General Chat

Good whatever to you all.

just back from my walk and this morning could appreciate why I start at the ungodly time I do. Scorpio setting in the west, Orion rising in the east, the odd shooting star (or burning space junk!). Wonderful clear sky and no bl**dy cars!

To of you passing on culinary and other skills to your boys, good on you.

From about the age of 11 I was always helping my mother prepare the meals, but even before that I would help with the baking, but that was mainly so that I could lick the mixing bowl clean.

All packed for the cruise, just waiting for the tickets!

Susan, we may run into each other in Canada. We are hoping to go next year and would like to do one of those Alaskan cruises. The excuse for going is that there is a Conference I want to go to in Vancouver, but the main reason is that next year is our Ruby Wedding Anniversary....only snag is the opening day of the conference is our actual anniversary


regards

Allan

Good Morning Aussies,
Good Evening Brits,

Allan.......Your before dawn walk sounds wonderful - I wish I had your energy. I do sometimes go down to the beach with my dog just after dawn, sometimes see seals on the rocks, and various sea birds at that time of day - so peaceful.
I too learned to cook at a very early age, and at 12 yrs of age was frequently cooking for my father (who couldn't boil water) and my siblings as my mother was often in hospital for weeks.
We have friends living in Vancouver, and are expecting them to visit us here in August.....it really is a beautiful city, and surroundings.
Glad to hear you are packed for the cruise - don't be waiting on the quay side yet though.

Hi $andie..........A dry day here, how was it for you? same I hope.

Regards
Tec.

Morning/Evening to all. Just a quick one to answer Sandie before she leaves us.

The Llanelly which I type is the registration district. I am at present working on the index pages for 1937 marriages - and there were quite a lot of them in that district!

Hey you lot are cheating it says FOR AUSSIES ONLY.. I never looked in before as I thought we wasn't welcome LOL:))))
Tricia xxxx

Hi Suemaid and everyone.

Hi Berona,

Hope you haven't gone already..........

Noticed you haven't booked your passage on our cruise.

We can't go without you - we won't go without you

Regards
Tec.

Good morning and good evening. Shaping up to being a lovely day today so I guess I should do the washing.

Just waved my next door neighbour off - she's flying to Malta to spend time with her family and then off to England for 2 weeks to spend time with her late husband's family. A sad tale about her husband - he was a Barnado's child after his mother abandoned him during the war. He was sent to Australia where he was adopted by some good people who raised him, with their son and daughter, as their own. He knew nothing about his mother and did not have a happy experience with his foster mother so he was determined never to return to England. A few years ago the Salvos made contact with him. His mother had passed away and his sisters and a brother - who he didn't know about - had decided to track him down. And they found him. A trip to England would be paid for but at first he didn't want to go. With support from my OH and his brother he decide to make the trip and was delighted to find a family that was equally delighted to see him. Two years ago he was diagnosed with cancer and around the same time another sister - the baby - was found in Kent. When he was well he travelled to meet her. The cancer returned and his sister came here to spend some time with him as we knew at this stage it was terminal. He passed away just over a year ago. His wife's trip to England will be bitter-sweet but I think important for her to do. How funny life is. We've lost a good neighbour and friend but a few months ago a young couple bought the house on the other side of us and they are having a baby anytime now. So a new life in our street and as they don't have a lot of family they are happy for us to support them. Sorry to ramble on but seeing our neighbour off brought back memories and then a wave from the young fellow next door - on his way to work - highlighted the fact that life goes on.

Does family research make you look at life differently? I feel I have brought our ancestors back to life by documenting their lives. Now I have started a scrapbook about myself and I'm encouraging my OH to write down his memories.

On that serious note I will bid our Brit friends a good evening and a good day to our Aussie friends.

Sue xx

Hi Tricia,
No us Brits are not cheating........we have been accepted as honorary Aussies - SueMaid is the Chief Immigration Officer for wannabee Aussies, and I'm sure she will make you welcome.

Regards
Tec.

Oh, Berona and LWD sorry didn't see you there:)) I did say Aussies only but some lovely Brits have joined us and how can I tell them to go away:))

Sue xx

Well doesn't that take the biscuit!!

I went to press add and pressed delete by mistake!

Hi Tec, Berona LWD, SueMaid

Hello all,
For what it is worth, even as a primary school boy I was bemused by "New South Wales".
Some years ago I saw a cartoon of Dutch sense of humour- no offence intended. One scene, Zeeland. A straight line with a few windmills. The second represented New Zealand (Nieuw Zeeland)- a very jagged line, representing the very mountainous terrain.
I imagine Captain Cook (who named NSW) meant a new Wales in the south, rather than a new South Wales.
Explorers had something of a passion for naming things "New ... ". New Hebrides, New Caledonia, New Zealand, even New Orleans, New Amsterdam/New York and for the posh, Nova Scotia. :-)))

Oh Suemaid that is a lovely outcome. We learn not to waste our precious time I think..
It does bring our ancestors to life doing our trees doesn't it. I am reliving theirs every time i go to a village where they lived and the churches they used.
I get goosebumps every single time and a few tears have been shed over their old gravestones. Plus I always thank them for being there cos I am here thanks to them and their struggles.

On my previous, deleted, post I was extolling the virtues of the early morning walks. I walk parallel to a body of water known as the Leschenault inlet which links to the Indian Ocean. Often see dolphins feeding there and on the land side plenty of kangaroos

Let me know when I can go to the quay, Tec

Regards

Allan

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ to everyone..

xxx

Tec Allan you make me quite envious of your walks. sounds lovely.
Hi Berona and Colin.

Must say goodnight though.
Catch you all again now I know it's a welcoming thread LOL
Tricia xx

Good morning Allan and Colin and welcome LWD:) Glad you got your morning walk, Allan - your area of WA sounds beautiful.

If Tec suddenly goes quiet then we'll know he's won the lotto and he's reneged on our cruise. I'm all packed and ready and just waiting for the thumbs up:)) Don't forget, Tec, we sort of know where you live.

Sue xx

Hi Colin,
That's a very interesting point isn't it? I 've always been fascinated by the many names of places in the "New World" Australia, New Zealand, America, Canada, that are names of cities, towns and villages in England Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The early settlers must have named these places after the localities they came from.
Same applies to the Dutch, German and European settlers.

Regards
Tec.

Night night, LWD:)

Sue xx

There is so little left to discover that our modern day explorers will never have the excitement of finding a whole new country or continent. I always find it interesting that although the facts of history don't change but our perception does. I think we tend to delve further into the whys and wherefores of how these people came to do what they were doing. Unfortunately the downside of that is the lopping down of tall poppies - the exposes of heroes who we've brought back down to size.

Sue xx

You could be right about the land, Sue, but I still think that there is much more to discover beneath the oceans. I admire the "modern" explorers but I wonder how their fore-runners had the guts to set out to "see what's over there"

Today we wouldn't set out without GPS's, satellite phones and all the other safety equipment we require.

Very brave men

As were the pioneers. Whilst working in the WA Goldfields I was based at Leonora, about 220 kms N of Kalgoorlie. I would often pass through old townsites where nothing remained except the cemetery. I would frequently stop and then try to imagine how they lived in the conditions they had to put up with

Allan

Hi SueMaid,

Yes - you are so right - life does go on. and researching our ancestors certainly makes one think about our own lives differently.
I am constantly horrified by the conditions and hardships our ancestors suffered. The terrible working conditions and poverty some of them endured. Also the mortality rate of infants and young children in the Victorian period is staggering.
It just make me so conscious of how fortunate most of us are now.

I will not run away with the lottery money - so far I reckon we have 16 on the passenger list.....could do with a few more.
If I have a mega win......might be a good idea to hire a private ocean going yaght (sp) the size of a small battleship - I think Rupert Murdock and Bill Gates might rent us theirs if we smile nicely.

Regards
Tec,