mate just  had a phone call while we were sitting at the table having a chinwag before I cooked up lunch, his daughter was very upset, seems the boyfreind spat the dummy and flew the coop

in his wisdom he decided to smash the girls big wooden beautifull old cot that has been handed down through generations of the family, eldest daughter to eldest daughter, she is expecting a baby within 3 months, her first 

I just said "lets go" and I had five blokes with me, would have been more but thats all that would fit in the magna, by the time we got there he had of course gone, typical of these sort and very lucky for him, so we grabbed her and what was left of  the cot and came back home, bit of a fight as to whos lap she would sit on, well the woman soon had her all settled and laughing again with a drinky in hand and a plate of tucker in front and a mob of old broody hens fussing over her, which they all enjoyed doing

the fellers and I shot out to the shed, found some aussie oak and started into it, well with seven blokes (neighbors came across and joined in) all hard at it and the beer and B/S flowing freely we had that cot dismantled, busted peices replaced and shining like a bought one in no time at all

our italian neighbor turned out to be a french polisher in another life and I had a heap of shellac just had to shoot up to coles and buy them out of metho, so it looks better than any bought one that is likely to be found, and the depth of that shine is incredible, fifteen coats, fantastic job, he of course said, "issa not enougha, shoulda hava mora tima, issa not gooda enougha"

our new croation neighbor stuck his head over the fence and he turned out to be a first class wood turner so on my lathe he went, all legs turned up a treat, absolutely beautifull, couldnt understand a bloody word he said but with woodies its not necesary to talk, the occasional grunt is more than enough

I stuck the dryers on it and she was rebuilt and dryed before it had sunk in to the poor kid that it had been smashed in the first place

we returned to the table happy chappies indeed and really hoping the fellow would return to collect his "things" when one of us is around

the smile that I have known for so long returned to her face, tears of torment changed to tears of joy and as she hugged each of us in turn, I was watching big rough tough no nonsense men melt into useless sooks, all in all I think a good day!!!

my faith in my ethnic neighbors and freinds reinforced yet again, never in doubt in the first place, the beer is tasting real good about now!!!!

Just goes to show that for every a*******e there are still a few decent human beings left.

Thank you for helping to renew my faith in human nature.
John

the croation that just moved in alongside of us (cant pronounce his name) is not happy, "could do better" he says, had a bit of a yak with him along with the others and he apparently used to do beatifull timber inlay back in "the old country" as if his magnificent turn carved legs werent enough, all four absolutely perfect and not a copy machine in sight, such skill the trouble (if one could call them that) with decent people is that they always want to do that little bit more for you, they have only been here a week as in next door to us but they have fitted right in

dave06 wrote:

---

the croation that just moved in alongside of us (cant pronounce his name) is not happy, "could do better" he says, had a bit of a yak with him along with the others and he apparently used to do beatifull timber inlay back in "the old country" as if his magnificent turn carved legs werent enough, all four absolutely perfect and not a copy machine in sight, such skill

the trouble (if one could call them that) with decent people is that they always want to do that little bit more for you, they have only been here a week as in next door to us but they have fitted right in

---

The Europeans are very family and community minded and in most cases fit in wherever they go and they will help anybody.  I believe a lot of them come from a small community and they bring their friendly and helpful attitude with them.  These people helped out and were only too happy to do so and the only thanks they would expect was the smile on the young lady's face.

I suppose we could really say that most of us are far too independent for our own good and we miss out on so much love and friendship.

PS: edited for a typo

-- Edited by JRH on Saturday 11th of April 2009 04:34:49 PM

ah! the smile says it all, and that smile is from all present to all present, we all loved doing it, glad to do it, makes my day a very pleasant one indeed, we didnt do anything that any other dad/mum wouldnt do for any of his or her kids

The cot smasher could learn a big lesson from the community where Dave lives.
What a wonderful story, and of course it brought a tear to my eye.
A tear for the poor young mum-to-be for having such a traumatic, heartbreaking experience at this time of her pregnancy.
A tear of joy for the caring, sharing and uniting in adversity, and for such a beautiful outcome.
A tear for all the love and care which has restored such a precious piece of furniture. It remains in the family, with modifiations made with love, asking for nothing in return, and being rewarded by the smile on the young woman's face.
Bless the Aussies, eastern and southern Europeans for the family and community culture.
The story deserves national exposure as a "good news" story. There should be more of it.
Happy Easter to all of you. Spread the love.

-- Edited by Cruising Granny on Saturday 11th of April 2009 06:44:35 PM

no more tears here granny only laughter, turns out mrs croation (cant pronounce the name neverlone spell it) is a dead keen and highly skilled knitter as well as a dab hand at embroidery, she said to young Julie, patting her hand, "you vill vait here, I vill get you sometink" she returned with a box containing what can only be described as absolutely magnificent hand crafted baby clothes and blanket throws, hand knitted and embroidered magnificently all she said was " I vant that you should be havink dese tings, I vill be makink some more for you" well poor bloody julie didnt know what to say, she is over the moon, water works on full throttle, she will be staying here tonight, the dragon wont let her go home, motherly instincts have kicked in I just hope the boyfreind stays away for his own sake, there are some big boys here that want a word with him, including jimmy from next door who wants to "kill him a little bit" when I heard what this clown had done it felt like a kick in the guts to me, how could anyone do that to a lovely young girl, she is only 24 and a professional real estate apprentice, not stupid by any stretch of the imagination, just mixed in with the wrong man but all turned out well and they are out the back now carrying on like pork chops and having a ball, I just came in for some more plates, and to just "withdraw" for a little bit, something in my eye!! so that was my day...........how was yours!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All the better for reading of your day. Thank you Dave and all your neighbours. And all the best to the young lady. Life's lesson learnt the hard way, but I have a feeling it will be all up for her from now on. You are all the closer for your experience, and no language barrier will stand between you all.

Thanks Dave for letting us know there is still juctice in this world, I know exactly how you are feeling, my own nephew was a heavy handed lout a few years ago, the family got together and paid him a visit, not a peep from him since, Reckon its a better method than bringing in the law swift and terrible retribution is the answer, not a slap on the wrist as the law advocates,

well I know where he lives and of course dad has already paid him a visit this morning so I think he has seen the error of his ways, 

however if the other fellers find him it will be a different story they are not so forgiving

he rang me this morning to offer his apologies but like I said to him its not me that he should be apologising to

I dont know if Julie will take him back and I am not sure if I would like to see him back with her, once he has been violent then whats the next step is he going to give her a clip round the ear, 

shame though  he was a decent sort of lad, dont know what set it off, dont care what set it off, none of my business, julie is very quiet and full of thought, 

all I said to her was that she has a home here for as long as she wants, sell the house they bought together if thats her wish, I wouldnt mind another little feller under my roof again thats for sure, and she is a damn good kid so I know she wont be any trouble, thing is I'd lose my "putey room" and the dragons "sewing room", oh well thems the breaks

-- Edited by dave06 on Sunday 12th of April 2009 11:28:29 AM

the problem with different nationalities (according to Dave, who is wrong most of the time and shoots his mouth off far too often!!) is that we all view different nationalities as "different nationalities" and therefore not to be trusted we all have preconceived and preprogrammed notions about other people with different backgrounds which are fueled by the media and to a large extent by our parents, I remember growing up that the "gypo's" are going to take over Australia and the "wogs" are going to take all our jobs and dont even talk about the murdering filthy little "slant eyed nips" and of course the bludging lazy "bloody abbo's" oh and the "Ching's" life has taught me different, I have lived and traveled all over this country, loved every second of it, people are MOSTLY the same, just want what is best for their family, good and bad in ALL races, I am absolutely surrounded by ethnics if thats what you wish to use to describe them, but dont tell them that, they are "bloody Aussies mate" as they will very quickly tell you and they will fight to the death to defend our nation and our way of life and have done so in the past dont forget the regiment of aboriginals that weren't allowed to fight with our "whites" but were covered in glory nonetheless, they were later integrated, I remember my great uncle telling me about them a million years ago, take a look at any honor role in any rsl how many "woggie" names are there, quite a few just from Pirie but I had a lovely easter, a bit heart wrenching Sunday morning when Julie came in to our bedroom at 7am, laid down beside me and absolutely broke down, but after a few cuddles and a few nonsensical words from a useless old fart she came good again (tore me in half but she doesn't know that), she still doesn't know what she is going to do but like I told her there is no hurry, nothing set in stone, take the path that suits you best. I would love to have a little tike under my roof again anytime, if we dont look like gaining a retirement we may look at adoption, Lotta little fellers out there that dont get a decent chance at life, we will see what the boss says Julie has unfathomable support right here in this neighborhood, we have people in and out all the time just seeing how she is and having a cuppa and a yak, bludgers are eating me out of house and home!!!! I figure Julie has 10 "mums" around here of all nations, well seems like it anyway more like a poultry farm with all the old chooks clucking and fussing and carrying on most times people just dont get to know the feller living next door, I know everyone on my street and could have a yak with any of them about any of member of their family, my sister lives in north haven (just out of adelaide) she doesnt know any of the neighbors and doesnt want to, dont understand it! I dont see myself as different to any one else, someone walks past home or out then I automatically say G'Day, most stop and have a yak from there, easily done, but if you try it in a city then you are automatically a "weirdo" and to be avoided at all costs, strange people live in citys

Dave, you are one GREAT AUSSIE BLOKE that I would love to meet and have a yak with.

If there were more like you just think how much better our already great island would be

ah now YAKKING, theres something I'm REALLY good at

Just catching up with a few of the posts after a busy easter, congrats Dave and make sure you pass on all the comments to the neighbours. We are lucky that most of us are genuine and well meaning types, it\s just th DH's we could do without.

thanks Ken will do, little bit down at the moment, Julie has returned home, reckons she can deal with everything a bit better now she reckons that she doesnt want another boyfreind until she can find one like me or I come up for grabs, I just told her that was unlikely and that she would have a home here anytime she wants, time will tell how she gets on