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IMG_9821 - Country Life In Oz . . .

Life is a journey. It can be a "good" journey or it can be a "bad" journey depending on one's point of view and one's experiences in any given situation. I use "good" and "bad" for a reason.

When Rosey and I arrived in Australia, we had roughly $2,000, no car, no home, and 2 suitcases. I am using the example of Abraham who was instructed by God to leave his comfortable lifestyle and venture forth into a foreign land.

Of the utmost was his faith in God and ours also. It was through His Divine intervention that we were spared the most horrible of situations. I am talking about the flooding of Queensland and the ramifications that could have held for us. Instead, through the kindness of new-found friends, we were safe and sound.

We had applied for jobs in places such as Theodore, west of Gympie and this place was flooded; also Mundubberra - again this job fell through because of the flooding, near St. George, and others also. All of these jobs fell through, Rosey received assistance from the Australian Government so it was not imperitave we find employment. Rosey would like to work of course and this remains to be seen whether it happens or not.

The following is how God has taken very good care of us over the past 3 months and of course long before this!!!!

We met a lovely couple on Gympie Railway Station and eventually we came to stay with them for over 2 months. Rosey and the lady of the house are Filipinos so they got on extremely well and the owner and I are Aussies so we got on extremely together and of course we each other enjoyed the others' company. They invited us to stay as long as we wanted which was extremely kind of them.

Then we heard of another house owner who was looking for a house-sitter as she worked in Brisbane and did not return every day, too far to travel, and there was a young lad occupying the flat here whose role was to keep the gardens and lawns neat and tidy and feed the chooks. Unfortunately this did not happen and so the place was looking deserted, the garden sad, the lawns unmowed.

We moved in and he moved out and since then we have been flat out restoring the gardens to their former glory or as near as possible to this. Rosey is a pocket-rocket and also a dynamo in the garden and nothing is too much trouble for her. She loves gardening or cleaning, is equally at home in each of these jobs. There are lots of lawns to be mowed, using a ride-on mower. I have never used one of these before nor has Rosey so this has been a new exeprience for both of us and as with most things it is easy once mastered. It sure beats walking behind a mower, although the hand mower here is extremely light and very good at the same time, so at present we are trimming up the edges with the hand mower. Hopefully I can get the whipper-snipper going, and this will be a help too!!!.

We also water an hour each morning and an hour each evening. There is plenty of water here. The owner of this house sank a bore and with pump attached pumps to a big concrete tank which is again pumped to the house for use inside (showers, etc) and also water for the garden. So Rosey and I water morning and night, she usually doing the front garden and me the vegetable garden at the back. Also there are 8 hens (there were 9 but one got savaged by a dog and consequently died) and a jealous rooster who thinks that the hens are all his, which of course they are. We now have one broody hen sitting on 12 or so eggs so maybe there will be the little patter of tiny feet around the yard. It is great to collect eggs and have these in all sorts of form, whether poached, fried or boiled or scrambled!!! Decisions, decisions.

The isolation of the country is really something again. Rosey and I put out to God we would like to live in the country, especially me, I hate cities, never have liked them. I love the quietness of the countryside, the birds singing in the trees, the mist that comes in of a morning and shrouds everythnig in mystery, the light is diffused and lovely, the surroundings wet with a heavy dew, no wind, reflections perfect, only way to go!!!! So we have replaced the roar of traffic and pollution with green grass, rolling hills, cattle that mooooooo now and then, 3 playful cattle here in our yard, and the caroling of birds has replaced the city roar.

Rosey and I go to bed around 10.30 pm, depending what is on TV. As the new digital TV is coming,t he owner of this house has purchased the new digital set so we have a choice of around 12 TV channels now, free to air. One of our favourites in the daytime is Dr. Phil. Those of you from the US would be very familiar with this gentleman and his show. We both think he is incredible in how he helps people come to terms with whatever is happening in their lives. Another favourite TV show that has taken a break at present is "Judge Judy". What a character she is. Another of our favourites here i

Fairmount Water Works
The first municipal water works in the United States, Philadelphia’s Fairmount Water Works is more than just a display about the importance of clean water.
Philadelphia’s inaugural water works was devised after a series of Yellow Fever epidemics plagued the city in the 1700s. At that time, it was thought that the disease was caused by unclean water and the city’s leaders proposed a water treatment system to lessen the impact of the disease. After forming a “watering committee”, in 1799 the city decided to adopt a design by Benjamin Latrobe, who proposed a steam engine system to do the job. It failed to work properly.


John David and Frederick Graff were selected to build a new system, which was constructed between 1819 and 1822 on the banks of the Schuylkill River. It originally consisted of a 3 million gallon (11,350,000 liter) reservoir and a pump house using steam engines to pump water. In 1822, a 1,600-foot (487 meter) dam was built across the Schuylkill to direct water to three water wheels, which had replaced the steam engine.


While the Fairmount facility achieved much acclaim as the first municipal water works and was the model for similar facilities throughout the U.S., it also became well-known for the lovely Greek Revival structures that disguised the inner workings of the system. The complex was consistently praised for its design and Graff said it was meant to resemble a “genteel country estate”. Its waterside location often attracted visitors, even famous ones such as Charles Dickens, who proclaimed the site to be “no less ornamental than useful, being tastefully laid out as a public garden.”


The original Fairmount Water Works closed in 1909 and, after that, the building was used for a variety of different purposes, including as the Philadelphia Aquarium, which was open for several decades. An indoor swimming pool for city residents was also located there, but closed in 1973. The structure was partially destroyed by fire in the late 1970s.


Today, however, Fairmount Water Works has been renovated and turned into an interpretive center and is now a National Historic Landmark and a National Historic Civil and Mechanical Engineering Landmark. The interpretive center educates visitors as to the importance of an urban watershed and how to take care of it.


All sorts of special events happen at the Water Works, including lectures and workshops, summer camps, movies, concerts, and more. The facility has won numerous awards for its educational outreach programs and is a popular field trip location for local school children.