Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
TUESDAY CHAT
Well, is everyone ready for Christmas? I think I am getting there and Secret Santa certainly helps a lot. Still have to think of something for Phil who doesn't really need anything but you do have to have something to wrap and hand to them don't you? We are scheduled to spend Christmas day with the family at Christie and Mathew's home but their airconditioning is once again on the blink. I had my nephew repair it last year in time for Christmas last year and suggested I do the same this year. He called at their place yesterday and let me know he'd fixed it and it only cost $150 to do so. Not sure how long it will last but I'm sure I'll here all about it soon. It is an evaporative airconditioner but when it is working it is very efficient. I am always spoiled (or should that be spoilt?) as they position my chair in the living room right under one of the ducts in the ceiling. Am so looking forward to watching the two little girls open their parcels on Christmas day and spend time with the family of course.
Do you ever stop and think how many pieces of advice are conflicting these days? Coffee is good...coffee is bad......a glass of wine each day will do you good......even a drink each week can cause all types of horrible diseases.......diabetics should avoid sugar....diabetics can have some sugar but should avoid fatty food. And so it goes on and on and on. I still think if everyone ate what they like in moderation and in smaller quantities, avoiding too much sugar and fat we should be healthy. Then of course, there is advice re exercise. That is so variable it's ridiculous. I can barely exercise except when sitting down it really doesn't concern me anyway. I do what I can when I can.
We survived two very hot days quite well and yesterday were rewarded with RAIN!! 6mm in our gauge which for December is quite a downpour as we get very little rain during our summer months. I now see we've sent our hot weather eastwards and hopefully some rainfall will follow for them too. We had a very cool and quite wet spring in Perth and the Parks and Wildlife people have been busy trying to complete as many prescribed burns as they can. The rain will have brought with it lots of weeds which will be drying out now so as much litter as possible has to be removed or burnt. We can only hope we don't have a horrid bushfire season as we had last year with lives lost and so many homes destroyed, in fact a whole township gone just like that. I was pleased to learn the other day that the little school in that town will be re-opened as soon as possible. It was first thought the government wasn't going to bother rebuilding the school but it seems public opinion really mattered.
I have noticed the print here has suddenly become smaller and I don't know how to enlarge it. I must see if I can find a way to do it. I can see it quite well but would prefer it to be a little larger.
Having problems with Firefox. I run Facebook in two different names (it's do with a game I play) but all of a sudden I've found I am unable to delete the history so it's not allowing me to change from one name to another. I have checked on their help page and done what I was instructed to do but it's still not working. Unfortunately, these days, everything written to do with computers is done so taking it for granted that everyone needing help is a computer geek. I get by but will never fully master all its intricacies. Patience I guess is a virtue when it comes to dealing with computers and lots of other modern technology.
Do you ever stop and think how many pieces of advice are conflicting these days? Coffee is good...coffee is bad......a glass of wine each day will do you good......even a drink each week can cause all types of horrible diseases.......diabetics should avoid sugar....diabetics can have some sugar but should avoid fatty food. And so it goes on and on and on. I still think if everyone ate what they like in moderation and in smaller quantities, avoiding too much sugar and fat we should be healthy. Then of course, there is advice re exercise. That is so variable it's ridiculous. I can barely exercise except when sitting down it really doesn't concern me anyway. I do what I can when I can.
We survived two very hot days quite well and yesterday were rewarded with RAIN!! 6mm in our gauge which for December is quite a downpour as we get very little rain during our summer months. I now see we've sent our hot weather eastwards and hopefully some rainfall will follow for them too. We had a very cool and quite wet spring in Perth and the Parks and Wildlife people have been busy trying to complete as many prescribed burns as they can. The rain will have brought with it lots of weeds which will be drying out now so as much litter as possible has to be removed or burnt. We can only hope we don't have a horrid bushfire season as we had last year with lives lost and so many homes destroyed, in fact a whole township gone just like that. I was pleased to learn the other day that the little school in that town will be re-opened as soon as possible. It was first thought the government wasn't going to bother rebuilding the school but it seems public opinion really mattered.
I have noticed the print here has suddenly become smaller and I don't know how to enlarge it. I must see if I can find a way to do it. I can see it quite well but would prefer it to be a little larger.
Having problems with Firefox. I run Facebook in two different names (it's do with a game I play) but all of a sudden I've found I am unable to delete the history so it's not allowing me to change from one name to another. I have checked on their help page and done what I was instructed to do but it's still not working. Unfortunately, these days, everything written to do with computers is done so taking it for granted that everyone needing help is a computer geek. I get by but will never fully master all its intricacies. Patience I guess is a virtue when it comes to dealing with computers and lots of other modern technology.
Monday, December 12, 2016
MONDAY MIRTH
My endeavour to bring a smile to your face to begin the week with. I've always been so pleased that none of my moggies have ever done this.
Sunday, December 11, 2016
SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT
and a little late....just didn't have time to find a little poem for today so here's a silly ditty from years ago which I am sure you will all remember.
THE SPRING HAS SPRUNG, THE GRASS HAS RIZ
I WONDER WHERE THE BIRDIES IS?
THE BIRD IS ON THE WING, BUT THATS ABSURD
BECAUSE THE WING IS ON THE BIRD.
Just a bit of craziness I had to share as I recover from 2 very hot days. Hope I can do better next Sunday and that you will all have a good week.
THE SPRING HAS SPRUNG, THE GRASS HAS RIZ
I WONDER WHERE THE BIRDIES IS?
THE BIRD IS ON THE WING, BUT THATS ABSURD
BECAUSE THE WING IS ON THE BIRD.
Just a bit of craziness I had to share as I recover from 2 very hot days. Hope I can do better next Sunday and that you will all have a good week.
Saturday, December 10, 2016
THINKING ALLOWED
I am thinking we really should get out more but perhaps on a cooler day than it was yesterday. A dear Facebook friend of mine had flown over from New South Wales last week to attend her son's wedding down near Albany on our south coast. She contacted me before leaving NSW saying she would love to meet with Phil and myself while she is in WA. I suggested a restaurant in King's Park as it is quite central to the city and Anita booked us in for lunch at 1pm. Normally I don't venture out when the temperature is much above 30C (86F) but Anita and I have become quite close over the years and I so really wanted to meet her. This is the restaurant where we met. It's quite impressive having been renovated a number of years ago and so are it's prices but for special occasions one forgets about that and just enjoys the event.
It was wonderful to meet Anita and also another Facebook friend of hers. We sat and chatted for a while before ordering our meal and I must say I was somewhat disappointed with the beer battered schnapper and chips I had....no salad unless you paid dollars for it and I wasn't at all impressed at $32 a serve. A little cafe Phil and I often go to in a nearby shopping centre has $15 specials of all their fish dishes on Fridays. You get served a large piece of grilled fish with chips (the best I've ever had) and a lovely garden salad included. I never mind paying for a meal when it is worth the money but
'posher' places that charge just because they can don't impress me one little bit. I thought Phil was wonderful when he whispered to me that he'd like to shout us all our lunch and I know it was much appreciated by Anita and Cheryl.
Anyway it was great Phil was able to join in with our chatter and I thought the four of us got on exceedingly well, so well in fact I am sorry Anita lives over 2,000 miles away. I doubt we will ever meet again but I know we will keep in touch through Facebook. She has always said I am her second mum as when times have been a little tough for her I've tried hard to smooth the way and she told me today that she had even told her own mother that she was going to meet her second mum.
Phil and I came home via a long drive through Kings Park where you could see some of the devastation caused by the dreadful bushfires there a few years back. Our Australian bush does regenerate so well after bushfires but I noticed some trees that hadn't survived which was sad. Neither Phil nor I are people that enjoy driving on busy freeways and are patient enough to use the older main roads with their traffic lights every few streets. We actually had a wonderful run through until we got to the Stirling Bridge which crosses the Swan River near Fremantle and there is always as bottleneck there as the huge container trucks come in from the Fremantle wharf on to the main road.
We both sat and put our feet up, after I'd turned on the airconditioning, when we got home and then Phil was busy doing the watering, moving the sprinklers every 10 minutes. I'd left the blinds down when we went out and although the temp did reach 36C in our living room it was only 26C so cooled down quite quickly. P.S. Phil did have a reticulation system set up years ago but with now only being allowed to use sprinklers two days a week it wasn't worth maintaining it. At least I guess he get a little exercise on watering days.
It was wonderful to meet Anita and also another Facebook friend of hers. We sat and chatted for a while before ordering our meal and I must say I was somewhat disappointed with the beer battered schnapper and chips I had....no salad unless you paid dollars for it and I wasn't at all impressed at $32 a serve. A little cafe Phil and I often go to in a nearby shopping centre has $15 specials of all their fish dishes on Fridays. You get served a large piece of grilled fish with chips (the best I've ever had) and a lovely garden salad included. I never mind paying for a meal when it is worth the money but
'posher' places that charge just because they can don't impress me one little bit. I thought Phil was wonderful when he whispered to me that he'd like to shout us all our lunch and I know it was much appreciated by Anita and Cheryl.
Anyway it was great Phil was able to join in with our chatter and I thought the four of us got on exceedingly well, so well in fact I am sorry Anita lives over 2,000 miles away. I doubt we will ever meet again but I know we will keep in touch through Facebook. She has always said I am her second mum as when times have been a little tough for her I've tried hard to smooth the way and she told me today that she had even told her own mother that she was going to meet her second mum.
Phil and I came home via a long drive through Kings Park where you could see some of the devastation caused by the dreadful bushfires there a few years back. Our Australian bush does regenerate so well after bushfires but I noticed some trees that hadn't survived which was sad. Neither Phil nor I are people that enjoy driving on busy freeways and are patient enough to use the older main roads with their traffic lights every few streets. We actually had a wonderful run through until we got to the Stirling Bridge which crosses the Swan River near Fremantle and there is always as bottleneck there as the huge container trucks come in from the Fremantle wharf on to the main road.
We both sat and put our feet up, after I'd turned on the airconditioning, when we got home and then Phil was busy doing the watering, moving the sprinklers every 10 minutes. I'd left the blinds down when we went out and although the temp did reach 36C in our living room it was only 26C so cooled down quite quickly. P.S. Phil did have a reticulation system set up years ago but with now only being allowed to use sprinklers two days a week it wasn't worth maintaining it. At least I guess he get a little exercise on watering days.
Friday, December 9, 2016
FRIDAY FAVOURITES
Once again scrolling through YouTube I came across this song by Engelbert Humperdenck. This version was in 1989 and it has always been a favourite of mine. I hope you will enjoy it too and perhaps it will bring back some happy memories.
Thursday, December 8, 2016
DID YOU KNOW?
As said last week I am giving the Kings and Queens of England and Scotland a little rest and concentrating on Welsh royalty. It is something I know nothing about so maybe we will all learn a little history here.
THE RULERS OF WALES
King Henry VII, born in Pembroke, had marched 200 miles into battle beneath the standard of the Red Dragon of Wales, and he was the first English monarch to incorporate that emblem into the Royal Standard. It is fitting that, at this point, the tally of the rulers of Wales should be recounted.
The Celts, or Britons, were Christians by the year 200 A.D., and never abandoned this formal faith nor their ancient tribal ways when they were driven by the Anglo-Saxon invaders into Cornwall, Cumberland and Wales. In Wales the rulers (who in this account will mainly be referred to as 'lords' for convenience) were recognised as kings, princes or chieftains according to the size of their territory, but were mutually independent. None were vassals to any other lord. Sometimes a powerful leader would consolidate the Welsh into unity but all too swiftly, any potential national cohesion fell apart, mainly between the belligerent Welsh lords were fighting each other for self=aggrandisement with little sense of nationhood.
Gradually, however, there areas began to be recognised as the hotbeds of mature development, even if they still seethed with expression of lesser local loyalties and rivalries. They were the north, the south and the east, Gwynedd, Deheubarth and Powys. Deheubarth did not include Morgannwg (Glamorgan) in the south, but did sometimes comprise Ceredigion (modern Cardiganshire) in the west. Powys (roughly from the river Dee to the river Wye) had temporarily become absorbed into Gwynedd by the middle of the 9th century when this chronicle begins. This came about under the rule of MERFYN FRYCH 825-844 (Merfyn the Freckled), the lord of Gwynedd who married the daughter of the lord of Powys, and whose son RHODRI MAWS 844-878 (Rhodri the Great) was the first, after the old Cadwallon, to unite most of the land of Wales. He did this through military skill and political expediency. His spirited resistance against Norse invasions inspired many other lords to unite to keep the Norsemen out of Wales; and he married Angharad, the daughter of the lord of Greater Ceredigion. He was not a storybook conqueror, always successful. In 878 he had to flee to Ireland to escape the menace of the Northmen, and in 878 he was lilled in battle with the English.
Rhodri left six sons and, according to ancient (and ill-starred) Welsh custom, they divided the 'kingdom' of Wales between them. Those who emerged with power were Anarawd in Gwynedd and Cadell in Ceredigion.
ANARAWD 878-916 first made an alliance with the Danish King of York, but later accepted the protection of King Alfred of England. He visited Alfred's Court to pay homage (the first instance of Welsh agreement to pay homage to the English) and accepted English help against his aggressive brother Cadell. He was succeeded by his son IDWAL FOEL 916-942 (Idwal the Bald). who was eventually killed in rebellion against the English king Edmund I. His son IAGO 950-979 did not immediately inherit the territory, since he was run out of Dwynedd by the impetus of an invasion from the south led by Cadell's son, Rhodri's grandson, HYWEL DDA 909-979 (Hywed the Good).
Hywel. lord of Deheubarth, had in 918 tactfully submitted to Edward the Elder of England and had been confirmed in his dominion. A sincere admirer of the English, he had copied the experience of his idol, King Alfred, and visited Rome, Later he led his chieftains in submission to King Athelstan but he was no habitual submitter. He expelled from Gwynedd and old Powys Iago and Ieuaf, the sons of Idwal Foel, and consolidated all Wales except M and Gwent. After the deathof Hywel Dda in 950,Iago and Ieuaf fought their way back into Gwynedd, defeating Hywel's son OWAIN 945-986.
Personally, that is all I can take in right now. I find it rather more confusing than the English royalty and with the names being so unusual (no they are not typing errors but Welsh names) it takes a lot of concentration to work out who is who. Shall I continue with Welsh royalty? Not sure. I am interested but I am certainly not going to remember who was who and when.
THE RULERS OF WALES
King Henry VII, born in Pembroke, had marched 200 miles into battle beneath the standard of the Red Dragon of Wales, and he was the first English monarch to incorporate that emblem into the Royal Standard. It is fitting that, at this point, the tally of the rulers of Wales should be recounted.
The Celts, or Britons, were Christians by the year 200 A.D., and never abandoned this formal faith nor their ancient tribal ways when they were driven by the Anglo-Saxon invaders into Cornwall, Cumberland and Wales. In Wales the rulers (who in this account will mainly be referred to as 'lords' for convenience) were recognised as kings, princes or chieftains according to the size of their territory, but were mutually independent. None were vassals to any other lord. Sometimes a powerful leader would consolidate the Welsh into unity but all too swiftly, any potential national cohesion fell apart, mainly between the belligerent Welsh lords were fighting each other for self=aggrandisement with little sense of nationhood.
Gradually, however, there areas began to be recognised as the hotbeds of mature development, even if they still seethed with expression of lesser local loyalties and rivalries. They were the north, the south and the east, Gwynedd, Deheubarth and Powys. Deheubarth did not include Morgannwg (Glamorgan) in the south, but did sometimes comprise Ceredigion (modern Cardiganshire) in the west. Powys (roughly from the river Dee to the river Wye) had temporarily become absorbed into Gwynedd by the middle of the 9th century when this chronicle begins. This came about under the rule of MERFYN FRYCH 825-844 (Merfyn the Freckled), the lord of Gwynedd who married the daughter of the lord of Powys, and whose son RHODRI MAWS 844-878 (Rhodri the Great) was the first, after the old Cadwallon, to unite most of the land of Wales. He did this through military skill and political expediency. His spirited resistance against Norse invasions inspired many other lords to unite to keep the Norsemen out of Wales; and he married Angharad, the daughter of the lord of Greater Ceredigion. He was not a storybook conqueror, always successful. In 878 he had to flee to Ireland to escape the menace of the Northmen, and in 878 he was lilled in battle with the English.
Rhodri left six sons and, according to ancient (and ill-starred) Welsh custom, they divided the 'kingdom' of Wales between them. Those who emerged with power were Anarawd in Gwynedd and Cadell in Ceredigion.
ANARAWD 878-916 first made an alliance with the Danish King of York, but later accepted the protection of King Alfred of England. He visited Alfred's Court to pay homage (the first instance of Welsh agreement to pay homage to the English) and accepted English help against his aggressive brother Cadell. He was succeeded by his son IDWAL FOEL 916-942 (Idwal the Bald). who was eventually killed in rebellion against the English king Edmund I. His son IAGO 950-979 did not immediately inherit the territory, since he was run out of Dwynedd by the impetus of an invasion from the south led by Cadell's son, Rhodri's grandson, HYWEL DDA 909-979 (Hywed the Good).
Hywel. lord of Deheubarth, had in 918 tactfully submitted to Edward the Elder of England and had been confirmed in his dominion. A sincere admirer of the English, he had copied the experience of his idol, King Alfred, and visited Rome, Later he led his chieftains in submission to King Athelstan but he was no habitual submitter. He expelled from Gwynedd and old Powys Iago and Ieuaf, the sons of Idwal Foel, and consolidated all Wales except M and Gwent. After the deathof Hywel Dda in 950,Iago and Ieuaf fought their way back into Gwynedd, defeating Hywel's son OWAIN 945-986.
Personally, that is all I can take in right now. I find it rather more confusing than the English royalty and with the names being so unusual (no they are not typing errors but Welsh names) it takes a lot of concentration to work out who is who. Shall I continue with Welsh royalty? Not sure. I am interested but I am certainly not going to remember who was who and when.
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