TONY GREIG A GREAT CRICKET PLAYER AND COMMENTATOR

Tony Greig was one of the best cricket commentators that I have ever heard. He really knew the game having been both a batsman and bowler. He was also a past captain of the English team and so also knew about the tactics of the game. He will be sorely missed in the cricketing world.
Tony also played a major part in the development of the modern game. He was involved in World Series Cricket that bought about the modernisation of the game and was also the first player to wear a helmet whilst batting; a practice that is common place today.
I will miss his voice on the Channel 9 team
RIP TONY GREIG

FAMILY CHRISTMAS

14 people...us....3 of our children.....3 partners.....6 grandchildren....makes for one noisy, joyous, happy and messy Christmas. Would not miss it for the world. Does tend to tire out an oldie like me though.
Unfortunately the cold and rain are still with us so we are all confined inside. I careful mowed all the lawns, trimmed the hedges and cleared all the paths of leaves so we could spend time outside...DAMN.....
Chicken, ham, roast potatoes, beans, asparagus, roast pumpkin, gravy, plum pudding, ice cream, custard and plenty of wine and that was just the main meal. Before...Australian king prawns and meat balls.
Now for a glass or 2 of Australian Shiraz and a strong coffee and tonight a good long sleep.

CHRISTMAS DAY 2012

Another Christmas Day. This is the third since I was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia and only given a 30% chance of seeing the first one. As you can see I am still here!
Christmas now holds much more meaning for me. It is a period of reflection, happiness, family, the joy of life, and thankfulness for what I have and been given. The small irritations of life and petty disagreements no longer matter.
Today is a typical Blue Mountains Christmas Day the temp is about 15c and it is misty with the occasional shower. A great day to be inside, listen to music, talk, watch people open presents and share a great Christmas Dinner. Combination of traditional and Aussie foods; fresh Australian prawns, roast chicken, hot veggies and plum pudding with ice cream and custard. YUM.
Tomorrow we have all our children and their partners and six grandchildren for another lunch. It is great to see the younger generation growing up in our beautiful, free, democratic, safe country. We thank God every day for the privilege of living here.
Lastly, may you all have a wonderful Christmas full of family, friends, happiness and joy.

BIRDS IN OUR BACK YARD

The top picture is of a male King Parrot and the lowere one is a male Ganggang Cockatoo.
We are very lucky here to have a great variety of bird life.
Other birds we see very often are, Wattle birds, White Cockatoos, Black Cockatoos, Crimson Rosellas, Satin Bower birds, Magpies and Currawongs.
We also have a family of Brush Tail Possums that live in the trees in our yard, along with some copper head snakes and large skinks.

GUN CONTROL 2

So the American NRA think that the answer to the school shooting is to have armed guards at every school. More guns! Do they think that every child minding centre should also have armed guards; every school bus; every childrens birthday party; where does their madness end.
They also said that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun....well if the bad guy could not get a gun there would be no need for the good guy to have a gun.
Please America for the future of your society and your children give up the guns now.

CHRISTMAS DINNER

It would seem that the supermarkets and advertisers here in Australia want us to change some of our Christmas traditions. Ever since I was a small child I only remember our family having roast chicken with our Christmas dinner. Most people I ask remember the same. Then why is it that every advertisement on TV and in brochures only refer to turkey. I understand that turkey has always been an American tradition but not really an Australian one. Maybe I am also biased as I truly enjoy a meal of moist roast chicken, ham and baked vegetables for my Christmas dinner. I find turkey to be very bland and dry.
By the way to me DINNER on Christmas day is the meal that we enjoy in the middle of the day.
A cold Christmas dinner of beautiful Australian seafood has also become a tradition in many parts of the country. I think that this is a great idea as long as we support our Australian producers and keep away from the cheap and inferior imported products.
However the most important thing is, that no matter how we celebrate Christmas, that we have a happy and safe one.

SNOW IN OCTOBER IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

For those who are not aware it does snow in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. We get on average two or three reasonable falls every year. This year however it was the heaviest fall in about 20 years. Ann and I have been up here now for about 8 years and have been waiting for THE BIG FALL. Would you believe we were away on holidays down the south coast when it happened. Just our luck!

GUN CONTROL

Here in Australia we learnt the hard way with the deaths of 36 people at the hands of a gunman with a rifle. I just hope that Americans have finally had enough. They say that they need their guns for self defence but it seems that the more guns in the country just equates to more shootings and misery. WAKE UP. If they are such a wonderful peace loving country, as they say they are, why do they behave like this.
The argument that it is not the gun that kills but the person just does not add up. A deranged person with no gun cannot kill 27 people including 20 children.
Here in Australia we need to get even stricter with our gun laws, especially with the penalties for having or using an illegal firearm.

ACUTE MYELOID LEUKAEMIA

In July 2010 my doctor ordered a blood test as I had a slight numbness in my right foot. The pathology department rang me at home that night and told me to go immediately to the nearest hospital. By the next afternoon I was in hospital. I had Acute Myeloid Leukaemia and even with intensive chemo only a 30% chance of surviving the next few weeks.
I became very sick over the next five weeks as a result of the disease and the chemo. I spent a total of 11 weeks in hospital but the good news was that i was in remission.
Unfortunately the disease came back in Nov 2011. This meant another 5 weeks in hospital and more chemo. I again was in remission but now with the certainty that the disease definitely would come back. The only hope now being a bone marrow transplant.
A world wide search for a donor came up empty so as my eldest son was the nearest match he became my donor. This meant more chemo, full body radiation, chemo injected into my spinal cord and another long stay in hospital. the transplant went ahead on the 4th of May this year and so far it appears to have worked.
The strange thing with the transplant is that my blood group changed from B+ to 0+ the same as my son and my DNA changed to his also.
All the doctors, professors and nurses that I encountered during mu treatment have been simply magnificent.
My outlook on life has changed now. I do not worry about the small things that used to get me upset but just live each day to the fullest.

The cover of my book

MY BOOK

Last night Smashwords advised me that my book THE FIRST MAN is now listed in their premium catalogue. This now makes it available to a much wider audience. If you like good science fiction I am sure you will enjoy reading it.
I also write short stories mainly about a police sergeant called Reginald Smithers who is the policeman in a village called Stackfort on Humber in England in the Period 1920 to 1945.

COLD DAY FOR DECEMBER

There are some great advantages in living up here in the mountains but today was not necessarily one of those days. The max temp was just 10c and it was misty and raining all day.

THE FIRST MAN

This is the title of a science fiction book that I have written. It is available on Smashwords.

A NEW BEGINING

I am a writer of short stories. A lover of good science fiction. A gardner. An ex airline manager. I live in the beautiful Blue Mountains in the state of New South Wales in Australia.