Just a little fun to end the weekÂ
This is so true 😊
We live and learn don’t we 😊
Well youv’e either got it or you haven’t 😎
Fun Friday – the day you forget the worries of the week.
Enjoy your weekend – I’ll see you on Monday
Getting to know you…
Thank you all for the comments on my last post – I feel I know a lot more about you – and your names – than I did before.
I ‘was’ hoping to hear from what I call my silent readers – those who some bloggers call lurkers – those who read and leave without saying a word – never mind it’s good to see them all the same. Â Maybe some will become less shy as time goes by.
Possibly I don’t talk about things they feel they can comment on so perhaps I’ll have to think about content. Â I’m not a ‘Best Buy’ sort of person who talks about cheapish food and reduced groceries, my recipes are usually off the top of my head using what’s in the cupboard so food plans never get made. Â Yes, I have clear outs but once things have gone out the door I wouldn’t be able to remember what was in the bag I dropped off at the op shop. Â It’s gone from my head the minute it’s gone from my house. Â And I’m certain you really don’t want to hear about my aches and pains.
At the moment I’m in Echuca, north of the state on the Murray, having a break with a couple of old friends plus The Golfer.  The beautiful weather we had anticipated (going by what the bureau had forecast)  didn’t eventuate,  the hIgh winds, thunder, lightning, rain and  hail we’ve had so far weren’t part of the deal when we left home the other day.  There has been sunshine but it’s been quite cool so it’s a good job I brought a range clothing and not just the ones suitable for forecasted 30oC days.  A drive out to Deniliquin yesterday kept us dryish (and warm….in the car) Today after a little ‘cruise’ up the river it looks like we may be going to the cinema instead of walking round town and along the river bank.
 Need to put my thinking cap on now for blog post topics. Any and all suggestions are most welcome .  See you next week….if not before 🤗
Who’s that girl, what’s her name….
She was named in the semi traditional Irish way which varied from family to family, that of first daughter being after both her grandmothers. So Catherine Mary is on her birth certificate as well as other ‘important’ documentation.
Her mother’s name was Alice Mary but she was always known as Al – her father’s name was James, known as Jim…….Jimmie to his family
Her paternal grandmother was Mary Elizabeth after both of ‘her’ grandmothers – we have no idea what her family called her……to us she was just Granny S. Granny’s oldest daughter was also named Mary, we knew her as Aunty May. The next daughter was Margaret Anne known to us as Aunty Maggie.
Our little girl’s mother’s mother, the grandma she never got to meet was Catherine Jane Mary.
On Irish census records she was called Kathleen and then it was discovered she was registered at birth as Katheline – possibly the result of her father’s accent. John Joseph Patrick Doyle was from Waterford – Kathleen’s birth was registered in Tralee, Kerry. A name spoken in an out of town accent possibly being misheard by someone not used to that accent then transcribed as heard …..if you get what I mean 🙂
Before she married she was known as Kitty to her family, after her father’s death she married Isaac John Joseph T (known to everybody as IJJ) and became Catherine. IJJ was from the north of Ireland, at that time Kathleen was a ‘southern’ name – say no more!
The Jane was after ‘her’ grandmother (the little girl’s gtgt grandmother) Jane Gatherer who was known as Jean! Oh that would be the Scottish influence coming into play 😊
So back to Catherine Mary…..she has been known as various names over her lifetime. Her mother and sisters always called her Cath – at high school it was Katy which then morphed into Cathy. As she gets older Catherine has come back into play….sounds more mature she often says.
Trouble is it gets tricky at times when she’s introducing herself as Catherine to someone new and an old acquaintance at the same event comes along and refers to her as Cathy….there can be confused looks or laughter all round. Then making an appt the other day she offered Catherine as her name, long pause and the receptionist could be heard muttering away in the background, then came back to ask if she had family with a similar name because all she could find was a Cathy. She’s going to need a little black book soon to make a note of who knows her as what😎
So here I am on a Monday morning wondering if I’ll ever be known by any more names in my lifetime – more and more frequently we are identified by a number/letter combination, (user/screen names, pins, passwords etc) in person eye and finger recognition is becoming more common (not sure if it’s more acceptable though).
Monday came, Monday went
And no post eventuated
Lets just say an infection arrived- one we don’t normally talk about.
You know the one when you have to pee…..constantly (painfully)
Things are a little better, antibiotics are a marvellous invention.
Lots of water and rest needed.
I’m taking a little time off, I’ll see you another day.
Fingers crossed it doesn’t return, as they are won’t to do.
You know that saying….
We were  on our way up to Echuca  earlier in the year when I took these photos of a sky full of strange clouds.  I’ve no idea of the formation names but some were fluffy – some low lying in the distance  – some streaky where the sun was trying to burst through.
A bit further down the road the look of the sky had changed a bit. Â More blue sky – more open – not so ‘crowded’
As we drove along looking at the same but changing ever so slightly view of the clouds I kept thinking ‘there’s something strange up there’
Thats when I said to The Golfer – ‘you know that saying we often use about flying pigs, well I reckon other animals can do it as well’
‘What, as well as the cow who jumped over the moon’ was his reply 😀
‘Just look out there – Â can’t you see it floating around in the sky?
One Scottie dog laid on his back, legs in the air, wanting his belly rubbed.
Well that’s what I saw – what about you😎
~ ~ ~ ~
Fun Friday – the day you forget the worries of the week.
Will be back on Monday – see you then
Cup of soup anyone…..
The aim of our winter trips to Bowen is to relax and enjoy life in a climate that is definitely warmer than at home. Â Whilst there’s enough linen crockery cutlery and cooking utensils in the self contained cabin to keep things running smoothly for day to day living we usually pack a couple of plastic storage boxes in the boot using them to take some of our own bits and pieces along for convenience. Â Taking a vegetable peeler and tin opener might seem strange but one year the ones in the cabin were ‘wonky’, some microwave cookware and a couple of sharp knives go in as well.
Now I’m not one for elaborate cooking while we’re up there but will ocassionally make soups which we have ‘chunky’ in the bowls provided  – then sometimes I’ll blend it smooth using my Bamix and serve in a couple of old ‘soup mugs’ (similar to this) 
that I’ve taken up with us.
We’ve had them for years – yes they’re vintage in some people’s minds – they get used when we’re on our own – and also on the road where they’ve come in handy more than once (as coffee mugs and cereal bowls in motels when I haven’t fancied the look of their crockery) They keep ‘food’ warmer than open bowls for a start and I’m not inclined to spill things down the front of me …..don’t ask😊
Anyway to cut a long story short I forgot to pack them this year, couldn’t find anything similar or any really really large mugs in the local op shops and was feeling quite annoyed with myself when The Golfer pointed out something being sold in Safeway.
Continental had a ‘special’ with their packets of soup mixes. Â Buy a couple of packets @ $1 each and you get a mug….free. Â I’m not saying we ‘don’t’ drink packet soup…we just don’t drink a lot of it…..but I use it sometimes for other things. Â So $4 later 2 special mugs made their way back to the cabin. Â Where they were used….. Â Eventually coming back home with us, promptly being put in the mug drawer and forgotten about
Early last month – Â it’s a miserable wet day, I’m passing time looking for things I don’t really know I wanted/needed when I see this!
And then this!
Some may call them Collectables – I’m not so sure
But then people collect all sorts of weird and wonderful things
What I am sure about though, is that someone’s out to make (and collect) some money …….only it looks like they’re not doing too well at it.  Unless they bought up stock when the campaign finished, they seem to be having a hard time getting rid of them  These ads were still there yesterday – same dealer, different ‘get by’ date.
I haven’t decided what I’m going to do with ours……keep them or give them to the op shop. Â Or maybe try to make some money on them. Cup a soup mugs anyone??
Who knew….
That sitting could be so bad for you
It’s been a(nother) week of coldish wet days spent in a comfy chair, hot drinks, snacks and a book nearby. Knitting not too far away as well. Â Wonder if this strange wet almost wintery Spring weather is ever going to end?
Cup Day turned out to be not that bad…..you couldn’t say that about yesterday….Oaks Day traditionally called Ladies Day (more posh frocks and hats) Â was awful. Freezing cold on our side of town with strong winds and heavy rain. Â Not much different at Flemington.
I picked up, put down, then finally finished The Offing (Benjamin Myers) – who knew that a book seemingly ‘loved’ by so many wouldn’t interest me at all. Â I’d waited in line for quite a while so (unlike me normally) I wasn’t going to give up on it. Â But there were so many words, so much description and it just seemed to go on and on – I didn’t ‘warm’ to either of the main characters at all. Â Reviews have called It a coming of age story , I can accept that….it’s just that there are others of that genre I much prefer……such as Tim Winton’s ‘coming of age’ novel Breath
Other bloggers have spoken about ‘unusual’  items for a young lad from a pit village to have just after the war but what did sound unusual for me was the mention of freezing strawberries.  Hardly anyone (apart from the rich and famous) had a fridge in those days – did anyone have a freezer?  Even though she seemed to scorn it  Dulcie obviously had the means, had lived the life and mixed with society familiar with ‘the good things in life’ so possibly did possess one but it still didn’t ‘sound’ right.
Luckily up until a few years ago I led a fairly active life and yes, have now slowed down.
Who knows how many sedentary years of  sitting around doing nothing in particular would lead to the problems listed above?
Does anyone really know?
Wordless Wednesday…….Heroes
Come in all shapes and sizes 
And do the strangest things
My favourite painting from the recent Heysen exhibition at the NGV in Melbourne
https://www.thecultureconcept.com/hans-and-nora-heysen-two-generations-of-australian-art-ngv
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Wordless Wednesday occurs all over the internet each Wednesday, when bloggers let photos speak for themselves.
See what others have to say ‘Wordlessly’ (or almost)
Wordless Wednesday hub
From the Arctic to the Amazon to the Antarctic……
All in the stretch of a couple of weeks 😎
I promised myself I’d not mention the weather for a while…. BUT………this is just ridiculous – from days of ‘cold enough’ to have the heating on……progressing to hot (as in over 30c) and humid enough for several days to have the cooling on….. then reverting back to cold enough for heating and a hot water bottle in the bed accompanied by pouring rain!
The Spring Racing Carnival began last Saturday- watching the Derby Day punters on tv trying to keep out of the torrential rain I discovered that from what I could see of the crowd huddled under cover, $2 plastic ponchos are made in many more colours than clear 😊🌂
Tomorrow is the first Tuesday in November otherwise known as Melbourne Cup Day.
That’s the race that used to stop the nation –  it’s still a public holiday here in Victoria but many shops are open especially in large shopping centres.  It’s a day usually filled with fun and frivolity, frilly dresses and posh hats for the ladies, champagne in the car park (https://www.flemington.com.au/social-news/2019-10-29/carnival-in-the-car-parks) and a punt on the big race.  Lots of restaurants and pubs have Cup Lunches for groups who want to have fun and watch away from the course – everybody dressed to the nines, with the ‘race’ on big screens and a sweep in progress.  The forecast is 18c/64f with a chance of rain.  Not very nice at all.  Usually the weather is warm and sunny so there’ll  be lots of ‘changing their minds’ over the dresses they planned to wear and how the car park picnics are going to be arranged.
Us?
Well we’ll be in front of the telly and if it’s as cold tomorrow as it is today (10c now at 3pm) it’ll be a mug of hot chocolate and a slice of fruit cake in front of us instead of the usual flute of champagne accompanied by cold chicken salad.
Who do I fancy?
Well here’s today’s run down on the field https://www.news.com.au/sport/superracing/punters-life/melbourne-cup-2019-the-ultimate-form-guide-for-race-that-stops-a-nation/news-story/8cefffc8b2bce14dc5b617ce29902b05.
Last years winner has come back for another go but will be carrying extra weight so may not manage it. Â There’s a whole swag of Irish horses there, the Brits are back in town along with a load of others. Â 24 in the field…..at the moment the Japanese horse is the favourite, it could change dramatically by ‘horses at the barrier’ time tomorrow – somehow I think it might be stab a pin in the paper time as I’ve no idea who the winner will be.
Right, I’m off to look for penguins – won’t find polar bears here in the Southern Hemisphere – even if it is cold enough for both of them outside!
What are your plans for tomorrow- oh, and what’s the weather like where you are?
Still Waters 