We are still travelling to significant family places and are now in Rijeka, Croatia. The city is also known by its Italian name of Fiume. Love these morning markets – why would you ever go to a supermarket!
Family history
Goodbye mum
My mum passed away last week when the jacarandas were in full bloom. We will miss you so much xxx
Tree of Life
After our wintry summer in the Czech Republic we have returned filled with newfound vigour and hope.
Life does deal us remarkable events. This beautiful tree in Northern Tasmania, near Boat Harbour has come to symbolise new family connections and the strengthening of familial bonds – both near and far.
Snow bound
We are in southern Bohemia visiting new found family members and mesmerised by the snow covered countryside.
Pots of Prague
We have been visiting Prague to research some family connections (see my blog Findingstanvodak ). Even though this has been quite time consuming, not to mention difficult, as we do not speak Czech, we have still managed to incorporate some sightseeing.
These beautiful pots caught my eye during a recent visit to the famous Prague Castle.
Healthy begonias 
Mixed geraniums 
Great pot 
Very formal 
I don’t think any of these displays are beyond the average gardener! Just good soil, good pots and plenty of time. 
Backdrop is nice!
Happy pottering about!
Garden helpers
This is my last weekend in the garden for a few weeks. Last weekend was splendid and I managed to simply sit and read and marvel at the spring colours. Well, I did do some raking and transplanting – couldn’t help myself. However, I had some helpers too.
Albert cat was watching me or was he watching the chickens?
Johnny Silver was watching him and anything else that moved.
It was comforting to be with them in the sun – enjoying a brief reprieve from the business of life. Our weeping cherry is just beginning to blossom.
I will miss my mountain garden for the next few weeks. We begin a sort of discovery tour of Prague – 16,000 kms from home. Sounds daunting.
However, I will have my trusty helper with me, all the way. My garden will continue to bloom and wait for our return. Hopefully, my garden helpers will not miss me too much nor I them. Wish me luck and enjoy your garden – where ever you may be. I might be lucky to visit some Prague gardens too!
All at sea
American cruise ships are renowned for their abundance and excess. I don’t mean this in a disparaging way, but merely as a generalised perception of the ingenuity of the American way, However, as we embarked on our first even cruise – all cliches aside, we really did not expect the luxury, the cleanliness and yes of course, the abundance which we encountered. We really felt like “fish out of water”, sorry – bad nautical pun.
Our main aim for this eight night escape was to see the ocean, relax, read and enjoy the tropical South Pacific. Embarking from Sydney, where we were lucky to spend time with Daughter Number Two and her husband, before we set sail, our departure lounge was the magnificence that is Sydney Harbour.
The view of the Harbour, the Bridge and Opera House never tires and never disappoints, it is truly one of the great harbours of the world. It was then, as the ship slowly manoeuvred away from the dock that it hit me.
You see both our families, just a generation before us, came to this great land by ship. My parents and grandparents as refugees from Europe in 1949 and Colin’s mother and grandparents from Malta just three years later. In fact this ship was registered in Valetta, a beautiful port, which I have been fortunate to visit.
With these thoughts, I couldn’t help feeling how difficult it must have been for them to leave their respective countries and experience a voyage of uncertainty. Indeed, their thirty days at sea would not have been as enticing or our indulgent as our short cruise. Despite this, I knew that my experience on this ship would have me reflecting on those remarkable journeys of our collective history.
No doubt this sea crossing will give us time to reflect and put into perspective, our blessings and opportunities.
Please check out my other blog “finding stanley vodak” which is written in conjunction with Sydney daughter and our hope to delve further into our past, on the other side of the ocean.
crabandfish garden 