50 years ago today (25th November 1967) this beautiful pair got married, on a sultry afternoon in Brisbane (and I know they did because I was there) - a very happy excuse for a family celebration today at Josh & Jody's.
in 1967 they looked incredibly young to be married - but oh so beautiful! Maxie was a week off turning 21 and Rod was 21 and 4 months (that's how it was done in those days!).
The pic below was taken in Canberra about 15 years later (New Year's Eve 1982-83). In the first decade of their marriage Rod and Maxie had moved to Canberra, built their beautiful architect designed house in Torrens and welcomed Claire (02-07-1975) and Davey (23-09-1977) into the world. They had a lot to celebrate!
The pic below was taken a year later in January 1984.
The pic below was taken on Christmas day 1988. Rod and Maxie had been married 21 years by now!
The pic below was taken in August 1995. Maxie and Rod were parents of a 20 year old (Claire) and an almost 18 year old (Davey) by now and they were both approaching their 50th birthdays (and looking good!). Exciting times!
I can't find a date for the pic below - but I think it would be in the early 2000s. It must have been before they sold their house at Torrens after the devastating Canberra bushfires of January 2003. Maxie and Rod became grandparents in 2004, by which time they'd moved into their beautiful new home in Jerra (close to Jeremy and Claire and baby Ollie). They celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary in 2002.
The beautiful pic below was taken in April 2009 at Erin's wedding. They'd been married 42 years by now and had two beautiful grandsons (Ollie and Angus) and had seen Davey happily settled in London with the beautiful Cath. Have you noticed that Rod is nearly always on the left when a picture of he and Maxie is taken?
In amongst all this celebration of a such a magical (and inspiring) partnership Abi's big news today was her newly missing bottom front tooth.
Let's get the big news stories in perspective here!
It was so good to be with Maxie and Rod for 5 days of fun in Coogee/Sydney. Maxie says she is feeling great; she looks wonderful and has plenty of spark, enjoys her food again and is gradually regaining her strength and energy levels. We had a wonderful time!
First stop on the drive into Coogee was at the very instagrammable: The Grounds, Alexandria, for lunch and a chance to get up close and personal with one of the resident macaws!
On Wednesday we saw "Beautiful - The Carole King Musical" at the Lyric Theatre, a wonderful experience, made even more fun by the chance it provided to check out the lunch time crowds at the Star Casino while we enjoyed lunch ourselves at "Harvest".
Thursday we headed out (via Manly) to the ceramics department of the Northern Beaches Campus of TAFE at Brookvale so we could meet the head of school, Christopher James and collect some of his beautiful handmade mugs.
Because we went via Manly that was the perfect excuse to stop for lunch at Crinitï's at the ferry terminal.
Friday was a fun day too: seeing the Robert Mapplethorpe exhibition at the AGNSW, lunch at Sabbaba in the CBD, viewing the Loft Market in the beautiful old Strand Arcade (presented by Courtesy of the Artist)...........
..... time to check out the Fabric Store in Surry Hills, then a well deserved Newtown Young Henry's (beer) at our fave Trinity Bar on Crown Street.
We love walking through our little park near the bus stop at the top of Carrington Road, at the end of each day..... especially now the Jacarandas are in full bloom (which means it's exam time for the kids).
We started the day on Saturday with a fantastic breakfast at Bake Bar on Frenchman's Road at Randwick....... and a successful watch buying session for Rod afterwards at Bondi Junction.
.... and then a late lunch at Tim Ho Wan's and a catch up with Alan and Tania at Chatswood (another big day).
Sunday we had to head back to Chatswood to introduce Maxie and Rod to Ippudo at the Interchange - best ramen in Sydney and the same chain of ramen stores we enjoyed eating at in Tokyo!
A
fabulous five days, full of fun and great food and great company - but the best part is seeing Maxie well again and enjoying life to the full!!
Cowra is about a 2 hours drive from Canberra in the central west of NSW. We did a day trip there last Friday in perfect Spring weather - just for fun.
First stop was for a great coffee at Boorowa, then just outside Cowra we stopped for lunch at the Quarry Restaurant and Cellar door where we were able to sample some of Cowra's wonderful produce (and wine) from an impressive menu.
Next stop for us was the beautiful Cowra Japanese Gardens and Cultural Centre. Completed 21 years ago, the gardens are a peace token and commemoration of the Cowra POW camp breakout by Japanese prisoners in 1944. The gardens looked stunning today - an amazing sight in the typically Australian landscape surrounding it (It's the largest Japanese garden outside of Japan!) - and thought provoking too because of the reason it is here .........
We saw a lot of Canberra over the past month - pushing Granny Bobbie in her wheelchair around all the Canberra icons.................
...... and regular walks into Civic Centre through our favourite Glebe Park (only 10 minutes from our apartment)....
..lots of coffee stops.......
...and lunches too.....................
The carillion is only a short walk away too for us, a perfect spot for sunset watching......
The commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Australian Light Horse Battle of Beersheba was staged just beside our apartment block, on Anzac Parade on the 31st October - another interesting sight (and wheelchair friendly) for Granny Bobbie.
There were quite a few fancy lunches too that were wheelchair friendly. The pic below was taken at the Bungendore Woodworks Gallery Café, about a 25 minute drive out of Canberra in NSW.
I think it's easier for Bobbie to see some of the advantages of apartment living now!
We saw Granny Bobbie off yesterday morning from Canberra Airport. She is one brave lady, at age 91 packing herself up and travelling on her own (business class of course) between Canberra and Brisbane. We think that by the end of her 4 and a bit weeks with us here in Canberra she was looking pretty healthy and happy!
Josh and Jody hosted a roast dinner on Sunday evening...........
And the girls did their best to be entertaining for Granny Bobbie's enjoyment!
My 5 year old grand-daughter took this pic of me!
The girls were pretty stirred up by the end of the evening - quite hilarious!
in 1967 they looked incredibly young to be married - but oh so beautiful! Maxie was a week off turning 21 and Rod was 21 and 4 months (that's how it was done in those days!).
The pic below was taken in Canberra about 15 years later (New Year's Eve 1982-83). In the first decade of their marriage Rod and Maxie had moved to Canberra, built their beautiful architect designed house in Torrens and welcomed Claire (02-07-1975) and Davey (23-09-1977) into the world. They had a lot to celebrate!
The pic below was taken a year later in January 1984.
The pic below was taken on Christmas day 1988. Rod and Maxie had been married 21 years by now! 
I can't find a date for the pic below - but I think it would be in the early 2000s. It must have been before they sold their house at Torrens after the devastating Canberra bushfires of January 2003. Maxie and Rod became grandparents in 2004, by which time they'd moved into their beautiful new home in Jerra (close to Jeremy and Claire and baby Ollie). They celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary in 2002.
The beautiful pic below was taken in April 2009 at Erin's wedding. They'd been married 42 years by now and had two beautiful grandsons (Ollie and Angus) and had seen Davey happily settled in London with the beautiful Cath. Have you noticed that Rod is nearly always on the left when a picture of he and Maxie is taken?
In amongst all this celebration of a such a magical (and inspiring) partnership Abi's big news today was her newly missing bottom front tooth. 
The pic below was taken in August 1995. Maxie and Rod were parents of a 20 year old (Claire) and an almost 18 year old (Davey) by now and they were both approaching their 50th birthdays (and looking good!). Exciting times!
