General Chat

Good morning all, it is 9.25 a.m. here, sunny and windy, so the washing should dry nicely.

Today is a Public Holiday, it is Human Rights Day, although a lot of businesses are open.

The back-light on my laptop screen gave up the ghost yesterday and I believe it is very expensive to repair. So I am using my husband's computer to-day and shall continue to do so until I decide what I should do about mine.

Bobotie is a traditional Cape Malay dish, made with beef mince, it is a spicy, slightly sweet dish with a light curry flavour. It is usually served with yellow rice known as "Funeral Rice" in the Cape as it was traditionally served in Cape Malay homes at gatherings such as funerals. Cape Malays were brought in as slaves in the 17th century.

Penny you certainly were a busy little bee. Hope you cold is better soon Bridget.



Val.

Berona, Thanks for the info I will have a look at the site

.Penny. You seem to have had a busy day, with knitting, making cards and doing some house work. I do not do any knotting these days but I o enjoy embroidery, and am thinking about doing some Cross Stitch which I used to do some years ago.

I had a good day yesterday, managed to finish all oak furniture and all he doors throughout the house so should not have to oil them again until next year, The reward is that it all looks quite splendid.

Just as I thought that this retched cough had gone away at 04,10 this morning it reared its ugly head again!! Hence me sitting here catching up on my emails and looking on here.

Tonight is our Film night when friends come around and we watch two films and have an interval just like the old days of going to the cinema. We even have Ice cream or Ice lollies and a drink but not usually he orange juice we drank at the cinema! Last week we also had Pop Corn!

Have to go and take some more cough mixture as hacking away again so will say bye bye for now and has anyone got remedies for coughs. I hate going to the Drs, for a cough. I am not a smoker and know it is simply part of this retched cold!

06.15 Spain

Hi all, late as usual. Well we have not had such a good day today, the part of England where I am anyway, but brighter is promised for the rest of the week. Well got cracking today and made some cards, finished some knitting, and even managed a little housework. Quite pleased with myself!!
Val was going to ask the same question as Bridget, what is Bobotie? sounds lovely.
Well folks will say goodnight, it's getting on for 12.30am and I'm going to have an early night am really tired and have quite a busy week, this week.
Take care all. Penny

Bridget - check out the site www.bdm.nsw.gov.au and select family history and it will show you how to order and the cost. They seem to have re-hashed it since I ordered. As I said - they are not cheap!

Berona

Thanks for your message, and I will look again at those who went out to austrailia and had such hard times. It made me cry when I learnt that some of the children died so young and food etc was so scarce.

I am in the process of trying to file everything in the right family name and with relatives details as well. What a muddle I get into! How I appreciate the secretary I used to have and now I can see why she used to be a little cross from time to time...only joking about theclast bit, she was a wonderful secretary!

I was employed a) becausebi was a qualified nurse and b) because am an outside of the box thinker, but sometimes so is all of my paperwork!,!,

Wow the certs are not cheap is almost an understatement,

Must go as one of my dogs is barking too much,

Bye

After saying we don't get much rain here, it rained all night - light, but steady - then a few showers during the day. I can't remember how long it is since I saw so much rain all at one time!

Bridget - the transcribing I do for FreeBMD is something anyone can do. We download images from the handwritten or typed index pages of the registers and copy them into a form, then upload them back to FreeBMD and also to our co-ordinator who might be in any country in the world. Mine is in Canada. We work at our own pace in our own time.....I did do it for Ancestry, but I was still paying my membership fee and didn't receive the discount I was promised - so changed over when someone on this Chat board pointed out that FreeBMD is registered as a charity and nobody is making money out of my voluntary work, and the information is free to all viewers.

As for your query about certificates from Oz in the 1800's - There were no white people here prior to 1788 and from then to the mid-century, records are sketchy, although if you know the name of the ship on which they travelled, or in which state they settled, there may be ways of obtaining information, and there are prison records too. After the mid-century, there should be records in each state and certificates are available - although not cheap. Last year, I obtained a copy of my gr/grandparents' marriage certificate from 1867. It was $37.
Please let me know if I can help you further with this and I'll see what I can do.

Val, we also have sunshine today, and yesterday afternoon was glorious. Just sitting in the sun always cheers me. Thevsea is very calm this morning and in the sunshinebthe sea is glistening. I can hear one or two birds chirping away but cannot see them.

I think that your decision to give your Harvest Festival goods in a different way sounds very sound to me and I am sure that the recipients will be thanking the church andvall the contributors.

Bobotie? Have you put this on the culinary site and can you explain what this is please, I love the sound of the name.

Well I am still in bed, very lazy, and still feel unwell. Awake a lot during the night. Coughing and splttering and poor OH also has it as well.

Hope you enjoynyour day


From Bridget in sunny Spain where the time is 07.52hrs.

Hello eveyone, it is 7.40a.m. here. Another bright, sunny day to-day. Although the sea was quite calm earlier this morning it was quite noisy.

Hope your cold is on the mend Bridget, now I think I am getting one, sore throat and stuffy nose. Anyway I am a firm believer in Iodised throat lozenges so that is what I am sucking for my throat, I think they work much better than the very expensive lozenges.

I am not going to church to-day. We are having our Harvest Festival - everyone brings along fruit, vegetables and also non-perishable items which are displayed in the front of the church. After the service the things are donated to charity - this year it has been decided to give the gifts to Hospice, an Old Age Home and a project for street childlren.

My daughter made quite a large dish of Bobotie for us last night, it was really very nice, as there was so much I sent some to our friends and they were so pleased to have it - saves cooking!

I am going in now for my first cup of tea of the day., it is so lovely that I will sit outside to drin k it. I only have one cup of coffee every day and that is first thing in the morning after that it's tea.

That's all for now.


Val.

Good morning Penny,

So we are the two early birds! It is 02.30 here in Spain and I am sitting in the dining area having a fruit juice because I cannot sleep! Just having a fruit juice and then will go back to bed.
.pleased to read that the weather has been fine and long may it continue.
You say that you have done nothing out of the ordinary yet you have been shopping,so did you buy something you had not intended too, or forget something you really wanted?
Your evening out sounds great fun and what a splendid idea the teachers had, here in my part of of Spaini did not hear or see anything unusual happening but then maybe it was in the local schools or town
Hall.

Well have finished my fruit juice so going to try to have some more sleep.
Bye for now enjoy your day

Evening ladies, later than ever today, dont know where today has gone, hope you have all had a good one.
Another lovely day here, cant quite believe it, the weekend and no rain!!!
Well have done nothing out of the ordinary today, bit of shopping and thats about it. Forgot to say I had a fun evening yesterday, went to my friends grand-daughters school, the teachers did a performance in aid of Red Nose Day it was very funny. Hope you all enjoy the rest of the weekend. Take care Penny

HI Bridget we live in Zeals which is not far from Mere. We have only lived here for 11 months before that lived in Southampton.

Jackie

Hi Jackie, where in Wiltshire do you live?

My grandfather came from Mere and it was his story and the amount of paperwork, all originals that he gave me that set me off on the occupation of Ancestry,

Bridget

Hello All nice blue sky and sunny here in Wilthshire. Went shopping in Frome this morning and that was enough for the OH now watching his football and rugby in between sleeps lol. Hospital appointment on Monday to see the Rheumotologist, at least the steriods are starting to work. Bye for now. Oh and please call me Jackie, only my mam ever called me by my full name usually when I had done something wrong.

Still coughing, still have headache, still feel hot one minute and cold the next!! Can't you just tell that I am not a good patient !!!

OH cooked late Breakfast and then I was able to persuade him that I can be left alone, I will not even contemplated let alone do anything silly. He has gone to watch his football Team, West Ham United on the TV in the local English Bar. He is then coming back to cook dinner which he has already prepared, the meat is marinating he has peeled all the veg and cleared up after himself. I have very strict instructions NOT to do any more work today so here i am on this thread. I must try to look at other threads and see if I can make any comments.

Bye for now, do not forget that it is a special full moon tonight so try to take a look. there is a thread all about it .

15.12hrs Spain

How delightful to come on this thread and find so many new messages, thank you every one.
So from the beginning. Val how interesting to read about the trip to the home office and what a lack of information the person on the desk had! You were right to telephone when you arrived home and I hope that you certs arrive safely. What is a pony plant? Does it have a perfume.? My garden is looking fresh with the bougainvillea, the roses seem to have survived the winter, fruit trees are producing so much I am beginning to wonder what to do with it all!

Captain Pug Wash, we all have days when we think that we do not have much to say or contribute but it is rewarding just to read others daily comments and suggestions for topics. So if there is a subject, funny story, or normal activity that you like or think would make us laugh, cry, have a view about etc then post them on here. Often we only have mundane things to say but at least we are saying them!

Verona. Thank you for coming back on here, we all need a break sometimes. Is there any one else we could ask if they could pop in again? It is good to know where people live, I mean which part of a country they are living in. My husband has family living in Sydney I must ask exactly where they live.

I nearly went to Sydney when I was in my early 20s. But was persuaded to marry my boyfriend. We were together for 24 years and then sadly went our separate ways. Very happily married for the second time, will be 18 years this July .

Sun is shining, the sea is glimmering and Jet and Joe are laying in the sunshine. I still have a dreadful cold, eyes watering, coughing etc so going to make a fresh lemon drink to sooth my throat.

Bye bye for now

Bridget

10.49 hrs Spain

Hello to all. I haven't posted on this thread for a long time but I received such a nice invitation from Bridget to return to it, that I decided to pop in firstly to thank her for the invitation and to re-introduce myself.

I live in the western suburbs of Sydney, where temperatures seem to be getting higher each year. Where I am, we don't seem to get much rain any more. Whilst Sydney city still has 'downpours' - they quite often miss where I am and I'm less than twenty miles from the city.

I may not post at the same time as you do because of the time difference. At the moment, my part of the country is 11 hours ahead of UK but when you move forward 1 hour and we move back a week later, the difference will be 9 hours - but I'll post anyway. We'll catch up somehow and I'm looking forward to getting to know you all.

Hello, it is 8.55 a.m. here and a bright sunny day.

Will be going out a little later for tea with friends as we usually do on a Saturday morning.

I have twwo Ponytail plants which have outgrown their pots which I am now going to put into the garden, I hope they will grow well there. I have aleady changed the pots twice which is why I have decided to put them into the garden.

I am hoping that my daughter will make supper of us to-night, she makes a very nice Bobotie, this is a Malay dish and typically South African, served with yellow rice.

Have a good weekend whatever you will be doing.



Val.

Hello all, hope you are all well. Beautiful day here in my part of the uk, lovely sunshine if a little chilly still. Again not a lot to share with you all, have been out to lunch with friends very nice it was too. As for my success with the stephanotis I think it's a total fluke, dont know quite how I've managed it but thrilled that I have!!!!
Just a bit of a downer for today, could I please have some positive thoughts for a friend of mine, Jo went in hospital as a day case to have a small procedure on her leg that turned out to two op's, and so far three nights in hospital. Poor lass is so low.
Well til tomorrow night, take care all. Penny

I'm here! Have just been to the Home Affairs Office to apply for a copy of my parents' marriage certificate, what a nightmare. I was told "it';s off the system" because it was so long ago. So I asked the clerk where I should apply for a copy as even if it was off the system the records must be somewhere, she just shrugged her shoulders and said she didn't know. I did, however, apply for my fathert's birth certificate which could take three months to get. After i was back home and had had a cup of tea, which believe me I needed, I thought I would phone their office and speak to the perso in charge. This person fortunately knew what she was talking about and told me that I should apply at their office and they submit the application to Pretoria, but I might have a long wait. So I will go back next week. I did as her to have a word with the lady at the desk.

My brother will be going this morning to identify the items which were stolen. Prisoners on the whole are not treated too badly these days, they can study at state expense while incarcerated, they have television available, cellphones and probably things of which I have no knowledge.
There is no hard labour, prisoners have the right to vote. . I must admit that in my opinion prisoners should lose the right to vote. Then there are the organisations like The Prisoner's Civil Rights Union. They are admitted to Private Hospital should they need medical treatment.

I didn't know what Stephanotis was so googled to find out and I see it is a type of Jasmine. When we lived in East London we had a beautiful Jasmine outside the dining room, what a beautiful scent.

We had a little rain during the night which was lovely, it is rather humid to-day.

Peniscola sounds like a lovely place Bridget. I have only lived in the Eastern Cape anbd then in only three towns.

Nice to see you posting Jacqueline andfCaptain Pugwash - keep it up. Nice to hear that your OH is improving Jacqueline, may he continue this way.


Oh, I must tell you what happened yesteday - I was making a stew for lunch and it had been on the stove for about 15 minutes when off went the electricity. Our Municipal workers are digging and delving all over the place looking for water pipes which may be leaking, they are using a back-actor for the digging, and they damaged the electricity cable to our house, well after numerous phone calls an electrician arrived to repair the damaged cable, but he had no tools! 'We lent him a hacksaw and a knife, when he had rejoined the cable he covered the join with insulation tape, so this necessitated another phone call to the person in charge of the department who then sent someone back to do the job properly and enclose the join in a proper junction-box.

Enough of life in South Africa for today, before I bore you to tears.


Val.

Good morning everyone at 06.50hrs in Peniscola Spain. I cannot hear any rain but the palm tree is having some good fun swaying around, I can here some twerping by the birds but cannot see them flying around and the sky looks very grey. However it could turn out to be a really sunny day as it was yesterday. I have had my first coffee of the day and just made another. I have reverted back ti my quiet time in the mornings when I sit quietly and try to say a prayer or positive thoughts for all who are sick or having a difficult time for either themselves or for friends /family. It is amazing how therapeutic this can be for me and I hope for those who have had the special thoughts for. I first started to do this every morning when I moved here from the UK. I felt that I am very fortunate to have lived in some delightful places in the UK and now I was in an entirely different place but with an amazing, beautiful environment and that we do live in a beautiful world. Now just to let you all know I am NOT a saint, but sometimes I am in awe of our world. I found myself one morning thinking about my very young great niece who I write about on a different thread, about how my only daughter has fought so hard to put her life and her children's life back on the right track and has done so well, she is one in a million. how my 5 boys are all in work, they have had their ups & downs but are valuable citizens of this world and care for each other and finally how lucky I am to be married to a man who is kind, generous, fun, and who shows he loves me.
Jacqueline and Captain Pugwash good morning to you both. Jacqueline I have added you to my special thoughts this morning. It must make life quite difficult at times to cope with your arthritis and is such a nasty condition to have, so I do hope that your new medication works for you.
I was one of those ladies who had a combined washing &mangle and I thought that I was the bees knees. My mum had a machine which did the washing and had a mangle on the top...oh what nasty things mangles could be at times, I caught my fingers in one OUCH!! Pleased to hear that you had a good time seeing your daughter and one of your sons' I do miss seeing mine sometimes but they are all scatterd around the UK or in Holland and Barcelona.

Penny, you really must have green fingers to have had such a success with your Stephanotis, I have never achieved this, in fact most of my indoor plants seem to die so now I only have green leaf type indoor plants!! Most of us live with what we call mundane lives but we still chat away so never worry about not having something to exciting to tell us about although excitement etc can be very good fun to hear!!
Val We haven't heard from you yet today but I am always delighted when I look on here and see that you have kept up with our message board. I hope that the people who robbed your family are dealt with appropriately. I do not know what the legal system in your part of the world is but no one should steal from someone else let alone break into their home. however we do hear that the penal system for the indigenous non white people in A are not treated well but I have no personal experience so you are the only person posting who could explain what happens. Well I have rambled on this morning so promise not to do this every morning!!

have a good day everyone , I will look again later today

Bridget

07.40hrs Spain