Different as chalk and cheese -





















My eldest sister visiting - can regale one for hours on the quality and quantity and pattern of each single item of clothing she has in her shopping bag... she even tested me in the car wash as to the range of different materials used - )I finally decided to get the layers of inland red dust off the van - hopeful thats the last dust storm!!) each strand of glass beads chosen over almost and hour at the local markets is ooohhed over and ahhhed over...and and then she went back for more just on closing time - There isn't an inch of any shopping centre she has ever visited that she hasn't made herself familiar with...


Where as my time is spent buying and sometimes reading good quality books like this one which kept me amused while I waited the imminent arrival of Mrs Clothes Horse - I learnt a lot reading this book...much of it unknown to a poor provincial country girl like me... and am awaiting the release of the new superhero movie "Captain Underpants" with highly anticipated glee...





But at the end of the day the things we share and like are the same... a cheap (always) glass of Australian wine - and "beetroot dip" - couldn't get more Australian than that.

This was the first glass and we both look a bit wrecked - But we looked better as the night went on...we both agreed...




Now am waiting to see what delights today brings - a bit scary sometimes wondering what is in store. She's here till the wee small hours of Sunday - a surprise visit and welcomed.

Those who read my “bit of a rant” which was taken off shortly after being put on might want to know it worked. Family members are obviously checking very often what I post – nice people! If truth upsets and if they recognise themselves so be it. Good to know that those who returned my mail, Don’s DVD, a birthday care etc – with it marked :” refused” to show their outrage (at what??) publicly, are not adverse to sneaking about as they do. For their information the rant was put on for this exact purpose and I stand by it as truth.

Relationships not based on honesty are not relationships worth having. There has been dishonesty from one family member for far too long and it has poisoned our family. She smells of roses to some... who don't care about the truth.I smell of roses to those who love me and thats what matters. I have acted as Don would have expected and I know I would have his full support and that of my adult daughters who know the whole. I can also know that should I die tomorrow - I have acted properly. That is important.

Some wildlife taken from my back door


Two kangaroos who come to visit late afternoon and early morning - maybe they are the mother and joey from last year - they are very watchful but reasonably tame as long as I don't move much or too quickly...


These are called Spoon bill something or others and flocks of these are found in the small creek which is just behind my house - I couldn't get any closer - they took off and i felt a bit bad as they were fossicking for food at the time - If you click on the photos they are clearer. This is not a pretty creek as its sort of mangroves and part salt and fresh...but so much life in there - plenty of snakes snails and puppy dogs tails -

A first...in all these months

this is the closest I have ever seen these cats sit without it being a flurry of flying fur and spit... They are not happy campers but considering the cat sitting lower is not allowed out these days - despite the cat bib - which meant nothing to her - things may be on the improve...Tiger the bottom cat has an almost 100%kill rate outside and i cannot handle the butchery of the birds - I mean butchery - she just goes mad outside and whole bird families are decimated - so she has to stay inside whereas Cuss (on top) wanders in and out not even seeing the wonderfully coloured birds which abound about our house...

I wake up each morning to the most incredible sounds of many species of song birds and others all singing together - its amazing the bird life out here and after seeing what Tiger does - I think I am going to have to investigate a cat run outside or something - she lives to kill...not her fault but am responsible to control her.

Another disabled person injured and lucky to be alive this time a 7yr old

They blamed this mistake which will impact on this child for the rest of his life on the "fact" that "the lamp next to Francis bed, used to check the colour on the litmus paper, was not working, making the room dim and difficult for staff to determine if the tube had touched stomach acid or lung secretions. This is Westmead Children's Hospital - the major children's hospital in NSW and a teaching hospital. Its got to stop surely and they have got to be made accountable.

"Hospital bungle leaves family seething
KATE BENSON HEALTH - SMH Sydney Australia
October 10, 2009

THE family of a boy who almost died after a ''breathtakingly basic'' hospital bungle nine months ago is still waiting for a written apology and a change in policy to prevent other children suffering the same fate.

Francis Wilks-Tansley will be fed through a hole in his stomach for the rest of his life and is unable to breathe properly after a feeding tube was inserted into his lungs - and not detected for 36 hours.

During that time the seven-year-old, admitted to The Children's Hospital at Westmead for seizures, was given water and six medications through the tube, causing him to develop a life-threatening pneumothorax, where air gets trapped in the cavity around the lungs, and his right lung to collapse.

One of the drugs, sodium valproate, causes severe chemical burns to lung tissue.

Up to six staff tended to Francis, who was born partially blind, deaf and with limited voluntary movement, over several shifts before the error was discovered, despite repeated calls from his mother, Sarah Wilks, that he was in respiratory distress. A chest drain was then inserted for 17 days to remove the fluid in his lungs.

''He was in agony, in extreme pain,'' she said yesterday.

One staff member, who did not want to be named, described the mistake as ''breathtakingly basic''. Staff must draw out some contents of feeding tubes as soon as they are inserted to test for the presence of stomach acid. A drop is placed on litmus paper, which turns a vivid pink if stomach acid is present. A chest X-ray can also be used to confirm the tube's placement, particularly in heavily sedated or unconscious children.

But Dr Wilks, who has a PhD in biology, said the lamp next to Francis' bed, used to check the colour on the litmus paper, was not working, making the room dim and difficult for staff to determine if the tube had touched stomach acid or lung secretions.

A case review carried out by the hospital found there had been three attempts to insert the tube, and its blood-stained contents had turned the litmus paper pink, leading staff to believe it had been placed correctly. But it also said difficult or repeated attempts should alert staff to the need for an X-ray to check position.

After the incident, staff were sent a short email reminding them of the importance of correct tube placement.

''They almost killed my son and yet haven't changed their culture,'' Dr Wilks said. ''This is not an error made by one person. It was a group of people, which means there must be a systemic or cultural problem, and I want to make sure they can't do it again. I don't want them punished; I want them educated.''

Dr Wilks, who also has three teenagers, had bought a house in Hobart the day Francis was admitted to hospital and has been commuting twice a week to be with him. Yesterday the hospital offered to reimburse her air fares and promised a new policy would be in place by the end of the month.

But she is adamant the offers were made only because she contacted the NSW Health Minister, Carmel Tebbutt, last week.

''It's been an unconscionable length of time. An apology now is worse than no apology at all. There is nothing I can do to reverse the damage done to Francis but, at the very least, the hospital needs to ensure this doesn't happen to other children.''

A spokeswoman for the hospital yesterday said staff had verbally apologised to Francis's family. She said a statewide safety notice had been issued in February and a compulsory education program was being developed for all staff inserting feeding tubes, but it was not known when it would begin.

''The hospital sincerely regrets this incident and how it has affected Francis and his family. We are not denying we made a mistake, and we are sorry about it.''

Help needed on book title!
I have been working like crazy on the final draft of my manuscript which had to be all gone over again after some rather drastic advice by a barrister I had to hire to look it over. Doctors sue more of us than the other way around I was informed - its just not widely known.

So one more final sweep through for typos and by Monday I should be ready to send the amended manuscript out. It has been the hardest and biggest task I have ever or ever hope to undertake and wrung out of me. But as I go over and read through I an convinced as is my editor that this book can bring about some much needed change.

A friend said "why not make it fictional" If it was fictional no one would believe the story. You wouldn't make up the catalogue of errors and attitude, filth, etc which brutalised my husband Don for five weeks and directly caused his death.

I am stuck for a title. I have one called
"Conveyor belt medicine - An Australian Hospital horror Story" but it doesn't grab.
It needs to have the words Australian and Hospital in it and to maybe also point to the fact that Don's treatment in hospital was made so much worse because of his severe disability and inability to defend himself when were not there.
All severely disabled people and their relatives will know what I am saying is true. If the rest of us think we are doing it tough they do it much tougher...everything is harder for them...and you wouldn't believe the attitude of many doctors and nurses to the extra workload involved in caring for a Quadriplegic as don was.

So I am throwing this in the blogosphere to all my mates out there who have follow the saga over the past two plus years. This is the photo I hope publisher will put on the cover. It was taken just before he began to have difficulty breathing. I absolutely love this photo.

Last week I had this letter published in a local paper

"I was not surprised to hear about the lack of security in RNSH’s Morgue and no that I.D.’s being asked for when bodies were removed.

When our eldest daughter went to RNSH some time after my husband Don’s death (May 2007), I had phoned the X ray dept the day before (from Port Macquarie) to say she was coming to pick up the records. These records were very important for us to see as there were about 50plus X rays and CT scans. We had previously written and asked for and were given permission to access and receive his all records, due to the nature of his death and time spent in RNSH, but the X rays didn’t turn up.

When she went to pick up the records at RNSH she just said her name and they were all handed over - no ID at all. She was quite surprised and alarmed. I could have been anyone ringing in and she could have been anyone picking up original records. Those very important original records could have just disappeared into thin air had somebody wished them to and perhaps it hasn’t happened but it is extremely likely it could happen.

Not good enough again RNSH. RNSH has far too many “Human errors” and not enough accountability. We have to hope that this is not a state wide problem."

But today this story broke - I am still shockable even though I think I have seen and experienced the worst suffering possible - my heart breaks for this family.

Body 'forgotten' at Royal North Shore Hospital

• By staff writers
• From: NEWS.com.au
• September 29, 2009 8:00AM

• Body moved from morgue for family viewing
• Worker forgot to take it back again
• Found days later because of bad smell

HOSPITAL staff checking on a bad smell have discovered a body left to rot after being forgotten about for four days.

The man's body had been moved from the morgue in Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital to another room to allow his family a viewing, but a morgue worker forgot to return it afterwards.

The viewing took place on a Friday. The body was found on the following Tuesday.

The man's brother has told the Sydney Morning Herald he was contacted by the hospital when the terrible mistake was noticed.

''They told us he had been left out of the freezer and I can't say we were terribly happy about it,'' he told the paper.

He said he was keeping the grim news to himself because it would too distressing to other family members.

The ABC quoted a hospital spokesman as blaming the incident on "individual human error".

The spokesman said staff had been strongly reminded of correct procedures when handling dead patients.

New South Wales law prevented corpses from being left unrefrigerated for more than eight hours when being viewed by next of kin."

This is the bastard of a place I have been working hard to expose after they collectivelly through "human errors" tortured and then killed my husband, along with too many other people. All they keep saying is "Human error" and then nothing changes because no one cares enough.

Whatever you do and whatever happens to you Do not ever go to Royal North Shore Hospital if living in or visiting Sydney - there is something terribly wrong inside that place. Its almost as if the building and culture inside that place seems to "infect" people working there -

A Practical woman just like me!!!

Sort of -

I love it

The Snake was still in the house - 2 days later

and i just saved it...I am so pleased with myself. The poor thing was just worn out and had not much fight in it - so got the cat away from it again - she had hunted it out from behind my filing cabinet and i just came out in the nick of time. I have a stout snake stick that i use if i walk about coming on dusk - amid it has a nifty split branch on the end...so was able to get the snake in between the two branches and it didn't fight at all...took it outside where there is water and trees and of it went...a little scarred but okay...I didn't think I would have the guts to do this, but it honestly was a really pretty and quite placid snake once the threat was gone...

What to do with a killer cat...when even a cat bib doesn't stop her?
(see earlier post for clarification on cat bibs)The latest on "Tiger" has me looking over my shoulder and being very careful where i poke my hands and feet.
On Friday afternoon - I was talking on the phone (again) with a daughter - when there was a scuffling noise at my feet under the kitchen table. At first I thought it was a black snake till I saw the small head, and lighter colour - bugger me she'd landed a one metre long tree snake at my feet and it was all over the place...as was I. I grabbed the cat by the tail (sorry cat lovers, no choice) and had to fight her off the snake which was lashing back at both of us now. She got flung unceremoniously onto the bed and I shut her in there. I had a horrible smell on my hands which I found out later is what these snakes do when badly threatened. How this cat managed to bring inside the house a one metre long snake is a mystery. I think she might have super powers.

When I came out the snake was no where to be seen. I was hopeful he had gone out the door but checked under and around everything. After a while I went up to let the cat out - into the house not outside) and saw a tree snake crossing the path near the bedroom window.

Happy ending!

Till all of a sudden the cat went crazy and came charging up the hall towards me with the snake in mouth and it was fighting to get free...I grabbed her again and the pair of us went into another room and shut the door...I know they are not poisonous but you do what you do when things happen fast - I opened the door and its on the outside, so thought I'd throw a few magazines i had in its general direction so it'd go back down the hall and outside...but it started sitting up...


these are a petty snake really and harmless but when you find yourself in this position all the primal snake fear takes over.

Then instead of going outside the snake went into this room where i have my computer and tonnes of books, boxes and nooks and crannies enough to hide a whole family of snakes...

So nights coming on and its not poisonous enough to call the wildlife people - I am sure they'd hoot with laughter...but a metre long snake still is a snake. I put both cats out in the verandah room - Cuss the good cat and bloody Tiger - the bastard delinquent. How to get the snake out of the room? how to find it actually? So I closed all the doors to all the rest of the house, and opened the front door so it could get out - risky at this time of year as others can come in...

I very carefully opened the door to this room and with broom in hand entered...quiet... nothing but s bit of a rustle in the boxes behind the door - not going there people. I switched on some music on full bore - snakes are supposed to hate noise - but this one seemed to like the bagpipes...no go.

Then another daughter on the phone (the daughter who gave me this cat!!!!) suggested standing outside the window with a saucepan and spoon and bang it a bit...which I did being desperate...

That night I locked myself in my bedroom to sleep, and closed the door to this room in the hope the snake could be dealt with the next day...

It was never seen again. But the cat seems very interested in the corner of that room so am unsure...I keep expecting it to drop from a light fitting or a fan blade...snakes like water so check the toilets well... I just can not see how it could have gotten out past me...

Its a bit unnerving at times out here - but i love it - snakes and all

The snake I saw was dark on the back like the one below and am thinking that the other one i saw on the path might be its mate. This one wasn't all that thin and was close to the full length they grow to -

Photo: C & D Frith Australian Tropical Reptiles & Frogs

Green Tree Snake (Dendrelaphis punctulata) They are arboreal, thin, whip-like and very agile. They are by far the more abundant and widespread of the tree snakes. When provoked, the snake will make itself larger by inflating its neck and fore-body, stretching it so that the blue skin between the scales can be seen.

Markings: The colour of the underparts varies from blackish to bright blue, green, yellow, grey or a shade of brown or tan. Habitat: These snakes are found in the northern tropics and eastern Australia. If handled, this snake can produce an unpleasant odour and will bite for a final attempt at defence. Yet, its teeth are tiny and the bite is harmless, as the Green Tree Snake has no fangs. Diet: The Green Tree Snake eats small reptiles and frogs (engulfing them head first) and even the occasional fish. Size: The average male grows to slightly over one metre in length, but has been recorded to reach two metres.