Childhood Memories, anybody remember playing 'I spy with my little eye', we used to play this when on long drives in the car.

Another game I have fond memories of was 'marbles'.

Hopscotch was a very popular game at school and at home. I guess because it was easy to construct, and everyone had their favouite piece of lucky stone, that just landed right.

Being an Australian child of the 50's, and one of eight children, Mum had little time to teach us traditions.  What with no washing machine, fridge, or electricity.

But one thing of an Aussy childhood that was a tradition in my growing up has disappeared in these times.  It's the freedom to go off exploring all day with your friends, not a thought that you may be in danger, and just get home before tea, starving hungry.

Welldone Cyndy, I think you deserve a gold medal, I hardly know how to turn those things on.

Hey Dave Love the Cats and the dogs, like you, I have never heard of a Birman. I have 2 cats that adopted me. One very big beautiful fluffy boy named Corus, so named because he always has something to say, God bless him, you can literally hold a conversation with him. Independance is is middle name, although he will always come up for a rub and scratch when it suits him. My other cat is also big and fluffy her name is Kit-Kat, I named her that, because I felt she really did deserve a break. I went out to feed my horses one morning and my dogs, Dynamic Dave (cattle dog) and Kelly (bitsa x cattle dog) were going nuts in the feed shed. I looked up to see this skinny frightened black & white cat. I was wondering how I was going to get it down, when she jumped into my arms and thats where she has been for the past 4 years. Sadly both Dynamic Dave and Kelly have since passed on … like you, HunterDundee, I have great memories of our boy and much too long to share here. Maybe I will put his story in the blog… And of course, I have Bella the Poodle …. I would never ever have entertained the idea of a poodle, she came to us after a dear friend passed away. Trust me, they are amazing little dogs …. I live on acreage and she is really a little champ. Although be very careful folks, these little dogs suffer enormous separation anxiety, so set some rules. Where the hell would we be without our animals ……..!        

Hi, I really enjoy your animal stories, keep telling them, all us animal lovers understand and relate to what you are sharing. Such a pleasant topic, such a change from the depressing news of the newspapers or radio.

At the moment, we’re a bit of an animal refuge, with three puppies (ranging from eight months through to 14 years) roaming the house and making for some interesting times. Like kids, they’re all favourites, but I’m amazingly impressed by our Jack Russell, Lady Bug(ger). See http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3273/3040025317_fff310355f_o.png She’s a resuce dog who came to us as a nervous wreck at the start of the year (physically abused – and if I ever catch those that did it…) but has grown into an amazingly intelligent and insightful animal. I’m not much of a small dog person, but these Jack Russells are as active as a Kelpie or Border Collie – Ladybug easily keeps up on my daily (10km) run and has no worries at all with a 20-30km mountain bike ride! The only issue is that she HATES the water (very different from my Labrador) which becomes a slight problem when your rides and runs cross two creeks!

Hi Bulldog here, I checked out your Ladybugs photo, and I have a little dog just like her except Banjo that is his name, his ears stand straight up like bats ears. Yes I agree you, how much they love life. Banjo loves nothing better than to chase a certain type of bird, just for fun he never catchs them, he has done it all of his life, and he does it so much that he has worn a track aroung our property. When we take him for a walk, he pulls the bike along, no need to peddle. Great little dogs.