possum52

My Northumberland roots are in the south - North Shields, Tyneside and Bedlington. Interestingly, our former next door neighbour came from Bedlington and has moved back there to be closer to her family. I find it fascinating to think about how our Australian accent developed from the dialects and accents of the first settlers and convicts of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and then the immigrants from the mid 1850s from the various areas of England, Scotland and Ireland. Plus of course those who came from all over the world from the gold rush times up until now.

Both Rob and I have Campbell ancestors - his from Cork in Ireland and mine from Northumberland. I assume they were originally Scottish. I have not been able to go back further in tracing where they originally came from.

Has Parkes moved states? Thought it was in NSW.

In our part of south west Victoria, we called it German sausage and there was also Strasbourg sausage, spelt a couple of different ways. My grandfather, a couple of uncles and cousins were all butchers and the highlight for my children was a visit to one of their shops and given a slice of stras,

Wow, you were all very fortunate with your respective accidents/incidents. The poor man who fell, I hope that his lacerations heal well. It just shows how easily a mishap can occur and how vital travel insurance is. Linda, enjoy your trip to Devon and Cornwall.

Rob and I were given gift vouchers to the restaurant Meat & Wine Co so decided to have a night at Crown Promenade and use our gift vouchers for dinner which we did on Sunday night. The restaurant (at Southbank) is about a 400 metre walk from the hotel so it was perfect for us. Dinner was amazing, we started with a small loaf of hot rye bread with butter and olive oil, we both had fillet steak with salad - I had chips and Rob had potato mash. Dessert was liquid - a Dom Pedro - vanilla bean ice cream blended with Baileys - so good. The steaks were cooked perfectly to our liking and overall, a wonderful meal. Yesterday morning we had a buffet breakfast which filled us to dinner.

Sorry to hear you had a fall Lyle and hope you are feeling better. I'm sure Lynn is appreciating you being around even if you do have sore ribs. I still have moments of grieving for my Mum, it is nearly two years since her death. It comes on unexpectedly and I shed a tear or two. I think it is all pretty normal to do so.

The Ports North Cruise Ship Schedule has her docked in Cairns. Cairns Cruise Ship Schedule

There are shuttles into Cairns CBD(central business district), which in the past dropped off near the lagoon. It is about a 30 minutes drive into Cairns.

A good win to Swans - too many good players compared to Eagles -

3/4time -

Commentators said 2-3 goal wind which Eagles will have in last quarter.

Half time -

Swans v Eagles at Mt Barker South Australia. All AFL games are being played in SA this round. Quarter time -

The tenders dock at the Rhyll pier not in Cowes - Tender Docking at Phillip Island, although there are shuttles from Rhyll to Cowes.

Phillip Island - definitely do the Penguin Parade, particularly if offered by Princess. It will be likely cool to cold in the evening at the Penguin Parade, so do wear warm clothes and take a rug or cushion to sit on. The wind off Bass Strait can be bitter even if the days are fine. Melbourne - has lovely gardens and parks which are great to walk around and perhaps have lunch. Or walk around and explore the wonderful lanes and alleys of the central business district CBD) - there are free walking tours you can do. Our coffee culture is well known and you can always find a cafe or kiosk selling great coffee. Puffing Billy is fun and you will get to see some of our native forest up close.

It sure was. I was amazed they actually were able to run the final.

That was the forecast for yesterday afternoon, night and today. Melbourne only had 2.8mm of rain for the whole of March but starting mid afternoon through to early this morning, we had around 60mm. More than the April average.

What rain in Victoria on Sunday Mic? Not a drop of rain until mid yesterday afternoon in Melbourne when the Cats v Hawks game was stopped for a while due to a thunderstorm. It was murky though with smoke from burnoffs in the Dandenongs.

A few years ago, a large group of my family members were all in Hobart for a family wedding. As it turned out, we were all on the same flight so met up once we disembarked. While we were waiting for our luggage, a sniffer dog came up to my mother and proceeded to sniff around Mum's onboard bag. It turned out she had made a lemon slice for my sister. The dog could smell the lemon, its handler told us. She was allowed to keep the slice once the bag was searched but a pair of scissors was confiscated. We have had many laughs since about this incident.

We don’t have a deli close by that stocks guanciale so thick cut bacon is my go to. I use a whole egg and a yolk as well.

Thanks Linda, it is a recipe my sister gave me and is so simple to make. I am sure it is your beauty and personality the girls inherited.

Thank you Linda. We had Italian last night, well my version of spaghetti carbonara and no, I didn't use cream, only eggs, bacon, pepper, spaghetti, parmesan and a little garlic. Very nice I must say. Our eleven year old granddaughter has now caught me and the six year old won't be long! Grandsons now tower over me.

Thank you. Congratulations to you too.

Thank you. It sounds as if you had a lovely day. We had a very quiet day.