Merry Christmas 2

Hey I want one of those Miss Xmas outfits!!! Oh and somebody to wear it too.












Some of the humor in this batch got a bit X rated, just shows, nothings sacred!!

Merry Christmas 1

Like most of you I guess, my inbox seems to overflow with topical things about this time each year... so, I'm not gonna flood your inbox but for the days between now and Christmas I am going to post them, this leaves you with the clear alternative.... read/watch them or not, its up to you.



Stay tuned... there's more to come.

Recent Trip... Random Thoughts

The "silly season" which I define as the Commercial side of Christmas is very nearly here so before I close the chapter on my recent trip I'll run a few more photos and some random thoughts by you.


For one reason or another these things all appealed to me.
Click on photos to enbiggen.


Just to prove you don't have to be in the city to face a red light, this one was 50 km from the nearest town and was there to keep traffic safe around some road works.

Please excuse this photo for being off-centre, I didn't check it before leaving the cemetery at Cowra NSW.

Beautifully laid out and maintained Japanese POW cemetery where the bodies of 234 prisoners of war who were killed during a mass breakout in 1944 are laid to rest.

Coming down the very windy road from the top of Mt Hotham my GPS nearly tied itself in knots trying to show the bends in the road... I could only get a glance at it as I was trying to stay on the road at the time.

Similarly the approach to the Burnley tunnel on the Monash Freeway was demanding most of my attention, freeways sure get you from point A to point B quickly and easily but you don't get to see much of the city or suburbs!!!

Inside the tunnel despite there being probably 100 lighted signs telling motorists not to change lanes the 4WD in front of me had just crossed from the left lane... some people don't (or can't) read!!!

From the distance this looked like a wooden tank stand that had been attacked by white ants (termites)

When I got closer I was surprised to see that the damaged posts were concrete, there must have been some form of electrolysis at work here.

South Australia is the driest state in the driest continent on earth, there are very few water reservoirs instead they pipe river Murray water thousands of miles to supply water to the towns and cities that need it.

Especially for Pamela some of the rolling hills that grow very good crops of wheat in SA.

There is a very healthy Jacaranda tree at the Fosters farm, a favourite tree for a favourite Daughter.

In the small town of Bellingen NSW a trendy window dresser had created a display using hessian wheat bags draped artistically over models in the local department store... they looked much better in the flesh (so to speak) but my other photos caught the glare from the window.

As the sign says the tiny Victorian town of Wunghnu claim to be the smallest sheep station in Australia with only one ewe!!!!

The Ladies in my life, somehow this was the only photo I took of Merle this trip.... there were others on her camera but not on mine.

My ex... Julie who lives in Mildura Vic. and is still one of my favourite people.

And of course my favourite daughter Vicki, what better note could I close on than that.

Proper post later

I'm home again all safe and sound.


Bloody Hell, I thought I turned that tap off before I left!!!!!!!!!!

Still touring with Frank.

I am nearing home, should get there tomorrow afternoon all being well so in a couple of days I might even be able to do a proper post... who knows??


These photos were taken on Wednesday (its now Friday evening) I visited with 3 0f my cousins near the coast in Victoria, I went from there up into the Victorian high country, our winter snowfields.
As can be seen the day started out very well, pleasantly warm and clear.

As the morning progressed it started to cloud over but was still very pleasant.

When I reached the first snow resort it was still clear but getting worse fast.

This is what it was like at Mt Hotham ski village, probably the best alpine views in Australia are from here but I couldn't see more than 100 metres in front of the car by then so I'll have to collect some photos from elsewhere to post, the overnight minimum temperature on the mountain was -2 degrees Celsius (zero is freezing) so there was a chance of snow.

That seemed to tie in well with this poem... hope you enjoy it.

The Cowboys Prayer

Jake, the rancher, went one day
To fix a distant fence.
The wind was cold and gusty. . . .
And the clouds rolled gray and dense.

As he pounded the last staples in,
And gathered tools to go,
The temperature had fallen . . .
The wind and snow began to blow.

When he finally reached his pick-up,
He felt a heavy heart.
From the sound of that ignition,
He knew it wouldn't start.

So Jake did what most of us
Would do if we had been there . . .
He humbly bowed his balding head
And sent aloft a prayer.

As he turned the key for the last time,
He softly cursed his luck,
They found him three days later,
Frozen stiff in that old truck.

Now Jake had been around in life,
And done his share of roaming,
But when he saw Heaven, he was shocked,
It looked just like Wyoming!

Of all the saints in Heaven,
His favorite was St. Peter.
They talked a minute or 2, or maybe it was 3

No one keeps score up in Heaven, time is free.

"I've always heard," Jake said to Pete,
"That God will answer prayer,
But the one time I asked for help,
Well He just plain wasn't there."

"Does God answer prayers of some,
And ignore the prayers of others?
That don't seem exactly square,
I know all men are brothers."

"Or does He randomly reply,
Without good rhyme or reason?
Maybe, it's the time of day,
The weather or the season?"

"Now I ain't trying to act smart,
It's just the way I feel.
And I was wondering, could you tell me . . .
What the heck's the deal?"

Peter listened very patiently,
And, when Jake was done,
There were smiles of recognition,
And he said, "So, you're the one !"

"That day your truck, it wouldn't start,
And you sent your prayer a flying,
You gave us all a bad time,
With hundreds of us trying."

"A thousand angels rushed,
To check the status of your file.
But you know Jake, we hadn't heard
From you in quite a while."

"And, though all prayers are answered,
And, God ain't got no quota,
He didn't recognize your voice,
And, started a truck in Minnesota !!"

Good luck for someone!!!!!!

Modern Nursery Rhymes.

Just where does the future of Nursery Rhymes lie????

It's Raining, It's Pouring
Oh sh!t, it's Global Warming.

Jack and Jill went into town
To fetch some chips and sweeties.
He can't keep his heart rate down
And she's got diabetes.

Mary had a little lamb
It ran into a pylon.
10,000 volts went up its @rse
And turned its wool to nylon.

Mary had a little lamb
Her father shot it dead.
Now it goes to school with her
Between two chunks of bread.

Mary had a little lamb
Its fleece was white and wispy.
Then it caught Foot and Mouth Disease
And now it's black and crispy.

Georgie Porgie Pudding and Pie
Kissed the girls and made them cry.
When the boys came out to play
He kissed them too cause he was gay

Jack and Jill
Went up the hill
And planned to do some kissing.
Jack made a pass
And grabbed her ass
Now two of his teeth are missing.

There are many more instances of "updated" nursery-rhymes some of which even I wouldn't post... wow they must be BAD.
It just goes to prove nothing is sacred anymore though.

Pollitically Correct nonsense!!

There is logic here whether you live in the USA, Australia, Canada, Europe, or for that matter, anywhere else!!

PROUD TO BE WHITE (or should that be red?)

Michael Richards makes his point...............
Michael Richards better known as Kramer from TVs Seinfeld does make a good point.

This was his defence speech in court after making racial comments in his comedy act. He makes some very interesting points...

Someone finally said it. How many are actually paying attention to this? There are African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Arab Americans, etc.

And then there are just Americans. You pass me on the street and sneer in my direction. You call me 'White boy,' 'Cracker,' 'Honkey,' 'Whitey,' 'Caveman'... and that's OK..

But when I call you, Nigger, Kike, Towel head, Sand-nigger, Camel Jockey, Beaner, Gook, or Chink .. You call me a racist.

Who among you doesn't know and love the wisdom of Maxine!!!

You say that whites commit a lot of violence against you..... so why are the ghettos the most dangerous places to live?

You have the United Negro College Fund. You have Martin Luther King Day.

You have Black History Month. You have Cesar Chavez Day.

You have Yom Hashoah. You have Ma'uled Al-Nabi.

You have the NAACP. You have BET.... If we had WET (White Entertainment Television), we'd be racists. If we had a White Pride Day, you would call us racists.

If we had White History Month, we'd be racists.

If we had any organization for only whites to 'advance' OUR lives, we'd be racists.

We have a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a Black Chamber of Commerce, and then we just have the plain Chamber of Commerce. Wonder who pays for that??

A white woman could not be in the Miss Black American pageant, but any color can be in the Miss America pageant.

If we had a college fund that only gave white students scholarships... You know we'd be racists..

There are over 60 openly proclaimed Black Colleges in the US ... Yet if there were 'White colleges', that would be a racist college.

In the Million Man March, you believed that you were marching for your race and rights. If we marched for our race and rights, you would call us racists.

You are proud to be black, brown, yellow and orange, and you're not afraid to announce it. But when we announce our white pride, you call us racists.

You rob us, carjack us, and shoot at us.. But, when a white police officer shoots a black gang member or beats up a black drug dealer running from the law and posing a threat to society, you call him a racist.

I am proud... But you call me a racist.

Why is it that only whites can be racists??

That's why we have LOST most of OUR RIGHTS in this country. We won't stand up for ourselves!

BE PROUD TO BE WHITE!

It's not a crime YET.... but getting very close!

I guess I'm just a bit peeved with all the "Do Gooders", "Greenies", and "Politically Correctness" at the moment, they seem to be making life more difficult than it needs to be at present!!!!

Thumbnail scketch of the 2009 harvest

This photo taken early in September shows the crop still growing and showing all the signs of a bumper harvest

Time to start some serious planning for this years harvest.

Preparations started in earnest about then, here two new field bins are being unloaded.

The header, minus the 40 foot front, was still in the shed but had undergone the pre-season checks.

Not that it needed much attention... as you can see by the interior its brand new.

The work all starts out in the paddocks of course, here the header is busy reaping the wheat, a lot slower than last year because the crop is so much heavier, we should all have that as a problem.

Emptying the headers box into the chaser bin which is pulled by the "small John Deere tractor"

A view from the header as the chaser bin pulls alongside

This diminutive 5 foot nothing who is my grand-daughter and Vicki and Rex's niece has spent the harvest (about 6 weeks) driving the tractor chaser bin combination, not bad for a "City Girl" who lives in Perth WA.

Here Jenna is filling the back trailer of the road train while Uncle Rex looks on.

Jenna was also allowed a couple of laps in the header, an honor indeed.

From the paddock to market... because of the very good season they have built two new "Grain Bunkers" at Wudinna, these enormous bunkers each hold 100,000 tons of grain and are covered by a heavy duty plastic tarpaulin which is welded on site into one continuous cover as the grain is added.

Here Rex is emptying the front trailer into a mobile pit, from there a conveyor takes it to the top of the pile where gravity shapes the pile as it fills

Here the rear trailer has been pulled onto the frame and is in the process of emptying its load too.

The system is slightly different when the grain is going into the permanent Silo's, it is dumped into a pit from where the conveyors take it to the chosen Silo, it is railed from there to the shipping terminal at Port Lincoln where grain ships take it to its final destination... either in Australia or Overseas.

Grain is not normally received at the Silo's on Sunday so the trucks line up for an early start on Monday morning, there was 4 rows and about 10 trucks per row so they kick off with anything up to 1000 tons when work begins.

While all this has been going on "The Big JD" has been sleeping away the hot weather in the shed, but be assured it will earn its keep hauling the huge machinery that will plant next years crop so it all averages out.

That's a very brief and maybe not 100% accurate (Rex is out working hard so I couldn't double check the figures) but I'll claim poetic license for any that aren't quite true.

Social events of note.

I don’t usually do news and social events posts, but this one just seemed to good to pass up.

About twenty years ago a prominent Sydney plastic surgeon named Dr Geoffrey Eddleston came to prominence when he purchased a controlling interest in the “Sydney Swans” AFL football club, his influence (and money) led to some success for the club and MANY headline stories about Dr Geoff.

Now some twenty years later at age 66 he is back in the news again, his football allegiance is now with “The Blues” a Melbourne team but it is his romantic dalliance with 25 year old Brynne Gordon that has the social world in a whirl.

Last Saturday in a 3 million dollar extravaganza at the Crown Casino in Melbourne the happy couple were wed…. to say that this was a bang up party would be underselling it badly…. The wedding invitations were sent out via a 15 minute DVD featuring Jason Alexander and Fran Drescher, I’ll say no more!!!

Brynne greeted the guests from a helicopter that had been dismantled, then reassembled to get it into the Crown Ballroom, the said guests were the Cream??? of Melbourne’s society all trying desperately to out-do one another, again I’ll say no more.

The closing line of the news coverage that we saw is what really prompted this post… “Geoffrey and Byrnne left the party at 2.30 am as Dr Eddleston had to be “at work” at 6.30 am, Brynne also said that after she recovered from the wedding night??? She would be looking for a job too."

My quiet comment that the corner of Collins and Elizabeth Streets was vacant at the moment gave at least our family a good laugh… as did the whole almost obscene wedding.

Please click to enbiggen... The photo that is !!!

These photos got a wide coverage

(pun intended) after the Brownlow Presentation, a major function on the AFL calendar. When asked by a reporter whether she felt cold in her outfit, Brynne innocently?? replied, “Oh no it has sleeves”.

One can’t help but wonder whether the good Doctor has been practicing on both Brynne and himself of late??????????

On Tour With Frank!!

"On the road again" is more Willie Nelson than Frank but it describes things so well.

Just before leaving Shepparton Merle and I did the mandatory trip to the park where most of Shepps cows graze, they are constantly changing them.. all good fun.

I headed for the scene of January's disastrous bushfires to see how the area was regenerating, nature is
taking care of its own slowly but surely, there are places where the fire was so hot that the trees are all dead, but in most parts there is new undergrowth and either "suckers" growing from the roots of the trees or new growth on them.

Some trees grow new leaves along all their branches and the trunk too, my guess is that wherever the sap boiled to the surface during the blaze the new growth springs forth, they look a little eerie.
I refrained from taking photos of the human rebuilding as I found it a bit sad to see all the for sale signs on burnt out blocks of land where somebodies dreams had stood until recently, there is also a vast amount of rebuilding going on as well but it was all a bit depressing I found.

Next I went for a look at my childhood home at Dixon's Creek, rounding the bend on the still unpaved "Pinacle Lane" the now familiar sight of the lovely vineyards came into sight, back in the days when we lived there only cows dotted the landscape.

The burnt out hillside behind our tiny home came into view, a grim warning about how close the fires had been

And finally the site where once the house had stood.... bare except for some machinery which appeared to be preparing a new home site... whether the house had been destroyed by the fire or simply bull-dozed to make way for a new one I don't know, I felt a strong sense of sadness because it was gone and felt un-inclined to make inquiries..... a chapter had closed.

To lift my spirits I took this photo of a nice crop which will bring joy to a grateful farmer I'm sure.

Many a true word....

Here's a thought . . . . If you are ready for the adventure of a lifetime, try this:

(a) Go to Pakistan , Afghanistan or Iraq illegally. Never mind immigration quotas, visas, international law, or any of that nonsense. Demand a free house, benefits and food.

(b) Once there, demand that the local government provide free medical care for you and your entire family.

(c) Demand that all nurses and doctors be fluent in English, and that all food be cooked according to your specifications in the hospital.

(d) Demand free local government forms, bulletins, etc. be printed in English.

(e) Procreate abundantly.

(f) Deflect any criticism of this allegedly irresponsible reproductive behaviour with, 'It is a cultural thing; you wouldn't understand.'

(g) Keep your original identity strong. Fly your home country's national flag from your rooftop, or proudly display it in your front window, or on your car bumper.

(h) Speak only English at home and in public, and make sure that your children do likewise.

(i) Demand classes on English culture in the Muslim school system.

(j) Demand a local country driving license or national insurance number equivalent

(k) This will afford other legal rights and will go far to legitimise your unauthorised, illegal, presence in Pakistan, Afghanistan or Iraq

(l) Drive around with no car tax or insurance and ignore local traffic laws.

(m) Insist that the Police teach English to all its officers.

(n) Organise protest marches against your host country, inciting violence against non-white, non-Christians, and the government that let you in.

Good luck!.... You'll soon be dead..

It would never happen in Pakistan , Afghanistan or Iraq (or any other country in the world for that matter) except in the UK , US, Canada or Australia, because we are run by soft, politically correct politicians that are too scared to 'offend' anyone.

If you agree, pass it on.

If you don't agree, go ahead and try the above in Pakistan, Afghanistan or Iraq .


I most definitely agree so I'm adding it to the list of posts that SHOUT it from the rooftops!!!

Colours of Australia

The colours of Australia vary from brilliant to muted shades.

The beach at Port Douglas Qld. offers a blue sky, white clouds, golden sand, turquoise water, blue hills, and green foliage.

Crops that provide every colour from vivid green, brilliant yellow, to golden.

Native flora provides every colour of the rainbow, including the green and gold of these Banksia's.

Ayers Rock, Uluru also can range from blood red to deep purple depending on the light conditions at the time.

The Golden paddocks of ripened wheat have a beauty of their own.

I don't need to tell you how much I love the purple of the jacaranda trees.

The Grey, blue, green of our natural bushland that so frustrated the early English painters who tried to capture it using the greens of England.

The lush green of spring grass, a sight not seen often enough in many parts of Australia

This striking tree is I believe an Illawarra Flame Tree, even if I'm wrong about that its a beautiful tree.

"The wide brown land for me" is a line from one of my favourite poems "My Country".

Not all these images are from my current trip, but they were inspired by the beauty around me.