Have you heard of................

Have you heard of Dr Cyril P Callister?

Ok maybe you have not heard of the man but if you're an Aussie you most likely have eaten his creation which was Vegemite all Aussies pretty much like Vegemite. Way back in 1922 the Fred Walker company hired a young chemist to develop a spread from brewer's yeast,it was labelled “Pure Vegetable Extract” which doesn't sound as good as Vegemite, in my opinion.

The Fred Walker company decided to have a national competition to come up with a name for the product, unfortunately they didn't keep a record of the winners name we do know that it was Fred Walker's daughter who chose the winning name and that name was Vegemite.

Cyril Percy Callister was a food technologist, who was born on 16 February 1893 at Chute near Beaufort, Victoria, son of William Hugh Callister, schoolmaster and his wife Rosetta Anne, née Dixon.

He was educated at state schools, Grenville College, Ballarat, and the Ballarat School of Mines, he attended the University of Melbourne on a major residential scholarship to Queen's College.

In January 1915 he joined Lewis & Whitty, manufacturers of food and household products. In June he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. Within three months the Department of Defence withdrew him to join the Munitions Branch. Shortly afterwards he was sent to Britain and spent the war working on explosives manufacture in Wales, and in Scotland where he met and married Katherine Hope they had two sons and a daughter.

After her return to Australia in 1919 he rejoined Lewis & Whitty where he remained until that company was taken over. In February 1923 he was appointed to Fred Walker's small food company to develop yeast-extract for retail sale.

Although this product was known overseas, no information was available about the process, and Callister developed it from brewers' yeast. Under the trademark Vegemite it was placed on the market early in 1924 and slowly became an established item, solely through Callister's technological skill and perseverance.

Walker was also interested in methods for preserving cheese, and involved Callister in this as well. Thus the chemist rapidly became well informed in microbiology and began to experiment with cheese-processing.

With the help of patents held by the American James L. Kraft, he made a satisfactory product and Walker used this in 1925 to persuade Kraft to grant a licence for the manufacture of Kraft cheese in Australia. So the Kraft Walker Cheese Co. was established in 1926 with Callister as chief chemist and production superintendent.

A bit about rehab

Well here we are on a wet Wednesday afternoon, I just returned from getting Leo from school and remembered I hadn't done a post today so here we go.....................

Well I am cold and will soon have a hot bath to hopefully warm up, earlier today Natasha contacted some charities to get food vouchers for my parents and managed to get them $30 worth of food my mum was so appreciative. Speaking of mum she is doing ok still very sore and in a fair amount of pain but Sandra said this afternoon she doesn't think mum is doing enough in the way of rehab and if she had gone to the rehabilitation ward she would be doing a lot more.

Moving on to dad he doesn't thing he is doing anything in the way of rehab and is just sitting around doing nothing all day and said if that doesn't change he wants to go home, however, he cannot walk from his bed to the toilet without becoming out of breath and even though he has a long cord attached to his oxygen he takes off the oxygen when he needs to visit the bathroom, which is really a silly thing to do.

My knees are still sore and swollen and standing, walking or pretty much doing anything is painful but I guess that is what I have to deal with now.

So being Wednesday I am sharing this photo.

Deadly Creatures/Bull Shark

Hello Tuesday and have to say you have started out pretty good, as in I wasn't too tired when I woke up this morning although I was slightly annoyed that I was up and dressed at 5.50am and Jessica didn't drop Leo off till 6.40am I could have spent an extra half hour in bed asleep. 

Also being told that Leo needed a shower to wash his hair annoyed me.

Speaking about being annoyed I find Natasha sitting pretty much on top of the heater annoying but I don't feel the cold as much as her.

Dad has been transferred to the rehabilitation ward they moved him yesterday afternoon, my sister Sue is staying with mum for a bit to help her get around.

Let us move on to this weeks deadly creature, today I have picked the Bull Shark, they live throughout the world in shallow warm ocean waters but have also been known to swim up into freshwater rivers. Officially, bull sharks have made it up the Mississippi as far as Illinois.

They eat almost anything but their diet consists mainly of fish, humans are not part of a bull shark's normal prey but that doesn't mean they will not bite you if you get in their way and they are hungry.

You may wonder if you can eat a bull shark, well if you want to you can but it really isn't that healthy and can even be poisonous and you might want to give it a good wash first as sharks urinate through their skin.

If you are wondering how long they live well on average about 16 years, when born they are about 71 centimetres long or 28 inches, they grow to about 3 metres long, females have between 4 & 10 babies each mating season.

Did you know No:20

Hello everyone, I have some good news mum is home, she was discharged this morning and is happy to be at home it is still difficult for her to move and she is still in a fair amount of pain but is looking forward to her own bed tonight. Dad is still in the John Hunter Hospital but may be moved tomorrow to the rehabilitation ward tomorrow, we will see.

My niece Kelli and her partner Jonathon welcomed the birth of their daughter yesterday afternoon, the have decided to name her Freya she is their second child, they have a son Daemon and Jonathon is also Blain's father.

Anyway here are this weeks five did you know facts.

Between the 1850's to the 1880's the most common cause of death among cowbos was being dragged by a horse while caught in the stirrups.

The first envelopes with gummed flaps were produced in 1844, in Britain but they were not immediately popular as it was considered to be a serious insult to send you saliva to someone else in the post.

Buckingham Palace has over 600 rooms

The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time television were Fred & Wilma Flintstone

African elephants only have four teeth

Just an update

Hello everyone what a few days I have had, I have been tired and have a headache since Friday afternoon. I am sleeping better most nights but the last couple of nights I have woken a few times with a headache and have had to go and take pain relief during the night.

My parents are still in hospital but both are recovering slowly dad still may get transferred to the rehab ward and mum is hoping to be able to go home on Monday but first she will need to be able to walk 20 meters without needing to rest, each days she is a tad better then the day before.

Tim has his motorbike back from the mechanics yesterday morning he and Leo caught the bus to Toronto to pick it up after getting the bike the went for a ride into town and Leo loved it. We had Leo all day as well as last night as Jessica was working yesterday.

I have not been over to see my parents as I would not be able to walk from the carpark to the ward due to the amount of pain I have in my knees and achilles tendon, I have sent my dad a number of text messages and I still speak to mum every night. I do feel like shit because I am unable to get there and see them my sisters Sandra and Sue are amazing going over so much to see them and Sue will go and stay with mum & dad when they go home.

This and That Today

First up, it is still cold and wet here, just so you know.

Next up, dad is still improving and likes that he is now in a room on his own, when Sandy spoke to the nurses yesterday they said that it looks like he will go to the rehabilitation ward at Belmont hospital in the next few days. This is not something Sandy is keen on unless they also send mum to the same ward because she doesn't like the idea of having to visit two different hospital.

Next, we have mum her surgery went well, I spoke to her last night she sounded tired but alright in a moderate amount of pain, today they will get her out of bed standing up not walking just standing. Before Sandy took mum to the part of the hospital she needed to be at for her surgery she took her to see dad, she took mum in woke dad up as it was only 5.20am and when he saw mum dads eyes light up and he was so pleased to see mum and her him. Sandy said they were like teenagers holding hands and being so happy to be together.

My parents not only are still in love but they enjoy each others company.

Yesterday saw my youngest daughter sick with a fever and headache as well as some vomiting, because she was feeling sick she decided to order food via Uber Eats well that failed after nearly an hour after the delivery time they cancelled the order as they couldn't find a driver, so then she ordered pizza but was told it would be an hour before it arrived, she should have just made toast.

After two days off work Tim is now back at work thankfully he has Jessica's car because his bike is at the mechanics but since it is still cold and wet I am pleased he has a car instead of the bike.

My eldest daughter and her family have gone to Queensland for a funeral, her partner Michael's uncle passed away last week.

Here in Australia our big supermarkets are getting rid of single use plastic bags, replacing them with multi use plastic bags which cost 15cents per bag, this has annoyed some people but I like the new multi use bags they are larger and fold up pretty small so easy to carry in your handbag or pocket. I have been using my own bags when shopping for many, many years.

Dangerous creatures/ Irukandji Jellyfish

Another cold wet day here in Newie, Tim is off work again as he came home on Sunday afternoon feeling unwell and he went to the doctor yesterday and was given a doctors certificate for two days off work, yesterday & today.

My mum went into hospital this morning for her hip replacement tomorrow I should be able to give you more information.

Today's dangerous creature is a small type of box jellyfish called an Irukandji jellyfish it can be the size of a finger nail in the bell with tentacles that can be up to a metre long. Unlike the standard box jellyfish which is usually found in shallow water this one is generally found in deep water.

If you are stung by one you need to seek medical attention pretty damn quick as being stunk can bring on Irukandji syndrome which is a condition induced by venomization by the sting of some box jellyfish.

The symptoms consist of severe lower back pain cramps, sweating, anxiety, nausea as well as other more fatal symptoms such as cardiac arrest.

So not good to get stung by it.

Did you know No:19

Damn it has been a cold weekend and start to my Monday, I changed the heater in the lounge room from a bar heater to a small fan heater which works better and have moved the bar heater into the bathroom.

Tim is off work sick today, with a sore throat and will go to the doctors at midday to see what they have to say.

Dad was sounding less sick when mum spoke to him yesterday afternoon this was nice to hear from as I have been worried about him.

Now to this weeks five did you know facts

When Beethoven was ready to write music he would start by pouring ice cold water over his head to stimulate his brain, weird

It takes light from the Sun 8 minutes and 17 seconds to reach the Earth, I will have to trust the scientist know what they are talking about.

If a car could drive in space it would take it 30 million years to reach our nearest neighbouring star, ok if you say so.

There are 30 Lego pieces for every living person on Earth

Months that start on a Sunday will have a Friday the 13^th in it

I spoke to soon

Good morning well I spoke to soon about dad, so much for him improving he was taken back to hospital yesterday morning by the ambos. He was so unwell he vomited about 5 times, each time Sandra tried to get him to use the oxygen as his oxygen level was around 76, it did finally go up when he was at the hospital but when he was being moved from the ambos stretcher/bed to a hospital bed it dropped right down again.

We do know the Xray he had last Friday showed a cracked rib and fluid in the lung, mum rang the Dr's yesterday morning to get the results only to be told that his doctor wouldn't be in till today and they didn't know if anyone else could look at the results.

Well while the ambos were there Sandra rang the doctors surgery and told them the ambos wanted to know what the Xray showed, this triggered a changed in attitude and they couldn't be more helpful. Someone from the surgery rang mum yesterday afternoon to see how dad was doing, she told them he had been taken too hospital and wasn't in a good way at all.

Sandra of course went with dad to the hospital and she went back yesterday afternoon, she had to leave and go get her girls from school.

I am expecting mum to ring me this morning with an update.

Creatures=Honey Bee

Hello everyone, I am feeling good again today, woke up in little pain and that I like, it is another cold day but thankfully it isn't wet today just cold.

Today is Tuesday and that means it is Australian creatures day and today I am telling you about the humble honey bee, as you may or may not know the honey bee is not native to Australia. Now the honey bee is both common and can be deadly to some people.

When a honey bee stings a person its barbed stinger remains in the person but it isn't just the stinger left behind but also part of the bee's abdomen and digestive tract as well as muscles and nerves. What this means to the bee is that it dies after it stings, that sucks for the bee.

Generally if you are stung you will suffer a sharp burning pain and some minor swelling but if you are allergic you may have more swelling and if you really allergic it can cause severe breathing problems as well and that can be life threatening.

You may have heard that bees are dying out, this is not a good thing because the bee performs a task that is vital to the survival of agriculture, pollination in fact one third of the worlds food supply is pollinated by bees, so without bees us humans wouldn't have much to eat.

So yes the honey bee can be deadly to some but they are so important.

Did you know No: 18

Good morning Australia and the world, what a great morning it is, yes it is cold and wet but for the first morning in weeks I have woken up with little pain in my knees, I don't just feel awake I feel alive and oh so good.

My dad is improving slowly but is still in a lot of pain but not taking pain relief on a regular basis even though mum is telling him he should.

Anyway here is this weeks five did you know facts..............

Used car dealers can buy a bottle of “new car smell” to make their second hand cars smell new.

The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows as it was fashionable in her time to have them removed.

When a dolphin give birth a midwife dolphin often attends, the midwife helps push the baby to the surface for its first breath, how do they know that

For some time chimpanzees have been taught sign language, that fact most people know but did you know that the original learners are teaching it to younger chimps and that it is believed they have conversations among themselves.

In research where horses were taught to work light switches, they consistently proved that they preferred a night-light by turning the switches on after dark

Dad's arm

This is a photo of my dad's arm it was taken  yesterday by my sister Sandra when dad was at the doctors to have the bandage on it changed, parts of it was still bleeding properly from falling again on Monday night.

Overslept and more about dad

What a day I over slept this morning the alarm went off and for some reason I was thinking, it was am early to get up and just turned it off and stayed in bed till Natasha woke me at 7.30am, good thing I didn't have anything to do other then get dressed and take Leo to school.

I haven't gone to my aqua class this week due to the amount of pain I have in my knees, I saw the Dr yesterday and he has sent me for another Xray done of my right knee which I had done this morning. I have asked to be referred to a specialist about my knees but my GP is reluctant to do that but since there is a 2yr wait to see someone I would like to be referred and get on the waiting list sooner rather then later.

Mum was telling me last night that on Monday night after her and dad had gone to bed she asked him if he had taken his medication before going to bed and he said he hadn't, mum offered to get up and go and find it for him but he said no he would just skip taking it that night.

Then the next thing she knew he was getting out of bed when she asked what he was doing he said he was going to get his tablets so she told him to turn the lights on he said he had a torch and would be fine. Then the next think she heard was a loud noise and dad had fallen over, Dawson was in the kitchen and went to see what had happened, dad snapped at Dawson to leave him be when Dawson went to try and help him up. So Dawson went and rang Sandy who went straight around to help by the time she arrived dad had calmed down and Dawson was able to help him up and back to bed.

Yesterday morning dad didn't want to get out of bed he was worried he would fall over again but after a while mum was able to convince him to get up but he was very unsteady on his feet and decided to try using the small motorised scooter he has to get around the house.

My knees and dad's health

Hello everyone, here I am on Monday afternoon getting around to writing a post I have not felt well today, didn't want to get up this morning but of course when my alarm went off at 5.50am up I got but around 6.30am Leo took me back to bed because I was falling asleep sitting at the computer.

Natasha rang me around midday to tell me that Blain was at home, while at school he had gone to the toilet and some other kids threw a garbage bin over the door hitting him on the head, his mother was livid she is so over all the problems he is having with bullies at school.

Yesterday and today my right knee has been really swollen due to the arthritis making every step agony along with just standing after being seated for any length of time. Saturday saw me so tired and generally unwell that I spent most of the day in bed asleep.

Saturday also saw my mum having to ring the Ambos for dad as he was in a terrible state and had fallen twice in 20 minutes, he was admitted with pneumonia and placed on strong antibiotics, Sandra went with him to the hospital and stayed with him for a number of hours and went back yesterday for a few hours.

Today she went over and while there the doctor turned up and said that because dad was doing much better he was discharging him so he is now home still on strong antibiotics. The doctor said dad would feel better in his own home and would sleep better in his own bed.