Category: family
A View of Mount Warning from Two Tweed Valley Towns
We spent the morning at a park in a seaside town called Casuarina, about ten minutes drive south, where our beautiful little granddaughter, Aurora, celebrated her 2nd birthday with a few friends. It was a lovely change to go out, and being in a large park we were all able to “social distance” successfully. Not that there’s any Covid in our area, but we cannot become complacent.
After the party, I asked my husband if we could stop off at a couple of different places so I could take photos of Mount Warning. I thought it would be a change from my usual back yard photos.
Our first stop was at Kingscliff. Rain was predicted this morning and thankfully it held off while the party was happening. There were masses of clouds lingering over the mountain though. My first photo of Mount Warning is taken looking across Cudgen Creek at Kingscliff.
From Kingscliff, we drove to a small village a few minutes away called Chinderah. My husband wanted to see if a roadside fish monger was there today, and he was! So we came home with a kilogram of fresh king prawns and two pieces of deep sea Tasmanian fish (which I’ve forgotten the name of). I took my next photo looking across the Tweed River from Chinderah to the mountain.
I probably take the names of our local towns and villages for granted because I’m so used to them. They are very odd names though, mostly Aboriginal words I believe, and difficult to pronounce if you are not a local, so I will try to sound them out –
Casuarina is pronounced Cassa-rina. Cudgen is pronounced Could-jen. Chinderah is Chin-der-a. Kingscliff is an easy one, it’s just Kings-cliff.
The other day I mentioned two other places Murwillumbah and Tumbulgum. They are pronounced Mur-will-um-bah and Tm-bul-gum – the first u is silent. So many people mispronounce Tumbulgum, calling it Tumble-gum which is totally wrong! I’ll try to remember in future to add the correct pronunciations when I mention our strange sounding place names.
And here is my precious little granddaughter, Aurora. She had a wonderful party and was completely exhausted by the time her mummy and daddy got her home. 🙂
P.S. Between me and my son-in-law, we took 450 photos of the party this morning. There are a few extras on Facebook.
Day and Night
There was nothing to wax lyrical over when I looked out at the valley yesterday morning. Yes, this photo was taken yesterday, I missed adding my daily post.
My sister called last night, just as I was about to go to my computer and add my Thursday mountain photos. So we talked. And talked, and talked, and talked some more. My sister lives about six hour’s drive south from here, so we don’t see each other as often as we would like, hence the long conversation. I went to bed at 1am, but time spent with my sister is always a priority. I adore her. ❤
Anyway, as the view across the valley looked pretty average (by valley standards!) I took a photo showing the broad view of the area in my garden where I can see the valley and Mount Warning the best. The palm trees are in our garden, the rest of the greenery is next door. The house next door is up to its fifth ownership since the house was built twenty-six years ago, and just like all the previous owners before the latest – and the ones before, and the ones before – these people are planting large trees that block the view, when low-growing, or well maintained trees, can be just as beautiful. I have often wondered why anyone would do such a thing, but there you have it.
Standing in the same position around nightfall, I took another photo of the same scene. Isn’t the sky pretty? 🙂
Today we have rain, so I’ll have to keep looking out for a glimpse of the mountain. Currently it’s hidden behind clouds and mist. I have some lovely garden photos I took yesterday though, so later today I will add today’s mountain view, however bleak it may look, plus photos from my sunny front garden, taken before the rain arrived.
Another dull day … and Bowie!
For the third day in a row the weather is dull. The sky, which is mostly white with an occasional grey cloud is showing no sign of allowing the sun to peek through – there’s not a single crack in the cloud cover where the sun’s rays could escape. Rain is predicted, but so far we haven’t had a drop.
Given that there’s not much to say about dull weather I decided it would be a good day to introduce the newest member of our family.
Introducing Bowie, a seven-year-old Rag-doll X Tortoiseshell.
My mother-in-law originally named him Beau when she got him as a tiny kitten, but last year both of my in-laws went into aged care. To cut a long story short, my father-in-law had a fall at home in early May, broke his hip, then spent some time in hospital. For many practical reasons he couldn’t return home so he was the first to go into aged care. Meanwhile, as my mother-in-law couldn’t cope with being alone, she also went into aged care, leaving Bowie “homeless”.
However, in our family, the concept of a pet being homeless simply doesn’t fly! Once they become a member of our family, that’s where they remain. So Bowie moved in with me and my husband.
Miss Tibbs was a tad concerned about the “intruder” for about two seconds, but in her usually way she took the changes in her stride and learned how to co-exist with another cat very quickly. Tibbs and Bowie are not besties yet, but they do occasionally play chasing games around the house! I guess there’s hope that they will become great friends yet – he’s only been here a few months.
Bowie – (as in David the singer – Beau is far to proper a name for this happy man!) is an extremely affectionate cat and loves nothing more than to sit somewhere soft and comfy. He’s not huge on sitting on our laps though. He’s loving the soft rugs I have sitting on the bed and the chairs now the weather has turned cold and nuzzles into them like they’re his best friend. He also has a habit of sitting on the back of my lounge chair at night and nuzzling into the back of my head!
I’m sure though that Bowie’s new best friend of all is my printer. He loves it!
As soon as he hears the sound of the printer, he’s up on my desk like a shot!
I’ve also discovered that I have to grab my printed pages fast – Bowie’s claws have gone through a couple!
Bowie really is the quintessential “curious cat”!
This gorgeous boy fits into our family as if he’s always lived here, and now we couldn’t imagine our home without him. ❤
Post Script – After such an incredibly dull day, the sky tonight looks pretty amazing!
A Busy Friday
When I saw Mount Warning first thing this morning it looked for all the world like a huge sleeping giant, awakening from its sleep.
I took the first two photos about fifteen minutes after sunrise. Being so early in the day, the ranges were still relatively well hidden in the early morning shadows beneath the glowing, sunlit mountain. I must remember to take some photos right after sunrise some days, to note the different ways the sunlight changes the mountain as the day is dawning.
By 8:30 am, my eldest daughter had dropped off my beautiful almost two-year-old granddaughter to spend the day with me. I cherish the days I spend with Aurora. Even though her speech is still limited, she is beginning to understand everything that is said to her, and can usually make it known what she wants and what her opinions are. I think she’s going to be a great talker once she has learned all the words she needs to engage in a flowing conversation.
My younger daughter also arrived early in the day with a wash basket filled with brand new baby clothes that needed washing. For her, this will be baby number one, and another little grandson for me. She could wash the baby’s clothes at her place, but her yard is smaller than mine, and her clothesline doesn’t get as much sun on it as mine does. I suggested we wash baby boy’s clothes at my place. Besides the practicalities, I enjoy admiring all of the gorgeous little outfits my grandson will be wearing after he is born next month. 🙂
After all the tiny baby clothes were pegged on the line and flapping in the breeze I noticed a cane fire in the valley. That was a good enough reason for me to take another photo of the mountain – this time with the cane fire burning in the foreground – after the sun had risen fully over the mountain ranges and valley.
Later in the day the mountain caught my eye again, this time as the sun was setting. The pale orange sky amid the darkened clouds was a glorious sight to see.
In My World 