Oh Dear!

Yes indeed.....Oh Dear....Jim has discovered E-bay!!!  What monster have I unleashed when getting him a laptop!!
  Yesterday he discovered some  Historex military models for sale....he can no longer get them here. Before you could say "knife", he had a bid in!!   Now I have to go out to the shed (now his computer room) and set up a Pay pal account......am I opening a can of worms or not?
  maybe I should put a lock on his PC except when Googling!!

Tiff's new Toy!

This is MY kind of present!

Here is Tiff with her new present from Angus. He rides his bike up at her farm, and she now will be able to go with him. They have been talking about it for some time now, and, Angus being Angus,  had to do all the research for it before committing himself. So yesterday, he went down to Ferntree gully to collect it from Jeffrey's....the Mecca for bikes. Today, while she is working, he is riding it around to break it in.
I think they are planning to take both bikes up to Bonnie Doon next weekend, for the inaugural "bike fest"!!  So it won't stay this pristine for very long.
  Tiff has driven so many different vehicles (farm and road) that she should be a pretty quick learner.
  Will keep you up to date on any exploits...good or bad!

Best Ever Marmalade

So here it is....The best ever marmalade. Bought it from Aldi the other day....not expensive, of course, nothing is there. Hadn't had marmalade for a long time, and wanted something different.
By the way Ju....you would love it....tart and tangy, and a long-forgotten taste to it.
 So one more thing to put on my list from there.
 It's a slim jar....just right for a household with only one marmalade-eater.

Mum and Dad

The picture at the top is really the way I remember Mum and Dad best. The photo is a bit of a mess now as it has been folded over to fit in a small frame.
 However, what a lovely reminder.

Mia

Here is Ju's cat Mia. He has had her for 2 years now......How time flies. What a beautiful face. I am sure she is just as spoilt as Ju's other cats (especially Min) but absolutely loving it too!

How times change!

Ena and Jessie

Here is a picture of mum (on the right) and her sister Ena. How fashions have changed! Ena was about 7 years older than mum, and lived in Southampton with husband Bill....he kept bees in the New Forest, and made the best honey you EVER tasted.  They had 2 boys.....Neil and Dave....have lost touch over the years with the boys.
 What a blast from the past!!

Believe it----Or Not!!

Well, it's happened again!!  The power came back on yesterday afternoon...amid general cheers. Then last night, at about 9.30pm...off it went again.
Once again...off all night...so no shower AGAIN this morning...just the wash-down in the basin in the shower, and it was a freezing morning too. Tiff left at about 5am, and David Hill Road was closed....tree down. When I went to Monbulk at about 9.45am....still closed, and when I returned at 10.30 STILL closed!  How long does it take all these men with massive chainsaws to clear a tree trunk?
 At 11.30am the power came back on......another 14hours without. This must be some sort of record.
 We reminisced about the good old days, when the SEC would come hurtling down the road in their trucks to repair lines, no matter what time of day or night. Not so now.

Anyhow...let's hope we get an uninterrupted power supply for a little while.  At the moment I am in the midst of catching up with about 28 loads of washing , and , ominously, the wind is still blowing the trees about wildly. Just let me at least finish the washing before anything else happens!!

The last 24 hours

Well, we have again had a prolonged power cut. It went off yesterday at just after 2pm, and it has just come back on. (About 2.30pm) So 24 hours without light, heat, or hot water. I have almost got a system going now, as this isn't the first time by any means . So it's a large cauldron of water heating on the (gas) stove. The kettle out of the cupboard to sit on the gas, and I gathered odd bits of wood to light the wood-burner.
 I have a system whereby I fill a bowl with hot water, put it in the shower, and stand in it to have a wash-down. The big cauldron does for washing the dishes, and we can still have a cup of tea whenever.
But I have to say, that when the power came back on, it was a big relief. What softies we have become!!
 Still..it's lovely to have the house warm again. One good thing, our fridge kept cold extremely well, so no loss of food at all.

Pictures of Eastbourne

 Here are 3 pictures of Eastbourne sea front. They always had beautiful gardens on the upper level of the promenade, and over the road are all the hotels for the holiday season. The town used to be crowded with 'trippers' in our growing-up years. A good place to stay, as you could just walk over the road to the beach, and behind the hotels is the town centre. A very central place for everything, including the cinemas, theatre, and entertainment on the pier
       

 The Bandstand is another attraction, with plenty of deck chairs for those who liked to listen to military-style music. In the distance you can just see the Wish-tower (see next picture).

Here is a view along the front, looking up towards the Wish-tower.  The wooden breakwaters were to stop the erosion by the water, which could wash all the beach away without them. Yes, even pebbly beaches can be eroded.  Note more deck-chairs lined along the front, for weary holiday-makers to rest and contemplate the sea, and no doubt benefit from the ozone, which was supposed to be healthy. Note also, the heaps of stones up against each breakwater, having been washed there by the sea.