Weekend in Melbourne

I visited Melbourne for my cousin Laura’s 21st birthday party, which was celebrated on Saturday 3rd May.

My parents and I departed Friday morning by train. My sister couldn’t come with us because she is just starting another elective for her university medical course - this time on Aboriginal health for which she is spending a few weeks in Alice Springs. However, Rebecca did accompany us as far as the station.

News in brief

I haven’t had time to update this blog in a while, and the pressure’s on to get everything done before the Christmas break. So here’s an ultra-brief overview of some of my recent news.

• Most importantly, my grandfather died. I attended his funeral last Friday. All of my other grandparents have died before, so I have none left now. In his prime, Papa was a very active figure in the community, but was reduced in his last few months to a most unenviable state, both physically and mentally. His death was anything but sudden, and in many ways came as a relief.

• My sister is in India for a few months. It’s part of her medical training, to work for a while in a hospital overseas.

In November I did a couple of WEA courses, which I intended to write about, but time is short! I did two courses, namely “Wonders of Ancient Egypt” and “Magic For Beginners“.

A children’s playground near where I live has been rebuilt by the council. What makes this interesting is that ages ago the council asked local residents for opinions about what should be done with the playground, so the new version must be a reflection of the community’s decision. It certainly looks much better.

Olivigne photographs

I am currently staying at my parents’ place while my own home is being renovated by professional painters. To entertain readers of this blog while I’m away from home, I thought I’d post a few photographs. I intend to take more photographs over the rest of the week, and will probably add them to this post rather than starting a new one, so watch this space.

Some of the photographs from around here that I’ve posted to this blog before include:

• Guten
• Pet pictures
• Painted swing
• Crocodile tree
• Shearers dam

There are 16-17 new photographs below this line.

Rebecca and Ellis’s party

I have one more piece of family news from the last few months to report (having reported the other news here, here and here):

My sister Rebecca and her fiance Ellis Smith officially celebrated their engagement on 2 June with a big party held on Ellis’s farm near Port Julia. They have been engaged since September 2006.

Everyone had lots of fun. Incidentally, I could not possibly have asked for a better reaction to the gifts I bought for them, namely Tim the Enchanter’s hat and the cow catapult from Monty Python and the Holy Grail (naturally, I asked Ellis to close his eyes while I put the hat on his head, and then to go and say hello to Rebecca). The hat really suits Ellis, who has grown a jungle of facial hair. Unfortunately I didn’t get a photograph.

Recent family losses

Two of my relatives died during the last few months. Uncle Max (my mother’s father’s brother) died on Anzac Day (25 April), and my grandmother (my mother’s mother) died on 11th May.

Guten morgen

Another minor piece of family news is that in mid May, my parents obtained a new puppy. My mother likes to give animals names that are truly horrendous puns (c.f. Woodja), so she named the puppy Guten. Given that our family name is Morgan, I don’t think any further explanation is necessary.

Here is a photograph of Guten which I took in May:

Bronwen and Daniel

There is a lot of family news from over the last few months for me to report, some good, some bad. I’m going to spread it out a little rather than tell all in one go.

For starters, on 10 March 2007, my cousin Bronwen married her brother’s wife brother, Daniel Minchin. I have reported previously that this event was forthcoming.

Photograph added October 2007: Daniel, Bronwen, Leah, Robert, Katrina, Mikayla, Anniekah, Kate.

Pet pictures

This is a collection of photographs on the theme of pets. Not all of these photographs were taken by me, and not all the animals are still alive.

Ancestry

I took the following photograph in January 2000, using an old non-digital camera. It shows the village of Clunbury in Shropshire, where my ancestors on Dad’s side came from. Below the photograph are a few facts about my family’s ancestry.

Remembered relatives

This post is about those relatives of mine who were close to me, and have died recently enough that I remember them. It so happens that all three are in the same branch of the family: my grandparents on Dad’s side, and Grandma’s father.