Oh - how happy is that
TAP DANCING on deck - thanking you CyclingBoy!
Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds & Don O Connor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU2zoQ8gV-s
k - everyone got that tap shoes on.....
It's mornin' in the USofA :wink:
I sing that song to my boys when I am waking them up...they hate it.
Good Morning. I hope everyone is doing well...I love Gene Kelly - he is an amazing dancer...so athletic!
I am taking G-baby to a Birthday Party in a little while. And then back home to get the guest bedroom ready. My Mom and Dad are coming up to see us again this weekend and to see the boys play ball.
I hope you all have a good day - I'll see you later!
Mis
Great song to sing them missy - they will sing it with their kids too
I sing this one....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88DIh9vgyr8
(my little fella has his happy flower by my pic from last nite
cooooool!
Hope G-baby enjoys his party. So glad the folks are coming up to stay - Gram and Gramps can play with the kidlets and be so proud when they watch them play ball. Fab
Enjoy your day Dixie-girl!
thank you...dragging....must get another cup of coffee.... :wink:
Hi crew just popping in to say hello and wishing you all a good day whatever you are planning. Eagle has been out on the town enjoying himself. Public Holiday downunder tomorrow so things will be pretty quiet around here. It is ANZAC day when we remember our fallen soldiers from both World Wars, Korea, Vietnam and the present conflicts where we are engaged.
not sure that happy anzac day is the right expression, but have a good one anyway Dutch. (I know what you boys did)
now what did I do today
well.......
took my neighbour, delightful old gent, to a bike shop where he ordered a new set of racing cycling shorts and several tops all in tweed.
then to the print shop to collect his model aircraft drawings
then back to his place for a view of his drafts-room and inspection of blue prints
and general discussion of bikes aircraft and lions. (he used to keep them)
and so after a convivial glass of wine or several, I had to go buy a bar be que set and bring it back on the bike.
Such excitement.
ps. not making it up about the lions. He had a big garden in those days.
OH MY
k - mental picture of CyclingBoy - on bike - with BBQ - after a glass of vino!
Sounds like you could do with one of these hun....
Good for you for being a good neighbour. Probably means a great deal to him, as well as having a chinwag with you - so well done you mate
Nothing is ever trivial
OH CREW - Before our Ozzie Crew climb aboard
there are some NZ Poppies by the helm .....
and, if you would like, please feel free to take one to commemorate a special memorable day
The Friday preceding Anzac Day each year is usually the day that red poppies are sold by volunteers from the RSA. New Zealand's first Poppy Day was held in 1922, when artificial poppies were sold to assist needy soldiers and their families. Ever since, the proceeds from Poppy Day have been used for the RSA's welfare service. In other countries, Poppy Day occurs near Armistice Day (11 November) to mark the end of the First World War.
Anzac Day
Anzac Day is commemorated by Australia and New Zealand on 25 April every year to remember members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who landed at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. Anzac Day is also a public holiday in the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tonga.
Beginnings of the Memorial Day
Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. The acronym ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, whose soldiers were known as Anzacs. The pride they took in that name endures to this day, and Anzac Day remains one of the most important national occasions of both Australia and New Zealand. [1]
When war broke out in 1914, Australia had been a Federal Commonwealth for only thirteen years. In 1915, Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of an Allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula to open the way to the Black Sea for the Allied navies. The plan was to capture Istanbul, capital of the Ottoman Empire and an ally of Germany. The ANZAC force landed at Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Turkish defenders.
Landing at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli, 25 April 1915. Photograph by L.E. Tatton
What had been planned as a bold strike to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stale-mate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915, the Allied forces were evacuated after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. Over 8,000 Australian and 2,700 New Zealand soldiers died. News of the landing at Gallipoli made a profound impact on Australians and New Zealanders at home and 25 April quickly became the day on which they remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in war.
Though the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives of capturing Istanbul and knocking Turkey out of the war, the Australian and New Zealand troops' actions during the campaign bequeathed an intangible but powerful legacy. The creation of what became known as an "Anzac legend" became an important part of the national identity in both countries. This shaped the ways they viewed both their past and their future.
On 30 April 1915, when the first news of the landing reached New Zealand, a half-day holiday was declared and impromptu services were held. The following year a public holiday was gazetted on 5 April and services to commemorate were organised by the returned servicemen.[1]
The date, 25 April, was officially named Anzac Day in 1916; in that year it was marked by a wide variety of ceremonies and services in Australia and New Zealand, a march through London, and a sports day for the Australian and New Zealand soldiers in Egypt. The small New Zealand community of Tinui, near Masterton in the Wairarapa was apparently the first place in New Zealand to have an Anzac Day service, when the then vicar led an expedition to place a large wooden cross on the Tinui Taipos (a 1200ft high large hill/mountain, behind the village) in April 1916 to commemorate the dead. A service was held on the 25th of April of that year. In 2006 the 90th Anniversary of the event was celebrated with a full twenty-one gun salute fired at the service by soldiers from the Waiouru Army Camp. In London, over 2,000 Australian and New Zealand troops marched through the streets of the city. A London newspaper headline dubbed them "The Knights of Gallipoli". Marches were held all over Australia in 1916; wounded soldiers from Gallipoli attended the Sydney march in convoys of cars, accompanied by nurses. Over 2,000 people attended the service in Rotorua.[1] For the remaining years of the war, Anzac Day was used as an occasion for patriotic rallies and recruiting campaigns, and parades of serving members of the AIF were held in most cities. From 1916 onwards, in both Australia and New Zealand, Anzac services were held on or about 25 April, mainly organised by returned servicemen and school children in cooperation with local authorities.
Anzac Day was gazetted as a public holiday in New Zealand in 1920, through the Anzac Day Act, after lobbying by the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association, the RSA.[2] In Australia at the 1921 State Premiers' Conference, it was decided that Anzac Day would be observed on 25 April each year. However, it was not observed uniformly in all the States.
One of the traditions of Anzac Day is the 'gunfire breakfast' (coffee with rum added), which occurs shortly after many dawn ceremonies.
During the 1920s, Anzac Day became established as a National Day of Commemoration for the 60,000 Australians and 18,000 New Zealanders who died during the war. The first year in which all the States observed some form of public holiday together on Anzac Day was 1927. By the mid-1930s, all the rituals now associated with the day ?- dawn vigils, marches, memorial services, reunions, sly two-up games ?- became part of Australian Anzac Day culture. New Zealand commemorations also adopted many of these rituals, with the dawn service being introduced from Australia in 1939.[2]
The ANZAC Spirit
ANZAC, a single word so powerful in the Australian vocabulary that it can bring a tear to the eye, a lump in the throat and a feeling of pride, just to be an Australian. A word that brings to mind those other words so uniquely Australian that had their origin in the trenches of Gallipoli in 1915 - Cobber, Digger, Fair Dinkum, True Blue, Mate.
The ANZAC tradition began on the 25th of April 1915 on the shores of Gallipoli in Turkey. The ANZAC's, a name given to the united Australian and New Zealand Army Corps by their generals were about to participate in war for the first time. 13 years after Australia's Federation their efforts in this, the Great War, would unite our country more than any event had done before then.
They had not been conscripted to join the campaign, they were all fair dinkum volunteers eager to show how brave and strong they were in battle. They had come to help their mother country England in their war against Germany. They wanted to be involved in all the 'excitement', to travel and be with their mates. Little did they realise the hardships and suffering that lay ahead, for they had been landed at the wrong place and the Turkish army were prepared for them.
2,000 ANZAC's would die that first day on the beaches of Gallipoli, more than 6,500 would be killed or wounded by the end of the week in the trenches, gullies and ridges up to one kilometre inland. Eight long months of bitter fighting against the Turks would follow. 10,000 ANZAC's would not return home to their loved ones.
Although their Gallipoli campaign would not result in victory over the Turks, the remarkable bravery and courage shown by the ANZAC's during that time would long be remembered. Stories such as their fierce attack at Lone Pine where they fought their way through the logs and mud into the Turkish trenches and battled the Turks with their bare hands, and reports of the terrible attack at the Nek where wave upon wave of ANZAC's charged the Turkish lines to their certain death, would be told for generations to come.
The courage of a stretcher bearer named Simpson who, with his donkey, risked bombs and bullets week after week to carry the wounded to safety only to finally lose his own life on the beach of ANZAC Cove, will never be forgotten.
Against all odds, the ANZAC's had shown they were a force to be reckoned with. Their Aussie sense of humour while facing death daily and their bonds of mateship would later inspire not only Australians but people from all over the world.
All these stories, together with the reports of the terrible losses were being printed in the newspapers back home in Australia. After reading such horrors, why then did 36,000 men volunteer to join the war effort? The spirit of the ANZAC's had touched the hearts and minds of all Australians. Win or loose they wanted to be with their mates, they couldn't stay home and do nothing after their mates had given so much. Their country needed them and they wanted to stand up and be counted. The true spirit of the ANZAC's - a willingness to sacrifice their lives for their country, their pride and their mates.
This spirit would carry them through the Great War - their battles at Gallipoli, along the Western Front, at places such as Ypres, Fromelles, the Somme and Pozieres and in the Middle East and Beersheeba. The ANZAC's would remember their mates in Gallipoli. They would not let them down, they would fight on until the war was won. Between 1915 and 1919 the ANZAC's would be awarded 66 Victoria Crosses, the highest award for war time bravery.
It could also be said that the same spirit was carried on through the decades to come and that the calibre of the first ANZAC's set the standard for all Australian servicemen in their subsequent war efforts, in World War II, Korea and in Vietnam.
On this special day, family and friends gather together to pay tribute to the ANZAC's for their courage and sacrifice during time of war. Many go to a dawn or ANZAC service. Many watch the war veterans march down the streets with medals polished. They sing with pride our national anthem and songs of remembrance, listen to the symbolic trumpet playing the Last Post and bow their heads for one minute's silence wherever they may be. They may watch the parade on television or one of the many movies or documentaries dedicated to their brave ANZAC's. From dawn until dusk one day every year is given to the memory of the ANZAC's, to think of them with gratitude and pride. LEST WE FORGET
The spirit of the ANZAC continues today in times of hardship such as cyclones, floods and bush fires. At those times Australians come together to rescue one another, to ease suffering, to provide food and shelter, to look after one another, and to let the victims of these disasters know they are not alone.
"I'd rather be killed than leave them there to die", said one ANZAC after he had risked his life to rescue a wounded mate from the battlefield and lowered him back into the Australians' trench at Gallipoli. That spirit lives on in many Australians today.
What began as an acronym - ANZAC, for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps - has entered our language as a word in its own right. ?'Anzac' means mateship; a spirit of courage, strength in adversity, selflessness and initiative tempered with a laconic humour.
So
. our crew, to our
BEAgle, Indeedee, them and theirs especially,
May today be a good day for one and all - and I hope you enjoy a "gunfire Breakfast" with a biscuit
ANZAC biscuit
ANZAC Biscuits are a snack food most commonly made from the primary ingredients of rolled oats, coconut, and golden syrup.
Many myths surround the origin of the ANZAC Biscuits. One story is that the biscuits were made by Australian and New Zealand women for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) soldiers during World War I, that they were reputedly first called "Soldiers' Biscuits" then renamed "ANZAC Biscuits" after the Gallipoli landing. The recipe was reportedly created to ensure the biscuits would keep well during naval transportation to those fighting overseas. However, those biscuits were shaped more like rock cakes and were made from entirely different ingredients.
Remembrance Song - National War Memorial Music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTdjVrdiQKM&feature=related
Amazing Grace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mY_ezjs0vkI
(Izzie interpretation - apologies for any errors in factual data)
I took a nap with G-baby - big mistake, need energy - quickly - the other two will be home any minute. Any ideas?
dang that was not there when I just posted...thanks for the info Izzie!
Well Ima dancing girl - and I feeeeeeeeeeeeel good
I like to dance - I just need to feel like I have some bones in my body 'fore I can.... :wink:
G'day shipmates, I see it's speak ANZAC day today!
Goodonya Sheila's, aw heddan airpsly fair-billis toime lar snoite. - Just like talking pirate!
I have no clue what you just said...
J has Strep Throat. Came home from the bus with a 101 fever. He feels terrible and he is missing the game today...he is crying and it is breaking my heart! Bless it...
Anyway...I have to go take care of them...hope to see you all later
mis
Good Morning crew just got back from the dawn service so aptly described by our Captain, thank you so very much for that Izzie. The day is far from over which much more to come and the weather is still fine with the rain coming tonight. In a few hours time we start with a march through the City of all the war veterans still alive, they march to the Cross of Sacrifice for a special memorial service. Thousands of people will line the route and cheer them on. These services are held in all the Major Cities here and televised to those at home who cannot attend. Another highlight is the special memorial service held at Gallipoli Beach in Turkey where the major battle took place. Although on the other side of the world, thousands upon thousands Australians, particular young people, will have travelled there today to attend this always moving ceremony to honour their forefathers. This service is always televised back to Australia and watched by the whole nation. With all the ceremonies over it is time to celebrate in the afternoon, old comrades meet up in the pub, football, races, picnics you name it and everybody has a good time. Certainly the day of the "Diggers", well earned and truly deserved. As a nation we're proud of them.
They shall grow not old
as we that are left grow old
Age shall not weary them
nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun
and in the morning
we will remember them.
LEST WE FORGET
Thank you Dutchy-you deserve it for serving. Hope you have a wonderful day.
I am hoping mine is just about over. Pistol got bit by a snake. We had to take him to the emergency vet. Apparently it was poisonous - which scares the heck out of me. He is fine though...benedryl, steroids, and IV fluids and $200 later - we think he will be juuuuuust fine.
I need to find out how to snake proof my yard - or if that is a possibility. My boys are explorers...don't want the same thing to happen to them.
J is still running fever and is exhausted. Can't get him into see the Dr until in the morning. S is playing his ball game. Another Mom came to pick him thankfully. The first game I have missed...makes me soooo sad. But I am glad to be here with my other baby - who is quite happy to be coddled in spite of the fever.
Okey doke...going to ask about snakes.
luvs y'all...
mis
