General Chat

Update from the North East of Vic, where there are fires still causing concern around Beechworth, Yackandandah, Dederang, Myrtleford. Not much wind today and MUCH cooler, which helps. As those familiar with the area know, the ridge tops are forested and the valleys farmed, so the houses are well spaced and this is an advantage as each one is threatened in isolation and teams can be sent in when danger occurs. Stanley is safe so far - we were there ten days ago picking berries at the berry farm, charming spot. Two lives were lost last Saturday when it was so dreadfully hot west of Beechworth in the Buckand Gap/Murmungee area, which happens to be where my forbears settled to farm after trying for gold in Beechworth. Ten houses lost and I don't know about the 100 yr old Murmungee Hall where I've attended a family reunion in the past.
It is very smokey, and the mood in town is very sombre. There's an awful lot more very dry forest around here, and no expectation of good rains for many months to come.
Well, what is done is done, now we need to clean up. I don't know what is worse, waiting for stinking stagnant floodwater to recede, or bulldozing blackened ruins, we are a land of extremes. God Bless all those families affected directly losing loved ones and family homes. Mwah to All, Hz

hello to all, what can we say that hasen't already been said on the bushfires,such tragic stories unfolding and such destruction.
Tony i hope your daughter and family are ok,it must be a worry for you..
Much cooler temps this week but still very dry in parts.

well not much to report really

cheers Sandra in the gong

Evening

Hi Sandra.

We are all fine mate. My own children are not under any direct threat, its more so their spouses/partners familys who live in the north and north-east communities. My main concern was that they ( my own children )would stay put in the area where they live, and not try to venture into any of these horrific scenes.

My own direct family, and my siblings familys, are from the Warburton,Yarra Junction, Mansfield and Jamieson townships, some which are on alert.

Barbs from the Neerim,Gippsland, Meriijig region........so also in the North and north east.......so for myself like many other Melbournians and Victorians, who have visted or holidayed in these areas all their lives,and know how much forest and dry scrub/bush there is at the moment, just puts us on tender hooks,as these fires race around all over Victoria, not knowing which way the winds might turn.

A bit of sad news for us today, although not directly close friends,we had heard of people /aqaintences we knew from our teenage years, that belonged to the Square dancing exhibition society. They were up around the Kyneton area doing a Square dancing exhibition with a group last week, but they had decided it was to hot with the weather being the way it was, so went home with his family to Kinglake and along with his wife and three children had perished in the fires.... Very sad.

So much heartbreak and sadness coming through, but also the ones who were lucky and escaped in time, and the goodwill pouring into these communities to help out others less fortunate is amazing.

44 Million dollars raised so far........and help pouring in from all over the country, and from O/seas.

God bless all.

Tony.

ps. A great link i use to keep up with whats happening.

http://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/incidents/incident_updates.htm#1476983215763

and

http://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/incidents/incident_summary.htm

Hi everyone Well its nice to see a bit of rain..not a lot but enough to dampen things down and a lot cooler..John who feels the cold is back into his winter clobber and I am in a T/shirt and short..really funny..

Hope Victoria gets a lot of rain soon and makes it to wet for anyone to light another fire..hope they find out who did the lighting and throw them in the clink for life and throw away the key...

Am leading a quiet life at the moment and taking things easy..went to water jerks this morning and it makes me feel so much better..I love swimming and the pool..

Hope all are well and things are looking up for our Merle,,and she hasn't done a triple somersault over any more dogs and buttered up her knee again,,only one silly butter allowed here and I got the title..big hugs xxx

Well am off to bed..sleep tight all and Angels on your pillows..

Love Mary xxxx

Hi people, glad to hear that so far all is well.I'm praying for you all and any families in the danger zones.
Hi badger, gosh the whole world has gone crazy weatherwise hasn't it. We are actually having a hot summer over here and a few fires, also deliberately lit but nothing like Victoria thankfully.
Am gradually recovering and limping without a stick so must be improving.Tomorrow is the last physio appt. so a couple of us are going to go to the public pool each Tuesday morning to do the exercises weve learned and will keep the home ones going for a while too.Will probably be months before I get my next one done (Ihope).
Stay safe all of you, Luv Me

evening all

feel abit overloaded with images at the moment and trying to continue on with everyday activities without feeling guilty for getting on with life, going out to the movies, family fun etc

Mary, we have had the first piece of good news about the house, the council have APPROVED the application for the drive way and flat area, with some minor changes but the first tiny step has begun........

prayers and thoughts to all the Wattlers who have family and friends in Victoria and NSW...... hopefully the weather will continue to stay cooler and no wind...

nite all

sleep well

Love June (CG0xo)

Morning all.. We have had boootiful rain now for 2 days and I am so happy about that,,More to come this week also so I is a happy chappy...wish I could send some down south to the fire areas but praying for rain for them instead..
Having lovely quiet days and resting all I can..last week was not a good week so am making up for it this week,,trying to do some FH and soon it will be time to get back to searching parish records at the FHC not to far from me,,The lady that ran it has retired and a new person has taken over,,so I had better go and see who it is and introduce myself..

Glad the fires down south are gradually being contained and hope no more idiots decide to start any more...they should put them in jail and throw away the key...

Hope all are well and hugs for them not the best..

Love Mary xxxxxx

Arvo

Weather starting to warm up again for Victoria, and expected temps to reach into the 30s over the next few days. ( Sun is Orange and the moon is Red )
Melbourne City is blanketed by haze and smoke from various fires around the outskirts, and has been for the last few days. Not great for those who suffer from Asthma or respiratory problems.( Best to stay indoors ) News reports tell us that there is also much backburning going on by CFA ......as they try to contain various spot fires breaking out from floating embers, and try to establish a fire break between the two larger fire fronts Yea - Murrundini and Bunyip ridge so they do not join up......so they warn us of a very smokey Melbourne city and suburbs over the next week.

Although any major fire threat to Towns and Communities are mainly contained...... The main threats are:
The KILMORE EAST - MURRINDINDI COMPLEX NORTH is still (going ) and now over 144,617 Ha ( 355 thousand Acres ) The KILMORE EAST - MURRINDINDI COMPLEX to the SOUTH ( 4km SE Healsville and Yarra Valley area ) at 75,034Ha ( 185 thousand acres ) .....STATE FOREST

Where as BUNYIP SP - BUNYIP RIDGE TRK ( going ) at 25,500 Ha ( 61 thousand acres ) The CHURCHILL - JEERALANG still going and at 32,300 Hectacres burnt ( 79 thousand acres )

In the.... DARGO - WHITE TIMBER SPUR ( still going )13,640 Ha

Where i live ( outer Melbourne suburbs ) we have not seen rain since before Christmas, and if ever we need it....we need it now.

Special thoughts also to our neighbours up North in Queensland floods ( Ironic aint it )...such a diverse Country.......and News reports telling us this flooding is the size of the State of South Australia.

A bit of a scare last night in the outer Melbourne suburbs in the north ......Belgrave, Ferny Creek, Kallista and Sherbrooke, Tecoma ( Dandenong Ranges Nat Park. ) large populated area's............as some idiot arsonist tried to start a fire, but was contained by Water Copters dumping thousands of litres to extinquish it........Police are now patrolling the area.

Never thought i would say this ( loving our Summer months)....but Winter and rain cant come quick enough for me. ( but dont mention that word ...Rain...... to our neighbour up North in Q.L.D ).

Best wishes to all..

Tony

evening all,

one of the hardest things about the weather is no relief at night, just been out to pick up no 3 from work at 9.30 and it was still 27 outside.....

if only we had the water the size of SA in SA, like you Tony we have not had rain since Christmas, and now someone let the plug out in the Torrens and its a series of mudflats with the occasional pool of water......looks very sad and sorry for itself.......

even Adelaide was covered with a dirty brown haze today from the fires, the photos taken by NSA of the spread of smoke are unbelievable .......

care and good wishes to everyone else.......look after yourselves and each other......

nite all

sleep well

love June (CG) xoxox

HI All,just wanted to let you know I will be away for a week, taking a bus tour to Vic going down to Warnambool will be spending 3nights there , will be going along the great ocean road also to Port Fairy, its been appox.20 years since I lived in Colac I did a lot of day trips all round the district I think it is
one of the lovelest arears in Vic.

Unfortunately as Tony said the smoke is bad so it may not be very pleasant.I am hopingTony that the rain follows me If I could I would lasso it and drage it behind the bus.

I hope you are all well ,I will be back on the 26th Feb.
Marie .

hey Marie

if you've got rain following you drive our way after Victoria okay!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello everyone,
Dare I say it out loud, but we’re currently having a few spots of rain, enough to dampen the back of a postage stamp even !! If it washes some smoke out of the air that will be marvellous!
Have a lovely trip down memory lane Marie, it really sounds like you are looking forward to your travel.
All well here but our home computers have been playing up, I think Telstra has something to do with it, or maybe we have a modem that’s dying, anyway I haven’t been able to do much for a week but I put OH on the job today, to research the problem, I can get my emails (just) but not get Firefox or IE, very slow too.
Better keep doing my chores at work, it’s “keep the accountant happy” day today – not my fave, a bit of a slog. Oh well, ~~ to all, Hz

Evening all,

just popping in to say hi. Hope you get your computer sorted out at home, Hz.

Glad things are moving on your house, June and hope you get some rain. We need some here too, it has been cloudy but just spits - nothing decent for ages. however, it has been cooler which has been nice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~ to all,
Vonny

Morning all..We have had some nice rain but it seems to be petering off..

June How is the house going,,Bet you haven't done to much due to working to hard..slow down girl....

Marie Hope you have a nice time away..

HAven't done much on the FH front for a while,,Got so many brick walls I think my ancestors must have all made a pact to disguise themselves with false names and identities..Must go back to the FHC and order some more film..

Life is rather boring at the moment..so nothing much to report..Have a lovely weekend all..

Love Mary xxx

Hello everyone,
It was only 28 degrees today and so I felt chilly !
Quite smoky on the border here today because of the newest lot of fires
around Daylesford ( I have second and third cousins in the area still farming the original blocks settled in 1851 - 1861). But the days are shortening, so OH and I are tidying up the yard getting ready for the first rains - unblocking drains, cleaning gutters, and using a bit of water to get the soil ready to absorb a rainfall in areas which usually run off - ground is otherwise as hard as bricks. We have been keeping some newly planted shrubs going and the blackbirds arrived this week and spread the bark mulch and underlying shredded paper all over the back yard!
They knew where the moist soil was !

Ongoing thoughts for the Victorians still facing fire - mwah to all - Hz

Hello all , I am back in Bathurst ,How awful everything is in Victoria From the time we left Cowra all we saw was dead grass (if there was any )dead trees,most of the cherries trees in young were dead which is usually a lovely area, and it got worse as we went along. we saw some of the devastation as we went past Kilmore we could see where the fires jumped the Freeway and many homes burnt down. From Geelong to Warnambool which is usually a lovely area exactly the same dry as chips.
The biggest shock was the very large Lake at Colac , it was dry as a bone.
Warnambool appears to have fared a little better, the dairy heards are being hand fed and they still seem to have enough water to irrigate some of their paddocks.It was a shock also to see Lake Wendoree also bone dry and the beautiful gardens suffering.
Despite all of this it was wonderful to go back where I spent so many years and where all my children where born I hope the next time I get back the heavens have opened and Vic., is the beautiful Garden State that it used to be.

We all ate far to much on our trip and we tried to put as much money back into the economy of all the little towns as we Sailed along we also drank a large amount of Wine each night.
Despite our sad feelings for the Victorians and the farmers in NSW we really had a very nice time.

I hope you are all well .Regards to you all
Marie from Bathurst.

Good Evening,
It's been a beautiful day today after thunderstorms last night. I've just grabbed the computer between daughter and grandchildren - I'm spending a couple of days with them as it's the long weekend in WA this weekend.

Best wishes to all

Ian

Hi everyone..We have dull again today but nothing in the rain department.. butter...Autumn is here so hope the weather cools down soon and gives the poor people down south some rest from those pesky fires..this week doesn't seem a good one where heat and wind is forecast..

Life is busy but quiet.. been trying to do some FH but not getting very far..next month I will have to start going back to the FHC as it is my only hope..

Marie Glad you had a nice holiday,, Its nice to get away but always nice to get home..

Ian Are you transcribing any more,,,Enjoy your time with the kids..

Sandra.. Hope you are well ...

Well better get my A into G and do some housework as got visitors tomorrow for lunch and a big meeting of the Residents Committee of which I am treasurer..

Have a nice day all..

Love Mary xxxx

Good Morning All (just)
It's a bit overcast here and quite breezy.
Mary I've stopped transcribing full parishes as it's too time consuming. I thought I was going to have a quiet couple of weeks at the FHC as I'm awaiting a new film - however I've been corresponding with someone who shares ggggrandparents with me and I still have the film of the parish records for some of his family at the FHC so I'll be chasing them for him.

Best wishes to all.
Ian

Evening everyone,
Just see Melbourne is getting rain at last from the weird front coming through today, still dry here in Albury, Hume Weir 11% which is not good news for those downstream hoping for water allocations for autumn crops. They may have paid for water rights, but it's all fanciful if there's NO WATER !!
I have Sydney friends heading for Lake Eyre - he's a photographer, I have to say that's the one event I'd love to see in my lifetime, the waterbirds of Australia just congregating by the rising flood water in the shallow saltpan - a uniquely Australian event.
I am looking forward to the change in season to get back to some FH at last, I haven't done much this summer. I might not get a lot done this year actually, I'm concentrating on D(arling) D(aughter) doing her HSC, that is challenging enough!
Marie your trip was a good one I see, when we go to Bendigo at the end of the month I plan to do the same as you and put some $'s back into the local community. We are gearing up to a pretty Big Wattler meet it seems, can't wait for a big chinwag! Don't know how much FH will be done, but I have some Kangaroo Flat deaths to follow up and I'm happy to mooch around the odd cemetery lol -
Time to hit the hay, overnight winds might be a problem methinks and the following cold air quite a contrast to the last eight weeks..... will be easier to sleep well, sweet dreams all, Hz