I started work on this issue early as I have set a goal for myself to have it in print by the deadline date for a change .... we will see how that goes. On Monday morning which was quite the wet one at that I headed off to my job interview at Nordia - Nanaimo. On Tuesday, while chatting with Jan, I received an email informing me that Nordia has offered me a position of employment, starting on Monday April 23 from 8:00am-4:30pm, in their Bell Household Loyalty training class! I am absolutely thrilled to know that "someone" wants me (lol) -- Jan you are my lucky charm! Thank You!
Meet our Members
Deborah Fleck from Ashland, WI, USA is a writer, crafter and mom who loves writing stories and articles for children, & creating clay jewelry and fiber arts.
International News
We are coming up to ANZAC Day 25th April. It is a
national public holiday commemorating all who served and died in all wars,
conflicts, and peacekeeping operations throughout the years. It is considered by
many Australians to be the most solemn day of the year. Services are held at
dawn and 11am, and Marches by surviving veterans from past wars, along with
current serving members, members of service groups and school children, in
cities and towns nationwide. The Anzac Day Parade from each state capital is
televised live with commentary. These events are generally followed by reunions
at the RSL
club. A traditional Australian gambling game called two-up which was an
extremely popular pastime with ANZAC soldiers is allowed in the afternoon, being
illegal at other times. In 1915, Australian and New Zealander soldiers formed part of an Allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula, according to a plan by Winston Churchill to open the way to the Black Sea for the Allied navies. The objective was to capture Constantinople. The ANZAC force landed at Gallipoli on 25 April and many were killed on an exposed beach landing. At the end of 1915, the Allied forces were evacuated after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. The Allied casualities included 21,255 from the UK, an estimated 10,000 from France, 8,709 from Australia, 2,721 from New Zealand, and 1,358 from British India. News of the landing at Gallipoli made a profound impact on Australians and New Zealanders at home and 25 April quickly became the day on which they remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in war. The fourth stanza or verse of a well known poem, known as The Ode, is read aloud at many ceremonies. The poem is called "For The Fallen" and was written by Laurence Binyon in 1914. It commemorates those who died and can never grow old.
Here is the fourth stanza:
- They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
- Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
- At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
- We will remember them.
I am also sharing a a poem written by my son (who does not usually write anything much) as my ANZAC Day tribute on my blog.
The
poem is rather poignant and it brings tears to the eyes, you may need tissues close by.
(Footnote from Sharon .... I was raised in Army Camps. My dad went to war when he was a young lad (15) and
returned to the service shortly after returning to Canada after the
war. Although he rarely spoke of it he did occasionally, as he got older, talk
about some of his comrades that had experienced similar situations. Very
emotional poem this one of Robert’s. One of my favourite memories of my dad
was that he would recite poems and parables to us as children – he would of be
honoured to have memorized this poem and shared it with
others)
News from the the land of colour, scent and sound extraordinaire -- Argentina!
Here is the latest news from "down here" .....
We are well into Autumn, and leaf fall is well under way. That at least shows some things in the world are still "normal" LOL. the weather is fair and mild, perfect!
This last weekend we had lots going on, that often happens, we either have nothing at all, or everything at once! Saturday night we had a paella party at the Submariners club, with general dance afterwards.
We left at 2 in the morning. Sunday midday, we had a friend's birthday party, at a club, chicken BBQ-bring your-own-salad -and-drink, about 40 of us. The second picture is the birthday girl in a dance with her partner. They were also at the paella the night before.
We had to leave the party early (17.30ish) as we had to go to a small library theatre to help prepara for an act for the anniversary of the city of Salta. There was a history talk, a video of Salta province, and couples dancing and singers. The third picture is a south Argentine costume dance,
the fourth one is a northern costume dance, more lively than the one before,
and then there is a group dance. They were all good! and everyone had a great time. Luckily we were able to leave Daisy with Romina and her two dogs all day, so by the time we picked her up again is was going on 10 at night. Luckily she was exhausted from so much play with the other dogs. In the last picture Daisy is having a discussion with the tortoise!
Charito was also at the act, I haven't seen her in some time, as she had been working extra hours. She told me she is now out of work as the bakery she worked at has clossed down, unable to pay its way, so she is on the lookout for other work.
Next Saturday is Daisy's 1st birthday. Don't know yet if there'll be a doggy party!!!! In the evening the Salta resident club has a pasty and BBQ party continueing the celebrations for the anniversay of Salta. No guesses for who is doing the pasties! As you see here they do things in a BIG way, hehehehe.
Charito was also at the act, I haven't seen her in some time, as she had been working extra hours. She told me she is now out of work as the bakery she worked at has clossed down, unable to pay its way, so she is on the lookout for other work.
Next Saturday is Daisy's 1st birthday. Don't know yet if there'll be a doggy party!!!! In the evening the Salta resident club has a pasty and BBQ party continueing the celebrations for the anniversay of Salta. No guesses for who is doing the pasties! As you see here they do things in a BIG way, hehehehe.
We have just heard that daughter -in-law plans on celebrating her birthday (which is Wednesday) on Saturday too which makes things difficult as we are already involved in the BBQ and there are no tickets left!
Finally, our dance classes were in crisis as the teacher expected too much pay, as well as the group having to pay more for hall hire. It ended up the teacher left, we were like a ship with no helmsman, people drifted away, until finally it was announced we have another teacher who will charge less thus leaving us space to pay the hall hire, and that a whole bunch who had left some time ago for disagreements, would be returning.
Please enjoy the Life of Flowers -- This is: flowers in movement and ach flower was filmed for two hours, then the photos of every seven minutes were put together to give this result. Isn't it beautiful?
Daphne
(Yes indeed Daphne, it is absolutely splendid ...
FYI - I had to click on the screen to get the video to play.)
Daphne
Bea would also like us to check out the Schreiners Gardens newsletter.
Bea's daughter sent her flowers, aren't they beautiful!
Graeme said that seeing as how I checked out Stawell (last week's issue) he thought he had best tell us about his home city, Ararat. I think this is a fabulous idea and I encourage all our members to tell us about their home city!!! First thought he wants us to know that
there is still a gold mine operating in Stawell, and guess what it has just been
sold to a Canadian mining company called Crocodile Gold. It is still very much a
going concern producing 316.000 ounces of gold in 2010 and they say there is a
lot more to come yet.I hope that interests you regards Graeme
Although we are only 30km apart we are separated by the Great Dividing
Range. The weather is always warmer on the north side. It may be raining in
Ararat yet sunny in Stawell. Our claim to fame is that we are the only place in Australia that was
settled by the Chinese. During the gold rush the Victorian government banned the
Chinese from landing in Victoria, so they just stayed on the ships and went to
Adelaide in South Australia. Then they walked the 600 or so km back to the goldfields in Victoria. some
camped on the site of Ararat and found gold, so Ararat was born. In 1856 a record 3.053.744 ounces of gold was mined in Victoria ,second
only to the goldfields in California!!!
(Graeme I went snoping around again, no surprises there 'eh?
I read there is a monument to the Chinese gold prospectors which I think is so wonderful!
I read about beautiful displays of orchids too at the Botanical Gardens -- that must be a thing of great beauty
but perhaps, for me anyway, I stumbled across a most interesting little tidbit;
the Aradale Ghost Tour -- have you ever been on this tour?)
(Lovely story Graeme and I enjoyed the pictures but
I must say I am very curious
as to what happened to the fish stories?????
?Did the big one get away? )
I read there is a monument to the Chinese gold prospectors which I think is so wonderful!
I read about beautiful displays of orchids too at the Botanical Gardens -- that must be a thing of great beauty
but perhaps, for me anyway, I stumbled across a most interesting little tidbit;
the Aradale Ghost Tour -- have you ever been on this tour?)
Graeme also tells us that he got himself a few worms for fishing and finally got to go out in the bush about 10 kms from Ararat. He saw a few roos
but luckily no snakes. He says he knows the place is crawling with them. He hopes you enjoy the photos. Regards Graeme
I went and checked out what used to be a little picnic spot when i was a
kid. It used to be a very small area surrounded by bush. But to my disgust they
have cleared a big area and made a camping ground,that's progress i suppose.
The bush landscape.
Not exactly Highway 1 - is it?
(Lovely story Graeme and I enjoyed the pictures but
I must say I am very curious
as to what happened to the fish stories?????
?Did the big one get away? )
GREETINGS FROM OUR INTERNATIONAL PET CORNER
This is my grandaughter Alycia, dont they look cute together. Sammy does not
like to be picked up , but will let her pick her up
As she has been raised with dogs, and cats, and knows how to treat them, she is so gentle with her and Sammy loves the extra attention. Lena from Ontario Canada
As she has been raised with dogs, and cats, and knows how to treat them, she is so gentle with her and Sammy loves the extra attention. Lena from Ontario Canada
Lena reminds us to please send in your pet pictures , and a story, as we would all like to see, and hear about them, they are part of our family.
I am always happy to share pictures of my "fur" grandchildren. Kendra actually started a FB page, Jacob's Pride, for Yvonne just for that very purpose and for all of you who are on facebook I would really appreciate you going over and "liking" this page .... currently it is a work in progress as is her website which I would also love for you to visit. We have three English Mastiffs, Mercedes, Damien and Ben and an English Bulldog, named Maddysen who at the end of February, 2012 had a litter of seven beautiful babies. Rebekah is holding one of these babies in the picture to the right. Yvonne is keeping two of the bulldog puppies, two puppies have been sold and will be going to new homes in Victoria very soon and we have two male puppies and one female puppy still to sell. We also have a cat named Sammy (same as Lena's fur baby except ours is an orange coloured chubby girl and we have one budgie. House full for sure and we love every minute. Sharon
Quote for the Week
Wealth consists not in having great possessions
but in having few
wants.
