Put on your High Heel Sneakers

My grand-daughter came home from her school trip to the US wearing this footwear that reminded me of an old song from the Rolling Stones.

High Heel Sneakers

Nothing to cry about

A little boy was very happy today when he discovered he had lost something.

A Sweet Christmas

It was a sweet Christmas at our house

Hoping that your Festive Season was similarly sweet

Paw parade

 Our four-legged houseguest has left his mark on our white floor tiles.

Healthy Footware

At Sydney's Wynyard Railway Station. 

A Date with my Baby

We enjoyed a Fish and Chips dinner at Circular Quay prior to the Australian Ballet's performance of Cinderella at Sydney Opera House.

Grease

 We had a fun night out at Star city with a Thai dinner followed by  Grease - the musical in the Lyric Theatre. 

Big Screen

Grandson and the Campanellas Choir entertaining us at his school's  Speech Day. The big screen is a boon for proud grandparents to identify the grandchildren.

Grandson on the big screen

Some R&R for Freddo

 9 December 2013

Freddo, our house guest for the next three weeks, seems to have settled in and is enjoying our big backyard.

Overwhelmed

 Our two little granddaughters were slightly overwhelmed at their childcare centre's Christmas event at Waitara.

Their grandparents were thrilled to join in the fun at the party.

The staff did a great job organising the kids on stage

After some initial tears big sister enjoyed herself

Little sister was happy to observe from the safety of Mum's lap. 

Please call me Madam

Although Oxford Dictionaries Online (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/guy) defines Guys as "people of either sex" they define a Guy as "a Man". How contradictory is that?

I am not a Man. 

The common usage of the plural "Guys" is another Americanism that has crept into our Australian language over the last ten years and its use annoys me intensely. Someone close to me, when I objected to her use of guys said "Well, what should I say?" That depends on the context, there are many alternatives one can use: buddies, chaps, class, colleagues, crew, fellow Australians, fellow ..., friends, gang, girls and boys, ladies and gentlemen, madam, mates, members, mesdames, sir, sirs, staff, students, supporters, team." There are many alternatives.

I am not alone; after commencing this post I turned to my mate Google to see if I could find others who agreed with me. The first article I read, Fight hamburgerisation; dig up some old Aussie lingo
from  the Sydney Morning Herald of  February 1, 2010 expressed my feelings far more eloquently than I. I give a similar answer to the person quoted in this article when someone asks me where the "Bathroom" is. I go to the bathroom to bathe; in fact many bathrooms in Australia do not even have a toilet.

Would all you guys out there please be a bit more creative with your language and, please, call me Madam.

Definition of guy in English

guy1

Pronunciation: /gʌɪ/

Translate guy | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish

noun

• 1 informal a man:he’s a nice guy
•  (guys) people of either sex:you guys want some coffee?

• 2British a figure representing Guy Fawkes, burnt on a bonfire on Guy Fawkes Night, and often displayed by children begging for money for fireworks.

verb

[with object]

• make fun of; ridicule:she never stopped guying him about his weight

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/guy

Proud old Gummy

Have I mentioned that my grandchildren call me Gummy?

I enjoyed watching two of them sing, play and collect a prize today at their school's end of year celebration.

Opening Ceremony

We enjoyed the Opening Ceremony of the Asia Pacific Special Olympics at the McDonald Jones Stadium.

Governor General, Quentin Bryce, opened the Special Olympics

 

Marcia Hines performed

That's our granddaughter - furthest yellow t-shirt to the right.

Australia's team enters the Stadium at the Asia Pacific Special Olympics

Welcome to Preschool

 We had a warm welcome and lots of fun at Grandparents' Day with one of the Ballboys.

Welcome Committee

From the Archives - Do not tip

Going through some old holiday snaps I knew for certain that this wasn't in the USA, not because of the bilingual sign. There is another big clue.

A gentlemen's convenience in Ankara, Turkey

Farm Boy

Robert had fun learning to drive a big boy's toy (a header) down on a farm today. Thanks Loud and Charlie for your hospitality and tuition.

Across the carpark

No visit to our favourite Chinese Restaurant, Dural Terrace, is complete without a journey across the carpark to McDonalds to indulge in a 30 cent ice-cream cone. Following are two pics from Saturday's outing.

No need to consult a menu - we know our favourites

Nearly all smiles for 5 ice-cream eating Ballboys

First $1000

This morning I have a big smile on my face because I have reached a milestone in my support of the charity Kiva. As you can see from my lender portfolio page below I have now lent $US1000 to entrepreneurs in third world countries for an investment of just $US332; that money has helped 40 people improve their lives.

My latest loans were to Sulita in Samoa and Ana Elizabeth in El Salvador. It gives one such a buzz to help out these workers who don't enjoy the lifestyle we take for granted in Australia.

At the moment generous benefactors are supporting free $25 loans to new users to try out Kiva. It will only cost you a few minutes to help some one out. Here is your invitation:
http://www.kiva.org/invitedby/jill4772

I am a member of the 275 member Genealogists for Families team on Kiva made up of genealogists from around the globe (but with a strong Australian representation) who loan because "we care about families (past, present and future)." When you join Kiva we would welcome you to our team.

Nearly there

Not far to go now. Wagga Wagga here we come.

Look forward to catching up with old friends.

Learning about Transplants

It is no secret that I love reading. Having just ploughed through a book (Committed: a sceptic makes peace with marriage by Elizabeth Gilbert) I really did not enjoy I looked on my bookshelves for something that might restore my faith in books and reading.

A recently purchased tome jumped out at me. How to deliver a liver transplant was just the medicine I needed. This story of a young girl from Queensland who fell into and became hooked on her medicine is told in a conversational tone. I felt that I was with Kellee on her journey to becoming a transplant surgeon. As well as giving me a lesson in anatomy the book brought me close to tears of laughter and sadness as she related stories from her journey.

It has been returned to my bookshelves and is waiting for another family member to read it.

From the Archives - Forbidden City

There was a lot of work going on in Beijing's Forbidden City when we visited in 2005 and there were many signs warning tourists of dangers and telling them what not to do. This sign was an apology for any  inconvenience caused to tourists.

Santorini

Enjoying the view from the deck of Seven Seas Voyager while anchored in Santorini, Greece.

From where I sit...

Through my window

... I look out a window onto our back garden that contains quite a few Gum (Eucalypt) trees.

This morning I glanced out and saw one of the many  Kookaburras that inhabits our garden sitting on the branch of a tree. The photo I took of this proud bird is not too clear as my window is rather dusty.

What immediately came to mind was the Kookaburra song I learnt as a child :

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree,
Merry merry king of the bush is he.
Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra,
Gay your life must be!

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree,
Eating all the gum drops he can see.
Stop Kookaburra, stop Kookaburra
Save some there for me!

 
Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree,
Counting all the monkeys he can see.
Laugh Kookaburra, laugh Kookaburra
That's not a monkey, that's me!

Otherwise engaged

 While the rest of Australia is watching a horse race I'm enjoying Thomas the Tank with the Ballboys.

The Melbourne Cup, Australia's Premier race is known as "the race that stops a nation".

Image  http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/68878

From the Archives - Runaway Cows

While out driving in Bowmore on the island of Islay in Scotland in 2004 we came across this message from a local farmer.

Hanging my Head in Shame

I call myself a reader but this year my reading activity has been abysmal.

I record the books I read each year in Librarything tagging them with Read 2006, Read 2007,....Read 2013 etc.  The stats for 2006 and 2007 are high because when I was working I had access to lots of picture books and I was able to read these quickly in morning tea and lunch breaks. Looking at my statistics I see that I have really dropped the ball in the last few years. I hope that my lacklustre effort in 2011 is an error and that I just forgot to record what I read.

Read 2006 (110)

Read 2007 (124)

Read 2008 (67)

Read 2009 (75)

Read 2010 (91)

Read 2011 (18)

Read 2012 (26)

Read 2013 (36)

I lay the blame for this on the internet. I spend more than an hour each day engaged in reading but it is not the sustained reading that one gets from books, it is more like reading articles in newspapers and journals. I am just reading short bits and pieces that are educative and informative and I am learning from them but it is not the sustained reading one gets from books. 

Over the past few weeks I have made an effort to read for an hour or so each night and have thus added a few more titles to my tally for 2013. 

The last book I read is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society  that has been sitting on my bookshelves for way too long. This was an excellent book that drew me in, tugged at my heartstrings and gave me a history lesson. Simply told through a series of letters it chronicles the journey of young author, Juliet Ashton, to Guernsey to meet with members of a literary group with whom she has been corresponding. 

Read it.

From the Archives - Under Renovation

From time to time I am going to post a picture from our travel albums.

Today's photo was taken in January 2004 in Bratislava, Slovakia when The Hotel Danube foyer was being renovated.

Spring

On my genealogy blog last week I wrote a post about my favourite season, spring. When looking for photos to illustrate that post I realised that I hadn't taken any snaps this spring season so I grabbed my camera and went for a stroll. Unfortunately it was too late to get decent photos of the camellias or azaleas but I found a few plants still in bloom.

No words are needed to describe why I like spring, these photos are explanation enough.