Winners and grinners (and gratitude too)

Melbourne cup frenzy - so much frenzy in fact that I completely forgot to bet, sweep, even watch the race that stops our nation!

 

http://www.theroar.com.au/2013/11/04/melbourne-cup-2013-individual-horse-analysis-tips-and-ratings/

 

How gorgeous is this shot of Gai Waterhouse? And I also love the smile on the face of the  woman behind her who supports her.

 

Like this amazing woman who has always stood behind me and supported me

 

Holding me in 1966 - I'm just idolising her hair piece (and my beauty of course!) Don't know how much she had to try to get that curl on top of my head to stand on end - having always had dead straight hair unlike her!

 

as you can see in this shot  - just the two of us at The Gap in about 1969

 

It might have been the week of Melbourne Cup frivolity for the rest of Australia, but for me 9 November was the day my mother would have turned 75.

 

So at HH we made it Cup Week - but also a week in her birthday honour - marking 36 weeks to go

 

 

I spent Melbourne Cup day having a beautiful time at the lovely Limes Hotel - there was champagne (naturally!) and it was Veuve which, as you know, has a special place in my heart because of my mum

 

Of course a girl needs a girlfriend or two by her side, I had mine!

  

And yes, I am convinced it was a flying saucer on her head - it was fabulous! especially as it started to go dark, it changed colour!

There was much horsing around - but there was no rest at HH for the remainder of the week
 

 

Sparky HH and his men all but destroyed the old electrical powerboards

 

The painters attacked the outside of HH with a vengeance!

 

Cupboards irreparably damaged by the fire were removed (and look at the doorways behind them which they revealed!)

Stairs and cornices went up

 

and our will power came down - as the donuts from Flour and Chocolate proved too good to resist

 

Just when we thought the spirits had left the house Read about the Hanworth spirits in this previous blog post here  another strange occurrence occurred at HH

The builder boys G&P discovered a pipe leaking bursts of water - which was not connected to anything! Maybe the fire did not drive all the spirits away after all?

My beautiful upstairs space is nearing completion

but don't worry, when I go downstairs I am confronted with the reminder of how much more there is still to do!

 

Ballroom floor and verandah floor is next on the agenda

 

 

and this is the A team to do it!

 

It was a week to think of those we love 

Those we miss more than words can say

 

 

What a classic 70s shot of my mum and dad

But there are constant reminders - these 3 beautiful grandsons

and of course their new baby sister Maddie Mae (Niece HH) who I adore to bits - born, ironically, just 9 months after my mother was tragically taken from us
 

 

of course Miss HH loves them all (and they love her) 

But this is my week's most poignant shot - My beautiful mum and Sister in law HH taken a couple of years ago

 

Same sister in law HH who you might recall we gave a Special high Tea at HH for in July in honour of her very special milestone birthday watch the celebration HH high tea here

 

Well this was her during the week (she is the one hiding behind the foliage)

 

 

Two days after celebrating the milestone birthday, she started to fight her own battle with cancer - but last week,  single-handedly,  she decided to shave her hair - and by the way, she just happened to raise $19,000 by doing so for Mummy's Wish - I always knew she was an amazing girl - but this just proves she is even more amazing

Read the beautiful Carla's story here

  

HH awards the blog's 5th award for community spirit to Sister in Law HH who stands as an inspirational role model to us at HH and many many more

 

 

But in a world first - this week we give 2 HH blog awards for community service

 

The second is given to two beautiful Carina residents Bev and her husband - they tracked me down after seeing me on the TV after the fire beause they had some crockery which belonged to these two 

 

 

Eric William Maike and Beryl Oliver Eaton marrying at the Albert Street Methodist Church on 19 July 1941

 

They wanted their crockery go to a good home - and they found me and gave me the most beautiful dinner service and incidental pieces, all with a story - and that story will be preserved for years to come in the dining room at Hanworth House.

 

 

How beautiful is this setting? It is "Balmoral" Grindley, England

 

 

And don't think for a minute that these will go to the dining room..

 

 

I think I will keep these for myself in the office so that I can always share the story with HH visitors about where they came from.

 

Moments like this restore faith in humanity and the innate kindness of individuals

I feel so grateful and so lucky

 

Like I feel to have these guys in my life - second generation lifelong friends 

 

 

who bought roses, my mum's favourite, to remember her birthday - which we marked at HH on a late weekend afternoon - as the sun set, we remembered all the good times, we laughed, and we cried

 

 

 but mostly we laughed

x HH