My Portfolio

Joyce talks about the years before going to school, the pre school years when there were no kindegartens or play groups....

Helen had no formal pre-schooling and remembers well her first days at St Francis Xavier School in Whyalla in the Prep Calss.  She didn't like school and would run away.  After a couple of attempts the Nuns thwarted her plans.  But she later learned that her father also had run away...

On the road…again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   Sunshine Makes Me Happy   The Zugspitze, the tallest mountain in the Bavarian Alps was exciting to see and exciting to climb.  Warm sunny weather helped a lot and remains as one of the fondest of...

Images of my grandma cooking in this tiny kitchen for a family of 7 sometimes makes me squeamish. Yes you see it right. Those sections beside the sink are the ONLY counter space. I have a lovely remodeled kitchen that my handy husband put together and tonight as I was chopping veggies for...

The following article was taken from a conversation with my grandfather, Watson Roberts Watrous: Electrifying The Susquehanna Valley Old Onaquaga Historical Society, by Fran Bromley The 20th Century brought many new conveniences to the Susquehanna Valley, perhaps themost important being electricity and invention to make use of it. Life slowly became...

Written by Marva Twitchell Davis The building has the year 1901 on it and was built as the Town Hall.  It is made of light brick and red sandstone.  The red sandstone was hauled from Spanish Fork Canyon.  The outside walls are made of one brick and two adobe.  The divided...

.Duane "Dode" Montague has lived in Salem for 51 years.  He was born and raised in Payson.  His uncle gave him the nickname "Dode" and it has stuck ever since.  As a youth he worked on farms because that was about the only job to be found.  He met and married...

This is a picture of my father when he started school. It may look like he is already becoming a trouble maker with that cross-eyed look on his face that so many of our kids today show when they are trying to shake things up a bit. But the real story...

Alice remembers how difficult it was to plan a family in the 1950's in rural South Australia.

In this story Bill talks about his brothers and sisters, their education and their closeness as a family and community.  

Judith talks about her extended family beginning with her childhood and expanding outwards....until the family rings the world.

Helen talks about her siblings including the tragic death of her sister in a riding accident.

Graham tells the Life Story Circle about his extended family - on both sides...

Ruth recalls growing up in Adelaide in the 1950's, in particular her preschool years.

Joyce talks about visiting family in Adelaide while they were living in Peterborough when she wasyoung - before the fmily moved to Adelaide in 1948.  

Margaret talks about her extended family - from the past aand extending into the future.

Pat spent the first three years of her life in the norsery of the orphange where she had been put by her mother - Nazareth House, Plymouth, Devon. Pat shares this story with the Life Story Circle.....

Helen's extended family lived in UK when she was young.  She became penfriends with two cousins during her childhood and one of their father's work mates became their adopted Uncle and Aunty - Clarrie and Fay Maynard. Eventually one of her father's brothers emigrated to Australia and settled in Wollongong.  Helen...

This week's prompt is about Nicknames, so I thought I'd write about my family's given names and nicknames. My given name is Sandra Jean Smith. Jean was my mother's middle name.  When I got married, I became Sandra Jones . How common and boring can you get.? I should have at...

Jill talks about her mother - Ivy Mary Tilbrook (Left) - seen here with her sister, Jean Tahmindis in 1980