A Happy New Beginning - Ben & Karley's Wedding

We have just returned from the South Coast of NSW

 after my nephew Ben's wedding to his long time partner Karley.

This wedding was postponed twice.

The first time due to COVID, the second time as Karley was pregnant.

The wedding and party took place at Cathy and Andrew's property near Jervis Bay.

We stayed for two nights to lend a hand with the preparations.

 

Above- This is the brides bouquet with its lovely protea flowers. 

Rebecca, my niece, decorating the wedding cake with flowers.

She'll be the next bride in 2024.

She was my little bridesmaid in 2005!(See the  'Kim's Weddings' label).

http://inmylifekim.blogspot.com/search/label/Kim%27s%20Weddings

And I had the task of cutting up food for the grazing table. Which looked beautiful when the caterers put it all together, but I didn't get a photo of it finished because it was partly demolished by hungry guests before we got into the marquee. 

Here is Cathy, my little sister, getting her makeup done. 

I don't have a photo of Cathy in her lovely dress, I might have to wait for the photographers photos.

 

We were asked not to take photos during the ceremony,  but Karley asked if we were able to video/record the ceremony on her camera. A job I mostly handed over to Graham and the recordings turned out better than expected. !!! 

Which doesn't mean I'd thought Graham would do a bad job, it was the light and the angle etc..

I downloaded the recordings to my computer to make sure they worked, so what I've done is snipped a few stills of the ceremony from the video. They'll be the photos that look a bit grainier.

The ceremony wasn't held in the original outdoor chapel as it was a bog after all the rain we've had, but they moved the benches up to higher ground and closer to the house.

(see post about Cathy & Andrews Property 29th January 2022) 

http://inmylifekim.blogspot.com/2022/01/christmas-leftovers-cathys-farm.html

 

Karleys had the beautiful dress for years and did well to fit into it after two babies.

Graham doing the video.

Then down to the marquee for drinks, grazing table and games.

 

 

Karley made all the signs using Cricut. 

 

Their theme was two less fish in the sea, a reference to Ben's love of fishing. 

 

(I've been investigating Cricut on you tube and I am very tempted, but I'll have to clean out my craft cupboard first to make room for more toys).

 

Andrew, my brother-in-law on grandfather duty.

Then for the happy couples first dance the guests formed a circle and waved giant sparklers.

(Yes, this is a snip from the video).

However, this delightful moment

 ended with the shout of FIRE.

 

It was a really windy day and the tablecloth on 

OUR table had blown over the candles and caught on fire!

Fortunately, Andrew's parents hadn't joined us outside for the sparkler extravaganza and his father threw his beer on the fire to extinguish the flames.  

Anyway, following that excitement it was time for the dessert table.....

 

... and the delicious wedding cake.

(A bit fuzzy that photo, of course nothing to do with alcohol consumption). 

The wedding babes are finally asleep and the rest of us were soon in our beds as well. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One last photo of the bride and grooms first dance.

Yes, that's me in the background looking like the Fairy Godmother/Auntie blessing them for a wonderful life of love, family, friendship and laughter.

 

(Really what more could you ask for! No refunds on blessings accepted! LOL)

 

 

P.S.

Some of the wedding flowers happily survived the long drive home to Armidale! 

 

Violet, a Sudden Passing

.My Mother-in-law, Violet, passed away suddenly at the end of August.

The photos are the service sheet from her funeral.

She is interned in the Armidale cemetery, next to Ron, her husband. 

~~~~

 

Well, she was 90, so not a shock, but she was still living in her own home. (just)...

 

She woke up on Friday 26th August, then got dressed, had a fall and died a few hours later.

Long story there, but not to be told here.

 

She was born in London, and as a child evacuated to the English countryside during the Blitz in WWII. (long story there as well). 

When they met her my children thought she was amazing and that she 

was like Lucy in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, 

(Hey, read it).

~~

 The service was live streamed so her remaining family in the U.K could watch it.

Isn't that a great thing we can do these days. 

``

As a child I remember my Grandmother, Toot, 

only getting cassette tape recordings of family funerals from Scotland.

 

~~

You may recognise these 2 above photos in the service sheet from my past blog posts.

 

We are soooooooo glad we had the 90th birthday party earlier this year.

 

All the family's  music choices for the service were just so perfect.

 

I can see Jess and Sienna's facial bone structure in this above photo. 

 

She made her wedding dress. (she also made my last one). 

 

Oh gosh isn't she beautiful as a bride!

Her dress, she beautifully beaded herself, she was a gifted crafts woman.

 

I believe she worked on gowns for the royal family. 

Princess Margaret and Elizabeth II Coronation dress.

I may do a post about her embroidery work as I have book samples of it at my house and I totally believe all those claims are true.

Car Club at Copeton Dam

So, now for a quick post to share some photos from our weekend at Copeton Dam back in August.

 https://www.waternsw.com.au/supply/visit/copeton-dam

 

Here we all are at the fire-pit for our evening BBQ.

The Dam was nearly at full capacity, 

and I've just checked again and its at 98% today following all the rain.

 Reversed sign to be read in the rear view mirror while launching boats at the boat ramp.

 

We stayed overnight in the cabins and took the Cortina for an outing.

Before heading home we took a drive across the dam wall.

Nice group of people to share a fun weekend away.

 

 

Lotus in Glen Innes

Hello My Dear Readers

Firstly my apologies for the long  gap between posts, I’ve been a bit busy over the past few months. I will now bombard you with a series of posts over the next few weeks.

Back at the end of June we spent a lovely weekend with the Queensland Lotus Club.

 

(I've done a bit of photo shopping of the number plates to protect peoples privacy).

 

 

It’s the 60^th Anniversary year of the Lotus Elan, 

so the Queensland club had their yearly “Grand Tour’  run in celebration.

 

 

We drove up from home to meet with them 

for a weekend in Glen Innes and to show off our very old Lotus Elan.

Stories from the Grand Tour – Lotus Club Queensland

 

 

 On the Saturday we had a long lunch at Waterloo Station. 

 

Some of the members were staying at the station overnight,

 but we returned to Glen Innes by coach with the others to stay overnight. 

 

 Dinner was at the Pub in front of the roaring fire.

 

 

 On Sunday – it was back to Waterloo station for a photo-shoot, then a delicious breakfast.

 

 

 

 Our car met a cousin! The 2 oldest cars on the run.

We met some really nice people, some really rich people and some very expensive cars.

Everyone was really nice, very welcoming, loved our car and we had a great time.