Friday 27th June 2008
I can't believe it's almost a week since I blogged. I'm now sitting on the lounge at home, in Sydney and it feels pretty good. The girls almost ate us as they were so pleased to see us. Aalya's teacher told us that she was so excited all day because she knew she'd be here until Sunday night. They're so good, they had a good dinner and played until bedtime. They're all tucked up safe and sound, and I don't think it'll be long before I'm heading for bed either...hmmm... my own bed!!!

I worked 33 hours this week from Monday to Thursday, so that kept me pretty busy. I did 10 hours on Thursday!! There's a lot to do with the end of the financial year looming. I've been walking and doing other stuff and reading my book. We heading back to Wagga on Monday morning but I did the week's shopping before we left!

Sunday 22nd June 2008 at 8.52pm - IT IS FINISHED!!!

Tuesday 17th June to Sunday 22nd June
Well it's been a busy week.
Tuesday - I worked until 1.30pm, rushed home to have a sandwich and be at the station at 2pm to collect our very special visitors. It was sooooooooo exciting and they were so happy to be here. We went for walk up to the shopping centre and they got their bearings. Trish had bought with her a pumpkin so we bought some meat and had a BBQ with baked vegetables, yum.
Wednesday - I worked for 3 hours 7-10am (gotta keep things processed) and then came home to a kitchen that had been well used. Trisha had managed to walk to the shops AND have dinner cooked for Wednesday night!! We went for a walkabout town looking in lots of shops.
Thursday - I worked for 3 hours again and was greeted at the front door when I came home. I took them to the lovely Botanical Gardens and did a lot of walking around, when we got home my feet were ready to drop off, and they were ready to go for a walk around the lagoon!! I stayed inside, hee hee.

The lovebirds - Trish and Tony at the Botanical Gardens.

Here's Tony checking out the Bamboo Garden.

Here's Trisha, she matches the Camelias nicely!!

Here a Hen who was wandering around with her little chick. She came across a piece of biscuit and pecked it into pieces and pushed it over to her baby.

The Tree Chapel - The Botanical Gardens also had a gorgeous Tree Chapel. It would be a very pretty spot for a wedding.

Friday - I did the 3 hour of work thing again, then came home and got changed and we visited the Museum of Riverina, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery and the National Art Gallery and then came home to relax (phew). They went walkies again up to the shop, and I went with them!! They bought some luggage that was on special at Big W.
Saturday - off we went again on an adventure back to Tumbarumba and the Women's Pioneer Hut and then to the bakery. I knew their would be stuff at the Pioneer Hut that I didn't read last time, and yes, I did notice some different things this time. Trish and I unboxed some special items that have been put away but if you use the cotton gloves supplied, you're allowed to go looking. We looked at women's petticoats and corsets (yow!) and had a look at some baby blankets. All the stitching on the clothing was amazing. Most of the aprons had embroidery on them, how you would get them clean, especially being on cream/white fabric BUT some of the women wore two aprons. When someone should call at the house, she would take off the dirty one and have the 'good' one underneath. I'm thinking that maybe the collection that was kept were these good ones. Lots of home made high chairs and tables and the photographs still amaze me. The one taken in 1900 had young girls with big crocheted looking collars. Some big, some not so big. All the school photos had the children's names under them, along with their teacher. There would be 3 or 4 children in the same class with the same surname.

We came home through Adelong/Adelong Falls (not much happening in the falls department. Here are some interesting photos....

We also went to Wagga Beach for a look. We've seen a few people not with metal detectors!!

Sunday - We went to our respective churches and came back for lunch. The train was meant to go at 1.09pm but ended up coming at 1.45pm so lots of time to chatter. Bruce and I did our week's shop and came home to a quiet house!! We still have a 1,000 piece jigsaw to finish that we started when Trish and Tony arrived. All the trees and sky is left. We were thinking of making them stay until it was finished, hee hee.

Monday 16th June, 2008

It was lovely and sunny today even though the car had ice on it at 7am. It was a lovely sunny day and walking around was fabulous. If you look back at my autumn photo on 18th May, this photo is what the street and trees look like now. Quite different, and not as pretty!! Trish and Tony arrived tomorrow - yippee!!!

Sunday 15th June, 2008
We decided to leave Sydney this afternoon as we were not sure what to do with ourselves!! It's hard going to work after being in the car for 5 hours so we're already here. We left home at 1.50pm and arrived in Wagga at 6.30pm. In there was a 15 minute hot chocolate stop at Gunning, so we did very good time. It was a good day to be in the car. Here's a photo I took on the way here, the sky looked very pretty at sunset.

Saturday 14th June, 2008
Here I am sitting in my lounge room on the lap top. It's getting way too comfortable here. We cooked a cake in the oven!! It's funny how you miss your own stuff. I'm sitting in my old comfortable dressing gown. This is the one that ends up at the pet shop when we are home for good. Dressing gowns take up a lot of room when you're going anywhere, but it was time for a new one. Pet shops love old dressing gowns (washed, of course) for their baby animals.
Today I ended up at the dentist to have 'that' tooth dealt with. It ended up being no big deal. He drilled a bit to tidy it up and patched it. The tooth has no nerve and I didn't feel a thing. Half an hour in the chair and it was all done! So, we managed to have lunch with Grandpa after all (Bruce's Dad). Hi Grandpa, I know you're reading this, and I do love our time at lunch together. xx
I can't believe how cold it is today, had to put on another layer of clothes. I wonder if it will be cold in Wagga as well?? We'll soon see. Two more sleeps. We're on the door at church tomorrow, and being there every fortnight confuses people as they think we haven't really been anywhere, lol. Little do they know. We're not quite sure whether to go back tomorrow afternoon or early early Monday morning. The boys sure like having us home, I've caught up on lots of hugs which is lovely.

Thursday (feels like Friday), 12th June, 2008.
Up out of bed and quickly organise what we need back in Sydney. Bring back the sheets to be washed as they can hang upstairs until our next trip, and pack a fresh set.
We would've left Wagga at 1pm only left work and went out to put my coat in the car and go and get some muffins for the trip and realised as I shut the boot that the one and only key we have was IN the boot. Duh!! Anyway a called told the Holden Lease Care Line and the NRMA guy appeared with his handy coathanger and screwdriver and we were on the road at 1.30pm. It was a lovely trip home, we managed to do a bible study in the car, I'm getting very brave, reading aloud in a car and not getting sick!!!! Have I finally become a traveller??? On the way out of Gunning (afternoon tea halfway stop) we were approaching Goulburn and the sky looked amazing. Out with the trusty mobile phone, and the result is below. Isn't technology grand???


Bruce has a meeting at Chatswood in the morning, and for the first time in 4 weeks, I won't be getting up at 6.30am for work!! I took over full control of the Foxtel remote tonight, but didn't find anything very interesting, just Jean and Lionel getting married in the series As Time Goes By. Must be time to get in the shower and get into a comfortable bed. Good night!!

Wednesday 11th June 2008
It's a lovely day even with the little bit of rain every now and again. It's still nice outside. I was sent for a walk today to deliver something for work to the RTA. No 'take a number' here, you just go up and speak to someone, very old fashioned! I discovered I could walk along the lagoon on the way back, as you could get on the path behind the RTA. They really encourage walking/riding here as there seem to be lots of spots. When you do drive, there are one way lanes so you can avoid going onto the main road to go home, very organised. Back to Sydney, leaving about lunchtime tomorrow.

Tuesday 10th June, 2008
You know what? It doesn't matter what age your children are, you can still miss them when they're not around. Last night sitting at the dinner table, knowing they were safely home, I felt relieved but also a bit sad as the house was noisy and messy and we had a lot of fun. Not to worry, we'll be home Thursday night and leave again early Monday morning.

I was SO excited to learn that Trish and Tony (sister & hub) are coming to Wagga next Tuesday and staying until Sunday, it will be so great. I am working extra hours this week to get as much done as I can, since I seem to know what I'm doing now. That way we can go on adventures. I'm thinking if I work 7-10am each day, that should just about get the important stuff done, filing will just have to wait!!

Two more sleeps until I'm in my own bed. There's no place like home, oh, and I get to go to the dentist and get 'that' tooth dealt with.

Monday 9th June 2008 - start of Week 5!!

Here are the ducks approaching our front yard!

Well, the kids set off this morning at 8.15am and reached Goulburn about 11.30am, so they're almost home, phew.

This was taken looking out from the bridge into the lagoon (duckland as we call it!)

Sunday 8th June 2008 

Morning seemed to come around rather fast, after breakfast we all went to church. It was another different piano player this week along with 4 guys playing guitar and a drummer this time as well. It was a bit like hillbilly church, but very enjoyable - yee har!! I managed to have a conversation with a local dentist at church and yes, they do have a waiting list. He said that in Griffith, there is a 6 month waiting list, wow. After church we were trying to work out lunch, we have big decisions regarding mealtimes, don't we? So the decision was made to go to the local Commercial Club and had a lovely meal. After lunch Bruce suggested we play pool (didn't realise they had a pool room) and then realised it was a billiards room and we ended up playing a really really REALLY long game of billiards. We gave up and changed to playing pool. Michael jokingly sunk a ball with his hand and there was a man passing by who said casually "that's cheating". We all fell about laughing as it was so unexpected. He did come back and then mentioned that he was on the champion board and the most important part of the game was enjoying it, which we definitely did. We've come home and Michael and Tiffany were throwing a bag of lollies up the stairs but Michael didn't throw them high enough. The third throw, Tiffany put her hand up and caught them and the bag burst, it was so funny having the lollies raining all over the stairs. One of those 'hard to believe' moments. We had to sweep up the lolly dust. It's been another lovely day weather-wise and we've had 4 weeks of unseasonal weather so far, not much rain to even mention. Tonight we'll have leftovers and probably sit around and maybe play some board games. A very stressful life we're having down here. Michael, Andrew and Tiffany will be leaving here in the morning.

Saturday 7th June 2008 - NIGHT
We arrived safely back in Wagga and after debating what to have for dinner, Michael decided that he would BBQ as Bruce isn't interested in BBQing. So off we went to the local Woolies and bought some meat slices and sausages. May as well get him to cook enough for 2 nights, eh? Anyway, he did us proud, all credit to Andrew B. as that's where Michael said he learnt from.
We sat on the lounge and watched While You Were Sleeping and then I went to bed. The others sat up and watched Miss Congeniality, again.

Saturday 7th June 2008 - DAY
Next stop Tumut.

Why Tumut?? Trish and Tony (my sister and hub) are always talking about Tumut as they go there so often, so since we're nearly there we thought we would go looking. It was just so calm and peaceful there today. Today was warm and the sky was clear, even though I felt cold at the Tumbarumba Museum, you eventually warm up as you move about.

Tumut

Bruce

A wombat in Tumut??

Wombats? In Tumut?? Hmmm....

Bruce checking the water, and yes it was cold but not freezing.

Next stop Union Jack Monument, Tumbarumba. It was built in 1922 by the parents, relative and friends of the deceased at the Union Jack School.

Next stop was Tumbarumba where we visited the Pioneer Women's Hut - interesting animals.

Bruce with the very hungry caterpillar.

The praying mantis and the praying Michael.

The Pioneer Women’s Hut
This national museum, opened in December 1985, is run by volunteers without government funding.

The building is made from recycled parts of old prison huts and was erected by community volunteers.

The purpose of the museum is to show domestic objects relating to rural families, especially those of women, and to research rural women’s lives.

We do not focus on special events of even ‘best work’, and we readily accept that not all farm women excelled at domestic crafts.

Most had double lives, helping on the farm and running a home.

We give priority to the everyday over the quaint, and to the representative over the unique.

‘The past’ is often seen as belonging to ‘important’ people, often famous and rich, often from cities, often men, but it is through an understanding of the everyday lives of ordinary people that we will learn more about what it is to be Australian.

The Pioneer Women's Hurt is situated on the Glenroy heritage reserve, owned by the Department of Land and Water Conservation with Tumbarumba Shire Council as trustees.

What We Collect and Why

It is our policy to collect domestic objects relating to rural families, especially the women, and to research their lives.

Unlike many museums we are not looking for 'best work' but rather representative objects, common ones used in daily life. They can be hand made (or worked) or commercial and for these objects to have any meaning we need to know about the women who made and used them and their families.

In researching rural women's lives it is the letters, the diaries (rare) and the photographs (especially the ordinary snapshots) that give the real insights. We will take copies and return originals.

When you visit a Museum it is sometimes interesting to think how or why the objects are there. One reason may be that they are very durable so they have lasted; flat irons and kettles will last for the next 200 years. Another reason may be that they have been regarded as precious so have been carefully packed away, a wedding dress, a treasured christening gown. Another reason may be they weren't very effective so weren't worn out through use.

At the Pioneer Women's Hut, we don't want rural Australian families to be represented mainly by the durable, the precious or the ineffective so we need to collect in more difficult areas. We need to represent the every day lives of ordinary women. For example, what sort of aprons did women wear when they went to milk the cows last century? One photograph depicts a woman with two black aprons, the first one removed if someone should knock on the door. Where are the trousers they wore when the first rode astride in the 20's? Where are the work boot or shoes? The underclothing from calico bags? The early paper patterns, yes they existed in Australia from the 1880's; where are the ordinary black aprons? Most of these things were neither durable or precious and they certainly wore out but it's important we collect them. Many such objects are still going to the tip.

Off to Tumbarumba shopping centre for lunch. Yep, we found Bruce a bakery, he does love his meat pies!!!!

Rosewood Hall Copper, 'The Rex' see below.

Merle Carter, Esma and Keith Kinsmore, Ungarie NSW 1926. It is not known who knitted and crocheted the girls' dresses, but Esma and Keith's father became very ill when they were babies, and their mother went out to work. He learned to knit and to crochet, and took orders to supplement their family income.

Jessie Thomson and her brother William in the garden of their home at Tumbarumba NSW in the early 1900's.

Julie Jeffries with her 11 children outside their home at Ournie NSW about 1890.

Note the round sapling construction and the bags in the window openings.

Melbourne Holiday 1930's. George and Dorrie Nichols, daughters Gloria and Thora, Alf Evans and granddaughter Jean.

The sitting room 'Danbury Park', a sheep property on the Wakool near Swan Hill, late 1920's or early 1930's.