General Chat

Hi Perse. Thanks for the laugh..Nice to see a Kiwi here.. Hubby is one from Wanganui and half the Kiwi side of the family are now in OZ..I used to live in New Plymouth where I had a lot of cousins..

C A lovely part of the northern beaches Curl Curl..My parents used to live there,,with magical sea views..

Tony Bet Barcode got a better view of the tennis from the loungchair than she would from a seat in the stand..Was happy that Federer won but felt sorry for the Scot..

Fred.. Poor cat.. Bet he had really sore feet after the stint on the ice..you will have to make him a pair of snow boots..LOL Glad Sean is settling in and he will do well...

Am really looking forward to the Wattle meet.. Those 4 days are my annual holiday so gotta make the most of it...

Hope all are well..take care and keep warm /cool as the case may be,,,LOL

Love Mary xxx

we have been having those steamy downpours, yeah its lovely because its warm as well.

Aww Tone, so excited because this is the first for me and get to spend time with cuzzie Rebs :) Was going to say I'm not sure about the coldy, however when in Rome...

xx

Evening.......and good morning Fred.

T;was Colin ( Sydneybloke ) that asked that question (northern hemisphere ) Fred...Not Tony......because i know where you live, well, i know the county where you live......lol

Perse. Loved the verse....:>))

Mary. No, Bar-code Barb didnt go to the final, only the semi. She watched the Feddera - Andy Murray game from the comfort of the family room.

Could do with a bit of rain down here in the south, as i am forgetting what it looks like.

Hiya Yvette...:>))
Must be getting close to the Aussie meet in Toowoomba mate. Real sorry we cant make it this year, but we have been to all the others since 2004, and i'm sure there will be many more...knowing the Wattlers...lol
Have a great time, and have a coldie for me.


Tony....:>))

aww gee Perse, had a good giggle too.
Ahh baton, the baker would say - 1/2 bread stick??
xx

Nah Tony not from the northern hemisphere lol ,from the frozen bl***Y north of England Mate he he ,woke up this morning to a temperature of 10c ,this was inside the house lol..
Yep the half size french stick is known as a baton ,maybe the last athletic meeting up here found the relay runners short of sticks ,seems there are three sorts ,carraway seed covered ,cheese covered,and seed covered as well as plain ,all good grub ,going well with salad ,on soups fry grilled with cheese on the top ,or on a tea plate buttered with some sort of spread on .
Seen the alert levels round the globe a few months ago ,but still a good chuckle ,making light of serious problems round the world no matter where you are ,these arabs in Iraq and Afghanistan ,not content with attacking all and sundry but attacking people in their own countries as well.still ,as anyone can see ,they have been doing this since ,and during biblical times ,and they sure as hell will never change.
Hiya [bad penny] lol,i read about the two kids dying in their sleeping bags too ,it was horrific,and something i too hope never happens to anyone again,i wouldn't wish an end to my worst enemy.
Poor Hissy,outside this morning in a very sever frost ,came down from the greenhouse chased by a huge magpie skidded and got friction burn off the ice covered concrete.he he ,she came indoors ,whobegone expression on her face ,looked up at the wife and let out a pitiful meeeow [look at me ,i isssss hurting].
I have never seen owt like what i saw next ,and me with flat batteries in my camera's.there's the cat ,upside down on Liz's lap.smug expression plain to see ,while the wife is rubbing her paws with ponds cold cream ,i ask you. never get attention like that .
Sean ,by now ,has settled in to his first shift at work,but i know he will manage well ,he was used to answwering nco's requests for info to do with work ,so ,now he is one himself he can set others to do some of the work while he is reading up on all the new gen ,and aircraft that he deals with,getting ready for the next promotion in a couple of years.
By that time his wife will be finished at uni and will be working at some hospital ,or institution as a robotics engineer ,and her future assured,i have told them both to emmigrate as soon as he is finished his time ,there is nothing in this countruy for them ,and europe on the way to becoming a 3rd world country Brussels taking the union into bankrupcy.
Looking forward to the five nations next week but i reckon south africa will take it again, still ,it's better viewing than the cricket .
Catch you later peeps ,and watch yourselves in those floods and high winds ,we only have the cold to contend with.Fred.

Alert Levels around the globe.

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats and have raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies all but ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to a "Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was during the great fire of 1666.

The Scots raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards" They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the frontline in the British army for the last 300 years.

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide". The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France 's white flag factory, effectively paralysing the country's military capability.

It's not only the French who are on a heightened level of alert. Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout loudly and excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."

The Germans also increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbour" and "Lose".

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual, and the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels .

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Americans meanwhile are carrying out pre-emptive strikes, on all of their allies, just in case.

New Zealand has also raised its security levels - from "baaa" to "BAAAA!". Due to continuing defence cutbacks (the air force being a squadron of spotty teenagers flying paper aeroplanes and the navy some toy boats in the Prime Minister's bath), New Zealand only has one more level of escalation, which is "Sh**, I hope Australia will come and rescue us".

Australia , meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be right, mate". Two more escalation levels remain, "Crikey!, I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend" and "The barbie is cancelled". So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.

Perse (NZ) from Sue's Aussie thread on chat.

Bit late getting back onto the thread... Marie, I knew Cowra had problems. I think I remember when the Wyangala Dam was built, and I knew it was desperately low on water. It has made the Sydney news regularly, at least on the ABC.
Hello Mary in Sydney, I know the northern beaches well, having lived there for my first 38 years.
I went to North Curl Curl and Narrabeen North public then Narrabeen High, then a boys only school.
Am i waffling? Probably.
I moved to Ryde partly because I wanted to be closer to work and to be honest could not afford to buy my own place on the northern beaches.
Hello Merle, Tony, Fred. Specially to Badger, who seems to be in the northern hemisphere. Is that true? I have not heard the term baton before in relation to bread, but I know of the French bread stick and the half stick.
My best friend is mad keen on the tennis but she has her favourites. She also listens to the cricket on the radio regularly.
I'll check back in this evening perhaps I am supposed to be working at present.
C.

Hi everyone...Well I have returned like the bad penny...hee hee hee...

It has been so humid here that it has knocked me one and I have had to sleep with the fan going full blast..

Have had visitors so haven't been able to get near the puta for a while..Then a big birthday today for the 3 Johns in the family who all have their birthdays near each other so we kill 3 birds with one stone...LOL...To many birthdays here for my liking...

Welcome to the two newys.. Nice to see another Sydney ite.. and Perth isn't that far away,,well not to far...
I am on the northern beaches in Sydney so hopefully get the sea breezes but sometimes they get lost..

Marie That was a terrible accident in Orange with the 2 kids being run over while sleeping in their swag....They were friends of my grandson and he is devastated..such a shame to lose two lovely kids so tragically..do hope it never happens again..

Hi Tony .. Did Barcode watch the tennis from home or did she get tickets for the finals..

Fred.. How is things.. Is Sean settled in at last..must read back and see all the news that I have missed..

June Glad things are looking up in your household..

Merle How are you lovely..well I hope..

Well am off to bed...nite all and morning Fred..

Love Mary xxx

Hi All, What an exciting game of cricket last night, What do you think of the ball biting incident ,I thought it very strange,and I was very dissapionted in the captian,as I thought he had done a good job with his team and some of his placements in the field.
We had a pleasent day yesterday not as hot but it looks like it will be hotter to-day, no rain lots of cloud with lightening and thunder.
Sydney bloke,Hi ,Cowra is in a bad way as their Dam has less than 2% they have missed out on all the rain that we were lucky enough to get through winter,we also got rain from the W.A.Cyclone up near Broome.
We are lucky that the water for our Dam is in a very good catchment supply area, we have'nt had any water restrictions unlike Orange & Cowra.
Thank you Badger for the explanation of Baton sounds good I will think of a french stick as that from now on.
must away seeds to sew and natives to plant
Kindest regards ,
Marie

Arvo....:>))

Warm Sunday in Melb. 37c with a surposedly late change coming through later this evening.

Noticed tropical cyclone Olga moving about up north,and causing some havoc. King tides flooding some towns as well, so hope all those living in far north Queensland keep safe.

Have received a recent email connection on Ancestry au from a 3rd cousin living in Osoyoos B.C Canada.
He is in his 80s now and was pleased to hear that some of our Ancestors immigrated to Australia as well as Canada. He had only just started on his FH not long ago, and wondered where his grandparents had origionated from. He knew they came from England, but not which County/Villages.
I knew this particular side of our family, to which 5 sons and parents had immigrated from Essex, England, to Bucks, then to Winnipeg Manitoba B.C in the 1880s as i had traced them through the English census until they dissapeared, and turned up on the Canadian census........... so we have been exchangeing info back and forth. I also have Photo's of his father,uncles, aunts and his grandparents, of which he has few photos.
I sent them to him, and he was a very happy bloke, as he put the names to the faces on the photos of his uncles/aunts that he remebered as a young bloke....:>))
One of his uncles ( so he tells me ) spawned the "Bobby Hull" era of pro ice hockey in Canada, and from googling the name i see Robert Marvin Hull ( Bobby Hull )b.1939 Ont. was quite a big deal in Canada when it came to proffesional ice hockey.
I know nothing about Ice Hockey, but perhaps my claim to fame!!!......;>))

Wishing all a great weekend, or whats left of it.

Cricket is about to start, and the beer is chilled.

Av a goood un.


Tony...:>))

Hi Peeps ,just a quick few lines before i start the decorating ,as iv'e just come in from having my feet done at the clinic.
sorry Marie ,for the confusion about the Baton ,which is only a half size french stick ideal for pensioners of a single person going on a picnic.
I sometimes buy a one with cheese on the top ,lush.
I think it's time for a fish and chip dinner with mushy peas,and for tea ,a little stir fry which always goes down well at my place.
Be back later all ,Fred.

Hello people. Marie from Bathurst- what a nice part of the world, but so dry at the moment. I went through Bathust over Christmas & New Year. Didn't seem to be much water in the Macquarie. I stayed in Cowra on the Lachlan and explored the area. Not much more watewr in the Lachlan. OH's roots include Grenfell.
Speaking of Governor Lachlan Macquarie, it was the 200th anniversary of him taking up his position this month. Met his doom because he thought convicts who had served their sentences could enter genteel society. The Exclusives disagreed. My feeling? John Macarthur was an Exclusive, and anyone who ran a'foul of him could not be all bad.
Interesting to read your posts Fred. I have read about famous badgers, for example in Wind in the Willows and the Narnia books to name two. There was also a documentary about real badgers on our TV recently. They are quite a large animal aren't they?. In one shot, a badger and a fox were eating out of the same food bowl and I know how big a fox is.
Hello also to Gwenda, Cowgirl (are you Anne?) and Merle.
Colin in Sydney- to be more precise, Ryde area between Sydney and Parramatta.

Hello All, At last some good news, lovely to hear that Anns brother is doing well.
Tony I dont think it was the fresh air that did it as I have a Gt.Gt.Grand Mother in West Coker who had a large number of children I cant recall how many & I dont know if they all survived & yes I do think it was probably because of the cold weather and because they didnt have TV or computers like we do LOL
Badger I do like reading your Menusand the news but sometimes I dont know some things you mention ---- like---French batton----???.
Hello Gwenda, it has been so hot here, I am hoping for some rain as I will have to take out a loan to pay the water bill.
Hi cowgirl hope all is well with you , and to Sydney bloke nice to hear from you also. Merle if you are looking in hope you are ok and no more accidents Hear!
Kindest Regards to you all ,
Marie from Bathurst Brmmm BrmmmmZzzzzzzzoooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmm

What a great result Anne ,here's hoping your brothers eye continues to improve and he is able to get back to normal,it'd nice to hear some good news for a change,Liz and i will continue with the thoughts and prayers.
Hope Australia day was good for everyone, must be nice to be able to have a holiday at this time of year in the sun ,lol
Well ,i tried the veggie Haggis on burns night and have to say ,it wasn't bad at all ,but i prefer the meat [offal one ,as it seems to have more spices in giving it that edge ,never mind though ,i will try a different veggie one next year to see if it is better,and ,in the meantime ,i will go back to the tinned Grants which is ace.
I wish we could swap some sun for some rain ,lol, but ,never mind ,now that we are only 11 months to Christmas he he ,spring is on the way at last.
I only have one bottle of Brown Brothers wine left ,and i am keeping that for our fist B B Q of the season ,maybe during the Easter weekend,when is is USUALLY dry and warm,but who knows.
I remember as a bairn ,out in the garden ,short trousers and shirt ,with all the girls and ladies in their summer clothes and hats ,who says the weather cycles havn't changed over the years?
I was busy yesterday taxi driving the wife and son for their shopping ,and finishing the ceiling at home in our bedroom ,where things came home to me with a bump [ sniffle] gone are the days when a roof painting was done in two hours ,tops ,and it was on with the papering ,now it's part of the morning and all afternoon just to get the ceiling finished ,i issssss NOT enjoying this getting past it lark he he.
From this year on ,all walls will be papered white ,and in future painted with emulsion for ease ,end of story ,i can manage with a step ladder okay for that ,at least..
We had two veggie meals yesterday ,a small salad for dinner ,and a Jacket tattie for tea ,both of which went down a treat,and today ,i think i will banish the wife to the front room for dinner ,while i treat myself to a couple of pieces of smoked Mackerel with some small slices of french batton.wkile she has two cod fishcakes with chips.
I have just founf out that our local fish quay are the people that supply all the fishcakes for the fish shops in the town,so i will go down next time i want Mackerel ,and buy a box of cakes for the wife i love my fish but the wife will only have cod ,once in a blue moon ,but will happily east fish cakes whenever i cook them for her.
Even the cat gets fish on these days ,lol,and she loves a bit of steamed Coley or whiting ,which are easy to cook.
Time to get on with the decorating folks ,so if a person shows up tomorrow ,with spots of white all over the face ,it isn't one of your natives on walkabout ,'tis only Fred,he he.
Catch you all later Fred.

Hello all,
I haven't been on for a few days but have caught up with recent posts.
Tony, my OH doesn't quite swear at the tennis, but she has her favourites and when they lose a point (or more) it's "you fool" or "you idiot" or "how could you be so stupid?".
I don't get so worked up at the players. It's the commentators who drive me to drink. Especially a certain American. As someone said in the Herald, why can't we just courier Jim back to where he belongs?
They did have large families in the old days. My gt-gt-grandmother had 12 at least, of whom 10 grew to adulthood and most had families of their own.
Anne, glad the vibes are working for your brother. Time is a great healer, too.
Australia Day for me was a bit of a non event. I had to work Saturday, and had Monday off in lieu, so a three day weekend. We went to visit an aunt who lives south of Nowra in the Shoalhaven. We went by train, which was worth it when I saw the traffic crawling along the Princes Highway towards Heathcote. The train is slower than driving of course, but mainly on the holiday timetable its definitely not an express and because we had a 25 minute wait for the connection at Central coming home. It still beats driving in holiday traffic though. :-) Pleasant visit, and the aunt took us for a drive around the Jervis Bay area on Monday
Happy wattling..

Morning all

just a quick note to say that the Wattler vibes are having a positive effect.....

my brother went back to the specialist last thursday, his eye is about half way open and although very bloodshot and irritated, he still has a bubble of gas in the eye which causes its own set of porblems) his sight HAS IMPROVED and he was able to look at the clock and work out roughly what the time was........much better then just being able to tell the between light and dark...he will miss at least the first 2 weeks of school but hopefully if it keeps improving he will be able to return to work in a few weeks....

keep up the positive thoughts it all helps..



love June cowgirl xx

Happy Australia Day

Welcome to Sydneybloke and Allan. Drop in anytime.

Merle - gosh you don't do things by halves do you? Hope you have a better year healthwise and all round. Glad you weren't in any hurry to move cos it doesn't seem to be happening too quickly. That's interesting about the tea bags - hope it keeps helping your brother and his chemo goes well too.

Cowgirl - congrats and well done - good effort for such a short time to arrange things. How are your plans for the new abode coming along?

Marie - think we could all do with some rain - seems ages since we had any in Canberra too.

Hi to Fred - if you get too much of the wet stuff you know where to send it. Haven't bothered with vegies this year cos I lost 3 months at the end of last year sorting through my mother's hoardings so by the time we got back home it was too late to get things going - anyway the weeds have taken hold so until it cools down in the backyard I'm not out there working.

I'll toast you all with a glass of WA wine with my dinner tonight. Introduced to Stella Bella wine while on our cruise last August and we drank the ship dry so had to order some for Christmas - lovely drop.

Bye ~~~~~~~~~~ Gwenda

Evening from me, and good morning to Fred.

Cow Girl. Well done for raising the $1200.
We Aussies dont have the long history like our U.K cousins, when it comes to our historic buildings, but what we have is worth preserving for future generations to come.

Hi Allan. Havent visited the West for years, and last time there was in 2001. We holidayed at Fremantle, and then drove down to Mandurah and Bunbury. Then back to Perth,before flying north to Broome, and i remember it well. We were sitting in a restaurant in Perth when my mobile phone rang, and it was my son-in-law from Melbourne informing me i was a grandfather to a healthy 8lb baby boy ( my first granchild )
I was jumping up and down with excitement in the restaurant, and i think the waitress thought i was chokeing on a peice of meat....lol
Anyway...after i had explained about my brand new grandson just born, i received a free complementry glass of wine to celebrate....:>))


Marie. I dont know how they survived with that many kids, either, but they did, and you wouldnt beleive the ammount of cousins i have contact with now days in just the state of Victoria...lol
I think back then ( so history tells us ) that an average family was anywhere from 8 to 12 children plus.
Of course, many did not survive from large families, and just scouring through the Pioneer Index's doing look-ups, i come across many that died as new borns.
Immigrants coming from Europe and from much cooler climates to a country barren, and temps in the high 40c plus, it must have been hell on earth living in the Aussie bush during summer, and sometimes hundreds and hundreds of miles away from the nearest settlement.
Our own Aussie history tells us ( during the gold rush era ) that water was more valuable than the gold itself for survival.......and it looks like nothings changed coming into 2010 ( water and lack of it )

Wishing all a happy Australia day to-morrow for all Australians as we celebrate the settlement of the Colony. Australia Day, 26 January, being the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet of 11 convict ships from Great Britain, and the raising of the Union Jack at Sydney Cove by commander Captain Arthur Phillip, in 1788
We will have our typical Bar-be-que, and a few cold beers with our family, and then a two minute walk to the council lawns to see the fireworks display. Something my grandkids enjoy.


Barb is glued to the tele at the moment ( Leynton v's Federra ) tennis....and i might take a quick walk up the road as there is foul lanquage coming from the family room........but then again she is an Aussie sheila, and decendant from good convict stock on all sides of her family......lolol


Av a goodun

Tony....:>))

Good morning all from Newcastle ,where Fred is getting ready for his Burns supper, all that is needed is a neep pulled out of the veggie patch and i am fit to go.
Reckon your Barnes and mine are related then Tony ,somewhere down the line ,many in my tree having 13 to 15 children ,weeell ,what else was there to do on a cold winters night ,to keep warm he he.
I have a family photo of my gt grandad Edwin,wife Rosa and 7 children ,and Rosa still looks about 20 years old,don't know how they did it in those days [well ,i do but not with such success] , he he.
Things are still grotty here ,but ,at least ,it is a little warmer,if as wet.
Every one over there ready to party? have a great day ,and send me a couple of snags and yabbys . Fred.

Hello all,& Cooeee to the new bloke Allan from WA, to the Sydney Bloke Hi to you and yes it is B---dy hot here in Bathurst Allan how is it in WA?
Greetings Merle,you take the cake don't you I do hope your Brother recovers,and you have a much better year love to you dear
.
Hi Cow girl you have been busy,good work I hope the ceiling gets done.
I like the cricket and do like the 50 over games.

Hi Badger,pleased to hear your weather is improving,we need rain here even a storm would be lovely. I want to put some seeds & seedlings in but it is just too hot, I dont start watering until about 7.45pm.

Tony I have a GT. Grandmother who had 13 children plus a few still borns I thought that was a lot but your Sarah Barns did well I wonder how they managed to cloth & feed them it must have been very difficult.
I mut away as it is hot to be sitting in front of a computer. Best wishes to you all Kindest Regards Marie.Brmmm Brmm