family – Communicating Creatively

Goodbye to an angel

27/11/2021 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Stories From Life

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

**60 Wedding Anniversary Celebration with Larry, Cheryl and myself**

The Simple Things In Life

04/09/202104/09/2021 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Poetry

Intangible Revenue

30/05/2021 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Poetry

A Trip To The Country – Part 3 – Millthorpe

23/04/202123/04/2021 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Stories From Life

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:

Millthorpe, NSW

Christmas Time

21/12/2020 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Haiku Poetry

Within These Walls

03/10/2020 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Poetry

Finding Our Peace

19/04/2020 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Poetry

Finding Our Peace

Their Love Will Always Flow

25/02/202022/02/2020 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Poetry

Their Love Will Always Flow

Millthorpe – A Picturesque and Historical Village

01/12/2019 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Stories From Life

As the ‘Aussie Towns’ weblink* says, “Millthorpe is a picturesque and historic village set amidst gently rolling hills.”

What has drawn us to visit this lovely little Village over that number of years is a connection that started back when my wife, Susan met Diane and David at school back in the 1970’s and they remain close friends to this day. Diane and David have 6 boys, 3 of which are still at home.

Over the years we have been up there many times, though usually it was for Christenings, a Wedding and Family functions of different sorts or just visiting.

In that entire time, I had never really spent much time in the centre of the Village so went we went up earlier last month, I seized my chance, both on an observation, photographic and sketching level.

I had a lovely time wandering the streets, visiting a community gallery, a gallery/guest house, RoseBank, in an old Bank building as you might have guessed and a private gallery with innumerable types of Art in it.

With my DSLR camera I photographed the quiet country streets, one which had a beautiful arrangement of Flora on the Nature-strip and the Heritage-listed buildings. I sketched a couple of the churches and took many reference photos with my phone.

After so many years, it was so good just to wander around the Village.

If you are looking for a quiet, out-of-the-way stay and a base to explore this region, then pop in and have a look at the sleepy Village of Millthorpe. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Written by David Johnson

1 December 2019

*https://www.aussietowns.com.au/town/millthorpe-nsw