Today I am going to talk a little about military medals and decorations, starting with The Distinguished Service Order also known as the DSO it is a military decoration of the United Kingdom and formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth and British Empire.

It was awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat. It was instituted on the 2^nd September1886 by Queen Victoria and was awarded for the first time on the 25^th November 1886.

It is typically awarded to officer’s ranked mayor or higher, but the honour has sometimes been awarded to especially valorous junior officers. During the First World War, 8,981 DSOs were awarded, each award being announced in the London Gazette.

Between the years of 1914 and 1916 it was awarded to staff officers who did not serve under fire after the 1^st January 1917 commanders in the field were instructed to recommend this award only for those serving under fire.

Prior to 1943 is was only given to someone mentioned in despatches, the order is generally given to officers in command above the rank of captain. When a junior officer was awarded the DSO it was often regarded as an acknowledgement that the officer had only just missed out on the Victoria Cross,

In 1942 the award started to be given to officers of the Merchant Navy who had performed acts of gallantry under fire and enemy attack.

Since 1993 the award has been restricted solely to distinguished service such as leadership and command by and rank, the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross was introduced as the seconded highest award for gallantry. It has, however, remained an officers-only award and it has yet to be awarded to non-commissioned rank.

Recipients of the order are officially known as Companions of the Distinguished Service Order. They are entitled to use the letters “DSO”. One of more gold medal bars ornamented by the Crown may be issued to the DSO holders performing further acts of such leadership which would have merited award of the DSO. The bars are worn as clasps on the medal ribbon of the original award.

No you may be wondering what it looks like well I could tell you but I think it is better to just show you so here it is.

I will write more about other medals in other posts.

Good afternoon all, it is another bloody warm day here in my part of the world and what a day I have had, I spent the morning doing housework and then I have been cooking for lunch.

I have my 4 girls here for lunch and all the grandchildren along with Daemon so the house has been loud and chaotic and the house now looks a right mess.

I spent the last 2nights at my brother’s place dog sitting but I left early to come home this morning as I knew the house would be a right mess and I would have to clean before the family has turned up.

I also managed to read about 30 odd blogs while cooking and cleaning.

Kathy has had a problem with Sydney-May not wanting to leave; first we couldn’t find Sydney-May’s shoes then when the shoes were found she put them on but started to whinge because she didn’t want to leave. Kathy may have a problem getting her daughters to leave but I have a problem getting my youngest daughter to leave………………..lol

I am looking forward to having a quiet house after they all leave; I then will get to put something on other than cartoons.

I also want to work on some posts for the coming week I like to have a few there ready to be used when I am too busy to write a post.

Ok I wrote this last night but forgot to post it; I don’t know why I forgot I just did so anyway here we are with this week’s five things Friday

Dog sitting……………again

In for a bad night’s sleep

Pizza for tea

Feeling tired already

Too tired for a bath, which is good as it’s dirty……………lol

Good morning world how is everyone today? I am well it is a much cooler day here in my part of the world, I have nothing on this morning but of course this afternoon I will go and pick Leo up from school.

Went and saw dad yesterday, he looked ok not great, he said he felt ok if he was just sitting in bed or in a chair but if he had to walk anywhere like the bathroom he would get so out of breathe and would feel like he couldn’t breathe.

Although when the doctor saw him yesterday afternoon he said that dad might go home today, what a stupid thing to say as how can he go home if can’t walk to the bathroom and back to his bed without having an attack of shortness of breath. I will find out more today when I speak to mum.

Tim had no problem at work, turns out he wasn’t over his days so no problem but he will have to keep a check on this in the future. Dad was saying it was the same when he was at work he could only work so many shifts in a fortnight and like Tim it was up to him to keep track of how many shifts he had worked.

I sorted out my gifts of course I have more things for Leo then any of the other grandchildren, so I will have to go and get things for Blain and the girls. I also have my sisters pretty much sorted but nothing so far for Dave and his wife Leigh or their girls.

What I did find out is that Kathy takes a size 8 when I had down that she took a size 10 so some of the tops I have for her are a size to big so I will post of Facebook and see who in the family may take a size 10.

On another note it is my birthday in 10 days’ time, I will be 52 just saying.

Good afternoon all, yes here I am starting today’s post after a productive day more or less, first when I got up at around 6ish I did a load of washing, unpacked the dishwasher read some blogs pegged the washing on the line, read some more blogs.

Then I really got my ass into gear and washed the kitchen floor, honestly I don’t know why I put it off so much it is a breeze to do with the steam mop. I spray the floor with floor cleaner and used the steam mop on it takes 5 minutes then I wash the mop head and redo it all up takes less than 10 minutes to do. I just put it off and put it off till the floor looks like it hasn’t been done in months if not longer.

Next I cleaned the bath and toilet and then I went and dragged out my gift box and made a list of everything in it along with the layby I got out a few weeks back and then I found a book and wrote down family members names and listed what I had for that person. Now I also have two boxes that arrived this morning from Chrisco which will have gifts in them, to open and see what is there and those things to my lists.

Oh yeah I also took a couple of things to my sister’s place that I no longer wanted and she said she would like and some old books Kathy was getting rid of which I dropped off at my niece Samantha’s place for her daughter Hayley.

So I have done stuff today, Tim yesterday was complaining that I spend most of the day on the computer doing nothing and that I only do housework once a week, what a load of rubbish if I only did it once a week he would know it. It’s the old saying they never notice how much you do till you stop doing it.

Ok I just went and got the clothes off the line and that reminds me I ironed Tim’s work shirts also this morning. I am not going to lie and tell you I am always this busy during the day I am not but I am not as lazy as Tim seems to think I am either.

When I got to get Leo this afternoon Jessica wants me to get some things for her from Coles which of course I will do because well that is me, I do things like that.

Oh yeah I just remembered I think we have Blain tonight which is fine I don’t mind having him but I might suggest to Natasha that since I am not have Leo each week now that I will only have Blain every second week the week I know Tim will be home so that Tim can get to see Blain as well.

Ok I have rambled on about nothing long enough I will now post this.

Well it is another hot day in my part of the world, now for some family news, my dad is in hospital again with pneumonia this morning my sister Sandra went to our parents place and took a look at dad who was running a fever and was having trouble breathing and couldn’t even get out of bed, so she rang for an ambulance. The ambos told him he should had rang for them earlier but dad doesn’t like to ring them and doesn’t like to go to the hospital but it is the best place for him most of the time.

Other news my daughter Jessica has told me she doesn’t want me to have Leo each week for a while as it is getting difficult for her, he always wants to come to nanna’s place and is often complaining that he wants nanna over his mum. She feels that I spoil him way too much and she is right and I will have to try and stop buying him stuff and letting him get his own way.

Last night after he got home from work Tim was working out his hours and realised he had worked a day too many he is suppose to only work 24 days out of every 28 and he had worked 25. This may not seem like a big deal but it is he could loss his job and so can his supervisor and the other guy in charge. I told him not to stress over it, it shouldn’t be up Tim to keep track of these things the company should also be keeping track of how many days he works in a month.

So he is home today he had to have the day off work, and tomorrow when he goes to work he should find out what is be said about the fowl up.

Lately my daughter Natasha has started coming over before she picks Blain up from school, and has even started watching some of my shows with me, at the moment we are watching The Suspicions of Mr Whicher a British show set in the 1890’s.

Good morning all it is only 9.30am in my part of the world and I have been up since 7am, last night I had an early night as yesterday I was in a lot of pain from a headache I think the headache was caused by the heat.

I was in bed last night when Tim got home and I heard him say “where’s Leo” and you know what I had forgotten we were suppose to have Leo last night. I don’t know why Jessica didn’t bring him over; maybe she saw on Facebook about how sick I was feeling with the headache and changed her mind. Anyway I was glad I didn’t have him as I said I was in a lot of pain, it was the worst headache I have had in a long time.

Today is not as hot by a long shot, in fact when I went out to peg the clothes on the line it was a bit nippy. I also have no headache thankfully so after a day of pain I am feeling up and in a good mood.

I am not having Sunday lunch here today; just don’t feel like it this weekend as I have been having the girls over for lunch each weekend for the last month.

Tim is at work today and I am hoping to catch up on some recorded shows and I really need to dig out my Christmas stuff to see what I have and what I need to buy. I also need to sort out what presents I have and who I still need to buy for this I will try and get done by the end of the week if not today.

My gift box is overflowing and I have a lot of Christmas decorations and such stored away that I need to go through.

Hi everyone as you all would have noticed I didn’t do my five things for Friday yesterday, why you wonder, well I will tell you by the end of the day I was exhausted and just didn’t remember so should I do it now…………maybe but I’m not going to instead I am going to ramble on about my brother…………..

Like yesterday it was 31^st of October which means it was………..my brothers birthday, did you think I was going to say Halloween, if you did give yourselves a shake and remember I don’t do Halloween. Now as I was saying it was my baby brother’s birthday he turned 36, bloody hell I remember when he was born well I remember when he was a baby. I do not remember the day/night he was born not like how I remember the night Sandra was born.

Although I do have some memories of Dave as a baby like wearing mums dressing gown and walking the floor trying to settle him while mum drove dad to work in the middle of the night.

Dave is a mummy’s boy always has been always will be, he is the favourite and we all know it and accept it this doesn’t cause any jealousy from his older sisters at all. I know some people would find that hard to accept but it is the fact.

Dave was able to get away with bloody murder as a child and even now, if anyone should feel put out by this it should me Jeannie as until Dave came along she was the one able to get away with bloody murder. However, she doesn’t feel like that at all and I don’t remember her every being jealous of her baby brother.

Dave is the only one in the family to go all the way through high school getting his HSC (higher school certificate) he is the only one buying his own house and that is only because he is the favourite and was allowed to buy Aunty Joyce’s house after she passed away and yes I know it wouldn’t have been big enough for my family or any of the girls families except for Sandy but still it wasn’t offered to us. I will mention that Dave was already living in the house, he moved in to help cover the cost of the nursing home for Aunty Joyce. I know that may sound like I was a little jealous but I wasn’t it just comes across that way, I am happy living where I am.

Dave has three children Dawson, Liarna and Kayla who is his step-daughter but he just thinks of her as his daughter and she uses the name Jenkins-Webb, Jenkins is Dave’s last name.

Dave is a wonderful father when Dawson and Liarna were babies he was very hands on changing nappies and feeding them and playing with them and the older he gets the more like dad he becomes which of course is a good thing as we have one of the best fathers around.

 

Good morning world, yesterday as you may have guessed I didn’t feel like writing a post, no real reason for it just realised in the afternoon that I hadn’t done a post so was looking for something easy to post so that is why you got what you got.

Anyway today I thought I would write about life in Australia compared to what life in Australia looks like in movies and television.

Shows like Neighbours and Home & Away make it seem like everyone in a street or neighbourhood know each other and get along and hang out with each other. I have never experienced anything like that. I know who all those who live in this complex are more or less but I don’t hang out with them, we don’t pop in and out of each other’s homes.

We nod or wave to each other if we pass each other in the driveway but pretty much we all keep to ourselves. I couldn’t tell you the first and last names of most of my neighbours, with the exception of Diane & Kevin and Cath I know their last names but I do not know the first and last names of any other neighbours. I do know most of their first names, there are 16 townhouses in this complex.

When I was growing up I remember my parents getting along with usually one neighbour, chatting to them most days but I never remember mum spending hours on end at a neighbours place.

Although mum did spend a lot of time with Mrs Kelly when dad was working in Sydney, well my sister Sandra says she did. Since by then I was married with 3 children I wasn’t home to know if mum was home or not.

I don’t really have any memories of my parents have friends they hung out with; both my parents usually spent their time with the family. Which may be why it seems normal to me to not have friends but instead have family.

What is it like for you, do you see a lot of your neighbours or do you pretty much keep to yourselves?

Good morning we are in for another hot day here in my part of the world, this morning I watched Summer while Kathy took Sydney-May for her last swimming lesson. I was woken this morning by a phone call of course Tim wouldn’t get up and answer it because he says it’s always for you well I get up answer the phone and it was of course for Tim, it was working calling him, he had to go in and do a school run before his shift.

Speaking of Tim he rang not long ago to tell me that some guy he works with had a heart attack and died last night and the guy was only in his 50’s. Of course this is not going to make Tim give up smoking and drinking and to be honest it wouldn’t make me give up things I like doing either. As I feel we are all different and just because on guy died doesn’t mean it my bad habits are going to shorten my life, we have all heard of the people who have lived it be in their 90’s or even 100 who smoked and drank their whole life.

Today is my sister Sue’s birthday she is turning 46 I sent her a text message wishing her a happy birthday. I gave her a present last Friday, a dress, a top, a book and some perfume she seemed to like what I got her.

The next birthday in the family is on Friday when my brother will turn 36, I have no idea what I am going to give him.

I will have Blain sleeping over tonight he wants to start staying over more often and I am all for that, I miss seeing him also. Of a weekend he goes to his dad’s so he can’t stay over then so I have said he can stay over during the week. However, his mum will have to take him to school as I will be going to see my nan and I may get picked up early around 8ish.