Christmas at Lake Tawakoni

Christmas 2020 was definitely different for us--not only in the way it was for everyone else. 

Since we weren't able to take our hoped for two week vacation in November, we decided to go away in our RV over Christmas week. 

We chose Lake Tawakoni State Park partly because it was one of the few places that still had availability and partly because it was only an hour's drive from the nursing home where my Mom was staying for rehab following ankle surgery.

The poinsettia plant in the photo above right is one we got to take to her.  We bought it ahead of time and the only place it fit in the RV was on the dash. I enjoyed the cheerful splash of color. I hoped it would cheer her a little. It helped me get into a more festive holiday mood, anyway. 

It had been a difficult two months leading up to Christmas. 

For several years my 86 year old Mom, who has Parkinson's, lived with her caregiver, Billie, and Billie's husband in their home.  They have cared for many people in their home over the years like my Mom who needed a high level of care. Billie was such a good caregiver I hoped, and prayed, I would never have to find another place for my Mom to live. 

Sunday, November 1st I got a frantic call from Billie saying that my Mom had fallen and twisted her ankle. Billie was worried that it was broken. 

Billie called a mobile x-ray unit. They came the next morning and confirmed that it was fractured. 

We called 911. The paramedics took her to the ER. When she arrived they checked her temperature. It was 99.9 so they did a Covid test. It came back positive! I was stunned. So, in addition to having a broken ankle she also had Covid-19! 

It probably should not have been a huge surprise since Billie and her husband had been sick for a few days. They didn't know what they had but this tipped us all off that it was likely Covid-19 since that was seemingly the only way my Mom could have gotten it. They did get tested after my Mom was diagnosed, but test results from the free clinic they went to took several days.  

Billie wore a lot of PPE when she first got sick to try and protect my Mom and the other lady, but it obviously didn't completely work. Though it may have helped my Mom to not get a severe case of it.

The virus seems to have been brought into the home by the son of the other lady they were caring for. He apparently visited just at the start of his illness but since he didn't "believe in" Covid he refused to get tested. The whole household including his own mother ended up testing positive for Covid-19 (we heard later that she had a mild case). Even his own housemate got it.

Billie was determined to keep caring for my Mom but by the end of the week Billie was having trouble breathing and had to go to the hospital. Testing at the hospital confirmed she did have Covid-19 and pneumonia in both of her lungs caused by Covid. Her husband also had Covid and needed to be hospitalized. 

My Mom and the other lady they cared for had to be evacuated. Billie's daughter  helped bring my Mom to our house. She also came back a few times to show us how to do diaper changes. I assure you it is much harder to change an adult than it is a baby! 

We hired two, brave, part-time caregivers from an agency to help with her care.  They were the only ones the agency had available who were willing to risk caring for a Covid positive patient. I am so thankful for them. We could not have handled it without their help!

She needed a lot of care. In addition to all of her usual high level of care needs, she was of course non-weight bearing on her ankle which meant she was bed bound. She also had diarrhea. We don't know if it was from the Covid or from the antibiotic the ER doctor prescribed for some unknown reason. But whatever the cause it made things even more difficult for everyone, including her.

After eight days at our house we were finally able to take her to see the orthopedic surgeon. We couldn't get her in sooner than that due to her positive Covid test. Even the morning of the appointment the surgeon's staff called to say she couldn't come. But I insisted that since it was 14 days from her positive Covid test and she was not having symptoms or fever we were going to bring her! After waiting for two hours in the waiting room we finally got to see the doctor. He took one look at her x-ray and demanded to know why we didn't bring her in sooner! He scheduled surgery for the very next day! 

Surgery went well. He was able to put the bones back together despite it having been so long since the break. It took a lot of hardware to hold it together--screws and plates of various kinds--but that was due to the complexity of the break not the delay.

After that we tried to get her into a rehab facility that we have heard good things about. They said she could come but first they wanted her to be retested for Covid. 

The orthopedic hospital didn't have the ability to process the test themselves so it took a few days to get the results. I spent most of every day at the hospital that week. 

Friday morning I arrived to discover a large yellow warning device on the door to her room. When I went inside, the room was empty. Even the bed was gone.

The test was positive! And she had been immediately whisked into their isolation room. I wasn't allowed to see her and they ended up banning me from the building because I had spent so much time with her that week. Thankfully my husband had not already driven away after dropping me off so I was able to wait in the car for a while until we decided what to do and where she should go.

The rehab facility we were hoping she could go to wouldn't take her after all as they didn't have space available in their Covid unit.

The hospital social worker said we could take her home with us. But we didn't feel up to that. He found another rehab/nursing home that had a Covid unit that had space available.  He assured me it was a "five star" facility. I don't know what that rating was based on. But based on my Mom's several weeks there I would give them several blots! NOT stars!

Meanwhile we spent a lot of time trying to find another assisted living home for her to go to after she was done with rehab. We prayed that Billie and her husband would recover and be able to care for her again. But we knew that it might be a few months at best before they would be up to that even if they did make a full recovery. 

It was difficult to find an assisted living home near us that could handle her care needs and was willing to risk taking her without a negative Covid test or two. The rehab facility followed the CDC guidelines that said that people should not be retested until 90 days after their first positive test as retests often come back positive even when the patient is no longer considered contagious. But assisted living facilities still wanted a retest before admitting her. And most insisted it had to be negative no matter what. 

We did find a couple of facilities that said they would take her even with a positive test but they said they would keep her in quarantine if it was. 

We chose one of them. (In the end they were willing to take her even without her being retested.) We put a deposit down on it in early December to hold the room until she could leave the rehab facility. 

We felt that she needed to stay at the rehab facility for a little longer since we thought the therapist was doing a good job, even though we weren't very pleased with some other aspects of her care. 

I was sad that she had to be there over Christmas. But I was glad that I, at least, could visit her. The first twenty days she was there she was not allowed visitors. After she moved out of the Covid unit and into a regular room she was allowed one visitor for one pre-scheduled hour per week. I was also required to prove that I had tested negative for Covid within the previous two weeks. 

I scheduled my visit that week for Christmas Eve morning. John drove me there. On the way there we amused ourselves by singing Christmas carols. I looked up the lyrics on-line. It was fun especially to sing some of the older carols our church never sings, like "Once in Royal David's City."

We arrived in good time and I went through the usual screening before they escorted me back to her room.

She was glad to see me of course.

She liked the poinsettia plant, too. 
 The pop-up nativity scene in the right corner of the photo was our card to her. I love pop-up cards! They bring out the kid in me. It was also a fun reminder of what Christmas is really about.

The next day was Christmas. My brother came out to the park to celebrate with us. It was the first time we had been together since March. John made chicken fajitas and apple crisp for our non-traditional, but still delicious, Christmas dinner. 

Apple crisp. We ate it with vanilla ice cream and homemade caramel sauce.

After lunch we went for a walk down to the lake. We also watched our church's delightful children's Christmas play

After dark we went looking for the "Christmas Star." As you may have heard the 2020 "Christmas Star" differed from the original one in that it was an alignment  of Saturn and Jupiter, whereas the original is thought to have been an alignment of Saturn and Venus. 

The best night to see the 2020 version was supposed to be December 21st. So we were several days past the main event. But my brother said that the planets would still be visible just not as closely aligned. 

John and I did try to see it on the 22nd. But since they were no longer aligned we didn't realize we were in fact seeing Saturn and Jupiter. We thought they were two stars. So Christmas night we showed him what we had seen. He confirmed that it was in fact Saturn and Jupiter. Here they are as they were on Christmas night--obviously no longer aligned!

The first part of the week we spent a lot of time exploring the park. Here are some pictures from that:

Moss on tree branches looking almost floral

Fungi covered stump fascinates me as usual

We watched this deer for some time. I took numerous photos. Then just when it stepped onto the path a few yards from John, I pressed the shutter for what I was sure would be best photo of all--the deer and John in the same frame--and then my camera stopped and gave an "empty battery" message!
It had started warning me the battery was low earlier in the morning but I ignored it. Lesson learned--as soon as my camera starts to give me a low battery warning I will change to a fresh one!

This cute little bird photo and the one below I extracted from videos on John's camera. He accidentally pushed the video button when he was trying to take photos. These were from some of the inadvertent video portion.

I found myself fascinated by paths on this trip. I took nearly 2 dozen photos of them. There was something about them that tugged at me. 

This one looked completely blocked and like we should just turn around and go back.

 

But when we got up to what looked like an impassible barrier we discovered that the path took a turn to the left and so we could keep going after all.

 

It's sort of a like life lately. Maybe that was part of why I was was stirred by them. Our personal path has gone a way that we never imagined and didn't want. I didn't know what was ahead. Stopping or turning around wasn't really an option. I just had to keep moving ahead, hoping for better things around the next bend. 

As a Christian, I do believe that this life is not all there is. The next life with God will be better by far so I have hope for the future. But this life sometimes goes in a way that is hard to accept. 

On December 26th, Billie's path took a turn that none of us wanted. Her daughter texted to say that her Mom had "transitioned to Glory." We were stunned. I still have a hard time accepting it. 

I believe she is with Jesus. She was a strong Christian. As Paul the Apostle said, to be with Jesus is better by far. But he also said he was torn between going to heaven and staying on earth to be a blessing to others. 

I believe that is how Billie felt. Her life was all about serving Jesus and caring for others. Even when she was in the hospital and struggling to breath she was still thinking about what my Mom needed and telling her daughter things to tell us about my Mom's care. 

Her husband is home now and is over Covid. But of course he is really missing his wife! And the rest of the family also feels bereft without her.

BILLIE SANDRA (LEWIS) WALKER
October 7, 1943 ~ December 26, 2020 (age 77)

On January 9th we moved my Mom into her new assisted living home. She seems to be getting reasonable care. The change has been a shock, though. Billie definitely spoiled us! 

No one can replace her.

A little post script

I just added another photo to my previous post about our Cedar Hill State Park trip.

When I was working on the post about that trip I kept having a feeling that I should look to see if there were photos from it on my camera. 

But I ignored the feeling. I didn't think I had used it on that trip. I thought I had only used John's camera. Sometimes I feel tire (lazy?) and don't want to mess with mine because it is heavy and bulky. Then too, when I carry it I tend to stop every three feet to take photos of every little thing. So sometimes I leave it behind to give myself a rest from taking photos obsessively. Of course then I end up borrowing John's camera and do the same thing. I just can't help myself. If I see something interesting or beautiful I want to take a photo. If I don't, later I wish I had.

So this morning when I uploaded photos from our Christmas trip I discovered photos on my camera from our Cedar Hill SP trip. 

Now, of course, I regret ignoring the feeling that I should have looked on my camera for photos of that trip. (That isn't a new feeling, I'm sorry to say. I do that a lot. I get a feeling I need to do something but I discount it and often end up regretting it later. I want to do better and pay more attention to those little nudges when possible.)

Anyway here are a few of the photos from my camera:

I saw these berries when we stopped to photograph the monarch butterflies. They held still better than the butterflies! John's photos of the butterflies were much better than mine. See last post.

From the DORBA trail hike. When we were not dodging bicycles it was quite pretty and peaceful.

Midway on the DORBA trail hike. John at the bench where we ate lunch. This is the photo I added to the other post.

A Little Escape from life's Dramas

For over two months I’ve been trying to write about a little trip we took to Cedar Hill State Park in October.  It was close to home and only two days long but since it was our first RV “trip” in 12 months it felt special and momentous. 

I don’t want to let the memories keep getting buried by some dramas that have been hitting us since. Trying to chronicle all of them in this post, is unrealistic and will delay it even longer. Maybe I'll write about them some other time.  

In part, the trip was meant to be preparation for a longer one we were planning for mid-November (which ended up not happening after all, but I digress). We wanted to see if anything needed repairing before the longer trip. Also since we had not gone anywhere in the RV for so long, we wanted to refresh our memories on how to do various things. And there were a couple of chores we needed to do to the RV: it was overdue for its annual state safety inspection and its fresh water system was due for its yearly disinfecting with bleach. 

The trip was a “success” on all points. We got the chores done and still had time to enjoy ourselves. We were glad to discover that we did remember, with the help of lots of checklists, how to do all the various jobs involved in operating the RV and hooking and unhooking the tow car.  We were not so glad however, that we also discovered a couple of things that needed repairing. 

Just before we left home for the trip we added a 1/2 cup of bleach to our fresh water tank. Next stop: Ten Minute Oil Change for the state inspection. When that was finished and before heading to the state park we did the next step to disinfect the fresh water system by turning on each faucet until we smelled bleach coming out to make sure it was spread through all the fresh water pipes. 

On the way to the park we discovered our first mechanical problem. The truck AC started making a loud buzzing sound. (Yes it can get warm enough for AC even in October in Dallas!) John hurriedly shut it off.  We've had it repaired several times since we bought the RV but it keeps breaking down. So it was definitely disappointing. But we made a mental note to deal with it after the new year since, we thought, it won't really be needed until Spring '21. (Wrong--we definitely wished we had it on a recent trip over Christmas.)  

We arrived at the park early, a rare and welcome occurrence for us. Since no one was in the site the night before, they let us check in and set up. The girl said that is often the case during the week. (Good to remember.)

We were in site 215. It had full hook ups (with sewer) which we wanted for flushing the bleach out of the fresh water system. It was long enough for the Honda to park in front of the RV and looked fairly level in the pictures on-line. Though after leveling the RV with the jacks the front tires ended up being a little off the ground. (John said the site was 2 degrees off.)

 

The site has a nice secluded picnic area

The weather was clear and sunny outside with cool breezes in the shade. It was hot inside the RV though and I didn't want to waste any of the lovely fall weather cooped up inside, so I took my lunch out to to our pretty picnic area where it was cool and shady. 

After lunch we went for a little walk around our camping loop and then hung out and rested and got settled until the pipes had their requisite three and a half hours of bleach treatment. 

The next step in the process was to run the faucets until the sixty gallons of water (with the bleach added) had all run out and the fresh water tank was empty. John dumped the waste water tanks and then we refilled the fresh water tank. We ran the faucets again to flush out all the bleach residue. I think we ended up emptying the fresh water tank at least once more. And that was our second big chore done.

After that John went for a longer walk and I hung out and had a shower--(I know TMI, sorry ;-).

After dinner we drove to a picnic area at the other end of the park to watch the sunset.

The next morning we woke up early so we were able to fit in a visit to historical Penn Farm Agricultural History Center before John was scheduled to go help a coworker move. I wrote in my journal, "one of the 'advantages' of being close to home--we can still keep up with other obligations." It didn't really feel like an advantage at the time though, but I decided to think of it that way since it meant we didn't have to wait until we had a completely free week to get away.

Penn Farm Agricultural History Center is part of Cedar Hill State Park. The land was owned and farmed by the Penn family from the mid-1800s through the mid-1900s. The site has buildings and equipment constructed and used by the Penn family. I took lots of pictures. This is just a few of them.

 

It was a beautiful morning just after sunrise when we arrived. 

I think the building in the background is the original barn.

I wanted to say here is an old "John Deere" with my John dear ;-).
But I can't see a brand name on the tractor...

I wonder if the neighbors ever thought, "why don't they get rid of that old rusty junk?" But now we are glad they didn't!

The original "Old" Penn farmhouse, built in 1859.
 

A "New" Penn farmhouse was built in 1876. There is a reconstruction of it in another part of the exhibit.  It is currently used as the park administrative offices. 

There isn't anything in the "old" one, we looked. It's ok to be a looky-lu here!

These flowers were next to the gate of the Old house

It was great to be there so early. We had the place to ourselves. And the morning sun cast a lovely golden glow on the trees. 

 

All too soon we had to return to our campsite so John could head over to his friend's house. After he left I had a nice time alone journaling and having my "quiet time."

When John finished helping with his friend's move he ran some errands and went home to get something--another benefit of camping nearby. 

After he returned we went for a hike and picnic on the 3 mile, "short" DORBA trail. (DORBA stands for Dallas Off Road Bicycle Association) The trail is called "challenging" on the trail map. But I thought it was more like "moderate." The primary challenge was when we had to quickly jump out of the way when mountain bikers came around blind corners without ringing their bell in time to warn us.  

It was a fun hike but I was glad it wasn't longer. I was definitely tired by the end of it.

We had a picnic lunch on a bench under a large shade tree about half way along the trail.

We had a distant view of Joe Pool Lake on part of the trail

And the delightful surprise of seeing some Monarch butterflies along the way.

The next day, Friday, was our last day. We were hoping to get a walk in before leaving but it rained all morning. So instead we spent the time decluttering and organizing, which I thoroughly enjoyed and John patiently endured.

Thanks for coming along on this little trip down memory lane. I hope that reading it has been a nice escape for you, like writing it has been for me.

p.s. I just realized I didn't mention the second mechanical problem we discovered. Maybe I'll write about it next. Or maybe not. We'll see.

"Peace" has been a theme lately

This morning a friend sent me an email about a Bible verse on peace and yesterday there was a meme quoting John 14:27--a well known verse on peace--from a fb friend in my feed.

Maybe I am more aware of "peace" as a topic because for the last two weeks I was working on writing a devotional about peace from Jesus's words in John 14:27. I turned in the completed devotional on Saturday. In the evening during a zoom Bible study I was asked to read John 16:33 for part of the study. It is also a key verse on peace which I wrote about in the devotional.

Saturday night I found myself wondering if God might be trying to prepare me for something! In my experience going down that mental path does not lead to peace. So I reigned in those thoughts and made myself think about something else. 

This morning when I got the email about peace I simply felt thankful for the "peace that passes understanding" and chose to think about God's goodness in wanting me to have peace despite the trouble in the country that I keep reading about in the news.

I also decided that if I need that message so much maybe my blog readers would find it helpful if I post the devotional I wrote on peace. So, without further ado, here it is:

Peace

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27 (NIV)

The context of this familiar verse is the night of the crucifixion.* Jesus and the disciples have just finished their last Passover meal together. He is in the middle of telling them many important things to prepare them for what is ahead. 

Just before this verse he assured them that the Holy Spirit whom the Father would send will, ”teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (14:26)

It’s like he is saying, I know I am throwing a lot at you right now and I know you might be starting to feel kind of anxious but don’t worry, the Holy Spirit will remind you later what I said. The main thing I want you to do right now is trust me even if things around you start to look bad. Everything really will be OK. Just trust me. 

He said in verse 27, “My peace I give you.” It was His peace. The same peace that let him sleep in a small boat on a stormy sea. The peace that let him walk on water even when the wind and waves caused the disciples to fear and Peter to sink. It was the peace that he spoke to the wind and waves and they obeyed Him and became calm.* And then later in the evening at the point of his biggest test, it was the peace that let him say “not my will but your will be done” before going to the cross. 

“My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.” 

Jesus gave them His peace. It was a gift. He gave it because he loved them. And because he knew they would need it. He wanted to give to them everything of himself that they would need to help them with what lay ahead. 

It wasn’t because they merited it by their stunning performance. That is how the world “gives”--If the world likes us because we perform to their, ever changing, standards then they give us their kind of peace, at least temporarily.

The world’s kind of peace is also all about what is here and now. Google defined peace as, “Freedom from disturbance; tranquility. A state or period in which there is no war or a war has ended.” The world’s idea of peace is that there are no troubles and everything around is tranquil and going the way we want.

Jesus had a different way of thinking. In John 16:33b he said, “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world.” I have sometimes struggled with that verse. My thinking tends to be along the lines of, “Well how does that help me right now? At this moment I am stuck in this trouble and I don’t want to be so please make it stop. Amen.” Like the disciples, I keep hoping that Jesus will hurry up and set up his kingdom on this earth and end all of my suffering. We humans don’t like to wait. At least I don’t. Especially not when I am suffering. That’s normal. It’s human nature. 

But he was giving them a different kind of peace. He wanted them and us to have peace even in the midst of disturbances and trouble. It’s the kind of peace that doesn’t make sense to the world. It is peace that, “passes all understanding.” (Phil. 4:7)  

The rest of John 14:27 says “Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

Jesus was telling them they had a choice. They could prevent themselves from becoming disquieted and fearful about the future. 

In John 16:33 (the whole verse) Jesus said “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Their peace, and ours, comes from faith in what he has said. That is what having peace “in him” is about. Trusting that even though things look bad now, he is working in and through these troubles and in the end, we will have joy and peace. In John 16:22 he assured them, “Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.”

To have His kind of peace we have to choose to believe what Jesus said and keep thinking about it. Whatever is happening in the world around us we need to “fix our thoughts” on his promises to have “perfect peace” like Isaiah 26:3 talks about. (NLT)

Being aware of what is happening in the world may be necessary sometimes. But constantly thinking about it won’t help us have peace! Like Peter if we spend too long looking at the wind and the waves, we will sink but if we keep our spiritual eyes on Jesus we can “walk on the water” with him. 

Notes:

*To see the whole context read John 13:31-16:33.

**To read these stories about Jesus:  

sleeping in the boat and calming the wind and waves--Mark 4:35-41 (in the King James Version he used the words "Peace be still"); also see Matthew 8:24-27; Luke 8:23-25

walking on the water--Matthew 14:22-33; Mark 6:45-52; John 6:16-21 (Mark and John don't mention Peter walking on the water)

Backyard inspiration

Last week I signed up for a photography class on Skillshare.com. I'm taking advantage of a free two month trial of their premium plan to see if I might want to join. The first class I signed up for is called "Nature Photography: Recharge and Enjoy the Outdoors" with instructor, Tabitha Park. It is only 18 minutes of video. So it's not super in-depth. But I enjoyed it.

The class assignment Ms Park said is just to "go outside and have fun with your camera." She suggested an early morning nature walk. But said that any outdoor space that inspires me would do. 

We do have a few flowering plants in our yard and it is obviously close and easy to get to. So I thought I would try that. It is no Edenic paradise though, so I didn't expect much joy, but to my surprise I actually did get inspired before long and took lots of photos. The morning sun looks lovely on the flowers and their were some other interesting sights as you will see.

Since I managed to get outside sooner than the recommended start time of 8:00 a.m. I did another little job first.

I've been having wasps coming into my bathroom and bedroom. One way they are coming in is from the bathroom vent. We're wondering if they have a nest in one or more of the roof vent pipes. I've read that they become active in the morning. So I thought if I could spot which roof vent pipe they fly out of in the morning then we will know if and where their nest is. 

I didn't see any flying out but I did spot two going into what I think is my bathroom's vent pipe. I guess they got up sooner than I did. They didn't come out again while I was watching. That might be enough proof. I don't know what to do about it if there is a nest in the vent pipe. Maybe we need to contact our roofer friend.

Anyway here is one of the wasps arriving at the vent pipe. (This is from a video I shot of it):

After several minutes of watching for wasps, I got down to my photography assignment.

First was the crepe myrtle. The light was still a little dim but with the camera set on Auto I was able to get some pretty shots.  

 

Then I went to the back of the yard where the "roses of Sharon" live. The sun was just peaking over and around the house and some of the blooms were still in shadow.

This busy bee surprised me. Just after I took another photo I glanced back at the flower again and saw it had a visitor! I quickly took this photo. When I tried to refocus for a better shot it was gone. 

Then I started stalking it. That is quite out of character for me, above mentioned wasps not withstanding, I usually run when bees come near me. But now I was hoping the bee would come closer so I could get another shot. I guess it didn't like the look of me though because it mostly stayed further away. It was also very quick. It's amazing how fast it moved. I did manage to get these next two pictures of it on some of the top most flowers.

 

On the way to the lantana in the front yard I stopped again at the crepe myrtle and got this photo of another interesting critter.

And this cute little bud just about to open. (or is it already spent?)

The lantana at the front of the front yard faces east and gets a lot of sun in the morning so the colors were really gorgeous. 

I love the textures and the different shades of green and pink in the above.

I like how some of the blooms on the left look almost like fungi :-). 

I hope you have enjoyed coming on my photography assignment with me. May you also find inspiration where ever your week takes you, even if only to your back yard.

Honeymoon Part 2 - Australia

And finally the Australian portion of my Honeymoon Scrapbook.

After several days in New Zealand (see last post). We flew to Australia to see John's family and friends.

While we were there John also wanted to show me some of the unique sights of Melbourne. One day we took the train into downtown Melbourne. The train arrived at Melbourne's iconic Flinders Street Station on the corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets. That's the building in the center photo below with the beautiful arch and nine clocks showing the next time of departure of each train line. 

Clockwise from the top left above is John standing by a boat we rode in down the Yarra River which runs through central Melbourne.

Then moving right the glass and steel dome pictured in the top and middle right photos with the balloon and brick tower is inside a mall where we had afternoon tea. I don't remember which mall it was but I do remember having yummy towering tall scones with jam and cream, a giant clock and this view with the tower and the fun toy balloon. The brick tower is a real old (no longer used!) shot tower. They kept it in place and built the mall around it. 

Our first weekend in Australia we had two receptions planned. We rented a tux for John and I wore my wedding dress.

While getting ready for them I had a mishap with John's Mum's iron and burnt a hole in my wedding dress. Eek! Somehow I managed to not fall apart (outwardly anyway) while we scrambled to locate a fabric shop to get something to patch it with. Somehow, even though it was a Friday afternoon and lots of shops were closed then, we found some lovely lace fabric that looked remarkably like the lace on the dress. Thankfully the hole was near the bottom in the center front so I was able to applique a couple of pieces onto that area in a way that covered the hole and looked balanced and almost like they were meant to be there. 

 Here is a zoomed in look at one of the patches at the bottom right front edge of the dress (not the train) taken from the right page below.

The first reception was at John's parents' home for family and close friends.  

John's Mum made the cake part of the beautiful little cake and probably most of the other delicious food we ate. (She also made a larger cake for the church reception the next day.) She had a lady from their church do the icing on both. 

Here is a better view of it. I was delighted to see that it was the rolled kind of icing. It was made with marzipan and maybe fondant or royal icing or something like that. It was rolled out smooth and draped over the cake. I first saw pictures of that kind in magazines when we were planning our wedding. I thought they looked so pretty and posh. (Our American cake had a fluffy butter-cream type of icing in case you are wondering. The bakery we used didn't do rolled icing.)

The cake part of this cake was fruitcake which, John said, was traditional for Australian wedding cakes. That tradition seems to be changing from what I saw online just now. Anyway, it was not like what most Americans think of when they think of fruitcake. It was dark, dense, moist and mostly raisins. It reminds me of where the Beloved, in Song of Songs, says to her Lover "strengthen me with raisin cakes."* 

The second reception was Sunday after the morning church service. 

John's Mum sent me this picture recently from the church reception.

After all the festivities, we took the train to Gippsland in Eastern Victoria to spend a few days with John's brother and his family.

They live out in the country. The critter in the top left photo on the fence railing is, I think, a wild possum. 

They took us to this stunningly beautiful beach, called Ninety Mile Beach, a bit over an hour or so from their home. It was summer there, being in the southern hemisphere the seasons are opposite to here, but it still felt cold to us even on the beach. I love how clean Australian beaches always are. I wish (more) American beaches were like that!

We also had a trip to Healesville Sanctuary that specializes in native Australian wildlife.

 The animals pictured above: Left page l-r top row: unknown little bird--that you have to zoom in to see under the Healesville label, koala, next row: Ibis (?), echidna, next row: me and another lady petting a wallaby, wombat--sleeping on its back; right page top row: kangaroo in the shade, me--trying, unsuccessfully, to hop as far as a kangaroo

Then it was time to say our goodbyes to John's parents and head back to Dallas.

Thanks for coming along on this meander down memory lane! I hope you enjoyed it too.

Note:

*Song of Songs 2:5 (Some versions just say raisins.) I've heard that raisins were a symbol of fertility. So that seems appropriate for a wedding cake!