General Chat

Hi all,
Well after a lovely sunny Sunday I woke up today to yet another morning of snow. Fortunately it didn't last long. It is still terribly icy cold weather though. I woke up with a terrible headache and thought I had a fever, but no, Johan had forgotten to turn down the central heating and the whole flat was so hot. Mind you as soon as I turned the heating down it soon cooled off.
Oh how luxurious it is having help in the house. My help was cleaning the bathroom and toilet while I was reading the newspaper. I was up early and had bread baking before 8.00 am. The delicious smell of bread baking is fantastic.
I am trying to decide what make telephone we should buy. We have decided to buy the main telephone and have 3 handsets with it. We now have Philips but think maybe Panasonic would be a good choice. Does anybody have any idea?
enough for today
Sylvia xxx

Marjery - the TranzAlpine train is still running through the alps it is a tourist attraction so it gets to stay. One of the tunnels takes 15 minutes to get through - took 15 years to build involved 60,000 men working 24 hours a day drilling in from either side of the mountains. When the two ends finally met the alignment was less than 2cm out. When it opened in 1923 it was the longest tunnel in the British Empire.
There are several stories told about the tunnel's construction, including one of an amazing escape when the roof collapsed after heavy rain. One worker was dragged out from the rubble but seemed to be dead. The rescuers called his son and told him to come and see his father for the last time ( son was working nearby). The boy noticed his father's upper set of false teeth were missing, a pair of blacksmith'tongs was thrust down the father's throat and used to pull the broken dental plate from where it had been wedged in his gullet, and, he recalled afterwards - "I started to breathe again and came to."

Actually there was this and a whole lot more on the Arthurs Pass rail trip in today's travel section of the paper. Could be a touch of the blarney not sure about that as those West Coasters can tell some wonderful tales.

Persey

Good morning all from sunny but very cold Maine et Loire.
Still waiting on the last two sheep to give birth, think they are holding out until Spring :)
We had to let our lovely 8yr german Shepherd S'Jenna go yesterday as the stroke had also caused damage to her lungs and one had packed in and the other was infected. So glad we have our other two as house would seem empty.
xx Jill

I am sorry to hear about your dog Jill - are your other two German Shepherds as well. I go all soppy when I watch them on the TV doing Search and Rescue or sniffing for drugs and police work etc.
I have never owned a dog, my dad had one when he worked as a bushman before the war and the dog's name was "Bark".
I have always said to my OH if anything happens to you I will get a German Shepherd. Probably would be tidier around the house for a start.

Oh and the sheep are probably sick of waiting as well.

Persey

What a shame about your Shepherd Jill.
My mother had a beautiful German shepherd named Karen who was trained to do Obedience and could also do everything that the Police dogs did. She won all sorts of contests at Dog Shows and we even trained her to be a gun dog because she liked swimming in our river in N.Z. and had a very good nose for finding things. My parents were into everything to do with dogs so we used to go to the Gun Dog competitions because all the Gun Dog people used to also show their dogs so we knew everyone. When they saw how good she was and faster than their slow Labradors they said she couldn't compete because their rules only allowed sporting dog breeds.
My mother told them it was because they were afraid of getting beaten by a German Shepherd. Unfortunately Karen died suddenly when she was eight of a heart attack. I have heard that shepherds don't have as long a life span as other breeds and that they have a higher body temperature.

Ann. Thai food is lovely. In 1967 we went to Bangkok and had a Thai dinner in a typical Thai house. made of teak
We all sat around a low table and leaned on triangular cushions. For westerners there was a hole under the table so we could sit up properly.
They brought each of us a wooden bowl of rice with a lid on and five little plates of different Thai dishes and a bowl of soup with vegetables cut into flower shapes floating in it as well as a plate.
We were shown how to put some rice on the plate then the contents of one of the little plates and eat it then have a bit of soup and do the same with each of the little plates and finish off the soup last. For a pudding we had rice pudding with coconut in it decorated with flowers and it was served by beautiful Thai girls dressed up in their lovely silk costumes. Fabulous.

Persephone I remember reading about the Cobb and Co coaches that used to take passengers over the Alps and how the horses only lasted about two years and had to be replaced. Poor things. I'm glad to hear that the train is still there.
I have had another interesting train journey just remembered it while I was writing about our Thai dinner. We went for a cruise to Singapore from Perth in 1967 and while we were there got talked into going to Bangkok. We hired a car and a driver and drove up Malaysia to Penang then caught a train to Bangkok. Twenty six hours it took on the train and it had two speeds, slow and stop. There was plenty of time to look at all the endless paddy fields and see men working with water buffaloes and watch people getting on and off the train with their bundles and boxes of hens and goodness knows what else.

Sylvia in Canada we have broken all records for the longest dry spell, hottest temperatures etc. as well. El Nino doesn't have much effect here in the West we have the Southern oscillation to worry about. It's a warm current that goes around the Indian Ocean and all the hot air heats us up..

Marjery your Thai meal sounded lovely. It must be extra special when served in authentic surroundings.
Jill, I am so sorry to hear that you have lost S'Jenna but I am sure it was best for her, you must miss her though. Those sheep are certainly keeping you waiting.

Hallo everybody,
What is a Fusion restaurant Anne?
Yes, with all these earthquakes and exceptional weather makes me wonder whether mother nature is taking care of the world's population herself, just like in the animal kingdom!
We used to control our numbers with sickness but we''ve managed to cure people of a lot of those sicknesses - yes, we have new ones to cope with I know, but this is not going fast enough to cope with the large numbers of births.
It makes me shiver at times to think we are living so many miles under the sea here in Holland. Could be a contrastophy (spelling?)
Have a nice evening everybody.
Sylvia xxx

Hi Sylvia, a fusion restaurant serves a selection of dishes including Thai, Chinese and Japanese.

Good morning folk.....well it is here in New Zealand at 1115hrs. In the UK you should all be tucked up in bed or very nearly & in Canada imagine it will be the early hours of the morning. Brilliant weather here,so making the most of it.
I have been a member of Genes for a few years & to date have spent very little time on site. Why? The usual reasons (excuses?) many demands on my time, work full time, family at home, lawns, gardens, housework (shared with my husband) & so it goes on. However have been at home for just over a month recuperating from surgery, no complications am happy to say. So I with all this time on my hands I have been very busy researching on Gens, & catching up with all it offers. I've had fun reading the boards, a reply from Sylvie in Canada from my request for help, which has given me food for thought. Also had a couple of matches & eagerly waiting on a response.
Back to work 22nd March, my aim is to check in daily & do at least one search , to put my family on a programme, have heaps of data , get paperwork + photos under control & to write the fam history. Can't wait.
About me...live in Hamilton, NZ, 63yrs, 2 sons NZ born , 36 & 34, 2 daughters in law UK born,+4 g.children, all in UK., visiting them end of May!! Also in NZ ,3 stepchildren & 4 step g.children.
And that is the short version!!
Kind regards
Jennifer

Hi all


Ann ..... a fusion restaurant here is more often Japanese with a Canadian touch, or Thai with a Canadian touch .................... really, adapted recipes using Canadian ideas.

Hi Jennifer ....... nice to see you on here.



Big news today ...............


I'm a grandma!!

Matthew James arrived about 9 pm UK time.

Weight ca 7½ lbs.

3½ weeks early (obviously got fed up with kicking Mum).

Bald (like his dad) and looks as though he might have brown eyes.

Had some breathing problems towards the end, so is now being carefully checked out.

James is for my dad, who died before J was born



waiting for OH to arrive home from the dentist so I can tell him. He'd only left the house about 5 minutes before daughter phoned with her news!




sylvia

Hi to Jennifer a fellow NZ der. There seems to be getting more and more of us on here.

Congratulations Grandma Sylvia and your OH and congratulations to Matthew James 's parents. Another member for the family tree.

Persey

Congratulatons Sylvia in Canada. Nice names and you can spoil grandchildren as much as you like because you get to hand them back to their owners at night.

Ann I always thought fusion cooking was what we have here in Aus. A mixture from everywhere like stirfry on pasta or couscous, or bits of nothing much all piled up on top of each other in the middle of a gigantic plate with a suggestion of sauce trickled about. and It's years since I have had a decent pudding in a restaurant.

Syljo I would have your water wings handy seeing that you live below the water line..
Talking of having help in the house. A couple of years ago I got someone in to clean my windows. Before they arrived I vacuumed them thoroughly to make sure there were no cobwebs or dead flies and then I gave them a quick wipe with a damp cloth to get the worst of the dust off and took down the curtains and blinds. I didn't want anyone to see how filthy they were in case he thought me a sloppy housekeeper. I might as well have cleaned them myself but I enjoyed watching him do it.

Hullo to Jennifer. I know Hamilton well been going there all my life. Have bags of cousins around there, also my eldest sister whom I have very little to do with has lived there all her married life at the back of the Waikato Hospital . My niece lives there and her two sons, I could go on and on but you get the picture. My parents got married there.
I live in West Aust. have been here forty seven years next month. I feel a complete stranger when I go to N.Z. now. I cant even pronounce the Maori place names and I hardly understand the accent but I would like to see Pirongia Mountain again. I think the scenery around Hamilton is beautiful.

Hi everyone, ahve been reading this thread most days, just not got round to adding to it.

I don't get out and about as much as I would like, mainly due to (very) low energy levels, plus poor concentration, balance, memory and organisational skills.

However, I did manage to get back into town last friday to have my hair done, and my pleased with the result. It is very rare nowadays that I can get into town two days running. Has taken me a few days though to do anything other than the essentials.

Another bit of good news is that the phone number I got for the Citizens Advice B. worked! I rang, and instead of gettin the engaged tone it rang, and then it was answered (albeit by a machine) within a couple of rings. I was almost sure that I had dialled the wrong number.
After a minute (no more) I spoke to a real person, and have now got an appointment for next Monday.

I haven't travelled much as an adult, but as my Dad was in the army we moved around during my childhood, which I loved.
My first memories are of living in the Lake District and really beautiful part of England.
Went by boat to Singapore twice, the first time I was just four and the second time I was nine. A great way to travel. We had a few "ports of call" on the way.
Each time we came back by plane, the first time was pre-jet engine. We had a couple of overnight stays, and second time was 1960, I think that the Comet had not been long in service. But we still had a couple of refuelling stops.

Saw some magical sights, including father Christmas, leaning out of a helicopter, as he delivered some Christmas presents on Christmas morning.

Swam in a pool that was fed from a natural stream in the hills.... couldn't go though if the CT's (Communist terrorists had been around).
The "gilly-gilly" man used to come round ... he was a snake charmer.

I really do count myself lucky to have had such wonderful experiences.

managed to get back to Malaysia (where we actually lived) in 2003, and met school friends I hadn't seen (and had lost touch with) since 1960. Luckily one of them had an usual surname and I found her brother in a phone book,
while staying in a Hotel in the town where we had lived and gone to school (not an army school).

Hope to get into town again to collect some photos. I am having trouble with my next door neighbour, he is building in his back garden (our gardens are small). but has gone over his boundry onto my garden, partially blocking a path from my back garden. I need the photos to try to show a before and after contrast. The planning dept. tell me that it is a Cival matter, and that I have to sort it out myself. Hence the appointment at CAB.

Hope that your sheep don't keep you waiting much longer Jill.

I love reading about Canada, New Zealand, and Australia as well as visits to USA.
Keep them coming girls.

Tess

Hullo Theresa and everyone.
You have had an interesting childhood Theresa and you aren't the only one who lack concentration, memory, organisational skills etc. Join the club.
The trouble is once the family have grown up and flown the coup the incentive to be continually cooking,cleaning,sewing,gardening etc. seems to be lacking once there is just the two of us. I have a thorough tidy up every now and then and concentrate on a corner here and there during the week to keep the workload down. When I get news of visitors I have to get stuck in but that doesn't happen now as often as it used to.

When we were driving up Malaysia from Singapore to Penang just at the end of the Communist Terrorist era we were continually passing big billboards with a skull and crossbones painted on them and some Malaysian words . Who said ignorance is bliss. We could have been kidnapped or killed like a prominent white business man from Bangkok who disappeared from an area we drove through while we were travelling.
I remember seeing some men who had a cobra in a basket and for a small charge would wind it around tourists necks for a photo opportunity, not mine ,I hasten to add..
You probably saw the country at the best time.

I hope you get your backyard sorted out O.K. Doesn't anyone have to get a building permit from the council before they go ahead with something like that. Councils are very strict here over boundary fences and trees with overhanging branches.

You may be interested to know that at 2.20 p.m. in West Aust. the temperature is 38.7C outside, 29.1C inside and the humidity is 28. with a tendency to showers. Not very likely it hasn't rained since Nov. 19. Time to put the air conditioner on.

Theresa what an interesting life you have had with so many opportunities. have you thought about writing them down? I am surprised that the planning authority says it is a civil matter if your neighbour has encroached over your boundary line, surely that is breaking the terms of his planning permission. I hope you get satisfaction from the CAB. Have you got the deed of your house with the boundary line marked? If not I think you can get it from the Land Registry.

Marjery my philosophy regarding housework is that if I do it today it will need doing again tomorrow and life is too short. I too have a mini 'spring clean' when visitors are expected.

Planning permission HAD been granted for a single storey extension to the house next door. However, they are now building an additional structure. This starts just eight foot beyond the "permitted extension" and goes all the way to the end of the garden. I have a right of way/footpath, just beyond the end of next doors garden (as I am in a terraced house it is the only direct way from the street into my back garden).
This "new structure" also extends the full width of his garden, from the pavement on one side (his is a corner house as well as the end of the terrace), all the way to the boundry with my garden, and possibly a couple of inches over the boarder.
I got a letter from the planning dept. this morning, they apparently couldnt see the new addotional building, as they say he is keeping to the agreed plans!
I've now got the bit between my teeth and am ready for battle. have got plans, photos etc to fight my corner so in the end should be okay. Just trying to sort out wording of a letter to Planning without saying you ......... liar!

Re housework ... my ex mother-in-law was very houseproud. In the early years of my marriage to her son, I was in the kitchen and saw through a small gap in the fence) her car which her husband was about to park at the back of the house. They would have to come via the kitchen (which was a mess) to come into the house. So I put all the rubbish (unwashed dishes etc.), in the oven, and was calmly wiping over the surfaces as my in-laws walked down the garden path!

Most of my early memories are to do with food. (can remember my mum saying "you have had your ration).

The first time in Malaya we lived (for a short while) on the edge of the jungle, I think that it was in Tiaping. We were sitting down to our meal when someone said that there was an owl in a tree outside, so we all rushed out to see it. When we got back my bacon had gone! One of those "it's not fair..." occassions.
We were in Malaysia for the second time when I had my tenth birthday. My mum said that I could choose what ever I wanted, for tea (in lieu of a party). I choose fish, and she got a lovely one from the local market (in Johore, with is just over the causeway from Singapore).
Mum had benn in the kitchen jst about to start cooking when something distracted her, she left for a couple of minutes, and suddenly remembered, calling out "Oh, the fish!" we all rushed to the kitchen just in time to see a local cat jumping out of the window, with the fish in her mouth! The cats were not pets, they were outdoor cats, often living under the houses of people that kept chickens, so had to find their own food. I can't remember whaat I had to replace my specially chosen fish and I still like cats, so no harm done.

T

You should start jotting down memories Theresa as you think of them and you will be surprised at what you can dredge up from the back of your mind also I have been through Jahore.
Some years ago we bought an old milk separator that was operated by a handle just to put in this new house we had built on our property in the country. I used to have dried flowers in it. It took me back to when I was six years old and we were at my grandparents farm in the North Is. of N.Z. I remembered all sorts of things that we did because we went there every year until my grandmother died suddenly when I was six and that was the end of those memories.

There used to be an advertisement on T.V. for that situation you were describing with your in laws arriving unexpectedly only the woman had a can of some sort of spray on wipe in her hand to clean up in a flash..

Ann that is my philosophy exactly especially when I thought no one is going to put " She had a clean house" on my tombstone.

My whole life used to be devoted to housework. I had to wash everything in the house whether it needed it or not at least twice a year. Wash walls once a year, always shampooing the carpets, painting everything outside, fences, garden walls, paths, gates. under the eaves. Turning out cupboards relentlessly not to mention forever cooking, baking, making pickle and jam, knitting and sewing, mending. Must have been a lunatic. I feel limp when I think of it, but I had a lot more energy then than now

perhaps the good thing about having low energy levels is that we don't fritter our energy away, but use it wisely.
I also appreaciate the energy I have , when I have it, instead of taking it for granted.

Managed to book the Ring & Ride Bus (a FREE service, door to door), for my appointment with the CAB on Monday.
Will tell you more when I have good news!

Meantime, I had an email from Western Australia Tourism yesterday. Offering me the chance to win a holiday in WA, the prize winner (and friend) will be able to tour WA in a taxi.
I find my passport is now out of date, but I might just try to win, another chance like this, to go to Australia, isn't likely to come again.

Tess

I had a great Aunt who was very house proud and her place was spotless she was always polishing and shining everything. Many many years ago when they used to have family picnics - they opened up the hamper and her brother-in-law has popped in a rag and a tin of polish for Hilda.

Her wonderful daughter - couldn't give a dam about cleaning etc and she used to always say my mother (her cousin) don't you look in my oven. You could hardly see through the glass window in the door. She was dearly loved by all and one was always welcome at her place - it was her you went to see not the state of her house.

About time those sheep did some producing Jill?

Persey

Hello all.
Lucy at last had twins on Saturday , John had to help deliver the first lamb as she was having problems. We were just on our way out for the evening when we found one of the lambs about to give up so after a very hectic hour and lamb being moved to utility it pulled through and is now back with mum. It is very tiny and we are keeping an eye on it and giving a little top up feed :)
Only waiting on one now so fingers crossed it will be soon.
Been a lovely warm Spring day over here and daffs all about to flower, its lovely to feel the sun after what has seemed a long Winter.

xx Jill