Penniedarling

 Beautiful Rhoddy.

Flourishing  'Wollogorang' Violets.  So Happy just looking and remembering my Mama, my Aunty Cranky, Dinny, Randy and John.

 Look at this... look at this... just look at this...  These are cuttings of a much loved Camellia that my beautiful Great Aunt Ella had in her garden at Drummoyne.  Rosie took cuttings when Ella passed on and she grew them at Newport and when she moved up North she took her beloved Camellia with her.

When Rosie passed on Gwilym dug up the Camellia and planted it here but it hasn't flowered for a couple of years now so my friend Jenny took these cuttings for me to try and continue growing Great Aunt Ella's Camellia.  I have no photos of the flowers but believe me they are massive and magnificent!   

But... look at these cuttings closely... they are shooting!!!!!   Hurray... More Happiness  :-)

I know, I know... Sunshine is like a tonic for me!   but two weeks of grey skies and rain! great for the garden but not so for the mood.

Labels: Garden

On weekdays...

On weekends it's....

Labels: 8/14, Radio

Bobbin Head.

Labels: 8/14, Turramurra

 

Labels: Grandchildren

Passionfruit Flummery... Yum yum!  This recipe is from Linda, one of the cooks at 'Wollogorang'.
It's a real fiddle to make but delicious and fresh and light.

Labels: 8/14, Food

This is 'Barnstable Manor', it once stood on Rodd Point in the Drummoyne area, it was built by my Great Great Grandfather Brent Clements Rodd.
Brent arrived in Sydney in 1822,  he was just 13 years old and he came with his father and two older brothers from Barnstable in Devon.  When Brent grew up he became a Solicitor and bought land in the Drummoyne area.
This photo was taken in 1943 during WW2, that's Army Tents in the middle of the photo, Rodd Point and Rodd Island in the background.   If you look carefully, just where those tall trees are dividing the tents you can see the ruins of 'Barnstable Manor'.  Most of the land you can see once belonged to Brent but of course following ancestors were lazy didn't work the land and eventually everyone went broke.

The Manor was left to fall apart, see first photo.

Now the reason I'm so excited... My father remembers playing here as a kid and he remembers two old Aunts who lived in the falling down Manor... they were called Aunt Tiss and Aunt Puss!!!  He never knew why they were called that and he never knew their real names.

This is what Dad wrote many years ago...

"The house eventually became impossible to maintain so my Great Uncle Pop, Grandfathers brother, and his two sisters, Great Aunt Tiss and Great Aunt Puss bought the property 9 Napier Street, (which is now Flats) near 'Warrembah' (another Rodd family home on water at Drummoyne.)
Vandals eventually burnt the grand old Manor House down and the farm was broken up and sold as building allotments.
Great Uncle Pop (Burnell), I don't think he ever married, and his sisters were the last people to live in 'Barnstable Manor'.  I remember Great Uncle Pop as a bearded gent who never left his chair.  He had been the manager of the Bank of NSW Head Office.
My Great Aunts Tiss and Puss lived with him and a strange Irish Maid call Molly looked after them.  Tiss I think was married but Puss was single.  They always made me feel very welcome."

Dad often told us about Tiss and Puss and he also told us that he never knew their real names.

...  But I can...  Hurray for me!!  And other ancestor members Ancestry.

Tiss - Janet Editha Rodd, married with 5 children but her husband died in 1907 so she must have moved back home, her children were aged 27 to 20 so were grown up, Tiss died in 1943 aged 94.  So Puss must have been - Lenore Clovelly Rodd, she was the only unmarried Rodd of that time and died in 1952 aged 92.

Now if you look very closely at the first photo of  'Barnstable Manor' you will see there is a woman in white in the top window on the left and a woman in black in the middle upstairs window.  I'm thinking that it's Aunt Puss in the White, she never married so it must be Aunt Tiss in the Black because she is in mourning. 

Labels: Rodd

 1969 Look at our beautiful shiny London Taxi, all ready for our first trip to Europe exploring France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and so on...

1970 - there we are on the left, waiting to board this Hoovercraft for our second trip to Europe which was the worst trip I have ever taken in my whole life... and I've taken some bad trips in my day!   I threw up three times on this trip which was a very short journey to France, compared to the Ferry the year before... the bump, bump, BUMP!  as we bounced along was not only deafening but almost limb breaking!  They got rid of these Hoovercrafts not long after this trip.

Labels: 8/14, London Taxi

 You can tell someone is here, these are far too neat to be us using them :-)

We had a nasty flood inside, raw sewage bubbling up from the floor of the downstairs loo, a Plumber was called and he managed to unblock the pipes then I worked for two days cleaning with Domestos... so we now have the cleanest downstairs Loo and Sewing Room and Laundry floor that ever was.

 David is just checking out the situation, it was Rob who dug this whole trench.

 I thought we just needed to replace the old pipes but it looks like we have a lap pool now.

No tennis today :-(

Labels: Garden

Very dull looking quilt.  I made this quilt for my SIL Shanda, 8 years ago, it's William Morris fabrics.

Labels: 8/14, Quilts

Christmas Breakfast for several beautiful grandchildren... some McDonalds pancakes, fresh fruit and yoghurt.

Labels: 8/14, Food

 This Beach Bum is in Thailand...

          ....  with his Mummy and Daddy.

 This little one is very happy with his latest feed of Milk!

 This lot have been in Yorkshire visiting Emma's parents and family.

 These two boys have been in Canberra and about to jump on a Jet Plane for a two month overseas holiday.

Labels: Grandchildren

Some of the many postcards we sent to family during the late 1960's.

Labels: 8/14, Family

 My first Daffodil in flower.

'Wollogorang' violets with a little Tradescantia fluminensis 'wandering dew'  in the foreground.

 Look Gwillo, my birthday Rhody is flowering.

 Some lovely smelling Freesia.

 More  'Wollogorang' violets.

 Lots of colour in my sweet smelling Cyclamens.

  'Wollogorang' violets with some of last years Cyclamens still in their pots... these have done well considering they aren't supposed to flower another year in Sydney.  Oh look one of the boys tennis balls :-)

 Lots and Lots of flowers on the White Camellia.

  'Wollogorang' violets up near the tennis court.

 More Freesia's.

 'Wollogorang' violets, just a little clump near one of the grape vines.

 Last years potted Polyanthus doing pretty well considering lack of attention.

 'Wollogorang' violets growing among these bulbs... I wonder what will pop up in amongst these big leaves, I've forgotten what came up last year.

 This years Polyanthus looking very bright and happy.

  'Wollogorang' violets looking very healthy in their pots.

And lastly a second Daffodil is due to flower any minute, not today maybe because the morning sun looks as though it's gone for a long time now.

Labels: Garden