Immersed in genealogy

We are delighted to have with us Nancy, Leanne's mother and genealogist extraordinary.

So far, the visit has been wonderful. We are all enjoying it and getting better acquainted by the day. Nancy has brought with her books and books on the extended family and loads of pictures and photographs of relevance to the establishment of sufficient information to write a "book" about her immediate family so that this information can be added to the work already done on other parts of the larger extended family.

I don't know what the rest of you out there would do with such a treasure. I for one am going to use her skills and knowledge while I have the chance. In the process I sincerely hope that both Leanne and I will learn heaps about the family.

For those of you who have not tried it, DO try Picassa Web albums as a place to store pictures and Genes Reunited as a place to store and to find ancestors from the UK in particular.

Never tried them before so this will be an experience.

Genealogy - what of it?

One of my posts recently received a comment from Kathy, (see "Massage, Fishing, Genealogy and ????") someone who was a relative, for a while.

Let me explain.

Kathy finally pulled the plug on the notion that we were family, long after Leanne and I had visited England, to meet her and her family and reunite a family broken by the tyranny of distance.

England? Yes you all know the place. It's that island off the coast of France, normally our real destination, and one we usually visit, because it is filled with eye popping antiques as well as charming people, a lovely new language and good food to boot. Leanne of course would add fabulous castles, sights, markets, paintings, churches, the Tour de France, museums, etc

Alas, while this country has all these benefits, Leanne's family's name does have other connotations in France and in French that are less desirable and no, I am not going into that

Further research had apparently revealed that we were not related, Kathy wrote, after a period of time when we had returned to Australia.

Australia, a country to which alas, her ancestors had not been able to gain the 1 pound one way trip that other, more privileged migrants like those in Leanne's family had been able to acquire, a trip that cost 10 pounds for my family, probably because of inflation or because of government policies which saw Alexander Downer's father as the Minister of Immigration. (No I am not going to explore the "like father like son" nature of this portfolio.)

Furthermore she did not have ancestors who had earned a FREE trip to Australia, courtesy of the government, a 'reward' if you like, for the work they had done in the home country, not unlike some other of Leanne's ancestors.

It turned out though, that the trip to England was not wasted. All of the now, suddenly non family members, were a joy to meet and get to know. Whether they were family or not did not matter at all.

Furthermore, Kathy is a serious researcher in genealogical matters, unlike myself, who merely has pretensions in this regard, she was and remains a fabulous person to get to know. You will note her offer to assist in the genealogical research when Leanne's mother comes to stay with us for a while. Alas, you will not be able to see the blog where all of this work will be published as it is reserved and secured for family members and of course for friends who have a need to know.

But I digress, while doing some genealogical research myself today, I needed an idle moment, a happy moment, not a frustrated moment and so just for the heck of it and because you always start searching alphabetically, I asked Google to find me connections with the word Auspitz, this being the name of one of the families that make up my genealogical background.

Wikipedia led to at least at least one connections that was of the right era, the right overall location, but at first sight less than useful. Allow me to list it below:

"Auspitz's sign is the appearance of punctate bleeding spots when psoriasis scales are scraped off, named after Heinrich Auspitz. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auspitz%27s_sign)

Heinrich Auspitz (1835 in Nikolsburg, Moravia – 1886 in Vienna) was an Austrian dermatologist. Trained at the University of Vienna, he specialised in dermatology and syphilis. He was part of the famous Vienna School of Dermatology, and studied and worked with other eminent dermatologists of the time, Ernst Wilhelm Ritter von Brücke (1819-1892), Carl Freiherr von Rokitansky (1804-1878), Josef Skoda (1805-1881), Johann Ritter von Oppolzer (1808-1871), and Ferdinand Ritter von Hebra (1816-1880). From 1863 to 1886 he worked as a professor of dermatology at the University of Vienna. He was also the director of the general policlinic from 1872 and became the chief of a clinical station upon the death of Hermann Edler von Zeissl (1817-1884).

A pioneer in tissue pathology, he described the pinpoint bleeding on removal of a psoriasis scale that bears his name: Auspitz's sign.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Auspitz

It is unlikely that this Auspitz was a family member though as we will see the time and place where he was born, has connotations for families with a Jewish background.

Then came the "Auspitz Family Tree" published on line. I was amazed to find this, then quickly disappointed. It was close. Once again it had the right names, the right location and even the right religion with a history of some members incarcerated in German concentration camps and so on.

Alas, still no connection to the Auspitz twig (I am now thinking of it as a mere sapling or a tiny branch of a much larger tree,) to which I and many others that have been located, do belong.

On one site there was a connection simply trawling for people who would pay big bucks to consult their 'superior' databases. As a teaser they listed some free data bases. Of these, some would not connect, others had a simple message, "no results", but then came a link to the US Social Security death index data base and this had names that were either the same or similar to those in my data base, but completely unrelated as they were in the USA and mine were not (for the same period).

Since I had neither the time nor the inclination to pay the big bucks, I kept on trawling myself and found the Lieben - Auspitz Palace in the heart of Vienna. I simply could not resist a look.

The Palais Lieben-Auspitz at the Ringstraße in Vienna, next to the Burgtheater. Former residential seat (Ringstraßenpalais) of the Jewish aristocratic Lieben and Auspitz families. The Nazis "aryanised" the building in 1938 and forced the owners to flee, many of whom died in exile or the concentration camps. The palace used to house a famous literary salon, a plaque next to the Café Landtmann points to it. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Palais_Lieben-Auspitz_Vienna_June_2006_391.jpg

This was more like it, I thought, these people were the sort of relatives one would want to have. Not knowing any among them however I will have to ask the other relatives.

Sadly, but with a little more hope I scrolled on.

There appears to be a place called Auspitz in the Czech Republic at: Longitude: 16° 44' 0" East
Latitude: 48° 56' 0" North. There was mention of Jewish families in the area, but when there were references to an aristocratic family called Auspitz von Artenegg I simply knew I had probably wandered into the wrong space.

The history of the Jews in Hungary (and what is now the Czech republic) is mixed. Some people loved them, some needed them for commercial purposes and then eliminated them when things were better. Read all about it at the following link: http://www3.sympatico.ca/thidas/Hungarian-history/outline.html

So perhaps my family have a connection with a bunch of tobacco traders who started out from Nikolsburg and ended up in Pest and of course there is a mention of a Simon Auspitz who was a leading member of the Jewish community in Moravia, perhaps not.

But once again I digress, though I could go on , this period is really interesting.

The point I am trying to make is that the search for ancestors, for family can be, an exciting and absorbing hobby not to mention an exciting though often frustrating history lesson. When it really comes right down to it, I am just as interested in Leanne's family history as I am in mine.

My family history teaches me about one large chunk of European history and the start of the new lands of America and to a lesser extent Australia, while Leanne's teaches me about England at its hey day and all those places this little country managed to conquer.

All in all I learn a little more about the world through the multiple lenses of those who came before us.

When the search throws up really nice and helpful people like Kathy and her family, the experience is just fantastic.

However be prepared for rejection too.

The experience also enables me to think about how the wheel turns and about how likely (or not) it is that I may yet see the changing of the guard when what were then the new worlds of Australia and America experience what it was like for the Chinese and the Indians and others around the world who had their empires in former days, and who may now have another "go".

Iran is making noises once again, Russia is pulling together a cartel like OPEC, but with gas supplies, the Chinese have just finished their blockbuster advertising session with the Olympics and through this exercise shown the world what they are capable of. The Indians, once with an empire of their own may not be ready just yet but their turn may yet come again to be the "leader of the pack." After all, they are winning at cricket at last!

I just hope I am around to see the fall out of the current economic gloom and doom, protected in my cocoon by "Kevin 07" in 09 and on.

Recently resurrected from my archives

Some People may forget but . . . . .

Some people may forget certain photos and remarks, but then again others may not.

I only forget where I got it from. The wording on the photo is not helpful, a Google search did not give me a source, but I assume it was taken in 2000 or thereabouts and in recent times as the race for the presidency takes on a more serious bent it becomes ever more interesting and dare I say appropriate.

Massage, Fishing, Genealogy and ????

It's not often that I use these pages for an apology to one and all, but I will on this occasion.

I have been off the air now for a few days because parts of my body did not respond well to a massage I received recently. Suffice it to say that I was in agonising pain and thinking that this was neurological pain I just suffered. Stupid me.

Leanne, bless her was smart enough to seek advice. What this has achieved is the intake of some of the pain medication we have available and while not removing this pain in its entirety, it has reduced it to a dull roar, so that I could type this blog entry for example.

All I can say is fantastic and thanks to Joan at the hospice, whose advice has led to this outcome.

As my mind turns to fishing or similar outdoor activities (unlikely, but a nice pipe dream) it can also turn to other activities like genealogy not only for my immediate family on my parent's side, but also for the family of my nearest and dearest.

In other words I will be available again for consultations, visits etc sooner than expected, but will be less available when we receive an important visit from Leanne's mum who is without any doubt the most knowledgeable person in the study of the Sales and Adams genealogy.

I suspect that part of her proposed visit is to gather all the material available and put them together to produce a book. If this turns out to be the case I will be busier than a blue tailed fly!

With summer coming, THAT is busy!

Looking forward to hearing from you all just so I can stay in touch with the real world instead of the world of the past. Though I have to say that with all the sheer terror I feel coming from people frightened for their future because of the financial crisis many of you may be too busy to write or to call - try garpet on Skype instead [grin]

Kathleen and David.

David and Kathleen paid us a visit today. What welcome visitors they are. I have worked with Kathleen in the past and I hope that those times are remembered as fondly by her as they have been by me.

David, Peter, Kathleen

I honestly cannot recall all of the topics we managed to discuss, but very low among these were the elections in the ACT. Perhaps this was due to the fact that David and Kathleen live interstate from us and so the subject gripping the heart and mind of those living in the ACT did not seem to be as important in their minds as they did, briefly, in ours.

I know that Leanne and I went to the polls at around 10 am and noted that the new rules were in force, preventing anyone from handing out information about the candidates within 100 metres of the polling booths. I wonder if this caused any difficulties for some undecided voters.

Back to our guests. David and Kathleen are really two of the nicest people I know and there are occasions when I wonder how having children has affected them. You see we have not as yet met these children so I call them, 'Phantom Offspring.' I have said to Kathleen and David that I do not believe of their existence. I simply find it difficult to believe that anyone could stay as sane as they both have in the midst of a large growing family. Until I see them, and not just on photos, I choose to remain sceptical.

I think we had a lovely visit and I know that the sunny and mild weather outdoors was really a great backdrop to their visit.

Pleasant Afternoon

Leanne and I had a very pleasant afternoon entertaining Penny Sullivan, a friend she met on the work scene some time ago.

Leanne and Penny

Penny is living in the ACT now and like Leanne is interested in beading. So far, Leanne has found, or at least gathered around herself a number of people who enjoy this craft or "obsession" as Leanne commented when I asked her what to call beading in this note to you all.

I fully expect the house to be turned into a beading haven on certain days of the week when Marmaduke and I will be surrounded by women making beautiful things. Now if only Leanne would enable this to happen when Marmaduke and I are not connected

I have been engrossed with matters to do with the family Genealogy and have been handed a gold mine by one of my fellow genealogists who lives in Hungary.

He has been fortunate enough to literally bump into relatives visiting Hungary whom he recognised from the pictures that were sent to him by the grandparents. Simply amazing!

Jozsef, who features today on another blog of mine reserved for family members only, has struck a very large bit of information in one sitting so to speak. The collection of names he has sent me will keep me busy for days and it was a great pleasure chatting with him on Skype. Joska and his wife seem to be very nice people, it's sad that they are so far away.

From the BBC - an interesting story

From the BBC News on 16 Oct 2008 I managed to glean the following tit bit.

Please read this extract, then re-read it and put it into the context of the US Presidential elections in a few weeks time, the current melt down of financial institutions and perhaps even our little Territory wide elections here in Canberra tomorrow:

A US judge has thrown out a case against God, ruling that because the defendant has no address, legal papers cannot be served.

The suit was launched by Nebraska state senator Ernie Chambers, who said he might appeal against the ruling.

He sought a permanent injunction to prevent the "death, destruction and terrorisation" caused by God.

'God knows everything'

Mr Chambers sued God last year. He said God had threatened him and the people of Nebraska and had inflicted "widespread death, destruction and terrorisation of millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants".

What can you say to this?

In my case I say:

1. Thank God we have representatives who have not quite lost their senses
2. Thank God my father chose to come to this country rather than the USA when we were refugees.
3. Thank God we managed to land jobs in the ACT where we now have a chance to elect some sensible representatives tomorrow.
   

A sequence of "Irish jokes" provided for my amusement by my visitor on 13th October - this is the first of three

Two Irishmen walk into a pet shop in Dingle, they walk over to the bird section and Gerry says to Paddy, 'Dat's dem.'
The owner comes over and asks if he can help them.

'Yeah, we'll take four of dem dere little budgies in dat cage up dere,' says Gerry.

The owner puts the budgies in a cardboard box. Paddy and Gerry pay for the birds, leave the shop and get into Gerry's truck to drive to the top of the ConnorPass.

At the Connor Pass , Gerry looks down at the 1000 foot drop and says, 'Dis looks like a grand place.'

He takes two birds out of the box, puts one on each shoulder and jumps off the cliff. Paddy watches as the budgies
fly off and Gerry falls all the way to the bottom, killing himself stone dead.

Looking down at the remains of his best pal, Paddy shakes his head and says,

'Fook dat. Dis budgie jumping is too fook'n dangerous for me!'

THERE'S MORE...

The second in this sequence of Irish jokes sent to me by my visitor of October 13th

Moment's later; Seamus arrives up at ConnorPass.
He's been to the pet shop too and walks up to the edge of the cliff carrying another cardboard box in one hand and a shotgun in the other.

'Hi, Paddy, watch dis,' Seamus says.

He takes a parrot from the box and lets him fly free. He then throws himself over the edge of the cliff with the gun.

Paddy watches as half way down, Seamus takes the gun and shoots the parrot.

Seamus continues to plummet down and down until he hits the bottom and breaks every bone in his body.

Paddy shakes his head and says,

'And I'm never trying dat parrot shooting either!'

IT IS NOT OVER YET...

The third and final in this sequence of Irish jokes from my October 13th visitor

Paddy is just getting over the shock of losing two friends when Sean appears. He's also been to the pet shop and is carrying a cardboard box out of which he pulls a chicken.

Sean then takes the chicken by its legs and hurls himself off the cliff and disappears down and down until he hits
a rock and breaks his spine.

Once more Paddy shakes his head.

'Fook dat, lads. First dere was Gerry with his budgie jumping, den Seamus parrot shooting...and now Sean and his fook'n hengliding!'

What can you say after all that [sigh]

Snusher Meets Garpet or the other way around

Wow What a Build up!

Set out below is the article published by Peter Davis (aka snusher - something we will discuss a little later on) on his blog "Cancer at the Junction" on Monday, October 13, 2008 under the heading:

Snusher meets Garpet. Hungarian blogging guru rolls out red carpet in Gordon.

"Well at last we have got to meet the man and his wonderful partner Leanne!

Today
Lynne & I headed down the motorway 30 minutes south from Evatt, Belconnen to the far lower reaches of Canberra, Tuggeranong [disparagingly referred to as North Cooma] for a meet with Peter Garas [Garpet] and his partner Leanne at their home in the suburb of Gordon.

Peter describes his occupation in his own blogger profile as a 'blog writer', and his output is indeed prolific. It was the continuing blog http://garpet1.blogspot.com of his own experience with gastro oesophageal cancer, right here in Canberra, that gave me information and encouragement from the first days of my diagnosis in October 2007. He has had the same surgeon & oncologist as me. To meet him and Leanne was a real treat. The man himself was unchained from his feeding pole [nicknamed Marmaduke] and was free to greet us at the door. He & Leanne rolled out the red carpet for us and over several hours we engaged in free flowing
conversation across a whole range of topics. Talk of cancer & its treatment was only a small [but important] part of proceedings. We could not resist the chance to compare scars, made by the same surgeon!

The one on his stomach has healed so well that you can hardly see it!

Garpet now receives all his nutrition via a feeding tube [his oesphagus is constricted so he cannot swallow], and he patiently watched on while Lynne & I enjoyed the salmon, rye bread, capers, gherkins, dolmades, cheese & grapes that Leanne so generously provided. We in turn got to see Peter take on board a ration of fluids skillfully administered through a syringe by Leanne via his feeding tube.

Peter's voice was quiet but firm, and I could feel a real sense of engagement with this intellectual, articulate, urbane and widely travelled man. I had taken over a grab bag of books & CDs that reflected some of my interests...the usual culprits that you all know, sundials, French sundials, Captain Cook, cacti, astronomy, tarot, old maps, baroque music & family history. Lynne & Leanne also found much to discuss and several hours went by in a flash. Peter & Leanne are
gregarious and popular people; while we were there a long time friend from Sydney called in for a quick visit.

The whole episode was a delight, and well, I cannot wait until the next time...perhaps next month? This is one of the up sides of cancer..the lovely people you get to meet by force of circumstance!!

Just for the record today I had my routine 6 weekly port flush at the Belconnen Health Centre.

Thats all for now folks.

Peter Snusher Davis
Canberra, Australia
snusher@gmail.com"

Peter, I have to say that your article was so complimentary that I could do no better than to publish it to my readers as well. Thank you.

It was inspirational to be able to meet you and your delightful wife. It was a rare treat to learn that were it not for an accident of time, I might very well have met her in another capacity at the local hospice.

I have to say that I was awed by the subject matter you carried around in your Green bag. I learned so much on the day about so many things that had previously not entered my range of interests. For example, I was familiar with the Tarot being used in the telling of futures, but not with it's use as a complex card game, that you assured me, was similar to bridge. As a former bridge player of little repute (a fact that can be attested by many of those who have come to know me well since I literally stepped off the boat in 1957) I can tell you that I was completely unaware of this fact.

As for some of your other interests, like sundials, or more narrowly, French sundials, ils sont formidable, mon ami.

To learn that you speak fluent French (and probably other languages) puts you in a class that it is, if not unique, well up there with the most talented people with whom I can claim some connection.

What you may not have seen was that Leanne also very skilfully administered the medication that I had to have at that time of the day. I would literally be nothing without her these days.

Yes indeed all in all an exceptionally enjoyable visit and one that I too hope can repeated, whether in our "north Cooma" residence, perhaps yours or if the time is well chosen, (i.e. between 7 am and 6 pm) a 'neutral' scenic spot of great ambiance.

I promised my readers a brief digression about 'snusher" Apparently this is Peter's ancestral name. That is to say that people in his family once were called snusher and in his genealogical searches, Peter is searching for any connections to this name.

So dear readers, if you wish to be helpful, then please let Peter know as and when you DO come across this name. His email address is listed above.

Monday meeting with the author of Cancer at the Junction - "Snusher" aka Peter Davis

This is a photo of me taken by Leanne outside 'The Boathouse' in Canberra. Behind me is the lake and some residential units around Kingston (I think). In case you can't read the caption on the T shirt it says: "I'm not INSENSITIVE I just don't give a crap'

This certainly was and indeed is the way I have been feeling all day!

My state of my emotional health has been created by both the neurological pain in my right arm and hand as well as the headlines in the Canberra Times that make reference to "Black Friday"

All this is by way of a 'lead in' to the real story of the day, namely that I will finally get to meet "SNUSHER" aka Peter Davis, a fellow oesophageal cancer victim in Canberra who recently wrote in his blog about me and my blog and who has apparently been finding some of my scribbles (probably the earlier ones) useful in his journey with this horrible illness.

The date for our meeting is Monday next and I look forward to hearing about his journey as I have only been able to see snippets on his blog Cancer at the Junction http://www.ecsnusher.blogspot.com

I look forward to this meeting, but I sincerely hope that Peter's journey will not take the by-way that mine has taken.

It's highly likely that one or both of us will report on the meeting, so you can spend your days searching for the differences.

On the other hand, you could just go fishing or do something else that's useful right?

Hot News

This is a brief and one off announcement. Following a recent visit to the office of the dietitian I have been advised that my rate of weight gain is too high. Accordingly I am now able to advise my readers that Marmaduke and I will no longer be tethered to one another between the hours of around 7 am and 6 pm.

In short folks, while it is my intention to be with Marmaduke at my side during evenings and nights, my days will once again be free for other things.

As the weather improves and the days increase in temperature it seems that I will be free and hopefully fit enough for daytime assignations.

Seriously for a moment, it means that provided that I am well enough, I should be able do things during the day that were impossible when I had a deadline that required me to be connected to my feeding tube from 2 pm.

I can go on excursions, try fishing in the lake again, find people with similar time frame openings to play cards (just like those old fellers do on the picture post cards from Greece or southern Italy etc.) In other words to be a man of leisure.

I will not be the sort of person who oozes anxiety as I watch what is happening in our and the world's economies, nor will I display anxiety as I read the news and wonder which hell the world is heading for.

No, no my friends all those worries are already behind me.

I look forward to the good times, as well as spending time on the family history, hoping that family in Boston, re-discovered through advice about a 90 th anniversary birthday in that town, will identify at least one family member who has enough time to "download" this matriarch and send me the data that is gathered. In that way I can advance one of my pet projects, putting together as much of the family history as I can so as to provide a legacy for those who remain behind after my demise.

If friends from my past life want to use a lunch time to catch up then a phone call will do the trick to arrange a place and time. The hard part might be to arrange for Leanne to drive me there.

Still, one can but try.

Let's hear from you if you are interested in exploring these new boundaries.

PS I need someone to fish with, that someone being generous enough to help me tie my lures to the line as my right hand is incapacitated.

Saturday and Sunday revisited

This picture is of Roberta and Stephen two of Leanne's friends who came to visit us. I certainly hope to get to know them better in the near future, they are both delightful people. Alas, when they arrived on this occasion I was both exhausted by an earlier visit to another delightful couple and by something that was happening in my stomach. I know it's the last place from which to expect trouble because I have not been using it for months. Still mysterious things can happen when I am not hooked up to Marmaduke.

Saturday and Sunday were visiting days. Leanne and I were either being visited by people or in the car visiting others. It is really a wonderful feeling to be able to use the few hours when I am unhooked from the feeding tube and actually able to travel.

We were of course embarrassed to realise that we had totally missed the news about it being daylight saving and so we found we had 'lost' an hour and were arriving late on one of our visits. Egg foo yung on face is NOT the most comfortable thing to wear. Thankfully our hosts were very gracious.

Leanne's home made jams appear to be a hit, as has been her first attempt to make a cake from the Vizvari Mariska Hungarian cook book. It was apparently either a great success or people were being unusually kind. The number of pieces scoffed would suggest that the first explanation is the correct one. There is a delightful story about the acquisition of this out of print cook book. However I will not bother to write about it here - you can ask me when we next see each other.

All this lovely tucker being devoured with me looking longingly at certain items but being unable to participate. Sigh!

Actually we will have to talk to the dietitian because I am putting on weight. This was desirable, but now is becoming a pain. If she agrees that I can take less of the Ensure Plus it will mean more time free of Marmaduke - all in all not a bad outcome.

But I digress. It's thanks to all those who came to see us or who were generous enough to have us in their homes.

I have not provided photos of others either because they stated that they did not wish to appear on the blog or because I was idiotic enough to have either left the camera at home or getting so involved in the conversation that I forgot to take photos.

If there are any suggestions from my readers about successfully handling neuropathic pain I would love to hear about their experiences, my right hand and arm is in need of some new ideas.

So that's all for this entry. I sincerely hope that I can write about other world related issues in my other blogs. I am particularly interested in starting a conversation or thread about the economy and what's likely to happen to us all as a result of what is happening elsewhere. Is anyone else interested? If so let me know.

Friday

Today has been one of the more interesting days since my release from the hospice. It has been filled with fun, sun and excitement.

'Wow, I wish I had days like that,' I hear you all mumbling under your breath while I punch out the details on this page.

The day began as usual with me waking at the crack of dawn and then lying quietly under the covers waiting for Marmaduke (yes you remember Marmaduke, he is the feeding pole and pump) to complete his cycle and beep to announce that finally he had emptied the contents from the one litre flask of nutrients into my body. This was around 7 am.

Leanne, awakened by the sound, was like an athlete in training. She sprang out from under the covers, muttering something about 'coming', then rushing to my side of the bed with a single mission in life, to remove the plug to Marmaduke and then arrange to flush the peg tube with water.

A few more days like today and she will be well enough conditioned to undertake the tasks and then turn around and slip right back under the covers again and continue sleeping until her exhaustion is at least partly assuaged and she rises at another time when she is truly well rested.

Not yet though, not today. Today she stayed awake, though I suspect that every bone in her body was silently screaming at her to get back into bed and to stop playing the heroine carer role thrust upon her by circumstances and recognise that every body has limitations and that she had reached hers.

No, not today. Today meant helping me to shower, dress, receive the morning round of medication and then to take advantage of the streaming sunshine and almost summer temperatures outside in the backyard where the large outdoors umbrella had to be erected, the plastic chairs covered and a large pillow placed on the table so that I could place my big clod hopper like feet on it, well above the heart, thereby hoping to reduce the oedema, a relatively new development, that seems to have overtaken me recently.

If all this was not enough there was of course the need to get herself washed and dressed and ready for the day. This was followed by the preparation of breakfast for one washing up and then more tidying up, with winter gear being packed away and more of the summer gear being made accessible.

Are you tired yet? I am and I was just watching and getting myself underfoot when my 'role' was clear, get the hell out of the way.

Emotions are still raw. When there is something that can remind Leanne about her father and recent events they are overwhelming and require time out and an escape from the daily grind.

No such luck today.

Today we went into the hospital to try and get a lighter version of Marmaduke, something we managed to partially accomplish. Then with the long weekend being almost upon us we needed to take in supplies and so first a trip to purchase ink cartridges for our printers and then a trip to the local ALDI was indicated and we picked up supplies for one and potential visitors. (So some of you had better come and meet planning expectations by being available to eat the goodies obtained)

I forgot to mention that we had our regular weekly visit from the nursing staff of the Palliative Care program who come to change the dressing on the peg tube. I was meant to take a picture for display here tonight, but she snuck out the door before I could do the deed. Given the quality of the photos I have been taking lately this was probably a good move on her part.

Later in the afternoon one of Leanne's work colleagues arrived with a floral tribute from the colleagues at her work place. I took photos of course but they were SO bad that Leanne has forbidden my placing the results on line.



I am a bad boy, I am disobeying part of her command. I managed to save the shot of the flowers at least so that people can see how lovely they are and how much staff at her work place feel with and for her in this sorrow filled time as she continues to mourn the passing of her beloved dad.

It's now just the time to await Marmaduke completing his duties with yet another flask of goodies and then attach the last of the flasks for the day, then bed, to start the cycle again tomorrow.

Come on Down . . . .

This is to inform you all that we have more or less settled in and are generally "at home" for those of you who would like to visit. A phone call in advance would be nice just to ensure that we do not have other plans or that I am OK enough to see people without nodding off. Apparently this is disconcerting to some, as they feel it reflects on the content of their conversation when in fact it's merely the side effect of some of my drugs.

The photos above were taken this morning featuring a small portion of the backyard with Leanne,as usual, looking competent and ready for anything while I have had to crop my photo to show my best features while hiding the bald spot and other aberrations.

I have no idea what other people are doing, but we are going to soak up the sunshine and 26 degree temperatures while we can. To hell with the news from Washington and elsewhere that might even as I type, knock off substantial portions of my superannuation.

There is nothing I can do about it. I can however do something about my vitamin D deficiency by exposing my pale winter blanched skin to the suns rays for at least 20 minutes, after which a nice beach umbrella will preserve me from further harm.

All this and fresh air too.

What are you doing today?

We are told the Romans had bread and circuses to entertain them while Rome burnt, Nero had his fiddle. I guess all we can hope for is something similar if we have access to CNN, that way we can all watch the demise of the American Empire.

Now if only I had a violin, two hands that still work and some talent . . . .

Thanks for your condolences

Many thanks to those of you who have sent messages of condolence at the recent death of my father.

I cannot say how shocked and stunned we all have been. It is still unbelievable as he was fit, healthy, took no medications and this tragic accident seems as if it was so avoidable. It has robbed us of at least 15 years more with him and my family and I are quite inconsolable, as he was in such excellent health, being well on the way to beating his mother's record of 98 years.

The autopsy was inconclusive as to the sequence of events that led to his death and so there will have to be a coroner's inquest which could take more than a year before it is held. My own view is that he was leaning to pick some oranges for me (at my sister's home which is only about 50 metres from my parent's home on their property)and he either tripped and hit his head on the galvanised pipe fence post, falling to hit his neck on the electric fence, the pulse of which then caused his heart beat to falter and stop OR he hit his neck on the fence and then hit his head and then his heart stopped. What the medical examiner did say is that there was absolutely no sign of heart disease, no arterio sclerosis, no sign of an exit site for electrocution so all of them a re ruled out but there was a slightly enlarged heart. Our view is that this was due to the extremely hard physical work he did all his life including working as a blacksmith from a young age with his father, but we may never know the real reason he died.

What I can say is that I tried very hard to bring him back when I found him lying on his side in the paddock about 10 to 15 minutes after he left my mother and I cooking dinner. Unfortunately, either I was just a few minutes too late and/or my attempts at CPR were not successful or not skilled enough. I hoped to bring him back but there was no heartbeat when I found him, although the small amount of blood on his forehead was still wet and warm which would suggest I was not long in finding him.

Anyway, we gave him a very good send off with close to 250 - 300 people in attendance at the funeral and graveside. I wrote the Eulogy (with additions from my sister, mother and brother) which my brother and I delivered and my sister read dad's favourite poem "Bannerman of the Dandenong" by Alice Werner. My sister and I organised the funeral and my mother and brother organised the organist and grave digger. It was a very personal but dignified service. My sister, Narelle, organised Waratahs from the Wollondilly shire, grevilleas from her father in law's garden and other native flowers through the florist which meant the flowers were just beautiful and special.

So dad is buried at St James Anglican Church in Luddenham, only 200 metres from where he lived all his life and from where he was baptised. He knew all the graves, where the stone ridge runs through the church yard and did a lot of work in and around the church. His parents, grandparents, sister, aunts and uncles, cousin and many others are with him there and while the cemetery has been closed, my mother, siblings and I will all be there in due course too.

Thanks once more for all your support whether that's been through email messages, phone calls, flowers, visits and hugs. I appreciate it very much. You've heard it, no doubt, a million times before, but something like this really makes you think about what you want to do with and how you want to live your life, because it can be so shockingly suddenly taken away. The message I take from all this is to cling to the good people and things in life, discard the irrelevant and think about living each week as well as you can.

Salut for now - Leanne

Tethered to Marmaduke and other matters

I am writing this for Peter as he is feeling confined and frustrated by Marmaduke, also known as the IV drip pole, on which hangs his 1 litre of Ensure Plus.

Today we have been out together, albeit to undertake a few small tasks in Belconnen (northern suburbs of Canberra). The weather was sunny and still, so Peter was keen to take advantage of the softness of the climate and the few hours of freedom from the 16 hours of being tethered to Marmaduke (i.e feeding), to go out from the house. We visited an old acquaintance at her new shop in the Jamieson Centre (selling pearls and jewellery)for a few minutes and then chose some appropriate mounts and framing for a piece of needlework for my sister, from the only place in Canberra that does it properly (Antoinette's Fine Framing).

After that the leisurely 1/2 hour drive back home was punctuated with a couple of other minor stops before getting home in time for more medications and finally Marmaduke at 2pm.

The sheer delight of being out of the house on a lovely, clear and sunny spring day and of being together, rather than separated, cannot be underestimated. The freedom to go somewhere together which was not medically related, after more than 4 months of illness and treatment regimes, was a small but treasured delight.

Poor Peter was, naturally, very tired after this brief excursion and the few hundred metres of walking it entailed. However, I am hopeful that it is the start of being able to gradually reclaim some stamina and also assist in reducing the swelling he has in his ankles which appeared last week.

Trying to get the routine back into synch has been somewhat of a challenge as it is the same but different because the new peg tube we had to have inserted is less malleable and more difficult to use. Also we are unused to each other's habits and requirements at night again and need to re-establish a mechanism that suits both of us not just one or the other. On the home front,Peter is now very keen to have visitors and to see people generally. So please make contact if you are local as we would love to have you drop by. I think that we need to ensure this happens otherwise he will be left with only me for company and that is not optimal when I am so taken up with all the daily practicalities of keeping him and the house in order.

So with the milder weather coming on we may be able to spend a little more time out of doors while ever Peter feels well enough.

Enough for now. Best wishes to you all - Leanne