Thanks for sharing this song with us Griff Senior. It has allot of meaning and we will try to explain this side of Christmas to our girls. Let’s meet in New York sometime soon to really bring the meaning of this tune home.
The Pogues – A Fairytale Of New York
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Looking forward to spending sometime with my Mum tomorrow. One of the things she wants to do is update our family bible that goes way, way back. In preparation for that I have done a bit of research which is below. This information was sourced from the blackburn-tree.org
Eleanor Pauline Gregory
Generation: 1
Eleanor Pauline Gregory (daughter of Lyle Graydon Gregory and Jessie Agnes Wilson).
Eleanor
Dear Greg and Karyn
Please share this with your children and my grandchildren.
As we are getting ready for church this morning, I pinned muy poppy on my jacket over my heart and I had strong thoughts and memories of my Uncle Stan Campbell who served in the Second World War and when the war was over and he returned to Canada, he was unable mentally to forget the horrors of the bombing and the children killed and unfortunately spent the rest of his life which was forover 40 years in a Vdteran’s Hospital in London, Ontario. There were visited him many times with Karyn and Greg and as they grew older, they too formed a loving relationship with a warm and wonderful man. He is the person I remember most as a youg child, He was indeed my favourite unclde.
Then there were the two cousins, Donald and Raymond Muston, whose mother, Bertha, died very young and my grandamother and grandfather, Lester and Viiolet Gregory raised them. So they grew up here on the farm. I have few memories of Raymond as he was killed in the war and Donald, wounded several times and seriously, managed to come home. He and his first wife, Sarah, were very kinmd to me when I was little, They lived in Detroit and many summers, they invited me to come and stay. That was my holiday. In later years, after Sarah died, Donald remarried Liz, who is still living in Detroit and we speak reguarly on the phone. Donald died quite suddenly while walking a dog. It wa always his wish to die quickly and this happened the weekend of Greg’s 40th birthday.. Donald and Liz attended Karyn’s wedding in Detroit and were my only relataives there. Thor and I have so many wonderful memories of Donald and it was a great personal loss when he died. He even used to come and dog sit the house with Duncan and he and Duncan were indeed great pals.
In the first World War, your Grandfather Brock’s grandfather was killed in action. He was Charles Cromwell and left his wife with four small children to raise, Ross (who was Brock’s Dad) Audrey Grossett, Glenn Cromwell and Ollie Cromwell. So they all grew up without a father in their life and Grandma Cromwell never remarried, She moved with the children to Toronto and I was lucky enough to know and love them all. Grandma Brock could tell you stories of his life which are stories in themselves.
Well, I just thought as I was thinking of them all this morning, I would share my memories with you. I love y ou all and we must pray for all the young soldiers that are now fighting for peace of their countries. Our young neighbour, Jason Blackburn, left his wife and new born baby, to go to Afghanastan (think I spelled it incorrectly). This is a huried note and I just wanted to do it when I was thinking about it so we are off out the door.
Now to the guy your know, Grandpa Thor, lived in Glasgow, Scotland while all the bombing was going on very close to his home at the docks in Scotland. He well remembers hiding when they heard the warning sirens and all clear sounds. He too has many manies of very frightening and difficult times which I know he would share although they bring back sad memories.
I love you all and hope you find this interesting and also lets you know that members of your family have fought for the peace of our country.
Grandma Eleanor
What a great morning. The rain has held off and we moved the herd from the other side of the little creek where they were feeding up on the lush green grass. Once we had the cattle in the yard Alison, Morley and I separated the Dexters we thought we be “best for the show.” Luckily Aubrey came on the scene in time to confirm which cows should go and start preparations.
We would love to get your comments on our cows. Here is a list of criteria Aubrey sent me from the Dexter Bulletin on grading Dexter Cattle.
Colour: wholly black, wholly red, wholly dun are of equal merit.
Head: short and broad, tapering towards a broad muzzle.
Horns: horns should be moderately thick, with an inward, upward curve.
Polled animals are acceptable as are dehorned animals.
Body: breast prominent. Straight, level underline. Good width between both front and back
legs.
Udder: udder should be well attached, with high and wide rear attachments, and carried well for ward.
Teats should be medium size, well placed on udder, hanging plumb and equal in length. All four quarters should be of equal size.
Size: cows- the allowable height is between 91cm and 112cm at the rump.
bulls- the allowable height is between 97cm and 117cm at the rump.
By this time next week the Mullum Show will be done and dusted. Our objective for our second appearance at this great revived rural show is to present the best Dexter cattle we have. Best can best be described for us as taking the cows who we feel the most comfortable with and therefore will be the safest.
When the four girl dexter stud started with four cows a couple of years ago the decision would not have been very hard; however two years later it’s not so easy. Our stud has grown to over 20 Dexters and it’s a big challenge to decide who will go to the show. Below is a picture of Morley our middle daughter up early in this morning working out on paper who she thinks we should take.
Morley Mapping out what Moo's to take to Mullum Show
This is what is on the cow calf list so far:
Abellina and Annabelle (black heifer)
Reana and Rosemary (red heifer)
Ebby and Eddy (dun bull)
Azalia and Archer (black steer)
Whiskita and Windsor (black steer)
Morley has just asked me to help her. I have said yes which elicited the response can you get ready please Dad. Time to finish my coffee, take off my pink Chenille house coat and get to work.
It was 5 am and this is what I put on.
Where does time go? The Mullumbimby Show is upon us and the Four Girl Dexter stud is kicking it into high gear. This year our biggest challenge for the biggest little show is deciding who will go. I am staying out of the selection and leaving it up to the girls.
Although this year we may take a boy. Below are a few photos of Aubrey, Morley and Bella getting Edward the Dun ready to show. Looks like we got his horn buds in the nick of time and he was very brave when we burnt them down.
Aubrey trimming up
Morley and Bella getting Ed ready
Calf Notes-30th October 2010
Edward (81)-dehorned, first 7 in 1 shot
Karma (67)-second 7 in 1 shot
Windsor (59)-second 7 in 1 shot
Manchester (89)-second 7 in 1 shot
Archer (70)-second 7 in 1 shot
Carter (60)-second 7 in 1 shot
Rosemary (52) (still needs second 7 in 1 shot)
Annabell (54) (still needs second 7 in 1 shot)
Alison and I are about to have a go at this soup recipe we found. Pictures below so you can enjoy the journey from garden to wood cook stove to our tummies. Yummy.
Recipes from FormerChef.com
Copyright formerchef.com 2009
Roasted Potato and Leek Soup
3 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and diced 1″
1 bu Leeks, cleaned and sliced
5 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil
4-5 sprigs of rosemary
salt and pepper
64 oz stock*
* stock: I used 1/2 vegetable stock and 1/2 water to keep the soup vegan, but you could
also use a good quality (preferably home made) chicken stock.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel and dice the potatoes. Slice the leeks in half lengthwise, cutting away the very dark green tough top pieces. Cut them into
Here is a long time family friend and friend of the Bush (literally) Kelvin Davies, founder of Rainforest Rescue harvesting some pumkins from the top Garden on Mill Rd. Kelvin and his organisation have been a great support for our rainforest regeneration work on our properties in Goonengerry.
Another big load of Pumkins.
Meet Morley. She loves to get stuck into anything and everything on the farm. Pictured below is our Moe having a go at skimming the cream off of the whole milk after it has sat for 24 hours. Funny how things come to you..I guess that’s how skimmed milk got its name.. its what is left over after you skim off the cream. I do stand to be corrected.
Morley doing the morning milk skimming.
Living the farm lifestyle to the fullest means lots of family. It’s easy to understand why the pioneers had so many children when you have a go at living off the land; you need all hands on deck and in this case in the sink to keep things going.
Aubrey giving the days laying a scrub up
