Dear Family,

It has been SOOOOOOO long since I last checked in. Alas, I have no news. Life goes on, with

very few changes. Do you need any rain??? Mo & (or) I can send you enough to keep you drought-free till the next century!! I can tell you how many days we have had without rain this year !!! ABOUT 2 1/2 ( that includes "snow" days!!) I am SO fed up with wet & cold. I want to

go to Bourke for the summer, just to feel what HOT really does feel like!!!

I'm so excited about Stews' pending visit. We had a great yarn, exchanged any news, & just had a

really good "catch-up". We wont have too much time, as he is spending quite a bit of the time in B. C. Vancouver area is very pretty, especially the mountains. He will enjoy it. I have to talk to Mo & Bill about the visit. They were going to come here in Oct., but may want to change their plans. (That is, IF they can.) They are both so very involved in all things "volunteer" so may be booked up for Nov. I'll wait till I hear from them. I'll probably ring tonight. I owe a call anyway, as we havn't talked for quite awhile.

I'm doing "meals on wheels" today, so will toodle off now, & hope to get back to this after I'm

done, also have a few chores to get over with down town. (Be back soon!!)

Only had 15 Meals to deliver, so wasn't too bad.

Made the usual trip to the Village to see Peter. It would be SOOOOOOO nice if i didn't have to

go, as it is VERY hard to see him like this, & EVERY day too. Of course, he expects me to be there, but it sure kills a day in a hurry. Needless to say, I NEVER get "caught up", & new things to add to the " to do " list every day. Bummer!!! Some days, I don't go in the morning, but do most days, as he expects to see me there!!!

I could never work at a place like "Vista." It is heart wrenching, to see some of the people there.

Takes me back to my "nursing in rural hospital" days. Back then, we had no rural Nursing homes, so people who could no longer care for themselves, were kept in regular hospitals.

Todays' nurses would NEVER tolerate that type of "nursing"!! (Still raining.)

I'm "doing dessert" at a bridge party on 24th, so am taking Pavlova, & want to start today, since I am home fairly early. Have to take advantage of every opportunity!

Later!! O. K., I made one batch of pavlova. It is now 10.55pm, so I'm going to "hit the sack". I talked to Kate today, she wants me to go down tomorrow, so will do so. I MAY get a chance to log on there, as I will be in Whitefish till Mon.pm., or Tues. am, as I need to be in Pincher at 1.45pm Tues. I'm ready for a good sleep, so just hope it happens!! love to all, Kell

Anna Bay back

Hello all how goes it.
Bernice I don't get on often now as I am dragging my feet and just don't get around to it. I had to read back to see what you were talking about Stewart. I have no idea why he was in hospital or in an induced coma. I will ring him and see how he is faring. Thanks for pointing it out. Sara my nephew looks fantastic well done mother. Yes the weather is warming up a bit here and the kids will have fun on the beach. The big surf has gone now tell Ang and we have the beach back so sandcastles will be on again.
Bernice sorry about Charcoal, yes he will leave a big gap in your lives and you will know it at Chrissy when he doesn't pop over. Thinking of you both.
Lisa you certainly lead a hectic life and no wonder you don't get on regularly but its ok because when you do your notes are very action packed. Love to all the Payton family.
Can't say my life is so exciting, I am really wearing down with these 10 hour shifts that are full on. I only manage 4 hours sleep a day 5 if I am lucky and I feel drunk all the time. Mind you it has been many years since I have been drunk. I come alive once I get to work and get into it. We had 73 patients come through our doors in a 24 hour period, no extra staff, running our butts off and it isn't even holidays yet. I dread the thought of that time period.
I am heading to the Gold Coast on Friday for a 3 day break just to get right away from here and not answer my phone to work. I am going on my own and looking forward to it.
The boys went to Bourke last week and were suppose to chase up a fellow in Cobar to go and work with at the end of the year to get experience on the heavy machinery to give them a better chance at getting a job in the mines. However once they got out their Greg decided that his plans had been mucked up and he wouldnt go to Cobar after all. So it was a pointless trip and Jacob lost a weeks wage and Marcus a week of school. They had a great time though all the same and stayed with the Tully's and spent time with the Lowe family.
Both have applied for hundreds of apprenticeships, Jacob for electrician and Marcus for boilermaker. No luck so far, hundreds and hundreds apply for 1 position and the culling process is savage. Just was not meant to be for the Myers so it seems (Czislowski's).
Mum is ok, I called in yesterday on my way home from work with the Sunday paper. I don't get up there much, as I said I drag myself around. I have cutlets for her tea tonight and the boys will run them up to her and stay awhile. I have a nice lobster in the freezer waiting for my appetite to improve so I can enjoy. Marcus went spear fishing after school and got it. He should have been studying but there are other priorities for that boy and the books aren't one of them. He will know it later in life.
Hope all is well with everyone, festive season is just about on us again. At work they are talking about where they want to have a Christmas party. My goodness
Love Meg until next couple months

Bernice back 11/9/10

Hi all just a nother quickie ..we r going out to friends for tea and have been meaning to get on...I totally agree sara about facebook its a bit "OUT There" not private and i feel the "Blog' is for the Payton family and is nice for the family ...so I hope family keep it alive and soon we may have to pay for facebook and i won't be...I cant believe no one replied to Lisa letter about Stewart..He was in a' induced Coma' for goodness sake! anyway thank goodness he is improving....and I hope the payton family get back on here.

We have had terrible news our little Maorie friend Charcoal' (You met him Mona I think ) passed away heart attack it has hit Ken and I hard as he was a big part of our live's for near 30 yrs.

Otherwise Ken and I are fine and I will write again soon...great to hear your news Lisa and Sara..thats another thing too I don't think Lisa will go on face book because of her career..Whoops Ken is calling I wil get off and write again later hope all are well and would love to hear from you all...bye now Love Bernice xx

Belmore 10102010

Hello Family. As per usual I've been tardy with my efforts to logon, although if I'm at the pc I'll swing by to check if anyone's been here. I keep up with the what's going on by my telephone as I have unlimited access to facebook there and Aunty Kell, the best way I can describe facebook is that it's like having a look or a yarn over the back fence or while passing in the street, only it's on the internet so you can see over your neighbours back fence or mine over here in Aus'. I don't bother playing the games that are available on there nor do I respond too much to the 'smile', 'hug' or 'cause' requests.

All's well enough here. I spent a few days up with Mum when I took her back. It was supposed to be an overnight trip but she is quite afraid come 5pm and hates being alone at night. It's school holidays again in 2 & half weeks so I'll take the kids up and spend a week then. Only when I take Angelina up there she whinges everyday for Daddy. When I went to take Mum home I left the kids with Tony and so she cried for me, naturally. Well the weather should be a bit warmer by then so maybe I can take them to the beach to build sand castles and skate at the skate park.

Ok, it's a few days later now. I had to rush out after the above paragraphs to get Hokey and haven't had a chance to get back on here. Well, there's not much to say anyway. Giancarlo has a performance at Kingsgrove High School next week. His whole school is putting on a play of The Wizard of Oz. I'm looking forward to it, as is he. I think the week after that is school holidays but I'm not entirely sure.

Like I sais family, no news. I will try to load a couple of pics but they are older now because the last couple of times I tried the application wasn't working.
Love to all,
Sara




Angelina likes to join in on the parades etc. She is carrying 'Ruff'. Out of the huge bag of beautiful stuffed bears which I have collected over the years she found this mangy old dog, faded and mould stained. I had to soak and wash him several times before I could let her keep him and she adores the scruffy thing. Oh well, whatever makes her happy...

Giancarlo dressed as Captain Hook. The picture does him no justice because on the day he looked great. The clothes are alot blacker than they appear in the pictures too.

Here's madam again, certainly not shy, striding along in line but single file.

I also have pic's of Butcher bird in Mums kitchen somewhere, I will try to find them.

XXXXX

Hello from Lisa

Hello Family,
It has been a while, and news to report. I am in Sydney, having just about finished almost 3 weeks away, HSC Drama practical marking. Spent 10 days in Sydney, based in Chatswood, marking around the city north, home for one weekend, then off up to the Armidale, Moree, Tamworth region. Arrived back in the city tonight, one last meeting all day tomorrow, then fly home late tomorrow afternoon. I get back home with about 20 minutes to spare before I have to play in my hockey major semi final at 6.30 tomorrow night. All a bit of a rush, but looking forward to getting home and relaxing with Ronny after that. He has already planned a lovely late dinner for us tomorrow night, can't wait.
Stewart has been unwell, but is now feeling great and getting better every day. He gave us a real scare about 3 1/2 weeks ago. He had 2 seizures in the middle of the night and was rushed to hospital. He then had 2 more in hospital and they put him in an induced coma for about a day. Jane and I rushed up to Brisbane and stayed until he was out of intensive care ( 2 days). He was then in hospital for about another 5 days but the drugs they gave him to stop the seizures had really bad side effects. He was back in hospital again this week for a while, and now he is feeling a lot better. They think they have given him the right medication now. Obviously, none of this is the correct medical terminology, but I can only speak in basic terms. I spoke with him 2 days ago and he feels he is better. He is not fully recovered yet as it will take time, but I thought I better report to all. No need to worry now!
Mum and Dad are fine. Poor dad does not have a great short term memory, some days it is really trying on mum, but she loves him all the same. Some days, he is just great.
Jane's crew are great. Brydie just finished her HSC trial exams, and she is a very dedicated student. Studies very hard, she came second in one subject, the rest she came first. A really proud aunt bragging here!
Just looked at the time. I better go, a big day of meetings tomorrow. Will try to get on again soon.
Love to all,
Cheers,
Lisa