Tranmere Moods!

The views from our house are spectacular, and rather than keep this all to ourselves, we thought you might like to enjoy the panorama with us. The pictures below were all taken over the past fortnight and give some indication of the variety of moods. Every morning is different. Every evening is different. Moods change during the day and sometimes over an hour.

The other day I woke up at 7 am and was blinded as the moonlight streamed in as it completed its journey over Mount Wellington. The colour was intense and breathtaking:

WOW!! What a way to begin a new day!

Early mornings can be quite a feast of colour. During winter months in Hobart, we have often, what we call locally, the 'Bridgewater Gerry'. It is a fog that comes down from the settlement of Bridgewater - some 25 kilometers up river from here.

A light 'Birdgewater Gerry.

It settles over the river, covers the Tasman Bridge (and I guess the Bowen Bridge) and motors, often with amazing speed, down to the mouth of the Derwent River. It is quite a sight when we are so close to it:

These three photos give a new feeling of the 'Bridgewater Gerry'Then there are the mornings when we wake up to snow on Mount Wellington.

Not too many of those this year - YET! People from mainland Australia often ask us how we are coping with the cold Hobart weather. What cold weather? Oh yes, on top of Wellington (1270+ meters) it can get cold. In the month of June, Hobart enjoys an average temperature of 12 degrees Celsius with an average minimum of 4.9. Very acceptable. The strange phenomena is that it mostly feels warmer than that. For those of you who do not believe that, come and see for yourselves.

During the day, our moods vary from the brilliant sunny day to the windy ones. With the Derwent River in front of our place, we just soak up these wonderful vistas:

Is it any wonder that dolphins venture out into our world? The following parade of dolphins had us rushing home to get our cameras. They paraded right in front of our house and we grateful 'saluted' these beautiful creatures:Every evening, Jan & I stand at our window and watch the setting of the sun. Once again, there is such magic variety, and I know we have only just started this magic experience as we settle down to married bliss:

Sunset over Bellerive Cricket oval, as seen from our house.

Never say, NEVER!!!!

13th March 2010 was an important day for Jan & me. After three years on my own, God in His kindness and generosity introduced me to a wonderful lady who has now become my new life's companion. Most of you who read this blog will know the story, but for those to whom this is a bit of a surprise, particularly because of my clearly stated intention never to marry again, the following is a very brief 'what happened to Siebrand' statement - extract from my Christmas letter:

In January 2008, I was introduced to Jan O'Connell from Sydney and enjoyed a new friendship, sharing a number of similar interest, but not expecting anything else.

Early in 2008, I began rediscovering our beautiful island of Tasmania in company of Jan and other friends from Sydney. I had not fully explored the north-east that includes the Bay of Fires - now an internationally recognised destination. The area is beautiful! About the same time, I revisited Bruny Island, also with Jan, and was knocked out by the outstanding beauty of this island (see previous chapters). We included a boat trip further south, enjoying the marine life of seals, albatross, dolphins, gannets, marlin plus the outstanding coastline, all in perfect weather.

Since then, we have enjoyed King Island (never been there before), Waratah, Wynyard, Cockle Creek and the Pieman River - all covered in previous blog chapters. The last of these destinations was the most moving of all my experiences this year. It is awesome!

It was at the Pieman that the realisation came to me that I could share a new and exciting chapter of my life with Jan by my side enjoying new love and companionship for whatever time God allows us. The rest is history!

And here we are!

I won't bore you with the hectic events of the months from November to March, but believe me, selling houses/buying a house/consolidating and shifting two households into one, was exhausting! Our Wedding Day, Saturday 13 March 2010, was a lovely, sunny day, with a lot of promise for two very happy people.

The wedding was a quiet affair with Jan's brothers (Peter & Barry) and their wives (Narelle & Vickie) coming over from NSW. Most of my large family were present with the exception of Georgie who was in UK, Jess who was in Fiji, and the three grandchildren from Kiama with whom we caught up a week later. Mark just managed to get in on time from USA. Natasha & KaLoon made it all the way from USA. Cal, Sarah & Allie, James & Nigel made it from Adelaide. Vicki & Philip from Kiama. Amy & Richard from Melbourne. My cup was truly full and running over. Our friends Jim & Trish made it from Canberra with Fred & Gillian from Sydney. How we would have loved all our friends to share the occasion, but logistics did not make that possible.

The wedding and reception was at the new Providore in Sorell. Our Chef was Marlene who is truly a wonderful cook and we very much enjoyed her culinary creations.

Many have asked for photos and we apologise for our tardiness for not getting these to you. So let me give you a bit of a photographic summary. Special thanks to Jim & Natasha who kindly provided us with all the photos.

Quite different to our first walk down the aisle, we decided to check into our hotel (Wrest Point) before the wedding and leave from there direct to the wedding venue. Jim & Trish most kindly drove to Wrest Point to pick us up. It was a delightfully relaxing start that included having drinks along the waterfront with Jim & Trish.

Ready for the big occasion!

Above: Leaving Wrest Point, hopefully looking the part.
Below: Good to be driven in relaxed company.
At the wedding venue where we were welcomed by our 'wedding entourage', made up of Luke, Ellie & Joe.
With Ellie.
Bring it on! We are ready!

Brother Hank was our Celebrant. It was his first wedding as a Wedding Celebrant. It is something he would like to do more of when he retires (who knows when that will be!). So, it was also a big occasion for him. As is typical, he was thoroughly prepared though perhaps a little nervous - understandably so. We were delighted that Hank, who has been a wonderful encouragement and support to us both, was able to officiate.

Hank in charge and doing it well.

I was very happy that all my family along with Jan's two brothers were able contribute to the ceremony as well as in other ways. As a family, it brought us close together and was a strong voice of support and love.

Daughter Ann, above, read from the Scriptures, and Vicki, below commended us to God, praying for His blessing on our lives together.

Exchanging vows was a special moment. Siebrand first

Then Jan was asked to do her bit. She turned to Hank and with a twinkle in her eyes asked him, "Can't I just say ditto?" Now I ask you, how should a Wedding Celebrant - especially at his first ceremony, respond to that? With that exchange, whatever nerves or tension there may have been, disappeared into thin air! All went smoothly, including the exchange of the wedding rings, though we were just a little concerned at Ring Bearer Joe who found it hard not to fiddle with the precious band. Jan is all for keeping an eye on that ring. The kids loved their involvement and doesn't Joe look the part with those pants of his. What a character!But, the ring was safely delivered to Grandpa to place it on Jan's finger.
Jan placing Siebrand's ring on his finger.

After those formalities, Celebrant Hank gave us permission (as though I needed one) to embrace my bride, obviously much to his pleasure and sanction.

That just left the signing of the Register:
It was with considerable happiness that brother Hank handed us our Certificate and proudly presented us as
"Mr Siebrand Petrusma & Mrs Jeanette Elizabeth Petrusma-Delacour!"We did it!!!
Just a few shots of ourselves:And with the Delacour contingent:And these beautiful people are all part of the family:
Daughters Brenda & AnnDaughter Vicki with PhilipMark looks chirpy after flying in from USATimDaughter Heather with BrentSister Iemke from Brisbane with BrendaBrother Henk & GailBrother Dirk & BethTrish with JanFred & Gillian

Entertainment was organised by Graeme, who always excels in organising something different, including a segment 'How well do you know Siebrand & Jan?'Gillian thought long and hard over this question, while other questions delighted Jan & the family at my expense (of course!).Oh no! Not another one! Obviously the above pic captured another dig at the groom! All of course enjoyed by the attentive audience:Natasha, accompanied by her sister Amy sang a favourite 'As Time Goes By'. I miss her voice.

Heather on the other hand wrote her own song and composed the music for it. This was special and expressed her love and deep feelings. Thanks Heather! Speeches were left to a minimum and I very much appreciated Jan's brother Barry, welcoming me into the Delacour family. Love this guy's humour. He ought to do some comedy writing!Daughter Brenda welcomed Jan into the Petrusma Clan, and did it well with illustrations that were both humourous and serious. Both Jan and I feel very accepted in our extended family and appreciate expressions of loving support.The final words came from both of us as we acknowledged our past, our new-found love and happiness, and the generosity of our families and many friends.Our lovely Wedding Cake was made and decorated by Mark's creative wife Cal, who brought it with her as carry on luggage from Adelaide. Many thanks Cal. We know you will create many more of these as your cake business expands and people enjoy your excellent work.To be surrounded by many of my grandchildren made the day all the more special. Here they are (well, at least some of them, with others mentioned earlier):Sarah & James from AdelaideJoe & Ellie from HobartKarina & Gemma from HobartAndrew from Devonport & Nigel from Adelaide

Kathryn & Thomas from Hobart

Well, there we have it. Time flies and we have been married almost three months, busy settling into our new routines, enjoying our companionship, looking forward to quality time with family and friends, plus lots of travel. Our Tranmere home is a haven of beauty and peace, with the Derwent River just in front of us. The next blog chapter will probably be about our Tranmere abode.