A Big Week in The Port

This has been a significant week in Port Augusta. Mayor Joy Baluch AM died at the age of 80 after 30 years in office as mayor. This also coincided with the naming of the bridge in her honour.

I was honoured to be asked to take photos of the funeral and create a banner depicting Joy and her bridge for the Port Augusta City Council.

Surprise surprise in one of the driest parts of Australia it rained all day on Tuesday 22nd May.

Mayors from around the state led the procession and council workers formed a guard of honour.

Over 2000 people attended the service in Gladstone Square and members of both State and Federal Parliament were represented.

The most moving moment for me was standing alone on the newly named bridge as the hearse paused for a minute before moving on to the West Side cemetery. The chance to say one last goodbye.

More images can be seen at the Port Augusta City Council FaceBook page.

Pennington Bay

A weekend away at Kangaroo Island turned into a wild life adventure with the unexpected opportunity to see a huge range of Aussie icons including sea lions, kangaroos, koalas, eagles, echidnas, wallabies... There was also some beautiful rugged scenery and dramatic caves. We were well looked after by our tour guide who made sure we had the best photo opportunities.We also visited the remains of the old town of Muston which was named after my great great uncle who was a salt merchant dealing in the area.

Pastels Galore...

I have had to increase my pastels output to keep up with demand. Any time I spend on duty at the gallery is additional pastel time and I now have an easel at home to make the most of any spare time. The main sales have been at the Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden which has turned into a successful collaboration.
The only draw back with this is the choice of subject matter I will need to have quite a range of Sturt Pea and Flinders Ranges to satisfy the tourists.

Prints are available at Red Bubble ;-))

http://www.redbubble.com/people/georgiesharp/collections/28312-perfect-pastels

Family Tree

At this time of the year our thoughts are often drawn to those who are no longer with us. 
We remember Christmases and holidays and events of the past with fondness and humour.

John has been going through the old slides from the 60s and 70s and converting them into jpeg files. Often forgotten people, places and events are being re discovered.

Debbie and Gavin Jones  John and Georgie

Norma Jones & Pat Muston

Evelyn Jones nee Walters - John's grandmother

I have gone back to sorting through all the information we have about our ancestors from various branches of the family. I began this when I first retired 4 years ago with the plan to make an interactive collection of stories and photographs .  In the mean time the Ipad has come into vogue and as a viewing tool is so easy to use that I am converting the images into PDF files so that they can be viewed as E books. These can easily be printed if necessary as well.

People are coming back to life on our screens and their stories are much more interesting than anything that is on our television screens at the moment. 

So much research by so many people!!!!!!!!!!

I particularly love this connection.....  I guess I wouldn't be here if Henry I didn't have  his illegitimate children ;-)))

This is a sample of the finished product...

Christmas 2012

It was a quieter Christmas this year with Tamsin and John in Ireland. We had lunch with Penny and Ryan Archer, Julie, Graham , Pat, Carly and Brad as well as the children Billy, Alex and Claire. There was a lot of excitement and running around and blowing bubbles and throwing water balloons. 
It was a full Christmas lunch beginning with oysters and prawns and followed by the roast turkey  and ham with loads of vegetables and of course plumb pudding.  It brought back memories of Norma and Pat vying  over the best family pudding recipe. Mum's always created a stir with the pouring of the brandy and lighting the flame as well as the traditional threepences and sixpences that were found inside. I still have those coins.

The evening was a little quieter as everyone powered through the day. We had Christine, Robin, Melissa, Kimberly, Klay, Carly and Brad along with Kiesha, Amber, KayLee and Claire  sheltering out of the stiff breeze on the back lawn at our place. Brad expertly shucked the last of the oysters and we reluctantly ate the rest of the prawns. The pavlova that mum used to make seems redundant these days all people seemed to want was fresh fruit . The kids got on really well and managed to stay up quite late.  
There was some sad news  when Christine received a call to say her little dog had got out of the yard and been hit by a car... not a good way to end the day.

 While we were enjoying the sun Polly and Tamsin were experiencing their first Winter Christmas with John's family in Ireland. Following a bit of a scare when Polly experienced a high fever and convulsions on their first day in Dubai Polly has bounced back to her usual cheeky self.