Lest We Forget

In memory of the Australian servicemen who lost their lives whilst protecting the Arctic shipping lanes aboard British Royal Navy convoy & merchant navy ships during World War 2.

The Allies sent over 4 million tons of supplies to Russia in attempt to keep the country & the Russian front supplied during the German invasion. 

Our sailors braved treacherous freezing seas and ran a deadly gauntlet of German battleships, U-boats and Luftwaffe torpedo bombers. Huge seas, with waves as high as cliffs, would set the ships on great roller coasters. Waves landed on decks as solid ice, which had to be picked off at every spare moment, no matter the weather, as its weight was capable of capsizing a ship.  Of 1,400 ships on 78 convoys – described by Winston Churchill as 'the worst journey in the world' – 101 perished in the icy waters north of Norway. Over 3,000 allied sailors lost their lives.

Later a faltering German defense in Europe ultimately allowed these convoys to survive and, more importantly, allowed the Russians to continue to save their country from within thanks to these much-needed supplies.

LEST WE FORGET

Images: Daily Mail

The Mighty Maisonette

Adelaide has had a long-term love affair with the mighty semi-detached maisonette. Along with row cottages, the maisonette ruled supreme with builders between 1836-1925. It became the compromise build between a row cottage & a free-standing house & often families lived in one side & rented out the other for economic gain. Each side was a mirror image of other & always shared a common parapet party wall. For economy of scale they often shared other features such as a continous front verandah (often eye-lash or bull-nose corrugated iron in design) with the traditional tesselated tile floor. Squeezed onto a single allotment, space was tight & the majority of them were built to the boundary fence, with just a small rear access running off a back lane for wood deliveries & the ubiquitious night cart man.

Most were constructed with sandstone or bluestone facades with brick side walls, the standard internal design was 3-4 rooms all running off the side passageway. The front room was generally the sitting room, followed by either one or two bedrooms then a kitchen. The bathroom, laundry & loo were housed in a corrugated iron lean-to either attached or detached leading off the back verandah. Again for economic reasons those rooms sat along a party wall with the adjoining maisonette, so they could share the one set of plumbing connections. Generally a row of them were built in the same street which meant that the gutters of each adjoining house nearly touched, really restricting the flow of natural light & ventilation through the side windows. For those of us who have experienced life in an unrenovated Adelaide maisonette, even with a largish window, you'll know that those 2nd & 3rd rooms were black holes of unrelenting darkness.

My how things have changed, just look at this renovated maisonette in St. Peters, a lovely leafy suburb just 5 minutes drive from the Adelaide CBD. Sadly a number of the internal period features are no longer - the original ceilings, cornices & fireplaces have disappeared, but I think it's a pretty schmicko reno job all the same.

I've had another good but very tiring week at work, with not a smidgy of blogging happening. That will be fixed later today. We celebrated our largest single order of the year yesterday arvo, so the 2 of us were doing the Happy Dance around the office. The boss surprised me by ordering a very ritzy coffee machine for our little 2 roomed, 2 person office, so I take that as an indication that I'm doing OK & he might want me to stay. It's the weekend dear Hedgies, so go enjoy!
Images: Klemich

The Secret's Out!

We have a Baby Shower coming up very soon here at The Hedge & guess what colour we all need to buy for...............PINK !! Son # 4 & his sweet girl Miss K have announced they are having a baby girl. And as you can imagine Nonna-to-be Millie is just a leeeeetle bit excited! So ideas please dear Hedgies for a fun Baby Shower night. Son #5's bride-to-be the clever & creative Miss A is busy making lots of gorgeous pink favours & decorations, but we're a bit light on in the fun & games department. Miss K is very well & has the nursery looking beautiful & Son #4 is delighted about being Daddy to a little girl. With 27 male children in just the group of my immediate family & closest friends, I went into a pink buying frenzy on hearing the news & haven't slowed down yet. The parents-to-be Facebook page has been out of control since they posted the news, my how social media has changed the pregnancy & birthing landscape since I was with child/children. Looking forward to hearing all your suggestions to help make the evening a truly memorable one.

Image: Thank you to the lovely Glenda's Pinterest board here

The Clan

It's been a tough week - my dearest friend's Dad died suddenly over the Easter weekend. R & I met each other on the first day of our nursing training some 39 years ago as 17 year olds & formed an instant bond & I met her Mum & Dad not long after. R & her family have lived overseas & interstate for the past 22 years, & although we catch up as often as we can, I still miss her every day. She was my bridesmaid & is Godmother to Son # 5. R's been back in town for the week supporting her Mum & we have spent lots of time together. Yesterday we said goodbye to her Dad & if a funeral can be truly wonderful, this one was.

Although born in Australia, her Dad carried his Scottish heritage with pride. We were close neighbours for many years when I lived in our previous house & I would often see him walking down our street with his trademark Scottish tartan cap sitting jauntily on his head..... & I always felt reassured that all was well in my world. Yesterday that same cap sat atop his casket & as the pipes played him out of the church, it was the end of an era. So this image of his clan tartan is a tribute to one of my extended clan.

Slàn leat

A Bit Of A Fizzer

Well dear Hedgies another Easter came & went in a cloud of 'I will do this & that' but I actually achieved little. I had a whole list of projects to tick off, least of all trying my hand at sawing our hideous front door in half, performing some nifty surgery to the top & installing some glass & voila, a great Dutch door just the one in the pic. Sadly after MOTH caught me unscrewing the door from it's hinges & 'requested' a detailed explanation of my intentions, my big Easter project was suddenly derailed, surprise, surprise. Even though he hasn't got the slightest understanding of Pinterest, he reckons it has a lot to answer for.

We were kindly invited to meet the other set of prospective grandparents for the first time over lunch on Easter Monday. MOTH's been laid low by that most horrendous of medical maladies.....the Man Cold, but managed to get his act together long enough to accompany me. Once again I had to pull out the List of Things Not To Talk About In Front Of Strangers To Make A Good First Impression. He managed to adhere to most of them, but I noticed the other Glammie rolling her eyes a couple of times at a little tid-bit of family scandal he couldn't help but share with her. Sadly I was too far way at the table to give him a gentle 'tap' on the leg, so far more was revealed than was necessary. Anyways, these things are always scary, but when MOTH's involved my anxiety is lifted to whole new levels.

I've just enrolled puppy Lulu in a Calm. Controlled. Centred 4 week training course, but I reckon Alexis at Scholars in Collars could retire to the Bahamas in a nanosecond if she did swapped dogs for husbands in her workshops. I'd be willing to pay double mate.

Image: eclecticrevisited.com via Millie on Pinterest

Easter

Best wishes dear Hedgies for a wonderful Easter weekend. Mine will be spent just like every one since 1989.......renovating. It's our 17th wedding anniversary on Easter Sunday, but as MOTH is going through an incredibly grumpy patch at the moment, I think that I won't make a fuss & just let this one slide under the radar. I've had a wonderful week at work, the boss returned from his travels in the UK & much to my relief, it seems I didn't stuff up too much & that the business is still viable, phew! Puppy Lulu is overdue for some serious mother & puppy bonding time & I want to give my dodgy knee a trial with a longish walk. I may live to regret my decision, but I'll never know until I try. See you next week.