Hello everyone here we at Monday and this Monday is a special one as it is ANZAC Day. A day that has come to mean more to me the older I get.

Like many my great-grandfather on dad’s side served in WW1 and my Pop (mum’s dad) served in WW11, dad’s father didn’t serve as he was a coal miner and they were needed at home.

Here are some facts about ANZAC Day.

ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. …

The Anzacs were all volunteers, there was no conscription. …

Two-up is a traditional gambling game only allowed to be played on Anzac day through pubs and clubs in Australia. …

There is no town called Gallipoli.

Anzac Day was first observed in 1916. The day has gone through many changes since. The ceremonies that are held at war memorials up and down New Zealand, and in places overseas where New Zealanders gather, are modelled on a military funeral and remain rich in tradition and ritual.

Had a decent night, found myself wide awake at 5.30 so up I got, washed, dressed and made my own breakfast.

Tim up at 6.30am and off to work by 7am.

Leo came down at 8am to hang out in his room. He left at 11am to go meet Emma (girlfriend).

Tasha came down and cleaned out 3 kitchen cupboards.

I was expecting Kelli to come and get me ready for bed but she hasn’t turned up. Thankfully Tasha was here and put me to bed.

Awake and out of bed at 5.10 just felt awake so go up. Had some trouble dressing but got there in the end.

Found 3 letters on my table this morning, Tasha checked the P O Box yesterday. I answered all three this morning.

Kathy turned up around midday with the girls and her and Tasha cleaned out more kitchen cupboards and threw a load of clothes on to wash.

Sydney-May walked down and posted my letters for me.

Kathy also showered me.

Tuesday is here and I had a good nights sleep last night. Although I had to sit naked in the bathroom waiting for Tasha as all my clean clothes were in the dryer and the dryer is outside.

Kathy here by 8.45am and her and her dad have cleaned the bathroom and behind the TV and changed the curtain over the front sliding door. In fact her and Tasha have done a bloody lot as well as getting their dad motivated to chip in and do stuff.

I even found a new shower curtain now just have to get Tim to change it over.

The house is looking good.

SAMANTHA’S BIRTHDAY

A new day and I have been up since 5.20 but for the most part I slept well.

Tim drove me to see podiatrist as him and the girls are not cleaning today.

He also to the cans/bottles over to be cased in. We have borrowed the neighbours trailer to throw rubbish in for a tip run.

I had a shit night so bloody restless and unsettled up and down like a bloody yo yo.

Dad passed 3 years ago today.

Kathy and the girls arrived at 9am and left around 1pm, she cleaned out the storage under the dinning tables seats. I even let her throw out a few things.

Tasha here cleaning out the fridge a job well overdue.

Spoke to Sandy about going to the cemetery and she agreed the ground will be to soggy for me to visit.

Had a better night last night did sit up with Tim for an hour but after that I settled ok. Slept through to 4.30 but then felt wide awake so I got up at 5am.

Kathy and the girls arrived at 9am and stayed till 1pm, she cleaned off the book/storage shelves in the dining room.

She also showered me before leaving.

Only saw Tasha when she dropped off the shopping she did.

Had a real good night waking at 11.30 to pee but going straight back to sleep. Then waking again at 4.35, I peed but found afterwards I was wide awake so got up.

No bloody internet this morning even though the computer and modem show it is working, so restarted the computer that didn’t work so turned modem off and back on which also didn’t work.

9.30am and still no internet at 11am after restarting laptop twice I got it back.

Tim at last was able to go and get Kathy’s old fridge for Jess as the two Jess had are on their last legs.

Kathy helped me get ready for bed.

In Our Hearts

© Rose M. De Leon More By Rose M. De Leon

Published: December 2007

We thought of you with love today,
But that is nothing new.
We thought about you yesterday
And days before that, too.
We think of you in silence.
We often speak your name.
Now all we have are memories
And your picture in a frame.
Your memory is our keepsake
With which we’ll never part.
God has you in his keeping.
We have you in our heart.

Source: https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/in-our-hearts–loosing-a-father

Hello Tuesday today’s extreme creature isn’t that extreme, it is the Easter Bunny.

He or she has been around a bloody long time and some may have a name for the Easter Bunny but I don’t.

The thing is, the Easter Bunny does not talk. That’s okay because kids usually have a lot to talk about and the Easter Bunny has big ears to listen.

Scientists put the age of the Easter Bunny between 400 and 500 years old. So that means the Easter Bunny was born sometime between 1515 and 1615. Stories about the Easter Bunny began taking shape in the late 1600s.

The care the Easter Bunny takes in hiding the eggs and the decades of continuous work also suggest the Easter Bunny is female. It’s common knowledge that hormones encourage the does, not the bucks, to look after the kids. And the ability to remember holiday dates definitely indicates that the Easter Bunny isn’t male!

According to legend, the Easter Bunny lives on Easter Island, although no one knows exactly where.

Historically, his first stop is Christmas Island. American Samoa is often his last stop.

How is the Easter Bunny related to Jesus?

In short: The Easter Bunny is not related to Jesus at all. At most, they’re both obviously tied to the holiday celebrating the resurrection, and they’re both considered symbols of new life—but the links to one another, essentially, end there.

Good morning all on this fine Easter Monday, yesterday being Easter Sunday marked the 3^rd anniversary of my dad’s passing although he died on the 21^st but it was Easter Sunday.

Anyway here are some facts.

The naming of the celebration as “Easter” seems to go back to the name of a pre-Christian goddess in England, Eostre, who was celebrated at beginning of spring. The only reference to this goddess comes from the writings of the Venerable Bede, a British monk who lived in the late seventh and early eighth century

The Easter Bunny legend began in Germany.

The act of painting eggs originates from a Ukrainian tradition.

The exact origins of this mythical mammal are unclear, but rabbits, known to be prolific procreators, are an ancient symbol of fertility and new life.

Standing at 31ft tall and 18ft wide is the world’s largest Easter egg. Found in Vegreville, Alberta, Canada, the egg weighs a hefty 5000lbs and took 12,000 hours to complete.

A new day has arrived and it saw me up at 5am feeling awake and with it.

Home alone today as Tim is at work today.

Wrote out blog posts for Monday, Tuesday and Thursday’s posts.

A warm dry day.

Kelli putting me to bed today.

Managed to sleep in 5.40am and even got up a couple of times during the night to pee.

Tim off work today as there is a bus strike. He has whipper snipped the back yard but can’t re-thread the whipper snipper, so has gone out to Bunnings to ask for help as it is new and the first time he has used it. He got it done and finished the yard.

I spoke to the doctor he said he will email me the referral I need will check that tomorrow.

Woke at 4.50 to pee went back to bed but couldn’t settle so up at 5.20am. Tim also up at 5am as he has an early start.

Tim home by 9am he has a split shift.

One year ago today we lost mum, been a hard day.

Started work on a memory book about me for Leo, I need Tim to get more photos out of the cupboard for me.

Had a so so night was a bit unsettled for a couple of hours but managed to sleep till 5.30am.

A wet start to the day and heavy rain on and off all day.

Tim home by 9.30am another split shift.

Not much to do today with no letters to answer and still waiting for photos to be gotten out of the cupboard.

Slept better last night up at 5.45am, washed and dressed and ready for the day.

Tim is off today as he is working all over Easter.

Managed to get the photos out of the cupboard on my own and finished off Blain’s Nana Memory book. Now Tim just has to go through it and write who is who under each photo.

Tomorrow I will add photos to Leo’s book.

Woke at 5.20 went and peed and decided to stay up.

Saw Leo at 7.15 and got a nice big hug, it felt wonderful.

Decided to add a little more to the memory books so worked on that today.

Jess putting me to bed today, first time I have seen her in a week.

A new day is here a cool day but no rain, slept in what I will wear today as I will have to fend for myself today as Tim is working.

Kathy turned up around 10am and stayed till 12.30, she cleaned, dusted and vacuum out as well as washing down part of the loungeroom walls.

The shopping was scheduled for delivery between 1 & 2pm but when I checked the site at 2.20pm it had changed till between 4 & 5pm, damn I hate afternoon deliveries.

Groceries arrived at 4.15, Jess came to help and got me ready for bed.

Another chap I have read about is Phillip (Peter) Schuler, heard of him? Nope, me either,till now. The book was titled Phillip Schuler by Mark Baker.

Phillip Frederick Edward Schuler was an Australian journalist, a war correspondent at the Gallipoli campaign. He later joined the army, was wounded in action, and died in France.

Four journalists played leading roles in forming the indelible legend of Gallipoli in the minds of Australians. Yet it was the one who remains least known today – Phillip Schuler – whose part was the most immediately profound.

He volunteered to write reports and take photographs for the newspaper during the Gallipoli campaign. He documented – with evocative accounts and remarkable photography – the entire experience. Less subject to censorship than official correspondent C.E.W. Bean, he exposed flaws in the campaign, particularly the scandal of British treatment of wounded. Historian Les Carlyon considered him “a much better writer from a newspaper point of view than Bean.”

He later enlisted in the AIF, and died on the Western Front in 1917, aged 27.

Becoming a parent changes many things about your priorities and your outlook on life. In this famous poem, Edgar Guest (1881-1959) shares how life was before children and what changed once he became a father. The speaker realizes that he needs to be a better person because there’s a little one who will look up to everything he does, whether it’s good or bad. Edgar Guest wrote many poems on the topic of family. This poem is made up of octaves (eight line stanzas) that follow the rhyme scheme ABABCDCD.

The Responsibility Of Fatherhood

By Edgar Guest More Edgar Guest

BEFORE you came, my little lad,
  I used to think that I was good,
Some vicious habits, too, I had,
  But wouldn’t change them if I could.
I held my head up high and said:
  ‘I’m all that I have need to be,
It matters not what path I tread,’
  But that was ere you came to me.

I treated lightly sacred things,
  And went my way in search of fun,
Upon myself I kept no strings,
  And gave no heed to folly done.
I gave myself up to the fight
  For worldly wealth and earthly fame,
And sought advantage, wrong or right,
  But that was long before you came.

But now you sit across from me,
  Your big brown eyes are opened wide,
And every deed I do you see,
  And, O, I dare hot step aside.
I’ve shaken loose from habits bad,
  And what is wrong I’ve come to dread,
Because I know, my little lad,
  That you will follow where I tread.

I want those eyes to glow with pride,
  In me I want those eyes to see
The while we wander side by side
  The sort of man I’d have you be.
And so I’m striving to be good
  With all my might, that you may know
When this great world is understood,
  What pleasures are worth while below.

I see life in a different light
  From what I did before you came,
Then anything that pleased seemed right;
  But you are here to bear my name,
And you are looking up to me
  With those big eyes from day to day,
And I’m determined not to be
  The means of leading you astray.

Source: https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/the-responsibility-of-fatherhood-by-edgar-guest