Australia Day at Wombat 2013, at the Tractor Pull

Vintage 1929 Tractor, pulling 36metres

Happy Australia.
We went to the Australia Day breakfast in the Newson Park at Harden NSW, 
Ultramarathon runner Greg Donovan is the Australia Day Ambassador this weekend. Mr Donovan and his son Matthew raced into the record books with their 150 kilometre run across Antarctica last year. Greg shared the story of their ultramarathon mission to raise money for type 1 diabetes research.
Then we went off to the Tractor Pull at Wombat.

Wombat Tractor Pull

The tractors take it in turns to pull a load and the one that pulls it the furtherest is the winner in their section. There and a number of sections - catering for the oldest models to the newest. Great fun.

Andrew pulled 39 meters in his John Deere diesel Tractor

After popping into Poppa's Fudge Factory in Young to buy some of their home grown olives for dinner. It has the most delicious Fudge!

I look around these days and the words of Dorothea Mackellar's poem ring true-

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror -
The wide brown land for me!

These words ring true as I look out from the veranda across the fields. During January 2013 we have had the highest temperatures ever recorded.  This has persisted for many days leaving the land and trees gasping for water.
At the promise of rain today - 26th January -  we looked forward to the break in this event. But alas - the rain was on this hills around us but none eventuated on our little plot. What a difference it is from when we first arrived two year ago.

The approaching Storm - went around us and we received no rain

Today Bargara, Queensland and the surrounding area have been devastated by mini Cyclones, with flooding rains and high destructive winds causing much damage to the beautiful seaside town.
In this Country the elements can be harsh. Droughts, floods and fire scar of Australia's landscape causing pain and hardship to its people and wildlife.
Australia is a land of mateship. In hard times the people of this Nation pull together to assist each other. To share the pain and burden of this untamed land.
Australia is a beautiful country. We are very blessing to be able to call Australia home.
God bless Australia and all its people - both the traditional owners and more recent arrivals .
YAH - the rain has arrived - 10.30pm!!! err well 1ml is better than nothing!

Visit to Rutherglen

Rutherglen - Jones Winery and Vineyard

Early January 2013 we visited the Jones Winery and Vineyard at Rutherglen.
It was one of those very hot days - in the high 30's but it pleasantly cool in the Cafe. I had a very tasty wine - a Marsanne. It married well with the Antipasto we ordered. I bought a bottle so I could savour the flavour with friends (only one or two) at home.
Jones Winery and Vineyard was established in 1860 and stands testament to a rich wine making tradition. Since 1927, the winery has been owned and operated by the Jones family. Entire blocks of old vine have been preserved making the winery one of only a few in Australia to produce wine from vines planted more than 100 years ago.
Rutherglen is a fun destination. It is a little off the highway, 200 kilometres north east of Melbourne. It has boutique shops down the quaint main street, a well stocked information centre providing samples of the wines of the district, a craft shop and cafe, and is surrounded by Vineyards and a number of intersting wineries.
It is a town well worth a visit.

The Restorers Barn, Castlemaine - a great find.
It is unique in Victoria for its vast range of old wares.
A must for any restoration project.
This is the car used in The Sullivan's TV series.

Ladye Mary Chapel St Francis' Church Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

Ladye Mary Chapel St Francis' Church Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

St Francis' Church in Lonsdale Streert, Melbourne is a beautiful, prayer filled sanctuary which I have enjoyed visiting when I am in the City. The Ladye Mary Chapel is a magnificent place of quiet prayer, and the Blessed Sacrament is exposed all day.
Mass and Adoration of the Blessed Sacament is Monday to Saturday: 6:45 am to 5:30 pm (except during Masses which Mon to Thur 7:30, 8:00, 11:00 am, 12:05, 1:05, 5:30 pm and other days is also very frequent).Reference - http://www.stfrancismelbourne.org.au

The ‘mother church of Victoria’, St Francis’ Church, was built between 1841 and 1845 on the block of land originally reserved for the Catholic Church in Melbourne.

Soon after Melbourne’s pioneer priest, the Franciscan Fr Patrick Geoghegan, arrived in 1839, a temporary chapel made of second-hand floorboards was erected on the site of the future St Francis’ Church. When sufficient funds were raised to finance a permanent building, Geoghegan commissioned the architect Samuel Jackson to design the present church, which he dedicated to St Francis’ of Assisi.

The foundation stone of St Francis’ Church was laid on 4 October 1841. The first mass was celebrated in the completed nave of the church on 22 May 1842. And the church was blessed and opened on 23 October 1845.

St Francis’ became Melbourne’s first Catholic cathedral with the arrival of Bishop James Alipius Goold in 1848. Its cathedral status ended when the nave of the partially built St Patrick’s Cathedral was opened for worship in the late 1860s.

St Mary of the Cross MacKillop (1842–1909) made her first communion at St Francis’ in 1850, the same year that bushranger Ned Kelly’s parents were married in the church.

The beautiful ‘Ladye Chapel’ on the western side of St Francis’ Church was constructed in the mid 1850s and blessed on 31 May 1858. A Renaissance style sanctuary, which extended the church, was built in the late 1870s.......................

For full text - http://www.stfrancismelbourne.org.au

Jesus and Mary I love you, save souls.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy Kingdom come.

22Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life^b? 26Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

27“Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

32“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 

Luke 12

Happy New Year 2013, The Angelus

Happy New Year.

My wish for you is that of the Angel to Mary 

- And the Word was made Flesh and dwelt amongst us.

May the Lord be made flesh in your life and dwell with you. 

Isn't that the essence of all our desires - that the Lord dwell with us. 

Come Lord Jesus, Come.

The Angelus

The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary

And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Icon the Annunciation,

Behold the handmaid of the Lord:

Be it done unto me according to Thy word.

Hail Mary.......

And the Word was made Flesh:

And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary.......

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray:

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

I am privilaged to have become the custodian of this beautiful Icon of the Annunciation. Thank you Brother Paul.