long ago and far away…

Actually, it wasn’t that long ago – only last month – and in terms of the whole world, not that far away – about 600km or 375 miles --

WM, Mum, MIL and I had a holiday/vacation in the seaside town of Woolgoolga on the north coast of New South Wales. We rented a three-bedroom house, facing north, overlooking the bay. For those of you who live in the northern hemisphere, this is the sun-catching direction. We had a 180° view of water. We were low enough to the ground and on the hill to be out of the cold, southerly sea breezes (and howling winds for one day). All in all, glorious scenery, almost perfect weather, and fabulous views.

You can see details of the house we rented here on Stayz. The photos are true to reality – the views, the house and the interior looked exactly like that (except the shower curtain in the bathroom had been replaced by a glass shower screen).

We woke early on the first morning, which happened to be WM’s birthday – we saw sunrise (it’s winter here so that was about 7am) and I saw my first whale of the season before 7am! From the front deck – without making the trek up to the whale watching headland and standing in the bitterly cold southerly winds.

We spent the days with DD, and the evenings with DD, SIL, and the two Grandsons. We celebrated WM’s birthday one Friday and Younger Grandson’s fourth birthday a week later. We watched whales migrating to the warmer waters of northern Australia for the winter from the deck and sometimes from the sun room. Older Grandson saw his first whale breech – what a great experience for a five year old! WM tried to take photos but mostly all he took were snaps of splashes – the movement had passed by the time he pressed the button! We had some lovely unexpected visitors and saw beautiful sunrises and sunsets – neither of which we can see from our home (due to other buildings and the mountain immediately to our west -- we live on the eastern slope).

Best of all, Older Grandson almost got the hang of knitting while Younger Grandson enjoyed trying and playing with yarn and needles (as it should be).

I won’t bore you with more words – please enjoy the photos taken from the first two days collection!






           
  

good to be back home!

edited to add photos

Between last Friday and Tuesday, we (WM, mum and I) notched up over 2,000 kilometres (1250 miles) by driving out to Bathurst to collect my nephew from university then to drive to Tamworth, where my sister lives. Saturday was the wedding of my sister’s older daughter – the wedding itself was held in Quirindi (the town where my niece lives) and the reception in the village of Duri. After the wedding we returned to Tamworth where were staying in a motel; DD and SIL had the room next door – it was lovely to spend some time with them.

the bride and her maternal grandmother

 On Sunday, we drove the 153km (approx 95 miles) to the town of Bingara, where my parents retired twenty-nine years ago. We spent a couple of days going through mum’s extensive wardrobe and her personal possessions and WM did an amazing job of cramming as much in his small sedan as was possible. It took him more than four hours and I never thought the unloading would finish when we arrived home at 8pm on Tuesday (after stopping for lunch at my sister’s in Tamworth).

goodbye to mum's newly-roofed house

Most of Wednesday was spend unpacking and finding homes for all this paraphernalia! It won’t all fit in mum’s bedroom so it’s going to have to be culled again when we finally find a room for her in an aged care facility. Right now, we are waiting for my sister to get an appointment with Centrelink (the Australian government’s Department of Human Services); we can proceed no further without their approval and assistance. Today my sister is seeing a solicitor and the only real estate agent in Bingara to get some guidance in how we proceed from here.

The property market in major towns and cities in Australia is booming; houses are selling in less than a month of being on the market. But in small country towns like Bingara, where there are no jobs and no prospects, the population is mostly elderly and more and more properties keep coming on to the market as they move into aged care facilities or die. The last home mum and dad owned in Bingara took several years to sell; and it was less than ten years old. Mum’s current home is nearly 100 years old, in need of TLC (it will probably be a knock-down-and-rebuild) so we are under no illusions that this home will sell in an over-saturated market. We are considering renting it rather than having it stand empty; but that means clearing out the accumulation of fifty-plus years of marriage – and both my parents were hoarders in different ways! Much of dad’s stuff is gone but there is still a lot of stuff to be sorted!

Today WM has gone back to work and mum and I are having a quiet day at home – just three loads of washing (laundry) separate me from my sewing machine! Mum is not happy in new or strange environments so it’s good to have a day where she can completely relax!

How’s your week shaping up?

very slow stitching Sunday followed by glad-to-be-home Monday

Yesterday (Sunday in Australia) we travelled from Woolgoolga, where DD and the family lives, to our home. We left there at 10:15am and arrived home at 10pm!

The first leg of the journey was a short car trip to Coffs Harbour in pouring rain. We had a twenty-five minute wait for the train that was to take us to Sydney.

After some very hastily said goodbyes (train timetables don’t allow for protracted farewells), we boarded the XPT for our nine hour trip to Sydney.

That’s where the Slow Stitching came in – I worked on my Dutch Cap Hexies for about three and a half hours until my hands were starting to ache from the repetitive motion. I don’t have much to show for my time – the light was poor due to the pouring rain outside and the movement of the train slowed me down considerably! Nonetheless, I now have three more units to add to my ‘someday quilt’; or, as I like to call it when at quilting group meetings, my “100-year-project”!

The final part of our journey, after arriving in the metropolitan area of Sydney, involved a bus ride (there was track maintenance happening), a twenty minute wait for a suburban train, a twenty minute train ride, and a ten minute car trip (thanks MD for picking us up at the station).

I am so glad to be home. Today is my first day of ‘alone’ time in more than two weeks. I am an introvert so ‘alone’ time is very important to me and very necessary for me to re-group and recharge!

I’m spending today doing washing (laundry), tidying my sewing room and organising my projects for the New Year (at least on ‘paper’). My sewing room became the repository for all displaced items during the time we had house guests (DD, Grandsons and Mum). I went with DD and the Grandsons when they left (WM followed the following day) so, of course, it hasn’t been touched. Then there are sheets and towels from all the guest beds to be washed plus all the dirty clothes that came home with us.

How did you spend your Sunday?

I'm linking up over at Kathy's blog on the very last Sunday of the year! Talk about late!

Christmas: home and away

Warning: lots of words, no pictures!

As Christmas approaches, my sewing time has diminished to next to nothing. The reason for that is this:

Yesterday (Tuesday), I got some knitting and some reading (three quilting magazines) done as I travelled for nearly ten hours by train to Coffs Harbour where I was met by DD who took me home to her place. I arrived after the boys were in bed so they had a lovely surprise when they awoke this morning. Around mid-morning, the four of us left for my home. Unfortunately, SIL was not able to join us due to work commitments; which is why I had to make the trip; 591 km – 370 miles is a long trip for one adult with two active toddlers! We arrived home at 7:45pm, just over nine hours after we left Woolgoolga.

Tomorrow evening, my mother arrives by bus and train from her home town of Bingara – a ten-hour trip. I am sure she will be very tired and very hungry (she never eats or drinks on the trip; Dad would be so cross if he knew) but pleased to see her great-grandsons.

On Friday, apart from entertaining my guests, I have an appointment for a  haircut and have to take Mum shopping for some personal items. I also need to do the last of my grocery shopping and cook the turkey for Christmas lunch (we have it cold – it’s summer here).

On Saturday, my uncle (my father’s brother), my aunt, my brother, DSIL and four-year-old niece, will join mum, DD, the Grandboys, WM and I to celebrate Christmas. Saturday evening we will spend in front of the television watching the Carols in the Domain.

On Sunday, after church, we will join WM’s extended family at the retirement village where his mother lives. It is next to a school and there is a large fenced sports oval for the little ones to run around in (and not escape). Some members of the family will bring gazebos for some shade. Lunch is basically a bring-your-own-meat for the barbecue and a standardised pot-luck (in the sense that the women tend to bring the same thing every year – I always being a cheesecake for dessert; apparently if I didn’t, I would be told to go home and make one!). It will either be served in the “rec room” which MIL has booked for the day or on the oval. All very Australian, isn’t it?

My niece will arrive on Monday to take Mum home and DD, the Grandboys and I will spend a quiet 

day before making the return trip to Woolgoolga on Tuesday. WW will follow by train on Christmas Eve (after work). It will be a long day for him: he gets up at 5:45am and the train arrives in Coffs Harbour at midnight! At least he can sleep on the train.

We will stay in Coffs Harbour that night but join DD and the family early on Christmas morning. Christmas lunch will be held at SIL’s parents place, which is nearby. J&A, SIL’s parents, are kindly giving us the use a car while we’re in Woolgoolga, so we will have some freedom to come and go as we please.

We plan to spend the Friday and the Saturday with DD and family and, hopefully, some of that time will be spent on the beach (10 minutes from DD’s home). On Sunday we will catch the train home so that WM can return to work on Monday!

Then, with Christmas behind me, and most other commitments on a summer hiatus, I plan to sew and sew and sew and sew! There will also be more ironing, cutting, sorting and storing of scraps since I am nowhere near done and I’m obviously not going to get much done in the next ten days!

How about you?
Will your Christmas be as hectic as mine?
Or do you plan on a quiet celebration?

vacation photo journal

“A picture paints a thousand words” so I hope this gives a small indication of our time away from home (in Australia, we call this ‘holidays’). Warning: as the title suggests, this is a photo heavy post.

We spent a weekend catching up with friends that we haven’t seen in seven years, except for DD’s wedding and my dad’s funeral. They live in a small town called Bellbrook, a community of 360 people. We spent most of our time talking but WM got up early and took some photos. Here is a photo of their house and part of their 18 acres. The second photo is taken over their dam as seen from their back patio.

We spent a few days with my mother – she spends most of her time reading.

WM did a few small jobs while there; including getting up on the roof and turning on the evaporative air cooler. Can you see him up there?

From mum’s, we drove east to the coast, passing through the town of Grafton the weekend they celebrated the Jacaranda Festival. I took these photos out the front window while WM was driving. Jacarandas are an imported species; the tree with gold flowers in the first photo is Grevillea Robusta ( common name: “Silky Oak”) which is an Australian native.

 

Our ‘real’ vacation began when we took possession of a beachside cabin at Woolgoolga, just a few minutes drive from DD’s home.

 

This was the view from our front veranda early one morning:

We had lots of walks on the beach.

Both grandsons were fascinated with these little balls made as the sand-crabs made little holes for themselves.

The seagulls didn’t take any notice of us – unless they thought there might be some food on offer! WM took a great photo; I love the reflection.

We went whale spotting up on the headland and were rewarded with seeing whales every day. The whales were travelling south; returning to the cold waters of the Antarctic Ocean after going north for a few months to while away the winter in warmer water. The return journey is usually slower and more in-shore, given that there are calves to be taken care of, and therefore better for whale spotting.

They were much further out than WM’s camera could capture so don’t expect professional photos.

The first indication that there is a whale is the sight of a spout as they surface to breathe.

 

Sometimes you catch a glimpse of some body part out of the water, like this faraway tail!

And sometimes, they jump out of the water. We saw several whales breach but they were always too far away to get a clear photo. This was WM’s best shot of a humpback breaching.

Our best experience was when a mother humpback and her calf came in relatively close to the shore. They were close enough that, with the onshore wind, we could hear the mother slapping the water.

On our final day in Woolgoolga, we made Christmas puddings. Both boys love to cook so they were very excited when we arrived at their house. “Did you bring the ‘gredients?” was our greeting!

Our Christmas puddings have threepences in them; an old English tradition from my mum’s family. Threepences are part of Australia’s pre-decimal currency – they contain a large amount of silver so don’t harm the food as modern coins would. These photos show some members of the family throwing their threepences in (and making a ‘wish’). Next year we’re going to add the threepences to the dry ingredients to make it easier for the boys to stir.

SIL came home from work just in time. We ended our holiday/vacation with a family lunch at a popular tavern nearby which has a great play area for the kids – it was much more crowded than we expected; we forgot it was Halloween (a ‘tradition’ that is only just taking on in Australia) and celebrated here mostly for fun and dressing up in ghoulish costumes!

WM and I had a good trip home. With the boys, the trip is nine hours; we did it in seven and a half!

I’ll leave you with one of my favourite photos from our holiday – Younger Grandson doesn’t usually wear his hair like that; we’d just come in from the beach and Grandad had towel-dried it!