General Chat

goodmorning one and all hope everyone is well and enjoying the week-end I have had a slight change of plans I am going shortly down to brampton to my friends with all the stuff I brought her back and staying over night, she was supposed to be going to a soccer match at the new stadium in toronto but her son and daughter in law have got very nasty colds and coughs as they never take a day off from and did so yesterday they must be feeling rotten so she called last night and I said ok I will be down. bill I have been doing the mills family tree and have got back to the 16 hundreds, but have lost track of my dad's uncle in australia as the years went by my father did not speak to much about him have some old phot'os of my dad during his time in australia. while I was in england I had luch with two ladies I grew up with though I had not seen them in 50 yrs, on previous visits we never seemed to hool up one of them her daughter and family have emigrated to new zealand and are enjoyin it very much. fred I am sorry that you are having so much trouble with your computor hopefully it will sort itself out soon for you. sylvia I hope that you are feeling well I wonder when brenda home I do have her phone number but will wait a few more days before calling her as I saw for those who have not met her in person she is truly a great lady well I must be off bye for now dorothy

Leslie

Most of my time out that way was in the early 60s, flying Hunter 9s on ground attack sorties in Aden. That was in support of Army patrols that had got themselves into a mess.

I did spend some time in Singapore at various times, on deployments. We often flew up to Butterworth to exercise with the Aussies there.

Re the Lincoln in the RAF museum, did you know that it's supposed to be haunted ?

Bill, the Venom was before my time, but many were built near where I used to live. That was by De Havillands at Broughton (they just make wings for the Airbus now). There are a few Venoms and Vampires on the airshow circuit now, most of them being ex-Swiss Air Force.

If Brenda reads this, or if anyone can pass on a message, get better soon.

Morning all,cor ,i nearly didn't make it,the puter making queer noises when turned on ,and refusing to boot up at first ,so i must make hay while the sun shines.
Be with you in a few minutes bill.as soon as i finish this missive,eeeeeer save me one of those illicit biccies mate ,i ain't supposed to eat them either lol.
Nice to hear that Brenda will be home shortly ,it will be great to have her back on with her family ,so to speak.
With the trouble i have had this morning ,there is a change of plan,this puter will be going into the loft when i have had a look at it to see what the problem is ,and the new one will be going online instead,i don't want to be offline for days at a time again.
The main trouble these last two weeks turned out to be ,the enginer who installed the lines 2 years ago ,laid them across the carpet gripper rods,and eventually wore through the insulation ,so that engineer will be getting his bum kicked off management ,that gaff costing them two weeks service loss which i refused to pay for.
I think the short may have caused a bit of damage though causing the trouble i have had this morning.
Gonna close now peeps ,and have a look around ,but i will be back as soon as i have the new puter linked up.Fred.

Hi Bill Ashburton Shoppings okay and you can get most things here! but we do visit Timaru and Christchurch as we have family in both places And theres always an excuse to visit the shops just looking !! Pac and Sav in Timaru is cheaper than here so is always worth a look.Been busy out in garden today ! regards to all Margaret

just an update will write later
Sylvia xxx

goodmorning everyone I am sure that brenda will be pleased to see the thread is running well with some new friends ie margaret I enjoyed reding all the news this morning. leslie it sounds like australia has been good to you. my dad was in australia in the 1920's he had an uncle there who sold ford cars and daddy was sent out there by his mother she broke up his engagement to my mother quite the story but love won out in the end and he came back and they did get married . I still have his driving licences from that time rather fragile as he would have been 100 this year of course this morning I cannot remember the name of the town, a kind lady in australia has been trying to trace the late uncle's family and the owner of the business still running has been looking through old files some very nice people in this world, I hope that bren has a good day out, those days trips are great . wll I am off to the shops and to the pick up some books I had on hold another nice morning here the view from the balcony is great I can see for miles, still waiting for the two parcels that I mailed back from england I expect it will be another couple of weeks they cost a 100 pounds in postage but it was worth it I have almost forgotten what is in them so it will be like a birthday and christmas rolled into one when they arrive and i unpack them bye for now dorothy

Afternoon all ,Dorothy,sylvia,and all the old hands ,plus some new peeps.welcome all.
just came on to let you know that i am stillhere ,only busy putting in the last of my programmes,that i lost in the crash.
I have managed to downloada programme called angel ,whiuch is on a lot of new puters ,it meand that any trouble can be resolved by taking the puter back to default settings without losing most of the programmes on the drives.
I have had confirmation of the new puter too,that will be here tomorrow morning ,ready to put into the loft for the future.
See you latr peoples have a nice weekend everyone.Fred.

Morning Everyone

I won't be able to bring you upto date with Brendas' progress today. I'm off out on a day trip to Chatsworth house in Derbyshire and I have to catch the coach at 8- 30 am
It's raining very heavily up here on the moors above Oldham I hope it will be finer in Derbyshire
Talk to you again soon

Bren

Margaret From Ashburton NZ posting here first time Hope Bills Campervan trip over here is going well A lovely time of the year Spring with lots of blossom and flowers even if some days are still very cool

Im back again. Nice to see your getting better Brenda, I have a few relatives in Germany also Sylvia, near munsterlager and Celle.
lovely country up there but very cold in the winter. Tudor, I found the Licoln with w full bomb load was still easy to handle. we did have Hydraulic Autopilot, which made it handle like power steering. I was about the only female pilot to fly them in Australia.we were based at Darwin. but spent a lot of time at Tengah during the Indonesian Confrontation.
Were you ever out this way ?.

Hi Dorothy, in Wangaratta here we get -11c on winter mornings, but snow on the mountain range, and really good Skiing resorts, and of course dog sled races.
I did think of moving to Canada in 1971, to join the RCAF. but Australia hasnt been to bad for me.
see you all soon.
Leslie in Wangaratta

Hi all,
How nice to see such a lot of friends contributing to this thread again.
Brenda, we are keeping this going for you my dear so that when you feel fit you can come and tell us what is going on. In the meantime we all wish you a speedy recovery. God bless.
Sylvia xxx

goodmorning from barrie canada I have just read the news from bren re brenda I am glad that they have found out what is wrong even thought that is not very pleasent for brenda I am not sure I understand why she is being discharged without an op being done, even with pain control she is still liable to other gall bladder attacks, having had them and having had the op when I was 20 I know how confusing the symptoms can be. hopefull is there is a waiting list she will get tot he top off it qucikly, it was good to see so many messages on the site this morning , some people I am not familiar with but great to read the messages. bill the car is running well I gave it a good run yesterday after everything was finished I have an apt on monday for an undercoating (on the car) rust proofing etc. it helps with all the salt that is on our roads in the winter. I am off for some blood work after fasting for 14hrs but next to to the lab is a lovely cafe so I will treat myself to a good breakfast afterwards. I see the cardiologist next tues I only have to see him every 2yrs, it is 6 yrs since my heart attack and I have been great. the weather is beautiful sunny in the day and cool at nights it is sometimes call indian summer, it beats the snow that will be coming in the future, my sister called from calgary the other day they had been up to their getaway place in the rockies and she said there was snow on the mountain tops. well thats enough from me for to-day bye for now dorothy ps glad to see fred back again

Hi Everyone
I have just spoken to John again and the diagnosis of gallstones has been confirmed
Brenda is receiving treatment for her pain but she will most likely be discharged in the next couple of days and will be given an Out patiens appointment
We can't understand this unless there is a waiting list for this type of Op
So it could only be a few days before Brenda is back on the boards telling you all about it or there again it might be a little longer
At least this episode will have slowed her down a bit I'm always telling her that one day she will meet herself coming back

Bren

Hi everybody ,and a good afternoon to all,exepting those in oz and new zealand who will be in the land of nod by now.
As peeps can see ,puter is up and running again,and ,we are back from sandy bay a day early owing to the missus pulling her side while coughing .
Have taken her to the docs already who has put her on a course of steroids ,and a stronger antibiotic'pain killers,so she will be fine in a couple of days.
We miss you on here Brenda,so hurry up and get better ,we need our anchor back lol,but i see that Bill has stepped into the void ,so get your bums back everybody,Brenda would not like her thread becoming waterlogged ,or forgotten alto gether.
We had a great time at sandy bay ,and will be going back monday next week for a few more days.
I have sorted out a few good fishing marks off the rocks and beach ,so the sons and i will be going up through the winter ,to try for the cod and pollack,whiting ,all nice grub.
off now to catch up on a few things ,but will be back later.Fred.

Bill, the reason I changed my name is that the one I'm using now is my middle name. The family know me by it, not by William.

All the Spitfires used in Reach for the sky were late mark 16s, with the low back and bubble canopy. How many are left, now, I have no idea; the preservation movement didn't get going till the film Battle of Britain in 1969.

Leslie, we have only one Lincoln left in the UK - at the RAF Museum at Cosford, RF 398. Must have taken a fair amount of physical strength to fly one; at least we had powered controls on the aircraft I flew in the RAF.

Hi all. Bill thats ok, I noticed a few Aviation people around, and I started using Google Earth last year.
have you got the Location for that Spitfire on Google?. I flew Lincoln's from Tengah Airbase in Singapore, with 1B Sqn RAAF.
Im not in Yarrawonga anymore, too many mozzies from the Swamp, Im down in Wangaratta now. much nicer.
Leslie in Wangaratta.
I hope you are well.

It does seem as though some of you do remember me - and, as I said to Sheila only this evening, and to Jude too a few days ago I've never forgotten anyone. Bill is right, I do still stay on the aviation scene; doubt if I'll ever leave it.

I do hear from Kathleen, Elisabeth, Max and others from the 'good old days'. It would be nice to think that those days might return, but I doubt it. GR, like most other sites that have a chat side, is not what it was. A great pity, but that's the way of life.

Anyone who does rermember me, and would like to get in touch, can always do it vis GR. Be nice to hear from you !

Hi all,
Well that is not such good news about Brenda, although reading "between the lines" Brenda hasn't been well for quite a while now and I do hope they find out what is wrong with her. She is in the best place anyway.
We must all now see that this thread - which she started - is kept running whilst she is away. Ok?
Nice to hear of your travels Dorothy, but "there's no place like home" is there?
I'm sure you're pleased to be back home again.
I don't think about England being my home any more, although I was born there and had the choice of settling in England or here in the Netherlands I have no regrets whatsoever. I do love to be able to go back now and again, but getting more difficult every year healthwise.
The weather has been quite kind to us again today with lovely warm sunshine.
I visited my trusty help in the house, Anita, today who is off work sick. Johan and I drank a cup of tea with her. We couldn't stay long as I had to be at the hospital to see the surgeon who operated on my bowels. I have to have an echo of my liver and give some more blood samples - pure routine work on post-operative investigations.
Tomorrow we have a pedicure at home and then I must do some paperwork. Yes, there is nobody else to do it.
Now, have a nice evening everybody. Sorry not to mention names but I am sure to forget one or two if I do so better not quote any at all I suppose.
Sylvia xxx

goodmorning so glad to hear an update re brenda thanks so much for the news bren, the gall bladder can send a lot of confusing symptoms when it is acting up hopefully they will find out soon what is wrong please pass on my best wishes when you next speak to john, bill I am not having any new adventures at the moment just getting back to normal routine. I shall be going to brampton on the week-end to hand over some of the shopping I did in england to one of my friends she wanted stuff for her granddaughter, not staing over nights as I usually do just a quick down and back about a 3hr drive in all. we do seem to have lost a lot of names from the sight like sylvia I really miss jude's comments but maybe some more expat's will find the site. of this morning to get the mirror replaced on the drivers side this is a last thing that needs to be done from the accident before I went away that slight accident the person backing into me has cause 1400 dollars damage to my car but they have had to pay to fix it, anyway the car is running well. so I better go and get ready have a great day all of you bye dorothy

HI everyone

I have just spoken to John and Brenda is in hospital . she was admitted over the weekend
She is having various tests because they are not quite sure what is the matter with her
They think it might be her gallbladder that is causing all her problems
Will let you know if I find anything else out