CRICKETERS TOUR, NEW ZEALAND AND US

Many years ago we went on a tour of beautiful New Zealand for 11 days. On the 6th day of the tour my husband was very homesick missing our 4 children. l must admit l wasn't. l just wanted  to escape for a little while, as our children were small then. 

My parents were staying at our home looking after them. We decided to ring them again to put his mind at ease.

My mother said, "No don't worry about them Kerry broke her toe and l have taken her to the doctors and she's O.K. Rodd went picking tomatoes and l'v'e taken him to the doctors and he had sunstroke but he's alright, Don't worry about little Kyle l took him to the doctor but he only had a stomach bug,  he's O.K"."What about Jody" l said? Mum put Jody on the line but l couldn't understand a word he said," What's wrong with your voice" By this time l was starting to  panic

 Jody replied "l'm just eating a lollipop!"

 We decided to go for a walk as our bus tour was now in beautiful Dunedin on the South lsland.

As we were nearing the fountain my husband got very excited the West lndies Cricketers were here.They had recently been in a test series in Australia and my husband, son and their friends had been to see them.

Joel Garner ( affectionately called --Big  Bird )

He is 6ft .8  Inches tall and born in 1952

Playing for the West  lndies he was known as one

of the fastest bowlers of all time.

Michael  Holding (affectionately called Whispering  Death )

He is 6ft.3 inches tall and born in 1954.

in Australia he was known as the Panther as he moved so fast,

and also 1 of the top bowlers of all time

Hubby had forgotten about being homesick, as he was in his

glory talking to these Cricketers.

BLOOD DONORS

My son Rodd has been donating blood every 2 weeks for years

Every  blood donation can save 3 lives.

 Red blood cells have a shelf life of 42 days.

 Rodd now gives plasma blood which is a very diverse blood component to be used for a wide range of purposes

 Plasma provides life saving treatments for a range of rare, chronic , often genetic diseases,including hemophilia burns, shocks etc.

Clinical fresh frozen plasma- is used to treat patients who have clotting problems, often after trauma or liver transplants

ln Australia blood donors don't get paid for donating their blood

.l admire my son Rodd so much for lining up every fortnight to donate blood especially plasma blood

Such a great charitable service, all you blood donors out there you are truly special.

STRANGE TRIVIA FACTS.

By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back, you cannot sink in quicksand.

The liquid inside young coconuts can be used as a substitute for blood plasma.

Mosquitoes!

Did you know that mossies are attracted to the colour blue more than any other colour? Next time we have a barbecue l'll be sure not to wear blue.

Only female mosquitoes bite, (suck blood )
These disease carrying, blood sucking insects have been around for 100 million years.

CUP CAKES AND MY CAKE PAINTING

l love my cake painting, it's different.

l think a spatula has been used as the paint is very thick in places.

l bought it at the Mornington Market 3 weeks ago.

A great market with so many clever people showing their wares, many different cultures with their food stalls, musical bands and hundreds of happy people.

But, guess what, we are going back this weekend to stay with hubby's brother, Jimmy and Jenny and their lovely family, and of course we are going back to the market.

l intend to take many photo's and perhaps find some early Christmas presents.

 Cup Cakes- l bought my sister a cup cake apron, Cherie loves making cup cakes and has many books on decorating them. 

l have collected over the years (from many magazine ) pictures of different iced cup cakes.

As l have 11 grandchildren l have made quite a lot. l love to see their little faces light up when they see them although l think they enjoy the lolly's on top more than the cake.

BIRD'S NESTS

About 20 blogs ago (or l like to call them story's ), my story was called "The Orchard ".

The 2 neat little birds nests featured were very interesting all unnatural materials, -

heavy plastic and polystyrene.

My hubby came home to-day with some beautiful apples, and this large birds nest abandoned

amongst the pruned branches on the ground.

This nest is unique entwined with thick utensil wire, and white plastic coated electrical wire.What kind of bird made this ?
l would love to know. Was it a crow?

lt looks large compared to my other 2 little birds nests.

JIMMY'S HANDMADE WOODEN ROCKING HORSES.

We drove to Somerville with our son Jody and almost daughter - in - law Sonya last weekend. 

We went to stay with Jimmy and Jenny (my brother in - in -law and sister - in - law )

Jimmy had just completed his third rocking horse and they are a work of art.

Their daughter Nicole and son Troy have a golden one, and their other daughter 

Melissa has a black one.

l asked him why he took on such a task and he explained that Jenny's Dad (who was a carpenter )had made his 6 children one and they had loved it. Jimmy said,

  "lt was also a challenge to try to make them, with limited tools ( a chisel and a small grinder,also heaps of sandpaper and  l had never tried anything like this before.

Now my 3 children have 1 each and their children - and our 8 grandchildren love them."

After receiving the limited plans, he set to work spending 100's of hours on each horse.

6 months on each one

The wood he used he found at recycling yards.

lt had to be very dry, hard and fine grooved.

This beautiful rocking horse was made from 16 blocks of wood.

l'm so glad he took pictures along the build as these horses are very special.

 

MORE TRIVIA!

Did you know Doctor Seuss invented the word "nerd "?

You are more likely to be killed by a champagne cork than a venomous spider !

A daddy long legs spider is more venomous than the deadly black widow spider, but its fangs can't penetrate human skin.

And l don't like killing my daddy long legs but l think l've changed my mind!

  

MARTHA STEWART SHOW

To-day l watched the "Martha Stewart Show "

For all the Aussies out there it's on between 7.20 -8.20 in the morning on Channel 7 two.

lt gives me incentive to leave for my 1/2 hour walk @1/4 to 7 to be back by 7.20. 

During all the adds l manage to make beds, have breakfast, wash the dishes etc.

A good start to my day.

To-day was " Tall Day " on her program.
Can you imagine an enormous chocolate cake

The tallest chocolate cake, with 1,600 eggs in it, having to climb a ladder to place a cherry on top.

Beautiful tall models all over 6 ft. tall.

.There were many tall people in the audience the tallest man being 7 ft. tall.

The tallest flowering bloom (Amorphophallus -Titanum ) is also called the corpse flower as the flower smells like rotting meat. This Sumatran native will grow to 2.74 or 9feet tall.

l wonder what will be on the Martha Stewart show tomorrow ? 

RAINBOWS - TRIVIA AND A WONDER

Did you know bigger raindrops make brighter rainbows?

A raindrop falls at about 12 km's (7.5 miles per hour.)

Rainbows are formed when light hits droplets of rain, each droplet acting like a prism

According to Isaac Newton's study's and also universally accepted there are 7 colours in a rainbow,

red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

Each colour has its different wavelength.

Red has the longest wavelength which is slightly bent and,

violet the shortest wave length and bends the most.

It is best seen early in the morning, such a wonderful sight, especially watching with sunglasses on.

Rain is forecast tomorrow, maybe l will catch a rainbow!

YABBIES

l was reading a magazine and noticed an add for a yabby restaurant.

l remember back  to when my 3 grandchildren were small, and as they were growing up they would spend every 2nd or 3rd Sunday with us.

We loved those days with Ashley, Caitlyn and Cody. They are now in their late teens and 20's so they are very busy with their own lives so we don't see them very often.

The photo above was when they were very small and loved to play with yabbies.

We had a pond in our garden with hundreds of yabbies dwelling there and we would net some out and have some great yabby races.

The children were never frightened of them and knew how to pick them up properly. 

The biggest yabbies hardly ever won a race. l remember the 3 kids would squeal with excitement. We never cooked our yabbies as l couldn't stand the thought of dropping them into boiling water.

They are considered  a delicacy.
The yabby is a small freshwater crayfish native to Australia. This small crustacean is so tasty  to eat so of course yabby farming is very popular. l have tasted one and they do taste like a mini crayfish.