General Chat

Morning all ,hi to Tony,nice to see you enjoyed your hol's and have rellies coming out to show around.
The carrots sound as though they are off to a good start,you could do with planting parsnips among them too ,the different scents confuse the carrot fly,and they go elsewhere to lay the eggs,seems spring onions do the same.
We are off to a malay palace for a meal today [ sons treat] so itwill be toast for tea tonight ,lol.
Hope everyone is okay over there and getting into the spring mood [out with the shorts'blouses and whatever .
catch you all later,Fred..

Hi Joy....:>))

No, this cuz is not related to our SADD family.
She is related to my grandads mothers side ( Williamson line in Essex ) whereas the SADD are related to my grandads fathers side ( Hull line )...........Our 2 x great grandfather Williamson's were brothers, and little did they know that two of their Great, Great, grandchildren ( from different countries ) would still be in contact with each other,after 190 years had gone by.
The internet has bought the world closer....if nothing else.

Hope you are well.

Tony...:>))

Still reading even if I don't post often :-)


Tony, is your cousin a Sadd one?

Evening....:>))

Well, our trip to Phuket Thailand, came and went, as holidays do. We flew from Melbourne to Bangkok,( 9hrs ) and then Bangkok to Phuket.( 1hr ) Then a 40 min bus drive took us through Patong City arriving at Merlin Beach Resort.

http://www.phuket.com/merlinbeach/

After leaving a coolish winter Melbourne at 15c to arrive in Thailand at 34c and 90% humidity the warmer weather hit..... like standing to close to an open fire on a hot day...lol

Our body temps soon adjusted though, and after unpacking in an air-conditioned room and a nice dip in one of the 4 pools followed by a few half price Cocktails by the pool bar, we relaxed into it real quick. We could not fault , and our Accomodation was 4-5 star and i would recommend this resort for cleaniness and freindlyness at a very cheap cost to the pocket. Being in Thailand one must do as the saying goes " When in Rome!!" so i tried every coloured chicken Curry i could muster . Yellow , Red, Green, and a large jug of water....hee hee
I do like my chicken Curries...:>)) and what better place to eat the real thing "Thai Curries"

We stayed on the ground floor with the pool lapping up against the step, just outside our bedroom patio sliding door, so if you were to hot,all you had to do was just roll out of bed and keep rolling out the bedroom door....."Splash!!!.....:>))
My daughter and 8 year old grandaughter stayed on the 4th flloor as children under the age of 10 are not allowed accomodation in a ground floor deluxe Room with access to pool. ( Resort liability Policy )

Al in all a very lovely place to holiday, and as for cleanliness - freindlyness and at half the price you would pay for the same 4-5 star resort in Australia ( and Barb and myself have stayed in some very shoddy so called resorts around Oz ) i would not hesitate to return to Merlin beach Resort next year.
Even returned home with money in my wallet..??????????
:>))))

Have a 3rd cousin from England (Essex ), arriving in Melbourne, Aussie on Friday. This is their first trip down under, and will be staying with us for 3 weeks. We will be taking them on the grand tour of Victoria and showing them some of our great country, and they will see why some of their convicts ancestors never returned home to the mother land...hee hee
She wants to cuddle a Koala and pat a Kanga....and he wants to catch a 4lb fresh water Rainbow trout and cook it on the B.B.Q....so i feel preety sure we can accomodate them in those matters....:>))

A trip to the Gold Fields ( Ballarat - Bendigo ) in Victoria to see what all the fuss was about during the 1850s, and a drive along the Great Ocean road in Victoria is a must. A few day trips into the High country ( aka Man from Snowy River ) and fish n' chips by the beach at Phillip Island waiting for the fairy Penquin parade to arrive at dusk and waddle their way up the beach to there burrows. A quick stop off at the cheese tasting factory should see our guests sleeping well at night...lol

My cousin asked me about our rail system from where we live,( Outer Melbourne ) into to Melbourne city CBD and that she may get lost as she possibly wont reconise the stations ( suburbs )
Mmmmmm. i said....... our train stops into Melbourne CBD are Ringwood, Mitcham,Blackburn,Box Hill,Surrey Hills, Chatam, Cantebury,Camberwell, Hawthorn, Burnley, Richmond......do you think you can remember those names, i says???.....Sounds familiar to me ....lol( England )

Hope everyone is well and positive thoughts to all who are not 100%

Tony...:>))

Hi everyone,
Lovely to read back and catch up on you all. I haven't visited in a while, being a bit busy with job and such, mostly getting DD through Year 12, we're nearly at the end now so life is less complicated. Like June said, we are looking at a new life next year when she goes off to spread her wings - or even if she's still at home, it will be a different household with no school-child.
I have been liking the new features on Ancestry lately and adding to my tree quite a bit sideways, and last night in bed I had a brainwave which was to retire and live in Kent for three months so I can visit all the little villages I keep coming across !! Then I read about June going to Iona! Great idea. I like the plan of having a firm base and exploring from there.
After Kent, Yorkshire! Ah dreams !
Fred, I laughed about the goats, they can be rogues ! Just the last week I have had my early carrots start germinating, so perhaps we have seen the end of winter here. I will be direct planting as many varieties of seeds as possible for the next 8 weeks, our best growing time is between now and Xmas, after which it can get too hot. I am still picking last years broccoli side shoots! (though they are flowering now, time to surrender and make space!).
Marie does your local library have much historical stuff. I have a person of interest who lived in Bathurst from 1887 to 1882, he worked for the Telegraph Office, may have even run it. So I wondered if there was a newspaper of the time, three children were born in those years. OK time to do the dishes then put the feet up. I won't leave it so long next time,
Keep Well, Hz

That sounds a jot Better June,he he,that could almost be classed as a working exchange on a temp basis .lol,let me know when you are coming and i will make arrangements to stow away in your luggage on the return trip.lol,
I have just gone round to see the lady re the goats [to get my rope back],and note with satisfaction that there will be no repeat of the rodeo performance in future.
Seems the son of the house [the eldest] is moving house and all the livestock has been donated to a local city farm ,so the bairns will have extra animals to make a fuss of ,and we will be getting our quiet lives back,the animals and fowl get collected tomorrow. yippee.
I have now got the snuffles good style ,so i'm off to take a couple of lemsips ,and then off to bed[ ooooooer maybe i have the dreaded goat flu ,he he argjh ,not fair ,lol ,i WAS going to do a small B B Q as well .oh ,well ,maybe in a couple of days .Fred.

okay let me clarify "live" in England.........

Anne was born in Old Blighty and therefore entitled to live and work there, and as she is a Minister of the Word, (Reverand, prient, father, paster whatever you understand) means she can get an exchange with another parish, or come to a parish in UK or take up a contract position on Iona....

I would not be able to work (excpet on Iona) , but have lots of volunteer skills so would be useful.....

so not really thinking of emigrating......just popping in for a while then comming home to Gods own!!

Cheers June

Blimey Cow Girl ,you had a brainstorm or what? come to blighty ,with 6000.000 out of work ,a gooshed economy and firms closing down every day?
move if you must to another state in Oz ,or even kiwi land but over here ,a no no i'm afraid.,were i younger ,i would be coming YOUR way, lol
I spent most of yesterday morning chasing the goats that got into next doors garden after they somehow got over the fence,and Joan has just got the garden fixed after they got over earlier in the year.
The owner of the goats thought it was a bit of a lark 'till i told him he was lucky ,and had it been my garden ,i would have shot the lot and then sued for crop damage,can't abide people who have these animals and can't keep them under control,it might help if he shifted the hut away from the fence so that the goats can't use the roof to jump from.
The pretendy Christmas dinner went well anyway ,though i was a bit late getting there after my rodeo performance ,lol,
The turkey was spot on ,and the veggies were delightful too ,but i stayed away from the roast tatties just having boiled new ones.
Have to swan off now ,to get the wife her cuppa,but i WILL be back later ,i am having the day off ,no garden ,no housework,and no cooking,just chilling out.Fred.

Wow CG - butter about the job ad the entitlements - not a nice situation but coming at a time when options are opening up for Anne and you hmmm, in my prayers
JA

Just read your post with interest Cowgirl. There I was...reading away, then you mention coming to 'live' in ENGLAND......Now forgive me if I seem a bit stupified......But WHY would you want to do that?.....visit...OK.!....but live here?! whatever is the matter with you woman?......You won't last six months without wanting to go home again......England isn't what it used to be....and even then one wanted to emigrate.......I would check your senses before you take the plunge :-)))))

Morning all,

from a blurry freezing cold Adelaide, winds direct from the south, we have had to break out the long johmns again....

well Mary it has finally happened, the boss has declared bankruptcy and looks like by 5 pm mondya we will be out of jobs minus all our entitlements..... the really stupid thing is its a good business and is still bringing in money, however he was spending it on his lifestyle faster then it was comming in and not paying the creditors......so the future is an unknown at the moment......

Flossy turned 18 this week and we had the BIG celebration on saturday, in 3 part harmony!!! afternoon tea for the "ladies" at church and some of the rellies, then out to a chinese resturant for a banquet, with family and friends (of whom some of the friends nearly got a smack on the back of the head for bad behaviour, flicking food etc) then she and the girlfriends went out clubbing....because she could........dont know what time they got in....was well and truly tucked up in bed.....its nearly lunch time and they are still snoring.....

anyway the reality of these 2 events led to a light bulb moment..........we actully dont have to worry about working out what to do next in relation to schools, bus routes, distance form their work etc........we have much more freedom then that now....................yes I know I can see you all grinning thinking poor deluded dears they still have years of them living at home ahead of them.......not if we go to England we dont!!!!!! ahhh that got your attention, not just moving a few suburbs away but half a world away, you should have seen daughter no 1's face when I mentioned it.....whos going to babysit now huh!! we ahve a couple of options, Anne can get an exchange to another parish on England, or we could go back to Iona for 1 year or 3 year contracts....very tempting and potentially very interesting.... watch this space as they say....

As for the house at Crafers, well the CFS and the councils are all having knipsiosn about fire hazards and the new regiulations are making it almost impossible to build currently. they want a 30 meter clearance around all new dwellings, and if the 30 meters includes trees on a neighbouring property tough you have to pursuade your neighbour to cut down the trees....not very likely really.......and 30 meters would denude most blocks to the point of ugliness and destabilise the soil and the creek runnoffs etc , not well though of really just a major knee jerk reaction to the fires in VIC. In fact one CFS (CFA) boss wants to stop all new buildings in the hills ......


Hope all are well and staying free of winter chills, look foward to warmer weather and getting out inot the garden...

Love to all June (CG)

Hi everyone Been a mite busy lately so havent got on here..

Nice to see our Fred and Marie chatting and where is everyone else...probably like me,,busy..

Fred Glad Sean is now recovered from that dreadful snake bite,,Must have been scary for him..tell that cat to go look for mice..lol... Bet you are looking forward to that holiday..It will be lovely out there but take a hat,,dont want to get sunstroke..Hope Liz is ok and give her a rest and dont rush her around everywhere ..lol..

Marie Bet you have been having a nice rest from the snow and frost lately..It has been so warm here that its like summer..When the weather warms up we might try and have a wee holiday somewhere.. John loves the new car as he can stretch his legs out straight and that is a great help..will have to wait and see as he has not been to good lately and we have had to cancel out trip to NZ for a cousins wedding in November..Ah well.. good job I didnt get my hopes up to high..perhaps a trip by road in the car , in short hops, might turn out ok,,we will have to wait and see.

Merle Hope you are well and in good form..xxxx

June How are things..dont work to hard...

Have a lovely weekend all..

Love Mary xx

Hi Marie yes i do have a pair of proper garden gloves ,which i left out in the rain and i decided to dry them out ,so ,my fault again ,tum ti tum ,lol
I got to speak with Sean at last when he was discharged from hospital ,and learned from him ,the real happenings as regards his bite,the second hand account i got from one of his friends was way out of what happened.
Sean got the bite in the bungalow ,not out walking at all.
His cat , Shade, found a very sleepy viper in the garden ,and loving his master to bits ,cat like ,decided to take him a present ,settling on sammy snake because 1 it was asleep ,and 2 there were no mice around,so Shade picks itup luckily without being bitten.takes it indoors and drops it at Seans feet.
Even at this stage ,the snake was safe enough only wanting to slither away ,but ,no ,Sean decides to be a snake expert like he saw on t,v ,and picks it up by the tail,of COURSE he got bitten no one but a total plonker picks snakes up by the tail ,you are supposed to pin them down and pick them up by gripping them just behind the jaw.
His mate then pulled it off and killed it.
This 'ere bull nose is very bad news ,it dosn't let go after a strike ,but pumps for and more venom in by working it's jaws back and forth, yuk,Sean was veeeery lucky to be here ,bet he dosn't make that mistake again
We go out on holiday for six weeks to stay with him ,and i tell you peeps ,i will be watching what that cat brings in ,and will be checking the bedroom every night ,lol,no suprises ,and nooooo prisoners ,he he.
We have a good morning here after storm Bill passed through yesterday[downgraded from the hurricane but it WAS a little wild for a time ,and we had buckets of water thrown everywhere ,lol but needless to say ,the fence did not get done.
That is now being done today it being a lovely sunny morning,and then i'm off to town to get some bio feeder for the veggies ,my calabrese is starting to head up and i want some nice big ones for the freezer for the winter when it's very expensive,the secondary heads we will eat as they come.
Autumn is here already ,easy to see because all the trees are shedding leaves a good month early,even my little plum tree has it's leaves starting to yellow and that's one of the last trees to shed it's leaves.
We still have plenty of tomatoes yet ,and strawberries [ which Fred is making a pig of himself with ,he he hmmmmmm ,didn't know Badgers were fond of fruit & cream .
The peppers are coming on well now ,so it looks like a few hottish indian dishes are on the way seeing as i am growing the scots bonnet this year ,lol.
Next year i am upgrading to chillies he he ,we will see who can chew one of those raw ouch. i can and do it with scot's bonnet and Jalapenoes,but hot chillies ,hmmmmmm ,we will see.
Got to go peeps ,to get the stuff out of the shed now ,the fence parts are calling to me [blast ] ho hum ,better get it done [hey ,that rhymes ] before next doors mutt gets in my garden again .
Take care all Fred.

Hi Fred, well you really have had a bad week,you might have to invest in a pair of gloves. I have never heard of a Blunt Nosed Viper,excuse me but what is a gammon that you were having for tea? You know us aussies we are a thick lot.

I am pleased to hear your grandson is ok.Did you get the fence done. I spent my day in my garden.I planted several Rhododrendons I have 2 more to Plant, that will make 8 in the garden. I will be planting Azalia's in front of the Rhodod's
It should look lovely by spring 2010.
Goodnight to you Mary and a fine day for you Fred
Regards Marie from OZ and Bathurst.

Hi again all ,this last week is a little unusual for me ,he he ,first i get bitten by a spider which eaves me with a bad leg for a few days but is better now.
Today i go to get more wood to start next doors fence ,cut the latts and rails so that all i have to do is the erecting of, notice a few little weeds lying on the path next to the offcuts ,so.i pick them up and walk to the recycle bin, lift the lid ,and ,ouch,oh gawd' that time of year is it ,stung by a wasp ,blast ,lol.
We sent the grandson Sean a birthday card last week,followed by three emails over the next few days ,to which we had no reply andwe wewre begining to think we had upset him,but no ,we recieved a message from Akrotiri forces hospital this morning to sat that hew had been bitten by a snake.
Seems the silly bugger had gone for a walk in the bush ,no socks,boots or other protection ,a pair of trainers if you please ,silly little clot ,he should know better.
He actually stood on a blunt nosed viper ,real bad news ,and if he had been on his own ,we would have been attending a funeral ,this 'ere blunt nose is one of the most dangerous snakesaround ,a real man killer ,he is fine after receiving anti venom ,but he has red ears after i read him the riot act for the stupidity.
Just over four weeks to go now and we will be on holiday there.yippee we fly on the 27 sept and return on the 10 november ,a nice ,long holiday in the sun,with plenty to see and pics to take .including footage on the little cam corder..
Having a real treat for tea tonight ,a gammon round apiece which i will cook slowly in lightly salted .peppered water,grilled sausages ,an egg ,and some chips just the thing for a cool evening.
Hope everyone had a good weekend fred [hiding indoors in case of more nasties] ,lol

Hi Mary, It was nice, but I have spent the last week looking after the girls so Barbara could get some study and some work on a big assignment that she has to have in soon. Hopefully the girls went to child care to-day for the first time in weeks and now we pray they don't get sick again.

Its good to see Badger is back and chatty as usual .Sorry about the spider bite Badger hope the leg heals quickly did you go and see the doctor?
Pleased your car is all you hoped for Mary I wish I had the money to get a new motor or even the money to have the bonnet and roof resprayed ,too many years of sitting in the freezing winters and the hot summer days.
We have had rain last night and all to-day a very nice drop.Talk about a drop I think a Chardonnay would go nicely right now.Hello to everyone on the back page and lots of ((((((((((((Hugs to you all ))))))))))))))))))))) Marie from Bathurst,the frost Capital of Aussie

Hi everyone ,, We have had the warmest of weather and its more like spring than winter..no jumpers this end..to hot..lol

Fred So good to see you are helping the British economy,,lol..

Had a lovely few days with the grandies in Canberra and the little car that we left with our daughter went well.. It was my last long drive of it and I did enjoy it,,Had a nice minni meet while in Canberra and it was lovely to see Gwenda, JA, and Vonny..and their partners,,lots of huga all round..

The new car is going well and I love it more each time I drive it..Very light to handle and easy to drive, and its so good now to only have the one car to worry about..

Merle So good to hear that you are ok.. We miss you so do pop in and say hi..

June. Get well and lots of hugs...That drratted flu is a real pain..xxx

Marie Glad you had a nice holiday.. its nice to get away every now and then..

Am doing a bit of FH and since the criminal records have come out on Ancestry I have at last found out why a distant Uncle went to Jail...In fact he went to jail twice..a bit of spice in the family..hee hee hee...

Have a nice weekend all

Love Mary xxx

~~~~~~~~~~~~ to the Badger who snuk in on me . . .

:) L xo

Hi all . .

Just popping in to let you know that I had an exchange of sms's with Merle today, and she wanted to let everyone know she was fine, and she will be back home on Friday . . .

I'm fighting off the bugs too June . . so know how you feel . . .

I'm sleeping the oddest hours . . but lots of them :)

Take care all
luv Laurie

Hi peoples ,old Fred has been a tad busy ,what with family research ,the garden ,shopping ,and getting mobile again after being attacked by a spider [who says british ones can't bite ? [wrooooooong],i have a huge red area from the bite itself,and the whole of the front and side of the right leg is red with the blood poisoning .
Not to worry it isn't the end of the world ,and the spiders in the garden now know that I bite too,having sprayed all my veggies with a natural insecticide that won't harm the soil ,but Will do the spiders no good at all ,lol.
Leaving the doc's this morning we went into the new Morrisons Superstore that has just opened.and hit it just at the right time ,we came out with a marrow ,25 p, a cabbage around35 p, asparagus 40 p,Mackerel fillets 90 p ,and a few other bits and pieces,including broad beans that i have already shelled for tea .
We will now be having the marrow ,stuffed with cous cous ,mixed with chopped chicken ,marinaded in corriander ,lime ,and mint,with a little mace thrown in for good measure.With that we will be having steamed new potatoes ,broad beans,cabbage,and carrot batons along with a roast potato and half a parsnip apiece,weeeeell,i can't live on salad all the time ,he he.
Before we came home ,we went down to Asda to have a mooch around ,Liz went and did her thing [you know lads] the typical woman thing ,looking at shelves for an hour ,picking things up ,putting them down again and eventually coming away without buying 'owt .lol.
In the meantime Fred was in the electrical dep't seeing what was on offer,anyway ,i found a lovely little high speed four port hub for £5 ,plug and play about the size of a 10 pack of cigarettes ,if you can remember that far back ,lol] and only half the thickness,ideal for going in the laptop carrier,so .i brought that home with me and swapped The big terrabit drive with the little verbatim hard drive that fits in the case easily too.
Liz is happy with the big one because she can take stuff of the desktop and store it where it can't get lost ,leaving the drive nice and clear ,and the puter running a lot faster.
I found my Riley Family too ,so i will have to ask Tony if he can help me when he has had a few days at home. The whole family left tyneside in the late 1800s or early 1900s ,but i dont know where to but it seems that both the sons played pro football for a while ,so i may get a lead from that ,there cant be too many Walter ,and Jack Riley's playing football [ i hope].
the parents , Margaret [peggy] and Walter died in Australia ,and i have HIS date of death and year ,but not her's.
Chuffed to bit,s because its a def' link to oz' ,even if it is HER side of the family [blast ].
Think it's time i started the tea and i think too that some dessert is called for ,fresh strawberries from the garden and a dollop of fresh clotted cream,yum yum.Fred.