More family tree 'stuff'...

Regular readers would know that I'm very interested in working on my family tree and to that end, a few years ago I did an Ancestry DNA test. It's the test that 'keeps on keeping on' as, when you least expect it, you find another relative you didn't know you had. 

Last December I was contacted by a cousin whom I had no idea existed. We worked out that her grandmother and my great grandmother were sisters. Shirley lives in Melbourne but has family here in Queensland whom she visits. And so it was that she was visiting them a few weeks ago. It was  arranged that DH and I would pick her up from Brisbane Airport and drive her to her niece's at Glasshouse Mountains. On the way we stopped at Redcliffe; we usually take visitors to The Bee Gees Walk in that city. 

And time for lunch before heading north...

We had a lovely time catching up. And just like the other people I've met who are DNA matches with me, we felt we had known each other for years, despite only just meeting. 

Now last year, thanks to DNA, DH discovered a whole new branch of his family. He found he had 8 half siblings. We've met one of his sisters and last month we met a niece, whose late mother was also DH's sister.

It was a wonderful meet up and both uncle and niece shared family photos. V saw family resemblances with her aunts/uncles/nieces and nephews and even her son, with DH and his children. 

V had a beautiful portrait of her mother on the wall...

And V showed us a photo of DH's biological grandmother ( on the right) on her mother's wedding day...

All too soon our visit was over; it had been wonderful. V was able to give DH quite a bit of information about the family, filling in quite a few gaps and answering some questions but raising others, lol! 

I commented on the patchwork table topper on V's table and enquired whether she had made it. She had, but not only that, she used to own a Quilt Shop and Gift Shop at nearby Dayboro.  

Playing Tourist in our home town!

Our granddaughter's New Zealand grandmother came over for the first birthday celebrations last week. Our son in law and DsD2 of course had to work most of the week that she was here, so DH and I offered to 'take her around' on the Wednesday. It's always fun showing visitors around our city.

 

First stop was at the lookout at Mt Coot-tha. Val had been here before, but only at night to see the city lights. In the daytime it certainly looks different and you can see out to the islands in the bay. DH is fabulous at pointing out landmarks...

After a coffee in the Kuta Café on Mt Coot-tha we headed off to our next destination, Redcliffe, which is just north of Brisbane. We travelled north on the Gateway Motorway. Near Bald Hills the motorway was swathed in smoke from a scrub and grass fire in the area...bit of excitement!

 

Once at Redcliffe we headed to the Bee Gees Walk. When they were children, this group lived at Redcliffe and a few years ago the council there decided that something honouring these famous former residents should be built. DH and I first visited this in 2013, not long after it first opened. I wrote about it here...and I had taken lots of photos on that day which I included in that post.

Over the years we have taken visitors from interstate and overseas there as it's something so different to the norm...and very well done.

And Val loved it!

 

DH and I enjoyed seeing what had been added in Stage 2, including a large screen with a number of videos of the Bee Gees running continuously.

Lunch was at the Belvedere Hotel at Woody Point which is also on the Redcliffe Peninsula...lovely food and views out over the sea...perfect!

 After lunch we had one more stop before heading back to home. We took Val to Shorncliffe; a beach suburb of Brisbane. We regaled her with both our childhood memories of travelling to this beach by train...always a favourite outing. The old Shorncliffe Pier was demolished a few years ago and has been rebuilt. The locals had won their fight to have their beloved pier rebuilt. It was very quiet the day we were there; it's normally crowded with people fishing and walking.

 

Saturday at Let's Get Stitched...

Another Saturday has come around and I'm only getting around to writing about the Saturday of last weekend! 

Traditionally this is a free day at a LGS weekend with the LGS dinner on the Saturday night. My lovely DH collected my roommates and I late in the morning and off we went to do some sightseeing. 

First stop was Mt Coot-tha Lookout but the view of the city was a bit hampered by haze. Normally you can see the Sandhills of the islands from the lookout. 

Next stop was the Mt Cootha Botanical Gardens for a walk around which included succulents, the tropical plants sections, including the Dome, and even a bit of the fernery. 

In the Dome which contains a collection of tropical plants we were particularly taken with this plant...

Note the berry like things growing on the branches...

This is what the label said...

Yes it is a cacao tree...chocolate! Lol.

We found an interesting chair and had to try it out. We thought it was like something you would see in Alice in Wonderland! :-)

We had a delicious lunch in the Gardens Cafe and I was pleasantly surprised! The food was great and reasonably priced! My city and I didn't know that! Lol. 

My plan was that after lunch we would visit some Northside quilt/fabric shops. Good job I checked the websites in the car...all of them closed at 1pm on a Saturday! Oh dear...a quick change of plans. We took my South Australian roommates to Redcliffe instead...and...they loved what we took them to see there.

The Bee Gees Walk! 

After a cup of coffee, DH drove us back to our hotel. Time for a rest before we headed off to dinner...and boy what a surprise that was going to be! 

Dinner was at the nearby Morrison Hotel...

An area had been set up for us...in this large room...then we noticed the wallpaper...ahem...interesting to say the least! The early comers, including myself, started taking photos....here's one of yours truly posing in front of this interesting wallpaper...

And there was an interesting table lamp in the corner...

(The 'heads' you can see are the cut outs of Sam and Robyn who couldn't attend LGS this year so the cut outs came instead)

Now we wondered whether Joy, the organiser of the event, had previously checked out this venue...this is her reaction when she saw the wallpaper...for the first time it seems, lol. 

Needless to say it will be a story that will become legendary in LGS 'folklore'. Lol

When our food arrived we discovered why the Morrison Hotel has such a wonderful reputation for its food...it was beautiful food!

My eye fillet steak with a very nice Steak Dianne Sauce...yum! 

After a great night it was time to head back to our hotel as the Sunday Stitching Day would be a big one.

Another view of THAT wallpaper! It would have been considered quite risqué at one time and it's possible that this decor was chosen to reflect the rather seedy nature of this part of town in the early years of the 20th Century. 

Some rather interesting businesses apparently operated in this part of town...cough cough!