The Baynhams

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful Dad in Ireland and my great Father-in-law in Wales. We hope you both have a wonderful day and get spoiled rotten. We miss you lots especially on a day like today. 

Den, this blog post is a spoiler if you haven't already opened your card! And to my brother and sister in law Steve and Julie, Sorry about the words on the front but you have to admit Mr B is pretty special and he can get away with cards like this from the other side of the world, (too far to give him a boot up the back-side!)

Missing you all!

Gina & Byron

xo

I love weekends. It's all about family, food and the extra time to savor it all. Our Saturday breakfasts are traditionally a home made Bircher Muesli.

I often make way too much so here is my morning tea! A small bowl of left-overs with frozen raspberries mixed through.

It is one week until the June Old Ducks gathering. This months book is "To Kill A Mockingbird"  A classic book but not one I had read before. I placed an online request for it at my local library. When the text came in to say it was ready to collect I called in that evening, eager to get my hands on it. Sian was with me as I waited for the librarian to get it from the reservation shelf. She came back with a very thin little book and started the process of checking it out. I turned and whispered to Sian "Look how small the book is! No excuse for any of the Old Ducks not to have finished it this month" I was still giggling to myself as I walked out the library door. 

But then I looked down and flicked through the book. Something just wasn't quite right. I had reserved the "Study Notes Guide" to the book and not the book itself! I had to sheepishly return and ask the assistant if she had the actual book. She was very professional and I'm sure it was just me reading the smug "Ha ha" in her eyes! She found the proper full copy of the book and asked did I still want the study guide. I stood up straight and tall and said of course I did. It would be an invaluable addition to our Book Club discussions. I turned and left holding both books tight with cheeks still pink and Sian laughing at my side. 

Roll on next Thursday. I will be so ready for our very serious literary dissection! 

Rhiannon is off to a friends Birthday this weekend and had an idea for her gift. A Terrarium! She had made herself one a while back and thought it would be a good present idea. 

We went shopping one day for the bowl and fancy rocks and also found a "rock pet" which is a polished clear gem stone with "googly" eyes that is perched in the left lower part of the photo. It almost looks like a fish in a fish bowl! 

Next we went to a DIY store that sold plants and we got some cacti and succulents to plant inside. Holding tiny cactus plants while trying to plant their roots firmly in a confined space is challenging as we found out. 

Ouch! 

Let's hope her friend likes it!

I love that Rhiannon has started showing an interest in photography. She is often to be found experimenting with make-up or nail art and then taking photos of it. Even though this photo is one of her "out-takes" I think it is one of my favourites! 

It is a friends 40th Birthday later this week. Her sisters sent around an email to gather a group of friends to have a surprise brunch together. It was in a cafe I had never been to before, small and atmospheric with a mish mash of colours and styles. It really was lovely to have some quality time with a really nice group of women. 

Sometimes it is nice to have a few hours out of our normal roles as mums and wives to talk and nurture and re-charge our batteries. There is something very comforting about opening up to other women about things that we have experienced or are currently grappling with and get their advice or take on the situation. Sometimes all us women need is to let things out and hear "I know exactly what you mean..."

Cheaper than therapy and much more fun!

We had to drop Sian to the cinema tonight and would have barely returned home before turning around to drive back again to collect her. We thought about going for an evening walk near the cinema or having tea out but neither of the other two kids wanted to leave the house. We left Rhiannon in charge and decided to have a "Date Night" 

The rain cleared and we went for a walk along the coast for about an hour. It was cold and windy but really enjoyable. It blew away the cobwebs from an otherwise lazy day. We stopped at a small cozy Mexican restaurant and had some snacks and drinks. It was very atmospheric and felt very decadent to be sitting, just the two of us! 

Bliss!

Today is a day of sadness and happiness all jumbled into one. Today is the day we say goodbye to a good friend but the day that she gets to start a new exciting chapter in her life. Simi is from India and she started work as a nurse in my hospital about 2 years ago. In that time we became good friends. Almost every Saturday at 4pm I would get a text "Gina are you going to church tonight?" Simi would be walking home from her morning shift at the hospital but not having a car meant that she needed a lift if she wanted to go further afield. If we were going to Mass we would drive and pick her up on the way and often she would have dinner with us or even just a cup of tea and a chat before we would drop her home again.

Simi taught us many of the traditions of her culture by cooking for us or just sharing stories of her life in India. You could tell by the way she spoke about her family that she had a great respect for them, especially her parents. As is the tradition in Simi's culture she got engaged to a man that her parents had helped her to choose. I had many preconceived ideas about what arranged marriages but watching Simi over the last year and hearing her views on it have opened my eyes to a different perspective. Her wedding was held in India in January but until now she has continued to work and live near us.

Today she goes to join her husband and begin her married life with him. There were hugs that didn't want to end and tears through smiles. We watched her make her way through security and walk away as we waved and waved with bright smiles on our faces to hide our sadness and the lumps in our throats.

Aldi did a "British"  specials theme this week. With Byron from Wales, me from Ireland and the kids spending their first few years living in England many of these food products were familiar to us. I filled a basket with these goodies and brought them home. The HobNobs and fig rolls were first to be opened with a cup of Tetleys tea. The Branston Pickle is earmarked for a cheese sandwich over the weekend, maybe some scrambled eggs with HP drizzled on top. HulaHoops in front of the TV over the weekend and another cuppa with the Jammie Dodgers! 

Another piece of artwork on the walls of John Hunter. The more I walk those long corridors the more I see!

This is quite a huge piece of artwork. It is made from 30 square canvases, each painted by a different artist. A photo of  "Trish" was taken and mapped out into a grid. Each artist was given a square and asked to paint it in a style of his or her choice. The only stipulation was to maintain the correct proportions so that the 30 squares would blend well into the final portrait. 

Everytime I walk by this painting my eye is drawn to a different square. I think to myself  "which of these squares is most like the style I would have painted in?" I can't help but feel for the artists who got the outer edge squares with very little of Trish in them to be creative with. Did they draw numbers out of a hat? Did they get choice? Did any artist swap with another? What did Trish think when she saw the finished work?

Another work week over. I am looking forward to my day off tomorrow. So much to catch up on at home. Things can unravel so quickly on these weeks I work double my normal hours. I take my hat off to mums who regularly do these hours and juggle their homes and kids. I hope you are all having a good week.

Every hospital I visit while doing this job has little hidden treasures that you don't see on the first trip around. For the first few times I walk through each building my eyes are seeking out floor-plans, ward names, arrows to tell me where I should be going. As each hospital becomes more familiar my eyes can look around more and take in some of the details that escaped me on previous rounds. 

Today I saw a door in Wyong Hospital. Inside was a quiet oasis bathed in coloured light. A place to come and be still, to say a prayer or just escape the hustle and bustle of the wards, to ask for help or to give thanks. I'm sure many people have bared their souls in this room. Have bargained and pleaded, have cried tears of sadness and tears of joy. It was nice to spend a few moments in here, breathing deep and quieting my mind before walking back out onto the bright busy corridor, folder held tight and shoes moving quickly on to the next destination. 

I was keeping my eyes well open as I did my hospital rounds today. I was watching out for a copy of a magazine that published this morning. My friend Francesca had written an article for it and I was excited to see it. The first patient I went to assess had the magazine on her bedside table. After the assessment was complete I asked could I look at it. It was so good to see her name in print. I asked if I could take a photo of the page to send to my friend and let her know that I had seen it. Later that night when I got home I was able to go online and read the article in full. It was a very good read about being a mother and the juggling of many roles and why we strive to be so much to so many. In the middle of an exceptionally busy month it really was something I could relate to. If you want to read more you can find the full story here. 

Today Sian and myself boarded a train and made our way to Sydney to a concert in an unusual venue, a large Presbyterian church. Until now I hadn't heard about "Heavenly Sounds" It is a tour circuit of Australian churches and cathedrals in Brisbane, Sydney, Newcastle, Canberra, Melbourne, Hobart, Perth and Adelaide. 

Tonights main performer was a young UK singer/songwriter, Gabrielle Aplin, that Sian has liked for a while. She has a song that has been played a bit here on Australian radio. It is a cover version of "The Power of Love" an old Frankie Goes To Hollywood track (that I liked back in the day that dinosaurs roamed the earth!) It's quite a "breathy" delicate cover so I was imagining this girl to be very ethereal and fragile. I was so wrong. She was a tiny, power charged rocket! She belted out song after song on her guitar and brought the house down. 

It was a really good night. It's just such a shame it takes so long to travel to and from Sydney. We were on a train by 11pm but didn't get home till well after 1:30am. I think nights like this are worth it, the concerts I went to back in my teens were a part of who I was, who I identified with, who I aspired to be. Seeing this performer who had so much personality, guts and individualism, follow her dreams is a great example to all of us that we do not need to be cut from the same cloth, made from the same moulds, conform to what everyone around us is doing. 

Encore!

Another walk, but this time the weather is getting cooler. Today is the first day of Winter here in Australia. Last week it was still so warm it seemed laughable that we were entering our cooler season but in just one week the temperatures have dropped significantly. Despite the cold there are still splashes of colour to be found. Gareth scaled a steep grassy embankment to pick this little bunch of wild daffodils for me. They smelt incredible! One last sprig of flowers to put in our May Altar before we put it away.