Well it is Aussie Slang day and this week we have these gems.

Banana Bender: Someone from Queensland

Cane Toad: Also someone from Queensland

Cockroach: Someone from New South Wales

Crow Eater: Someone from South Australia

Sandgroper: Someone from Western Australia

Hello everyone, how many of you have heard of the Satanic Leaf-Tailed Gecko, I have not heard of it and the look of it isn’t pleasing to my eye but you may think different.

With its demonic red eyes, angular horns and wicked smile, its easy to guess how it got its name.

It is native to the rainforests of Madagascar, it also has an alarming red mouth that it uses to scare off predators. If you don’t scare easily then consider its other defence mechanisms such as camouflage.

It is

easy to mistake it for a leaf instead of the tail of this tiny gecko if you tried to pick it up it is likely to drop its tail and scamper off.

It doesn’t just look like a leaf but it acts like one too, spending most of the day hanging motionless from a tree branch or curled among leafs on the ground.

It is only about 100-110mm (11cm) in length or about 4 inches so pretty small.

Here we are at another Monday so it is the day for another post about a famous Aussie in history and this week it is good old Ned Kelly.

Edward Kelly was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armour during his final shootout with the police.

He was born sometime in December 1854 in the state of Victoria and died on the 11 November 1880 when he was hung at Old Melbourne Gaol, in Victoria. He was one of 9 children and had many cousins and extended family.

As stated Ned Kelly was a ‘bushranger’ a person who robbed others and spent his life escaping from the police. He also killed three policemen. There have been many films, songs and books about Ned Kelly. There is even an Australian saying: ‘to be as game [brave] as Ned Kelly’.

Some believe his last words were “such is life”, but what Ned actually said as his last words is uncertain. Some newspapers at the time certainly reported the words ‘Such is life’, while a reporter standing on the gaol floor wrote that Ned’s last words were, ‘Ah well! It’s come to this at last.

Contrary to popular belief and legend, Ned Kelly was not the Australian equivalent to Robin Hood, for he did not rob from the rich and give to the poor. In fact, he actually stole from poor Australians—as well as the rich—even getting violent with them if they did not concede to his demands.

Even though his criminal career was pretty short his crimes were seen as acts of resistance against Australia’s British colonial rulers. He was a man of the people, speaking out loudly against a colonial government that discriminated against the poor.

During his final shoot-out with police, Kelly wore a crudely made set of steel armour. The police didn’t know if they were shooting a man or a monster. A shot in his exposed leg brought Kelly down. He was captured, tried by law and sentenced to death for murder.

For some people he was a hero, this is believed to be because the people of Victoria were longing for a hero during those hard times. Widespread support for Kelly can be assumed from the 32000 signatures on a petition calling for his sentence to be changed from death to life in prison in 1880.

He is also known for his famous Jerilderie leeter,prior to arriving in Jerilderie, Kelly composed a lengthy letter with the aim of tracing his path to outlawry, justifying his actions, and outlining the alleged injustices he and his family suffered at the hands of the police. He also decried the treatment of poor selector families by Victoria’s Squattocracy and, in “an escalating promise of revenge and retribution”, invoked “a mythical tradition of Irish rebellion” against what he called “the tyrannism of the English yoke”. Dictated to Byrne, the Jerilderie Letter, a handwritten document of fifty-six pages and 7,391 words, was described by Kelly as “a bit of my life”. He tasked Edwin Living, a local bank accountant, with delivering it to the editor of the Jerilderie and Urana Gazette or publication.Due to political suppression, only excerpts were published in the press, based on a copy transcribed by John Hanlon, owner of the Eight Mile Hotel in Deniliquin. The entire letter was rediscovered and published in 1930.

Well I will leave it here, i could tell you more but don’t feel like it, this is just an introduction to the man Ned Kelly…..

Sunday and another day has started, a cold morning but should be a nice day.

Tasha went and bough Tim 2 new pairs of track pants both the same as that was all they had. He then decided he didn’t want two pairs just one but he talked to me about getting two pairs. He wants Tasha to return a pair but I say no, as next winter he may want both pairs.

The start of another school week, I had a rough night from 12.30am tossing and turning, I was glad when I looked at the clock and it was 4.55am and I felt I could get up. A cold morning and I have had a headache since around 2am and the cold is making it worse. So I turned the heater on for 20 minutes to warm the room up which helped.

Sam showed me the dress he tried on and showed to papa, I said I liked it but I am not use to seeing biological males in a dress, but if he is happy then I am happy.

Tasha and I nearly forgot to give Sam the Webster pack for the school but thankfully Tasha remembered and came rushing up as fast as she could.

The internet is being a bitch this morning and driving mad and giving me a right headache. I am trying to not let it get to me.

Tasha came down looking for chocolate.

The computer has been good since 11am. However, I have lost my motivation to do stuff.

Tim has an appointment this afternoon and I asked him to go to the post for stamps but then forgot to give him the letters to post. Oh well will see if Tasha could post them when she goes for her walk tomorrow.

I slept for about 10hrs, I was so tired last night I was asleep pretty damn fast and slept right through.

Tasha came down for chocolate and left in a mood rightfully so as Sam was bad mouthing Blain and do not do that in front of his mother.

I tried to say something to Sam’s mum (Jess) but she blew me off.

The cleaners came and cleaned a bit because that’s what they do.

Tim off to another appointment.

At around 10am Sandra and Sue arrived for a visit, since they arrived at the same time I asked what’s wrong, who’s dead…..lol

They stay about an hour or so and it was great seeing them.

Sandy was telling me about the drama with Michelle (Dawson’s mum) she is all over the place and says she can’t bond with her son Hayden and has asked Sandy is she wants him. Sandy said NO but has taken him over night a few times.

Doc’s rang David the other night to discuss Michelle, he said he has nothing to do with her. Doc’s rang him at 1am and he gave them Sandy number but they didn’t ring her.

However, Sandy just happen to be at Michelle’s when Doc’s arrived to talk to her about the twins and Michelle was off her head all over the place waving her arms around and not talking sense. They asked Sandy what was the relationship between her and Michelle, Sandy said nothing then explained that that Michelle is our nephew’s mother. They asked if Sandy was Dave’s sister she said she is, so they asked why was she willing to take on of the twins overnight, answer just to help Michelle a little bit.

Michelle at one point went on about how she didn’t want to rely on Mavis and that family. Sandra had to point out that Mavis (our mum) has passed away. Then explain how mum pretty much raised Dawson from 4 days old.

Michelle’s whole life has been one long train-wreck.

An overcast morning but no rain which is good as Tasha has gone for a walk down to have more work done on her tattoo.

Tim is having another bad morning with terrible diarrhoea he had the same problem yesterday. In fact he has had a bad day, I hope he is doing better tomorrow as we are going out for a Father’s Day lunch the day before Father’s Day as it is cheaper.

I am having a bad day with back pain and not being able to sit without pain. It has been so bad I have had moments of crying a little.

Tim has been up to the toilet a couple of times already. I hope he is ok to go out for lunch.

Lunch was good just Tim and I along with our girls and youngest granddaughter Summer. Kathy & family gave Tim a bird feeder which he likes.

Although the food seemed to go right through him.

Well here we are at Jo-Anne’s Thoughts and this week I have been thinking about sibling rivalry but not between sibling but cousins, as in my eldest grandchildren.

Blain and Sam, these two have had this rivalry for years, each bad mouthing the other over any bloody little thing.

This is something I find hard to understand as I never experienced it with my siblings, we all get along and for the most always have.

I did have to deal with it between my eldest (Kathy)and my youngest (Jess)who spent years/decades at each others throats. Thankfully they get along now.

Do you have any rivalry with your siblings?

How do your own children get along?

Hello Thursday, hope you are a good day for me and others, well it is time for another word of the week and this week’s word is “low”.

Not high or tall

Not elevated in position

Near horizon (of the sun)

Of humble rank

Small or less then normal, extent or intensity

Dejected

Lacking vigour

Not loud or shrill of sound

Commonplace

Of unfavourable opinion

Mean or vulgar

A difficult time in a person’s life

It is Wednesday and so it is Aussie Slang day this weeks slang words are as follows.

Footy: Aussie rules football played in all Aussie states but mostly in Victoria, South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia the term footy is also often use when referring to the (NRL) National Rugby League in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria the ACT and New Zealand.

Flick it on: To sell something on for a profit just after buying it for yourself.

Grog: Alcohol as in beer, spirits or wine

Gyno: Gynaecologist

Hoon: Hooligan

Well now it is Tuesday and time for another creature and this week’s creature is the Aye-Aye, heard of it? I hadn’t till now.

The aye-aye is a long-fingered lemur, a strepsirrhine primate native to Madagascar with rodent-like teeth that perpetually grow and a special thin middle finger. It is the world’s largest nocturnal primate, which is weird when you consider it weighs only 2.3kgs when fully grown but it does stand a metre-tall which I guess is why it is the largest.

With its transfixed stare and wild fur it has long been considered an omen of bad luck by the people of Madagascar.

It will even walk right up to human passersby to take a closer look. The aye-aye’s reputation is, of course, entirely unfounded. However, because of the way the aye-aye is perceived, this perfectly harmless creature is often killed on sight.

It uses its sharp claws and opposable big toes to dangle from branches in rainforest trees. While perched there it raps its long middle finger on the bark and listens for wriggling insect larvae in the wood. It fishes them out with the same pointed claw which they also use to scoop the flesh out of coconuts. It is the only primate known to use echolocation ( calling out and listening for an echo) to find food.

Welcome to Monday a day I tell you a little about another famous Australian and this week it is Alfred Deakin.

Alfred Deakin was an Australian politician, statesman and barrister who served as the second prime minister of Australia, from 1903 to 1904, 1905 to 1908 and 1909 to 1910, holding office as the leader of the Protectionist Party, and in his final term as leader of the Liberal Party.

Born in Melbourne to middle class parents on 3 August 1856, he was 23 when he was elected to the Victoria Legislative Assembly while working as a barrister and journalist.

He held ministerial office on and off from 1883, twice serving as Attorney General of Victoria. After federation he was the inaugural Attorney General of Australia.

After 1890, Deakin refused all offers of cabinet posts and devoted his attention to the movement for federation. He was Victoria’s delegate to the Australasian Federal Conference, convened by Sir Henry Parkes in Melbourne in 1890, which agreed to hold an intercolonial convention to draft a federal constitution. He was a leading negotiator at the Federal Conventions of 1891, which produced a draft constitution that contained much of the Constitution of Australia, as finally enacted in 1900.

He was the first prime minister to call an early election, to catch his opponents off guard and take advantage of a large number of urban educated female voters who could cast a ballot for the first time.

After the 1913 election, Cook offered Deakin the position of chairman of the Interstate Commission, but he declined. In 1914, following the outbreak of World War I, he did accept a request to chair a royal commission into food supply during the war.

His final public engagement was as leader of the Australian delegation to the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. He was offered the role initially by Cook and then by Andrew Fisher, who returned as prime minister in September 1914. The appointment was entirely ceremonial and had the support of both Fisher and his deputy Billy Hughes. However,his involvement was subject to political interference from external affairs minister Hugh Mahon, and he decided on an early return to Australia.

The final years of his political career coincided with the decline in his health and memory.

He died at his home on the 7 October 1919.

Sunday here and after a good nights sleep I am up, washed and dressed ready for my day. It’s cold but not too cold.

I have done the food shopping without issue.

I was standing in the kitchen looking for lunch and Sam scared the shits out of me, yes I screamed.

Speaking of Sam this afternoon some mates who have a band are playing at some club. Papa is driving Sam and Jess will pick Sam up. I hope Sam has a good time.

Had a little sleep in this morning waking at 5.30am instead of 5am oh well not a big deal.

Sam didn’t answer the damn phone so I had to go over awake my darling grandchild up, I am pleased that I am able to do that now without any help. While there I found my small pink crochet blanket that I have been looking for on Sam’s bed.

Tim has a doctor’s appointment then he had to go into work to hand in paperwork. This afternoon he is having his hearing tested.

Well it seems like Tim doesn’t need hearing aids, that is not what we expected.

Tasha asked to borrow the car to go get a few things from the shops and of course Tim went on and on about her not having her car instead letting a friend borrow it making her need to borrow our car.

I had to ring Sam a few times this morning but then Sam rang me back to let me know they were up and going to have a shower, at 7.30 I again rang twice when Jess to let me know Sam was out of the shower and would be here soon.

Tasha had me check on Blain to make sure he was up and getting ready for school at 8.30am, I forgot till 8.45am but when I spoke to him he was awake and getting ready for school. Tasha had an appointment at the hospital.

Tasha came down to tell me that the Xray she had done has shown that the metal work in her hip area has moved about an inch but said it should be ok.

I had a little break down while talking about Tim’s visit to the GP and how I feel his not eating isn’t being taken seriously enough for my liking. I feel like no one else is concerned, Tim says he isn’t losing weight and I guess that is something. It has been two weeks since he has eaten anything more then a few pieces of beef jerky.

Found a note from Jessica on my laptop asking me to check my Gmail and print stuff for her, by 7am there was 17 pages of stuff, I expect it is to do with one of her jobs. Jess had two job interviews this morning both for security work.

Sam was running late this morning getting up the front as Jess was here and it threw out Sam’s routine.

Jess and Tim went down to the foreshore just to get Tim out of the house. Afterwards she brought back fish & chips but I had just made myself a toasted sandwich so I only had a few chips with it. Tim could only manage 3 small mouthfuls.

Sam answered when I rang at 7am and before I was ring at 7.30am Sam arrived looking for clothes to wear. After finding clothes Sam went home to have a shower.

Tasha stopped me on my way up the driveway to tell me that Jess was called into work and doesn’t know when she will be home as it is 2hrs away.

I have been sorting through photos arranging them into folders for each sibling ready for me doing next years calendars this will be the first year in 3 years that I will be able to do them with more care. This has made me feel happy.

Damn computer is running slow this morning making checking my emails and blogs frustrating.

I had to go and make sure Blain was out of bed and getting ready for school, he was.

I received my delivery from iherb and took the stuff up to Tasha’s as she does our medications up for the month instead of me. Blain was there and tried to tell his mum that I didn’t go wake him she however, knew he was bullshitting her.

I am having another day full of back pain.

I managed to write three letters still have more to do.

Not suppose to be a cold day but cold enough this morning I have turned the heater on as I am not wearing warm enough clothes. I could change my clothes but can’t be bothered I will put my jacket on which should help.

Still a lot of annoying back pain and a fair amount of shaking on and off.

Tim said that last night Sam was wearing a dress and asked what Tim thought, I don’t know exactly what Tim said but he says he wasn’t rude or nasty. When I pointed out that I would respond differently, just saying they looks ok not something I am familiar with but if he happy then I am happy.