On September 7th at 11.07pm my first grandson Campbell James was born weighing in at 8lbs 15ozs. Pictures above include me holding him for the first time and also with his dad, Sam. The mum is my youngest daughter, Krystal. Am so proud of them and all are well. Campbell was born on the Wednesday night and came home on the Sunday morning. Krystal and Sam have done his room in a lovely powder blue with clouds on the wall and he even has sheets to match. The rocking chair in the picture has been sanded back and done up by my husband Kim, otherwise known as Poppy. The idea behind that belongs to Sam as he asked Kim about it. Just seems the other day we were the ones having babies!
Campbell's other grandmother is Oma from Holland. She flew out here for a holiday spending her time between Melbourne and Sydney. Her other children (2 daughters) and her other grandchild (who is 8) live in Melbourne so she could visit them, attend her daughter's wedding in Melbourne, a baby shower here, meet all of us, catch up with her sister and family who live here in Hobart and meet Campbell. She is a lovely lady and shared some interesting Dutch traditions with us for when babies are born. She has since returned home to Holland and I look forward to getting to know /203.
her better, thanks to today's technology.
On the Sunday Campbell came out of hospital we had all our children and grandchildren including Campbell over for tea. The other two are the gorgeous girls, Jasmine 8 and Lily 3 who are my eldest daughter's two. It is quite busy when this happens but then I think of my dear friend Thel who has six sons plus partners and children so really my tribe are small fry compared to hers! We put the dogs outside as Campbell is just too little and all Angus (spoodle) will want to do is try and lick him!
Thursday Sept 8th which was the first day of Campbell's life I picked up friend Helen from the airport. I met Helen in recent times at my friend Dee's big birthday bash in Queensland. Dee introduced me to my husband well over 30 odd years ago now and Helen is her friend but technically her ex sister-in-law. We both stayed with Dee and as neither of us are ballroom dancers and most at the party were we did quite a bit of talking together. Turns out Helen is not a fan of flying so has only flown to Brisbane twice from Melbourne and that has been her limit. Well we cant have that, so having never visited Tasmania before, Helen decided to fly over and despite not being a fan of the air, she managed and enjoyed her trip! After resting whilst we visited our daughter and new born grandson I took Helen down to Sandy Bay so she could have a walk around the area and then a drive through our city. That night friends Rog and Thel came over for dinner and we had a pleasant evening.
On Friday it was off to visit Richmond which is a lovely historic town just out of Hobart. It is delightful to walk through the main street and browse the little shops but also to just wander and admire old homes and the new builds which have been sympathetic to the era. Prior to rules changing some homes that belong in suburbia were built and should never have been approved. One wonders what was torn down in order for some of these to be built. Check out this link to see what Richmond has to offer http://www.richmondvillage.com.au/
The stone buildings are a delight and as one wanders I imagine ladies of yesteryear swishing along in their long dresses holding a parasol to protect their English skin from the sun. One could also imagine those who had life much harder and were convicts who worked on some of the buildings or maids who scrubbed their hands red raw..no such thing as disposable nappies in those days. Who today can imagine scrubbing nappies on a washing board? Or on hands and knees waxing and polishing floors..once again thanks heaven for modern technology!
Pic of Helen taken outside one of the delightful little shops. We had lunch at Ashmores,http://www.ashmoreonbridge.com.au/
Helen kindly shouted and we used a discount voucher from the Entertainment Book. I had a very yummy smoked salmon dish and annoyingly now, I cant recall what Helen chose. I have eaten there several times and always enjoy the atmosphere. I have only been disappointed once and that was by battered fish (which could happen anywhere and I admit to be being particular when it comes to fish) I have had there. I had it at another place as well in Richmond and felt the same diappointment though I do recommend the pub for their fish as well as various other choices. http://www.richmondarmshotel.com.au/
Saturday was off to Salamanca, world famous market
http://www.salamanca.com.au/ and a place every one must visit. I have been countless times over the years since moving to this state and always enjoy it. One can buy everything from art and craft, to food, clothing, wood and leather craft, jewellery, fruit and veg, plants, books..you name it and Salamanca has it! Lunch with Helen and Thel was http://www.agfg.com.au/guide/tas/hobart/hobart/hobart-city/bars-entertainment/barcelona-bar-loungearcelona Barcelona which has a New York style long bar and is a restaurant as well. Helen had beef burger which was huge, Thel had a duck dish and I had fish. We all enjoyed our meals. The rest of the day was spent browsing and walking through town to spend time listening to Irish music at The New Sydney Hotel. A group of people just come in and play Irish music every Saturday, making it a popular pub. It also has an ambience that many Australian pubs do not.http://www.newsydneyhotel.com.au/Home.html We were later joined by Kim and Rog and as new Sydney was fully booked we ended up at The Duke. http://www.theduke.com.au/
We were lucky to get a table. It has a nice atmosphere and is a good venue for a drink or function. I found the menu lacking , well for my taste. Seafood dishes had chilli so no good for me. Anyway, after lunch out and not being a big eater I was not that hungry. After a big lunch Helen was not that hungry either so thought a salad and a bowl of fries would suffice. We were all surprised by the size of the bowl of fries so everyone helped her with eating them! Not shown is Thel's dish which was duck (she loves duck if you cant guess that!) Kim had pork ribs which he enjoyed and as you can see they are generous serves, as was Rog's steak. I dont eat red meat and there really wasn't anything on the menu for me except the mushroom risotta. I didnt care for it but Rog said it was yummy and having run more than one restaurant in a past life he should know! Even though I like mushrooms, it was just too much mushrooms for me! Oh well, was a good night just the same and the service was outstanding! I do not say that often here as the service is generally lacking and many are doing casual jobs but not trained in the industry, whereas service in mainland states I have found to be much better. I recall once being at what was considered silver service in a restaurant in Swansea on our east coast and I asked what the fish of the day was. The reply was "buggered if I know"! I have never forgotten that. It was quite amusing for us but what if we had been with people from the mainland or overseas, then it would have been downright embarrassing. Now, if I was at the local pub (which has since sadly burned down in Swansea a few years back now)
I would not be bothered by that answer. There is etiquette for a pub and one for silver service and they are both quite different. I digress..back to Helen's holiday.
Sunday was watching football and a visit to see Maree's rabbits from Mareniko Angora rabbit Stud. Maree breeds them and this has been discussed elsewhere on this blog. She had some lovely little new babies and should you be interested she does send them interstate.
Sunday night my three children, their partners and children all came for tea and to meet Helen. Had a lovely evening, though the dogs to their disgust had to be left outside!
The following couple of days was a trip to MONA which is the Museum of Old anfd Modern Art, Cadburys Chocolate Factory etc so I will leave this and write a part two. MONA is amazing so please come back to read about it. I feel like I am showcasing Tasmania, we certainly have much to offer.
Cheerio
M x
