Tag: granddaughter

Australia · birds · daughter · family · grandchildren · kitchen renovation · Mount Warning · spring · subtropical weather · Tweed Valley

An Out-and-About Day

Joanne8 Comments

For a while now, husband has been trying to convince me to go to a local kitchen installation showroom to find some inspirational ideas for our kitchen renovation. What with uni, I have constantly resisted, but now we are actually getting into the reno, I made an appointment for 11am today.

As soon as my daughters heard I planned to go out, they organised me to have morning tea with them first! So we met at a lovely little coffee shop beside the Tweed River in Tweed Heads.

Little Aurora just loves her special “coffee” – a babycino – so seeing her so excited when her cup arrived, I just had to take a few photos.

For a two-year-old, she manages a “big girl’s cup” very well. (I think she’s had a lot of practice!)

And she didn’t plan on leaving one tiny bit in her cup! Her face looked very chocolatey by the time she had finished. 🙂

I had limited time though, so had to have a quick cuddle with both Aurora and Eli before I left. Aurora wanted to play her new favourite song for me, which is from a movie I haven’t seen yet.

And I had a big cuddle with handsome little Eli before I had to leave too. 🙂

When I arrived back at my car, I could see three pelicans in the distance, so had to take a quick photo of them before I left.

It was really worth the trip to the kitchen showroom. Everything I have on my wish-list was there – the doors and door-knobs I like, tiles, taps, cupboard fittings … we were so impressed that we have a rep coming to our house tomorrow to quote on a complete new kitchen. That will save a lot of time and effort for husband who has a million-and-one other projects to work on anyway.

The down side is that they are booked up until February next year, but we can still install the new range so we can use it over Christmas. It’s a free-standing cooker, so the new kitchen can be fitted around it.

In Mount Warning news, the valley is a tad hazy this afternoon, but we haven’t had a storm today for a change. It’s awfully humid though, so there’s probably rain about.

Australia · blessings · daughter-in-law · family · grandchildren · Mount Warning · new beginnings · son · Tweed Valley · winter

Another hazy day … and more news

Joanne4 Comments

The smoky, hazy, dustiness is back today, blurring the mountain as the wind whips up a veritable dust-storm.

From down in the southern areas of New South Wales and across the western tablelands, we are hearing reports of snow, while in Sydney, the coldest day of the year was predicted.

Tonight was a special occasion when the whole family – all thirteen of us – had dinner at the home of my son and his fiancée. Four day old baby Eli had already met his cousin Aurora two days ago, and today he met his other cousin, Braxton. Meanwhile, proud Nana had her camera ready. All three of my grandchildren together!

And if you lean is closer I will whisper some very special news … we have another grandson on the way! How exciting is that? ❤

A baby brother for Braxton, who is to be promoted to Big-Brothersaurus status!

Australia · blessings · family · grandchildren · happiness · Mount Warning · new beginnings · Tweed Valley · winter

Introducing …

Joanne11 Comments

This afternoon I met my two-day-old baby grandson, Eli.

I couldn’t mention his arrival before as the proud parents needed time to catch their breaths and recover from Eli’s birth before making their announcement.

Now I can tell the world about this incredibly gorgeous little man who has captured all of our hearts with his sweet little face, bright eyes, and tiny cooing sounds. He’s adorable! We are all so very blessed to have Eli choose our family to be a part of. ❤

There’s nothing in the world that could take the spotlight off Eli today! So it was actually serendipitous that Mount Warning has spent most of the day hiding behind a combination of smoke from a nearby fire and dust stirred up by gusting winds. I took a photo anyway …

… but if there’s one photo I could add today that may just overshadow the photo of my first meeting with Eli, it’s one of Eli meeting his cousin, my beautiful granddaughter Aurora! ❤

 

Australia · birthdays · clouds · family · grandchildren · Mount Warning · photography · rivers · Tweed Valley · winter

A View of Mount Warning from Two Tweed Valley Towns

Joanne5 Comments

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.

Australia · family · grandchildren · Mount Warning · Tweed Valley

A Busy Friday

Joanne6 Comments

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.