Tuesday 12 May 2015

Back Home Again!

After an uneventful flight back to Brisbane from Mt.Isa and an equally uneventful trip from the airport with Greyhound, I arrived home last night after spending a little over a week with my daughter, son-in-law and my grandchildren. The baby especially had grown so much since I was there in December and he is an absolute delight at nearly five months.


My daughter and I had seen some gorgeous photos online which were taken with babies and their grandparents and just before I left we tried to take a few but have you ever tried to keep a baby still long enough to take a really great photo? We did end up with a couple and I edited the one above but the effect I chose makes my hand look like it is cyanosed. LOL! I didn't take my new DSLR camera up with me which was just as well as it would have been wet from the pouring rain when I was running to board the plane during the rain event on the 1st May. 


Here are a few photos I took with my camera which I couldn't include in a post when I was there as I had to use the Blogsy App on my iPad as my girl's laptop has gone kaput. This is the sign at the school where the young teacher who was killed the night after I arrived taught Year 3. She was only in her twenties and it was such a waste of a young life.


If you ever visit Mt.Isa, Outback at Isa is the place to visit to plan your time there especially if you want to explore the area. There is plenty of information available for tourists as well as a cafe and I think there may be a museum or art gallery as well.


My littlest granddaughter turned five at the weekend and her birthday party was held at the Mt.Isa Family Fun Park. That chimney stack in the background is from the Mount Isa Mines which isn't far from the fun park.


In the grounds of the fun park there sits 'Mucker Duck'. There is an explanation of the artwork as follows:

'Mucker Duck' 2009. This artwork is centred around a 1950s heritage mining 'rail shovel' (or 'mucker') once used at Mt.Isa Mines and has been created by Queensland artist Christopher Trotter. The 'rail shovel' was generously donated by 'Outback at Isa'. 

With regard to this piece, Christopher explains that he endeavours to create new life through the careful selection of recycled objects, colour and composition. Adding qualities of humour and playfulness to the public place, the 'Mucker Duck' has elements of both delight and discovery.'

Upon further inspection the viewer is rewarded with the hidden layers of life. 

How many ducks can you find?



I found six ducks!


While we were waiting for the birthday guests to arrive I spied these jean planters at the back of the PCYC next door so zoomed in with my camera to get a shot. How funny are they? LOL!



Anyone with a baby would know how hard it is to go clothes shopping and, as my daughter needed to find some winter clothes, I looked after bub while we checked out a few shops including Oasis which is where we found Jac, one of the finalists in My Kitchen Rules. I asked her if she minded if I took a photo for my granddaughter who was sad that they didn't win and I think my daughter was mortified when I asked her to be in the photo too. :-) Jac was very nice and extremely helpful and she is just a down to earth lady.


 I took a couple of photos of the plants that are growing in the garden but couldn't remember what the name of this yellow flower is. Does anyone know? The CEO couldn't remember either and said we used to have it in another colour.


These are the roses that were given out to all the mothers at church on Sunday which was a lovely gesture. They are very pretty I must say.

 
Just before we left for the airport yesterday this little cutie rolled over for the first time much to the delight of his nanna. 

So now it is back to routine once more. Cold weather is forecast for tomorrow so I have just packed away the clothes I took to Mt.Isa as they won't be needed for some time. There will be no 34C days here in the coming months. :-)


28 comments:

  1. Looks like you had a wonderful trip and enjoyed every moment. Very happy baby too by the looks of it. Thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Krystal, the baby is at a lovely age and is just such a happy little boy.

      Delete
  2. Sounds like you had a great time visiting your family! So glad to hear it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Joyful. I only see the children twice a year and they do change so much in between visits.

      Delete
  3. Chel the words "uneventful flight" are the words you want to hear when flying! The yellow flower looks like a Yellow Justicia brandegeana. That is a lovely happy photo of your grandson.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree Sherri :-) Such a lot of drama while waiting at the airport in Brisbane. I was a bit over it by the time we got in the air.

      Delete
    2. Thanks for the name of the flower, Sherri.

      Delete
  4. What a lucky ducky, Miss 5 birthday at the family fun park. Ohhhh what a cute smiley baby! Too sad what happened that teacher, just shocking, tragic and too sad.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Zena, the fun park is a great place for parties in Mt.Isa and is used a lot by families. Unfortunately it is also vandalised on a regular basis.

      Delete
  5. What a lovely post-glad that you got to spend the time with your family. XX

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deezy, so lovely to hear from you again. You must be so busy with all those little grandchildren :-)

      Delete
  6. What The? Jean planters? Such a cute funny baby photo - hang onto that one for 21st.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes Lynda...jean planters! They would look great in your back yard. Perhaps you should have made one out of Stig! LOL!

      Delete
  7. Glad you got back safe and sound, sounds like you had a wonderful time! I love following folks on their travels in the blog world and I looked up Mt Isa on the satellite image in google maps and oh my does it look dry! We used to live in the Mojave desert and it looked a lot like that. You live in an interesting country and I so love that you share!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad you enjoyed the post, Kathy. Mt.Isa is in the Outback and is very dry and fairly remote. It is a good day's drive over to the coast and lots of locals holiday in Townsville.

      Delete
  8. Sounds like you had a very good visit, bub is so cute. Too right you won't need the hot weather gear for a few months now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deb, all the summer clothes have been washed and put away. I think the forecast is for about 3C tomorrow morning. Brrr!

      Delete
  9. Loved hearing about The Isa. I was a teacher there back in 1980. I remember smoke from the stack coming down and making all the kids cough and cough. Hope they've got that sorted out!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hutchy, the chimney stacks don't seem to bother the locals. They tell me that the emissions are monitored and the chimneys are shut down if the level gets too high. Seeing them belching out that 'stuff' 24/7 certainly bothers me.

      Delete
  10. Good on you for being so committed in visiting your daughter and grand-kids - not a days goes past with out me thinking about my grandparents even 40 years down the track. You are making significant memories for them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is lovely to see them Phil. Unfortunately it costs a small fortune to fly up there. Not sure why QANTAS charges so much...perhaps because it is a mining town and it is presumed that everyone is wealthy :-)

      Delete
  11. Gorgeous baby photo! So happy. And you met Jac! I loved those girls! They were great cooks. Last night I did their lamb, baked feta and beetroot dish. It was amazing and I will be doing that regularly. I had neve baked feta before.. I have baked ricotta... Anyway it's amazing!
    What a great trip so glad for you. Xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jac was really nice, Annabel and we did see Shaz one day when we went to lunch and she seemed very friendly as well. That dish sounds nice. You must be on cloud 9 at the moment after becoming a grandma.

      Delete
  12. Sounds like you had a wonderful trip to see your gorgeous family Nanna Chel. Your grand baby has certainly grown, looks like a happy little cherub. I love the first photo of the tiny hand on yours...so precious.

    Hope you are well. I haven't been frequenting blogs much lately as time has been short. I have a night to myself so I am catching up on some of my favourites :)

    xTania

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He has grown so very much, Tania and is just a little darling. Have you been busy working in your garden?

      Delete
    2. Busy doing lots of things Nanna Chel, mostly learning about looking after my health as I have been feeling lousy quite a bit lately and it is so tiring.
      Re the garden; I have tree roots invading my beds, so we are pulling them up and replacing with wicking beds in barrels and baths or anything else we can find to be suitable. I keep plodding on even when I feel like giving up. I feel it is important to eat organic as much as possible, and I am unable to get too much of that here other than to grow it myself. Hoping to have success with the wicking barrels. I think you asked me once before where I purchased them from. We get them at Para Mount Browns in Adelaide. Not sure if you have them where you live. They are $25 a barrel.

      Have a lovely weekend,

      xTania

      Delete
  13. Tania, I thought you were feeling a lot better lately from drinking your green juice etc. Sorry to hear you are feeling lousy. Thanks for the info about the wicking barrels. Not sure where we can get them here but I would think they would be available somewhere as RobBob seems to be able to get them in Ipswich. I was talking to my girl about your garden as you have similar temps to The Isa but they also have lead in the soil so would have to have raised beds and also bring in the soil which would be too much work with three little children so they have to buy their fruit and veggies from the supermarket. No fruit and veggie shops up there like we have here where we are spoilt for choice.

    ReplyDelete
  14. How very, very blessed you are to have had that time with your loved ones - and they with you!
    Hugs
    Jenny
    x

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for leaving your comments as I love to hear from my readers. As soon as I check them they will be published. If for some reason you have trouble leaving a comment feel free to email me directly by filling out the 'Contact Me' form on the sidebar at the right.

Printfriendly

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...