General Chat

He did send me a PM with the pronunciations on it - and a few more. Isn't that nice of him?

Well there you go! I just might not need a toy-boy after all! (but it would be interesting!).

Hi, Berona,

Tec certainly seems a nice person...I like his sense of humour.

I bet SueMaid didn't expect the thread to attract such a crowd when it was first started

Allan

G'day aussie friends ac S'mae pawb to who can understand that ..lol

Guess Tecwyn has gone to bed :) But hi hun~~~
Well I guess we just not very good rowers, we got around the lake and back in a fashion.lol

Allan ..Hi ..
.you talked of the owl and the pussy green boat.......
I am a bit of a night owl, if hubby kicks me of my own PC which is in our bedroom , I use his lappy in the living room:) Not too fussed on cats either !
I'm fine thanks for asking, hope it's the same with you.

luv
Sandie.x

Hi Sandie,

Yep, all's well in my neck of the woods.

Shame about the cats.....we like them. We have three none of which are actually ours: two belong to my daughter whilst the third moggy is my son's.

We seem to have become foster-parents to them (the cats, not the kids) lol

Regards

Allan

Hi All,

Just popping on while the washing's on. Fun fun fun!!

Berona, have you been to the restaurant in the building that bears your ancestor's name? Fancy having a "crick" named after your ancestor too. Tragic person that I am, I got a photo of me taken in front of the sign of "...... Creek". I hope to go back and sit in the little Church one day.

SueMaid, please come and move next door to me - I'm quite partial to Lasagne. When I was going through my first lot of chemo, some of my neighbours would cook tea for us. It was really lovely (I felt quite awkward and embarrassed though). OH and the sons enjoyed it - I had no taste, so it was like eating cardboard. It sounds like you are one of those lovely neighbours SueMaid!

Oh darn. I got this far and it got the jumps again. Have a great day/night everyone. I'm going off (literally).

Ciao now!

Hi Alison, Most definitely! Wouldn't dream of going to Ulladulla without having a meal there. Although I wouldn't have cared what it cost or what it tasted like, I have to say that both times, it was a beautiful meal.

They have a history of the place on the wall of the restaurant and bar, which is in the original cottage part. Apparently, my gr/gr/grandfather extended the cottage into a double-storey residence - which would have been needed by my great grandparents, considering the amount of children they had! Unfortunately, the extension is part of the current residence and is private, but I enjoyed sitting at the table in what was probably the original living room. Architraves and skirting boards more than a foot wide!
The kitchen was out of bounds because it has been altered to suit the current standards of all stainless-steel restaurant kitchens - and also, an additional separate section of the living room has been made into restrooms - but the original structure cannot be altered because it is Heritage listed.

Allan - can I get this straight? Are you proposing that the girls ROW the boat while you boys do the water-skiing? Do you mean the SAME boat?
If so, you haven't done much skiing, have you?

Berona we went down to Ulladulla only a few weeks ago and then I went the next day because I was invited to the opening of a new cancer care centre. The day OH and I went down it was cold but sunny and we had fish and chips down by the water. I love it down there - in fact all along the south coast.

Alison what a nice thing to say. I'm very keen on the concept of involved community living. A new mother should always know that there is someone handy to call on if needed and elderly people should know that neighbours care. I don't advocate interfering or living on each other's doorstep but just letting people know you are there. My mother only lives 15 minutes away but we have an arrangement with a couple of her neighbours that if her lounge room and bedroom blinds aren't open by a certain time they ring either my brother or me. I can't bear to hear of elderly people dying in their homes or children being abused because the neighbours don't want to get involved. Does that make me a busy-body - perhaps:))

Allan I certainly didn't think this thread would reach so many pages or attract so many people but I'm so very glad it did. We've all become mates and apart from our fellow Aussies we have "met" some wonderful Brits who we may never have met otherwise except in passing on other threads. We can have a laugh or become very serious. We talk about family history, travel, gardening and a little about our families and I'm sure there are other topics we'll bring up over time.

I'm off to sit in the sun. Enjoy the rest of the day Aussies and I'll see you Brits in the morning.

Sue xx

Good morning Aussies

Decided to take the morning off from footy today and let them go on their own (with Dad of course) catching up with washing as its a lovely day. Trying to clean up the back patio, as we are surrounded by trees the patio is full of leaves. Lovely tho to hear and see the birds. I bought another hanging feeder the other day so as to tempt the birds so we can get a good look at them.

Just reading the threads and Sue you mention the concept of community living. I work with the elderly/disabled and most of the time I am the only visitor that they have for two weeks sometimes more. They have family but their family for their own reasons have decided to not visit or phone Mum or Dad. Its very sad and quite often they dont want me to leave.

Allan we are up in the hills of Perth, so not so close to the Perth City, but we can see the lights from our front balcony...lol Comes in handy for the sky show !!

Have a fun day in the sun all...

xx

Allan, you are right about this thread. SueM really started something here. It has been most informative and friendly and I hope we don't lose it either from a glitch or a 'nasty'. We have been joined by some very nice UK people who are genuinely interested in our country and its people, and they have told us things about their own country and lifestyle we may not have known before, but find interesting whether or no.

You are also right about living away from the city. I come from Newcastle, NSW, but my OH's job brought us to Sydney many years ago, and my children were born and raised here, so now that they have their own homes and jobs here, I have to stay to be near them - but I would much rather be away from the city. Even the many friends I made here over the years, have retired, sold their homes and moved out of Sydney for their retirement. I sold my large home and bought a villa in a complex of fourteen villas and townhouses, to be close to people, but I have only made friends with two of them in three years. Others are mostly people from other countries, here to make money and either buy a 'bigger'home or go back to their own country. Too busy to be bothered being a neighbour and not interested in obeying the Strata by-laws - inconveniencing others with their illegal parking and using gardens as rubbish bins, etc. Give me the friendly, peaceful country life any day.

Good morning everyone.

Rowing - let's get this straight, I will not be rowing the boat - what on earth do you think men are for!!!!!

Berona, my great grandparents used to run a pub which had three small cottages attached to it. It still looks the same from the outside, but inside it has now been opened up so that the cottages are now part of the pub.

Once they stopped running the pub, they moved into one of the cottages and two of my g grandmothers sisters lived in the other two cottages with their families.
I have been back there a few times, the original cottage fireplaces are still there and it is a strange feeling to imagine my family tending to them.

My mother is very old now but a couple of years ago I managed to get her back to visit her childhood haunts. We had lunch there and the current land lady was very interested in her tales. That was until she explained how her aunty Elsie had been brought back home to die. They had the bed in the corner over there and on the day she died, they had covered her in a clean white sheet and had gone out into the fields and picked little posies of flowers to place around her.that seemed to spook the poor woman

Berona thanks for you kind words about the thread - I really enjoy reading everyone's posts.

I do some work on an oncology ward and quite a number of people are retired folk who have moved away from the cities up or down the coast. Unfortunately when they become ill they aren't close to their families and that causes all sorts of problems. So in a way being close to your family is good - I guess you give up one thing to gain another.

Down here in the Illawarra we have the best of both worlds - the shops, theatre and restaurants of a city but within 10 minutes we're out in the country, the mountains or the beach.

Tomorrow we're going for a drive up the mountain and have lunch out - just the two of us. Doesn't seem to happen often as we quite often take my Mum or one of the grandkids. But we're going to indulge ourselves, as Linda did the other day, and have a nice lunch in a old pub.

Sue xx

Edit - I ain't rowing any boats either, Linda. Of course that was a bit of bravado when none of us ladies were around:))

Good evening Aussies and good morning Brits. Just popping in to say hello. I never seem to stay on this board for long. It's almost news time, but I haven't stated this mornings big paper yet. Then I did go in to work about midday our time and wasn't home til after 5.
Berona, I am a city boy but I know what you mean about people who have no regard for strata laws. Especially those who are unable to handle the concept of separate waste bins for garbage and recyclables, and what actually is a recyclable. Of the eight owners here, only four of the current owners have ever turned up for an AGM, or even returned proxies. And, not surprisingly, the ones who do not come are not residents.
I ought to go to Ulladulla. I have no real link with the place but it's a nice part of the world and they have a good local history group. More importantly, an aunt who is also interested in family history lives near Sussex Inlet so is not all that far away.
Linda in Yorkshire, I find it amazing how superstitious people can be. My belief is that just because someone's body lay in the house it should't doesn't affect the people living there now.
A year ago I was in the Sydney Town Hall. It was built on an old graveyard, but supposedly the bodies were removed. Not so. Some were discovered during the construction of the surrounding square and nearby buildings. In the lower ground level a coffin shape painted on the floor and a couple of plaques record the fact that a headstone was located there, along with a body. Oddly, the headstone does not belong to the body, which is unidentified. The headstone dates from 1790. What I noticed was how some people carefully skirted around the paint lines.

The fact that people have died in a house doesn't bother me either Colin, I just like to think of myself as some sort of continuity of history.

I often trudge round old graveyards, looking for ancestors. The graves are often very close together,so you have to walk over them to read them. I must stress that they are old long abandoned ones,or just grassed areas, I am not tramping on current ones. I find it disconcerting when you seem to sink into the ground on some of them.

Sue, I hope that you enjoy your meal tomorrow. I have to admit, that I have been out for lunch three days this week. As well as the nice hotel on the moors, we walked into the town square yesterday for lunch in our favourite bistro (very modern concept for an old market town). I also take my mum out to lunch in a pub every Wednesday, but I don't count that.

We are waiting to walk into the town square because there is a market on Saturday, I buy all of our fruit and what veg we don't grow there. Unfortunately it is pouring down, so I don't know whether to just brave it, or wait until later

Sue after your attempt at a Yorkshire accent on the Yorkshire day thread, i have emailed you a Yorkshire glossary and lots of interesting Yorkshire facts. I bet you are looking forward to reading them!

edit, I have posted some of them on the Yorkshire day thread

Are you correcting me then, our Linda? I actually get on a web-site that translates ordinary English into various dialects. It's "Chicken Run" Yorkshire:)))

We wouldn't go into any castle, stately home or indeed any old home in Britain if we felt strange about someone dying there. It all adds to the atmosphere or "vibes" if you like. It's wonderful to walk into an old building and think of the people who lived there so it's no different to think of the people who passed on and left their descendants to carry on. Death is after all a part of life. Actually something that sticks in the mind of my OH was a few years ago when we were in Stratford on Avon. We were walking through Anne Hathaway's cottage - as you do. My OH was talking to a volunteer guide and mentioned how worn the old stone floor is and how it was fascinating to think about all the people throughout many many years had made their mark on the worn stones. The guide said to him "and now your feet have added to the history of these floors". He's never forgotten that and I thought it was a wonderful thng to say to a visitor.

Linda I haven't been in your town on Market Day so I must make a point of it. We've bought loads of punnets of raspberries and strawberries from many a market stall as well as other fruit and veg. Staying with family and being able to stay in a family caravan near Scarborough means we have been able to cook often on our trips to the UK. The only problem is when we are invited to family dinners everyone insists on giving us a baked dinner with yorkshire puddings as if they think we've never had that meal before:)))

Sue xx

Evening all, Morning all..

Cold here tonight have just put the heater on!!..Enjoy reading your posts when I get chance to get on the puta..

Enjoy your evening all, and Hope your day is fabulous!!


xx

Hi all,

Of course Tec and I suggested that the women row the boat while we waterski,You should be grateful that we don't keep you chained to the kitchen...lol

Seriously though, this is a great thread, and even as an Aussie citizen I am learning more about this great place, just as I am learning about the country of my birth

regards

Allan

Huh..row the boat chained to the kitchen??? whats that about?? lol


xx

Hi Janet,

Just a good dose of male chauvanism!!

lol

Allan

Good Morning everyone down there,
Good Afternnoon/Evening everyone up here.

Allan.......I think that between us we are creating distress and disappointment among the fairer sex on this thread.
I think they have visions of rowing a pea green boat around Sydney harbour while we look on - this being in contrast to the luxury cruise around the Pacific in style on a big white liner, that was promised.
Well........I can't bear to think of these wee damsels sobbing into their
teacups - I can't live with that on my conscience.
So.........having never been a cheap skate......and never having disappointed a lady in my life ( some may have other views) I will stop teasing them, and declare that the cruise, as promised ,is still on.

I have to say I'm a trifle disappointed that everyone has so far chickened out of the Fancy Dress Ball. I can't imagine that all these girls are shrinking violets. One or two definitely don't give me that impression.
( She thinks " Is he talking about me ".....could be! lol

Today has been a glorious summers day - I was walking the dog at 7am on the beach, after which I cleaned all the windows, and there are lots of them. Then I've been busy in the garden catching up on things screaming to be done all year. So now I've collapsed with a coffee, and scones with home made strawberry jam and cream - delicious............

Thank you Linda for furthering my education. I had heard of Yorkshire Day, but that is all. I had no idea what it was all about - now I know.
So happy day to all Yorkshiremen and women.
Today is also the start of the week long Welsh National Eisteddfod, this year being held in the town of Bala in Merionethshire. This is an annual festival of Welsh culture - poetry, choirs in competition from all over Wales, and much more. Each year the Bardic Chair is awarded to the poet of the
most merit. The recipient is made a Bard, or Druid, and there is a Crowning Ceremony. This is the highest accolade bestowed on a Welsh poet. One of my ancestors was made a Bard in 1867. Obviously, the Welsh language is spoken throughout.

Regards
Tec.