Cousins, March 2007.

Post 180 a - - - - Sunday, 1 st April, 2007.

Hi Again Folks ~~ I can't believe I did it, but with John's help I posted a photo
of Peter and myself and our two cousins and their wives. Good looking lot !!
Peter didn't have a lot of time to help with this on his quick visit, but did other
things to help. I did get the gist of it from him.

Back - - Peter, Gordon, and Brendon

Front- - Merle, Jan, Phyllis. Happy birthday tomorrow Phyll.

She is married to Gordon and Jan and Brendon are married. We all have
grown up families. Four of us are first cousins and our fathers were three
brothers. It is great to get together most years and compare notes. Bren's
mother is aged 93 and she is in a Nursing home and quite well. The rest of
our parents are all deceased. This was taken by John in my lounge room.

There is a good story about my Dad and his brother Fred, (Brendon's father)
Apparently the boys wagged school one day, but a neighbor told Grandma,
and she was waiting when they came home and gave Dad a good hiding, but
Uncle Fred dived under a double bed and Grandma couldn't get him out. So
Dad said "I'll get him for you Mum." And he did. I don't think Uncle Fred
ever quite forgave him for that. They were great mates though, but Dad didn't
intend to suffer alone that partcular day !!



Well , now to tell you of my fun day, or "how stupid is Merle?" story !!!

Last night I turned a sprinkler on to my pot plants in the fernery, and
intended to go back in 10 minutes to turn it off, and lock my gates. BUT
promptly forgot and went to bed about 2 am. Hose running and gates not
locked. All this unbeknown to me at the time. Part of the trouble, it is
dark here at 7 pm these days, when I can legally water. It is lucky I am not
locked up. I have a bucket in my shower to save water and try to do the
right thing. With the exception of last night !!!

I was woken by my nextdoor neighbor and two other neighbors in my bed-
room. My neighbor, Bernice has a set of keys to rescue me if I ever need help.
I must have been very sound asleep because they all called my name etc etc.

Rang my doorbell, nothing roused me. I had been up an hour or so earlier, but
was in a deep sleep. Poor girls, I think they thought I was dead, and I gave them
a scare, and they gave me a scare. Anyway all's well and I am very grateful to
have such great neighbors, who care and showed it. So a very big Thank you to
Bernice, Lorraine and Helen. You are such kind and lovely ladies.

It kind of felt like I had died and gone to Heaven and had three ministering
angels in my bedroom !!! I didn't wake until Bernice touhced my shoulder.
She told me later she was pleased it was nice and warm!!!

I don't think we need any more jokes tonight !! I am watching a terrific football
match while I do this and I am hoping we can win, we are just ahead with about
5 minutes to go. Carlton won , which is beaut. Sorry Jan.

The devout cowboy lost his favorite Bible while he was mending fences out on
the range. Three weeks later, a cow walked up to him carrying the Bible in it's
mouth. The cowboy couldn't believe his eyes. He took the precious book out of
the cow's mouth, raised is eyes heavenward and exclaimed, "It's a miracle !"

"Not really," said the cow. Your name is written inside the cover."
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If You Can - - - -
If you can start the day without caffeine or pep pills,
If you can be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,
If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,
If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,
If you can understand when loved ones are too busy to give you time.
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,
If you can face the world without lies and deceit,
If you can relax without liquor,
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,
If you can find great happiness in the simplest things in life,
If you can forgive any action in the blink of an eye.

. . . . . .Then, you are almost as good as your dog.
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A blonde pilot decided she wanted to learn how to fly a helicopter.
She went to the airport, but the only one available was a solo-helicopter.
The Instructor figured he could let her go up alone since she was already
a pilot for small planes and he could instruct her via radio. So up the blonde
went. She reached 1,000 feet and everything was going smoothly. She
reached 2,000 feet. The blonde and the instructor kept talking via radio.
Everything was running smoothly.

At 3,000 feet the helicopter suddenly came down quickly. It skimmed the
top of some trees and crash landed in the woods.

The Instructor jumped into his jeep and rushed out to see if the blonde was
okay. As he reached the edge of the woods, the blonde came walking out.

"What happened ?" the instructor asked. "All was going so well until you
reached 3,000 feet. What happened then ?"

"Well," began the blonde, "I got cold. So I turned off the ceiling fan !!"
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Let's see if I understand how the world works lately . . . . .

If a man cuts his finger off while slicing salami at work, he blames the
restaurant.

If your neighbor crashes into a tree while driving home drunk, he blames
the alcoholic beverage company.

If you smoke 3 packs a day for 40 years and die of lung cancer, your family
blames the tobacco company.

If your grandchildren are brats without manners, you blame television and
video games.

If your friend is shot by a deranged madman, you blame the gun maker.

And if a crazed person breaks into the cockpit and tries to kill the pilot at
35,00o feet, and the passengers kill him instead, the mother of the deceased
blames the airline.

I must have lived too long to understand the world as it is anymore.

So, if I die while my old wrinkled butt is parked in front of my computer,
I want you to blame Bill Gates . . . . okay ?
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Just a couple of quotes tonight - - - -

There are two freedoms: the false where a man is free to do what he likes;
the true where a man is free to do what he ought. - - - Charles Kingsley.

The test of courage comes when we are in the minority.
The test of tolerance cmes when we are in the majority.- -Ralph W. Sockman.

Bye for now my friends, Take care and look after each other. Have a great
week ahead. Love and best wishes to you all, Merle.

Post 180 a - - - - - - Sunday, 1 st April, 2007.
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