Viewers please note

I know a very select few people keep track of our blog, but don't know if you realise how things work if you respond, reply or comment regarding a post. We get a notification when you do post a comment, but it is always shown as being from "anonymous". If you don't mind, could you add your name to your response, that way we'll know who is showing this added interest. And, particularly since sarcasm is so prevalent in our family and friend's circle, we'll know just who to have a go back at!!

If you don't want to identify yourself, that's fine - but it would be nice if you did.

Cemetery CD Now Available

For those of you who may wonder what we do in our spare time (especially if you check out the lawns and garden - which have suffered neglect for some time), you may now get an idea.

We have just published our first commercial CD - Cemeteries of South West Victoria. This contains an index and details of headstone transcriptions in Cemeteries throughout the SW region.

Over 130 Cemeteries are covered, with in excess of 70,000 entries (now that's a hell of a lot of writing and typing). There are also more than 3,500 photos (yeah, I know, how exciting can a picture of a headstone be?).

Anyway, it's there for anyone interested. If you are into genealogy, or family tree business, and have relatives from down here, this may be for you. Cost is only $27.50 (inc. GST) - BOOOOOY, what a bargain!!!!!!. To order, visit our homepage and check it out. All the smaller Cemeteries are available, free-of-charge, but no photos. These are all on the CD, but there is the addition of the 12 largest Cemeteries also on the CD - over 40,000 names in these alone. Click on the 'Cemeteries of S.W. Victoria' link and the rest will be easy.

Chloe is THREE years old

Chloe has just celebrated her third birthday. The Marr's and the Watt's all got together to help her see in the day, in style. There was all the usual fare, with kids running all over the place plus the giving and opening of lots of presents.



The highlight, of course, was the new TRAMPOLINE - a large circular jobbie with full safety netting all round.

Chloe seems to spend most of her time jumping and skipping around (she couldn't just, simply WALK anywhere) so this seemed the ideal thing - a place where she can jump and skip to her hearts content - and do somersaults as you can see by the picture. It also allowed her to get some pretty good height on the jumps as it doesn't take long for confidence to overcome fear, especially for a strapping three year old.

Of course, everyone had their turn - Tim & Lorelle should have charged $1 per go and would have made a fortune.

Cobden Miniature Railway

Took Ben & Chloe to the Cobden Miniature railway for an outing - lots to see & do there.

They have lots of different trains to ride on with three shown at the station, but a number of others were not running at that time.
We chose the 'diesel' engine and went round the railway course - Ben, Chloe & Robbie up front where they got the best view.

There are lots of things to do there - a playground, things to climb on such as the cannon shown below, various slides and the usual fare that one finds in this type of setup, barbequeue area (under cover), plus a kiosk and some railway memorabilia for the buffs.

Safety is always a premium with a walkway over the tracks available for those daring and younger people. When there are no trains approaching, you can walk across the tracks, but need to be watchful, so using the bridge is safer. It also affords a good view of the station, as the two to the right here will testify.

Wetlands Walk

We have a winter-only wetlands quite close to home, and often go for a walk to keep an eye on it. Many water birds set up house there each year, along with lots and lots of frogs of differing varieties, going by the variation in croaks & sounds that we hear. In the past few years, a single pair of swans have nested and raised their young over the winter-spring period..


This year has been different. Still lots of water, once the rain had set in, but we had over thirty swans take up residence. Many seemed to be paired off, but no real nesting activity apparent. The swans seem to switch between two patches of water throughout the day, and can be seen grazing on the grassy paddocks adjacent to the water edge

We were returning from Chloe's birthday party, with storms threatening all round when we got a great picture of the rainbow over the lake area of the wetlands.