General Chat

Hello from a very soggy Albury, nice to see some new faces but I must say if you are working in emergency services then you will be BUSY in central and northern Victoria !! Today we had brilliant sunshine plus another three quarters of an inch of rain - more forecast too ! Amazing, but brilliant to see the Hume Weir at 65%.
June welcome home! What were the highlights of your trip? Did you hunt down the ancestors lol ! Next to go will be Marie, watch out Italy, here she comes.
I'm having a weekend away, meeting up with my sister to visit my Dad who is 92. It’s a lot of driving but maybe the roads will
be relatively quiet with this weather. Better go and pack the wellies !
Take Care all, I will be back next week ~~ Hz

Well hello, Mel75, also Amazing Grace08,Welcome to our Wattlers Club,, so nice to have some new friends to chat to.
Mel 75 I have a Son and grandchildren still living in Castlemain.My son lives just near Barkers Creek, His 2 youngest children go to a Catholic College in Bendigo.
The rain has been a wonderful gift for that area I know that Castlemain hasn't had rain for more than 10years.
It is so typical of Aust. a drought is almost always followed by a flood
I noticed that the people around Shepperton dont seem to be complaining, they have been waiting so long for this rain.

Here in Bathurst we had good rains last Winter, and this year it hasn't stopped raining all our Dams are pouring over the Spillways. I got bogged in our yard on Saturday,we havent been able to finish any of the jobs that we started earlier
in the year it has been our wettest winter in years.

Hi June welcome home when you get over your jet lag you will have to tell us all about your trip.
I am off to Italy on the 19 th which is only a week & 3 days away.I hope it is warm when we get there.

The big news is we finally have a Govenment thank goodness hopefully we wont have to listen to all that hog wash for awhile.
Hi Mary , alsoTony and Badger how are things with you Fred still no gardening here just too wet.
Tony , South of Sydney got that wild weather also, we had some of it and some trees did come down.
Mary, I hope you & Johnarewell.
I am in the wars again yesterday evening I somehow twisted
my knee bad timing , luckly I have an appointment with the Physiotherapist on Thursday for my back I hope she will take a look at the knee.
I must go as it is well past my meal time .
Kindest regards to you all, especially to Amazing Grace & Mel75, also Yevette and Merle if you are looking in. Marie.

Hi all, new on board as well! hope thats okay!

Lots of rain and wind, partner has been sent up to Shepparton to help with the Incident Control Centre (we both work for an emergency services organisation) so I won't see him for a few day's. The water their is expected to peak tonight.

Hopefully the water is running into the catchment areas and doesn't cause any more damage on it's way!

Hi, hope its o.k. for me to come on board. Just noticed Marie used to live in Castlemaine, very close to where I live. Still a country town, but changing slowly with lots of city slickers & cafes.

We had about 90 mms rain on Friday night, which is the most we have had for at least 10 years, our tanks and dam is overflowing, such a shame to see water going to waste!!

Hello all,

Have just landed back in Oz after our 4 month oddesey OS.

So many highlights, sooooo many photos, so many great memories.

Hope you are all well and enjoying life.

Cheers June (cowgirl)

Hi All,
I've just seen the reports from Victoria - two towns evacuated because of flooding and wind damage in Melbourne.
I hope all you Victorians are o.k.

Best wishes

Ian

Hello Mary, Fred Tony & Shaz, Only 2 Weeks & 2 days, and Marie & Barbara will be up in that great air bus & about 20hrs or so later Italy here we come, that is if I can get everything in my bag LOL.
Mary it was great that you could get to Canberra to visit your daughter & grandchildren.I hope that the specialist is able to help John and it isn't as bad as you think.
Hi Tony I havent seen the news to-night so dont know what has happened re Gov.,I used to live in Vic, 15 years we were in Colac 12 yrs. then Castlemain for 3 years Loved it there.
we had 3 beautiful days of Sunshine so some of the water has dryed up but to-day is cold and the forcast is rain to-morrow for the semifinals of the local AFL also Sunday more rain,all the Dams in our area are full to overflowing ,however the west still needs rain, out around Condoblin they seem to miss out on the rain.
Badger you transported me to your neck of the woods it sounds so beautiful like Mary I would love to be their as I am missing our lovely sunny weather, I have had the rain change and now i would like more sun I am hoping Italy are having an Indian Summer when we get there.
Time to leave you all Best wishes to you all Marie.

Hi everyone Back from a lovely weekend in Canberra and had the lovliest time with my daughter and grandaughters..The drive was not to bad and we did it in good time..dont mind the drive to Canberra as most of it is on a motorway..so easy..
John managed it not to badly and I think he enjoyed himself also..It was good for him to get out of the house and see something more than our village and shops..
Hope we can do this more often as I am sure it does us boththe world of good..
Hope the specialist can find out Johns problems and sort him out..Trip to New Zealand has been cancelled but then I didnt count on it so thats ok..

Hope all are well and enjoying llife..

Love mary xx

Hi Mary ,Tone's ,Marie,and anyone else who shows up this p,m.
I Had the day off yesterday ,deserted the house ,garden ,the wife ,and Hissy,grabbed my trusty spinning rod and reel and bogged off to Keilder for the day.
The biggest man made lake in europe set in rolling hills ,a huge valley ,the shores of the lake covered in heather ,scrub ,and pine forest,like a little Canada ,lots of squirrels ,deer the newly re introduced Beaver ,and other assorted Fauna, [no bears ,thank goodness]
What a day i had ,recharging the batteries ,enjoying the countryside ,the peace,no traffic noise,the wind sighing in the woods,lovely blue sky mainly ,and to cap it all ,lazing in a chair ,rod in hand looking through dark glasses at the iron rich water ,and half dozing in the gentle warmth for the day.
You would have thought the good Lord decided i deserved to remember this day for a long time,the conditions were tailor made so to speak ,and i am not ashamed to say ,i didn't wan't to come home,lol.
I even managed to catch three nice rainbow trout ,two well over the three pound mark ,the third being a lot smaller at under two ,a nice days catch.
The son and i didn't get home until gone 9 pm ,and we stopped off at the local chippy for two fish suppers to save having to cook.
The two big trout where cleaned and put down into the freezer for a rainy day.
I felt a bit guilty upon hearing that Hissy ,upon finding me missing after her morning jaunt ,spent the rest of the day sitting on a chair facing the window looking at the front gate ,not moving off it until i opened the gate.
So ,bless her cotten socks ,she shared the small trout with me upon our little B B Q this dinner time.
The wife ,Ashton and i had two snags each ,in ranch buns ,with onion and mustard,a burger in a cheese muffin ,ditto onions and sauce ,instead of onions.
The weather held for us too ,until 1-30 p,m so i was well happy ,a day and a half of being laid back and lazy before getting back to normal ,he he..
I started looking at the seed books an hour ago ,and next years seed are by now being sorted prior to packing for despatch.
The survey team are due to arrive sometime next week to check the chimney and fire surround prior to getting the fire sorted out for delivery and installation if all is well,so i can do no more yet,hopefully though it will be in ,well before the winter ready for use.
Hope the doc is right this time Mary ,and can get John sorted out and back to normal before long,knowing what's wrong for sure is a good half the battle,and yes ,i too wish you could see your Chalet ,and the garden for real instead of it being in photo's .hey i might even get the pair of you of to keilder for the weekend ,a spot of fishing for John,and some fossicking for you ,lots of fossils in among the rocks on the lakeside ,not including us he he.
time to go and get the puss cats tea,lol,the paw is up again nudging my knee ,very demanding is this pusser cat .
Catch you later peeps ,enjoy the weekend ,Fred.

Hi everyone.. Sorry havent been around much but have had a few busy days.. Our weekend to Canberra went out the window for 2 weeks but we ar off there today for the weekend..It will be so nice to see our girls again as we see so little of them now that John cant travel and is not to good being left on his own for long.. A weekend is about all I can be away from him for safely..The doc now thinks he might have a autoimune condition that can turn bad and now wants him to see a specialist but we cant get an appointment before Oct..so I can see any plans of going to NZ in Nov, flying out the window,..good job I didnt get excited about it as I new something would come up to stop it..it always does..

Marie Have a great time in Italy.. It is a lovely place..Hope you have dried out a bit by now..

Fred.. One day I am going to see your famous garden.. How you produce so much in such a imited space amazes me..Think you could stock a shop..LOL

Merle Hope you are well and have you moved yet..xx

Have a lovely weekend all

Love Mary xx

Arvo.

Thought the house was going to blow down last night with the high winds we had around the outer suburbs of Melb.

The day was sunny, but about 6pm thunder and lightning came from the west with hail, and the winds followed. Could here my decking roof on the patio creeking and groaning under the wind pressure. Was all over in 15 min as it headed away, and by 8pm the stars were twinkling in the dark skies just like nothing had happened.!!!


Well, it looks like a hung parliment for us Ozzies as not enough numbers by both parties to hold any majority vote, and now could take up to ten days as we wait for absentee votes to be counted.
Labor 71 Coalition 71 with 76 seats required for victory.
Have to wait now to see which way the Independants swing, so there will be a lot of sucking up to them by both Lab & Lib.....The Greens received the largest House of Representatives swing of any party in the election, despite the rhetoric that voters were abandoning Labor for the coalition.....O'h what a mess.....lol
Funny though, i didnt receive one single vote for the "Tony Party" after campaigning my heart out. Perhaps no one trusts me, or i didnt kiss enough babies heads????....lol


Marie. Best wishes and hope all is well.
Have a great trip away to Italy when the time comes.

Fred. Have a great trip down to Cornwall.
We were there in 2005 and loved it. Barbs ancestors that came to Australia in the 1850s were from St.Agnes and St.Ives. They were Tin Miners, ( three Families and their children )and all came out to Oz courtsey by the Oz government of the time, to work the various mining going on in Victoria. ( Gold Rush, ) All buried in our Creswick and Clunes cenmetery in Country Victoria, but left a great many decendants in Oz. ( Barbs great, great grandies )
When we flew into Heathrow, we caught a bus to Reading, and then a train to Truro ( lugging 4 suitcases and all ) but peering out the train windows we viewed some great scenery.
From Truro train station we hired a car and drove the rest of our 4 week stay. We just loved the place ( Cornwall ) and small parts/sections of the coast line reminded us of some of our own Victorian Coast lines here in Aussie.

Best i go make the mrs. her cuppa tea, working hard in the Salon, as she has just bought back a six pack of iced Choc donuts after dropping off one of her customers, and if she is lucky i might leave her one....hee hee

Six days to the beggining of Spring ( Sept ).... so bring it on.....:>))

Av a good un.


Tony....:>))

Mornin' all from over the BIG pond where Fred is glad to report that his little corner of the world in that little pocket has again missed the worst of the rain and winds.
My eldest son is getting on with the job of ordering the fire ,and bits i will need for the fitting of,and it looks as though i owe you Ozzies a thank you ,once again,as regards the fire i am getting.
it seems that Australia make the best wood burning fires in the world ,it seems you have a better class of cast iron than anyone else,one that will take more heat without cracking due to an extra ingredient in the formula used in the castings,so my son has ordered one of these for my front room.,another little bit of Oz in my home ,lol.
Sorry to hear that you are unwell Marie.get better soon ,and in the meantime ,stay in the warm,with plenty of hot drinks.
The garden has done me proud again ,my freezer has lots of beans in now ,more than enough to take me over the winter,and the cabbages are coming thick and fast ,big enough to do 4 meals .
The brussel plants are huge, nearly 4 foot high and still inching up,and the sprouts are starting to form ,so come the back end of December they will .along with the kale ,and leeks ,keep me well stocked with winter fare.
Only four weeks to go ,and we will be in the fair land of Cornwall for two weeks,not so posh as Tone's usual holiday venue ,but it should make a nice change for us,he he ,it was a choice of Cyprus for two weeks or the fire ,the fire won ,end of story.
Hope you lot get sorted better than us as regards your recent elections ,don't go down our road for goodness sake ,a coalition is not the best option ,as we Brits are finding to our cost ,think we should all shoot the politicians ,and start again with a clean sheet,they all seem to be feathering their own nests,and stuff the voters ,lol.
Catch you later all ,hope you all enjoy your coming holiday ,short as it will be ,Fred.

Oh Marie, not a nice start to the day for you, hope you improve soon, makes it all the more worse when the weather is cold and depressing as well, sounds like a good idea to head back to bed and keep warm under the electric blanket, thats what I would doing....

Hello All,I hope you are all well, I have been a bit unwell and rather tired,I had hardley any voice yesterday it is a little better to-day I have a chest cold.
I had to have a Glucose tolerence test this morning it started at 8-15 am ended at 10-15 am. I came home and had some breakfast and went back to bed for several hours.
As usual it is still raining and is very cold.it has been one of the wetest winter I have experenced in the 17years I have been in Bathurst.
If it fines up I will have to do such a lot in the garden I was hoping I would be able to get all the seedlings in before I went to Italy but I cant see it happening.
I will see the doc on Wednesday as my xrays will be at the clinic by then. I do think my back is a little better since I moved into the bed in the spare room.I am going to get a new mattress when I get back from Italy ,that is if I have enough money left over from the trip.
It will be weeks before we know who will be in Government.

I hope this findes you all well
Love to all Marie

Morning to Marie ,and all others who happen by this ,am ,pm ,depending where you are ,lol.
Yep Marie ,we are having more of the same too ,pelting down at the moment ,but we are lucky being on top of the hills ,and our water does sort of drain away quite well.
Braved the tempest outside this morning early on and gathered a bit of this ,and a bit of that for the dinner ,,stir fry again,the two of us love them and the veg is coming quick and fast now,so there is plenty to chose from,cucumbers ,peppers from the greenhouse,courgettes red onions ,beans ,cabbage and ,herbs from the garden itself,so we are doing okay.
With the latest news on our pensions ,being cut back on ,already by fat the worst in the E U,and the cold weather payments,at risk i have decided to go for this wood burning stove for the front room ,and the eldest son is looking around for one for me,any takers to slide the flu lining in from the top of the chimney for me? lol, i ain't a going up no ladders at my time of life ,no sir ,lol.
The upside is ,there are two forests at hand ,managed by the commission ,and they sell the wood cheap off the bigger branches that are too small to machine in to timber,so there is a plentiful supply of firewood.
Now too ,if we do lose the power or gas supply i can set up the two loungers in the front room and sleep in there ,so. no matter what ,we can stay snug and warm in the coldest weather,
I Am a little concerned at this coming winter ,i can see ,if all this rain keeps up,us having a winter like the ones they get in Canada as regards the snow,and i can still remember '45 in bucks ,started snowing just after Christmas and didn't stop until late March ,brrrr freezin' it was ,but boy ,did we have fun with the snowballs and slides he he.
Hope you find you have no permanent damage with your back Marie ,nothing worse than a nagging pain that won't go away,is there ?.,
Well Time to go and hang the washing [indoors again ,he he],then i think i will take the wife to the Metro centre for some gentle exercise in the dry .
Catch you all Later,Fred.

Hi Yevette, It is still raining in cold Bathurst they have issued a flood warning for the Macquarie river the low level bridge was closed to-day it pelted down all night and it was a rough night with the wind blowing all the Gouls & Goblins were out LOL
Mary that was a shame that your oh wore himself out and then couldnt go to Canberra, next time dont let him loose in the shops.
I am now starting to count the weeks untill we head off to Italy.I finally found some comfortable shoe's 1pair of walking shoes and nice comfortable Sandals, but boy did they cost me!, Dearest shoes I have ever bought.I couldn't belive the price when i saw the tag I had to have a long think about it but I had to have them as my old ones would not fit the bill.


Hi Fred you are lucky you can actually Pick your vegies mine are all under water,and if this rain keeps up they will be all rotted,I am a person who always looks forward to rain but we have had months of it our yard is a mess it will take weeks of dry weather to dry it out
I had to visit my doctor to-day I have been having back pain since I had the fall and cut my nose she has ordered an x-ray.

We have to vote on Saturday, I do hope that the electors give our Lady Prime Minister a go.
I must go as I have to be up early to go and have the X-ray
Hugs to you all Marie

Huh, Typical of You Oz bunch ,taking the mickey ,what are you doing reading this Fred ,Mary says ,i let you what Fred is doing reading this ,'cause it's piddling down outside ,yet again AND i had to turn the heating on yesterday morning cause it was only 16 c, [grumbles dire threads about YOUR weather] .lol
I did manage to pick a load of beans of all three sorts yesterday anyway,and now have another 7 bags frozen down ,and the tom's have at last started to turn colour ,so things could be tons worse.
Butter about the trip Mary old buddy,sounds as though the hubby needs to take it easy for a few days before making the trip so that he dosn't overwork the joints.
I Have to do the same with my better half ,but for different reasons,and at least i can sit her down for a few minutes until she can breathe easier again,one the joints start to seize up though ,it.s a different matter,and i know only too well what the pain must be like for him ,not at all nice ,and hubby is tons worse than my hip and leg.
Dosn't matter which way the election goes ,one thing is certain ,blighty ,or over there it will be more of the same ,he he.
The courgette ,wannabe marrow is no more ,i made up some pork mince two days ago ,fried it in oil [olive] along with some red onion ,mixed in one of the rice packets[ golden veggie ] and stuffed the courgette with the mix ,wrapping it in foil and sticking it in the oven ,along with roast tatties ,and sweet peppers.did some cauli' and cabbage in the steamer ,and had an amazing dinner ,went down very well ,and the stuffed fruit will be getting done again ,if i can find a marrow cheap enough in Morrisons.
Got round to buying a large ceramic bucket style pot too ,and repotter my orange tree into a large Asda bucket which i then slide into tother,finding that they went together very well.
Now ,if it gets too cold out there for the tree ,i can bring it indoors till the warmer weather ,and Sun ? return.
Hope you all had a good weekend ,and are dreaming of warmer sunnier days ,you lucky lot ,lol.Fred.

Hi everyone.. Hope all are well and you are all keeping warm /cool whichever applies..

Marie Bet you are looking forward to your holiday..I was looking forward to my weekend in Canberra but dinny get there as OH was not able to make it,, He walked all over the Mall on thursday because he needed some clothes and slippers and by the time we got home he was in to much pain and could hardly walk,,So we ended up having a quiet weekend and have put off the trip for 2 weeks as next weekend is the election day..I will be so happy when it is all over..am so sick of it all...

Merle Hope you are ok and have you moved yet..

Fred.. What are you doing reading this,,get out into that lovely garden of yours and get some sun before it all goes..LOL..wont be long before it is down here with us..in its warm mode..hee hee hee..

Have a nice week all

Mary xxx

just flitting through saying hi. yes Marie, I think its rained stacks more this year and coooold, although today is simply stunning.
hard work to organise a family reunion by golly

xx

Hi Badger, whats this, smog over the harbour bridge Never happens mind you Red Dust yes and fog also.
We had a beautiful sunny day yesterday BUT at 9 pm last night Down it came again, rained all bloomin night and to-day if we get anymore tonight I will not be able to get out of my garage,I need to take some photos to show you as I am sure you think I am telling porkies.

Happy Birthday to Merle and to Tassie.

Sir Tones the next time you go to Pukett, you might have two Lovely ladies trailing behind, Myself and my friend Barbara.I was telling her how much it cost you and I suggested we should try it out.
It is getting close to the take off time for our trip to Italy ,I am so looking forward to it, I cant wait to get away from this constant rain.I have not been able to do a thing in my garden for months..
I have started to plan a Hayward Reunion and will have a lot of work to do in the coming months,I arranged to have a plaque put on the memorial wall of the former Benovelent home at Dunwich which is on Stradbroke Island this was where my Great Grandfather spent the last 3 months of his life.

This started me thinking we have several members of my generation who probably wont be around much longer, so the puter ran hot for several hrs., suprise suprise every one thinks it is a great idea,I shall have to get my running shoes on.

Mary I hope you are well also your Oh,I have been checking each day to make sure my feet have not turned to webb feet LOL
I swear this is the wettest year we have had for years & i have been here for at least 18 years.TUT TUT Enough moaning about the weather.
Yevette & Hz I hope you are both well .Will leave you now almost time for bed.
Love & Hugs
Marie