Peeled Away
Tag: family
A Quick Escape…to Millthorpe in country NSW!
Last weekend my Wife and I went up into the country to stay at place we have been to many times over the years, Millthorpe, NSW, Australia. Millthorpe is about a 3 1/2 hour drive over the Blue Mountains, North-West from where we live, which is 60 kilometres / 37 miles South-West of Sydney.
We have been up there many times as Diane and her Husband, David were school friends of my Wife, Susan. They have 6 boys who are all adults now with only a couple living at home.
Pretty much all of the family came home that weekend as Sean (their second child) and his Wife, Emily were holding a 1st Birthday party for their first child, Nyssa, on Saturday afternoon in Bathurst about 20 minutes drive from Millthorpe.
The party was great and we dinner back at Millthorpe that night.
Millthorpe is a quiet little town of about 1,253 people, and is a Heritage-listed village. I’ll post a link below so you see more about this town if you are interested.
This time we stayed at the Rosebank Guest House. Normally, we would stay with David and Diane however they had a houseful this weekend.
Rosebank is a old Bank building with 4.5metres / 15feet ceilings and is run by a local Artist, Jenny Beach and her husband. We were the only guests staying that night so it was very quiet. They have an Art Supplies sale section within the guest house which is ‘indeed heaven’ for guests like me.
The guest house is beautifully furnished and has Art from Jenny and other local Artists lining the walls of every room.
Jenny (we didn’t get to meet her husband that weekend), was the perfect host, the accomodation was wonderful, and yes you guessed it, I bought some Art supplies. 🙂
On Sunday morning, I did a 1/2 hour walk around town mainly taking some reference photos for future sketches.
On the way home we stopped at Govett’s Leap in the Blue Mountains (the subject of my next post), and then a late lunch at a restaurant called, “The Bunker” at Springwood in the Lower Blue Mountains.
All-in-all another great little escape filled with good cheer, family, friends, Art and relaxation.
We are looking forward to our next escape!
Till next time!
Written & Photographed by David Johnson
30 June 2023
Click on the link (Home) to find out more about Millthorpe.
Goodbye to an angel
It’s been a phenomenally sad last few days as, and our Family’s collective Hearts are aching at present as, in the early hours of the morning on 24 November 2021 our beloved Mum, Iris passed away, having just turned 91 on the 15 November 2021.
Mum was born on 15 November 1930 and grew up in the Depression years, was 15 when World War II finished, married Dad on 8 December 1951 and had five children, losing two of them as infants. There would be no greater pain, I think for a parent to lose one of their children, alone, let alone two. So much to go through yet they did get through all that and provided a wonderful home for their children. Dad passed away on 16 January 2015. They had been married for 63 years.
They have two great-grandchildren and sadly, Mum has passed away without seeing her first great, great-grandchild who was due to arrive on 21 November 2021 but was late as, at date the birth has not happened yet.
Mum was shining light in our Family, and as a long-time (54 years) best friend of mine said the other day, he always thought of Mum as an Angel. I can think of no better way to describe Mum.
Rest In Peace Mum, you certainly deserve to.
With all our Love,
David, Susan and Family
27 November 2021
The Simple Things In Life
Intangible Revenue
A Trip To The Country – Part 3 – Millthorpe
We have ventured up to Millthorpe a number of times since 1995 as it is the home of one of our great friend’s ‘the Dixons’, in fact Susan and Diane have been great friends since their school days.
This time, we were up there for the Wedding of their eldest son. I’m going to leave the wedding to another post, in fact, I will wait till the official Wedding photos arrive.
Millthorpe is a historical village classified by the National Trust and was originally called, ‘Spring Grove.’ More details about the name change and further detail about the town can be found in the link below.
Even though we have been going up there for a many years it is really only in the last two or three visits that I have actually been able to walk around the Town. Mostly, we have been up there for Family celebrations of one type or another.
A rather strange thing happened this time…My DSLR did not come out of the bag. Instead, armed with a small sketchbook, three pigment liners and just my phone camera, I took the chance to do some rough sketches and took many reference photos.
Millthorpe’s buildings are older ones and have a lot of character and I seem to love sketching and painting architecture. I’ve come back with quite a few ideas for sketches/paintings and the camera phone is good enough for reference photos for the moment.
As with any town there are a few Churches as well. I can see myself tackling these types of buildings as well.
I didn’t get a chance to go into the Museum this time around but was delighted to see some Art forms and industrial machinery on the outside.
The weather this time was beautiful and sunny on the Friday and Monday, however, Saturday and Sunday were very cold with single digit temperatures in Celsius.
Usually, we stay with the Dixons, however this time they had a full house so we stayed at a local Air BnB, ‘Millthorpe on Morley.’ It was the first time staying via Air BnB and it was extremely comfortable and very friendly.
The view from the front verandah below (where I was able to sit and journal) on the Saturday morning was very beautiful.
As always, I look forward to our next visit to Millthorpe!
Written by David Johnson
18 April 2021
For more information about Millthorpe, visit:
Christmas Time
Within These Walls
Finding Our Peace
Their Love Will Always Flow
Communicating Creatively 