Visitors in August

Dante and Billy watching their own show and eating Grandads Naan bread.

Claire and Billy watching the big boats come in.

Dante visiting Dympna and checking out her Red Cardinal!

Ret and Dante enjoying a casual stroll along the boardwalk.

Having some quiet time before bed !

Some of my Theology Group members at afternoon tea at the Shutters.

Billy enjoying the sunset on the North Wall.

Lighthouse Beach in the late evening - I love to walk along this beach.

Well August is over and we are having fun going over all the memories. That is one benefit of the blog - I need to check all the photos to select the few that I share! I am trying to get at least one blog out each month. When it is exciting I am too busy to blog and then I need time to recover. At the moment I am trying to throw off the flu bug. It is quite persistent but I hope it is nearly gone.

We had Claire and Al down one weekend and got the boat in the water. See two previous blogs for story and pictures. Then Ally and Joe arrived and we had a very busy time fitting in all the visitors coming to see them. It was fun and Ballina provided the usual wonderful weather for us all. We had lots of fun on the beach, on the waterfront and on the river.

Family feasts featured strongly in our entertainment. Ally cooked up a storm several nights, Joe served up a tasty Laksa and Bill did his lamb curry with all the trimmings. I think it was the favourite. Joe's claim to fame was his willingness and ability to clean the kitchen every night. Come back Joe!!

We celebrated Ally and CLaire's birthdays with a dinner and a picnic. Ret and Pete came down for the picnic and while the weather was less than perfect (blowing a gale in fact) we had some fun down on the boardwalk.

And suddenly August 2009 was gone..........oh dear!

!

The Boat in the Water

Billy found this crab...

This is the men moving the furniture around for our home mass.

Billy Bellenger has fun at Lighthouse Beach.

Claire, Alan and Billy - waiting for breakfast.

Captain Bill getting the boat in the water.

The view from the Back seat.

Heading down the river.

Well we finally got the boat into the water. Not much further than that but now we know we can do it. Yes we Can!! Allan and Claire put in a long day and finally the boat was launched. There was a bit of a problem with one motor so they didn't go very far. Hope to get it in again next week when Ally and Joe arrive.

We had a lovely weekend. Had a home mass on Saturday night and Claire sang like an angel for us! After that we had twelve to dinner and enjoyed Bill's special Lamb Korma curry with lots of condiments.

On the Sunday we had a lazy day at the beach - walked in the sand, climbed the rocks and Claire was so relaxed she did some handstands! Billy was getting used to the roar of the waves but he did get excited when he found a crab in the rocks.

We were sorry to see Claire and family go but next week we welcome Ally and Joe and Dante and with a bit of luck we can talk Claire into coming back down so we can have some fun at the beach with the two little boys.

Watch Clairie doing her handstands!

Opera at the Channon

Members of Opera Queensland's Young Artist Program who entertained us!

Judy, our hostess, and I checking out the music program.

After a very luscious main course.....this was our dessert!

Bill checking that there was room at our table!

Some of our party including our hosts Judy (4R) and Don (6R).

Well we had a wonderful day out when we headed for the Opera in the Channon on Sunday. We dressed in full evening wear and were picked up by a large bus in Ballina about 9.30am and driven through some wonderful country - lush rolling green hills, pretty valleys and lots of spectacular autumn australian bush which really appreciated from the large picture windows of the bus! Our destination was the Channon about forty kilometres from Ballina via Lismore.

The event was an Opera in the bush - an annual event staged by Rotary to raise funds for the Westpac Helicopter.

On arrival at the Channon (I think it is a little river?) we were welcomed with champagne and strawberries and had a little time to chat with our other guests before we were seated in the big marquee for lunch. The tables were beautifully decorated and the whole setting was relaxing, rural and so sophisticated.

We had a wonderful lunch and very interesting conversation with our table guests. We were served our luscious food and wine by very capable waiters, and, being on Judy and Don's table meant we got extra special service. After lunch and our coffee we headed over to the area where we had seats in the front row for the Opera singers. The first half of the program was very operatic . The young singers had wonderful voices and the setting lent itself to the arias they chose. We listened to renditions from Rigoletto, Cosi fan tutte, La boheme etc. The compere was especially entertaining and informative.

We had a coffee break in the middle and then the singers returned for a program of songs from the musicals. Wonderful...songs like Vilia from the Merry Widow, You'll Never Walk Alone from Carousel, If ever I would leave you from Camelot etc. they even had Danny Boy as a tear jerker before the finale which was an amazing rendition of Amigos para siempre from Andrew Llyod Webber reminding us of the Olympic Games..

The music was wonderful and the autumn leaves fell as the drums rolled and at one stage a noisy rooster from the next door farm shouted his approval too! Wonderful Day.

We were driven safely home in our big bus where we wanted neither dinner or wine..we had had our fill.

The quality is not good but you might like to hear to a bit of Danny Boy. Keep your eye out for David Kidd, the tenor, he was one of the Ten Tenors but has returned home to Brisbane for a while to be with his young family. He was so nice to watch and so good to listen to!!

South Australian Colour

The Pro Hart mural on the Church at Yankalilla

The questions you were asking about the windfarm!

The view of the image of Mary on the wall of the Yankalilla Church.

The old flour mill where we had a very delicious lunch.

One fo the big 'fans' at the windfarm.

The setting sun on Aldinga Beach on my walk home last night.

The street where Francis and Jess live....in the Scrub!

The Church where Our Lady of Yankalilla visits.

Some of the big trees near Myaponga.

Tour Guide Bill checks if we can drive through the rushing creek.

On Tuesday Bill and I took Tom and Grace for an outing to see the big windfarm. It was a lovely day and we had spectactular weather for seeing such a wonderful Australian enviroment. We keep thinking the the East Coast is the best place but the scenery we passed through on Tuesday rivals it for beauty.

We headed for Sellicks Beach and then onto Yankalilla where we visited the little Anglican Church that has a history of being a modern day 'appearance' of Mary. It has a lot of support. Pro Hart has done a special fresco for the entrance, and it has been treated with some respect by the locals and tourists alike. There is a mark on the wall beside the altar that clearly resembles an outline of Mary with Child.

We then headed up a country lane and found some wonderful old trees beside a fast running creek. It was beautiful country - how we all like to think Australia is!!

The Windfarm was spectactular. I was amazed at how close to the big 'fans' the sheep and cattle were grazing. I understand there is lots of opposition to having a wind farm near your home but this one looked very amazing on top of some high mountains looking out to sea and there was no sound at all from our position just beneath them.

Aldinga Beach in Adelaide

Richard and Libby pick us up for some Retiree time at a coffee chop!

Enjoying a special roast chicken

Checking the view from our holiday cottage

Walking back to Francis and Jess's home along the walkway.

Another view of our cottage

Well we did make it to Adelaide after a special weekend in Warwick which I will record when I get home! Congratulations Trinny and Simon.

We drove in from Warwick and had a nice quiet afternoon at Claire's home before we caught a taxi to the airport and headed for Adelaide. Francis and Tom and Grace met us at the airport and dropped us home to our very comfortable and well appointed unit at Adinga Beach. It is about a twenty minute walk along the beach to get to Francis and Jess's place. The walk is good for us and we are enjoying the peace and quiet of the cottage after the hustle and bustle of a family home with four under twelve!!

Jess and I take it in turns to cook each evening. She has become a great cook - her roast chicken is as good a mine and last night she did a great osso bucco that had everyone coming back for seconds. We are having fun having a day off and having a chance to feed a mob!! Every now and then Billy and I have a quiet night at home with a red wine and some cheese and fruit. Life is easy here.

The family here are all well. Francis still has some issues to deal with around his oesophagus condition but it is not stopping them working hard and having fun. The children have all matured so much since we saw them last. Bill and I had Noah and Will over for a sleepover after Mass last Saturday night. It was a lovely evening and we all enjoyed it.

We have also had some quality time with Tom and Grace and visited cousins and cemetery. The weather has been okay. It s quite cool but each day we get several hours of sunshine and then usually a good shower of rain, morning or evening or both. It has been a bit difficult for Francis with his work but it means we have had lots of time to relax and have little visits together and read out books. We have hosted a BBQ for Richards birthday and enjoyed an outing catching up with Billy's cousin Dorothy May who lives up in the hills.

My restiricted computer access has made it difficult to get online but rest assured I have been taking photos and you will see and hear the stories soon!

A FAMILY DAY

The Mountains, the city and the airport.

Heading up to Mount Tambourine, Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

Last Sunday was a busy day. We went to Mass in the morning and then left for a long drive to visit several members of our family.

Billy, Cathie and Robbie under the avocado tree.

We headed up to Mount Tambourine and had a very tasty lunch of prawns and pasta with Cathie and Robbie. It was good to finally see where Cathie has been escaping to for her relaxing weekends. Robbie has a nice property on the top of the mountains and we enjoyed chatting and eating in such a pleasant environment.

Cathie and the Wollemi Pine...a very special pine..one of the oldest pines discovered in the world.

We admired the huge avocado tree and Cathie was keen to point out a Wollemi pine they have growing as well.

This is the milkweek or thistle that is a good medicinal herb - in the NT we called it Father Christmas and blew the thistle top away.

Robbie told us about using milkweed or milkthistle, a weedy grass that has a long stem and fluffy pom pom top, as a herbal treatment for minor skin irritations . It had similar qualities to the Ti Tree oil that we had studied the day before so we were very interested. I would like to know more about our local herbs and plants.

Tracy and Bill having a chat!

We left there to head up to Brisbane to spend some time with Tracy, my eldest brother. He has been ill and is quietly recovering. We had a pleasant time just catching up on our different lives and talked a lot about planning for retirement and keeping fit and happy.

We did a running drop-off about 7pm at Cooloongatta Airport so Bill could fly back to Canberra. He feels ready for work again but still not walking as well as he would like.

Mum and I in her activity room at the Villa La Salle.

I got back to the Shutters about 8pm and slept soundly. Next morning Dympna was over and I was back in the drivers seat driving to pick up Sha for a trip to Southport to visit other relatives. I spend a lovely morning with my Mother and Rose prior to having lunch at Shark Park. We had all the Ryall girls together including Dympna the last ryall from the previous generation. Mum was quiet and relaxed but I notice she is losing some of her skills. She will be 92 in December and still looks great and seems contented with her life.

I hope to be so good when and if I get to her age!! I also pray that my children will love and appreciate me as much as I appreciate my mother.

God Bless

BACK HOME AT THE SHUTTERS

It was a special day when we made our visit to the Specialist and he said Bill’s wound was healed enough to go home to Ballina. There is still some healing to be done but the dressings are now able to be managed by me and we quickly headed for Ally’s for a trip to the airport. We flew to Brisbane where we were met with our car and my sister Sha (or Trish) as our chauffeur. We had a pleasant drive home, stopping for a Yatala pie (as you do) on our way home. It was an overcast day and we ran into a few showers on our way home – we enjoy seeing water fall to earth!

The countryside here is still lush and green and was a real boost after the brown dry environment of Canberra. We took the long way home so we could enjoy the coast drive from Byron through to Lennox and home.

Our Ibis friend was waiting here for us.

Bill nodded to his boat and Discovery as we drove in and we were soon settled into HOME. We took it very slowly, gradually picking up some social appointments but just taking it easy and making some phone calls. For such a special occasion as having Bill at the Shutters - and so healthy - I decided to cook a roast dinner. Not my usual chicken but a special beef roast for Bill. Sha and Murray and Dympna came to share our first family meal back home. It was a great feed and a lovely evening with family. These are the days and nights I crave.


A Ti Tree at Thursday Plantation.

Bill and I visited Thursday Plantation – a local tourist attraction that sells wonderful coffee and serves it on a large shady verandah. The Plantation is a Ti-Tree Farm and sells many Ti-Tree products. I was amazed to see some medical journal reports on the efficacy of Ti-tree oil and its many derivatives. It reminded me of how much use they make of our eucalyptus tree in Vietnam (Tiger Balm etc.). We have some wonderful local resources and maybe we will make better use of them now in the financial crisis. I bought some of the ointment and we are now treating Bill’s wounds with it very effectively. Lanolin from our wool is another Australian resource that we probably could use a bit more.


We never miss an opportunity for coffee at Shelley's Beach. Seen here with nephew Ben.

Sha's birthday dinner with all the family.
We celebrated Sha’s birthday several times – probably because we all wanted to make sure she had a great time before they return to America again for more adventures in their Winnebago. We had a family dinner, a brunch at Shelley's and some walks along the beach. You can keep in touch with their exciting journeys…..and learn a lot about America here http://warwarekrvusa.blogspot.com/.

Bill finished his book and began looking for another. He was very relaxed. We did a trip up to see family in Brisbane (next blog) and Bill returned to Canberra on the way home. It was a bit lonely coming back here on my own again - but I had a great sleep and woke to the sounds of gentle rain on the roof. Life is good.