CollinsPlus
E-news
Edition 6. July
2005
Editor:
Barbara Collins
You can send
news at any time to The Editor. A reminder email will be sent out
a little while before each edition is due. So please keep the newsletter in
mind whenever anything happens in your family that you would like to tell
everyone about!
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All about Darcy Collins |
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Website news
1st Anniversary for
CollinsPlus Newsletter!
Happy Birthday to the CollinsPlus newsletter this month. The
first anniversary of this newsletter snuck up on me! I hope you all enjoy reading
news from the other members of our gene pool. I remember when Bridget, my mum,
used to catch me up with all the news from both our immediate and extended
families. I would drop in for a visit or for a meal and hear all the news. So
even though I rarely saw some of my relatives, I still knew what was happening
in their lives. It strengthened the
feelings I had about being part of such a dynamic, good family.
Thanks to the generosity of Con, this
newsletter now helps to fill the role of ‘family grapevine’. Sometimes people
apologise when they tell me their news - thinking that their contribution is
boring. Nothing that happens in any of our lives, at any time, can be classed
as boring. Just because you are not climbing Mt Everest or discovering a life
saving drug PLEASE do not think your news is boring. It allows others in the
family to know about YOU and what you are doing. And the generations to come
will actually find your news of today quite fascinating!
Warm
and Fuzzy
This is a new section. I get lots of
material for the newsletter that doesn’t quite fit the “Funny” or “Interesting”
categories. When I was teaching, I remember a sign on a classroom door that
said something like:
“Only
warm, fuzzies can enter, no pricklies allowed!”
I really liked that concept. I’d much
rather feel warm and fuzzy instead of prickly – so I thought it was a good
category name to include. Hope you enjoy reading the items in this section!
FamilyMoments
You may be wondering what has happened to
the Family Moments website. Well, I had almost forgot about it! I thought
nearly everybody else did too. So I did not renew the membership on it. It’s
still there, and can be used, but will now have adverts placed on there from
people who run the site. However, I just popped in and found that some family
members are still using the message board. So I will try to be more active on
the site too.
Collins Family News
Go to Collins Family in CollinsPlus
Website
Social Events
Last Family Lunch
Last month, we ended up at the Quarry Hotel in Lygon Street, East Brunswick. It’s a great little pub with simple but yummy food and a layout that allowed for sitting at the table eating, lounging in great big leather chaired nooks or playing pool. Click here for pictures of the event.
After a few people getting a little lost
down in Carlton, everyone eventually arrived. Wade had his arm in a sling (see
Wade’s report further down) and he wasn’t able to cut his own lunch. The Graham
Collins family, renowned for betting on the proverbial two flies climbing up a
wall, settled on who would cut up his lunch in the following way. If the
parmagiana arrived on the left of the plate, the person on his left would do
the cutting – and if it was on the right, the person on his right would have
the honour. Who won? Lucky Brenton!
When the bill arrived, we all got a huge
surprise when Mary’s friend, Rick, picked up the tab for the whole lunch. He
was feeling very generous after a big win and everybody was very happy about
that! Thank you Rick for your generosity.
Next Family Lunch
Lunch on Sunday September 18th – which is in
between Father’s Day and Con’s birthday.
Con Collins
Con Collins is the Ground Zero man for this website.
Con,
Judi and Renato had some luck at the first Friday of the Month BBQ at
Bowling Club. They won three prizes with our combined 13 tickets - $30.00
meal voucher at the Taverner in Pascoe Vale, a topside side roast and a tray of
scotch fillet. Judy said, “The spooky thing was that before the raffle
was drawn, I told Dad and Renato how I had been thinking about Heather ‘with
the deep voice’, who passed away a few months ago. She used to sit at the
table with us, and either she or we would always win something each
time. I was sort of talking to her and telling her how we had not had a
win since she had not been with us. Now you might not believe that -
but Dad and Renato are my witnesses. Thanks Heather, Rest in Peace.”
Barbara Collins
I’m
walking up a storm now that I have discovered the 10,000 steps program. By
logging steps each day on the free website, I know that since I started on 7th
June, I have walked 350,000 steps (approx 250km). That works out to an average
of 9600 steps a day so I’m a little bit off the10,000 goal. My worst days are
the two days when I go to work - too much sitting at the computer. My highest
day was about 22,000 steps!
After
hearing that Judi and Renato were going to go to a Learn to Dance Class, Paul
and I decided to go too
At this
time of the year, there’s not too much to do in the garden (see Barb’s Garden) but
chase off those dreadful minor birds who seem intent on pulling my baby plants
out of pots. They deserve their ‘rats of the sky’ description!!
Graham Collins
(Graham Collins is the first and only son of Con Collins who is the
Ground Zero man for this website. Graham
Collins Family)
Graham
is hibernating a bit during the footy season. He’s enjoying his Saturdays
watching the kids play their footy. He gets to watch all of Darcy’s games this
year but Tys and Wade play most of their games at the same time, so he
alternates and watches all Wades home games. He’s also watching lots of
AFL at home on his nice big television.
He had a
game of golf with Brenton, Tyson and Wade a couple of weeks ago. They had a
great day, but they left with deflated egos. They are heading off for a boys’
golfing weekend in October, and Graham says they'll have to put in a bit of
practice if they want to knock off the old man.
Graham’s
into reading at the moment, especially Wilbur Smith. He’s read all but his
latest novel. (He’s hoping the kids might buy that one for Fathers Day. Hint
Hint !!!) He’s also recently read the DeVinci Code and thought it was a
great read.
His
first visit for eight or nine years ended up with 14 fillings! A lesson for all
the kids on why you should have regular visits to the dentist?
Brenton Collins
(Brenton is the
first son of Graham Collins who is
first son of Con Collins)
At our recent
family get together, it was discovered that Brenton is a bit of a foodie. When
asked if he had a recipe for the newsletter, he submitted the following:
“I can comment on a recipe I
memorised last week - baby corn, tuna and cheese. I bet everyone will claim to
have had this before. But it's what I do with it that makes it special.
- Open the tin of baby corn
- Open the tin of tuna (choose your
flavour)
- Mix
- Sprinkle grated cheese
- Mix once more
And there you have it. Can be served
and enjoyed both hot and cold. For those with a taste for adventure, try
spreading it on a cracker.
I went weak at the knees when I
first had it. However, it is entirely possible that this was wobbly state was
largely due to the beer consumption prior and during the food preparation and
consumption stages (and some
stages leading up to that as
well).
I'll work on a new recipe
involving the opening of tin canned products for next month’s issue.”
Ed. Note: Yum, yum Brenton – we will look forward to more of your
culinary delights in upcoming issues!
Tyson Collins
(Tyson is the
second son of Graham Collins who is first
son of Con Collins – and Godson of the Editor, Aunty Barb)
Tyson has
started saving for his overseas trip, but he’s still thinking about the best
time for him to go. Kate is back in Australia in February for her sister’s
wedding, then heading back so he might go then. He’s hoping for a big tax
return so he can go in both October AND February. What a jetsetter!
Kate left London for Greece the
night before the dreadful underground bombings so she was safe. Her best friend
was with her but they have both got a lot of mates who they have been staying
with/catching public transport with in London so they're still waiting to hear
if they're all OK. Hopefully no one is injured. Tyson’s best mate has been living there
for over a year now, and he just left for Spain a week before the attack - so all the people close to him have been
very, very lucky. As Tyson says, “You just never know when and where it's going
to happen, there's no point worrying about it really. If your number is up,
it's up, just have to live life normally.”
Wade Collins
(Wade is the third
son of Graham Collins who is first son of Con Collins)
Wade turned up
at the family get together with his arm in a sling. He says, ”My arm was only
in the sling for 2 or 3 days and since then I’ve been able to use it limitedly.
Right now, it’s feeling really good. I feel right to play again this week but
as we are playing against the bottom team, it’s probably not worth risking
it. Basically, how it happened was I
got tackled to the ground and landed on my outstretched arm - with the force of
my opponent falling on top of me it was enough to pop my shoulder out. I do
have naturally loose shoulders though and probably will be vulnerable to
reoccurrences of it until I significantly
strengthen them.
Darcy Collins
(Darcy is the
fourth son of Graham Collins who is first born son of Con Collins)
Darcy recently
went on a 10 day trip to Central Australia with his school. They had the
wonderful adventure of sleeping out under the stars. Click here to see some of
the great pictures from his holidays.
They show they fantastic colours of Australia.
Here is Darcy with a medal for
‘Best On Ground’ after his team, the Aquinas Flames, won the Grand Final
recently. The team is a year 11/12 school football team and they went through
the season undefeated. In the Grand Final, Darcy played Rover all game until
the last five minutes. They won by more than 10 goals. His Dad took this photo
with his new photo function on his new mobile phone.
The Bill Collins
Family
Bill Collins was the only brother of Con Collins. Kath is Bill’s wife. Go to Bill Collins page for more information on this family.
Kath
Collins says, “From the Bill Collins folk, I report that Joshua's shoulder is
now just great and he is back playing footy and tennis. He helped me with
the supermarket shopping in week one of the holidays. This is what he
calls 'community service work'!! Diane says he still has to do
more so I am sure I can find something that has to be cleaned. Daniel
attended an IT seminar in RMIT which would be just the item for him as he is
that way inclined. Matthew turned 15 on 27th June and had some St.
Kevin's mates over for the evening. Antoinette (4) still saying she
misses her big sister Rebecca.
Rebecca
is about to leave the London pub this weekend. Quite a few negatives
emerged about that place including an armed hold-up in the first few days
there. She hopes to pick up work of another type. In the meantime a
local contact has arranged for her to stay at a place in Brighton for a few
days. These Balwyn people have a young chap with them who is doing in Australia
the same as Rebecca is doing in London. The difference being that the
Balwyn folk had met this young man before this. Rebecca says she
quite enjoys London but it has been so very hot including up to 30C last
Sunday. Brighton is near the sea so it will be more pleasant for her.
Michael
turned 47 on 1st July and Marg will turn 44 on 9th July
so we all met at a place in Blackburn for coffee and cake. Michael then
decided he was that close that they would all go and have a look at Paul and
Michaela's new home. Apparently it was featured in the Sunday Herald Sun
on 3rd. I have not read it, but apparently it was to show the lighting display
in the garden area.
For
myself, I attended the 60th birthday of my brother Mick at his daughter's home
in Burwood. There were 9 of the 13 Cummins members present so we thought
that was not a bad effort. We remarked that our Dad would have been 100
years on 16th June. To this end I had a Mass offered for his soul on the
exact date.
Michaela
has been to Queensland to see her Dad who is in the early stages of Alzheimer's
Disease so there is talk of him coming to live with them in Balwyn. His
neighbour is a real gem and he also has a sister not too far from him.”
The Zoch Family
Catherine Zoch is the 4th girl in the Con and Bridget
Collins Family. She is married to John Zoch. Go to Zoch Family
page.
Cathy and John Zoch
Cathy and John were off for a romantic weekend
on the weekend of the last family lunch including a meal on the famous tramcar
restaurant. However, they got a phone call on the Saturday and was told that
the tram had derailed the night before and they were cancelling all bookings
for that night. They couldn’t believe it? So, because they already had a room
booked, they ended up going to a nice Chinese restaurant down at Southbank
instead.
John’s Mum, Margaret, turns 70 on Friday
15th July. Happy birthday Margaret from all the Collins Family!
Jessica Zoch
Well, Jessica has wowed us all again in her
role as “Slightly Soiled” in Peter Pan. Cathy booked out the entire second row
of the theatre for all Jessica’s fans and we were not disappointed. The
production was very professional, colourful and entertaining. Here is Jessica
in character with ‘Wendy’. Click here for more pictures.
Elise Zoch
Elise says “On the holidays, I've been doing my backstage rehearsals
for the school Rock Eisteddfod. Backstage people help the dancers get in and
out of costumes. They have to put the stairs on the stage, do lights, sound,
curtains and much more. Also, I saw two movies - Madagascar and Sisterhood
of Traveling Pants. Alex (Gough) came down on the second week and stayed
till the Thursday. We all went to see Madagascar then went shopping and
bought clothes. I'm still playing netball and a few weeks ago we won our second
game for the season. We had a break over the holidays but we start again this
Saturday.”
The Gough Family
Mary Gough is the 3rd girl in the Con and Bridget Collins Family. She is married to Chris Gough. Go to Gough Family page.
Alex is the youngest
member of the Open Age division of the Paterson Lakes Netball Team. They were
runnersup in the Grand Final on 14th June. They all played well but
were beaten by a team that have been playing together for some time.
Max
has finished his mid year exams. He surprised us all in receiving an Academic
Award in VCE General Maths. We all wonder what a genius we would have on
our hands if he actually studied!!
Zac's
Wakakiri performance is on July 19 and we will have pictures of this for the
next newsletter.
Mary has no time to do anything – she’s too busy going to netball, sewing
for the Wakakiri and trying to get Max to study.
The Cabrera Family
Judith
(nee Collins) is married to Renato Cabrera. Go to Cabrera
Family page.
Judi Cabrera and
Bridget Collins
Judi is
going to write to the Federal Minister for Aged, in regard
to legislating a ratio of staff to residents in an actively mobile
dementia ward in Nursing Homes. She is hoping to work on that in the
coming month so there may be more news in the next newsletter.
Judi has
also brought some issues regarding Bridget’s care to the attention of staff at
the nursing home. She thought the issues had been sorted out but not all of
them have yet been satisfied. She intends to arrange another meeting with the
head of nursing staff to try and get them resolved. The issues that are yet to
be addressed are for staff to put Bridget down for a sleep in her bed after
lunch, or at least in the afternoon; make sure that she is hand fed her morning
and afternoon drinks if family are not there; for her to be toileted every time
she shows restlessness and lastly that she be given more fruit desserts.
Judi
and Renato
Renato
and Judi are going to start beginners classes in Learn to Dance on Tuesday
nights. It is a broad range of all the dances the school teaches so it's
like learning the basics of all types of dance. Judi is really looking forward
to it but Renato is a bit worried. More in the next newsletter after we have
had a few lessons.
Judi has
got herself into the routine of her new part time hours at Bi-Lo but
admits that if it were not for Renato having to get up at the same time, she
would probably crawl back under the sheets and not get up for a couple more
hours. Judi loves the 3 mornings shift as she is back home by 11.30am.
The McManus Family
Ellen (Helen) McManus nee Lennon was Bridget’s eldest sister. Margaret
Martin is the eldest daughter of Ellen and Pat McManus. Go to McManus
Family Page.
Last
newsletter, you would have read about Margaret and Terry’s interest in and work
with the grey crowned babbler bird. Margaret says, “While we were in Alice
Springs recently and when we went to Darwin and Katherine last year, we saw
‘our’ birds in abundance. They are called grey crowned babblers but they belong
to a subset of the ones that are endangered in Victoria. The specialist in
their study around here, Dr. Doug Robinson, is doing a bird count on our
property this week. Our area at Upotipotpon has one of the
biggest populations of the gray crowned babbler in Victoria. There is even a
group called Friends of the Grey Crowned Babbler who organise community tree
plantings. I will let you know the dates and places when we hear them. It will
not be on our property this time, as 1500 trees were planted on a Sunday morning
in September 2003 by about 30 people between 10am and 1pm. We now try to go to
other plantings in support of the project. I will keep you in touch.”
The Teres Family
Paul Teres is partner to Barbara Collins,
daughter of Con Collins. Go to Teres Family
page.
Paul’s father,
Wasyl, has been in hospital with an upper respiratory infection. Paul is
preparing to go up to Brisbane by car for a visit with his mum, Pauline. Paul
is a “Mystery Shopper” and will be doing a few mystery shops in country towns
on his way up to Queensland.
Sophie and Andrew
will be shifting to Windsor over the next few weeks so they will be settled in
more suitable accommodation for the arrival of Baby Teres. They will also be
taking a holiday break in Queensland soon and are hoping to catch up with Paul
and Pauline while they are up North. Sophie and Andrew, these Q &As might
be useful for you!
PREGNANCY
Q&As
Q: Should I have a baby after 35?
A: No, 35 children is enough.
Q: I'm two months pregnant now. When will my baby move?
A: With any luck, right after he finishes college.
Q: What is the most reliable method to determine a baby's sex?
A: Childbirth.
Q: My wife is five months pregnant and so moody that sometimes she's borderline
irrational.
A: So what's your question?
Q: My childbirth instructor says it's not pain I'll feel during labor, but
pressure. Is she right?
A: Yes, in the same way that a tornado might be called an air current.
Q: When is the best time to get an epidural?
A: Right after you find out you're pregnant.
Q: Is there anything I should avoid while recovering from childbirth?
A: Yes, pregnancy.
Q: Do I have to have a baby shower?
A: Not if you change the baby's diaper very quickly.
Q: Our baby was born last week. When will my wife begin to feel and act normal
again?
A: When the kids are in college.
Deacon Family
Peter
Deacon
is the son of Mary (Molly) Deacon (nee Lennon) who is the youngest sister of Bridget
Collins (nee Lennon) who is married to Con
Collins.
Here's an update on
what's been happening in the 'Queensland Branch' of the extended Collins Family
tree!
Mark (aged 15) is doing quite well in Year 11 at his new school - Matthew
Flinders Anglican College. He has a keen interest in technical design and
graphics, and would like to pursue a career in either Architecture or
Engineering.
During the recent school holidays, Mark went on an exciting 5-day ski trip
organised through the school. He successfully mastered the exhilarating sport
of snow boarding, and, thankfully, he returned to the nest without breaking any
bones - just a few bumps and bruises.
As you can imagine with 36 active teenage boys and girls, there were plenty of
laughs and practical pranks, especially at night when the dorms were turned
into an entertainment extravaganza. As our dear Irish grandmother on the
Lennon’s side of the family ('Nan') would say - 'sounds like a lot of
shenanigans [innocent fun] going on '.
Here's a photo of Mark standing at the summit of Mt Blue Cow (Perisher Blue).
Photo was taken on 7 July 2005.
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Darcy Collins – 17 October, 1988
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Carly Collins
Only
daughter of Graham Collins who is only son of Con Collins.
Carly
is doing a Personal Training course at Box Hill Institute of TAFE.
CARLY'S JULY HEALTH TIP……..
Still following on
from Carly’s May Health Tip, you might be interested in seeing the July edition
of the 10,000 Steps newsletter. The site sends it to you when you join up
(free).
http://www.10000steps.org.au/documents/july_2005.pdf
See all Carly’s Health Tips in the CollinsPlus newsletter. http://www.collinsplus.com/sharinglifestyle/health/health.htm
Happy birthday to:
Max Gough, Margaret Zoch, Michael Collins
from CollinsPlus Newsletter
Click here for your birthday card -
There is tremendous happiness in making others
happy, despite our own situations
Here is
something you might like to pass on….
Be Happy….
I recently found all my lecture
notes and newsletters from “The Happiness Within ….and how to get it out”, and
the Happiness Connection. This was a course I ran in the nineties and a club
that came out of the course that I facilitated for a number of years. I haven’t
looked at this stuff for about 10 years. I did enjoy the trip down memory lane.
I thought I might share some of this material in the Warm and Fuzzy section in
the hope that you find something that makes a difference in your life.
You are so lucky….
Do you ever stop to think about
the good things in your life? For example, you live in Australia; you’re not
going hungry unless you’re on a diet; you probably have someone who loves you
(or says they do) and you don’t live out on the streets.
That’s just for starters. Did
your car work this morning? Did you have enough milk for your coffee at
breakfast? Are most of your body parts working well even if they are a bit
stiff and sore sometimes?
Well, so far, you are doing
really well. Now for the really special stuff ….
Did you know that if man was able
to reproduce a crude copy of a brain, it would need to be housed in a space as
big as the Empire State Building, it would take up the energy needed for a
small city AND would cost in excess of a billion dollars. Even then, it would
not be truly comparable to a human brain. If you are reading this YOU WERE BORN WITH ONE THAT WORKS
BEAUTIFULLY.
Every time I think of my brain, I
am humbled, and I give thanks.
I have a unique brain and mind and
I am only using about 10% of it. I become quite overwhelmed when I think that
everybody I come in contact with is as unique and as special as me.
There might be negative things
happening sometimes in your life but right now you are here, you work pretty
well and you are very, very lucky.
Wanda's dishwasher quit working
so she called a repairman. Since she had to go to work the next day, she told
the repairman, "I'll leave the key under the mat. Fix the dishwasher,
leave the bill on the counter, and I'll mail you a cheque.”
"Oh,
by the way don't worry about my bulldog. He won't bother you. But, whatever you
do, do NOT, under ANY circumstances, talk to my parrot! I REPEAT, DO NOT TALK
TO MY PARROT!!!"
When the repairman arrived at Wanda's
apartment the following day, he discovered the biggest, meanest looking bulldog
he has ever seen. But, just as she had said, the dog just lay there on the
carpet watching the repairman go about his work. The parrot, however, drove him
nuts the whole time with his incessant yelling, cursing and name calling. Finally the repairman couldn't contain
himself any longer and yelled,
"Shut up, you stupid, ugly
bird!"
To which the parrot replied,
"Get him, Spike!"
Are you losing it?
Take thisTest for Dementia.pps test to find out.
This will help you feel
smarter
After the last test, click here is you want to feel smarter!
All websites featured in this newsletter are archived on the Links Page of the CollinsPlus site for future reference.
Conversion
calculator
On this site, you
can convert just about anything!!!
<http://www.onlineconversion.com/>
This site is
amazing. It’s American but that only affects a few of the calculators. If you
need to convert money, length, weight, volume, kilobytes, cooking ingredient
measures, torque, horse height or cosines - have a look. And that’s only some
of the serious stuff. Check out the ‘fun’ and ‘miscellaneous’ categories for
some way out conversions eg
How much would you
weigh on Mars?
How many days until
you retire?
Convert your
name/message into morse code.
Congratulations
this month to ….
ü Darcy Collins on winning ‘Best On Ground’ in the Grand Final
ü Con, Judi and Renato on being so lucky in raffles
ü Graham Collins on still having his teeth
ü Margaret Zoch on turning 70
ü Max Gough on
receiving an Academic Award in VCE General Maths
ü Rick (Mary Gough’s friend) on being so generous
üJoshua Collins on his ‘community service work’
üMark Deacon on not breaking any bones on his recent ski trip