ANZAC Day, April 25th

In honour of all those men and women 

who have fought and died in foreign places 

to secure our freedom and our way of life.

The Ode of Remembrance

 taken from Laurence Binyon's poem, "For the Fallen"

They went with songs to the battle, they were young.

Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,

They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.

 We will remember them.

Easter greetings

Christ is risen

He is risen indeed!

Happy Easter one and all

Diana

A brush with royalty

As some of you may know the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have just been visiting our fair country. And they brought Prince George with them. I have said elsewhere that I am a royalist so it was exciting to discover that they were going to visit our city. And then to hear they were attending the cathedral service on Palm Sunday was the icing on the cake. 

Tickets were made available to the cathedral parishioners and then to the rest of the diocese. After that the general public could apply. So I was in like Flynn. I think I was probably among the first. And tickets duly arrived for me and my little mother. Great excitement.

And then of course it was 'what to wear, what to wear'. Anyway youngest daughter took me shopping and we found a lovely jacket to wear with my good trousers but unfortunately on the day I felt the cold. Plan B came into effect and I wore the coat my sister had sent me from Australia and I'd only worn once before. Little mother wore her nice light jacket and looked lovely and insisted she wasn't feeling the cold. They made them hardy in those days.

We set off and arrived in plenty of time, went through the police check at the gate, we common people didn't get to go up the steps at the front, we went in through a side door and past several policemen. One young copper got quite embarrassed apparently when he had to tell the bishop he couldn't park his car in his usual place. 

We didn't worry about hats but some of the ladies were dressed up to the nines and looked lovely

  

No  cameras allowed inside so no photo's. I did say to my GKB to bring the camera and take a photo of us outside the cathedral - but he forgot. Never mind, such is life. He wasn't that interested really and was just acting as taxi driver on the day. So I made sure he took one when we arrived home and before we went inside.

leaving the cathedral with the Dean

We had a terrific morning, the duke and duchess were lovely and relaxed, and I have to admit that I fell in love with the royal family all over again. It was the closest I will ever come to royalty, just 2 inches between me and the duke with no barriers between us at one point, exciting!

And something that was really special was knowing that the family were excited for us. My sisters got in touch from Australia, my son and his wife from Japan, my grandson rang from out of town and our daughters both called to see how we had enjoyed our morning. Magic.

They leave the country for Australia tomorrow and I hope they enjoy their time over there as much as we have enjoyed having them here.

I had to share my excitement with you.

Have a great week,

Diana

Still 'heading to the caravan'

Last time I wrote about the trail to the caravan 

I think I left you at Ettrick in apple and pear country, 

where we had just had scones and coffee for morning tea.

Drive up the road for just quarter of an hour  and we come

 to the hydro town of Roxburgh in the Teviot Valley.

 This was once a thriving gold field town 

but now has only a small population of approx 750.

If we are leaving home a bit later we usually drive on to Roxburgh for a bite of lunch at one of the local tearooms. 

Like Lawrence it has become a service town and 

a stop for tourists, so has quite a few cafes 

and one or two boutique style shops.

Next door to the tearooms is a little shop I like to go into and browse (ahem). They have some beautiful stuff and I have been known to part with my money and come out with something 

that I like but don't necessarily need. 

Like Christmas decorations in May. Oh well.

The dam was built in the 1950's and is reputably 

a great place for trout and salmon fishing, 

although my GKB has never stopped to find out. 

Back in the car and now we don't stop until 

we get to Alexandra where we sometimes

 stop off to buy a few groceries. This was another major 

gold mining area and has a great museum of the era.

My grandparents were up here in the early 1900's as young marrieds and I remember my grandmother talking 

about the bitterly cold winters and the ground 

being frozen solid to a depth of 3 feet for months on end.

The land in the Teviot and Alexandra areas

 is so dry and barren and I always feel sorry

 for the pioneer women who first came through here.

The clock on the hill was a great marvel when it was first put up, and you can drive up to it and have a great view over the town.

The Clutha river passes through the town, flows on  down to Roxburgh, and has the most volume of water

 in any river in the country. I love the beautiful colour it is. Someone once described it as being turquoise and 

on a good day it is. You can't tell from my photo though.

We're nearly at our destination now but first a detour into Clyde.

This is where my GKB and I sometimes come to buy an ice cream and sit and just be. It is a sleepy little place apart from when it has it's wine and food festival. This is orchard country, stone fruit, with the odd vineyard thrown in for good measure.

A lot of the orginal buildings are still in use, 

like the hotel in the picture above. 

The city fathers have done a good job of 

preserving the historical feel of the old town while there

are also a lot of new homes being built on the outskirts.

Oh, did I mention this is where My GKB and I were married?

In a little stone church just around the corner

 from this street above.

I have a photo of the church, taken just recently,

 but do you think I can find it? No.

Now up the hill, past the Clyde dam and into the gorge. 

Twenty minutes driving beside Lake Dunstan 

and we arrive at our destination. Cromwell.

Set the caravan up, make a coffee and relax.

Orchards, vineyards and the lake on the doorstep 

and only an hour or two driving gets you to

 most of the southern tourist spots if you want to go.

What more do you need?

Well, I hope you've enjoyed your little trip through the gold towns. 

We always do.

Have a good week,

Diana

Mardi-gras, Outram style

Last Friday I went with my GKB to the mardi-gras.

No, not the big one held each year in New Orleans.

This was just the name given by a local school

 to its annual fundraiser. We'd never been before so

 were looking forward to it.

It was a beautiful warm and sunny evening 

and hundreds of people turned out to enjoy it.

We weren't sure whether there was to be a parade or not, 

we never saw one, but there were lots of little fairies  

and pirates wandering around along with other storybook characters. Mostly the junior school littlies.

There was a fairy grotto and a pirate booth, horse rides for the kids and lots of stalls with very cheap 'stuff' to tempt 

the rest of us to part with our money. We succumbed.

Lots of food stalls with prices ranging from $2-00 to $8-00 depending on what you wanted to eat. 

We bought a nice tea for both of us along with a hot coffee 

and sat and listened to a jazz trio (what else at mardi-gras?)

while we ate it, one of four or five bands playing 

during the course of the evening.

Of course with it being a (nearly) country school there were all sorts of farm animals there...including this wee lass. 

Or perhaps I should say, this big girl. I think her name was Bess.

As you can see she had a pretty full udder and the farmer was letting people have a go at milking her. She was so patient.

Most of us didn't have a clue as to what we were doing.

I say we, because I had a try.

 I thought why not, here's your chance to do something you've always wondered about. 

So this is a picture of me, trying to milk a cow. It's not as easy as you might think and I probably managed to squirt about 1/2 teaspoon into the jug. As I said she was so patient, with kids of all ages and sizes having a go. Every now and then the farmer milked her properly, just to relieve her I imagine.

He made it look so easy!

Next year we will probably go back, 

it was a very pleasant way to fill in a warm autumn evening.

Well that's it for another few days.

Stay well till next time.

Diana

A wish for St Patrick's Day

Wishing you a rainbow
For sunlight after showers-

Miles and miles of Irish smiles

For golden happy hours—

Shamrocks at your doorway

For luck and laughter too,

And a host of friends that never ends

Each day your whole life through!

  

A busy day or two

Just a bit of a catch up today.

Last week was fairly busy and

 I seem to have lost my oomph.

On Tuesday I had lunch with my little mother

and then took her and a friend to do their shopping.

On Wednesday young Danny was 

taking part in the junior school triathlon.

lining up for the cycle leg

We went along to watch.
A beautiful day, very hot and sunny.
Danny was doing the cycling leg.
Twice around the playing fields and his leg was done.

That's him nearest the camera,

 heading for the final uphill stretch.

His team came in about 7th

 but he wasn't really worried about the placing.

Thursday we did a spur of the moment 

round trip to the caravan,

 about 7 hours in all, counting coffee breaks.

Another really nice day, just right for travelling,

 not too hot or too cold.

We went up to make sure we had battened

 down all the hatches, which we hadn't. 

We were fortunate we went up when we did as 

the following day the weather packed up

 and there was snow, rain and hail.

I did some shopping at the sales 

while we were up there 

and scored a very nice cardigan for just $10.

Very nice, you can't growl at that.

The rest of the week was just normal day to day stuff, 

but I have to tell you that Autumn has definitely arrived. 

Dead on time.

On March 1st it roared in and has been roaring ever since. 

I hope you're all having a good week,

and you haven't lost your oomph!

Diana