General Chat

Welcome Carole - a sad but interesting tale. Thank you :-)

G'day I am what my Aussie friends term the "honorary Australian" as my Grandfather joined the AIF in WW1 landed ANZAC 25th April 1915 and was KIA at Lone Pine and yes I did make it there for the 100 years on a cruise I always say there was my Husband and myself and 3,000 Aussie and New Zealanders on board they were bit confused why I was there but when I explained could not have been more welcoming and made some life long friends as well. I was born and live in the UK and for some reason never gong to find out the real reason Grandad travelled to Australia on his own left Dad and Nanny behind in London. It took me 5 years to find where Grandad died (was told a lie to cover an illegitimate birth) . After Grandad was killed there was a huge family row which my Dad as a child remembered and my Dad never saw his father's family again, so when I went looking for Grandad not only did I find him I found some of my lost family. Have written a story of my search which has been published in both the UK and Australia as well.

Well according to the grandkids I’m very old, Linda :-P

Hope you are feeling much better, Sylvia.

Oh dear Sylvia, I hope your bug will be short lived.

It is very chilly here, even though the heating is on.

You Sue, getting old? Well now you mention it.......

Glad it is cooling down for you, Sue

We're heading for another period of heavy rain ........... 55 mm fell on Thursday (Jan 3rd), that was a record for the day! More due to arrive tomorrow (Sunday) and then again on Tuesday!

It's unseasonably warm for here.


OH very generously gave me his lurgy. I got the sore throat overnight, and then it went straight on to my chest so it's hard to breathe, and even harder to talk!

His is almost over, so hope mine is as well

Take care

Hi everyone - thank goodness the weather has cooled down. The older I get the less I can take the heat :-(

Slowly getting back to normal thank goodness :-)

Hello Sylvia - Happy New Year <3

Sounds like you had a great trip but it’s a shame your hubby is not well....they don’t suffer in silence ;-)

Sounds very cold in various regions in Canada. It’s the opposite here - 30C today (Friday) and 33C tomorrow. Thankfully it will cool down after that.

Hello Sue

How great to see you back on site :-)

A Happy New Year to everyone!

We arrived back late yesterday afternoon (Wednesday) from our now-annual train trips across Canada to visit our daughter and family in Nova Scotia for Christmas. As usual, we had a great time, albeit Christmas was quiet with just the 5 of us ......... it is so lovely to see how our grandson has grown and developed since last year. Grandson was highly delighted when we got a few snowflakes falling on Christmas morning!

The train trips were great as always, and I think we had one of the best New Year's celebrations on the train somewhere around Saskatoon!

We had all kinds of weather, from 5-10cm snow on the day after we arrived in Nova Scotia to 12C 2 days later, rain, followed by -6 to -9C daytime temperature, and snow as we left NS, and bitterly cold across parts of Canada. OH got off the train during a stop in Winnipeg just so he could walk out the station door and say he had been out in -41C (41 degrees below freezing).

He then turned right around and sat in the station till he was allowed back on the train :-D

Temperatures of -41C and below that are not unusual for Winnipeg in winter

Life goes on as usual with us .........OH still goes into the Botanical Garden 4 or 5 days a week, then comes home to take me for coffee in the afternoon. He turned 80 in August, and we celebrated by having a week in Jasper in early October, travelling there and back by train of course! We could not have had a better week, as there was a large snowfall in the mountains followed by 3 glorious days of bright sun with clear blue skies. The views were unbelievable!

In something of a miracle, the train from Toronto was 2 hours EARLY arriving here yesterday afternoon ............ we would have been over 3 hours early if not for a freight train that held us up just about 10 miles from the station!

We were both very tired, and in bed by about 9 pm ............. but then OH came down with a vicious sore throat overnight, and is coughing and complaining away in the spare bed. His throat is so sore that he can hardly speak, and I have trouble understanding what he wants. He is one of those who wants to take another dose of medication if it doesn't work immediately, so I have to watch out! Hopefully, he will recover quickly, and doesn't give it to me!!

We’ve arrived home after a lovely stay with our son and grandson. Good to be home but missing them already.

We left lovely weather and have arrived home in the middle of a thunderstorm :-0

Wishing you all a Happy and Healthy 2019
Love Jem <3

So....a quiet night here at our son’s home. A few drinks and straight to bed after seeing the new year in. Our son worked until 9 so it wasn’t going to be a wild night :-)

We spent a lovely morning yesterday with our grandson’s other grandparents who have become dear friends over the years. Tomorrow (Wednesday) we fly home. We’ve had a lovely time here with our family but I’m looking forward to going back.

Happy New Year to all my upside down friends and those up top aswell

A very Happy New Year to one and all :-D :-D :-D

Happy New Year To Sue & all her family & friends :-D :-D Barbara xx

Dear All

Hello

A very happy new year to our colleagues and friends in Australia and New Zealand.

Take gentle care
Love Elizabeth, EOS
xx

From a sunny mild day here in Bonnie Scotland
Happy New Year to you all <3 <3

Happy New Year <3 <3 <3

Happy New Year dear friends - I wish all that you would wish for yourselves <3 <3

Best Wishes to each and everyone on this thread.Happy New Year and all the Best for 2019...
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Very best wishes for the New Year, Mersey and Von <3