Happy 18th Amy

Well we all grow older. Except I think I feel a lot older than my daughter who just had her 18th birthday. Yes, Amy turned 18 on Wednesday 17th December, 2008. This is how we celebrated it.

Quite some time ago, Amy decided that she wanted a cocktail party for her 18th birthday. So she planned it, and she tried to open our pockets wide. Alcohol is damned expensive. So when you have a whole bunch of different cocktails with 2 to 5 different types of alcohol, setting up is not cheap. We don’t have an extensive bar, well we didn’t. We suggested that she try to limit the different number of cocktail drinks available to 6.

In November Amy and Katrina went on a shopping trip to DFO in Spencer St, Melbourne, there Amy found a bar tenders guide to mixing cocktails reduced about 70%. So she picked up the little bargain and trawling through the pages searching for yummy drinks. Keep in mind her experience of alcohol is limited, so her choice of drinks came down to colour and flavour, or it sounded nice.

So the final 5 (five), her choice, were, a Blue Lagoon, a Death By Chocolate, a Flirtini, A Heartbreaker, and a Midori Illusion. (Email me if you want the ingredient list). They average three different types of alcohol in each. That’s right; fifteen different bottles of alcohol were required. Amy even prepared the menu, and as Anita was going to be working, she even said she would prepare the food. She baked her own cake, which was a tower of Mississippi Mud Cake Muffins.

We held the party on Saturday the 13th of December, as her birthday would be mid week, and that wouldn’t be fair as people would probably leave early for other week day commitments. So, she invited 10 friends and their plus ones.

Some didn’t bring a plus one, so we had about 15 young people turn up and celebrate with Amy. We had tidied, cleaned and moved things in the house, so we were presentable and practical. I think they had a good time, I think Amy had a good time. They danced, they talked, they ate and they drank. And thankfully they didn’t over do any of it. All in all, a great bunch of young people.

On the following day, Amy’s Oma came up to spend the day, coming to church with us, and then home for lunch and the afternoon. Gran & Grumps came early afternoon and Auntie Joanne and Uncle Michael came mid afternoon. More presents and more food.

Wednesday the 17th came around, and we got the family up earlier than they would have liked, because Amy was working at the shop with her Mum. She is a hard task master her mum. “No day off just because it’s your birthday, in my day they made us work harder and we were privileged. Aye.” She said. Not really, it was actually Amy’s choice. I had to work, and by the time I got home at 8.30 that night, Amy was asleep on her bed. All tuckered out. Kids these days, no stamina.

So that is the tale of Amy’s 18th Birthday. Relatively pain free, and fun for all.

Neville Lloyd – 70 years young!

Firstly, sorry Dad; Sorry it took a while to so long to get this up. For everyone else, wish a Happy Birthday to my Dad. He turned 70 in mid November, 2008. We celebrated his Birthday on Saturday the 15^th with a gathering of family and friends at home in Frankston.

Dad’s oldest living mate, Wally, joined in the celebration, and in typical Wally style lead Dad astray, and off the wagon, with a bottle of single malt Scotch. But with his usual generosity, Dad shared. Mmmmmm. Dad’s sister Glenda came down from Albury, bring her daughter Jenni, grandson William and granddaughter Jenna with her. (Won’t go into the family tree of who belongs to whom)

Mums brother Lex and most of his family joined in, with his daughter Leah providing this excellent cake, which celebrated a large part of Dads working life, as you can see.

Family friends Joan Carson, and Di McKay turned up, and Di's son James graced Dad’s presence for a little while too. Others visited on and around Dad’s birthday and made this time very special for him.

Some of the memories I have of my father, and I am sure there will be many more to come, follow here.

- Visiting Dad at work in the Army Band

- Watching him blow the Bugle on Remembrance Day at the Shrine

- Driving to Melbourne every second week from Puckapunyal to go to Eye & Ear Hospital, and visiting the Vic Markets

- Trips up the old Hume Hwy, single lane, to Albury & Wagga Wagga

Learning to drive on the old airfield at Puckapunyal me aged 7, so that if Dad had an accident getting firewood, I could drive back to the main road.

- Dad going on road rescues with St John’s at Seymour

- Bush walking at Wilsons Promontory. Especially with the Carson’s; Dane wearing knee hi socks.

- Hitch Hiking around Tassie, and waiting an eternity in Strachan for a lift

- Dad blowing Bugle for the local RSL on Remembrance Day

- Going motorbike riding and Dad coming off breaking his knee, (looking for me ‘cause I was late back and he wanted to go home, but hey, no guilt!)

- A proud father on his Daughters graduation from the Police Academy; a proud father on his Sons graduation from the Police Academy.

- A proud father when his children got married.

- A proud Grandfather

A special thanks to Mum, (it takes two to Tango!)

We Love You Dad!

Recovering from the Flood and the Gall Bladder

For me, recovering from the removal of my Gall Bladder (Cholecystectomy) proved much easier than the shop recovering from the flood. No pain relief was needed from Sunday Morning. However I think Anita still has a headache! From the problems caused by the burst water main of course. As I said in the last blog, the assessor approved the carpet, so before that could get layed, the store room had to be cleared out as well. So a few of the younger chaps from church who were available weighed in and helped out.

They had to move all the excess stock into boxes or trolleys, or even just carry it by hand to the temporary storage locations. The insurance assessor agreed that we need to replace the old water logged counters, so Anita measured and began calling around. Without exception, not one cabinet maker or joiner in Warragul said they could help us before Christmas, and probably not before February! It wasn't looking good, we needed two quotes, and there was only one guy willing to even look at quoting now. Craig from Allure Kitchens looked at the job and said that seeing it was small he would squeeze it in. So he quoted, Anita told the insurance company of our dilemma, 'not until after Christmas quotes', and they agreed to go on the one quote. So Craig got the job.

The strange thing was that even whilst the shop was being stripped and things moved to other vacant shops in the centre, people still wanted to come in and buy things, regardless of the complete sense of disarray. Some customers seem to thrive on disorder in these situations. I don't know if they think they might get a bargain or just want to get the items on their shopping list. I have to say most of our customers were very understanding, most just said they would come back next week when things were back in order

So Wednesday was the day, the carpet got layed. Anita was happy with the choice of color, but she was very unhappy on Thursday with the smell that the carpet glue made. it gave both her and Kerryn headaches. The carpet layers looked like they knew what they were doing, it all seemed to go down smoothly and little mess was left. That was until on closer inspection we found that the carpet was about one inch short of the wall in the front corner of the store. Fortunately for us, there is a fixture that goes over that spot and hides the error. On one of the joins, there is glue that has marked and damaged the carpet. and in the back where it is not so important, they did a lousy job of fitting the carpet around the pipes. The front door had to be adjusted by the landlord as the carpet is thicker and if left alone would have damaged the new carpet very quickly.

Anita originally planned to re-open on Thursday, which she partly did, but due to the fixtures having to be moved back in after the carpet was layed and the glue dried, it was late Thursday before some normalcy returned. Thursday morning saw the young volunteers from church return, and lend their able bodies toward the task of returning the fixtures to their spots, as directed by the Queen Bee and her apprentice, Princess Bee.

We had the odd fairy turn up to help as well.

But by the end of the day, the fumes and the effort had started to get to the girls.

They called it a day around 4.30 p.m.. Which was fair. And Friday saw some return to normal trading, although the paper stands were still out for most of the day until clean up and restoration was more complete. My sense of humor was definitely NOT appreciated when I walked in near lunchtime and said, "Is that all you've done?" It lacked sensitivity and understanding. I also failed to say how great the shop looked. Then again being tired can do that to you.

So How did my recovery go? I rested a lot. I apologise if my email to some were short, but it was difficult to sit up straight for the first few days, and resting a laptop on my lap took time to get comfortable. I spent my time mostly reading. I ready Wally Lamb, "I know this much is true"(900 pages). Paulo Cohelo "And on the seventh day" which is a trilogy that includes: By the River Piedra I sat down and wept, Veronika decides to die, and The devil and Miss Prym.(350 odd pages). Followed by Ken Follet, "World without End". (1250 pages). So as you can see I have not been bored. I have also watched a few movies, drunk some coffee & tea, and visited the surgeon again.

The surgeon was generally happy with the operation, but one of the blood tests was not back to normal, so that is to be repeated. I see the Surgeon again on the 6th November. I visited my G.P., Dr McKelvie today, and had a Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) removed from my right cheek (face for those wondering), and a Solar Keratosis burned off with liquid nitrogen. The good news is that my cholesterol levels are great, and there are no signs of diabetes. I have now lost around 14 kiograms, which puts me within 6kgs of my goal weight. Not that you would notice.

Anyway, to those I have offended I am sorry. To those I have overlooked, again, I am sorry. To those of you who feel neither offended or ignored, I am sorry. Better luck next time. Cheers

Flooded Shop & Gall Bladder

What an interesting week and a bit! Firstly while I was away in Howlong I received a phone call advising me of the date of the surgery to remove my Gall Bladder. Great, but the day after I got home I received another phone call telling me that the surgery had been postponed due to a more urgent case arising. Fair enough. So I was rescheduled for Friday the 17^th of October, the day before Anita’s birthday. I thought that would be okay and that Anita wouldn’t mind as it was necessary surgery, and I was right, she didn’t mind.

I rang Work and told them that the surgery had been postponed and what did they want me to do, come back to work? "Well you only have one rostered shift for the days between when you are due back from holidays and the new surgery date, and we've already arranged someone to cover you, so just take a day off." Okay! But the day I was supposed to take off, someone called in sick, I got called and asked to work, and ended up working a 14 and ¼ hour day. But that’s okay. So I had a few days off to fill in, no problems with that I can assure you all.

The night before the surgery I read until about midnight, felt pretty good, I was getting a sleep in the next morning so I would be relaxed and ready for surgery. 0125 am, Friday the 17^th August, 2008; the telephone awakes me from deep slumber. Constable Scott from the Warragul Police Station informs in her ever so lilting British accent that as I was the afterhours contact for Bizzy Bees she was letting me know that a water main had burst and flooded the shop and the keys were needed to access the shop!

Anita and I sprang into action, sprang in to the car, and drove to the shop. As we arrived, a workman form the water board was turning off the water stopping the flooding. We spoke to S/C Jenny Wiltshire, and then waded our way to the shop. It could have been worse. But there was a good 3-4 cm of water on the eastern side of the shop. We decided to move stock off the floor immediately to try to reduce stock damage and loss. We moved some fixture for the same reason, and tried to mop up the water with a bucket and mop on loan from the police station. It was a fruitless exercise. Too much water, too little sopping power! Sam’s Warehouse was flooded as well, luckily they had no carpet, but they still lost stock that was sitting on the floor and got waterlogged. We went home about 3.30ish and climbed back into bed, making a mental list of people we needed to contact the next day to see how things stood with insurance, etc.

As I had to be in hospital by eleven, and I still needed to pack, (and be rested) I stayed home and Anita went to the shop to marshal the troops. Well I actually made some phone calls from home to get some guys to help her in the shop, because once the carpet man arrived, we found that EVERYTHING needed to be moved out of the shop! So who do you call, our contemporaries mostly work full time, its Friday morning and most days off are Mondays. Thank God for the church family. I made a few phone calls to some men from church, and within half an hour Anita had all the help she needed. Grant in his 50’s but the others probably in their 70’s. Fit enough and willing enough to lend a hand. The carpet came up and we found it had to go out. Anita came home around ten and made some calls to the insurance company, and organised for an assessor to come out in the afternoon to help speed up our return to trading. The stock was spread across three shops in the centre. Hard to sell like that.

At around 1030 we left and she took me to the Hospital. First to admissions, first to be admitted, and first to go through that part of the day. As we walked into admissions it was empty, but as we walked out of admissions, the waiting area was full. Timing. Up to the ward we walked, and were greeted by the friendly faces of the surgical ward nurses, some of whom I know through work. We were asked to take a seat as they were busy and it might take awhile to get me through the admission process on the ward. Anita looked anxious to get going so I told her I would be alright, and she should get back to the shop. She had left shopgirl, Kerryn, in charge, but there is nothing like being there yourself to feel that everything that can be done is being done. Here is where I kind of lost track with the shop as I as now involved in my own little exercise for the day. I spent a good hour or more waiting for my bed to be readied. But that was okay; I read a magazine and then my book.

Finally I got shown to my room, only to discover I was by myself, a single! Hooray. It was definitely worth the wait. A little more waiting whilst the ’admission’ process took place, and then I got dressed for theatre. Not too sure if I like the disposable underwear they get you to use. The stuff is made out of the same material the make the disposable hair nets for the hospital kitchens outs of. I know I was wearing them when I went to theatre. I just don’t know what happened to them after that because I never saw them again! They had disappeared by the time I awoke in recovery! As it turned out I was first on the list for the afternoon surgery, which I think is great because all the surgical team were as fresh as they could be. It seems all went well; the procedure was completed laproscopicaly, which means a quicker recovery than open surgery.

The pain straight after waking in recovery was quite intense, after all, they inflate your stomach with gas to make it easier to look around inside. So a little bit of morphine, some oxygen therapy, and a few sets of obs’ later and I was wheeled back to my room. I am used to being on the other end of the saline drip, and vacuum drainage, so it was a good experience to go through really. The nurses were all great during my stay. I have an Easter egg shaped gall stone about 3 cm long as a souvenir. Anita gladly took it to show it off. Anita and the kids visited Friday evening, and Anita came back on Saturday morning after the carpet guy came to the shop for her to choose her ‘new carpet’. I was given the okay to go home on Saturday afternoon, after initially being told the drainage would be taken out Sunday before I could go home. So at about 1400 they rang Anita and pleaded with her to come and get me. Then came and took out my drainage, and cleaned and redressed the wounds. I was discharged.

The recovery so far has been great; I only had to take pain relief on Saturday Night and Sunday morning. The rest has been bearable. Apart from having to cough hourly, the pain is quite okay, and wearing pressure stockings to reduce blood clots is a fashion statement I’d rather not make but will put up with for the greater good. Anita's Birthday was probably a bit of a dud, but the kids gave her a present in the morning, and I gave her a present I had made up when I got home from hospital, and then of course her mum came for the afternoon and stayed for tea, so she was appropriately gifted and celebrated.

Anita was back in the shop early Monday morning organising the rear store room to be emptied so the carpet can be ripped up and replaced out there, and new storage racks put in there to replace the wooden ones we have discovered were also damaged. She has chosen new carpet which will go down Wednesday, so reopening on Thursday looks like the go. New counter and other fittings will arrive later I expect. Stay tuned for the next exciting instalment.

Vale Doris Boulton, nee Brentnall

I would like to say farewell to a lady who is the end of a generation. My Great Aunty Doris, who died on Sunday morning. She and I shared something in common, our birthday, which to some is nothing, but it meant much to me. Here follows a little of her life story.

Doris Brentnall was born at North Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, on Saturday 16.12.1916. The fourth child to William Walter Aldred Brentnall & Epsie Jean Linsell. Doris had 2 brothers, William & Leslie, and 3 sisters, Amy, Jean & Thelma.

The family lived on the Experimental Farm, eight miles from Wagga Wagga. The home didn't have gas, electricity or water. She went to Pine Gully School, and later to the Wagga Wagga High School.

Doris joined the Air Force, WAAAF on 30.12.1943 as a Nursing Orderly, training at Bradfield Park AAAF, working hard and topping the class! At completion of her training she was posted to Jervis Bay, Rehabilitation Hospital. Whilst working there she met Peter Boulton, a Flight Lieutenant Officer, who was recovering from a broken knee, which happened in Cairo. On his discharge was transferred to Ferry Flight. He was taking a Mustang from Sydney to Townsville, on 5th August 1945, which he crashed on landing. He was seen by a doctor & left for dead; the doctor gave him half an hour to live. Townsville & the house doctor operated on him & he lived to tell all. He had a double fracture of the skull, both ears nearly cut off, haemorrhage of the eyes, broken jaw, & had his teeth wired together for a month.

Doris was nursing in the Officers Ward at Concord Hospital when Peter came back, his head all shaved & all his beautiful curls all gone. Many years after the war Peter & Doris were at the Imperial Service's Ball at the Trocadero, they were on the floor dancing, when an Officer came up to Peter & said, "Excuse me, but are you Peter Boulton?" Peter said, "Yes". He said "Good God, Good God, I left you for dead." He couldn't get over it & stared at him all night.

After the war ended Peter was discharged from the RAAF, but Doris couldn't get out, as so many men were coming home injured & they needed the nurses to stay on. Doris and Peter were married on 2.4.1947 at St Phillips Church of England, Church Hill, Sydney. After their Surfers Paradise Honeymoon, they returned to Sydney and lived in Chatswood. From there we moved to Manly to Peter's mothers unit, Strathspey Unit No.5, 88 West Esplanade, Manly. It was on the harbour front, and looked down on Marineland, Manly Historical Society & Manly Art Gallery. It was a 2 storey home converted to nine units. It was a Victorian building over 130 years old. Walls 1 foot thick, with 14 toot high ceilings.

Doris worked at David Jones for 25 years and became an Assistant Buyer retiring in 1980.Peter left work in 1985; they had a trip to Cairns in 1988, and went to the "World Expo" in Brisbane in 1988.

Peter was suffering from Alzheimer's. He went into Manly Vale Nursing Home & was only there for 2 weeks when he had a heart attack & died on 29.3.1995. Doris stayed at Strathspey, in Manly until 1998 when the 35 steps became too much for her. She sold the unit and went into Drummond House, a Hostel in Wentworth Street, Manly on 6th April, 1998.

Due to ill health and a decrease in mobility Doris moved to Bayview Gardens Nursing Home on 5th November 2007. She gradually settled in and got used to her new home. Doris & Peter had no children. Being the last of her family to survive did not sit well with her. She passed away on Sunday 12^th October 2008, aged almost 92.

A visit to Howlong - Oct 2008

Firstly I have to say that my original intention to visit Howlong was to catch up with my cousin Jenni and her family, and so Robert could catch up with her boys. That didn’t change. What changed was the duration of our stay. We originally planned a four day stay, so as to not overly wear out our welcome. But Jenni called early in the week before we left and encourage us to come up on the Tuesday and go home on the Sunday. So it was we stayed an extra two nights. We set out midmorning from home and after a brief visit to see Anita at the shop, we then continued to Fountain Gate Shopping centre, where Robert was looking at trading in some old X Box games for some new ones, and parting with some of his birthday money in an indulgence of his liking.

Our first order of business was to divest himself of the games he no longer wanted. Then we ended up in EZY DVD where they were having a sale. Boxed sets of TV series for $29.95 per season. One series he has been interested in since watching Stargate SG1, has been Farscape. Farscape was filmed in Australia, but two of the main characters went on to star in the latter years of Stargate. So he picked himself up all four years of the series in one fell swoop; happy as a mud lark. Next stop EB Games where he bought himself two new X Box games, and then to Ali Baba in the food court for our Kebab Lunch!

Then it was back on the road. We stopped to refuel at Glenrowan, before finally arriving at around 5 p.m. in Howlong. Jenni wasn’t home from work, but the boys, Samuel, Thomas and William welcomed us. Jenni arrived soon after, but Peter her husband was on afternoon shift. We did manage to see Robbo when he arrived home from work after midnight, as we were stilling sitting around the kitchen talking over a glass of wine.

Wednesday was a bit of a sleep in. William enjoys a bit of a tickle and a play, so he ended up rolled up in Sam’s mattress and tied in there with rope, stood on his head and tickled, or alternatively, jumped on by Thomas.

And later in the Day Jenni’s Mum, my Aunty Glenda came to visit. She set herself up in her camper which lives in the back yard of Jenni and Pete’s when it is not being used. The four boy’s tried to swim on and off during the day, but the water was a bit cool for a real romp in the swamp. Robbo again went of the work early in the afternoon, and the evening was spent talking and consuming a little wine.
For Thursday we planned a trip to Woolshed Falls, just outside of Beechworth. A picnic lunch and maybe explore the area a bit. We packed our lunch; all piled into the Tarago and made our way to Woolshed falls. Once there we had a quick walk to the face of the falls, then up to the look out.
We went back to the picnic area where we had, you guessed it, a picnic lunch. Then Jenni, myself, Sam & Thomas went for a walk around the Woolshed Creek track. The area is an old Goldmining area, and whilst no evidence of machinery is left, you can make out some of the sluice pits and other areas that have been changed by the miners. Even to the point where they diverted the flow of the creek by blasting out sections of rock where necessary. .
After our walk we packed up the car and headed in to Beechworth. Unusually avoiding the shops and especially the bakery, we headed to Lake Sambell where the boys could swim in the lake at the manmade beach. Well it was a lovely day, but still a bit fresh for all the boys to get truly involved in swimming, but they did their best.
We had to be back in Howlong at a reasonable time, as Jenni was going to pick up her niece, Jenna, who was coming to stay for a couple of nights. The trip back was uneventful, and Jenni disappeared to pick up Jenna. A later tea ensued and was enjoyed with another glass or so of wine.

Friday was a get up early day, as Aunty Glenda needed to go to Wodonga and Albury, and I wanted to go to Albury as I had a Dymocks voucher that just needed spending, and I hadn’t gotten near a Dymocks in Melbourne. So we left Howlong for Wodonga at around 9 am, arrived at our destination at around 9.30 and I had about half an hour to kill while Aunty Glenda had an appointment. Then into Albury! I went to Dymocks and Aunty Glenda went in search of other things she needed. I was in search of a couple of titles, the first two of which weren’t in stock. I struck it lucky with the third, Ken Follett, ‘World Without End.’ I was happy. Aunty Glenda had a couple of things to chase up in Rebel Sports and we were done.

Back at the car we decided a nice Coffee would be good, so into the closest shopping centre and a quite enjoyable latte and a chat ensued. Following on we went to Aunty Glenda’s and picked up some things for her, including one of her dogs, and I took the chance to look at her unit which I hadn’t seen. Back in the car and we headed towards Howlong. On our arrival I was informed that Tina had said we were going to the club for tea. Tina is a good friend of Jenni’s and who am I to argue. The Howlong Golf club has been in my life ever since I was a young kid, visiting Nanna and Poppa on the farm. They were members who played Golf and Bowls and were very involved with the club. It got bigger with the pokies back in the 70’s, but trade is slower since Victoria got the damn things. It was a great night great food and great company.

Saturday morning came around and late in the morning my cousin Shay came to pick up her daughter Jenna. It was good to catch up as I hadn’t seen her for a while. I grabbed the opportunity to have a photo of the three remaining cousins taken.
Saturday afternoon passed quietly, I went for a bit of a bike ride with Robert, and Thomas. It turned out to be uncomfortable for Robert because as we were about to leave we discovered his bike had a flat tyre, so he took Williams, which was a bit small for him. After the ride I fixed the puncture just in case he wanted to go riding again. But he didn’t. So Saturday night was a BBQ. Tina & her husband Paul, their kids, and Jen’s next door neighbour Lara and her son, and Lara’s boyfriend Tonks. The kids had a ball running jumping, watching videos, playing on the play station and wrestling on the trampoline.
The adults, we had fun eating, drinking and being merry. Robbo enjoyed impersonating Tweedle Dum, or was it Tweedle Dee? Judge for yourself. On seconds thoughts he could have been an Oompa Loompa.
Daylight savings kicked in to spoil the party as we realised if we didn’t get to bed it would soon be morning. So a bit of clean up and off to bed. Sunday morning we cleaned up the rest of the debris, and then watched as the plumber connected the swimming pool waste water to the sewerage. Spectacular entertainment.... After an early Lunch Robert and I packed the car and hit the road. We had a blessedly uneventful trip back home, interrupted only by a stop at Glenrowan to refuel the car and grab a coffee for me and Macca’s for Robert. I expected the traffic to be a bit heavier as it was the end of school holidays in Victoria, but it was extremely smooth running, and we made it safely home by 5.15 pm.

Roberts 14th Birthday

Robert celebrated his 14th Birthday over three days. We started on Saturday morning at 10 am. Robert had set his XBox up in the lounge room and was pretty excited, as it was the first time the XBox had left his bedroom. Three boys rolled up, not quite together. Kiarn, Peter and James. After the giving of cards and as it turned out, cash, we took a drive into Warragul for food and videos. First stop Civic Video. The Boys borrowed 3 XBox games and 9 movies.


Then it was off to Coles where we purchased and assortment of food from Ice cream, soft drink and lollies, to frankfurters and chocolate. What more do teenage boys want? Back at home the xboxing began, followed later by frankfurters and meat pies for lunch, with a liberal serving of tomato sauce. The afternoon consisted of more xbox playing and a movie.


Amy made a chocolate cake and late in the afternoon we put on the '14' candles and some sparklers. Much fun ensued as Robert tried to blow out the sparklers. Gee, who knew you couldn't blow out a sparkler? Apparently only Robert. Anita picked up chips and potato cakes on her way home, and the boys ate the chips and potato cakes before moving back to the XBox. Robert had put some crumbed fish in the oven and Anita and the girls had gone out to a trivia night. I went into the kitchen and smelt an acrid smoke wafting through the house. I opened windows, switched on fans, choking all the while. It was about 5 degrees outside with a chill wind blowing very briskly. But the smoke cleared, Robert promised nothing had spilled in the oven, the boys tried to eat the fish, only to find it tasted as acrid as the smoke smelt. More lollies anyone?


Peter had to leave at 9 pm, no sleep over for him as his family were getting up and leaving early for a holiday on Sunday morning. The night was mainly XBox, and movies, with Jmaes the only sensible one falling asleep between 12 and 5 am. Kiarn and Robert napped, but watched movies and you guessed it, played the XBox all night. At 7 am Sunday I rose to visit the little room, and heard Kiarn's voice booming "No, No, No." Getting excited apparently about the Xbox. James left at 9.30, and Kiarn at 11. So it was Dad cleaning up around the boys as they departed, so the kitchen was tidy for Robert's Gran and Grumps when they came for lunch.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Gran and Grumps came at 11.30 after they visited and open garden in Darnum a few doors away from us. Fresh Coffee was enjoyed, and when the Girls cam home from church at around 12.30, more Fresh Coffee was enjoyed. Mmmm aroma! Lunch was a fresh platter of salad and a platter of chicken and ham, with fresh bread rolls. Make your own salad rolls. Amy had to babysit in the afternoon, so Gran, Anita and the girls went off just after 2 pm with the intention of dropping Amy off at work, and Katrina showing Gran her favorite house, just around the corner from where Amy babysits.


Dad, Robert and I sat around talking until the girls got back. Mother being unable to stop herself headed straight for the rose bushes with a pair of secateurs and proceeded to prune. Feeling guilty I pulled a few weeds to keep her company. They left late in the afternoon after another coffee and tea. We had Robert's Birthday tea Sunday night because I was on call on Monday, and couldn't guarantee being there. His choice of food consisted of home made chicken croquet's, potato gems, broccoli and cauliflower in cheese sauce and a tomato and onion pie just for me. Desert was Anita's homemade Chocolate mousse.


Monday morning, 22nd September, Robert was raring to go, his real birth day! he had to hold back as it was the only chance Anita had for a sleep in, so it wasn't until 8.30 am we gathered on the bed to present him with his presents. A book from Oma and another from Amy. A jar of Lollies from Katrina. An MP3 player and a voucher for the newly released book, Brisingr. Hand made cards all round, and a total of nearly $140 cash for his birthday. So what does he want to spend the cash on? A computer game!

Three months to go and we get to celebrate Amy's 18th Birthday, IF I have recovered from tihs one by then!

The Saga of the knee: Part II

The saga of the knee continues. Katrina has had problems since she returned from the snow, the CT was clear. But her knee has continued to plague her. It has collapsed under her a couple of times, so it was off to the Doctors again. He deemed it enough of a concern to get her into the orthopaedic surgeon the next day. Of course you can imagine the worst case scenarios were going through our minds as we contemplated the necessary visit. Not so bad, after an initial diagnosis from the G.P. about it possible being the cruciate ligament, the outcome was far more positive. The Ortho suspects the problem is the knee cap, so it’s off to physio, an MRI in 6 weeks and then 8 weeks time back to the Ortho for review.

Katrina has now had two weeks of physio, she has been shown how to tape her knee, she has thrown away the crutches, and the physio is happy with her progress. So now its wait and see.

Amy went away for a few days this week to stay with one of her nannies. Nanny Amy. Our Amy needed to be in Melbourne for some Chemistry prac’s as part of her distance Ed requirements. So she caught the train up Tuesday, shopped at DFO, went on to Rosanna and Stay with N.Amy, did her prac on Wednesday, stayed with N.Amy again and Came home via DFO again on Thursday.

When Amy went away her cat, Nutmeg was on heat, Nothing unusual there. But after 18 months of her trying to find a male companion, she finally attracted the attention of one of the local Tom’s. Funny thing was as soon as she got him, or did he get her? She cried so loudly she scared him, he dismounted, and ran a few feet away, she chased him and hissed at him, then proceeded to try and take a swipe at him. Then in the very next breath she rolls around on the ground like a ferret and starts crying for him again. So that cycle then repeated itself for the next day or so.

Anita went outside to shoo a cow away from our silver birches yesterday morning and stood on the step in her socks and the next thing I knew she was gone. Vanished like a UFO abductee. Actually she slipped and fell off the step and bruised her right palm and heel. She is okay so not to worry.

Robert is excited about his birthday party sleepover this weekend, and his birthday on Monday. It will be weekend of feasting boy style, chips, lollies, pies etc; Videogames on the X-Box; and of course the mandatory marathon movie session on Saturday night. I know I will be exhausted on Sunday!

I'll let you know how I coped next time!

Trials and tribulations.

What a week. Last time I blogged I thought I said I felt another trip to Mt Hotham coming on. I certainly thought it. Well, Katrina went to Ski Camp with school. She lasted until Tuesday afternoon when the girl in front of her fell over, Katrina crashed into her, the following girl missed them, but the girl two behind couldn't stop, and she crashed on top of Katrina. Katrina became the meat in the sandwich, and her knee the pretzel after dinner snack. This was during the Cross Country, so she had to ski back to base on a badly damaged knee, aggravating it even more.



She damaged her knee badly enough for the school to ask her to leave the mountain. That was of course day one on the Mountain. It wasn't quite panic stations, but we had to figure out how we are going to get her home. Neither Anita nor myself were up to an all night marathon drive there and back and then be ready to face up to the world and work the next day. We struck a compromise. Anita drove to a new friend's in Bairnsdale, Susans', and stayed there the night. She arrived at around 9 pm, and left again around 6am and drove to Omeo, where one of the teachers had driven Katrina. What was the compromise I hear you ask? I would still go to work the following day and earn money to pay the bills and keep the wolf from the door, and a ten and a quarter hour day proved it was a worthwhile compromise.



The girls managed to arrive back in Warragul by midday, and Anita assures me she stuck to the speed limit, where they headed straight for the local doctors. Anita had an appointment already booked from weeks before, so Katrina took the appointment to get her knee examined properly. The Dr was of the opinion that there was nothing more serious than a sprain, but off for X-Rays just to be sure. Now we haven't had the final word on the X-Rays yet, but the radiologist said that as far as he was concerned, it looked pretty good.



Amy has really struggled this week and ended up at the doctor on Friday, where he pronounced that she had a viral infection. The good news is that she has nearly lost her voice, the bad news is she has nearly got it back again. The better news is that she is now almost over it. She has regained a little more energy, and hopefully can restart her catch up on her school work this week.



Robert is really excited about three things that are happening in the next 5-6 weeks. Firstly he is excited that fathers day is next weekend. He has told me that he will make me something? Then he is excited because he turns fourteen in about 3 weeks, and he will get presents. We have that well in hand, and in case he finds out how to read my blog in the next few weeks, I won't spoil his surprise here! (You'll have to wait too!) The third thing he is excited about is our trip away to see the cousins in Howlong. It should be a good few days away.



Anita has struggled this week, with having to drive to Omeo and back, she has also struggled with increased pain levels and lethargy due to her Fibro Myalgia. I read a recently published article that said Vitamin D may help with Chronic Widespread Pain, which is a symptom of F.M., so I have ordered some Vitamin D for her to try. She doesn't get much natural sunlight now that she is working 5 and a half days a week in doors. I hope this might help.



And lastly, me! I am plodding along, literally. I get on the treadmill every day and do 45 minutes walking to try to help nudge away those winter pounds. OK, I hear you, the winter pounds from 1999. But I am still trying. The weight is slow to move, even though I am exercising more and eating less. So the goal at the moment is to lose at least 10 kilo's by Christmas. Even if I have to spend the rest of my life hiding from them, I am going to lose them somehow.

The End. (of the tail shaft).

Well I promised to let everyone know what the outcome of the tail shaft was! So here is the damage report. It wasn't nearly anywhere as bad as we had anticipated it could have been. We were prepared for 4-5 hundred just to get a replacement tail shaft and then extra to have it cut and shut and balanced so it would fit in our car. As I said previously, our wonderful mechanic, Graeme from Lardner Mechanical, found a replacement that just dropped right in. We still didn't know what to expect price wise, and I was to afraid to ask him. Well I got the account this week. That bottom line was that the tail shaft only cost $150 plus labor costs. Talk about a huge sigh of relief and weight of the pocket.

Health wise for me; I need to have my gallbladder removed, no question there. The only decision to be made was, do I go public or private? West Gippsland Hospital Warragul would be the choice of local public hospital. Actually its really the only local public hospital fo 50 k, so that's a no brainer. The other option was going private, into the Epworth at Richmond in Melbourne. I could have it done as soon as I wanted to. Only problem there was cost. I was assured by the surgeons secretary that he had no extra costs above what my private health insurance would pay and the only question she couldn't answer was what the anesthetists costs would be? Apparently they don't mind charging over the scheduled fees. Go Figure. No offensive to our friend Graeme the anesthetist. (different from the mechanic). The bottom line came down to the fact that by the time we saved enough for the difference in the scheduled fee, the bed payment, and the amount we agreed to pay our health insurance ( to save premium), I would almost be due on the public waiting list. So wait I will and go public I shall. Hmmm ( sorry Yoda). Hopefully the deed will be done by Christmas.

I have decided to take two weeks Holiday in October, and Robert and I will go up to Howlong to visit my very funny cousin Jenny and her brood. Should be a ball. Hopefully this time Jenny won't draw diagrams in permanent pen on the nice wooden BBQ preparation area. I don't know how I will control her though. She comes undone a little sometimes after a few wines. I am really looking forward to the visit, and so is Robert.

So how i the rest of the family I might here you ask! Anita is still struggling to get over a long lasting cold. It has plagued her for weeks now. She is getting better slowly, but her body is taking its time about it. Amy I believe is still struggling to come to terms with the fact the she needs to study from home, and needs to focus on her school work and less on her friends or outside activities. Its all about balance, but from a 17 y.o. perspective why can't they have it all?

Katrina has started a part time Job at the warehouse. She has only done a few shifts, but I think she likes it. She certainly likes the money she gets paid. She is off on a school excursion to the snow this Monday the 25th August. She has her wall sits up to 4 minutes, so hopefully her knees and legs will hold out. That means she sits with her back against the wall pretending she has a chair under her, and it is supposed to help her last longer on the ski fields.

And Robert. What can I say. He's my boy and I love him. But he can be so frustrating at times. A few days ago he crossed his arms and defied his teacher, refusing to co-operate with her requests. Absolutely nothing like his father was at school. The most defiant I ever got at school was the day I left school to start work. I walked past the class I was supposed to be in and ignored the teacher when she called out to me. The trials of parenthood. (I know I ain't seen nothin' yet!) But as they say where there is life, there is hope.

Letting my hair down and Shaking my booty.

Still no answer to the question of how much the tail shaft and service will cost. The good news is, it will cost a lot less than originally expected. So I am told. The car will have to go back to the mechanic this Thursday for a wheel balance and final check on the stalling in roundabout issue though. So I expect more news then.

The car goes in for service the same day I see the surgeon for my little gall stone problem. I hope that again I will have more information about what he intends on doing too! Then in the afternoon a little trip to my G.P to ask him to write a letter saying that I am sane enough to hold a shooters licence. Get those hands down, I am not asking for any one else's opinion on that one.

Last Saturday I ran away from home. Well actually I went to stay at Mick & Liz's in Frankston. Just over night. A boys night you might say, with a bit of input from Liz. I arrived at Micks about 1 p..m., and after some chin wagging, coffee drinking and a catch up on whose been up to what with whom and when, we set about the purpose of the weekend. Which as my lovely friend Joanne described as letting my hair down and shaking my booty. Such a delightful sense of irony she has, with what little hair I have left, and my ability to make Peter Garrett look co-ordinated on the dance floor. Fortunately there wasn't a dance floor in sight, and as you all know if you know me, or if you have looked at my picture, I am follically challenged.

Late Afternoon we sat down to watch Aliens, that science fiction classic with Sigourney Weaver and a whole bunch of butt ugly Alien Monsters and Face Huggers. I had not seen Aliens before so it was an interesting couple of hours. I confess I enjoyed the movie. We the went to visit Mick & Liz's youngest daughter Rebecca.

She and her husband Nathan and baby Lachlan have recently moved to a new house, and I wanted to see how little Lachlan was growing. He was a little grumpy as he had refused much of an afternoon sleep, and has been suffering from croup. The house was run down when they moved in, and with a lot of help from family they have repainted and spruced it up very well.





After we left there we headed off to the Asian Palace in Karingal for a Chinese Banquet. It was beautiful. Thanks Mick & Liz. An hour or two of eating and chatting and we were all ready to pack our doggie bags and go home. Except that we had no left overs to go in the doggie bag so we left empty handed. But Mick and Liz did look like they enjoyed the food.



Back to Mick & Liz's, where we the boys' retired to the comfort of the couch to sit and watch 'Stargate Continuum', a must see movie for all Stargate SG1 fans. Of course sitting at home watching a movie is hard work, so we of course had to fuel ourselves with some Scotch and Coke! Following Continuum we continued our movie watching with Ironman. Robert Downey Jr does a good job, and as with all good comic book movies, it never took itself to seriously, well almost never. but a good flick. and of course it was accompanied by another Scotch and Coke. It was getting pretty late and Liz had an appointment in Ringwood at 10 a.m. on Sunday, so it was suggested we should hit the hay. After some small discourse, a descision was made to watch 'An Interview with a Vampire'. With another Scotch and Coke.

'An Interview with a Vampire' is an interesting movie, well made with some big names at the time and some up and coming little 12 year old actress called Kirsten Dunst. Others of note are Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Antonio Banderas and Christian Slater. Brad Pitt had what I would have said was the lead role, but Tom Cruise got top billing. Go figure, he obviously made more money at the time. I bet if they made the same movie with the same cast today, Brad might have a good crack at top billing. The vagaries of stardom.

Anyway 3 a.m. came and it was decided that as we had to get up in 3 hours, it was definitely time for bed. Sunday morning we arose to a very cold, very wet Melbourne day. With Mick behind the wheel we dropped Liz at a quilting shop in Ringwood where she would spend the day drooling over fabric and new machines, and learnt how to use her new quilting machine better. Mick and I headed off to the Melbourne show grounds where there was a Militaria and Firearms show. Of course it was a professional development day for Mick, and I just tagged along. It is amazing what some people will spend on what others consider junk. Of course I have to admit there was a small proportion of good stuff, but the rest well.

After our short stay there it was off to Nando's for lunch. yum. But they were closed. So we ended up at KFC for lunch. Then off to D.F.O. at Essendon Airport to grab a couple of Business shirts for Mick, then back to Ringwood to pick up Liz, then back to Frankston. We went to grab a coffee in Bayside (if its still called that, I took no notice) Back to Micks, then the drive home in the rain. I made it home at about 5.30. Safe and sound. Hair still up and booty neither shaken nor stirred.

The Tale of the Tail Shaft

Well, firstly the issue of health. The kids are back at school, which is cause for celebration. Amy is still of course distance ed’ing it. I think she is still trying to work herself into a routine. Anita is getting over her sinusitis. ME, well, this week I am aback to the Neurologist to see what the changes in my MRI means. Ten years since the last one and now change that is “abnormal to a person of my age”. So it may be nothing, mean nothing, or could be early changes for dementia. That would explain a lot. Thursday fortnight (14^th Aug 08) I will go to the surgeon and see what he has to say about my little 2.8cm gall stone.

The Tale of the Tail Shaft. Last Thursday Amy and I went to a funeral in Geelong to support a friend of ours, Cathy, whose brother in law Ronnie had passed away at age 46 from cancer, leaving behind a wife and three young kids. On our way home, with Amy in the drivers’ seat, and ‘L’ plates appropriately displayed, the car began to shudder. At first I thought the car was just afraid of Amy’s driving. After all she has hurt it a couple of times already. Anyway, I asked Amy if she could feel the vibration. She could, and said it was more like it was coming through the seat. I didn’t think she was that scared of her own driving.

I asked her to pull over, and in a nice safe area off the freeway, I inspected the vehicle. Tyres intact? Check. Wheels not loose? Check. Nothing stuck under the car or in the tyre grooves? Check. It seemed safe to continue on our journey home. This is the same day the Westgate Freeway was closed to Melbourne bound traffic because of a phosphoric acid spill. Traffic in the western suburbs was reportedly chaos. As we approached the Western Ring Road I asked to get into the left hand lane ready to take the Western Ring, and I saw all the traffic ahead hitting the brake lights. Whoa that was a lot of red. Needless to say we took the Western Ring Road. Traffic there was heavy and slow. Can’t imagine why. Once we passed Furlong road things started to speed up. Back came the shudder. They weren’t good vibrations we were feeling.

I have the mechanic on speed dial on my mobile phone. (for work) So I rang and booked the car in for a Checkup with Dr Kinraid for the following day. Fortunately the rest of the trip home was uneventful, except for continued vibrations and the usual peak hour traffic on the Monash Car park, er sorry, Freeway. Anita dropped the car off to Lardner Mechanical and Dr Kinraid the following morning, and before lunch I got the phone call. “Hi Glenn its Graeme”. “Gidday Graeme, how are you?” “Yeah um, good. Ahh, listen, about your car!” “Yeah” I said with just a hint of hesitation. “Well there’s good news and there’s some bad news”. Don’t you love it when someone says that to you and you know it’s going to cost you money, big time. “One of the universal joints has gone in the tail shaft. The bad news is that it’s not a replaceable part. I think the way to go is to get another tail shaft, and cut and shut new ends on, then take it to a specialist and get him to balance the tail shaft.” “Any idea what that’s going to set us back Graeme”? I asked. “Well it’s hard to get a cost on these things, but it’s probably going to be around four or five hundred just to get the tail shaft”.

Now I’ve known Graeme a long time, and I trust him. So I gave him the go ahead. Also the car has been stalling as you go through intersection and roundabouts. Not a good thing. And it’s an automatic, so can’t say it’s the driver. So I thought we might as well get Dr Kinraid to fix that while he has it. What the hell, while you have it, it needs a service too.

What I like about Graeme is that he almost gives you the worst case scenario and cost, and works back from there. I got a phone call later on Friday afternoon from Graeme saying that he had managed to get a tail shaft that dropped right in. That’s gotta be cheaper. So now we just have to wait and see how to other little problem comes up. I’ll try to let you know what the damage was, if I can still afford the Internet!

Health

I must say the the family has been dogged with health issues over the last few months.

Amy has started Distance Education, which means that she studies from home, does not go to a regular school, but has to go to the city once a month or so to sit practical/theory that doesn't cut it via distance Ed. Even so the last couple of weeks she has been weighed down with a heavy cold/flu that is keeping her in bed a bit more than I would like.

Robert has had a similar viral infection to myself which cause dizziness and nausea, and for him gives him palpitations and the like. Me, well I have a malfunctioning liver, but I don't expect that will be a long term problem. Although I do go back to the Neurologist on the 6Th November and see what he has to say about my difficulty in swallowing.

Katrina has been Stoic, and continued on during the last week where she has cold/flu like symptoms. She is much like her mother in that way, stubborn. She will almost go until she falls over. Anita actually pulled the pin at work today and came home at 2 o'clock and left shop girl in charge until I arrived at 4pm. to take over. Well that's pretty much our woes. Hope it makes you feel better. Sorry to sook. Looking forward to better health soon.

Glenn

Welcome To My Blog

Greeting to one and all and welcome to my foray into blogging. Its not so much that I believe that I have things of worth that other people should hear, but as a friend has pointed out to me its a good way to keep in touch with family and friends without offending any one! the Lord knows I am good enough at the already without having to string myself up and hand you all a whip to flog me.


Firstly, if you don't like what you read here, good, I encourage every one to have their own opinions and ideals. Its part of life. I am trying to encourage my kids, Amy, Katrina and Robert to have opinions of their own (as long as they don't differ from mine too much). So for those who are new to me, you now have the kids names, and my wife is Anita, affectionately known by many as She Who Must Be Obeyed (SWMBO).

There's a time when you have to be the man of the house and make decisions that are unpopular, fortunately I have a partner who herself makes up my mind for me. LOL. Another smack around the ears coming up.


I'd like to acknowledge an old friend from my school days who has encouraged me to blog. Joanne went to Karingal High School with me, and after 30 plus years, (there I said it) we recently caught up on Friends Reunited. We have established a contact that is truly amazing. Honest from the start. She has a wonderful husband Joe whom she recently celebrated 25 years of marriage with, and they have two children who are now flying solo.


I am yet to really sort out in my mind what I will share here, but rest assured there may be the odd funny, some serious stuff, and some thought provoking stuff if I can manage it. Yes you may get some christian thoughts and comments, that's who I am and I make no apologies.

You also may get the odd risque joke, that's part of who I am too. If you don't think the two go together, maybe you need to reassess who God is, and what is his creation. For a start he made ME! He has to have a sense of humor. Your worship I rest my case.

The photo on the above were all taken by Anita on our long weekend trip to Phillip Island on the Australia Day long weekend back in January. I merely put them into this montage. She enjoyed roaming the beach at all hours and snapping photos of just about anything. Photos I shall try to share sometime in the future.


So to any body out there how has bothered to read this blog. Thank You! let me know what you think and what you would like to see me post. More up to date family issues in my next foray.

Glenn