“I found a penny today Just laying on the ground. But it’s not just a penny, this little coin I’ve found. Found pennies come from heaven, that’s what my Grandpa told me, He said angels toss them down Oh, how I love that story!”
~ Author Unknown.
The # 1 hit song in February 1964 in both Australia and the USA was “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by the Beatles, and in the UK, “Needles and Pins” by The Searchers. And just by coincidence, the 10th of February, 1964, was also a Monday.
“Monday’s child is fair of face”, or so the old rhyme goes, and to me, the baby in the photo above, taken in 1964, and born on this day 50 years ago, has always been fair of face. And he holds a very special place in my heart.
I don’t remember the day he was born, I was too young, and try as I have over the years, all I can remember about this time in my life was my mother telling me that we “have to save our pennies for the new baby”, so I did. And one day when I was shopping in Penrith with my mum, as she stood at the counter in the delicatessen placing her order, I spotted a big jar of pennies, high above me on the counter. “So this is where we buy the baby when we’ve saved enough pennies!” my young mind thought.
I last spoke to him at Christmas time when he phoned. “It’s your cousin Jeff!” he told me…..”No, It’s my nephew Jeff!” I corrected him. “Oh whatever, I’m pi**ed!” he told me. A bit too much “Christmas” perhaps, and knowing my nephew, no doubt he will enjoy a bit too much “birthday” today as well, being the fun-loving man he is.
Today he turns 50. Today it is 50 years ago that I became an auntie for the first time. Today, he is on a cruise somewhere around the Pacific Islands with his wife, celebrating.
Holding her young baby boy in the photo is my eldest sister, Annette. She’s been gone now for six years and Jeff’s grandma for 20 years, but they both loved him dearly. Maybe today, they will send him some “pennies from heaven”, as their way of letting him know they are thinking of him, as I know they will be.
Happy 50th Birthday to my dear nephew Jeffrey, the cheeky baby boy that my mum called “A Little Buggeroo!”, the young man who became one of my sister’s closest friends and the son she always knew she could rely on.
And to me, he’s the baby boy who cost us lots and lots of pennies, but was worth every one of them; my childhood playmate; the young teenager who followed me around and tried to “copy” the clothes I wore (luckily, as a teenager I wore jeans and t-shirts a lot, he would have looked hilarious in a dress!); the serious young man on his wedding day; the cousin who my children remember as the “fun” cousin when they were growing up; the son who misses his mum every day; the grown man who still loves his family; the nephew who gives the best bear-hugs.
” If it should be, that I grow frail and weak, And pain should wake me from my sleep, Then you must do what must be done, For this last battle can’t be won.
You will be sad, I understand, Don’t let your grief then stay your hand For this day more than all the rest Your love and friendship stand the test.
Together we’ve had so many happy years, And what is to come will hold no fears – You’ll not want me to suffer, and so, When the time comes, please let me go.
I know in time you too will see It is a kindness you do to me, Although my tail its last has waved From pain and suffering I’ve been saved.
Do not grieve that it should be you, Who has to decide this thing to do, We’ve been so close we two these years, So don’t let your heart Hold any tears.” ~ Author Unknown.
“Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up one hole more in the buckle if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take no interest in the things that were and are passed.” ~ Henry Ward Beecher.
The rocky cliffs heading down to the sea, but where are the mountain goats?
I came across the quote by Henry Ward Beecher recently and thought it to be very sound advice, especially so if you wish to forget anything that has happened in your past life that has caused you pain.
The old lighthouse keepers house, now a museum.
Well, as much as I wish to follow Henry’s advice, I’m not ready to do so yet, as I have something wonderful to share with you all today, and it happened last year! But do note that I used the word “wonderful”, it was an exciting day at the time and I’m excited to be sharing the event with you now.
Rooms now display old photos and information of interest from the days of old.
My baby girl Emma and I love browsing around markets, especially markets selling alternate, but good quality wares. We had heard a whisper that the market at Bangalow, about three-quarters of an hour drive south and held on the last Sunday of each month was such a market.
Two Estuary Cod fish…..No, wait, isn’t that Emma?!
I’ll have to write another post about the market itself, as to combine two destinations into one story would be way too long, as Emma and I met a couple of interesting characters at the markets, whose stories are worthy of sharing.
Can you imagine waking up to this view at your front door every day? That’s what the lighthouse keeper used to do!
Today is the story of the lighthouse, at Byron Bay, situated on the eastern-most point of Australia and just a hop, skip and a jump from Bangalow, where Emma and I went to have lunch after we had finished the rounds of the market.
Some info for those of you who like to know the actual factuals….
The weather of the day was warm, but not the ridiculously unbearable humidity that we sometimes suffer through during the warmer months here. The sun blazed away in the blue sky and all was well with the world.
The room just inside the downstairs of the lighthouse, where people can wait, “patiently!” for the next tour to the top…. 🙂
Since my childhood days I have visited the lighthouse at Byron Bay. It’s a beautiful area and the point where the lighthouse is located holds magic in the air. There used to be wild mountain goats grazing on the steep inclines leading up to the lighthouse but I didn’t see any the day Emma and I were there. I think Emma thought I’d gone a bit potty when I told her to look out for the mountain goats! Sadly, we didn’t see any.
More actual factuals, this sweet little building was built in 1901. In the displays they even have the original plans of the two buildings.
Every time I have been to the lighthouse I have wanted to go inside. I became even more fascinated by the interior’s of lighthouses during the days when my children were young and loved watching a TV show called “Round the Twist”, based on books written by Australian author Paul Jennings, where the Twist family lived in a lighthouse. Strange events took place in and around the lighthouse, with a magical and sometimes supernatural slant, all of which had me riveted to the TV set as firmly as my children were, to watch the show.
And this would be the door to the inner sanctum, the door I have dreamed about walking through, closed.
The Byron Bay lighthouse has never, not once, in all the years I have visited, been open to the public, but lo and behold, on this fine Sunday afternoon when Emma and I arrived there, it was open! Oh joy of joys, I could finally go into the lighthouse!
Today they will open this door! Things are looking up, my friends!
“All who joy would win must share it. Happiness is a twin.” ~ Lord Byron quote ~ 1788-1824.
Is this really happening? Yes it is, I’m inside the lighthouse!
But wait, it gets even better….one of the friendly volunteers asked if we would like to go on the next tour, to the top of the lighthouse! Would I what!! I must admit that I think I may have heard a slight groan from Emma, when she found out that to be on the next tour, we would have to wait for nearly an hour. Hadn’t I waited for her to finish her ballet classes for eight whole years? Hadn’t I ferried her to friends houses until she was old enough to drive herself? Hadn’t I done so with barely a single complaint uttered? Now it was my turn for some fun; I made her wait. There were no further groans.
I admired and photographed it all, every single nut and bolt I could see. Okay, maybe I missed one or two nuts and bolts, but wow! 🙂
I should have counted the stairs as we climbed the course to the top, with me leading the way, but I didn’t. My camera was too busy clicking away at every turn in the stairs, at every flat platform, at every window, at every nut and bolt in the wall. I had waited for this day for a lifetime and I didn’t want to miss a single detail. It didn’t disappoint.
Here lies all the gadgemetry to project the beams of the light, right up at the very top of the inner sanctum..
“Roll on, deep and dark blue ocean, roll. Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain. Man marks the earth with ruin, but his control stops at the shore.” ~ Lord Byron ~ 1788-1824.
Here stands “Emma the Brave” casually posing for a photograph on the lighthouse balcony, as my legs go to jelly.
The top of the lighthouse was really fascinating and our friendly guide knew all the ins-and-outs of every specific mathematical detail there was to know about the structure of this fabulous creation, all very interesting on the day, however I’ve forgotten most of what she told us. I was there for the feel of the building, the magic of the area, the stories of the lighthouse keepers, the sounds of the ocean and the joy of the people who shared the tour to the top with us. Those feelings remain.
Realising that I couldn’t live in the lighthouse, we headed down. Such opportunities must remain with the fictional characters in children’s TV shows.
At the very top, I wimped out. I go jelly legged at heights and as much a I would have loved to have gone out onto the very narrow balcony surrounding the top edge of the lighthouse, I declined the offer. Well, I did venture out onto the balcony for two seconds, whilst holding the door and not looking directly down, and I even considered letting go of the door and walking a few steps along the balcony….it ended at mere consideration and I stayed inside. Maybe next time.
“Hello down there!” This young man was chastised by his father for holding up the traffic. I assured him that I didn’t mind and that I had taken his photo. 🙂
And there will be a next time, Emma and I have decided, and we will be taking my other daughter with us when we go. This much magic needs to be shared. 🙂
And the journey down the stairs continues. I didn’t count the stairs on the way down either….and my legs again turned to jelly when I learned over the balustrade to take this photo!
“Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life. The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray.” ~ Lord Byron ~ 1788-1824.
What a treat to see a kangaroo coming up so close to my car!
Around the end of January this year you may remember that I did a series of posts on all things Australian. With Australia Day being celebrated on January 26th each year, it is a great time to take a look at Australian icons, and I really enjoyed sharing some of them here on my blog.
Karma asked if I would be showing you photos of any kangaroos or koalas. I told her at the time that I would see what I could come up with, having in mind that I could take a trip to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, about twenty minutes drive from my home, to take a few photos to show you some of our native animals.
Look, a whole little family!
Well, my trip to the wildlife sanctuary didn’t go to plan at that time, Mother Nature had other ideas for the people of the Tweed and Gold Coast areas. We spent weeks avoiding venturing outdoors, due to the tail end of a tropical cyclone hitting us!
The worst of the cyclone was over by the end of January, but the wet weather conditions continued for weeks. And what I really wanted you to see was kangaroos and koalas in their natural habitat and not in captivity. I’ve heard that many of the people in other countries believe that Australians see koalas and kangaroos regularly, but the fact of the matter is that we don’t. Seeing our iconic marsupial mammals, which is what koalas and kangaroos are, in the wild is a huge treat for us too!
I didn’t forget Karma’s request, although I really wanted to see some native animals in the wild! As usual, The Universe responded to my request, and during the space of just one month I have had the privilege to see firstly kangaroos, then koalas, both in the wild!
I could see they were about to jump away and thought I wouldn’t be seeing them again.
The kangaroos I found at a place called South West Rocks, where my son and I stayed a night at a motel on our way home from our trip down south in early July. Adam had been to South West Rocks with his father a couple of years ago when my husband took him there for a surf carnival. Adam loved the area and wanted us to spend a night there, telling me I would find heaps of very cool things to take photos of. I don’t think even Adam expected to see the kangaroos!
It was late afternoon when we arrived and by the time we had booked into our motel and headed out for a drive it was beginning to get dark, so the top photo, as you can see, has been taken at night-time. Regardless, I was thrilled to bits to actually see these kangaroos hopping around near my car!
Kangaroos legs are incredibly strong as you can see here by the way they jump.
The next morning Adam and I booked out of the motel early, to make the most of our time at South West Rocks before we headed home. First of all we drove to the lighthouse, where I took some photos of the lighthouse and the surrounding ocean. It is indeed an area of great beauty and Adam was right, I found plenty of photo opportunities there.
Next we went to Trial Bay Gaol. I won’t tell you about the gaol or the lighthouse now, but all will be revealed in a future blog post. I will tell you though that the gaol is no longer in use as a gaol!
As it was so early in the day we were the only car in the parking lot and all was quiet around the gaol, as I walked around snap, snap, snapping away with my camera. I walked up to the main entrance of the gaol and as I continued to take photos a movement caught my eye.
They jumped right up to me! Aren’t they beautiful?
At first I thought I was imagining things, but no, there they were, a mama, papa and little baby kangaroo ~ a whole family! All three looked very alert and I knew that they had heard the click of the camera and had seen me there, so I stayed still. Low and behold, suddenly, all three of them decided to come over and say hello to me!
I can’t begin to tell you how beautiful they were, with their big black-brown eyes, and the softest of fur. Well, I couldn’t touch them, they were behind the gate of the gaol, but I have touched kangaroo fur before and believe me, it’s very soft. I think it was all too much for the little joey tough as it quickly scurried into mama’s pouch once they had come over to me. The funny little thing, it didn’t right itself in the pouch though, so if you look carefully you will see one long, thin, black joey paw, peeking out of her pouch!
You can see here the little joeys long black hind leg sticking out of mama’s pouch.
The kangaroos stayed with me for a few minutes. I don’t know if they were expecting food, but I had nothing to give them, so after a short while they jumped away, out of sight.
Talk about magical moments. Anyone would have thought I was a visitor from overseas seeing kangaroos for the first time! It wasn’t just the joy of seeing them though and taking their photo. They were living freely in a wild habitat and not an animal sanctuary, and they trusted me enough to come right up close to me. What a privilege that was.
In my next post I will show you the koalas I saw. There is a funny story to the koalas, and I learnt a lot about them too! 🙂
An intense moment for Bella, the Border Collie and Porter, the Border Collie cross Cattle Dog.
Last week my daughter phoned me, quite early in the morning, to see if perhaps, just on the off-chance, I might like to go with her when she took her two gorgeous babies for a swim in the river.
We’re a-ready……
She didn’t sound too confident that I would say yes. I’m not usually a “make plans on the spur of the moment” type of person, but what she suggested sounded like fun, so around mid morning I headed off to her place, we loaded her babies into the back of her car and off we went.
……we’re gettin’ set…….
A couple of days later, I saw that Kathy, at Lake Superior Spirit, was sharing photos and adoption stories of her own “grands”, Kathy’s being grand-kittens!
Go Porter!!
What is it with us women with grown children? Here we are referring to our children’s animals as our grand-pets! Is there a secret longing that we are holding deep within our hearts that perhaps this addition of fury-grands may soon lead to “The Real Thing”? Or are we collectively heaving a sigh a relief that these grand-pets of ours, if they give our own babies any sign of trouble, can be unceremoniously put out the back door to give our children some peace? We remember the trials we have been through with our own real babies!
I can do it!
It is so easy to recall the joy I felt when my children were on their way into my life, the anticipation, the planning, decorating the nursery, choosing baby clothes and contemplating names. What a joyful time it was. And yet I simply cannot get my head around the idea of having an real human grandchild, one without the fur!
No Bella, it’s MY ball!
I keep on telling my children that I’m too young to be a grandmother, but that story is getting old, way too old, especially considering my eldest is now twenty-eight years old!
And I’ve got it! I always get it! Porter wins again!!
When the time is right for my children, when they can almost smell the soft scent of a baby near to them, when they long for the feel of a babies gentle skin touching their own and when they know, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are ready to love another human being to the ends of the earth and back again, then I guess I’ll be old enough to be a grandma.
Yep, Porter got it….again….
But for now, like Kathy, I will enjoy the long-furred, heavy-breathing, doe-eyed, unconditional love of my two grand-pups, Porter and Bella. Oh, and did I mention that I have two grand-kittens too? Like Kathy said, “Gosh darn, the important things we forget to blog about”!
In My World 