So much choice

JUNE - up until now there has been no rain which is just what we need. What colour should we paint the exterior with sooo many to choose from?

Eeeeekk, there is a mistake! We don't want a door leading into the garden from the bathroom!

Hard to imagine, a small courtyard will be built around the bathroom to ensure privacy and create an indoor-outdoor feel.

The kitchen is below the study - and we thought it was hard choosing an exterior colour. Choosing a kitchen must be one of the hardest things ever!

Puffing Billy

Puffing Billy is much loved steam train that runs (mainly tourists) along an old track up in the hills east of Melbourne. Every now and then, the Puffing Billy operators offer a 'Murder on the Puffing Billy' theme night, which is booked out for months ahead.

In March our friends Jennie and Geoff suggested that we make a group booking for wintry August. Well, here we are in August, and last night we all dressed up (a bit) in vaguely Agatha Christie-insipred clothes and headed up into the chilly hills.

The Puffing Billy railway was built in the early 1900s as part of a larger plan to open up remote areas. When it became too expensive to run (up in the hills), the government shut down the railway. Local steam enthusiasts saved Puffing Billy and since the 1950s, it has been run almost exclusively by volunteers. The little video clip is just for a bit of extra (audio) atmosphere.

We are on the train and it lurches along the narrow track through the frosty hills.

Then we arrive at the Packing Shed, which is where saplings and other plants from the hills were loaded onto the train in the early days.

While we're having dinner, the local (volunteer) amateur dramatic company puts on the murder mystery. Then we all have to ask questions and guess who killed the thoroughly unpleasant Lord Cedric. Was it his wife Lady Cecilia, who was upset that he was having if off with the French maid? Was it the vicar, who is actually the brutal gambler Lucky Luciano in disguise? Or was it the spurned mistress and ageing actress Fiona?

The mystery is solved (somewhat unsatisfactorily) and now we get back on the train for the final leg of our journey. I have enjoyed wearing my hat.

Back at Belgrave station, the light is yellow and the steam from the train creates shadowy, mysterious images. Now THIS is atmosphere ...

And this is my favourite photo of the night (even though you can't see my hat very well).

Ice-hockey

To continue in the icy, snowy theme ... Mom kept an entire album of photos and newspaper cuttings from Dad's ice-hockey days in Johannesburg. (Dad also played ice-hockey in Switzerland and England.) These are from 1950 -- I used the news on the back of the cuttings to date them.

Dad and his brother Ron played for the Blackhawks team in Johannesburg. That's where Mom and Dad met, at the ice-rink. She was a fan! In this team photo, Dad is second from right in the back row; Ron is third from left in the back row.

In this newspaper photo, Dad is fourth from right. Ron is third from left. The article should be legible (click on the photo to enlarge it).

Here are some action shots of Dad. In the second photo, he's the player third from left.

Some more posed team shots. In the top photo, Dad is second from left; in the second photo, he's sixth from right; in the third photo, second from left. In the third photo, Ron is fourth from left.

This is a lovely little article on the cosmopolitan nature of ice hockey in 1950. And yes, that's Dad posing on a front porch somewhere!

It's taken a bit of imagination, but here's my attempt at ordering the clippings that Mom kept. First the match against the Mohawks.

At some point there was a match against the Lions.

 Then the match against the Wolves.

And then ... the match against the Tigers. You can sense the excitement building.

The Blackhawks won the final and here is the team with the cup. Dad is second from left in the back row; Ron is fourth from left.

Here are some articles about Dad being in a representative side: the Green Mambas.

Rather confusingly Dad was also a member of the Lions team at some stage. I think he looks younger here.  (He's second from right.) In Dad's words: The pic is of the very early days of hockey, before helmets, with a number of stitches in the cranium. The Lions team players included Hans Liedtke (German), Johnny Desilets, Billy Ward, “Eggie” Yeo, etc. These were the days when Wembley Stadium was a big  attraction next to the Speedway stadium and dog racing every Friday evening. (Heidi and I remember going ice-skating at Wembley Stadium every Saturday when we were little girls.) 

I love this photo of the Blackhawks fans. Mom must have been part of this crowd, but sadly I can't find her in this photo. We can imagine, though!