Christmas 2013 Ballina

Murray, Aunty Dympna, Me, Kim, Carolyn, Matthew

We had a pre-Christmas treat by having a visit from my nephew Matthew and his wife Carolyn. They dropped in for lunch and fortunately Kim had already flown in from Copenhagen by then, so they were able to reconnect. I think the last time they were together was about 15 years ago.

Kim, Me, Mark

I have been blessed to have two of my three children home to celebrate Christmas with us this year, as well as my Aunt Dympna, my sister Ret, her husband Peter, and my nephew Peter and his wife Sam and sons Riley and Jethro. As Peter and Sam had to be further north to celebrate Christmas Day with other family, we decided to host our Ryall Christmas lunch on Christmas Eve. However, everyone had arrived in town the day before, so we got in an early celebration at our favourite Chinese restaurant, and also had some time to sit on the patio swing and enjoy catching up with one another.

Dinner at Chinese 

Chilling out on the patio swing: Kim with Ret and her grandson Jethro

Cooking up a storm

Then the troops got together and cooked up a storm in the kitchen. Kim peeled the prawns and sliced the ham, Murray basted and BBQ'd the turkey and chicken and put Mary's plum pudding on to boil, Ret and Kim made little santa snowmen (out of strawberries and cream cheese) to decorate her Christmas Cake and I created a few new tasty salads and some regular

vegetables.

  

Kim, Ret and Aunty Dympna

To kick start the festivities at 11am, we popped the cork on the champagne, and opened our Kris Kringle presents inside the lounge room, making the most of the air-conditioning - it was hot and humid outside earlier on in the day. A cool change rolled in just in time. Phew!

Opening presents

Time to serve ourselves

Then at 1pm we left the air-conditioning and went outside to help ourselves to the food. What a fortunate country we live in to be able to spend Christmas with loved ones and lots of delicious food choices.

Murray slicing Mary's delicious plum pudding

 I saw my sister Ret fixing something up in the kitchen later that evening (everyone stayed until just before 9pm), so I thought I would get a photo of her son Peter, and my daughter Kim. But no, they didn't want to oblige, hence this photo of them looking anywhere but at the camera...

Jackson, the youngest member of the family (until he loses that position when Peter and Sam have their new baby in early February) spent his first Christmas up at home on the Gold Coast. His Christening is being held on 12th January, so I am looking forward to seeing him again then! 

Baby Jackson Ryall

Welcome to Jackson Mateo Ryall! The newest member of the Ryall family. 

As my friend Jan in America texted to me this morning, 'babies are precious - the circle of life'. Last week I had the privilege of being present while my nephew Jackson was delivered by Caesarean Section at 7.20am on Friday 29th November 2013. His mum and dad, Yudian and my brother Tony, were thrilled to see him arrive safely into this world. Amazing as it is, I was also present in another hospital when Jackson's brother Nicholas was delivered 38 years ago - I was a midwife in the hospital at that time. 

5am: Tony & Yudian about to head to hospital for the birth

The three of us gowned and ready for action

Out you come Jackson

Here you go mum - take a look at your new son!

Time for dad to cut the cord

Mum having her first cuddle - dad and I look on

He loves to drop his bottom lip - so cute

Things sure have changed since I had my babies or worked in a maternity hospital. Mind you, we are talking almost 30 years ago now. Tony and Yudian were lucky to get one of the 6 Regal suites at the hospital, and so a support person was able to stay with the new mother and baby. I won the jackpot, and was able to stay with Yudian for the first 3 days in the suite, and then as part of the private hospital suite package, mother, baby and support person get to spend another two days (as a transition stage) in the luxurious Palazzo Versace Hotel. There is a midwife present 24 hours a day, but she doesn't come to the room unless she is asked to. The Hotel provides a car service to collect the mother and baby, and they made her feel like royalty! 

Yudian and Jackson collected by Versace staff

Our king size bed in the Versace room

Jackson settles quickly with his 'baby whisperer' dad

The 'baby whisperer' has worked his magic again

Love the serenity of this photo!

Tiny little feet...

Proud mum and dad with their new son

View from our bedroom balcony at Versace

First photo after arriving home on day 5

Aunty Ret having a cuddle

Aunty Gemma's turn

My turn

Uncle Murray

Life didn't totally revolve around Jackson though. Food and drink had to provide sustenance for the carers! While I was staying in the hospital and also in the hotel with Yudian, the food and wine was provided. I then spent Jackson's first two nights at home with the family, while Yudian got settled into her mothering techniques. She needn't have been concerned though, as she is doing a great job as a first-time mother. Once we got home, Tony got to work and spoilt us rotten - here he is mixing me up a Cuban drink - a lime Mojito. Delicious on a hot day. Then each night he asked what we felt like for dinner - one of my absolute favourite meals is Morton Bay Bugs (like lobster) mornay, but I never order it on a restaurant menu as it is so pricey. He whipped me up one and it was full of fabulous bugs! Heaven! 

Mojito

Tony preparing my bugs mornay

Bugs Mornay

Nice to be home

Jackson enjoys stretching his legs out

First bath at home

Dad and Jackson are watching the cricket

Jackson checking himself out in the mirror on his activity mat

My last photo with Jackson before I left to return to Ballina. He was saying he loves his Aunty Sha (me).

Return to the Home of our Ancestors, Glen Innes, New South Wales

Ret's turn to drive - the scenery was so beautiful

On Tuesday morning this week, my Aunt and two sisters, Gemma and Ret, drove 4 hours west of Ballina to reconnect with our family history. The countryside was so beautiful and green - thanks to a storm that put an end to a 3 months drought. We were all oohing and ahhing about  the stunning scenery, so we stopped the car and took a few photos. When we drove through the Gibraltar Range National Park we stopped and took a recording of the sounds of the Bellbirds. Such a unique and distinctive sound as it echoes through the forest. 

Ret and Trish en route to Glen Innes

Ret at the front door of the cottage

We had booked into a cottage that surprisingly was only 4 houses south of the home owned by our dad's (and his sister Dympna's) family. When I booked the cottage the manager gave me the impression it had 2 bedrooms/2 bathrooms, but on arrival, we found it to have 5 bedrooms (1 queen with ensuite, 2 doubles, 2 single rooms and another 3 way bathroom, complete with 2 basins. Plus a huge lounge room, big kitchen, dishwasher, microwave 'and room for a pony'.  We thought we may have to share with another family…but no, it was all for us. Fantastic. 

Check out the lounge room - the corridor to the left leads to the bedrooms

The kitchen had everything we could possibly want...

Before we got settled, we all walked up the road to the old house at 29 Church Street - our cottage was in 21 Church Street. When dad's parent's died, they left the house in the will, and one year when I was only about 7 years of age, dad and mum checked us kids into the local school for one month so that they could have some time out. I remember it was one of the few times we had 'real' milk during our childhood - the school provided little bottles of chocolate and/or strawberry milk for morning tea. In Alice Springs during the 8 year drought we had no fresh milk in the town, only powdered milk. So these small, individual bottles were like gold to us Territory kids. I also remember I got my fear of bulls from this town - I was wearing a red sweater one day and my older brother Peter dared me to walk into a bull paddock. Not that I did, but he told me that if I did, the bull would tear strips off me as the colour 'red' aggravates them. To this day if I have a nightmare, it is about a bull chasing me… no wonder I was beside myself at our friends' ranch in North Dakota a few years ago when a bull charged our RV taking a dislike to our generator. Check out this link to read that blog entry!

Dympna and Gemma in front of the old Ryall home at 29 Church St Glen Innes

Rummicub game in action

The weather was glorious for our travels. One evening we had a few drops of rain to cool the earth down, but thankfully we had completed our visits to the cemeteries beforehand. On each afternoon and evening Dympna, Ret and I played rummicub to while away the hours. We were addicted! 

A kind man passing by offered to take our photo

On the first day we visited the town of Emmaville which is where my dad was born, and also where two of dad (and Dympna's) brothers were buried. We visited Maurice and Eddies' graves and said a prayer for them. It would have been our dad's 96th birthday that day, so it had a special significance to be there with his sister Dympna as we paid our respect to their brothers. 

Trish Dympna and Ret at Maurice and Eddie's graves

We also had time to contact a family relative Pat Newsome and her husband Don, and called out to their property 'Springfield' for a visit. For the family reading this, Pat is Ruby Ryall's younger sister. We had afternoon tea with Pat and Don, and Pat had whipped up a black forest cherry chocolate cake, savoury biscuits with cheese, lemon tartlets with cream AND lamingtons! 

Dympna Don and Pat

The next day we drove about half an hour East of Glen Innes to the little town of Red Range (home to around 70 families) where dad and Dympna's grandparents are buried. We drove up a narrow, winding country road and found the isolated little cemetery. Very 'Australian' countryside.

Road to Red Range Cemetery  

Click on this panorama to get a 'feel' for the countryside

Gem and Dympna with the grandparent's headstone in Red Range

The day before we left Glen Innes we lunched in a local cafe...

Gem and Dympna visit the Antique shop next door to our cottage 

Another panorama taken on our way home, to give you an idea of the beautiful drive we had  - click on this to get the full appreciation.

Our final stop on the way home was in Tynedale where Dympna lived with her husband John for 15 years before he died. The roses were blooming, and we couldn't resist asking her to stand out the front while we took a photo. We all arrived safe and sound back in Ballina after 3 nights away, and loaded with a host of new memories to treasure. Love my family!