AUSSIE FACTS

Good morning all, Monday here and the second week of school holidays and of course it is fact day. This week we are in Victoria

Victoria is a state in southeast Australia. It encompasses mountains, national parks, wineries and surfing beaches. Melbourne, the state capital, has a warren of 19th-century ‘laneways’, and a central arts precinct. The Great Ocean Road follows the coast west to Port Campbell National Park, where the Twelve Apostles are limestone stacks on the edge of the ocean

Victoria was the first Australian state to officially recognise a floral emblem. The bird emblem of Victoria is the Helmeted Honeyeater. The Helmeted Honeyeater is one of 170 species of the honeyeater birds that inhabit Australia. The animal emblem of Victoria is the Leadbeater's Possum.

Before 1851 the Colony of Victoria was a district of New South Wales known as the Port Phillip District

Melbourne was the first city outside of Europe and North America to host the Olympic games.

The black box (for planes) was invented in Melbourne.

Melbourne's tram system is the largest in the world.

The first traffic lights in Australia were installed in Melbourne.

 

WEEK 15 OF 2023

 

Awake and u at 5.10am didn't want to get up but needed to take my morning meds which have to be taken at the same time each day. So once up I decided to stay up.

A cool dry day had to change into long pants.

Tim bought KFC for lunch I just had a snack/go bucket and still didn't eat it all.

Monday morning somewhat coldish I may need longer pants we will see. Another public holiday as it is Easter Monday.

Kathy came over to change the bed sheets. She also lowered the shelve in of my cupboards as it was too high and out of my reach.

Had to change into longer pants due to having cold legs.

I realised today that I will need to ring the chemist about my medication as a bottle now only last 2 weeks.

Up at 4.50am to cold morning changed into long pants won't be long before getting the heater out. In fact I got the heater going.

Tim had rehab this morning his arm is healing nicely.

Sandy and Denni came over so she could wash some sheets and a blanket, Tim was fine with her doing this.

Tasha's surgery is set for 15 June.

Two years since Mum passed away

At midnight I got up to pee when I went back to bed I could smell a kind off minty smell and knew it was Mum, the smell was Mum giving me a hug. When I asked where is Dad after a short while I could smell Old Spice so Dad was there too, just before the smells left I heard someone ask if I wanted a Fruit Tingle that was my Nan.

Sue rang me to see how I was coping and Sandy called in to drop off stamps and give me a hug.

Feeling drained and sad this afternoon.

A new day, I didn't feel like getting up but did it anyway not as cold this morning.

Kathy dropped off Summer around 9am I hope she has a good day here.

Tim took Summer to the park for a while and he and her made popcorn chicken for lunch which was really nice.

Tasha is helping her dad have a shower, he is wearing his board shorts.

I also am going to have a shower before going to bed.

Friday again and for the second day we will have Summer for the day.

It is raining again this morning but not cold. Raining most of the day.

Tim left at 9.45am and will be gone most of the day.

Tim said he would drive Summer out to her mum's work place this afternoon, as Kathy doesn't finish till 6pm.

Stopped raining long enough for Summer to walk down the road and post my letters.

Awake early at 4.45am needing to pee which was annoying as I had only got up at 3am to pee.

I decided to throw the towels and sheets in to be washed.

Suppose to be a dry cool day but we will see. Got pretty damn warm

Kathy & Summer turned up around 10ish and vacuumed out and emptied the bins as well as folding the towels and sheets.

JO-ANNE'S THOUGHTS

 Here we are at another Friday and wet start to the day it is I am listening to my book while writing this and waiting for Kathy-Lee to ring.

Well Friday is Jo-Anne's thoughts day and what the hell are my thoughts this Friday.

Ok since we will have our granddaughter Summer again for the day I am thinking about our relationships with our grandchildren, we have better relationships with our grandsons over our granddaughters.

I believe this is because when they were babies the boys would spend one or two nights a week with us from birth till around the age of 4yrs with Blain and Sam was 14yrs old when he stopped sleeping over here. We still see the boys often during the .eek.

The girls we see but no were near as much and they have never slept over and we have only watched them a few times.

It is harder to establish close bonds between people when you do not see them on a regular basis. Kathy use to be concerned about how the girls are closer to their other grandparents then are to us. I explained to Kathy that I am not upset or jealous about this as it is just the way it is. I am just glad we get to see the girls as much as we do.

It must be hard for those who have grandchildren living in different states or countries. Thankfully now days we have video phone calls allowing us to see and hear people via a phone call.

WORD OF THE WEEK

 Well it is Thursday so it is word of the week day and this week it is “Mob” a word most would have used at some point.

1..A large disorderly crowd

2..Friends one usually associates with

3..A flock of sheep

TWO LONG YEARS

 

DEAR MUM

THIS IS THE HARDEST LETTER I HAVE EVER WROTE.

Growing up you and I didn’t have the close relationship I had with dad, I don’t have any special memories of you and me from when I was young I am not sure why that is all I know that it is like it is, anyway that doesn’t mean we don’t have a special relationship now. I guess growing up I was a daddy’s girl and now I am a middle age woman I have become more then your daughter, I am your friend.

You are my best friend as they say, the closeness I have with you now is special, I loved our nightly phone calls and my days now seem empty. Tim always said we could talk for hours about nothing at all and he is right and I love that.

You know mum when I thought about what type of mother I hoped to be one day I would always think I want to be just like my mum, because as a mum you were wonderful, loving, caring, and firm and fair and I wanted to be all those things to my children. To me you are everything a mother should be, of course as a child I may not have thought that but from around the age of 14 the thought of you as the perfect mother started to take shape.

On the 4^th July 1958 Dad asked you to the movies and he rang his Aunty Joyce and asked her if she could bring him a clean pair of trousers and she did. Because, Aunty Joyce never drove and had to catch a bus into Newcastle and another one back to Walllsend a distance of 12k's as the crow flies, made you think she must be nice but you also felt that Aunty Joyce didn't think you good enough for Dad.

You have always been the one person I could turn to when I felt like everything was falling apart and being mum to my three girls was just so hard, I have memories of me ringing you in tears because being a mum was so hard and I felt like I was failing and not living up to the high standard I thought mums should live up to that standard being you…………….

I use to wonder how you could have 5 children who didn’t feel jealous of each other and always knew that they were loved equally as I had Kathy-Lee who was jealous of Jessica and thought I didn’t love her as much as her sisters. I now know that it wasn’t anything I did wrong but for a long time I did think you had some secret of how it was done, you made being a mum seem so easy and that is why I felt I had failed.

You seem ageless mum, no matter how old you get you still have all the time in the world for you children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, I hope I look as good as you do when I reach your age and I hope I don’t have to find out what life is going to be like without having you around. I love you mum, you are who I always wanted to be like you are the reason I only ever wanted to be a mother and grandmother I am so proud to be called your daughter thank you mum for being so bloody amazing and such and inspiration to me and my siblings.

You are the reason Dawson grew into such an amazing young man.

You have shown us all how to love and you have given us all the feeling of being loved and accepted for who we each are.

You taught me and my siblings to pick our battles with our other half as in don't sweat the little things and don't argue with a drunk.

CREATURE DAY

 

Good morning all it is a bloody cold morning had to get the heater out. Well this weeks creature is the Paradise Flying Snake as if snakes aren't scary enough.

In the jungles of south-eastern Asia these animals use free fall and contortion to “fly”. Resting on the end of a branch a paradise flying snake propels itself forward while flatting its body to about twice its normal width, giving it an downward C shape which traps air. To turn it wriggles back and forth,

The paradise tree snake which can have green, yellow or orange spots is one of the smaller flying snakes, they measure about 60cm in length and the best glider. Its been recorded travelling up to 100m through the air.

All five species of flying snakas are better gliders than their mammalian equivalents the gliding possums. They range between 60-120cm in length and eat birds, bats, frogs, lizards and rats. While mildly venomous their tiny fangs are harmless to humans.

AUSSIE FACTS

Good morning all this Monday morning and since it is Easter Monday here are some facts about Easter down under.

Most people in Australia celebrate the Easter holiday. Some do this for religious reasons, however, just like Christmas, Easter has become less about religion for many people in Australia.

25 per cent of Australians say Easter is the most important event of the year to them. 25 per cent Australians spend $37 – $90 for Easter.

Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday are public holidays. Under the implementation arrangements, full time and part time employees who would normally work on Easter Sunday are entitled to a paid public holiday, or if they are required to work, they are entitled to be paid double time and a half.

To celebrate Easter in Australia, some people eat chocolate bilbies instead of chocolate rabbits. Bilbies are a native Australian marsupial.

Many Christians attend church services even if they do not attend services regularly during the rest of the year. For non-religious people and followers of other faiths, the four-day Easter weekend is a welcome break and a chance to enjoy a range of sporting and cultural events.