Grand Final Day: Hawks win

This is going to be very quick...day started off slowly cos I stayed up till 3.30am fooling around with loading pics on Facebook.

I was a funny sight..wearing a nightie and my gumboots to dive down into the back paddock this morning to check my animals. I lost four chicks and would you believe I cried,,,cant believe I got so teary over tiny little birds! I felt responsible as I made an error in judgement by moving the broody bird into her own pen before they had properly hatched. I should have waited and so she didnt keep the eggs warm. All of them had piped and I had heard the little ones cheeping last night. Far out, I was so annoyed with myself. Two errors I have made this week ,but on the upside (glad game: re Pollyanna from an earlier post) I KNOW I made errors and wont do it again. (Other mistake was on Friday when the lesson ended and changed over, my class were not settling and I was silly enough to sign diaries to go to library, among other things, before making sure everyone had settled in and done the right thing first. One boy was making a racket trying to be heard and then next thing the boss walked past with prospective parents. I was annoyed with myself as much as them as it is a good school and it can be noisy at changeover time. After class before going to lunch we practiced coming in and settling in a more suitable manner: lesson learnt by them and me :) It is worth taking the extra time!

Ok back to my story..nope,,,I dont have time to finish it..so will finish tomorrow.
Ciao..but will post now....Luke wont be able to take the smile of his face with his beloved hawks winning. At their house on one side of the front door is a Hawthorn gnome and on the other side a Carlton one. Luke is marrying my daughter Krystal in December. When they lived with us I often covered his gnome with a Carlton beanie..just to keep it warm...NOT! Oh well maybe next year for the Blues!

Friends, Kids, Qld, Alpacas and..well chooks of course!

By the way I forgot to mention last time that the latest item I had bought was a beautiful walnut german made piano for only...wait for it...$100. Bought it from a lovely woman in Rosetta who had such a warm feel to her home and herself, very good karma! So am very happy with the buy though she really could have sold it for more! Don't you just love a bargain :)

Also have planted more veggies in the patch. Today went to Station Street Nursery in Newtown (I have no affiliation with the business) and was really impressed. They have a cafe, gift items and lovely plants. Just bought butternut pumpkin vines to plant, though one could have bought a lot more :)

Yesterday afternoon our friends Roger and Thelma came over with their grandchildren, Sebastien (8), Alexi (6) and Cooper (1). I believe Sebastien has said that visiting our place was better than the movies! Children just love animals and the boys enjoyed seeing the chooks and the alpacas. Cooper couldnt stop giggling as Angus (dog) amused him. I would say they amused each other!

Here is a pic of Thelma/Grandma (covered from the wind) with me holding SerenityView Vanilla Spice and Cooper with a wide smile as he meets his very first alpaca!

Next Pic shows Cooper checking out Silkies and being watched over by protective big brother, Sebastien.
Alexi is in background.

Here I am with one of my blue pekins.

This is as far as I got yesterday as we lost power at 7.05pm and we did not get power back on until 9.35pm. The wind was incredible and I believe a number of areas lost power.

Friday September 19 my son Peter had a birthday. I just cant seem to get my head around the fact he is the age he is! The time just seems to have flown by. Peter turned 25. We all met at his place( he and fiancee Kathryn bought their house 12months ago with some assistance from us) for tea on Friday night, though yours truly supplied all the food. Next year I think we will look at everyone sharing the load and bringing something each. We ate, chatted, watched the football (Geelong and Western Bulldogs in Prelim final) played with Jasmine and admired little Lily.

Saturday morning Peter and I went shopping in town for his birthday and that was enjoyable to spend some quality time with him. Betts and Betts (once again I have no affiliation with the store) is a great shoe shop. Got Peter a pair of good shoes and as the second pair was half price I got a new pair of short black boots.

I have already mentioned the visit from Roger and Thelma and Co on Saturday arvo and that evening we went to the Mornington Inn for tea and met up there with close friends, Marion and Tony. We enjoyed hearing about their recent trip to Cairns and Port Douglas and as we sat there in warm clothing with the rain and wind outside, we were all able to imagine a warmer place to be! We were delighted with the gift of a gorgeous deep green tree frog wind chime.

This brought back memories of our trip(2005) to the area, although Marion and Tony had the added highlight of a balloon flight. Wonder if I should put that on my bucket list? (Things to do before I kick the bucket: check out the movie: The Bucket List. )

Pic is taken in Cairns of the Esplanade area. Lifeguards and security guards are on patrol and it is cleaned very day. We stayed in a one bedroom apartment in Cairns and did a lot of walking. After a few days we then hired a car and drove to Port Douglas where we stayed for three days before returning for a final two days in Cairns where we stayed at a motel.

We visited the Kuranda village in the rainforest area by travelling via Skyrail. We went to Kuranda via gondola over the forest canopy and returned via the railway. While in Kuranda

We visted the Butterfly Centre

Cool Spider!

We hired a car in order to visit Port Douglas , Cape Tribulation, Cruise the Daintree and visit Hartley Crocodile Farm. Did I mention we did this in January so it was quite warm at the time!

We also went out on the reef and went snorkelling off Fitzroy Island. I believe the island is now being refurbished. I was somewhat disappointed there as on disembarking the first thing I saw was a lot of discarded cigarette butts on the beach. The food available was only fried, nothing fresh and healthy. Alcohol was available but when I asked for a milkshake, nope,,,fizzy drink but no milkshake. The facilities were in disrepair and this was unfortunate as the weather on this day was not good and it kept drizzling and there was no adequate shelter. My only regret is I would have loved to have shared experiences like these with our children as they were growing up, but this was impossible. As young struggling parents I can recall not having enough fuel to get to Launceston, let alone go on a trip to Qld.

After this we flew to Sydney and stayed a couple of days at Darling Harbour before flying home to Hobart. We met up with family of mine

in Sydney. Here is a pic of Roger outside the oldest hotel in Sydney. The other one is me outside

The Powerhouse Museum where

Kim and I also visisted the Lord of the Rings Exhibition.

Ciao for now

It has been awhile!

Pic is of Lily taken at friend Clare's home in Dubbo, NSW.

I have been back at home a week after flying to NSW. I took Melanie and Lily with me, leaving on the Sunday and arriving late afternoon in Dubbo. Lily travelled very well! We were picked up at the airport by my old ( not so old , cos what does that say about me?) school friend Clare and her husband John. The bad news was Melanie's bag failed to appear! We were told her bag would be delivered later in the evening as it would be on the next flight (flew Qantas). After a lovely dinner of vegetarian risotto which I enjoyed, though not to Mel's taste , as she is a meat girl, the bag failed to appear and I was only able to connect with answering machines. The bag held ALL of Mel's clothes and most of Lily's gear.

Next day and several phone calls later I was informed they would phone me if the bag came in on the flight at 9.20 but would not ring me till around 10.am. By this time John had already been out to the airport in case it had been on the red eye flight or had been delivered on the last flight from the previous evening.

I was also told that we couldnt have been told someone would bring the bag around last night as NO ONE is actually on the desk when the last flight comes in. I DID NOT make it up so as I informed them this means that I was lied to and would have preferrred an honest answer. The bag did not appear so we rallied round to organise clothing for Melanie to wear to the funeral and when Roger (Devoy) arrived over from Gil to pick us up in Dubbo ,he first took Mel to buy nappies and formula etc for Lily. She had an outfit to wear as I had bought her a lovely little outfit at Sydney airport from the Bonds store.

We then went over to Gil for the funeral and I will discuss this in the next blog as am a bit too tired to do so now. Back in Dubbo, in the evening, Clare had gone to the trouble of making a meat pasta dish as well as a vegetarian fritata followed by sticky date pudding. We finally got a call to say the bag had turned up and was coming in on a later flight and would be delivered to us. Has the saga of the bag ended...noooo. It did arrive and it was close to 9.30ish and Melanie was becoming ill with the flu and wanted to get into her own pjs. She opens the bag only to discover the whole thing is wet inside and in fact her socks were quite soggy. All the nice thick bunny rugs and gear were also very wet and so the whole lot had to be put in the washing machine!

The next day we were picked up by Roger and Sharon and after much fiddling around finally got the baby capsule in their car(been awhile since any of us have had to deal with baby seats) and off we went with a couple of stops on the way, including one for lunch in Orange. Melanie was by now becoming very unwell and so for the next two nights whilst in Sydney I had Lily in with me at night and did the night shift for feeds! Aside from feeling somewhat tired, I loved every minute of it. We still went to Westfield at Parramatta with Sharon, aka The Grand Aunt! Despite Mel not being too well it was a pleasant enough day. I bought myself a pair of jeans and a denim pair of 3 quarter pants , wasnt in the right mood to look for a dress to wear to Krystal's wedding. I bought Lily a lovely outfit for Christmas and Mel got a few things but nothing overly exciting. Sharon also bought lovely outfits for Lily and Jas.

Had a really nice dinner with Roger, Sharon and their son Brian and his partner, Robyn. They had been at the funeral but hadnt had much of a chance to chat so Brian thought they would come over. I still remember him a a cuddly little 'teddy' as little boys are when they are in pjs ready for bed..he was just a tiny tot and here he is now over six feet tall! I have seen him over the years but still have memories of him as a little one which doesnt really seem all that long ago. Pity Mel couldnt enjoy a meal as she could barely talk, let alone eat and was relegated to the lounge on the far side of the room. Here
is a pic of Robyn with Lily....you can see Lily looking at her,,yes, Robyn has been given the Ok.,,,,so um..Grand Aunt Sharon would love someone like me to play with..cos then she would be Nana Sharon..or would that be Grand Mama!


Thurs was a nice slow pleasant morning and after lunch we headed to the airport. I think it is a big deal for people in Sydney to take one to the airport , what with time, distance, traffic , parking and lets not forget tolls! So thanks, R and S. Pity we didnt live a bit closer..I can see a few bottles of wine being consumed and some yarns shared on a summers' evening. Once home, back in Tas, Krystal turned up to see how things went and ended up staying for tea, scrambled eggs, eggs fresh from our girls!

Friday stayed over at Mel's to give a hand as she was so ill ..thankfully she is on the mend, though still not totally well. The weather was wet, often showery, cool and windy for a few days. The wind was very annoying and broke our outside clothesline in half! Hard to get much done so Kim painted a wall that we had removed shelves from in a spare bedroom (Jas's room).

The last couple of days has been so much better with no wind and today it made 19! Friend Deb rang me during the week from her balcony (On holidays) in Surfers to share her shopping exploits with me. Wow, wish I had been there , sounded wonderful! Great helping other people spend their money also!!!

I offered to take Jasmine yesterday arvo , then while Kim was clearing the section we keep scrap building items and tidying it I got Jas's dad Aidan to put together a brooder I bought, before he, Mel and Lily left. Jas stayed overnight and today we dropped Angus off to be groomed properly and Jas and I had lunch at Fullers Bookshop Cafe, where I bought a book entitled Art, Chooks and Life. Jas just had to visit Pumpkin Patch so got her a pretty headband there and we also checked out Artery. They have some great stuff, not just supplies for artists. Visited Janet at Teddy and Friends and got Jas a little soft puppy. She had wanted a real one from Flynn's pet shop but didnt think that would go down very well with her parents! ..Blah Blah...Blah,,,,,then home and Jas helped with the chooks and Kim and I finished off moving around 500 bricks into a neat pile as where they were is going to be some more chook pens! Left Kim to do a few other things and Jas and I headed inside to cook! We made a Lemon cheesecake in order to use some more lemons up and a batch of cup cakes as well...too bad Jas had to leave when it was time to clean up!!! Oh yes, our friends Sonia and Frank from whom we bought this house have agreed to lease adjoining land to us so very pleased about that. They are lovely people and one knew that as when I first visited the house for a look I felt it had very good karma...after that,,had a few champagnes with Sonia one night and felt like we had known each other for years.. they built the house ..and now they are off travelling...

Ok I am off to spend some time with the boys,,,Kim and Angus! Ciao

Chook Show

Today I put three birds into the Southern Tasmanian Poultry Show and each won first prize with the Blue Pekin Hen (Henrietta) also winning Best of Breed so very exciting! My boy Hamish did very well winning first prize as Pekin Blue Cock with Harriet winning first prize as pullet. What a Trio!

My only disappointment is that Mem is not around to share it with as she loved getting my long letters , which could be likened to short novels! I fly out tomorrow in order to attend her funeral on Monday. She was always often surprised by me but thought my exploits were interesting as never knew what I would do next.(Once I left home, that is) I know getting into alpacas was something she hadnt thought of me doing and I wish she was here to share my first attempt at showing poultry. I got a few girls for eggs for us and the kids and I sell some at work for $3 a dozen. Then a chap was selling some silkies as he was concentrating on another breed and I thought well they are cute little things.! Then I found http://www.backyardpoultry.com.au/ and discovered so much more about chooks and so many wonderful helpful people. The site also has a wanted and sales section on the forum and on the noticeboard generally for sales as well and I found out people sent fertile eggs by post...and off took the interest in poultry and...I now just love chooks! (for correct punctuation and grammar I might add I do know I have used and too much and too long a sentence...but getting into something you really enjoy becomes and then and then and ....LOL!

This shed is for my chook gear. We bought it through the local paper a week ago and here is it before being dismantled. Kim took it apart on Wednesday and check out how many screws he had to remove! Now as pictured it is lying out the back and will have to wait till we get a slab done before he gets to put it all back together again!

His workshop has gradually been taken over by my chook gear as well as alpaca gear so now he only has to share it with the alpaca gear!

Well I must dash as son Peter and Kathryn (been with Kathryn since they were 15 and they both turn 25 this year) are coming over for tea. They will also bring Chloe, Peter's golden lab who Angus adores! They both go mad together!

Then I will have to get myself packed and organised to fly out tomorrow.
Ciao

Mem: 1913-2008.

Pic of Mem (Mary Devoy, nee Keys) taken Sept 06 at Cooee Nursing Home, Gilgandra. NSW. The little girl is Jasmine, my grand daughter.

Mem was born on March 25th 1913 in Sydney, NSW and passed away on September 4th at Gilgandra Hospital after suffering a stroke. She was 95 years old. Her mother, Johanna Mary Keys (nee Sales) was aged 96 and a half when she passed away in Gilgandra back on May 18 1976. I was with Nana (Johanna) and Mem when Nana passed away. I was aged 15 at the time.(Four years later on May 18th my daughter Melanie was born) I wish I could say I was with Mem. I certainly was in spirit. Living in the island state makes it difficult to just dash off to the mainland. It was too late last night to get a flight out.

If you havent heard of Gilgandra before, it is a small country town in Central Western NSW. Gilgandra is an aboriginal word meaning long water hole, named so because although the Castlereagh River is often dry an artesian bore runs under it. This supplied the water to the original inhabitants of the area,

the Wiradjuri people. http://www.visitnsw.com/town/Gilgandra.aspx

Follow the link to learn more including the story of the Cooee March which began in Gilgandra during the first world war as a recruitment march from Gil to Sydney.

Mem grew up with eight brothers and sisters in a catholic family and retained her faith all her life. She went to school in Hay, NSW. Her father Herbert Alonso served in the boer war (1899-1901) as a trooper in the unit 3 NSW MNTD RIFLES. Information can be found at http://www.awm.gov.au/ which is the official site of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Australia's capital.

Her eldest brother, named after his father, served in the Australian Army in the Second World War.

Mem trained as a nurse and wanted to go off to war but manpower refused to allow it as nurses were also needed at home. She spent some of her time working in Hay caring for Japanese prisoner of war personel. I recall Mem showing me trays made of matchsticks given to her by the POWs. Mem married in her late 30's to Leslie Ernest Devoy spending the first couple of years on his parents property at Neilrex before moving to rent a small house in Gil and then with the princely sum of two thousand pounds buying the home she spent the next fifty years of her life in before moving to spend her final few years at Cooee Retirement Village. Les's mother Mary Devoy Snr lived till the ripe old age of 105 years! She was a very smart,always well dressed lady.

Mem's husband Leslie passed away in 1987 from throat cancer. She had a number of pregnancies and ended up with two sons, Roger and Philip, born in 1950 and 1952. She is the only mother I have known but is technically, by blood, my great aunt. Her sister Gloria who died in her early 40's before I was born had four daughters. The woman who gave birth to me at 17 was one of those daughters. Unfortunately, she was not maternal and it was difficult then for young unmarried women. I spent two years in the Far West Childrens Home , time in Sydney living with Mem's brother Herbert and wife Alice as well as in Wagga with Mem's sister Nella. (Nella, a very smart lady who has always embraced life , will be 94 in November is the only surviving member of the nine children and lives in the lovely city of Wagga Wagga, NSW) I also spent some time which I vaguely recall living with my birth mother and the man she later married and had one daughter with. The marriage failed and he returned to his home country of Austria in Europe along with his daughter. I believe he went to court to get custody of me but in those days men didnt have much chance and at the age of ten I found out that he wasnt actually my father. She had met someone else with whom she had a son and a very violent relationship. At some stage as a young child, about five or six Mem became my carer and she raised me.

I have some very happy memories and some shocking memories of my childhood years. At the end of the day Mem did what she thought was the best for me at the time She was petrified of me 'getting into trouble' at a young age and was very strict. Not so many years ago Mem said to me that she was sorry she had been so harsh and she wished she could take back some of the things she had done but she felt she must have done something right as I had turned out to be a lovely person (her words, not mine) She wanted to talk about it but I felt dwelling in the past was not healthy in this case and she had mellowed with age and seemed to be very different to the woman who would belt me if I didnt know the mulitplication tables. I told her there was no point discussing past mistakes and that I was Ok and yes, some credit should go to her..and she took me when no one else did. She was the one who got up to me when I was ill and I do have memories of often having tonsilitis and being waited on whilst I lay out on a banana lounge in the sun. Being a parent is not just giving birth, not everyone can or has, but many have given love and assistance to others not of their flesh. I miss you, Mem....

It took me to well past the age of 30 to deal with certain things, possibly because split families were not the norm as they are today. I watched the TV show The Waltons and so wanted to be part of a big happy family. Later on it was The Sullivans! I would have loved to have a large family but my husband of choice was adamant three was enough. Although I was disappointed I did discover just how expensive it is raising teenagers! Now I am a teacher and if I can make a difference to just one child , whether that is in the educational sense or just by 'listening' then I am happy and have made a difference , I hope.

Ok, I am raving on and becoming rather....BORING! Mem was a hard worker for The St Vincent de Paul Society , known as Vinnies. She worked hard as a volunteer on their committee, fundraising, in the second hand shop and giving a hand to those less fortunate. Her only downfall here was leave something at her place and you can be sure it would end up being given to Vinnies! She was often giving things to other people, like her mother before her so she had a kind, caring side.

Her mother, Nana was born here in Tasmania in 1876. She lived near Campbelltown and when her father was killed in a dray accident she , her sister and mother moved to Sydney, NSW. There were other children (surname of Sales) but have been unable to trace those who stayed in Tasmania.

My Nana told me once that she would like to see me marry a nice Tasmanian boy (I ended up taking that advice, meeting my husband in Sydney when he was serving in the navy and he happened to hail from Tassie!)Nana has been gone for over thirty years now and I still miss her. Now if we want to go back even further her mother came out on a ship from England to Tasmania...

Another day I will have to look at Kim's father's side..descended from a convict as many Tasmanians are.

Friday September 5th

On Sunday I will be flying to Dubbo with my daughter Melanie and her little girl Lily to attend the funeral on Monday...will be back home here on Thursday. Kim is not coming as he will tend to the animals and keep the home fires burning. Due to work and uni committments my other two children are unable to come.

My work place sent me a beautiful bunch of flowers and I was very touched. My friend Marion arrived over this afternoon with a lovely card and beautiful rhododendron. It is a really stunning plant and I didnt have the heart to tell her I cant have one of those in the garden as they are poisonous to alpacas and can be fatal. I cant take the risk. So for now it will sit looking pretty on the table (if you are reading this Marion, I will give it back to you when we have dinner towards the end of the school holidays and after you and Tony return from your holiday)

I have taken a couple of days to write this. Today my silver laced wyandotte eggs arrived so put them and the silver grey dorking eggs in the incubator. The dorking eggs have been waiting too long unfortunately so they may not hatch. There are 6 of them and 18 of the wyandottes. The incubator (Brinsea Auto 20) is supposed to be pretty good. Will get another one shortly that a chap makes and sells. I will have to take a photo of where the incubator is. When we bought this house there was a rather small room upstairs used as a sewing room by the previous owner. I have a bookshelf in there with my shoes on it, a long glass table which holds jewellery stands, a hat/coat stand in the corner and there is a 'dressing table' of sorts and now pride of place in the centre of it is my incubator. The temperature keeps more stable in this room and is better than having it in a cold shed. I might add the room comes complete with chandelier!

Keep watching for updates on my travels and chicken incubations! Be a little while before the next post though once I fly out on Sunday! Will have to candle my eggs when I get back.,.what is candling? Well I will eventually share that or you can go and 'google' it!

Ciao

Paris to London:

Twelve months ago today we had left Paris and headed to London..I cast my mind back and recall....

Pic is of Notre Dame in Paris. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notre_Dame_de_Paris

This is a beautiful place and we sat in the garden at the back, a very peaceful and serene moment. I can highly recommend Paris to anyone. I love Paris and there is so much to see and do, though sometimes the best thing is just taking time to 'smell the roses'. Sit in a cafe and watch the passers by, something I quite enjoy doing.

Here we are in Paris with the Eiffel tower behind us.

http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/teiffel/uk/
The lace top I am wearing was bought on the island of Burano, Venice, Italy. The evening before we went on a river

cruise on the Seine River. It was magical, especially seeing the Eiffel Tower all lit up! As for the Louvre , one needs days , if not weeks if you love art and history. What an amazing place! This pic shows the view from the Eiffel tower taken from the second level.

This pic was on the last night in Paris. The girls pictured hail from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Left to right : Marlene (Sth Africa) Me (Aus) Robyn, Lynda (NZ) Lorraine (Aus) and Dot (NZ).

Early on September one 2007 we left Paris and headed back to London, arriving late afternoon. Kim and I then met with our friends, Robyn and Lynda (from NZ) at Harrods. I had been there when we arrived in London and spent some time there before heading off on the Traflagar European Supreme Tour, across

many countries over 31 days. We were soon to be heading back to Greece whereas the girls were heading to America and Disneyland before returning to New Zealand.

Harrods has to be seen to be believed. The floors, the service, the decorating, the merchandise and the people are all something to be seen. I enjoyed watching some of the incredible cars turn up and drop off the most beautiful arabic young women. You can spend as little as a couple of pounds at

Harrods or as much as many thousands.

Well I will leave it there for the moment and add some more next time continuing the London story.

Today was my Monday off (I have every second Monday off). We had some rain, with some breaks, so we managed to get in seed potatoes, dutch cream and pinkeyes. Melanie, Aidan and their dear little daughters came round for a roast for tea. Unfortunately ,Jasmine was not feeling very well so was not her usual bubbly and energetic self. Little Lily slept soundly! I made a curry for them to take home and have for tea tomorrow night as I know both Aidan and Mel enjoy it. Just a small way of helping out whilst they settle into a routine with a new baby. Kim was pleased to get a night off as I did the cooking, something he has been doing much more of these days, much to my delight!

Ciao