Winter in Whitsundays just a memory during southern cold snap

Image: Whitehaven Beach, courtesy tourismwhitsundays.

SIX glorious winters in the relative warmth of the Whitsundays have failed to make Louise McDougal intolerant of the southern chill.
Since February Louise, her husband Ross and their teenagers Connor and Sarah have been settling into a different lifestyle on the Redland City bayside.
But this week's cold snap has not dampened their enthusiasm as they prepare to move to their new house at Cleveland after renting a unit until the purchase was finalised.

THE family has already had experience in colder winters, as they hailed from the NSW Far South Coast before their long stay on Hamilton Island.
Louise says she grew up in the Redlands and actually enjoys a little winter chill. Nevertheless, Moreton Bay is a long way from the white sand of Whitsunday Island's famous Whitehaven Beach where happy days with friends and family have given Louise some her fondest memories of life in the Whitsundays.
She says scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef and snorkelling with humpback whales were other highlights of recent years.
"Ross and I have worked in the diving industry most of our lives," she said yesterday. "The schooling on Hamilton Island wasn't suitable for teenagers like Sarah and Connor so we decided it was time to get them back to the real world."

WITH the two students now at Cleveland High School and Ross working as a skipper on the Stradbroke Island waterbuses and engineer on the barges, Louise looked for her own niche.
She is the face behind the notice headed "Dog Walking Service" in the Pets & Pet Supplies column.
"I have always loved dogs and I guess the idea came up because we couldn't have a dog during our time on the island," she says.
A cute little cavoodle ڏ– that's a cross between a cavalier spaniel and a poodle – has been Louise's first client, having walks while his owner works.
He's not quite the dimensions of Louise's favourite breeds. She has tended toward bigger creatures – labrador, a golden retriever and a labradoodle.
The family had to find a foster home for their labradoodle, Monty, before they moved to Hamilton.

LOUISE tells how the dog jumped a 2.5-metre fence when she called his name as they approached his new home during a holiday about two years after they had headed north.
"People say a dog will forget their old owners but I don't think they ever do," she says.

Louise has a great slogan for her walking service: A happy pooch is a happy house. So the pitter patter of paws will soon echo around the McDougals' new address.

Thanks for joining me in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times.

Tabbies get testy as handsome guest steals owner's heart

Image: This duo has nothing to do with the cats in the story but they are in fact my family's cats and the picture was too nice to leave hidden in the archives.







FOUR years have passed since a lovely little story about a man, a mother cat and her cute newborn kittens graced the news pages of The Redland Times. Today, here's chapter two:

ENGINEER Richard Cooke had to cut into a Capalaba factory wall to extract the feline family, after the stray cat he had been feeding found the safest spot for her nursery. Richard still has the tabby mother as his 'factory cat', while two of her offspring keep Richard and his wife Loren company at their Thornlands home. Some intense cat politics has ruled at Thornlands in recent weeks, however, since a handsome black desexed male arrived as a guest.

THE two tabbies with a family history of 'doing it tough' don't appreciate other paws on their patch. Loren has had to juggle some animal instincts with diplomacy to ensure the claws don't come out. She has fallen in love with the guest and calls him Onyx. But the tabbies are getting testy; her search for Onyx's owner is getting desperate.

"HE was wandering the neighbourhood for four weeks before my neighbour caught him in a trap; she was on her way to the pound with him but he's such a beautiful, beautiful cat; I said I would look after him and try to locate his owner," Loren says. "Even when he was in the trap you could put your fingers through the wires and stroke him."

THREE weeks later and after advertising widely, Loren is wondering when and how this cat tale will end. She says she has spent more than $200 on Onyx, who now has a microchip because Loren was worried that he might escape again. "The vet reckons he's been through a hell of a time; he's between two and four years old but probably closer to two, and he might not have lasted much longer fending for himself," Loren says. "It seems he was only just surviving around the creek near our home and raiding the garbage; his fur was matted and mud was stuck to him. He's still skin and bones but he's recovering and he's fluffing up nicely."

LOREN has seen heartbreak during her hunt for the owner: "A poor woman came all the way from Forest Lake hoping he was her cat. She was in tears because he looked so much like hers. I suggested that she could adopt him but she said her children loved their missing cat too much to present them with another."

LOREN's Lost & Found notice seeks "person willing to give him a new home urgently".

Thanks for joining me in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times.

'Oh, no, the landlord has sold our house': cry of rental trauma

Image: Prehistoric rock art near Alta courtesy of fellow Bloggers - Bearded Blokes in Norway.

THE anthropologists translating ancient drawings and symbols on rock faces must encounter some repetitive themes and messages.
One such theme among the fading images that have survived through the millennia would have to be: "Cave for rent, front and back crevasses for easy access, fireplace, rainforest view... just one bison leg a month."
Rental accommodation has probably been around since the caveman days but those who rent can have a tough time in our modern society.
The Australian society is not generally regarded as divided by class but it certainly has two distinct sectors – those who hold title to property and those who don't.

THE division was apparent to me a few years ago after I moved into a neat, new slice of suburbia in a masterplanned estate.
There, the owners lived in fear of two types of troublesome creatures, and ripples would spread across the morning coffee when they shuddered about the appearance of lawn grubs and renters in the estate.
Many of the owners, jealously looking toward capital gains, believed the rental component could reduce their property values because "the wrong type of people" were in the estate mix.

I STILL hear this sort of garbage in my little niche of Redland City, and can only suggest that the 'let's get rid of the renters' mindset reflects selfishness and a basic lack of understanding and respect for others.
In recent years, the escalation in property prices has caused rents to go through the roof, draining the resources of struggling families and making it impossible to bridge that "deposit gap" and get their own homes.
Some choose to rent, of course, as it can be a cost-effective option, but all must be prepared to find new homes if their landlord decides to sell. This means a lot of trauma.

A FOR SALE notice for three trees growing in pots told of one Cleveland resident's preparation to move to a another rental home.
Silke Lemmert soon sold her two-metre olive tree and slightly smaller lime tree, both of which have produced little crops in the two years since she moved from Melbourne. A beautiful kafir lime was still available yesterday.
"We have had the room for them here but the house has been sold we have to move into a flat with only a small balcony; we can't take the trees," she said.
Silke migrated from Germany about 15 years ago and lived in Melbourne until heading north about two years ago.
She likes the bayside lifestyle and is delighted to have found a new home in Cleveland.

Thanks for joining me in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times.

About Australia's saxophone superstar, Leo La Spina

Image: Watercolour design by Jenny Rumney.

KIDS growing up with the diverse mix of popular music styles since the birth of rock 'n' roll in the 1950s seem often to show great distaste for their dad's favourites.
As each 'brand' has taken over the airwaves after another, anything from the past has been strange and prehistoric to young devotees of the latest offerings.
My dad drove his kids to smirking and grimacing huddles behind closed doors when every so often in a celebratory mood he ramped up the volume on our old radiogram for his Hammond organ favourites.

IN those days that now seem so long ago, Dad's love of the dulcet tones had to stack up against his son's obsession with the hard rockers like Jimi Hendrix.
The cultural clash became a family joke; sometimes it was a bit overheated.
Such a division over musical tastes seems fairly common.
The invention of the 'walkman' cassette players with headphones a decade or so later was a godsend in family politics; finally the warring parties could retreat to their private musical heaven.
However, during the 1970s and '80s, at least one boy growing up in Capalaba was saying, "Dad, turn it up, please."

THE boy was Leo La Spina now living with his wife, Melissa, daughter Chiara, 10, and son John, 14, in Alexandra Hills.
Leo fondly recalls how, from a tender age, he shared his dad's love of jazz and later pestered his Ioana College music teacher to let him play the saxophone but had to be content with the "burp, burp, burp" of a bass clarinet.
Then came some breakthroughs: the loan of an "old silver alto sax" from the school's collection, and in 1988 a special moment in father-son relations.

"DAD said he'd buy me my own tenor sax if I learnt to play Aker Bilk's Stranger on the Shore," Leo says.
"So I did, and I am still using that same sax today."
Leo also concentrated on clarinet and had his first professional gig at age 16.
With a lifetime's involvement in the Redland band scene in big and small line-ups and as a solo performer, Leo now lists a repertoire of more than 400 songs across the spectrum of styles and genres.

HE says his greatest love, however, is for the music of the sax players he first heard, courtesy of his dad.
"I love my Dexter Gordon, John Coltrane and Stan Getz, the sounds I grew up with; I studied those guys," Leo says.
"But I play everything from dinner music to top 40 and Lady Gaga."
Leo features at the Icon Bar, Raby Bay, from 5pm to 9pm every Saturday. He teaches clarinet and saxophone, with his Training & Tuition notice specifying students need their own instruments.

Thanks for joining me in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times.

PS. I saw Leo's performance last night at the Icon. What a blast! He's not just a great reed player but a showman to boot! Don't miss the chance each Saturday to hear him play not only straight jazz but heaps of classics from Continental era to Sweet Alabama, giving new life and vigour to favourites, no matter from which category/era. Of course, you can see him online, eg www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T_jvIQ5FB8/

My life in jazz and love for the guitar

The lists of referring URLs and search terms that show in the visitor statistics for this site make interesting reading for me.

Many visitors have searched for a name; sometimes it's mine. I can only wonder who punched "John Rumney band player" into Google recently and clicked on the link to ClassieCorner.
That someone seems to know about my passion for jazz and maybe some of my recent history playing guitar in the Moreton Bay/Redland City community.
The link took them to a page that had nothing to do with my music but simply included the key words, so I thought I should post a bit more personal info about my life in music and some of the influences (this link will tie you up for a while so crack a coldie before you click).  
This exercise has called for some serious name-dropping - jazz players, composers and personalities who have had an influence on me over many years. Some are famous and some don't even come up on an internet search. It's just a bit of fun ... Freddy Greensill, Phil Manning,Pat Hussey, Chris Sulzberger, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Ten Years After, the Beatles, the Stones, the Gonads and Patriots Nite Train, Mike Ward, Ian Neal's Music to Midnight, John Coltrane, the Red Garland Trio, Errol Garner, Oscar Peterson, George Shearing, Judy Bailey, Gordon Cuming, Lionel Hampton, Clare Hansson, Rick Price, Brian King, Mike Garry, Sid Hillier, the Beegees, Tommy Flanagan, Charlie Parker, Ray Sparks, Fred Young, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Charlie Byrd, Stan Getz, The Crusaders, Larry Carlton, David T Walker, Lee Ritenour, Stanley Clarke, Carmen McRae, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Billie Holiday, the Andrews Sisters, Nancy Wilson, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Mel Torme, Johnny Mercer, George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, Hoagy Carmichael, Cole Porter, Sid Bromley, Joe Pass, Mileham (Dr Jazz) Hayes, Johnny Nicol, Vince Genova, Scott Nicol, Jerome Kern, Toots Thielemans, Rick Farbach, Stan Kenton, Carol O'Rourke, Sue Gillespie, Jon Jass, Viki Carryl, Caspar Schutte, Rosco from Redlands, Curly and Col from Lamb Island, Chris Price, Mark Duffy, George Bowler, Tao, Polisi, Dave from Coffs, David Lang, DJ Vince, Gabe Phoenix, Vinicius de Moraes, Astrud Gilberto, Carmen McRae, Lionel Nadel, Tony the harp player ... and this is just for starters; I'll add to this as time permits as I have just started to try to define 'jazz and me', a way of life that began when just a pre adolescent I tuned in with a crystal set aerial clamped on my bed base to listen to Arch McKirdie's Relax with Me on ABC Radio. That was half a century ago ...

Family research can be exhausting and emotional

Image of sinking ship from microsoft.


THE death and devastation from war has been top of mind this autumn with a throng of Redlanders to Anzac Day services.
Pain and suffering from war runs through society, scarring the lives of innocent families far from the battlefields.
Theresa Meaclem, of Alexandra Hills, told this story:

"My grandfather, William Strunks, was the captain of a cargo ship and was killed when it was sunk by a German torpedo during World War II.
"My mother, Winifred, was only two years old.
"The wartime widows often became distanced from their families and after grandad's death my grandmother moved from Ireland to England and Australia.
"My mum didn't know anyone in her parents' families.
"I started some family research to find these people, and it was a very emotional experience, especially for Mum. It brought tears to her eyes to realise she had such a big family.
"With the help of the internet I managed to find 180 relatives she never knew she had."

THE experience prompted Theresa to offer help in family research. She has called her service AncestorLink.
Theresa says her fledgling enterprise has already had some appreciative clients in its first few weeks.
She tutors people on the family research websites and does the research for those who are uncomfortable using keyboard and screen.
The work can be exhausting because of the attention to the detail and the underlying emotions, she says
"I was able to find 60 to 70 members of the one generation of an elderly lady's family dating from 1836 in Wales," Theresa says.
"One of the special results was that I located one of her elder sisters who had all the family photos so now she has copies of the pictures that she didn't know about."

AS part of the AncestorLink package, Theresa creates audio-visual presentations on CDs.
The Meaclem family is new to Alexandra Hills. Theresa, her husband Ross and two of their four sons have just moved from Hervey Bay where they had a farm growing sea cucumbers.
Theresa says she and Ross were Australian pioneers of the sea cucumber trade. "We were virtually the only growers in Australia until about five years ago."
She says the sea cucumber is in big demand and the market "can't get enough of them" but she and Ross decided on a "sea change".
"We were on the farm for 20 years and felt like it was the right time to do something different so we sold the property and decided to check out life in the city," she says. While Theresa is at the computer, Ross is working as a handyman.

Thanks for joining me in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times.

From battleship to tinny beside the bay

The Rocky Point Sugar Mill gets a mention in this article (image courtesy The Heck Group).

WAY back in the post-war years when Cleveland was "just a sleepy little village", a dairy farming family joined its community to help an elderly couple in need.
John Brownlie Henderson had retired some years earlier from his highly ranked position as Queensland Government Analyst and Chief Inspector of Explosives and was living with his wife Susan in Cross Lane.
When Mr Henderson had health problems, his son and daughter-in-law, Ian and Trixie, decided to move from their Pimpama dairy farm to Cleveland to support the elderly couple.
This meant a big change for Ian and Trixie's children – their son, also named Ian, and their daughter, Sonia.

IAN junior, then about 10 years old, now recalls he was a little nervous on his first day at Cleveland Primary School in 1950 because the town, even with farming right in what is now the CBD, was quite a contrast with Pimpama's vast spread of canefields – supplying the Heck's Rocky Point mill for generations – and the lush green pastures dotted with dairy cattle.
Young Ian later joined the Navy and served as a naval airman until 1961. Most of his service was aboard the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne. He is thankful to have left the Navy before the disaster of 1964 when the Melbourne and the destroyer HMAS Voyager collided off the NSW South Coast.

BY then, Ian was on a new path in life. He had married a Redland-born girl, Florence Stacey, in 1963 and early in the marriage they headed to New Guinea, where Ian managed native co-operatives until the mid-1970s.
The couple returned to live in a new house that they had built on the site of a fibro shack behind his grandparents' retirement home.
Ian worked for many years with the paint company Dulux, then ran his own business selling and servicing airless spray equipment.

IAN and Florence still live the same home. For about 10 years, a classic tinny, a 12ft Clarke, has been parked beside it.
The boat probably won't be there much longer after Ian advertised it for sale – complete with a late model 15hp Mariner outboard, trailer and rego to December – for $3000.
Ian says the tinny has served his family well around the bay; most recently, a grandson has enjoyed loading it with camping gear and heading with his mates to Straddie.
Even though it doesn't have quite the grandeur of a battleship, Ian has made much use of the tinny, too!

Thanks for joining me in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times.

Stop the bickering: teamwork brings success in business

Image courtesy Microsoft

SPOUSES bicker, siblings battle, workmates argue – everyone probably has some sort of relationship problem at some time.
We often forget, however, that our differences are painfully obvious to those 'looking in from the outside' with impartial eyes.
The spouses may divorce, siblings may refuse to speak to each other and workmates may separation. When the warring parties go into business together, the consequences can be costly.

BUSINESS broker Graeme Donaldson often sees dangerous symptoms when buyers are shopping for an enterprise.
He says the internal bickering and friction are among the main reasons some businesses have been on his books as many as half a dozen times during the 14 years that Donaldson Business Brokers has operated in the Redlands.
"I do have to say that some people are not cut out to go into business," Graeme says. "There can be clear signs they are destined not to succeed.
"In one instance two blokes going into a partnership were arguing at our initial meetings. Sure enough, the business was back on the market within 12 months."
Graeme has a special interest in the psychology that underpins business success.

FORMERLY the CEO of companies distributing car, truck, industrial and electrical parts, Graeme studied team psychology at university level.
The training which he undertook when heading a national workforce about 1500 showed the importance of teamwork in any enterprise, Graeme says.
Sydney-born Graeme qualified as an electrical fitter/mechanic and refrigeration engineer – and is proud of having worked on components for the Sydney Opera House in the 1960s before he moved into sales and management.
He says his move into business broking followed his business consultancies. "One of the companies asked me if I could sell it for them, and I did – that's how the brokerage started," he says.

GRAEME says he is content to maintain his for-sale listings about 30 businesses: "I would rather provide personalised service than get too many people involved."
Donaldson Business Brokers has been part of the community of classified advertising in the Bayside Bulletin since it started trading, with an invitation to those buying, selling and testing the market.
The firm charges no marketing and advertising costs, relying totally on sales commissions. This means "no sale, no cost".
The current business climate receives a lot of attention from the economic analysts at national and state levels, and 'down on the ground' Graeme says it is the toughest he has seen in four decades.
"A lot of people are in trouble, just hanging in there, and have been for quite some time," he says.
"You only have to look around at the number of shops that have closed."
Graeme acknowledges many Redlanders resist growth of the city but warns that if it doesn't grow the only direction is backwards.

Thanks for joining me in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times.

Spider wears steelcap boots

SHUDDER, shock, horror. It's enough to turn a reasonably strong adult into a quivering nutcase. But finding a spider in your boot is better than feeling it!

This post, recording my disgusting discovery this morning and showing the benefit of stuffing one's dirty socks into boots, is just a diversion between my excursions into the marvellous community of classified advertising.

Maybe a browse through the pest exterminators is on the agenda. Watch this space.

Resumes spread word as 'secret' service assists jobseekers

RIGHT: The REPS HQ (image from www.reps.com.au/)

THAT fabulous four-letter word, 'free', is a fantastic eye magnet in the Classifieds, whether it comes in big block capitals or lurks modestly in the small print.
True to tradition, it has recently featured in an unexpected place with some restrained use of bold type asking, "Need a resume?" and then proclaiming, "Free Service!"
The notice closed with the words "Redland's best kept secret", but the Redlands Employer Placement Service is no secret to the many thousands of job seekers and businesses it has helped through the decades.
Free assistance with resumes is just one facet of Cleveland-based REPS, which has a long history as a jewel in the Redland community crown, having been incorporated as a non-profit organisation since 1994, after starting as a federal government program.

EXECUTIVE officer John Conley says the support of federal and state governments and the Redland Council has allowed REPS to keep up its work specialising in employment and training assistance for the mature aged, parents and carers returning to work, the unemployed and a sector that statistics often overlook, the underemployed.
By the way, the 'mature age' range, according to the REPS guidelines, starts at 40 nowadays, so the sociologists who invented the idea that "60 is the new 40" should question their logic. I don't expect to see the Sunrise team debating whether "40 is the new 20".

BACK to the subject: John says the importance of the resume continues to increase with the job market always becoming more competitive.
He says a keen focus is necessary from the instant the job seeker spots an opportunity. Many clients who engage REPS for resume support realise they can benefit from other aspects of its programs, which suit those who have: been out of the workforce and want to update their skills; recently lost their job; and have retired but want a "downsized" work role.
Clients also include people needing to top up their 'super' payments, former managers or supervisors who find they are 'overqualified' and others who have limited qualifications but heaps of experience.

JOHN says REPS, with a staff of five part-timers, has an annual government funding contract for 195 places but "we hate to turn anyone away – we try to help everyone as best we can".
In the style of a community service that does has not want to rely solely on government and council support, REPS also raises funds. For the past 14 years it has run the Thursday night bingo sessions at the Redlands RSL Club.

Thanks for joining me in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times.

Mates share their lifelong interests in boats and our Bay

Image: Boating on Moreton Bay, courtesy BayJournal.


BAYSIDE business has long served the throng of captivated individuals who go down to the sea in boats.
Terms like "stunning beauty" and "aquatic playground" flow from the contemporary copywriters' keyboards when Moreton Bay demands a reference.
But the Bay has existed a lot longer than pen and ink, computers and internet, and has caused the evolution of a special community that is devoted to its charms.
Such a community requires highly skilled support from a marine industry that stays up to date on technology. Brian Routledge has given decades of service to that community, building the boats and maintaining all the components.
He grew up in Moorooka, destined to have a future with boats. Brian says his dad Ron had deep involvement with the marine industries and in the 1960s and '70s worked on V8-powered jetboats.

THE son did an apprenticeship as an outboard motor technician at Milton Marine.
In the early 1980s, Brian carved a place in nation's powerboat racing history, driving his lightweight composite, tunnel-hull boats to three national championships.
He has a special memory of setting up Capalaba Boat Centre about 30 years ago: "My first client was an official of the Redlands RSL Fishing Club and since then I have had the pleasure of working on the boats of many club members."
While maintaining the Capalaba presence, which includes Bayside Jetskis, Brian started an eastward shift about six years ago, and opened Mojo Boats at Redland City Marina, Thornlands.
Mojo is promoted as an "outboard, jet ski and stern-drive specialist". Brian says he is delighted to work with a longtime mate, Dallas Schofield, who also has more than 30 years' experience in the marine trades.
"Dallas has kept up to date on the cutting-edge technology and has a special interest in E-Tec, Yamaha and Honda products," Brian says.

THE pair has long shared their knowledge and expertise, with Dallas also having a Capalaba base at Leisure Marine.
Brian says he has been building "one or two" plate aluminium boats a year, a tradition that Mojo Boats continues.
"Solid, soft riding and stable" are the criteria for Mojo Boats, which meets clients' needs for designs up to eight metres but has a special focus on those under five metres.
The firm's Boats & Marine classified notice lists brand interests including Suzuki, Mercury, Mercruiser, Tohatsu, Evinrude, Johnson, Seadoo and Kawasaki and states "Pick up and delivery service available".

Thanks for joining me to meet the people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times.

Good reasons to dust off and 'declutter'

This column has appeared in The Redland Times.

Small business can 'press right buttons'

Image: Hand-painted metal button, courtesy http://www.vintagebuttonlady.com/

ADULTS delight in torturing little kids with the question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
Firefighter, police officer, doctor, nurse, computer scientist, astronaut ... just about every occupation has roots in formative and unpolluted minds.
Maybe someone should do a study asking five-year-olds that age-old question, then follow up a few decades later to find out whether they have achieved their ambition.
That might tell us whether society meets the hopes and dreams of those who have unquestioning trust in its future.

THE memories of how each of us answered that profound question fade over the years, so a fair-dinkum study would document a hazy corridor of everyday life.
Long ago and far away (well, not too long ago and in the English rural district of West Sussex), Mandy Killick had a consuming childhood interest.
The daughter of farm workers always knew she would not follow mum and dad into the fields to tend the cattle and pigs.
When Mandy visited her grandmother, the family lost her for the day as she emptied "nan's button tin" on the loungeroom floor and sorted them.

MANDY always wanted to grow up to be an antique-button collector, and she now has the supreme satisfaction of going one step further.
For the past seven years, she has been building a business, supplying antique buttons to an adoring market of collectors and crafty types such as quilters, sewers and jewellery makers.
She is known to the world through the internet after setting up www.vintagebuttonlady.com
Mandy and her husband David, with their three children, migrated to Australia in 2000, seeking a warmer climate. In the UK, Mandy had a 'day job' in airline reservations and checking to finance her button-collecting obsession.
The family first settled in Perth but in 2003 moved to Cleveland because of David's work as a tiler.

ALTHOUGH her core business is still in buttons, Mandy has diversified into high-end recycling, that is, buying and selling small collectables, such as glass and china, along with clothes, shoes and vintage jewellery. She also makes jewellery, including designs with buttons, of course.
The package makes a formidable presence at some of the Brisbane district markets as well as a business that can supply craft needs, 'at the press of a button'.
Mandy uses 'wanted' notices in our local Classifieds to replenish her stock.
Now, we can rest easy knowing that the "costume jewellery, vintage clothing, shoes, bags, old linen, postcards, small glasses and china" are helping to make a little girl's dream come true.

This column has appeared in The Redland Times.

Tenterfield terriers draw worldwide interest

AN amazing breed of canines has featured on this site from time to time. The Tenterfield terrier, an Australian-bred variation of the miniature fox terrier, has generated site traffic from throughout the world.
There's obviously an interested audience for any postings about the terriers, so today I introduce two Tenterfield-cross puppies - Joey, above, and Millie - and share stories of joy and tragedy.
The pair, bred on Russell Island, Queensland, Australia, have the same bloodlines through the foxy mother and Maltese father; the foxy genes are obviously stronger.
Millie came to my family in December 2010. She died from tick paralysis in October 2011. We are still grief stricken.
At six weeks old she fitted comfortably in the palm of my hand. It was quite hilarious to hear such a tiny creature growl if anyone's hand infringed on her personal space when she didn't feel like any attention.

MILLIE was a robust puppy and soon picked up a few tricks. She would stand on her back legs at the command "walking dog" and when I lit a small campfire in the backyard she would help collect the fuel from the nearby bush, dragging sticks to the fireside.
During her short life she would play with the curlews that live on the vacant blocks around our house. She would challenge the birds for being on her turf, running up to them.
The birds, towering over the tiny dog, would raise their wings and hiss. Millie then would dance around them for a few minutes before moving on to another interest.
After Millie died, I dug a grave in the backyard. As I lowered her body into the hole, a curlew suddenly came into my field of vision, its head was only about half a metre from mine.
The bird looked into the hole at the dog's body, then looked at me, then again looked downward into grave, then slowly sauntered away.
It was like a solemn show of respect for the passing of a great mate, who had never appeared to "get serious" and show any wish to harm the birds.

WHILE all this was happening, Millie's mum was about to give birth to another litter. One day in December I awoke from a late afternoon snooze, exhausted from my early shift in newspaper production, to see my wife and daughter come home with another palm-sized puppy.
Joey has had to suffer comparisons with his elder sister. Unlike her, he was a very timid little creature, retreating if he received any attention at all.
He didn't like being handled or patted and would move out of reach at the mere gesture of such.
However, over the weeks Joey has become a lot more confident. In fact, he's getting to the stage of overconfidence but thankfully is starting to tolerate the lead.
Initially, he would scream at any attempt to attach the lead clip and sit or lie down and refuse to budge.
Getting his confidence and trust has been difficult because of his hyper-timidity but now we may have hope for some serious training.
Well, that's about it for now. I will keep up the Tenterfield terrier postings to help satisfy the worldwide appetite.

For the other Tenterfield and "mini foxy" stories on the site simply paste the keywords into the search box above. If you prefer the spelling "mini foxie", that's okay - they'll forgive you!

Builder rests after deadline on SE Queensland post-flood rebuild

Image: One year ago Redland City's Rotarians were quick to rally the community for the "monster flood fightback".



QUEENSLANDERS nervously watch the clouds and the forecasts this summer. No one would want a repeat of the terrible tragedies that hit the State with the January 2011 floods.
It has been a year of rebuilding for many thousands of families. Builder Ellyott Allan, managing an insurance contract on home restoration in Ipswich, Goodna, Grantham and Toowoomba, says he is delighted to have completed work that allowed about 100 families back into their homes for Christmas.
Ellyott says the post-flood pressures were heavy during the restoration.
"In a project like this, you are dealing with a lot of emotions," he says. "People have been badly traumatised and we have had to reassure them that their lives can get back together again."

AUSTRALIA has been home for New Zealand-born Ellyott, 58, for the past 40-odd years.
He first came here when at age 17 he surfed the NSW North Coast breaks, after growing up in the North Island resort town of Mt Maunganui.
Ellyott has specialised in such large-scale restorations since a storm devastated big areas of Sydney in 1991.
He says he has now been involved in the restoration after about 10 minor and major disasters, including the 1999 Sydney hailstorm that left $3 billion damage in just 20 minutes.
The gratitude of the Queensland homeowners has been a treasured reward for Ellyott and his team.
Ellyott had to 'soldier on' during the year, despite suffering two personal tragedies. In June, his mother Betty Hill died, and two weeks later his wife of seven years, Julie, died from cancer.
Although he has been based mainly in Sydney, Redland City became his second home during 2011.

EARLY in December, he suffered another loss. After dining at a Cleveland restaurant, he drove off, leaving his motorised skateboard on a footpath.
Ellyott says he has used the expensive skateboard because a slip at Brisbane Airport about two years damaged his knee.
"Luckily I can still surf but I am unable to walk any long distances and have relied on the skateboard to get around," he says.
"I realised within minutes that I had left it behind but by the time I returned, it was gone."
Ellyott advertised a reward for the return of the 1.2-metre skateboard. He has been taking a short break before launching a new venture for insurance contracts.
He says the new firm, i Projects Australia, will be based on the Gold Coast and is set for a January 15 launch.

Thanks for joining me to meet the people in the marvellous community of classified advertising; this column has appeared in The Redland Times.

Don't let pool tragedy leave you with life of blame

Image courtesy of fellow bloggers producing the Best Nanny Newsletter in the US. A visit there will show that pool safety is a concern in other countries, too.

THE summer sizzle – or call it a "stew" because of the recent rain – has brought a timely warning from the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS).
The message is to take extra care in and around pools over the Christmas and summer holiday period.
We have heard it all before, so many times in fact, that some owners may simply shrug and not give another thought to the importance of the message.
But such an attitude of indifference has been a factor in an horrific statistic that can make any Queenslander cringe.

THE State Government says 41 children aged under five years drowned in Queensland pools between January 2004 and June 2010.
Every case would have its peculiarities, and the last thing any parent who has lost a child in this way would deserve is to suffer forever in self blame.
However, something has been going seriously wrong and the State Government has finally acted with the introduction of new pool fencing laws.
It has given pool owners until 2015 to comply with a new pool safety standard, but earlier compliance is required if the property is sold or leased.
Pool owners have just passed the first deadline of the safety package; the Government required registration of swimming pool details by November 4, and has threatened fines up to $2000 for an unregistered pool.

LICENSED pool fencing inspector Noel Whittington, who advertises in our Trade Services section, has been busy.
Noel, a former Sydney pool builder who has specialised in fencing for about 30 years, believes the tightening of the law is overdue.
"Some owners whinge about 'another government thing' but I can only say, 'Come on, the fact is kids are drowning – this law is aimed at saving lives'," Noel says.
"The other tragedy is that many children whose lives are saved carry lifelong
disabilities from the experience."
Noel, admitting he is not a youngster, says he pushed himself to attend a series of seminars and get accreditation as an inspector.
He says maintenance-conscious owners benefit because regular attention minimises costs, which is important with inspections now required every two years.

NOEL came to live in Queensland in 1981 and now splits his time between his Gold Coast home and that of his sister, Gloria O'Brien, at Redland Bay, so he says he is well placed to service Redland City.
The QAS emphasises that fencing is not the complete solution to stop drownings and vigilance is important: Drowning is "a silent killer" – someone can drown in seconds, without making a sound.
The service urges pool owners to remove objects from around the pool fence to reduce the risk of children climbing to access the pool area or gate.

Thanks for joining me to meet the people in the marvellous community of classified
advertising; this column has appeared in The Redland Times.

Celebrate curve with verve: flash those pearly whites

Image of a fantastic toothless smile courtesy of fellow blogger Tim Oestmann.

HERE'S one for the trivia quiz buffs and a prize for readers who get it right: What are the four words that complete the song title, "All I Want for Christmas Is ..."?
No, the answer isn't "A Nice New Car". It has been the same since the song was written in the US about two generations ago: "My Two Front Teeth."
Now, the prize for every correct answer: a smile.

IN case you haven't noticed during the early December rush, it's the season of the smile, which must be one of the most intriguing aspects of human behaviour.
We can read all sorts of things into that simple expression. On the good side, the wide range of interpretations may include empathy, love, respect and fun, but a smile can also be a very cutting put-down and a partner for aggression and cruelty.
The line between 'smile' and 'smirk' is thin.

OF the many published quotations about the smile, those from comedians can keep the pearly whites flashing. US comedian Phyllis Diller reportedly summed it up as "a curve that sets everything straight".
While smiles are evident in such a time of goodwill, an army of highly trained professionals is at work to create them.
The dental clinics are busy at this time of year. Dental prosthetist David Dixon offers an option for those who need dentures or repairs; early this year he started a mobile service, based at his home laboratory at Robertson.
He gives free consultations and home visits.

DAVID graduated with a bachelor’s degree in dental technology from Griffith University in 2007 and qualified with a masters in dental prosthetics in 2009.
He has continued teaching at the university's Gold Coast campus while he has worked at Brisbane laboratories and set up his own business.
After reviewing demographic trends, David now aims to open a clinic at Victoria Point to service its rapidly increasing population of retirees.
David often sees the depth of emotion that underlies a smile.

"PEOPLE who lose their natural teeth or damage their dentures often say they don't 'feel like themselves'," he says.
"They don't feel comfortable smiling and this can make them feel vulnerable and bit insecure.
"A lot of patients get teary when they look into the mirror and see their own smile, with their new dentures.
"Some say they have felt uncomfortable smiling for as long as 15 or 20 years."
Dentists and the associated professions deserve a special toast on Christmas Day. As David says, everyone wants to look their best when the cameras come out.

Thanks for joining me to meet the people in the marvellous community of classified advertising; this column has appeared in The Redland Times.

Merv 's love of Moreton Island keeps growing

IMAGE of the Cape Moreton lighthouse courtesy DERM.

IMAGINE being up there in a cyclone as described below.

THE old term, "green thumb", referring to plant-growing skills, can fit comfortably in the new vocabulary of environmental awareness.
Gardeners must be mindful of propagating the right plants as some nasty pests have gained a toehold on the continent in someone's backyard and spread to threaten nature's balance.
Merv Tyler, of Birkdale, can wear the two-leafed title of "green thumb" as a badge of honour. He has devoted about 30 years of voluntary service to the subtropical wonderland of Moreton Island.
A boilermaker at the Evans Deakin shipyard before it closed in 1976, Brisbane-born Merv started a new career, qualifying with diplomas in horticulture, conservation skills and coastal land management.
In 1980 he answered a newspaper notice seeking volunteers for roadworks on Moreton Island.
"As soon as I saw the island I just loved it," he says. After the road project, Merv applied his growing and gardening skills, working with Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.

FOR the past four years he has run a nursery at North Point to grow endangered native species for planting where needed. He also looks after the camping grounds and other public areas.
Three years ago Merv received an Arbor Day Award for his plantings on a 500m sand blow where the Cape Moreton lighthouse keepers had thrown their rubbish for about 150 years.
Merv has been propagating pony-tailed casuarinas. He goes to the island often and stays in one of three cottages that formerly accommodated the lighthouse keepers.
With the cyclone season near, Merv recalls wild winds in the cottage high on the northern cliffs: "I have been through two cyclones up there; the winds were 130km an hour; I couldn't walk out the door." He makes a whistling noise to emphasise the point.
Merv says residents' plantings of pest species including cocos palms and umbrella trees continue to threaten the island's ecology, with the seeds spreading into sensitive areas, especially around the southern town of Kooringal and Bulwer in the north.
"The Brisbane City Council is always going over there to try to get people to remove these sorts of trees, but they can only ask," he says.
"The area is very sensitive; it's not good."

MERV's interest in native plants doesn't stay on Moreton Island. Many years ago during a stint in his old trade in the Central Queensland coalfields he developed a liking for the bottle trees of the region.
He has grown some from seed in his backyard and has offered 700mm bottle trees for sale to Redland home gardeners.

Thanks for joining me to meet the people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times.

'Kwacker' roars in cultural journey

Image of the 'Kwacker' model discussed below, courtesy of fellow blogger FloridaSteve.

SOME powerful engines have run sweetly through the decades in tribute to the 1974 Australian movie Stone.
The movie about a Sydney cop's undercover mission in an outlaw motorcycle gang seems to be one of those classic "love it or hate it" productions.
The staunchest critics would cringe at notes about Stone at the national audiovisual heritage website, Australian Screen.
"An instant box-office smash, it connected powerfully with audiences as the first true depiction of life among Australian ‘bikies’, and not American ‘bikers’," curator Richard Kuipers says.
"More than three decades later, Stone commands a cult following like no other Australian film."

ALLAN Baggs, of Victoria Point, is proud to be a member of that cult. Allan's love of motorcycles started on his family's vineyard at Berry, South Australia.
As he grew into a teenager,he cut the bodywork off an old DKW scooter and rode it around the farm. After he saw Stone he dreamed of owning a Kawasaki Z900, the bike that had a star role.
About three years ago he swapped a Honda that he had restored for his dream bike that had been in a garage for years and had only 13,000 miles (21,000 kilometres) on the clock.
"The Z900 was the first of the real superbikes and went from 1973 to 1976; mine was the last of the model," Allan says, adding that riding it is "a real buzz: it takes me back to when I was a young bloke".
Allan qualified as a chef and escaped the southern cold to move to Queensland about 30 years ago. He worked at some prestigious eateries including "the old Oscars" on the Gold Coast.

OVER the years he has built up several businesses cleaning and maintaining specialist equipment in the food industry and now is the proprietor of Precision Powder Coating, Underwood.
He and wife Cynthia, who have two daughters, built a house at Victoria Point in 1997. They are now putting the finishing touches on a new home in the same suburb.
That's why Allan advertised his beloved Kawasaki as a swap for concreting on the drive and paths. He estimates the project totals more than 200 square metres.
Allan is sad about the impending loss of the Kawasaki, which the ad described as awesome,but he is keen to get the work done before the wet season.
Cynthia learned about the Queensland climate a lot earlier than Allan as her family moved from Herberton to the Redlands.
After three keen inquiries for the bike valued between $10,000 and $12,000, the couple appears likely to get the work done before the storms.

Thanks for joining me to meet the people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times.

Business irons out budget wrinkles

Image courtesy of fellow blogger Susan Dewitt.

ENTREPRENEUR is a big word that evokes images of big money and big talk but each edition of the Classifieds unveils many quiet achievers who don't need to wear titles like 'CEO', even when they can.
The steady stream of entrepreneurs creating new businesses fuels the economy and enriches the culture, locally and wider.
Those with ideas and drive can have the supreme satisfaction of building their own business, without fancy titles and expense accounts.
The Classifieds are a showcase for what used to be known as the "self-made man" but now should the "self-made person".

I HAVE had the pleasure of talking with a true "self-made woman", a mother-of-four who created an income stream, firstly for her family, then grew it to employ 12 people.
Speedy Ironing Service's brightly coloured notice with artwork stands out under the 'services – domestic' heading. About two decades ago, Marita Neville started the business with a two-line classified.
Marita looks back on her business as a journey of learning and discovery that has allowed her to "grow personally".
"Ironing was something I could do at home; I started with a friend but then kept doing it as my own business," she says.
At the time, the Victoria Point 'commercial hub' was just a corner store on Colburn Avenue. Marita lived nearby in a new estate. She needed to travel to Canon Hill and Mt Gravatt to shop.

GRADUALLY, over the years, Marita gave up ironing, but kept up the driving for pick-up and delivery.
Now she has two drivers and concentrates on managing the business.
The drivers have computers showing the necessary client details. Marita, in fact, lists the use of such IT as a highlight of her business development.
"I have learnt so much – about management, how to run the business more efficiently, dealing with people, computers and IT," she says.
"It's not just an ironing service."
She has streamlined the accounting and business practices.

SPEEDY Ironing Service has clients throughout Redland City. Marita has thought about servicing a wider area but says she is comfortable with the geographic limit at this stage of her life.
"Ten years ago I may have wanted to keep expanding the business but I now have 14 grandchildren and they are a big part of my life," she says.
She talks about her business achievements with humility: "I am a Christian and believe that you don't do something like this all by yourself but get help from God."
Marita is part of the congregation at Redland City Church, Thornlands.

Thanks for joining me to meet the people in the marvellous community of classified advertising.This article has appeared in The Redland Times.

Image magic: from daguerreotype to digital culture

Wow, now the world can see it! Here are scenes from beautiful Moreton Bay, protected from the Pacific Ocean by two huge sand islands, dotted with other smaller islands and with the vibrant urban culture of Redland City on its southern shores. These images by internationally renowned Redland photographer Julie Geldard certainly show why we are proud to call ourselves "Redlanders". Long live the Redlands!

THE Frenchman who is credited with taking photography out of the laboratory and into the world's mainstream culture would grin and grimace at the explosion of digital imaging almost two decades later.
Photography is now at society's fingertips, probably to a degree that Louis Daguerre would never have imagined.
Louis developed the camera with the most intriguing name, the daguerreotype (it's always a buzz to tap out a word like that).
At the time and for many decades, photography was a specialist skill and the property of highly trained practitioners.

NOWADAYS anyone can happily snap and show their handiwork to the world on the web.
The true professionals – remember how we used to call them 'shutterbugs' – are still clicking away, however.
Their work still carries the stamp of authority that says, "This is my work and my art," and it stands out in the proliferation of images like stars in the digital imaging universe.
Such professionals could be expected to look down their noses at the legions of amateurs but Wellington Point photographer Julie Geldard is delighted so many are recording the things that mean something to them.
"It's wonderful to have more and more people experiencing this magical world and capturing beauty; it makes everyone feel warm and fuzzy," she says.

JULIE, a highly accredited and awarded photographer with about 15 years' experience, advertises her "Master your Camera" classes in the training and tuition column.
She says use of just the programmed automatic camera settings gives control to the camera, rather than the operator; she shows how an understanding of camera functions can improve the images.
"I encourage the photographer to see magic moments, how to enhance their subject with many techniques such as leading lines, and how to not distract from their subject," Julie says.

SHE holds "ongoing and affordable practical workshops" weekly for participants to maintain their skills and advanced half-day workshops in specialist areas.
Weekend and overseas "photographic extravaganzas" to destinations including Thailand, the Greek islands and Africa are also on the agenda.
“One develops a second sense for that fleeting fantastic moment when a great shot is enhanced by light or a captured emotion to take it from good to breath-taking,” Julie says.
"My aim is to teach the technical skills, then enhance the creative skills to give each participant a life-long pathway to photographic growth and enjoyment," Julie says.
“One is never alone in the world with your camera.”

Thanks for joining me to meet the people in the marvellous community of classified advertising; this article has appeared in The Redland Times.

Unofficial anthem echoes through time, space

Image of giant log at the genuine Pub With No Beer.

THE song that country music superstar Slim Dusty took to the top of the charts more than half a century ago was destined to get ingrained in Aussie culture. However, the popularity of the catchy tune and lyrics of The Pub With No Beer spread far past our borders and to other countries.
The song had already echoed around the world for more than a decade when a boy, barely into his teens, started learning guitar in Durban, South Africa.
The Pub With No Beer was in fact the first song that Glen Stuart learnt to play. He wondered what life was really like in Australia, and in 1979 he migrated here.

GLEN now lives at Thornlands and works as a sales representative in the fibreglass/composites industry. That's his day job, of course, because he is still a keen rhythm guitarist, picks up his instrument at every opportunity, enjoys jamming and has played in bands.
A few years ago he joined his lead guitarist-uncle Brian Jones in a band called Sneaky Pete, with Brian's son Warren on drums.
Brian and Warren also came from South Africa to make the Redlands their home.
Glen has a musical project on the boil and has used the Classifieds to recruit a bass player for his new band, which will play blues, rock and rock 'n' roll.

OVER about the past year, Glen has been playing with a lead guitarist, Aiden Battenally, drummer Rob Greatrex and singer Amanda Reynolds and they now need the right bass player to hold it all together.
"Basically we all have day jobs and we get together because we simply love playing music; it's our passion," he says.
"At this stage we are looking to get a CD together by the end of the year then starting into gigs.
"We are looking for someone (on bass) who is willing to grow with the band."
The first applicant auditioned last Monday and another will have a try-out next week.

AFTER mastering The Pub With No Beer, Glen's gaze actually turned 180 degrees to North America and rockabilly became his favourite style.
However, the new band will play everything from rockabilly to Led Zeppelin, he says. Unfortunately, it's too early to give a band name for advance notice of the debut in 2012. About all I can say is: watch this space.

Thanks for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising; this column has appeared in The Redland Times.

Stopping to smell the roses, soak up the art

Images clockwise from immediate right: sculpture in Qld beech, cast aluminium tile honouring the creatures of Moreton Bay; Australian flora motifs carved in Qld beech and cast in aluminium; bronze of the late Bill Branch, commissioned by the southern bay islands RSL sub branch.

SOMETIMES everyone has to take a step back, look at how they expend their energies and ask themselves, "Why am I doing this?"
Today I must be on a bit of a 'downer'. That question opened up some old scars and relatively new wounds.
My expeditions into the real world of the marvellous community of classified advertising have been branded over the years as "trivia".
Yes, you read it right - the good old six-letter putdown, in a media culture driven by self-righteous sensationalism.
I am no stranger to the curled lip, smug shrug and blithe indifference to my monument for the heritage of publishing.
Whether the expression is outright disrespect or stony silence, I can handle it because I've had a good few decades dealing with it.
The people who trust me to tell their stories more than make up for the lack of courtesies that seem inevitably to confront me in my calling.

TODAY, when I looked at my world and stopped to smell the roses I realised that I do devote a lot of effort to this while neglecting beauty around me.
So just to get on an upbeat I thought I'd share with you some of the marvellous artworks by my wife, Jenny.
By the way, she gets a mention in an earlier post. Visitors to the site may already have seen the wasp man.

Jenny's work is also on exhibition at her own current site, with more in the archives of cyberspace - some character studies, cast metal tiles and more 'special person sculptures'.

Carl Barron beware: cockatoos watch your walk

IMAGE: No, it's not Carl with a crest. Cockatoo picture by courtesy of a fellow blogger with the site, Little Australia, which is well worth a visit.

REDLAND seems more like a rainforest than a city in the recent Lost & Found columns. Our feathered friends of many breeds are on the move.
Lost: a green ringneck parrot at Birkdale and a rosella and a rainbow lorikeet at Alexandra Hills.
Found: a grey cockatiel and a "pretty parrot", both at Capalaba.
And that was just in Tuesday's paper. Bird watchers undoubtedly have looked forward to today's chapter of Lost & Found with bated breath, keen anticipation and sweaty palms.

A LOT of emotion runs through this soapie but there's also some good old belly-shaking slapstick comedy, which comes free with each bird.
If comedian Carl Barron ever needs a stand-in, a sulphur-crested cockie could imitate that famous walk and probably get a few more laughs.
Alexandra Hills carpenter Chris Shumack managed to smile yesterday even as he counted the cost of advertising for his rosella – and rewarding the finders – three times in about two years.
"He has become a very expensive bird," Chris said. But he was thankful the tactic previously worked, and this time he was optimistic of a reunion soon with Fatso.
"He's the biggest, heaviest, overweight bird I have ever seen – he's totally food driven," Chris said.
"We bought him from a bird show at Cleveland a few years ago and we had him inside the house.
"We had hoped to domesticate him and get him trained, but he would attack you for food and then again after he got the food.
"He was very, very aggressive and never very friendly but he could talk a bit: if you turned up with food he would say 'hello'."

FATSO escaped from the cage he shares with a rainbow lorikeet, after the installation of a new perch caused a momentary lapse in security.
He is no stranger to doing it tough on the streets and has been accused of bullying innocent householders, demanding food.
Chris said the yellow and blue bird had a distinctive red spot on his neck.
Nearby at Birkdale, Steve Speechley was also hanging onto hope that his green ringneck, Arthur, would turn up, about a fortnight after his escape. He said the bird, which could say 'Arthur', meant a lot to him.

STEVE, who works in property maintenance, said there was a simple explanation for the spate of lost birds: "It's the breeding season – they go missing about September every year."

Thanks for joining me to meet the people in the marvellous community of classified advertising – and their feathered friends; this column has appeared in The Redland Times.

Welcome to a new partner

This week's column, as it appears in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland City, Queensland, Australia. Click on the image to enlarge it and take a trip down memory lane with me.

I take this opportunity to acknowledge all the international visitors to this site. The site statics indicate the migrants who have come from the UK and featured in this column have generated some of the traffic, and other visitors have been in countries including Poland, Sweden, Germany, France, Spain, Greece, The Netherlands, Russia, Canada, South Korea and Latvia. My posts on US sites some years ago - which now have generally drifted into the mists of the archives of cyberspace - may have been part of the reason for traffic from North America.

Of course, spammers would be among them but the referral and search details show a significant number of genuine visits. The stats must have been available on blogger for some time but I opened my eyes to the facility only recently and didn't pay much attention, other than to check the traffic volume.

This is also an opportunity to thanks the many hundreds of people who over the past 15 years have trusted me to write their stories. Again, I invite all and any to write to me with any updates they would like published. Thanks again.

Smiles weave magic while sun sets

Image from http://www.rosevalecourt.com/

THE dedicated carers of the aged deserve as much gratitude and support that the rest of us can spare during our busy lives.
The jobs require a lot of skills and professional discipline mixed with genuine compassion and empathy.
Anyone who has ventured among the dementia sufferers and other high-care patients in a nursing home can feel the weight of emotion that everyone – staff, patients and visitors – must handle with dignity.
The atmosphere can be heart wrenching but there's also a lot of joy, and that's what Rosevale Court manager Ben Cox focuses on when talking about his two decades' work in aged care.

ROSEVALE Court, a high-care facility, was built about 10 years ago on the site of a former rose nursery at Victoria Point. It is home for almost 140 residents and employs 180 staff.
A Thank You notice appeared in the Classifieds this week from the families of three deceased Rosevale Court residents.
The families thanked "the staff and administration ... for the care, respect and care shown to our loved ones".
Ben says the centre staff certainly appreciate the public expression but another group also plays a big part in the lives of everyone at Rosevale Court.
"Smiles are catching," he says. "And that's what all of us get from the many volunteers who come here.
"The more volunteers, the better service we can give.

BEN jokes that some volunteers "come in just to stop anyone cheating at bingo" but then clarifies that the residents with sight problems need some help.
"We have volunteers that just sit and talk to the residents about their lives and others who go shopping for those nicknacks that are needed; we have many residents who do not have family to do that for them.
"A group of men comes in to spend time with the male residents, and the poetry society comes in to read poetry.
"Several volunteers just help the staff and take out the morning tea; one volunteer folds laundry.
"Most of the volunteers want to have some form of contact.
"This week we had the Russell Island Singers, a group of eight, to entertain."

THE benefit of music to those in such care is widely acknowledged. Ben said there were occasions when residents who did not speak would suddenly sing along, surprising their carers and fellow patients.
The federal government agency Aged Care Australia says volunteers play an important part in the health care system and "form the community’s most valuable hidden asset".
Ben says the biggest benefits are the smiles, and Rosevale Court values them above all else.

Thanks for joining me to meet the people in the marvellous community of classified advertising; this column has appeared in The Redland Times.

Hairdresser prepares for tiny client

Image from http://www.sahradanes.com/

HAIRDRESSER Sahra Danes advertises a seven-day-a-week mobile service but she has declined any bookings for September 4, 2011.
Just one major project will be enough for Sahra this Sunday. The award-winning hairdresser expects to be in Redland Hospital giving birth to a son.
He will be the first baby for Sahra and her partner Benjamin Ferguson, who have chosen to start their family in Wellington Point where Sarah grew up with her sister Jessica and brother Nathan.
Sahra, daughter of author Kay Danes, says she always wanted to become a hairdresser, all through her years at Birkdale South State School and Sheldon College.

AFTER Sahra left the college in 2004 she qualified at the Brisbane School of Hairdressing then completed an apprenticeship at a Chermside salon.
In the tradition of the trade she says she then "made my way around the salons" and had a job in the Brisbane CBD before starting the mobile service about three months ago.
The business strategy aims to fit with the demands of motherhood. "I decided I needed something that was more convenient and flexible," Sahra says.
Sahra was having a busy week leading up to the big day; she even plans to work tomorrow. She says she will have about a fortnight break before resuming the mobile hair services.

SEVERAL honours including a catwalk award at a major hairdressing show and a business award for her city salon appear on Sahra's career summary.
She says she had no major worries when starting her own business.
"It wasn't too difficult," she says. "I had done a training and assessing course that covered how to manage yourself – it was pretty useful."
Sahra Danes Mobile Hair Services specialises in colouring and cutting. The hairdresser says curls are in fashion in a "back to the '70s" style.

40 years on, Whitlam 'splash' remembered
IT wouldn't be spring without a mention of that fantastic smell of chlorine before an 'ice-breaking' plunge into the pool.
Cleveland Penguins Amateur Swimming Club, which uses the pool at Cleveland State Primary School, will have its sign-on sessions tomorrow from 10am to 2pm and on Wednesday from 3pm to 6pm.
The club already has about 100 full members and the same number in its learners' programs, says president Cassie Sinnett.
Cassie says the club has operated since the pool was built in 1971 and opened by Labor leader Gough Whitlam who became prime minister in 1972. Club officials are considering an event to mark the 40th anniversary.

Thanks for joining me to meet the people in the marvellous community of classified advertising; this column appeared in The Redland Times on Friday, September 2.