General Chat

Hi Pearl, Pleased to see you back, Hz, Badger Mary & Cow Girl June, Like Hz I am having trouble losing the posts I have written it gives methe S --ts if you know what I mean. Mary we got a lot of the dust and then the next day got some more it is still all over my pavers I am waiting for some heavy rain to wash it all off.
The wind has been atrocious here for weeks last weekend it was freezing we went to the open gardens at Oberone for the Daffodils we had Sago snow all day and the wind had damaged all the Daffys such a shame then 2 days later we had beautiful Sunshine so changeable, it has been trying to rain all day but it cant quite make it.. My grandson finished high school to-day he will be sitting his HSC in about 3 weeks.
I will sign off as any more than 10 pages it just dissapears.
LOVE to you all Marie

Afternoon all you loverly people.,from sunny Cyprus [makes a change from cold wet Newcastle he he].
We went out this morning for our first jaunt in the Corsa,and i have to say she did us proud ,not too far today ,but the next trip out will be to Pafos where we have never been before ,apart from the airport.
Limassol today was quite busy ,but we have found a place where we can park the car at a good price for up to 6 hours at a time and have a leasurely amble around.Our fist port of call [pardon the pun] Limassol being the biggest port in Cyprus,was Limassol Castle, already old at the time of the crusades,where Richard The Lion Heart married his lady love after being shipwrecked in the Medditeranian on the way home from Palestine.
The castle still has some of the original prisoners cells in use in the times of the arab invaders who sacked the original Castle before the town was converted to a mix of muslim ,christian beliefs ,strange isn't it ,that they could exist side by side then with no trouble at all,and we can't manage it now.
I Knew i should have brought my rod with me grrrrrrr, there we were walking back to the car via the prominade ,and what do i see? locals lining both sides of the pier with rods ,and looking down into the water what do i see lots and lots of fish swimming among the rocks at the sea floor,thinks ,now ,where do i find a rod he he.
We did have a long sit down in the Prominade park ,under a tree for Liz to get her breath back.it will be a few days before she gets used to the heat ,still 27c on average ,and by the time the end of the holiday comes round ,she won't wan't to go home because of the cold ,lol.
Looks like it needs to be a good lottery win to satisfy our needs ,where as i can cope with this climate after the middle east ,Liz will need the full monty ,air conditioning to be able to cope at all,so ,time to pray for a miracle i think lol.
We are both having a great time more so because we have our own transport with no mileage restrictions,and can take our time to do anything we fancy.
Catch you all later ,Fred,& Liz.

Oh Mary and Marie , Baz is in sympathy with you over the red dust ! His precious back deck is covered, he pressure hose cleaned it during the week but now it's dried there is still a red stain on the paving and the wooden deck - it sticks like glue! I haven't told him how much grit and dust is coating the front entrance on the other side of the house to the weather - I did a brush down with the broom but the tiles will need a total scrub, there is a film of red dust on everything even the silverbeet and lettuces LOL !
Badger, more travelogue please! Such history, and so refreshing to be in completely different surroundings to home. Do tell more about your adventures and the food!
Sir Tones, are the cuz's home safely? It will take them some time to digest their big trip, what an enormous adventure. Glad they liked Healesville Sanctuary, it's a real gem of a place, an excellent place to showcase the bush and wildlife of southern Australia.
I am having a very quiet weekend as DD18 is away with friends, Baz is tinkering in the garage and I am tinkering in the garden, kitchen and lounge - and even the spare room where the ironing and FH live ! Tonight though I'm going to give myself a tv night and write some overdue emails to friends. Clocks go back tonight, so tomorrow we plan to ride our bikes downtown and have breakfast out - unless it's too wet, but so far today only damp and mild temp, just lovely for spring. Have a lovely weekend everyone, Hz

Hi All,hope everyone is starting to get over the red dust horror .and like nasties,and that things are starting to warm up for you all.
We are suffering as little ourselves with demolition dust from over the back where the old fire risk bungalows are being knocked down ,making one hell of a mess.
I did all Seans cupboard tops in the kitchen for him this morningwhile he was sleeping off nightshift,and boy ,this stuff too ,takes some moving ,three big bowls of water for each sets plus cillet bang to get clear down to the wood,still .it's done now ,and the lad will be busy enough cleaning other things to be worried about cupboards.
I will clean the oven tonight when the bungalow cools down a little forwhich i have the Mr Muscles,so ,no sweat hopefully.
I have been watching the furore on the net ,and telle ,re the forces state in iran ,iraq ,and other theatres, some on a war footing ,some not ,but all the same ,i tell you peeps ,even here on a busy base that supplies the war zones ,the troops contrary to what a blase lying government tell you ,the troops ARE short of essential equipement and other gear that is needed.
Here ,these lads ,and Lassies are coming off shift ,having a rest for a couple of hours ,then going to second jobs to earn extra to pay for equipement that they themselves these days have to buy themselves,by Eck Brown ,you and your cronies should lose your perks and pensions to pay for the mess you have made.
These mp's should be given a rifle ,and the shoddy equipement and shoved onto the front line to see what it's all about,then we wou;ld see something being done.
It was just the same when i was out in the middle east 40 years ago ,nothing changes.
They are even stopping future forces pensions to save money,what a bloody disgrace,some of these people are having limbs blown off and having to join a queue for treatment at a N H S hospital,because the forces hospitals have been shut down..
i DON'T KNOW,THER A F NOW IS HAVING TO CUTAIL TRAINinG FLIGHTS TO THE POINT OF ACCIDENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN BECAUSE THEY CAN'T AFFORD THE MONEY TO BUY FUEL AND AMMUNITION.
Maybe it is time for the british public to refuse to vote any party in until we get the chance to leave the e e c,which is where all the money is wasted
Anyway ,enough of the upset ,it's just that i can't believe my eyes at what's going on in the forces today,i mean ,i knew it was bad ,but what i have found beggars belief.
We are having the day off today ,chilling out and drinking lots of cold juice to keep cool.
We did have a nice time yesterday looking through two markets ,one called a flea market ,but in reality more like an Arabian Souk ,with hundreds of stalls selling everything imaginable ,from radios ,electric gear to foods ,veggies ,and hardware through to,and including the kitchen sink.
The other market was all oriental.from Persian Carpets,drapery,ungents and spices [including Frankinsence ] and insence sticks, through to fresh figs ,dates ,oranges and Delight [which every one calls Turkish] but was on sale in Cyprus ,made in Cyprus a hundred years before the Turks invaded the island for the fist time.
Tomorrow ,i think we may go into Pafos town for a look see ,worth it i reckon because the tourists and holiday makers havn't really invaded it yet.
See ya later peeps ,if Browns internet snoopers havn't arrested me for treason .lol.Fred.& Liz.xxxxx

HelloAll,
Gosh Fred you do paint a bleak Picture some one needs to let the papers know how bad the troops are faring. I hope our lot are being treated Better especially in (Afganistan). I hope the rest of your working holiday is good.
#*#* RED DUST #*#*Cant Get Rid of it.WE GOT SOME MORE ON FRIDAY #*#*#*#*#*
Mary how are you I hope your weather is nicer than ours still cold especially the wind.HZ yes even the hose wont shift the dust I agree,but enough whinging.
I am off now into the garden things to plant and I must plant my Beans ,Just hope it doesnt snow for the Big Races next weekend
Love to you all especially MERLE Pear of the South also the SOUTH AUSSIES who so kindly sent us all their RED DUST no more Please WE HAVE ENOUGH.LOVE to you all Marie from BATHURST BRMMMM BRMMMM

Afternoon everyone ,from a lovely balmy sunny day with a nice breeze washing across the patio.
I am now sat here ,dinner of a light salad with a mint sauce made from Balsamic Vinegar ,and locally grown mint ,which has been in the fridge since last night,under my belt and all is right with the world.
We left on a little tour at 1000 this morning after repeated attempts to get onto the internet with out any luck,this being a pretty iffy place for connection it would seem.
We left the camp ,travelled down the road ,and then turned right as if to go to Pafos,went along a road lined with proper date palms [not the decorative ones you see in town] all laden with nearly ripe fruit .
I havn't seen dates on the palm since my Aden days and i was highly tempted to stop the car and shin up the nearest trunk to nick a few,but on reflection ,me being past my prime ,i decided against it.maybe thew thought of being chased by a greek landowner had some thing to do with it as well ,he he ,anyway i have decided to see if i can find some juicy fresh ones in a shop here ,not to be confused with the dessicated objects you buy in boxes at Christmas [ugh]
Liz was on camera watch in the car ,window fully open because it was pretty warm ,with the idea of taking some pics of the laanscape and hills as we passed ,the roads being pretty narrow and bendy.
The driver in this country on holiday ,need to keep their wits about them ,the natives taking no notice of speed limits ,road signs and traffic lights,not for the faint hearted i'm afraid ,i have already had two drivers in three days ,shoot a stop sign and come out in front of me .seen four drivers [two lorry] blatantly drive through a red light ignoring the waved fists and tooting horns,and every second road junction has a smattering of broken windscreen glass,lying at the roadside ,one would think all the drivers trained in Paris he he [anyone who has driven in France will know what i mean].
Anyway ,we landed up in a delightful village called Pisssourie, right next to the sea,with lots of little shops filled with tourist stuff ,foods for the half board tourists and backpackers, little supermarkets and the inevitable greek bakery.
The beach was really lovely ,mostly sand and full of sun loungers put out by the hotel for the guests,but plenty along the far end for the day trippers to use,
There wer loads of water sports for all ,surfing.water skiing. para gliding.scuba diving.snorkling ,and jet skiing all these sports with equipment to hire at very reasonable rates ,he he ,they even had pedalo's for us oldies he he.
the garden half way along the beach was astounding ,brilliantly coloured shrubs ,flowers and trees and a nice cool walk among the palms,loli even came across a pussy cat like our Hissy enjoying the shade under a palm ,rolling back and forth ,so i couldn't resist a couple of pics of her ,or him to take home.
i took some pics of liz in front of some of these shrubs ,and she did the same for me.
We even met a couple on their last days holiday from Shropshire , and got talking with the result that we borrowed their camera to take a pic of them together ,then they did the same for us using mine,so we now have ,so far at least one pic taken together.
To cap it all there was a cafe one end of the beach ,and a cafe ,bar ,bistro, at the other ,with a nice line in coffee's so we had one each before we came away.
This is one place i can recommend to anyone for a holiday the couple we spoke to said it lacked nothing and the staff were impaccable ,the temperature at this time of year is around 30c and the beutiful blue /green sea is a balmy 27c ,can't do better than that.
To round the day off ,we stopped at the bakery just outside camp and brought a nice loaf of bread fresh ,fresh ,not the camp idea of fresh ,aand no dearer so we will be going there in future,and the piece ,de resistance,three lovely slices [biiig slices] of raspberry cake cum cheesecake .slurp.to round off a decident tea of snags ,eggs ,beans ,and oven chips with two slices of brown bread.
Tomorrow ,who knows ,but we have a proper A to Z of the whole island now ,so we are well suited .
See ya later all ,hope every one is doing okay,Fred & Liz.xxxx

Hello Lara,
Just sat here in front of the fire on a chilly Melbourne evening with nothing decent on the telly and eyes going crossed from doing family tree!

Hi everyone.. Well believe it or not but we have just has a lovely 2 days holiday at my brothers.. Mainly to see how John went but he did so well we are planning a visit to my other brothers.. If that goes ok we will start working on a visit to Dunolly in Victoria to visit all our friends down there and I can do some gold fossicking..We will take out time getting down there but John has no after affects from the travel so things are looking up..whoooHoo...
Merle Did you get Lews address if not let me know and I will email it to you..Hope you are well and when do you move to the new place..big hugs..xxx

Marie Its been blurry cold lately and after all that lovely warm weather its about time we got more warm again..The red dust is slowly getting washed away by the bit of rain we have had lately so let it come and do the rest..lol..

June Tell me about the new block..is it better than the last one ..lol..no slope..hee hee hee...How are things on the job front..and when are you planning on the uk visit..

Fred.. You seem to be having a great time.. Hope Liz is ok and over the black and blue stage..Your description of the places reminds me of our trips to the Greek Islands.. so lovely and so relaxing and yummy food...We hae been to Greece 3 times so that will tell you how much we enjoyed it..

HI Starlight 7..WElcome to the thread..Do you have a name we can call you..Your tv sounds as bad as ours here in Sydney,,hee hee hee...

Well have a lovely weekend all and keep warm.

Love Mary xxx

Hi Mary,Pleased for you re other half, it is nice to hear you will be able to do some travelling. It is burry cold in Bathurst also.What has happened to all of our wattlers they must be all off travelling .
Badger seems to be having a lovely holiday in Greece .Where is Lewella? I havent seen a post from her in ages.
Hi HZ I am still on the job for you.
Hello to Starlight 7 welcome to our thread it has been a bit quiet around here for awhile. The Bathurst 1,000 Race is on to-day we live in the general area of Mt.Panorama we can hear the cars but it is not disturbing especially when inside the house.Hi Pearl that dog of yours sounds like a classic in his T shirt LOL. I must go as I have to go and collect my Grandson from work He is doing a lot of study as he has his HSC exams very soon .Best wishes to you all Marie ps. Where are you Sir Tones ??Marie

Hello peeps ,including the new member .lol. things are looking up ,fresh blood in the fold lol.
Liz and i are now having a well deserved day off ,in fact two ,no more sight seeing until Monday when we go to the castle up the road which looks very interesting,and has an unusual cafe next to it ,which sells smothies made out of the local fruit produce as well as different coffees ,tea and other beverages ,one of which is Turkish coffee which i fancy trying.
Seems the castle was some age when the Romans were here ,so i can only assume it was built by the turks ,or the original greeks,however ,i will find out Monday all being well.
The locals are amazing ,opening up like a flower if you take a little trouble to enquire about their local customs and way of life, i only asked about how some of the delightful sweets and dishes were prepared and the old lady whose cafe it was ,talked to me for an hour explaining how in the villages ,without gas ,and electric ,how they cooked and where they got the wood from to keep warm in winter.
I picked up a book on their cookery ,opened the first two pages to see if it was what i wanted before buying ,and was told it was half price for me ,and ,i also got a piece of locally made goats cheese tha twas out of this world that was supplied to us both on local crackers F o C with the coffee.
It was too hot to go on to the castle and we promised to go back on Monday morning before it gets too warm.
You know ,if people all over the world were as friendly as these greeks ,turks too ,the world would be a far better place,the only place so far ,other than the middle east where i would def' go back to.
They are a lot like you native oz crew ,friendly ,laid back ,and very generous given a little courtesy and consideration,hmmmmm ,seems the only people these islanders do not like at all are the americans ,wonder why ?
Maybe they have been telling the islanders that they have a bigger Greek island called Cyprus back home in Texas he he.
We have dinner planned for laddo when he comes in from morning shift ,home made stuffing ,roast and mash potato's cabbage cauli ,and green beans ,and a lovely piece of Nicosia pork[all the meat is produced in the north] and this joint will also provide a stir fry Sunday ,and the remainder put down in the freezer for a stir fry sometime next week.
We may even go for a pudding ,if we go back to that bakery off camp,he he ,the cake we got early in the week was outstanding ,lol.i could get used to this .
Have to go now ,battery power is almost gone ,so i need a recharge .
Good to here that John is so much better Mary , good on yer both.
See ya later all ,enjoy your weekend .Fred,& Liz.

Hello Wattlers ,How the bloomin hell are you all,I can see Badger is having a great time Talk about a Chef In Gardeners Clothing LOL Hello Pearl also HZ I didnt get to the LIbrary this Week ,too busy with the HSC student, I am feeding as i have him shackled to the desk only let him off for a feed and a toilet. His exams start on Wednesday..
Starlight 7 I hope you add to our posts. LARA , TONY,and our west Aussies
WHERE ARE YOU ,we miss your contribution.
Mary and John How are you we are just about blown off the Map, we are still getting some of the red Dust sick of cleaning the window sill and screen doors also the fly screens.I hope Sydney is a little warmer than we are .
Hugs to you all Marie.

*pokes head in the door*

Arvo......:>))

I'm still around...........but there dosent seem to be enough hours in the day/night to visit all the sites i belong to...lol

Had to start culling sites, as my family history research was suffering badly.

Doing lots of look-ups on the "Trying to find" board, and still searching for Badgers Riley family in Ozzie, but not having much success at the moment because of the time period they arrived. Unfortunatley,our Oz privacy laws restrict us from many references after mid 1900s.

Researching Essex ancestors of mine as well, from the late 1500s to 1700s Parish records from the Lexden Hundreds.
E.R.O ( Essex records office ) site ...S.E.A.X... is a gold mine of information to me, and have digital images on line of the Parish record BDM's and burials. These are the photograph images of the origional Parish Church Books BDM's and i am finding many of my missing Ancestors from Villages all over Essex during the 1600s. Found my 9x Great grandad Richard Hull bapt 1590 in Coggeshall Essex. I knew he had a great grandsonson John born 1710 in Earls Colne ( my 6x Great ) and John had married Ann UNKNOWN c.1748......going by their childrens births.
I could never find who this Ann was ( surname ), and could never find John Hull & Ann's marriage in the Colne Valley villages, but yesterday a break through while searching ..S.E.A.X... digital images on-line...and found he had married Ann BATEMAN in Coggeshall Jun 2nd 1747 and them moved to the Colne Valley where there first child Benjamin was born 1749.
This has taken me 25 years to find, sifting through thousands of BDM entries......soooo i am one happy little Genoholic at the moment, and opened a new bottle of Port last night to celebrate...lolol.....:>))))

I s'pose we shouldnt have favourites, but this particular 6x Great Grandad Benj Hull b.1710 was my favourite.
He fathered an elligitimate child in 1728 .....then married firstly in 1735 to a Elizabeth Bullard and they had 3 children, but all died and also his wife Elizabeth died shortly after. ( poss Small Pox, as it was rampant in the 1700s )
He them married a second time to a Sarah Edwards in 1744 but she also died within one year of their marriage.
He then married a 3rd time to Ann ( Bateman ) in 1747 and they went on to produce 7 children.
I call him my favourite because of his determination...lol
He i assume... was not the type to just lay back and think....O'h well!!...... might as well blahdy give up, and stay Widowed after losing a second wife.
I'm glad he didnt give up....coz i wouldnt be here today if he didnt decide to marry a 3rd time to Ann Bateman in 1747........:>))))



Hope all are well.


Tony....:>))) * In sunny Melbourne *

HI everyone.. We have sun but it is a weeeeee bit cool..

Tony Just think,,all that puta work and you wont have time to go to Bunnings and spend money...Leave it to Barb to do...lol..Must admit you are a fountain of info so you are called on by ussess a lot,,sorry if we are overloading you...but I know you love us...hee hee hee...

Marie We have 3 grandies doing the HSC this year so its a busy time for parents..and a stressful time..Many of the Wattlers are away so this is a quiet thread at the moment..should improve in a couple of months..

Fred.. When you go to that cafe ask for a Turkish Chai tea.. it comes in a little glass,,yes glass,,black ..and you add 1 cube of sugar to it and stir..Bloomin fantastic..I loved it while away in Turkey and dranks heaps of it..now you are making me thursty...

Merle Hope you are well.. Have you moved yet...Great pickle of you and Vonny.. you look bl...dy fantastic..so hope you are well..big hugs..xxxxx

Well better go and cook some dinner,,Have a nice weekend all..

Love Mary xxx

Hello,
Jolly cold week here but yes, the sun did come out today, might turn out OK for the weekend but the air is very cold!
No rush Marie, 150 year old documents can wait another month or so lol ! Like you I have to feed and water an HSC student. She is working nicely, but I took her out to see Mao's Last Dancer ( movie) yesterday, we enjoyed every moment of the film, it's gorgeous.
Tony that's marvellous that you can see the original documents online, what a thrill. My latest success is locating an apprentice doc but I have to go to Kendal, Cumbria to see it I think! Oh well, one day.
Fred you are having a fantastic time I can tell, all those food treats. You are a true traveller, getting down amongst the locals.
Our new neighbour has hired a skip for the weekend so we are sharing the cost and doing a clean-out of the shed and garage, will be a good job to get done. I see on the news they are really encouraging everyone to get bushfire ready for this summer. Those very high temperatures are scary, it will be a tense time if we have days like last summer.
Better do my dishes, then Collectors will be on, I'm an Andy Muirhead fan lol ! Have a nice weekend everyone, ~~ Hz

Waving lovely Wattlers from a chilly Wellington Somerset take care all and back later

JA

Hello peeps ,after a longish fight with windows vista getting it to auto updATE AGAIN AT LONG LAst ,and reloading window messenger 8 ,i am back online without getting booted off every two minutes ,lol.
We have found a place that will give Shade a good home thankfully ,the cattery we got him from in January are stowed out and will take no more lodgers.We visited the Monestary first ,to find a huge three acre site all garden and fruit trees that the cats roam freely in ,so well fed andlooked after that although the cats flock round you in the grounds ,they will follow you as far as the gate but no further ,they know where they are better off i suppose.we have trogo backto KOURION YET AGAIN ,LOL,WE FORGOT TO TAKE IN THE EARTHQUAKE HOUSE THAT THE ROMANS BUILT ON SITE,ssems they were experts on these sort of buildings ,but after all the quakes and eruptions in their own country ,we shouldn't be too suprised after all.
They wer far seeing people ,building the town within easy reach of the river Kouris ,draining part of the flow through terracotta pipes down to a huge sink cut into stone that must have taken a year or more to build.and from there through culverts ,pipes and channels to the houses ,baths and swimming pools throughout the town
Off to make the dinner now ,but will be back later .Fred.

Hello Mary, Hz, JA on the Limestone Plains and last but not least Badger.

JR where are you, we havent heard from you in ages but it was nice to get your short post ,come back to us.
HZ still no time for the Library and I dont think next week will be any easier ,HSC and all.
Mary I hope all is well with you and John.
Badger I bet you got a shock when you stepped off the plane some of my friends in England have been saying how cold it is.
We are having the best week in months Just (((((Beaudyfull)))))) last night was the best evening, we had our Dinner out on the Veranda over looking the native garden the birds were singing and later the frogs gave us a lovely Chorus, we had a few wines with our dinner , all very nice.
I must be off it will soon be time to collect Sebastian.
Just one thing where is everybody, this post is the first since the 19 th of Oct. It is far too Quiet Cooee ------to all Wattlers Marie

Hi Peeps ,well what a to do ,with windows ,despite reloading windows vista,and reloading windows messenger 8 i seemed to be getting nowhere,with this isp .and found everything dragging like hell.
Anyway yesterday morning after being booted off the internet yet again,i bit the bullet and ordered windows 7 ultimate.
This took me four hours to gather all the info needed ,and a further two hours to download ,but ,i have to say ,it seems far simpler and quicker than vista ,so ,i have high hopes fo rit once i get back home..We have been now to pick up the hire care,and i reckon i have found my new car for next year,the car they gave us is a Ford Focus ,nice and comfortable ,pretty nippy and supposedly very stingy with the petrol.
Great stuff ,because we can now get out and about again ,lol,plenty more sights to see over the next two weeks ,one being mount olympus and the Troodous mountains with all the valleys in between ,showing the little fields where everything is grown from potato's to grapes ,and from bananas to peaches ,oranges and dates .
We have fallen in love with the local green beans ,a much larger version of dwarf french that we get at home ,so ,i will be looking for them in our local markets.
The saga of the little bakery goes on ,we have had some lovely chocolate cake from there ,which is the tastiest we have had since the cake we had from there last week ,and the breads are out of this world..
Time to go and make the tea now,fish andchips with garden peas ,one thing you can't get out here that tastes right ,spoilt for choice we are. after the stuff we get served with on Tyneside lol.
We are out for dinner tomorrow ,we can't go home without sampling a bit more of the local fair ,can we?
The calgannon i made went down pretty well considering the locals here have never heard of Kale ,and the only way they have cabbage is raw on salads,and i def' enjoyed the dish that she made for me to taste ,another recipe going home folks he he.
I will try to get on here again tomorrow to see what this new windows is like ,it had better be ruddy good at the price ,i got it a bit cheaper than normal because i had brought my h p within the offer period ,but it still set me back £150 with the backup disc sent to my home address
See you tomorrow peeps ,take care and have a nice weekend.Fred.

Just to let those on the Wattle thread, and those who drop in to read it.

Our lovely Wattler Lew ( Lewella ) lost her battle with cancer.

Lew had helped so many people on GR to find loved and lost Ancestors over the years......and i'm sure those who knew her will be very saddened by the loss of this lovely lady.

Thoughts for her family.......God Bless..... and may she rest in Peace.


Tony

Sorry to hear the sad news of Lew.

May she rest in peace.

Jood