Family

What a complicated thing a family is! I accidentally (almost) stumbled on WikiTree and went down the rabbit hole of genealogy. I’ve never been interested in family research, but I felt honour-bound to correct and complete details about my family on the site. Much of it I knew myself or could ask my mother. However, this was my father’s side of the family and none of his immediate family are still living so there’s no-one to ask. I’ll have to take a very deep breath if I decide to fill it all in, let alone begin on my mother’s side.

Family that’s right in my face is more to my taste. And there’s plenty of that to be going on with. Here’s my mum, the oldest of the clan at 92, holding the youngest aged one month (at the time of the photo). She is now a great-grandmother to this wee chap who was born on her birthday in January.

A baby brings out the best in everyone. Love overwhelms you and touches everyone in the room. On this family occasion we were celebrating two 21st birthdays and a 90th birthday. There were happy tears as births and childhoods were recalled. The 90 year-old and his late wife have always shown enormous love and nurturing to their grandchildren and now the grandchildren are doing the same with the new baby.

And this is me, a happy (fairy) godmother to my 21 year old niece and now a great-aunt! It sounds very grand. Perhaps I will work on that family tree.

Birthday Treat

It’s Mum’s 92nd birthday today. We went to Mona Vale for high tea. Today is hot and sunny, so it was nice to be inside, but with a view of the beautiful gardens and the river and people lunching on the terrace.

Mum’s lovely outfit is complemented by gold shoes!

We both donned our pearls for the occasion. My pearl necklace and bracelet are made from a double string of pearls which were my great-aunt Lil’s.

Speaking of greats…Mum is, as of 3.40pm today, a great-grandmother and I am a great-aunt! An amazing birthday present. That really is a treat.

Yesterday we went shopping in Kaiapoi and I was pleased to buy Mum a skirt for her birthday. It is the closest we’ve found to her beloved skirt bought for $25 from Hays many years ago. She bought two of them then, and one finally parted company with its hem the other day. The trouble has been finding a skirt with pockets. It was great to find this one, and even better that it is designed by a local company.

I took this photo to send to my sister holidaying on the West Coast, to get her approval, which speedily arrived. Isn’t technology wonderful?

After our high tea, I thought a birthday portrait of Mum might be appropriate. There are two blue velvet wing chairs in the foyer at Mona Vale.

See the little green bunnies?

We were stuffed after our generous high tea. And, from the photo at the top, I can see it must be half-rations for me now that Christmas is behind us. Clearly I’ve inherited my father’s genes.

Happy Birthday, Mum, and to your new great-grandson. There are now two of you to treat on this special day.