Time warp...

Still very involved/consumed in mapping the family tree. I figured out that my current obsession with it is because it is very like doing a jigsaw puzzle, and I love puzzles.

Adding another birth, death & marriage from the historical indexes is like adding another piece of puzzle. Sorting through the entries to make matches, following leads & sometimes coming to a dead end is both interesting & frustrating.

But making the lists of dates is not enough for me. I want to know about these ancestors lives. Why did they emigrate (predominantly from the UK), what was the journey like for a convict (!) in the 1840's. What prompted them to move to outback Queensland.
I know conditons would have been tough but did they have joy in their lives? Were they content? Or did just getting by have to be enough. Infant mortality is common, causes of death like miners phthisis, apoplexy & cancer of the stomach pop up like red flags. How much did they know about cancer in the 1860's, what did that poor woman endure before dying in an 'asylum'.

So...some questions answered but lots left unanswered, my detective work continues.

Public transport...

Two trips recently on public transport have not done anything to sway my opinion of it all. I am a car driver. I like to drive, I like my car & I love the independence of it, at the end of the day I am in charge of myself.

Last week I went into the big city to attend a study day, the train travel was pretty straight forward but a bit of motion sickness means I can't read or concentrate on anything like texting. I just look out the window, so pretty boring, I just keep thinking how glad I am not to have to do it everyday. The city was very busy & waiting around for trains isn't how I like to fill in time.

Today I probably should have stayed at home.

The train was full before it got to our station. An overhead message offers me a bus direct to the terminal station but I need to get off & connect with a bus before that. I hate buses, they make me sicker than trains, so I get on a standing room only train, connect with the bus & make it to the forum on time.
On the way home the entire train is cancelled & my only option is another bus!

Not happy Jan.

Now I am home & enjoying a nice cup of tea, secure in the knowledge I don't have to catch any more forms of public transport for some time.

To put my woes in perspective though, today I met a man with a small baby from a remote part of Australia who was off to RMH to visit his wife who was in ICU & had been flown down via Alice Springs/Adelaide in a critical condition. It was a very interesting conversation, he is a RN working with Aboriginal people & their diverse health needs & his wife was severely injured whilst holding the baby who also sustained a broken wrist. He had driven for hours & hours to be in Melbourne with her, he wasn't complaining about todays full train, that would just be me.

Uuggh...

With the warm weather we have been having lately plus the downpour of rain it has been perfect conditions for...

millipedes & spiders & mosquitoes oh my!

I have killed many huntsmen spiders & swept up loads of millipedes. The millipedes give me the creeps. They crawl up onto the celling & when you are least suspecting they drop down on you. And they are crunchy underfoot which gives me the willies as well.AND you can't go out after dark without being eaten alive by the mossies.

I feel like we are under seige by the micro population.

Brave girl...

Erin had to overcome her fear of speaking for herself in an audition. She really wants to be in the local amateur theatre company production of 'Oliver!'. Hayley will be playing in the ensemble again & Erin decided she wants in too. But to do so she had to audition!

In the first attempt she was paralysed with fear & could not sing in front of the audition panel (4 people, 2 of whom she did not know at all) or play out the lines she had memorised. She was able to complete the dance part because that was done in a small group. The director was gracious enough to let her re-audition after another weeks preparation.
I am sure she can perform once the rehearsals begin, she has danced & sung in Calisthenics, junior choir, J-Rock & dance recitals. She has also had several gradings in Karate in which she had to show she had the goods.

But it was the solo singing that had her really rattled. To her credit after the week was up, she had prepared the ditty 'Heads shoulders knee & toes...' in Japanese. On Sunday morning it looked like the nerves were going to get the better of her again but she was able to go through the audition & they were pleased with the effort she put in.

We'll hear in April if she got in. Being in the production will be really good for her, to extend & challenge her & help her overcome this perception that something terrible will happen to her if she speaks up.

History...

I've been caught up lately in a family project, researching our family tree. Once you start it sucks you in & many hours later I have compiled quite a picture of our ancestors.

It all began with an invitation to a family muster that is to happen in May. I would love to go, but it is in (outback) Queensland, It would involve a lot of travel & expense, & is not great timing.
Our relative, who was previously unknown to me, has done a lot of background work & organising so I hope it all goes off really well. She tells me they are expecting between 150 - 200 to turn up.

Hopefully in the future our stories will be easier to trace. Perhaps my love of scrapbooking & photography has something to do with it.

Wetter...

Rain on Saturday, heavy flooding rain & lucky for us we escaped the massive hailstorm that struck Melbourne.

More rain Sunday, hard to tell how much as the rain gauge has overflowed but I was woken about 5am with the rain pelting down. (and a child seeking refuge from the noise)

Wishing we had another tank to store all this overflow, 6,500 litres isn't enough.

Callum asked if we are still on water restrictions...& the irony is the answer is yes!

Wet, wet, wet...

What to do on a rainy Saturday (30mls today, about 20 fell in 20 minutes!) ?

A little scrapping


then whip up a batch of something yummy to have with coffee


while watching the DVD - Julie & Julia.

I really enjoyed this movie. What do you know, a movie about cooking + blogging = heaven.

I laughed when her husband said 'this had better not go on the blog'. Cal says that to me all the time.

Just normal...

Our normal...

Erin popping around the house instead of settling down to do her homework.