Quioxte - Rest in Peace

Dale and Quioxte Nov 2011

Little Quioxte gone to heaven. 

You will always be remembered in my heart.

Quoixte was a beautiful dog and I loved her dearly. 

I will always remember her fun loving and friendly spirit and especially those 20km hikes she would take with me along Aldinga Beach and constantly wanting me to throw a stick the entire distance. 

She would always greet me at my brother's house with big loves squeezing inbetween my legs and firmly planting her bottom on top of my feet.

Poor Dale, Deb, Kayn and Kapri who will miss her the most as their loyal companion, friend, sister and daughter. My thoughts are with them. 

RIP beautiful Quixote.

Quioxte - Cherie Saunders

Marion Bay 2011

Our annual photo in the same spot! 

Marion Bay 2011 was so much fun this year.  Catie, Kath, myself and six kids rented a holiday house for the October long weekend to catch up with our gorgeous friend Jess who lives at Marion Bay on the York Peninsula. 

We've been holidaying annually for about seven years now, so its a great tradition and our families are ever expanding with eight kids running a muck. 

It was really full on during the day with kids running around and the house was not that kid friendly outside because of some large stone steps and no fences so I had to really keep my eye on Owen who is only 18 months and accident prone. Charlie has really grown up now, so he is keeping up with Mia and Samuel the older kids and Charlie and Jarrah were playing nicely too.

So we just spent time with the kiddies and then at night we would have a few drinks.  Our first drink was on arrival with Kath opening a bottle of watermelon flavoured champagne. Too bad Catie was so jet lagged from her trip to London, she kept falling asleep at night early.  I drank lots of alcohol that weekend.  Too bad I feel asleep on the last night quite early.

The ever expanding mob

We had a visit to the beach, play ground, visit to Jess and Ryan's house to play with chickens and watch the kids climb trees.  We also managed dinner at the local pub to but it was run and eat  as quick as can be when going out for dinner with so many kiddies.

Girls fun after the kids have gone to bed.

Loved this weekend and cannot wait for next year. The girls are also planning a strictly "Girls Only" weekend at Victor in December/January so will look forward to that for sure!

I feel so blessed to have such beautiful friends like Catie, Kath and Jess. They are totally amazing, intelligent, down to earth, easy going and a lot of fun too! 

Feeling free for life - de ja vu

I just love that feeling when I'm driving up Happy Valley Drive on a beautiful sunny day.  It's such a gorgeous stretch of road with a dense scrubland either side that gives the feeling of country. 

I have a feeling of de ja vu quiet frequently in this same spot as I cross the roundabout leading from Happy Valley Drive to Education Road. 

It's a beautiful day and blue skies.  I have the windows down and music blaring usually trip hop, or something FreshFM.  I'm singing! 

As I drive past the retirement village the thought crosses my mind - "wow I am so lucky to have a car, and be alone.  Back in the days they didn't have cars, they couldn't see all the places or do all the things I can do."

I am totally alone, and no-one is with me.  I'm totally enjoying this moment and freedom! I am so lucky.  It's an amazing feeling.

Taking the kids to the show

This year Jamie and I thought it would be fun to take Charlie and Owen to the show.

It was a very exciting day.  Jamie took the day off work and I already had Wed free now that my studies do not start again until November.

We payed for parking across the road in the park lands near the Wayville Showgrounds.  It only cost $11 and the walk was not too far at all. 

We used both strollers for the boys, sunscreen, hats, drinks and jackets were packed for the day.  It was a bit unclear how the weather would turn out, actually it was quite strange.  When the sun appeared it was really hot and when it disappeared behind clouds it was very cold.  Odd but no rain so that was a good thing.  At first it was forecast to rain, thank goodness it did not.

The first place went to was the show bag pavilion as Jamie insisted we venture there first.  Charlie of course wanted a Hot wheels show bag and I bought a natural lollies show bag to keep the kids at bay.  haha what a joke!!  :) So we filled both Owen and Charlie full of the natural lollies!! 

We walked around various pavilions full of food displays, animals, and agricultural equipment.  Were totally amazed to see electric chain saw wood cutting, Jamie said "whats the competition in that."  I agreed what a joke.  In a previous year we had watched wood cutting with proper axes which was really exhilarating and exciting. 

We had lunch at the gourmet food area and shared a table with a nice man and his son.  Jamie and the m an struck up a conversation about horses and I chased Owen around the food court because he was more interested in running away and climbing on things.

Instead of seeing the baby animals which was totally packed by families with prams and tiny baby animals trapped behind fences, so we visited the pigs instead.  They were very cute, the piglets were gorgeous.  I couldn't believe how big pigs can grow nearly 2 metres in length and they have about 10 piglets that are so cute.  I wanted to take one home as a pet but Jamie said "No".  O well, I suppose cleaning up pig poo is not that much fun. 

Both the kids enjoyed bouncing on the Jurassic Park castle, Charlie was bouncing around the place, climbing and jumping like crazy and Owen enjoyed it too with the occasional attempt to escape.

Back to the show bag pavilions to get Charlie another show bag as he had insisted every minute for about two hours, "I want a toy", "I want a toy" so we gave up in the end.  Jamie bought the Charles Worth Nuts, Bertie Beetle and another Hot wheels show bags. 

Charlie went for another ride on a proper show ride and also a very steep slippery dip which I was too scared to go on and he insisted that he wanted to go by himself.  Jamie and I made short films of these and some photos. 

By 3pm we were exhausted, totally wired from all of the sweet food and ready to go home.  We had fairy floss, dippy dogs and hot jam filled donuts which were all very delicious! What a great day and we had so much fun.

The past year

Just realised that its been a year since I started to blog here.  The recipe blog did not really take off and the My life one the same, but Im glad this one has continued.  It will be a lovely keepsake. 

Looking back on the past year, there have been many exciting changes taking place in our family.

This time last year I was at home with Owen who was five month taking note of Owens first words, teeth, and the tranformation from baby to toddler in such a small time.  Such a gorgeous cute little boy.  He is cheeky, and he stands on tables and watches us knowing we are going to say something to him.  He is also very needy, a mummy's boy, sleeps in my bed everynight, wakes up a few times and sits on my lap all night when we watch TV.  He loves cars, outdoors and kisses.

Charlie's third birthday celebrations at the MV railway mini steam trains was so much fun.  He is growing up so fast.  I have just enrolled Charlie into Chandlers Hill Kindergarten. He seemed really happy there, and it was lovely. Also, the two full days appealed to me - Wed and Thursdays. Its hard juggling the 1/2 days with work.  He is also very tall.  Time has flown. Scary. I was originally going to send Charlie to Happy Valley kinder and I love the playgroup too (despite not going now because Im working Fridays), but the full days appealed to me at Chandlers. Charlie will be going to Happy Valley Primary School so I figured a lot of kids going to Chandlers would go to there too as its just across the road. On the Wednesday my study day I will do volunteer at lunch time to help out at the kindy. Looking forward to it. Charlie starts pre-entry on the 19th October.  Jamie was really pleased with Chandlers Hill Kindergarten too and liked the idea of it being across the road from the primary school.

The creative life writing class with was awesome, and taught me many things about writing with more expression and meaning.

See devastating natural disaster this year, with cyclone Yasi and terrible floods that severly affected QLD and other states with loss of life and livelihood. Just a terrible set of events, and very hard to beleive that this can happen all at once. Also the terrible earthquake that hit Christ Church with 200 people dead. 

I am still going strong with family history, three months this year was spent researching the Jenkins family history with my cousins Lynfa Maeer, Rebecca O'Reilly and Charlie King.  What an incredible and special experience meeting many people from Wales and learning about my ancestors past.  Still have not written up final notes yet, but I have a folder full of stories and photos. 

Met with cousins from all side of the family both Jamie's and mine through www.penhall.id.au This website is proving to be a valuable resource for the family in terms of sharing information and meeting cousins as I originally suspected. Just recently meet cousins from the Mayo and Owers branches both interested in family history, and having access to information and beautiful old photos.  The prize was a photo of my great x 4 grandmother Elizabeth Newman! 

Sad at the passing of my beautiful Aunt Betty in April, I miss her dearly.  I also miss my dear Nanna Jenkins too as I have not been to see her at all this year. Having an extra child has definately added to the complexity, so have not had the time to travel to Mt Gambier this year.

Still going to yoga although not as often as I would like,and doing palates too.

Walking a lot more, started walking with Sarah Dixon (nee Davies) good friend and business partner.  We did not realise that we were both walking along the river Torrens at lunch times in the city, so decided it was a good chance to walk and catch up. So we usually do that on Mondays or Tuesdays to enjoy the beautiful river with many swans, and their baby signets and also the pelicans.

Enjoying my studies in Web programming, exams next week but very happy to have started my studies with the Curtin University Bachelor of Internet Communications.  The next unit should be a little easier, the unit is Internet and Everyday Life.

Jess had a baby this year, beautiful little Leela, met her for the first time the other day.  We've beens o sick this year with colds etc.

Renae had a Bollywood party for her 30th bday (x5 times) so that was awesome.  Everyone made a really big effort with beautiful bright costumes. 

Received invitations for my friend Michelle Barnes to Haidon Linke on 8 October at Serafino Winery McLaren Vale.  Looking forward to that.  Michelle is my dear friend since I was 14 years old. 

Started working at Southern Adelaide Health for two months reviewing the Southern Health Websites ready for the migration to the new SA Health website.  Its a short drive to work now only ten minutes and I get paid more money for easier work.  Gr8! 

Mum and Dad have been in Tully for two months, Dad is working to rebuild homes after cyclone Yasi.  I think they are having a lovely time, and looking forward to seeing them in November. 

Jamie's business has survived for first 18 months, business is going well and he seems happy with this. 

So the past year at a glance as been full of changes and all positive of course.  Looking forward to more fun this year! 

Precious Moments with Owen 16 months

Owen 16 months

I love cuddling with my little boy Owen.  He is such a mummy's boy. 

I love his tiny little hands, and tickle his tiny feet.  He loves tickles. When I remove his shoes I massage his feet.

I grab his nose and pretend to take it away from his face and then put it back on again. This always amuses him and he starts to laugh and smile.  Then he pretends to take my nose away.

He sucks his thumb for comfort.

I say 'kisses' and he gives me a kiss sometimes with a little booger but mummies do not mind their children's boogers do they.  He knows the word kiss.

He smiles and is happy most of the time except when he is teething. His molar teeth have pushed through recently so he suffered with sore gums, red cheeks and a runny nose. 

He has a mind of his own to, is very cheeky and determined. When he is trying to get into the kitchen cupboards or open a door he is not meant to be exploring he looks to see if anyone is watching him and smiles cheekily and does it anyway.  He already knows how to open the child proof locks in the kitchen cupboards.  He drags the little wooden chairs around the house to get into things on benches and tables. He is a pretty good climber. 

Owen a few days new

Every night he climbs onto my lap demanding my every attention. At 16 months he is still breast feeding but we are starting to give him a bottle but he still loves mummy cuddles. 

I consciously try to remember every little moment and detail, his pretty blond curls, blue eyes and adorable smile.  He is small, so small, and so beautiful. 

Please let me remember these precious moments forever because these are the best times of my life. My precious sons who I adore.

Renae's Bollywood Birthday Party

Renae's Bollywood Birthday Party was a really awesome.

Everyone look amazing in their brightly coloured Bollywood outfits, jewellery and little bindi's. Even the guys made an effort with their costumes excepta few of them were trying to hide from cameras.

Renae looked really beautiful in her green sari and pretty jewellery. Matt looked like the cult leader of the Orange people from the 1970s with his little white beaded necklace, loose shirt, and pants and a big orange scarf hanging around his neck. Another guy wore a table runner around his head, and curtains draped over his shoulder. He was the guy avoiding photos. Classic!

Jamie and I hired outfits from 'Fancy That' costume shop at Christies Beach.  I think they have the best outfits.  The outfits were so beautifully and brightly coloured and sequenced. I did not want to give my back because it was so pretty with dark blues, gold and white, with little diamonds sparkling all over the dress, and a pretty long dark blue scarf that I wore around my neck.

The girls helped out with the preparing food like hot curries, rice, and poppodams.  Renae started organising the food too but we insisted that she go enjoy herself.  The Masterchef butter chicken that I cooked was a real hit.  Great recipe and flavour.

To start the night they played Indian Bollywood music.  A bit later Josh cranked up the turn tables to hip hop, break beat, trance, and rnb. After a few drinks everyone started dancing.

Matt took some lovely photos too.

I love the feeling when friends meet like this, to forget about life and embrace the moment, enjoy each others company and have fun dancing, and chatting with each other. It makes me feel young again.

It was a great night!

Friends collage

Facebook has some pretty cool applications.  Here is a Friends collage which shows the faces of my friends on Facebook created by some clever application.  It has gathered the profile pictures of people who have been interacting with my profile.  Funny enough most of my BFs are on it. 

In a dream - Isaiah Zagar

In a dream

A few months ago I saw an amazing documentary 'In a dream' about the life of Isaiah Zagar. It was so incredible to watch this amazing mosiac artist who has mosaic something like 13 kilometres of building and street in Philadelphia. His work is so beautiful it has inspired me to mosaic the wall adjacent our garden in our courtyard.  

The doc has been directed by Isaiah's son Jeremiah showing a lifetime of family movies, and a story about Isiah, and his wife, life and art. Isaiah's mosiac art works are incredible full of colour and life, depicting the story of his life. Massive walls covered with tiles, glass, mirrors and paint a millions colours and designs, faces of his children, the birth of his children, his wife. Just amazing. 

I have just completely fallen in love with this man, his family and life, and LOVE his beautiful art. I thank them for sharing this with me. 

There is a DVD I will buy which shows me how to do mosaic, so maybe this will be my next exploration in art. 

You can read more at these websites:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1185251/
http://www.hzfilms.com/
http://www.inadreammovie.com/blog/

Isaiah Zagar abt 2008

Kindy and play dough days!

I had a big play day planned with the boys. 

First take Charlie to the Happy Valley kindergarten now that he is a 'big kindy boy' and he especially loves playing with the play dough.  Owen loves it too but to my dismay he loves sticking his head down the little kindy toilets, so I have keep an eye on him.

Grandma Penhall came with us and we had an absolute ball.  The sun was shining and everyone was happy. We sang nursery songs, had fruit and played outside.  It was lovely.  My friends from mothers group Kerry, Melissa and Sarah with all their boys were there too, so it was nice to spend some time with them.

In the afternoon Charlie and I made green play dough with little Owen who kept getting in the way by wrapping his arms around my legs and squelling at us quite determined to be involved.  Charlie kept saying  "No Owen, you are too little". The play dough turned out great and Charlie was carrying it in a cake tin all around the house with tiny little pieces trailing behind him on the floor despite my every effort to insist he only play it at the table. 

As long as he is enjoying his childhood and being good I am happy he is happy and my precious Owen too! 

Days like this will be remembered.

Big green dinosaur

It is nice to see my little boy Charlie growing up. Already three years old but adamant he is four.

At childcare today I stayed half an hour because he did not want me to go. The usual crying and clinging to my side.

After a while it was cool to see him get into the green dinosaurs dress up and start running around the room roaring like a dinosaur.

The other kids were giving him big bear hugs and pulling his tail.

Web programming- CSS, HTML, DHTML, Javascript and PHP ahh

I've decided to go back to university in Internet Communications.  I have been thinking about it for a while, so decided it was the right time now.  I've been applying for a lot of online support officer positions lately and thought the study would really enhance my knowledge and skills.  Plus it always looks good to be working towards and finished a degree. 

So far I am really enjoying it with my first elective Web programming.  I've been put straight into an elective because I have previous experience.  Its really interesting so far, I have finished HTML, XHTML, CSS 2.0, and the next week will be Javascript.  After that it will go into PHP. 

Our first assignment is to design a page with a header, footer, content area and some links to a products page, privacy page, site map etc. I asked my neighbour Tracy if I could use her graphic/design business Gretel Girl as an example, so she sent me the logo and some pictures for my site which I have included in the design.  It is looking pretty good so far.  I sent it to my lecturer who said it was excellent.  Just have to finish the bibliography in a readme.text file. 

Assignment one - Gretel Girl

I am doing my studies online, we have a discussion forum for other students, and access to all of the materials like written notes, and lectures in audio. I find it easier to listen to the lecturers rather than trying to work out what to do from the notes.  In the lectures the lecturer provides explains the notes with examples so this is a lot easier. 

So its about 12 hours a week, but I have put the boys in child care on Wednesday's to study so very greatful for this.  I am really looking forward to learning more about Internet Communications.

Jenkins family history

Hannah McCarthy's Obituary 1931

It has been an amazing experience learning more about the Jenkins/McCarthy families from Wales.  I wish my grandfather was here to see what I have found but sadly he passed when I was two years old.

I have been collaborating with two cousins, including one who lives in Wales about this research.  There have been a number of people involved from Wales in the Genealogy society, BDM registrars, Father David, librarians, friends of Cathays cemetery and cemetery registrars who have all helped us find more about our ancestors. We have found the family history for the Jenkins from Bridgend/Pontipridd and McCarthy natives from Cork Ireland and Cardiff.

It has not been very difficult to find information on the internet.  There are many websites, chat forums and BDM and parish record databases aimed at researching family history. I also found the Welsh people to be very friendly and helpful.

To confirm the research we (my cousins and I) purchased birth, death and marriage certificates.  The birth records show names of parents as wanted to know the maiden names of Mothers as you know these are harder to trace, on wedding records the names of the Fathers and then death records the cause of death.

We had been working on this since early March this year, and it has taken many hours of research and some money to find the story.  I plan to provide a report to my direct family and also cousin Charles who is very interested in this history.

There was a story about my great Grandmother 'Granny' Jenkins and her brother being sent to an orphanage because their parents died.  Since then we have discovered their Father Thomas McCarthy a shipwright and native of County Cork died from Tuberculosis at the age of 40 years, and then the two younger children were sent to Ely Schools in Cardiff.  To confirm they were at Ely Schools, I have contacted the Glamorgan Records office and will pay them for the research but have not sent the cheque 30 pounds yet. We have also found them listed under Ely Schools on the 1891 Wales census record.

We did not know what happened to their mother Hannah after her husband had passed away, and assumed that she remarried because we could not find her death either.  So I searched the marriage records at Cardiff and Pontipridd and found nothing.

Our cousin Lynfa in Wales found that Hannah had lived in Pontipridd for 30 years and had been living with her daughter Julia! They must have sent the younger children to the orphanage because they were so poor. Hannah was buried in Pontipridd Cemetery 1931.  The Pontipridd Library found her obituary published in the Pontipridd Observer May 21931.   My Granny Jenkins and Julia's families all lived on Danygraig Street, so I was very happy to know that the family had stayed together through all of their hardship.

On the Jenkin's side we have traced back to 1777 with help from Father David Lloyd.  He has sent me some amazing photos of the old church St Illtyds in Bridgend which was built in 1100.  We found that some of our ancestor's were baptised at St Illtyds and they had lived in the area to 1777 as found in the Parish records.

Anyway, I am not going to summarise it all here because there is a folder full of the research.  What an amazing journey and I cannot wait to share it with my family.

Owers Newman family history

Mrs W Owers

Today I am very excited to find the obituary of my great x3 Grandmother Mrs W Owers.  I still have not got her first name as I will need to research this at Genealogy society but I am happy about this find because it provides me with a comprehensive story of her life in Burra and leads back to England.  I knew that my Mayo ancestors were from Burra but had nothing on the Owers side, infact I did not know anything about that side of the family.

My greatx3 grandmother, Mrs W Owers was born in Kent, England, on August 8th, 1838 and with her parents, Mr and. Mr George Newman, came to Australia it 1848 in the ship California. The family came direct to Burra where Mr Newman with the Burra Burra Mining Co.   He however, died six weeks after his arrival here. 

This is amazing to find the next woman in my maternal linage.  I am so happy, and I remember Nanna saying that Grandmother was from Kent but could never work out which one!

In May, Burra will be holding quite a few interesting events as part of the About Time Festival so I will definitely register for some of them especially the Family history event.  Also, I will have to catch up with my Burra cousin's at the same time.  

For the whole story about Mrs W Owers obituary see the Trove National Libraries Australia website The Burra Record Wednesday Dec 6th 1922

Thank you Trove I love you.

For your information, my maternal lineage

• Estel Lindstrom - b 1918 Quorn etc, Smith field, Port Adelaide
• Alice Mayo/Lindstrom - b 1888 Pattupa, Beltana, Wonika creek, Beltana, Hawker, Smithfield, Port Adelaide, North Adelaide
• Mary Owers/Mayo - b 1857 Burra, Laura, Pattupa, Beltana, Wonika creek, Hawker, Port Augusta
• ? Newman/Owers - b 1838 Kent England, Burra
• ? ? /Newman - b?

Vintage tea party - the event

Vintage tea party

Inviting my dearest friends to my home for a vintage tea party was a lot of fun.  I feel so blessed to share these times with them.  Of course everyone dressed vintage (in their Sunday best) and brought some sweet or savoury food.

It was a lovely sunny Sunday afternoon enjoyed near our pretty garden under the pergola. Tea was served from big tea pots into pretty vintage fine bone china cups and champagne was poured into the old fashioned wide rimmed champagne glasses.

Pretty vintage flowers for the host

The food served was cucumber sandwiches, brandy snaps with cream and strawberries, quirky bright green hair icing chocolate cup cakes with a flower on top, banana cup cakes with pink sprinkles on the lemon icing, vanilla cake, cinnamon tea cake, mouth watering sausage rolls, a variety of chicken and ham sandwiches, mini quiches, and cream and jam filled lamingtons.  There was so much food but by the end of the day it was all gone.

We just chatted about old times, new times, what we were doing over Easter break, painting workshops, and life in general with our fancy cups and side plates, and a lot of delectable foods and champagne.  Life is good!

It was also great to have kiddie free time as most people arranged baby sitting in advance. It was a fairly relaxing afternoon. It was so quite compared to other times when all of the kids are here playing.

Invite by Cherrybliss designs

Renae (Cherrybliss Designs) did the vintage invitations which looked awesome. 

Catie gave me some gorgeous flowers and took photos too, so thanks lovely.

Cakes by Jo Mignone

Jo came with (Clever Cakes) her awesome designer cakes. Jo runs her own cake business so we were very lucky enough to try the chocolate cup cakes.

Here are some more of Catie's pics using her iPhone and retro camera software.  Now iPhone and software does not sound so vintage does it but they look old..

Jess, Catie and Sarah

Sarah and Cherie

Cherie, Tania, Bec and Renae

Renae and Coralie

Sarah and Jess

Nadia and Jo

Sarah and Tania

I have been organising this party for a few months inspired by my Nanna Jenkin's crockery.  If you want to read my related posts:

• History through china
• Little treasures to cherish
• Vintage tea party
• Going vintage

Reality of life - RIP Auntie Betty Staveley

L to R: Verna, Eva, Estel, Lorna, Betty, Melba and Beryl

My Auntie Betty passed away on Monday 4 April.  She had been suffering from cancer for about two years so the poor dear could not take it anymore.  It was a tragedy to see her go that way and so awful for the family too. 

I saw her on the Thursday before that, and it was very upsetting to see her like that but at least I saw her.  I kept wanting to go back and be with her but it was time for the direct family now.  I told her I loved her, and she told me she loved me and we had that moment to say goodbye.  It was really hard.  I will honestly miss her very much, we had spent quite a lot of time talking about old stories and she had given me good advice.  She was a strong and beautiful lady.  She always said to me that she would be with Bill again, her husband in heaven one day too.  The service was amazing, and it perfectly showed us the beautiful lady she was.

At the funeral her son-in-law Terry told the wonderful story how Betty and Bill had met in the war years.  In WWII the girls would make socks and fruit cakes to send to the boys at war.  It was called the comfort fund and the girls would put their names inside the parcel if the men wanted to write back.  So Bill Staveley had received the parcel from Betty Lindstrom, and was surprised that a his friend Bill Lindstrom was in his battalion.  So he asked Bill Lindstrom if he knew Betty Lindstrom and to their amazement it was Bill Lindstroms little sister.  So Bill Staveley and Betty wrote to each other throughout the war years and were married.  What an amazing story and it was so lovely that it was shared to us.

Auntie Betty had already told me this story before, but I was so pleased to hear it at the funeral. 

It is really hard to believe when someone has passed away.  It is just weird and a reality check too.  Just last month poor Graham Peacock died 41 years.  That was a huge shock for our friends because he was so young, and a man at work Matt Gurn died a few days ago 51 from cancer.  I will always remember the ones that passed away so young, who left behind loved ones especially those with small children.  It is like they were unlucky not to live to old age. 

I feel so lucky that I have my beautiful Nanna who is 92 years old.  Our family is so blessed.  She is the last one in her own family of seven sisters and two brothers. Although we are all lucky in our family because they all lived into old age.  It makes me think of my dear Pop Jenkins who was 65 years when he passed and his grandchildren were less than five years old.  The times we have missed with him. 

Anyway, do not want to get all morbid but the past few weeks have really made me look at things differently and I really want to enjoy my time with friends and family all of the time.  Make the most of it hey!  xx

Owen's party food

Icecream  cake

I had a lot of fun preparing the party food for Owen's First Birthday party.  I thought it would be a great idea to really put on a show for the kids party with lots of fabulous food. 

The family pulled together nicely with the preparations.  Grandma Penhall made the Cups and saucers, and Smiley face biscuits, Poppy Saunders made sausage rolls, my dearest friend Renae made biscuits decorated with lollies and I made Teddy bear cars, Icecream cake, Orange and poppy seed cake, and Frog in a pond. 



Cups and saucers

 It was not until later I realised how many lollies had been included in each recipe and the thought crossed my mind of parents quietly cursing me for hyperactive kids and never coming to visit ever again.

The day before the party on Friday I decided to put the boys in child care so I could prepare the food.  I hoped to have the strength not to be tempted to eat to much of it too.

So the first thing I did at 6am was to have some smarties for breakfast.  They were delicious.  What a great start for the day!

Tiny teddy's n cars

Then the boys got out of bed too.  I was completely horrified when Jamie gave Charlie a rather large bowl of Smarties before taking him to child care.  I wonder if he was bouncing off the walls when he got there.



Smiley faces



lollies galore



Renae's delicious delectables..



Owen's family dinner bday cake

Grandma's button is green



Charlie with cousin Kayne

 When we were eating our dinner at Grandparent Penhall's house last night, Charlie decided that putting his feet on the table was a good idea, and despite every effort of the adults in the room he still continued.

I whispered to Grandpa, "Charlie knows how to push Grandma's buttons", and Charlie responded "Yes I am pushing Grandma's buttons and it is a green button".

Jenkins from Pontypridd

Jenkins family a1920 Pontypridd Wales

Today I started delving into the Jenkins family history.  I had been in touch with a cousin about two years ago. 

She had comprehensively been recording information about my maternal grandfather's family since she was a child. 

So Rebecca had sent me some information and promised more but with the birth of her child never got around to it.

So I decided to follow it up with her again today by sending her and my other cousin Charlie a reminder email and to make a possible time to learn more about the family. 

She gave me some more notes on the family on the condition that if I publish information the source is cited.

Charlie's mother was my grandfather's sister to my grandfather and my mum's first cousin. He knows quite a lot about the Jenkins family being of age to know Kathleen and John Jenkins his grandparents my great grandparents.

So the reason why I don't know much about the family is my grandfather Tom Jenkins died of cancer when I was three years old.  It has been a real loss to the family.  I have virtually known nothing about his side of the family and only a few times met Charlie King who likes to keep in contact with us which is great.  I mainly saw my maternal grandmother's family but not my grandfather's.  We were a little disjointed that way, and Nanna was so close to her sisters so thats all she seemed to keep in contact with throughout the years.

It was a lovely surprise for Charlie to phone me tonight.   We had a nice chat and he told me an old story about the family.  We made a time to meet on the 11th April to talk about the family history and have lunch.  Something to look forward to.

He managed to tell me a story about the family.

The family lived on Maritime Street in Pontypridd Wales in the Rhondda Cynon Taff (link to google map) around 1910+. The street was named after one of the mines in the area.  These places were built for the mines employees.  John Jenkins worked in the mines.  He was a miner.  There are no mines opened these days and one stays open for tours. 

John Jenkins had quite a knowledge of mining law, and he fought for a year, and at the end a satisfactory result of striking due to his effort.  The family were starving because of this.  John had a cousin living in the mountains so he walked there to see if his cousin could give him food like cheese and bread.  They had a family of four-five children to feed. 

There are other relatives living in Brigend South of Cardiff and the sea but it very hard to track them because there are a lot of Jenkins in the phone book. 

John Jenkins father was a builder. 

Gran Jenkins came from County Cork in Southern Island with her brother.  Their parents died, so they were sent to an orphanage in Wales.  If you were poor Irish you were dependant on the charity of the church.  Life was tough.

It is amazing to hear this story about the family's hardship. Life was tough. Working in the mines and your family starving. Being a child orphan too would have been very difficult. They were lucky to survive this, and even more lucky to find a good life in Australia.

What a great start for learning more about the Jenkins family. I am eager to learn more about my maternal grandfather's family.


Websites of interest

Pontipridd History - http://webapps.rhondda-cynon-taff.gov.uk/heritagetrail/big_anthem_fawr/ponty_history.htm

http://www.pontytown.co.uk/history.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhondda

County Cork - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_Cork

Banksy art




Flower chucker - Banksy

 
I love Banksy art.  He is anonymous (or she) and uses stencils to create his imagery. 

Usually his art has some sort of message aimed at society, anti-establishment, anti-war, anti-capitalist and anti-government. Subjects often include rats, apes, policemen, soldiers, children, and the elderly.  It's very clever.

The official Banky site http://www.banksy.co.uk/ otherwise check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksy

Some more of his art:

Beautiful dutch iris flowers

Dutch iris

During our big walk today I bought some beautiful Dutch Iris bulbs to put in my garden.

First thing, Charlie and I went for a massive walk up Reynell Road, to Biards Rd, to the Happy Valley shops and home again.

On the way up Reynell Rd, there was a man standing out the front of his house watering his garden. He had the most magnificant garden, so I made comment to him about this, and then asked him what some of the flowers were.

I really loved the big pink lilies that stood out. The flowers were massive, at least 15cm in length like big bells hanging of the end of a long stem about 50cm.  The man told me they were a variety of Lily called  Bella lily, Easter lily, Naked Lady and to come back later in Winter to see the Ox eye daisy, apparently also very beautiful.

Naked lady

So when Charlie and I arrived at the shops we went into the garden section of Mitre 10 to see plants and bulbs.

Unfortunately none of those that were in the mans garden were there so instead I bought myself some Dutch Iris bulbs in a variety of colours.

I'm looking forward to putting those in the ground in approximately 4-6 weeks when the weather cools down a little and then watching them grow into the most magnificant flowers.  One of my favourites.

Next time I am at another garden centre I will make an effort to find more beauties like naked lady, bella, and easter lillies.

Le baiser de l'hotel de ville paris (kiss by the hotel de ville)

One of my favourite photos of all time is Le Baiser de L'hotel de ville Paris (Kiss by the hotel de Ville) taken in 1950 by Robert Doisneau.  It has been an international symbol of young love in Paris.

I fell in love with it many years ago.  An exboyfriend spent many hours searching Parisian shops for this photo because he knew I loved it.  What a wonderful surprise to receive it by mail.

My secret desire to be married in Paris... How romantic! 

I love the imagery of the scene.  Taken in black and white, a man and woman standing in the middle of a busy Parisian street embraced in a kiss.  The people dressed in clothes and hair styles unique to the era of the 1950s.

I was told me that the photo was not planned, just a spontaneous moment in time captured by photography. What a romantic dream.

Since then I have found the identity of the couple remained a mystery until 1992. It was planned by the photographer because it was against French laws for photographers to take photos of people without their consent because people owned their identity. More on this below - it raises some important points about photography ownership.

Despite this, the photographer managed to capture a sense of spontaneity of a kiss.

"The marvels of daily life are so exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street." Robert Doisneau.

You can read more about the photographer if you follow this link to wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Doisneau

History on the couple and the photo (from Robert Doisneau autobiography wikipedia see above link to read more)

Jean and Denise Lavergne erroneously believed themselves to be the couple in The Kiss, and when Robert and Annette met them for lunch in the 1980s he "did not want to shatter their dream" so he said nothing. This resulted in them taking him to court for "taking their picture without their knowledge", because under French law an individual owns the rights to their own likeness. The court action forced Doisneau to reveal that he posed the shot using Françoise Delbart and Jacques Carteaud, lovers whom he had just seen kissing but had not initially photographed because of his natural reserve, but he approached them and asked if they would repeat le baiser. He won the court case against the Lavergnes.[1][3][10][11]

“ "I would never have dared to photograph people like that. Lovers kissing in the street, those couples are rarely legitimate." Robert Doisneau. 1992[9][10] ”

The couple in Le baiser were Françoise Delbart,[12] 20, and Jacques Carteaud, 23, both aspiring actors. In 2005 Françoise Bornet (née Delbart) stated that "He told us we were charming, and asked if we could kiss again for the camera. We didn't mind. We were used to kissing. We were doing it all the time then, it was delicious. Monsieur Doisneau was adorable, very low key, very relaxed." They posed at the Place de la Concorde, the Rue de Rivoli and finally the Hôtel de Ville. The photograph was published in the June 12, 1950, issue of Life.[11] The relationship between Delbart and Carteaud only lasted for nine months.[10] Delbart continued her acting career, but Carteaud gave up acting to become a wine producer.[9]

In 1950 Françoise Bornet was given an original print of the photo, bearing Doisneau's signature and stamp, as part of the payment for her "work", and thus her subsequent attempt at litigation in the 1990s was rejected by the court.[3][9] In April 2005 she sold the print at auction for 155,000€ to an unidentified Swiss collector via the Paris auctioneers Artcurial Briest-Poulain-Le Fur.[3][9][13] (from wikipedia)

Worse mother in the world

The worse mother in the world was what I was thinking as I took my son into the Emergency Department at Flinders Medical Centre. 

I felt terrible.  The Doctors told me that ingesting propranonol was very serious and that it can kill babies and people use it to commit suicide.  Straight to the point they were.  It was a very serious matter.

I was typing away on my computer, and generally doing what I have been doing a lot of lately, hanging out in the kitchen, cooking, surfing the net, checking my items on ebay.  Owen was in our bed, he had been asleep for about half an hour when I heard him winging at my door, and cry and a few bangs.  I thought he would be okay, he went quiet, great so I kept on doing what I was doing in the kitchen.  A few more bangs on the door and a cry.  So after about 10 minutes, I kept forgetting him, I went down to see what he was doing.

I opened the door to find little pink tablets on the floor, saliva and pink crushed tablets dribbling down his chin and onto his tshirt, some pink patches on the floor and some on the bed.  He had been eating my prescription tablets, ones that had been in the bottom of a bag for a few years.  I had forgotten that they were in there, and he had obviously dragged the bag out of the bottom of the wardrobe, poked those little hands down into the centre part of the bag to find the drugs.

The thing with Owen he puts everything into his mouth and is constantly into everything.  That day I had found him trapped under a medium sized picture, the glass broken and cut his chest.  Nothing serious luckily.  He nearly swallowed a little yellow ball, and had fallen backwards to crack his head onto the floor boards.  All in one day.  He was on a roll. 

So the tablets just topped it all off.  In a panic I looked up the hospital number. At that stage I was not sure if it was a medical emergency so would talk to the health hotline first.  It was busy.  I rang my Doctor, I know the number by heart, explained my story.  They said it was important for me to get Owen to the hospital straight away and that it was very serious.  They said if I had insurance to ring the ambulance.  So I put both boys in the car and drove to Flinders Medical Centre.

It was not clear how many tablets Owen had consumed so the Doctors decided to keep him in overnight.  Poor little thing, ECG, blood glucose test by prick to the finger, and two attempts to put a jelco needle into his hand with no luck.  The medical staff monitored him all night, every two hours they did their tests to make sure he was okay because they did not know if he was going to get worse.  But thankfully, after six hours they knew that he was in the clear and would be okay.

At the morning Paediatric ward round, the Doctor made a point that children who help themselves to tablets tend to do it again if the parents are not careful.  It is in their nature.  I agreed straight away.  The consultant asked me to watch poisons in cupboards under the sink and anything dangerous to be put up higher in cupboards and that I will need to keep an eye on him up to school age because he just does not understand.

It is so true, Owen puts everything in his mouth and Charlie his brother was exactly opposite.  So I suppose we never had to worry about Charlie and that has made me a little complacent.  I never had a problem with Charlie doing that, such a careful child.  But Owen on the other hand is one I am going to have to watch.

History through china - traditions both new and old



my new teapot

 My new china my 'little treasures to cherish' gave me the opporunity to talk with their owner, Dianne.  The start of this story was on my blog History through china - little treasures to cherish

She responded to my email, a beautiful story that has inspired as she reflected upon her life and its traditions both new and old. 

At the bottom of the page is my email.  Hers at the top, as I wanted her story to be the focus of this blog.  I am so thrilled that she shared some of this life experience with me. 

Through fine china, women have often bonded by getting together to enjoy a cup of tea with scones and cakes.  These traditions have been formed through these connections.  Similarly, my friends and I like to paint pictures on canvas together, like women used to sit around doing needle work. Another tradition formed by women.

These are Dianne's lovely words:

Cherie , How lovely.

I am glad your grandmother is happy in the nursing home. It is such a hard thing for the family to do. Having faithfully promised never to do this to my mother, when, at 96, she could no longer walk, it becaue a "no choice" situation as I am only 4'10" tall and one week of lifting her from the bed to the wheelchair I had hired, etc., proved I was not as strong as I used to be. Fortunately, I do not think she was really aware of what was happening. Nevertheless, guilt, guilt, guilt!

However, during the 12 months or so she was there, fortunately very close to my home, I became quite friendly with other more compis mentis residents and we used to have afternoon tea outside using my grandmother's and mother's tea sets, cloths, napkins and silver.


A couple of staff members decided to continue this practice, having special weekly afternoon teas. I and family members of other residents donated china, linen and silver and I believe it is a much enjoyed event.

I have not just kept the "valuable" pieces belonging to family members, but rather things that I remember were important to them or that they used regularly. I would never serve trifle in anything other than "Nanna's trifle set". It is only cut glass from the 1930s and of very little value I should think, but for me it means Sunday tea at my grandparents' house.


I use her 1930s Alfred Meakin second best dinner service every day and I love it. Ebay allowed me to bring it back to full complement. She might not be happy with me using it as a "kitchen service" but it is my favourite, so why not.

I'm afraid her Rosa "kitchen service" did not survive the 1966 cull when we moved. I was relatively newly married with bright shiny wedding presents. Mind you, I do not regret donating it to charity. It was not that wonderful and there must have been a million of them around. They became standard town hall and Sunday school hall crockery after the demise of the glass sets that once were the norm in these places.


So, enjoy your afternoon tea and your little crinoline lady butter dish.


Dianne
 
 
My response to History through china part 1:
 
Hi Dianne
 
I also to let you know the reason why I bought these pin dishes. Recently my grandmother 92 years was put into a nursing home. She is very happy there now thank goodness. 
 
We had to decided what to do with all of her belongings, a life time of belongs. Some of them went to family and the rest were donated to charity or given away to strangers. It was quite a stressful experience especially for my aunt and uncle. But they are all okay now, they managed to get through it fine. 
 
So a few weeks ago I visited them in Mt Gambier. My aunt, mum and I were going through the last of my nan's boxes when I came across a small shell dish. It was totally covered in dust and didnt look like anything special. But I decided to keep it for tea bags and also it was my nans so it would be cherished. 
 
When I got home I noticed it had the Sandlands stamp on the bottom, did a search on the internet to find it was In an olde world garden with a crinoline lady walking in the garden near a bridge and that it was a collectable. How lovely. 
 
This started my desire to collect some more and to host a tea party with my best friends to enjoy of these vintage things. So since then I now have all of the pretty things for a tea party, and a few pin dishes too. They are all displayed in my china cabinet and will be cherished. 
 
Thank you so much for your story, I really enjoyed it. 
 
Best wishes 
Cherie

A mermaid in 1901



Mermaid by John William Waterhouse

This is one of my favourite paintings of a mermaid. 
It was painted by John William Waterhouse in 1901, oil on canvas and it is absolutely dreamlike and existential.  A pretty mermaid sitting on the shore, brushing her long red hair, appearing to dream. 

This painting was Waterhouse's diploma work for the Royal Academy.

John William Waterhouse is an amazing artist. I just love his work. Here is a link to his official website John William Waterhouse




A mermaid (masculine Merman) was a fabled marine creature with the head and upper body of a human being and the tail of a fish. Similar divine or semidivine beings appear in ancient mythologies (e.g., the Chaldean sea god Ea, or Oannes). In European folklore, mermaids (sometimes called sirens) and mermen were natural beings who, like fairies, had magical and prophetic powers. They loved music and often sang. Though very long-lived, they were mortal and had no souls.

Many folktales record marriages between mermaids (who might assume human form) and men. In most, the man steals the mermaid's cap or belt, her comb or mirror. While the objects are hidden she lives with him; if she finds them she returns at once to the sea. In some variants the marriage lasts while certain agreed-upon conditions are fulfilled, and it ends when the conditions are broken.

Though sometimes kindly, mermaids and mermen were usually dangerous to man. Their gifts brought misfortune, and, if offended, the beings caused floods or other disasters. To see one on a voyage was an omen of shipwreck. They sometimes lured mortals to death by drowning, as did the Lorelei of the Rhine, or enticed young people to live with them underwater, as did the mermaid whose image is carved on a bench in the church of Zennor, Cornwall, Eng.

Source: Encyclopædia Britannica