Looking back through 2018

I’m sure everyone says the same thing; that the year seemed to pass in a flash.

DH and I were blessed with 3 more grandchildren this year...all girls! 😍

Carrie was born in January, 

Abby in February...

and Meredith in October. 

One of these little darlings has special needs but she is thriving now after some dark moments which entailed emergency flights using the Care Flight helicopter and the Royal Flying Doctor and hospital stays here in the capital. But throughout family and friends have pulled together and provided amazing support to the little family with their first baby. Obviously there are still many hurdles to deal with but each will be dealt with as it is encountered. Hopefully the NDIS will be a help.

DH and I have stepped up our help with babysitting of the 4 here in Brisbane, quite willingly putting other things on hold to help our children out. 

Anthea helping DH clean his golf clubs...

Helping dig up Grandma’s sweet potato crop...


Helping cook...pikelets for morning tea! 

Sometimes the little ones were sick and unable to go to Daycare...😕

But then there were the trips to the library...

And Holly even came to a K4BN Knit and Natter with me! 

We still had time for some travel including a cruise around the Hawaiian Islands and trips to Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide and a short trip to the Sunshine Coast so DH could play in a golf competition. All the trips within Australia included catch ups with family and friends; always a bonus!

Sadly in September (20th) my beloved cat, Eduardo died 6 weeks after being diagnosed with a cancer under his tongue. 

He knew the end was near and stayed close to me in those last weeks...

He had turned 17 on September 16; a very sad time but I had been really touched when, on Father’s’ Day ( first Sunday in September) all the family came to say their farewells to Eddie...even the ones who don’t really like cats!

He hasn’t been replaced at this stage although I think I might be ready now to perhaps get an older ‘rescue cat’ so we’ll see what the future brings. 

For DH and my birthdays this year, the family clubbed together to pay for a 2 hour session with the lovely photographer who took DsD1’s wedding photos last year. They ( our girls) coordinated everything so all of the family were in Brisbane at the same time and that everyone was wearing similar colours)

And for Christmas they again clubbed together to buy a large print of the whole family... well the whole family in May, Meredith wasn’t born until October 😍. Taken on Shorncliffe Pier

There were a few special birthdays this year too of course; Holly’s first birthday and a few 70th celebrations that we went to in 2018. Next year DH has a special birthday ending in a zero!! 

Happy New Year everyone! Remember Life is what you make it!! 🎉😘

Home...

Yesterday morning  DH and I repacked our suitcases and with much rearranging of the contents, fitted in our holiday purchases. For once, I did NOT buy any yarn or fabric...nope not a bit! But there will be more about that in a future post. 🙄. 

Then it was time to leave our latest accomodation, a lovely B&B in Como a suburb of Perth, and head for the airport. 

Perth airport has 4 Terminals, spread over 2 separate areas of land...and despite being warned about this by my brother, we first went to the wrong airport. But we had given ourselves lots of time, so got to the correct place in plenty of time. 

So today was all about unpacking and also a few loads of washing. But the nicest task was sorting out those purchases.

Several packs of Western Australian chocolates for family...

A calendar from the wildflower farm for my neighbour...

Books for Anthea...

Some clothes for Anthea...

Some lovely soaps and a mustard from Vasse Virgin...( which is famous for all their products made with their high quality olive oil) 

Some stuffed toys that I will 'mind' for a while until Anthea is older! 😉😉😉

WA is famous for its vineyards; there are just so many. We visited a couple, including Woodynook, where we had an order for some port, from my brother. We ended up with 6 bottles of wine, including the 2 for Harry, and we sent them home by Toll Couriers from Albany. The box arrived today...all intact so my brother will be pleased. 

And I bought some potpourri from the wildflower farm. 

It smells delightful! So all in all, a very modest amount to carry home, but that's how I wanted it. 

And DH only bought 2 souvenir Teeshirts and one polo...very restrained! Lol.

And just like other members of K4BN, I also 'gather' items when I travel. DH and I carried our own soap so we could gather up the motel soaps. And of course any of the little bottles of shampoo and conditioner provided by motels, that we didn't use, we 'gathered'. 

And why are we such 'bowerbirds'? These items will end up being included in the hygienie pack  that K4BN  hands out to needy recipients. So these will come in handy helping people. 

I still have some 'travelogue posts' to do but the next post will be a FNSI. 

Books...

Before I launch into this post about my 'pin up boy', William McInnes, I thought I'd better check if we have some visitors to the blog looking for that 'Grow Your Own Blog Party'...you'll find that post here...Don't forget to leave a comment on that post so you can be in the Giveaway Draw. 

In November 2013, DH and I went to a book launch of one of our favourite Australian actors and writer, William McInnes. I wrote about this hilarious night here.

And so it was in early December 2014, that William had yet another book launch in Brisbane with his latest offering, 'Holidays'. But DH and I couldn't attend that, because we were already committed (and paid for) for a fundraising book launch for the Royal Queensland Historical Society.

My brother and DH had their photo taken at that event with one of the authors of the book when they lined up to get our copies signed. A friend found this photo on the RQHS Facebook page! lol

If we had have attended the William McInnes evening, I would have bought Bill's book, but as we didn't, we waited until it was available from the library(big waiting list!). DH read it first, then it was my turn...

In the early chapters of the book, I found myself laughing out loud (and almost uncontrollably) at William's descriptions of his childhood holidays. He grew up in Redcliffe, just north of Brisbane, and our family holidays were spent at nearby Scarborough, so I knew a lot of the places he described about his years growing up in that area. 

The book went on to describe holidays (and general mischief he got up to) that he went on with uni friends as a young adult, through to holidays with his family, through to holidays he now takes with his children only, as sadly his wife Sarah died a few years ago. 

I enjoyed the book, but to be honest, it is not his best. But that's only my opinion. Aussie readers though would enjoy the familiarity of his experiences, comparing them with their own family stories and anecdotes, especially those driving holidays! Lol

Our Calendar for 2015...

For a number of years, DH and I have had a calendar printed as a Christmas gift for family members. DH and I usually collaborate about which photos from our 'collection' to use, but at the end of last year, DH gave up on waiting for my input and went ahead with the photos that he had selected. I always say not to use any photos with me in them, but for 2015, a few 'got through'. :-)
The front cover...

The entrance to the Beatles Museum in Liverpool

January...

The HMS Victory, the Duke of Wellington's ship at Portsmouth

February...

The Blackpool Tower...

March...

The lovely gardens in front of the Calais Town Hall...

April...

The beautiful Sacre Couer in Paris...

May...

Doc Martin's cottage (the smaller one on the left) in Port Isaac...

June....

A narrow boat negotiating a lock on the Rochdale Canal in Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire...

July...

Photo time in the press interview room during our tour of Wimbledon...

August...not a photo I would have chosen...with the props (hat and glass of beer) in one of the staff messes on board the former royal yacht, Britannia in Leith.

September...
another photo taken in Scotland. The Forth Road Bridge taken from Queensferry...

October....

One of the prototype Concorde aircraft at Duxford War Museum

November...

The incredible Falkirk Wheel in Scotland...

December...

The famous Liver Building in Liverpool; photo taken from the Ferry on the Mersey...

The Back Cover...

Some of the Casinos in Macau.

So that is our calendar for 2015.

The final leg of our trip; Wandoan to Brisbane...

DH and I left Wandoan by 8am and headed towards the nearest larger town, Miles. We decided not to stop there, instead driving on to the town of Chinchilla where we had the most marvellous cooked breakfast. It was at a little cafe just on the outskirts of the town. I asked the waitress if the floods had affected this part of town as the business section of the town went right under. She pointed to the front door and said that the water came up to the door handles...and the door was at the top of a set of stairs!

The cafe at Chinchilla

Railway bridge at Chinchilla still with flood debris

On our drive this day we continually came across huge trucks loaded with mining equipment and vehicles as our journey was well and truly in the large basin of coal reserves that are being mined. These vehicles were enormous and had a 'forward' utility truck well ahead giving warning of the wideload coming as well as another ute following the wide vehicle. Prior warning is needed as these roads carry a lot of regular sized trucking vehicles who need to pull over if one of the 'super-sized' ones is coming; no room for passing in many cases!

One of the over sized trucks

After Chinchilla we had a stop at a tiny town called Warra. A student teacher whom I once supervised (10 years ago) is the Principal there. The total enrollment number is 12...but 2 were away so I only met 10 of her students. You guessed it...it's a one teacher school! They were lovely children and very independent workers. (A bit of trivia here about Warra...Ludwig Leichhardt camped beside the creek there on his journey in 1844) :-)

Next stop was the centre of Dalby. It's very hard to get accomodation there these days because of the mining companies using motel rooms for workers, but luckily we only needed petrol (gas).

One of the wide streets in Dalby

Next stop was Toowoomba where DH went to his favourite menswear shop for a browse. Then it was a drive 'down the range' towards the city of Ipswich and then home via the motorway.

Toowoomba business district

Toowoomba

Part of the road going down the range from Toowoomba

A map of our trip. Wandoan I've market with a dot between Taroom and  Miles. Chinchilla isn't on the map but it is south east of Miles.