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.

our house

Lounge; back deck; hallway from the front door;front of house; back steps which give you an idea of the slope of the block; under the house which Charles is outting to good use already; view to Bec & Helen's from the back steps and in to their office where Remi is getting a cuddle.
We have started putting pictures up and I am doing a lot of pfaffing, but things are shifted around daily. All good fun.

leaving and starting

It has been a while since I last blogged, and in that time we've been down south for 3 weeks, mostly getting our things organised to truck up here; catching up with our mums and other family members (a very short 2 day trip to Melbourne); a wonderful farewell dinner at a local eatery organised by Shirley and Kevin; 3 days in Sydney to celebrate Mat's birthday; a night at Simon's on the way here in time to meet the furniture van; and since then trying to get things organised...i.e. nesting. We stayed with Shaun and Nobuko in their cosy house whilst at the farm, which was really lovely. Their view on to Lightening Ridge changed every day, often dressed in cloud, whilst the garden round what was our house was in full winter bloom.


We really love our house and living with Mitchy. Being next door to Bec, Helen and Remi is truly wonderful for all of us. He sometimes pops over before going to kindy,and if he is lucky he'll get a story as he is here with his dad, sitting in the morning sun on the back deck. He has developed a passion for going to the skate park and spends lots of time perfecting his riding and scootering and is growing up way too fast.

housing news

We have secured a lease on the house next to Bec, Helen and Remi, and will be sharing with Simon, Remi's dad, starting in just over a week. We, of course, will be packing up down at the farm, and look forward so much to having a place we can call home, at least for a while. When we get in I will publish some pics of it. I have been over the fence and exploring the badly neglected garden, and today discovered garden beds, ready for weeding and planting in veggies! So exciting. It has 3 bedrooms, so plenty of room for visitors. And a deck on the back with great views. So book your holiday in Brisbane now, folks.

four days on the island

For many years I have dreamt about going to Stradbroke Island and last week my dream came true with 4 days on this beautiful little patch of ground. Having fought off the developers and mining companies, Straddie retains its slow, calm paceand its beauty. Off the beaches are dolphins surfing the waves, and, at this time of year, whales in their hundreds heading north, just off the coast, spouting water and breaching as they glide past.
The first couple of days were glorious, then the wind changed to the s-e and we had to rug up, although it was still wonderful, wild seas with spray whipping off their tops.
We did a trip to Brown Lake which is in the middle of the island, suprrounded by melaleucas in full bloom, underpinned with magnificent rushes whose refelctions I could not resist.
If you want a great holiday, this is the place to come. And they have first class coffee and the best icecream I have ever tasted, home made and different choices every day.

down the coast

When people from Brisbane go to the beach south of the city, they say they are going "down the coast". Well, that is where we are now, at Simon's having a bit of R&R. Here is Charles displaying his version. If you look very hard you can see Cape Byron in the background. It is whale season, so fingers crossed we see some.
Lisa and I spent some hours this morning at Byron Bay doing a small shop (new "handbag" for me, tho it goes over my shoulder rather than in my hand) and a couple of small surprises for you-know who, including a beautifully crafted and balanced yo-yo made in Austria, then back to Brunswick Heads for a late lunch. Charles and Simon caught 3 fish, 2 whiting and 1 flathead, all undersize, but are having another go tomorrow morning.
We are also meeting up with Pam and Ian tomorrow, and Kaye, Peter and Thea later in the week. Very exciting to catch up with friends and we are looking forward to seeing them all.







Work goes on bit by bit at Gladstone Rd, the latest being a new clothes line. This may not seem significant, but believe me, if you had been climbing over wire and through a rapidly growing garden that had overtaken the old line, you would be as grateful as I am. As well, the interior has taken on a totally new look with its new plastering and paint. It was all hands on deck and it looks fabulous, and much lighter now.