turn black. The upshot of that was a bypass with a plastic tube in her leg, which got the blood flowing again, but she had heart and lung complications which were a challenge that saw her stay extended far beyond the original week. This, of course, meant that Charles spent lots of time at the Austin Hospital. She has finasally made it to rehab.

So, our planned catch-up-with-friends holiday was cut short and we only had 3 full days in the north-east, staying with Shirley and Kevin and in which time we managed to see, briefly, quite a few people,tho not all, collect a few things from the farm and draw breath for the next leg to Sydney. Shirley and Kevin's place was a beautiful haven , their dam as full as I can remember it.



We were both feeling pretty exhausted, and still had mum's car as well as our own to drive back to Brisbane, so set off early Friday morning. Claudia had flown down to help with the driving, and it was great to see her as well as Mat and Jeff. She hadn't been to Sydney for a very long time, so we did a tour on Saturday that was real Sydney. Ferry to Watson's Bay, lunch at Doyle's, walk up to South Head, bus back in time to put on our glad rags for a night out.




Mat took us to a restaurant in Bondi, balcony seats looking down Bondi Beach. Could't get more Sydney than that. Started with cocktails followed by a magnificent degustation that went on for ever and was uttrerly delicious. It was so lovely sitting in the warmth with people you love, and relaxing, finally.




The next afternoon Mat and Jeff had a Christmas party full of buff boys and glam girls which was great fun, and ended at an hour that enabled us to get enough sleep for an early start the next morning. After 13 hours on the road (lots of coffee stops and back stretches) we got to Simon's where we were fed fresh fish, home made perfect chips and wine. Home on Tuesday, tired and happy. It's great to be home. My next blog will be Christmas.

catch up

This blog wrote in Nov but I accidently put it on my work blog. So here is the first chapter in the saga of the past 2 months.



Well it's been a bit of a bumpy ride the last few weeks, with mum ending up in hospital up here with what the medicos say was a small heart attack, but the tests continue. It all came as a bit of a shock, becuase we were under the illusion that our mother never got sick. The last time she was in hospital was to have my brother 51 years ago! The good thing is that she has her house in Melbourne on the market and has bought a truly beautiful litle cottage in Brunswick Heads. We are all very relieved that she will be near us. Simon is just around the corner, Deb up the roasd and we are 1 1/2 hours away.
We are heading down to Vic for a wedding and will be staying with mum to help her sort and pack - well, we'll be doing it under her direction, and I have no idea how long we'll be there. Just depends on how quickly the house sells.
Bec and Helen have just returned from 10 days in Malaysia which they began with 2 days at a cooking school, the highlight of their trip! Mitch took a week off work and moved in next door, and we did the backup and relief time. It all worked very smoothly, especially as Charles and Sam were working under his house, which provided hours of entertainment for him.

house and garden with lots of help

After we came home from Mt Cootha (see previous blog) planting started in earnest on the vegie garden. Jeff couldn't wait to get his hands in the soil, and worked all afternoon with Charles to do a great planting. This was followed up a few days later when grandpa and Remi completed it all with some new seeds. It is astonishing to us how quickly plants germinate. Here are some pictures of some of that work. I'm only sorry I didn't take any of the garden before the clearing began. The difference is astonishing. The beans are ove a foot high, and we have the following growing as well: tomatoes (a variety of); lettuve; bok choy; corn; carrots; capsi; eggplant; beetroot; and a variety of herbs: basil; parsely; sage; oregano; thyme; and thai basil. No shortage of water here, well, not this year, well, not so far, and from the forecast (cyclones mand rain...something new to look forward to) it won't be lack of water that will be the problem.


As well as helping grandpa in the garden, Remi put his experience to work, putting together our purchases from Ikea. Yes, I have had my first Ikea experience...on a rainy Saturday morning...my god, it's full of people on family outings, to say nothing of the enormity of the place. Thank god I was with Bec, who knew her way around. The stool, though, (this is what Remi and Charles are piecing together in the photo)was worth the effort. It's been very useful. And I'm pleased to report that next doors' new hens are all laying, so we are now receiving little warm brown eggs with the brightest yolks. All this, despite the serious loving they get from Remi.

what a weekend

It has been a wonderful weekend, celebrating Bec's 40th birthday with friends and family. Wednesday was the 29th and her 'real' birthday, for which we had breakfast and dinner together, with lots of delicious food, then on Saturday a long Asian Banquet lunch. Rain saw us indoors, with the house filled with talk and laughter that fillled the air. The food, which Bec had meticulously planned, was magnificent. Helen and I did our bit, with Bec as the director and main chef. The food was light and tasty, tangy and sweet, aromatic and utterly divine, which meant that we didn't fill up to immovable. Dishes included prawn and beef satay, fish cakes, papaya salad, coconut chicken curry, and many amazing dips and sauces to complement everything, followed by cocnut and lime panne cotta.
Di Diddle and Billy came up from Melbourne, Mat and Jeff from Sydney, as well as Bec's friends from Brisbane. Mum was here as well, so it was pretty special.
Yesterday (Sunday) we went to Mt Cootha Botanic Gardens and walked off the day before in occasional light rain and clear mountain air.

family and marriage.

It has been a big few weeks, with Mitch's brother, his partner and daughter over from France where they live in a little village in the south ... just as you'd imagine, after which Charles and I flew to Melbourne for a brief 2 day visit to celebrate Edna's 93rd birthday with a big family gathering, including five of her 6 great grandchildren, all boys except one.
Back here in time for Gillian's arrival, the first of my family to fly in for the wedding of Claudia's middle child, son Jesse, to Meegan. They live in Perth, so there were plane arrivals all week, including one from Ireland and another from New Zealand.
There were lots of big decisions about what to wear, some of which were left to the last minute, Sunday morning, the day of the wedding. Gillian, Claudia and I had the table flowers job, so set off early Saturday morning, the results of our efforts as you see here. How can you go wrong with such beautiful flowers.
We had a big family dinner on Friday night which was a great opportunity to catch up with people before the big day. From the top, we have my sister Deborah;Claudia's elder son, Sam; Charles with my brother Simon; Claudia and me doing the flowers; Claudia's daughter Zoe in her bridesmaid dress and her partner Gray; Charles and me waiting for the bride to arrive; Bec and Helen ditto; Jesse and Claudia; Meegan, Meegan and Jesse.
It was a lovely occasion. Marriages, the official formal ones, are a bit of a rarity in my family, so we all made the most of it.

Brisbane does not really have the sort of beaches we are used to, so a morning out at Nudgee beach is quite a different experience. Tide's out in these pics, but who can complain - after all, it's only early September and here we are in shorts!





A couple more pics of the house...Charles at work at the breakfast table, and the newly exposed garden beds which are now completely weeded and have had compost dug in ready for the first planting.