Lilian's Tree

 Back at the start of the year I pondered what 2025 would bring, this was my list; A BIG birthday for me.   Yep, birthdays happen. I spent it in Melbourne, with family having had a family lunch in Sydney as well. Hubby will have been retired 10 years in May .  Happened while we were on the Murray River cruise. He has a semi-big birthday . We celebrated with a dinner out, just the two of us. We celebrate 50 years of marriage . Wonderful celebration in the City with all our family.  Murray River Cruise. This was so relaxing, but we came home with colds. Outback Safari.  A really great trip, just us and a driver exploring New South Wales, as far as Broken Hill. Trip to Melbourne and Canberra. Ended up with two trips to Melbourne, my birthday and and then for Christmas. The first trip we added Canberra to the trip home. Trip to Canberra, with Miss 9. Girls time away!   Had a ball! What happens with Grandma, says with Grandma! Several speaking engagements b...

 We left Wagga Wagga and headed to Tocumwal, part of the this trip was from 2023, as we went through Lockart. Saw the Big Kangaroo and Big Emu that were in a paddock. Nearly ran over a red-bellied black snake. Why it had to cross the road, I don't know.  Into Jerilderie for morning tea, beside the lake, beautiful spot. Arrived in Tocumwl in time for lunch so sat by the Murray River to eat our lunch and listened to the corellas squawking. The Murray River. Corellas. The Big Murray Cod. A thunderstorm woke us and while they need the rain, driving from Tocumwal to Nagambie in it wasn't pleasant!  Minor flooding in Shepparton but we missed the hail storm.  We arrived in Nagambie in time for morning tea and were told that they were expecting 80mm of rain that day, (they only got 26mm). Nagambie is the birth place of the racehorse Black Caviar. There were decorated Christmas trees beside the lake, that local families had done.  Situated on a lake it is a very pretty t...

 We have book-ended the year with a trip to Victoria, like we started the year of travel. This was only a short trip, distance wise 1,946kms and 14 days. Into Yass for our first night before heading west to Temora. The town of Temora features in the book I'm writing and I needed to check-out some places and things to make sure I had them correct. It is a lovely town and friendly people. Lake Centenary, Temora. On our way to Temora we had morning tea in Boorowa and saw their painted sheep. Wagga Wagga was our next stop and we arrived with a heatwave, both days were over 40 degrees. We did things early in the day and then rested and went out again later. Our first stop was the zoo, it is free. I got to feed and pat an emu and pat several wallabies. The birds were beautiful, with albino peacocks, and Australian native birds.  Yes, it is holding my hand. The next morning we went to the Botanical Gardens. I was disappointed as the blurb, on the website and what was there were two d...

 Well I made it to my 100 books for the Goodreads Challenge,  autually 101 books, with six books for this month and one more to finish. My book for the month was Shakespeare, The Man who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench . This was an interesting read as Judi talks about the Shakespearean rolls she has played in her long acting career. It would be a good read as a companion to studying the plays for the HSC or VCE. I mentioned that I was also going to read a Christmas themed book, I read two. The Christmas Kindness Project by Lily Malone . St in Chalk Hill we have Rosie, a high-flying property manager, returning to the family real estate firm. She is nominated to represent the firm in the Christmas Kindness Project. Add some romance, when she wasn't expecting it and you have a feel good Christmas story. Promise Me This Christmas by C J Carmichael, is book four in her Bramble House Series. Amy and Chet Hardwick are the owners of Bramble House B&B, but mysterious things are happe...

 Every year Jill Ball reminds us to Accentuate the Positive, usually genealogy related, this year Jill has given us a series of prompts to use. Here are my responses. Remember to Accentuate the Positive   2025 Prompts 1.  I treasured, spending time with our family this year, all 10 of us together for our wedding anniversary. 2.  I shared photos and stories with the newly found family. 3.  I travelled; this year we travelled. Started the year with a trip to Victoria and ended the year with a trip to Victoria. In between, seven nights on the Murray Princess, a seven-day outback safari, we got as far as Cameron Corner. Time at Nelson Bay and the Hunter Valley. Other short stays as well. Very few months when we were home for the whole month. 4.  I learnt how to use WeAre.xyz and have put my One-Place Study onto it. 5.  I changed from using Adobe for pdf files and started using I LOVE PDF. Still learning it but I was sick of paying for Adobe. ...

 November was a very slow reading month for me and I only read five books and am still only halfway through the November author.  Talk to the Heart is book #3 in the Rose Hill series. Adeline Walsh decides to leave her home in Rose Hill and  join a convent in Smalltown, Victoria, (not real places). She discovers that the plans God has for her might not be the live of a Sister in a religious order. My November book was Kind of, Sort of, Maybe, but probably not by Imbi Neeme. I'm about halfway through the book and really don't know if I will finish it, (I've read the other five in between starting it and the end of the month.)  I'm curious to know how it ends but... My next two books are set in the fictional town of Wirralong. They are books #2 and #2 of the Outback Christmas series. Book 2 One Starry Christmas Night by Barbara Hanny. Old school friends, Jaxon and Bea, have returned to Wirralong, unbeknown to each other, to help out their grandmothers. They rekindle th...