A little train journey

Since my youngest daughter, her husband and my grand daughter  relocated to the south coast i have on occasion travelled down to visit or babysit so that they could  attend  certain functions.
Sometimes we travel down by car, but mostly I go down by train. It takes me about four hours with a train change in Sydney.As my husband is a long term rail employee, we are fortunate to be able to travel the public transport system for free.So I find train travel a real stress free luxury that  I indulge in as often as I can.
Last week my daughter asked if i could travel down  this last weekend just gone to babysit while she went to a Bon Jovi  concert in Sydney. I decided to travel by train and take a few photos along the way to share with you all.
I am happy to go down as  my husband was away working and we arn't heading up to the farm until the end of this week.

So,I boarded the  electric express service to Sydney from our local station which is about 10 minutes drive from here.It is a very pleasant trip down the coast, passing, crowded  townships, and lazy coastal villages and lovely waterways and hilly terrain, all very picturesque.

A fair part of the way the rail line follows the old highway and the new expressway down the coast. It travels past many lakes and major rivers and even the ocean at times. the little old house in the photo above is one of my particular favourite  places that I look out for on each trip. It is some bodies weekender that is only accessible by boat, what a lovely little spot to have a holiday, but still not all that far from major services.
Excuse the quality of the photographs, as they were taken through dirty train windows that were moving along quite fast.

This lovely little spot is called Hawkesbury River Marina, a quaint little out of the way place on the hawkesbury River where you can stay in accommodation  or  go out on boat trips. One such trip which we have done is called "The Riverboat Postman", you travel the mail run on the boat around all the islands in the area  and have a lovely buffet lunch while on board( a really relaxing enjoyable day)
As you approach Sydney Central Station,you pass by the beautiful old "Mortuary Station".
This beautiful old building was  opened in  1869 and was built to facilitate the transportation of the deceased to local cemeteries for internment.It has recently been restored to it's former glory.

At Central station I changed trains to then travel on the south coast line towards Wollongong.

Central is a lovely old railways station, which officially opened around 1906, replacing an earlier Central station.Central has about 26 platforms, some above ground and some below ground,it is Sydney's main rail terminal.

As we headed down south the surrounding country is beautiful, passing over large viaducts and  alongside beautiful coastal towns.

After arriving at my destination, I had a lovely lunch with my daughter and grand daughter,put my daughter on the train and then spent the afternoon and night with my beautiful little girl.

We had a ball, we read books, and played fairies, and watched Scooby Doo(The current Favourite) and cooked her favourite dinner of sausages, corn, mashed potato and peas.
She slept like a log, and I couldn't resist an early morning photo of my sleeping beauty.
We met my daughter off the train about lunchtime, and spent a bit of time together and I  started back on the return journey about 3pm.

The above are a few more shots of the beautiful scenery that I get to see from the train on the return journey, the centre one is especially beautiful(you come out of a long dark tunnel, and just as you exit, that is the view immediately to your left.) Breath taking,j ust so much  glorious scenery every where.
I arrived back at my local railway  station around 8pm that night,tired and weary, but full of joy  from my great  little expedition.
Hope you have enjoyed my little trip with me, it has been a pleasure to have you along.
Take care every one out there,
until we catch up again,
Cheers,
Jane.

 

This Granny made play dough today.!

This coming weekend  I will have both my daughters home for a visit, we will have a nine week old and a nearly three year old. I decided this morning that I may need a few extra diversions to keep the older one entertained so that she doesn't feel a little envious when we goo and gah over the new little one.
I haven't made play dough for about 30 years, not since my children were little themselves.
So I thought I would make it in steps and add photos to keep for future reference for me or anyone else who may be interested.
So first i put one cup of plain flour into a saucepan,

Then I added 1/4 cup of table salt(I used the non-iodised variety just in case of allergies),

Next was 2 tablespoons of Cream of Tartar,

Give everything a light mix to combine and then add the wet ingredients,
Firstly 2 tablespoons of canola/vegetable or olive oil,

Then add 1 cup of warm water,

With a wooden spoon stir all to a smooth consistency

Next add the colouring of your choice.(I chose Queens natural colour extracts) and I used half of the 28 ml small bottle( so about 14 mls)

Stir until colour is well combined and place saucepan over medium heat  and stir continually  for a few minutes,

After a few minutes the mix will start to "ball". Keep it moving around in the pan a few more minutes to cook a little more.

After this, tip it out onto a board or something flat, allow to cool for a short while .

When able to be handled, knead the dough for a couple of minutes, to smooth out any lumps in the dough.

Place kneaded  dough in a zip lock bag and store in the refrigerator,It should keep  for several months.

Repeat process a few more times until you have the right  amount of different  coloured dough you need. I made  the 4 colours that came in the Queens colour box. I was very happy with the results.

So now I have  this great little mix of dough all ready and waiting for my little grand daughter or any other little visitors that come to play, I think it will be well used.
So ,until next time,
Cheers,
Jane

Precious grand children.

On Friday I made the trip out west to visit my oldest daughter and son in law and  my youngest grand daughter Claudia.
They live about 6 hours drive from us and we had met her when she was born  6 weeks ago but  I went back for another catch up, as they grow so fast.
She is very sweet, such a precious little bundle.

We had a lovely visit, lot's of cuddles and walks and just getting to know one another. Hopefully they will be visiting us down here in a few weeks , so we will continue to form that special relationship that grandparents and their grand children have.
Our other grand daughter  belongs to our youngest daughter and her husband. She is the beautiful ,gorgeous Holly.
Such a wonderful little cherub. Always laughing, and playing and chattering away and singing songs, such a treasure. .She is nearly 3 years old ,and so grown up.

I cannot express how much i love these two little munchkins, they fill my heart to bursting. They are just so special to us., as I'm sure will be any more that  come our way.
I returned home today looking forward to our next catch up.
My best wishes to all those grand parents out there, and I hope you all enjoy it as much as we do.
Cheers,
Jane.