Did you get all your Christmas cards??

Some things are simply irresistible, here's a couple of examples. 

I knew thet were cutting too many trees down!

I've just been through my Christmas cards and I'm pretty sure this applied to me too.

Places to visit

This was sent to me by a friend and I thought it was worth a post... specially when my posts have been so infrequent.  Subject:Cahoots Cahoots - I have been in many places, but I've never been in Cahoots.   Apparently, you can't go alone. You have to be in Cahoots with someone.  I've also never been in Cognito. I hear no one recognizes you there.  I have, however, been in Sane. They don't have an airport; you have to be driven there. I have made several trips there, thanks to my friends, family and work.  I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump, and I'm not too much on physical activity anymore.  I have also been in Doubt. That is a sad place to go, and I try not to visit there too often.  I've been in Flexible, but only when it was very important to stand firm.    Sometimes I'm in Capable, and I go there more often as I'm getting older.  One of my favorite places to be is in Suspense! It really gets the adrenalin flowing and pumps up the old heart! At my age I need all the stimuli I can get!  I may have been in Continent, and I don't remember what country I was in. It's an age thing.  So laugh insanely, love truly and forgive quickly! From one unstable person to another... I hope everyone is happy in your head - we're all doing pretty good in mine!

I'm a great grandfather again.

Some of you will be aware, because we share some readers, that my Sister Merle has been very sick and has been hospitalized for a little over 6 weeks.
I am very pleased to report that she seems to have turned the corner and is feeling very much better, she has resumed her rehab exercises this time with much less pain, she has a crushed vertebrae in her lower back.
It is quite surprising to find just how much her illness affected me, while we are quite close I'm not usually a very emotional type, but I guess I got found out this time!!!
Enough...

Spent a pretty quiet New Years Eve with my good friend Warren, no trouble seeing the midnight hour as we are both night owls, so after 4 days I'm just starting to catch up on my beauty sleep (much needed).




These are my 3 great grand children, Phoenix, Ezra, & Scarlet, my oldest grandson Matthew and his wife Rhianna are the proud parents, Vicki & Rex are the proud grandparents.

Here's a start for 2012

Puns for those with a higher IQ :

  Those who jump off a bridge in Paris are in Seine.

  A man's home is his castle, in a manor of speaking.

  Dijon vu - the same mustard as before.

  Practice safe eating - always use condiments.

  Shotgun wedding - A case of wife or death.

  A man needs a mistress just to break the monogamy.

  A hangover is the wrath of grapes.

  Dancing cheek-to-cheek is really a form of floor play.

  Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?

  Condoms should be used on every conceivable occasion.

  Reading while sunbathing makes you well red.

  When two egotists meet, it's an I for an I.

  A bicycle can't stand on its own because it is two tired.

  What's the definition of a will? (It's a dead give away.)

  Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

  In democracy your vote counts. In feudalism your count votes.

  She was engaged to a boyfriend with a wooden leg but broke it off.

  A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.

  If you don't pay your exorcist, you get repossessed

  With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress.

  The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.

  You feel stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.

  Local Area Network in Australia - the LAN down under.

  Every calendar's days are numbered.

  A lot of money is tainted -  Taint yours and taint mine.

  A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.

  He had a photographic memory that was never developed.

  A midget fortune-teller who escapes from prison is a small medium at large.

  Once you've seen one shopping center, you've seen a mall.

  Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead-to-know basis.

  Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.

  Acupuncture is a jab well done.

Santa Baby

Look what I found under my Christmas tree.... She had gone by the time I woke up I'm sad to say.

Foreign Objects.

This is a photo of a toilet on board the Indian Pacific train that I recently crossed the continent on.

With regard the lower sign... I got quite a strange look from a group of Italians on the train when I asked if they were experiencing any difficulty with blockages after use?????

Merry Christmas to all Bloggers.

Well here we are…. Almost Christmas 2011

And I’ve finished this years “family & friends” poetic message and low and behold I came across the Bloggers 2007 Christmas Message which I decided to reprint ‘cos I like the idea!!!!

I write a Christmas message for family and friends

each year ( it’s a 22  26 year tradition) and this is the

third year I have done one for my blog buddy’s.

I thought it might be a good idea to post this early

as I know I have some poetic friends who might want

to join in to this idea (budding tradition?)

Bloggers 2007 Christmas Message

Another Year has ended

And with this, I’m sure you’ll agree

I’m broke…. my money’s spended

Thank the lord blogging is free

Once more I look back with glee

At what’s given and taken both ends

Just to think that we, Yeah, you and me

Though still strangers, we’re friends

Oh what stories we make-up

And with all of that hype

Cyberspace we fill up

With all the stuff that we type.

It’s been said many times

We are closer in “here” than with others

Here I’m searching for rhymes

I’ve got it… in “here” we are brothers.

As I read a sad, or happy, post

I often sit with tear in eye

The thing that surprises me most?

Just what has made me cry.

Another time I’ll burst into laughter

As I admire the writing skills

And I’m hooked, a fan thereafter

With all my morning coffee spills.

So to all of us, yeah, I’ll include me too

Whose memories and imagination

No matter whether false or true

Write our posts and avoid litigation.

To all of my blog buddy’s

Wherever from far or near

As you sit in your study’s

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

( If you celebrate some other form of religion or belief

I hope you have a good one)

Better try to add a verse or two

To bring this up to date

So this is from me to you

Yeah…. from your Aussie mate.

It seems like my bloglist is broken

There are so many “retiree’s”

Such a lot of my original contacts

Are no longer shooting the breeze

To say they are missed

Is so obvious, and so understated

But life has a habit of getting in the way

For many the writing urge just dissipated

There are other reasons for giving blogging away.

But to those hearty souls who continue

And are happy just blogging away

May your lives be filled up with gladness

As you find something new to post each day.

And Still They Come.

The latest visitors to our shores are Crown Prince Frederick and his lovely wife Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, this Royal couple are fairly frequent visitors to Australia as Mary was born and raised in Tasmania AU.
She was born Mary Donaldson in 1972 and is of Scottish ancestry, Mary has lived the dream of meeting and marrying a real live Prince, they are a devoted couple and have 4 children, including  a set of twins born in January this year.

It is always a pleasure to welcome our very own Princess and her family to our shores.

Visitors to our land

Australia has been graced with visits by Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip recently and President Barack Obama even more recently (I'm starting to worry about what the world might expect of us) but that's jumping ahead, first the reasons for this post.
Let me say at the outset that I am not a Royalist, I firmly believe that Australia should be a democracy with self rule and an AUSTRALIAN Flag, that said I have nothing but Admiration for Queen Elizabeth who was thrust into the spotlight by the death of her father, young as she may have been she has not put a foot wrong during her long reign.
At age 85, and 90 for Prince Philip, they present to the world a picture of grace and charm un-equaled by other world diplomats (even Phil managed to keep his foot entering his mouth much this trip, over the years his gaffes have become an expected part of any royal visit.


How many 85 & 90 year old's would look this good after a flight half the way around the world.

I read an article recently about the Queens dress code, a colour is chosen first, then the Hat, Coat, Dress and Shoes are selected in that colour and of course the Pearls to set it off

I have included the photo showing our Prime Minister Juia Gillard greeting Prince Philip, Standing behind Juia is Australia's "First Bloke" Tim Mathieson.... as a former Shepparton hairdresser Tim can't you come up with a better hairstyle for Julia???

 

The reason for the Queen's visit was CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of State Meeting) which is a bi-annual affair this year being held in Perth WA

 

It seems we were no sooner done with the Royal visit than we were hit with cyclone Obama, I think the visit lasted 28 hours (but I'm really not interested enough to bother looking that up on the net) during this visit President Obama & Prime Minister Gillard were heard singing each others praises and photographed together enough times too fill an entire "Soapie" episode with material, I like to think of them as "Political Bookends" spanning the ocean between our two great lands!!!!!

Suitably framed by the flags  of our countries (you might recall I'm in favour of a flag which isn't dominated by England's Union Jack)

And just how supportive can you get?????

The wealth of Aging.

O.M.G.,  I'm rich! Silver in the Hair Gold in the Teeth Crystals in the Kidneys Sugar in the Blood Lead in the Ass Iron in the Arteries And an inexhaustible supply of Natural Gas I never thought I'd accumulate such wealth.