And  the amazing speed of my blogging progress just keeps on...last post 2010....this current post June 21,2012.
     So why bother? No idea really. Probably  so if any old friends see my name on Google,connected to this blog,they can check to see if I'm still with the program.....and I don;'t mean the blog program.....just the whole program.
    So what's happened since two years ago?

Somewhere between very little and a lot. Been spending a lot of time on my eBay store,and have about 650 items in there now. Be even better if I sold them.....LOL.
    I'm writing books again... did a little,but very little,the past 18 months or so......but back at it again now.
 Have added in gemstones to my interests.....good fun learning about them. I mean,so far,the  finished g
ems.  It's always good to learn something new,and this was very new for me.  But I learn quickly.
   I now have  the cheaper types of rubies,emeralds,diamonds,sapphires, etc., and   assorted colors of topaz...and smoky quartz,clear quartz, peridot ,citrine, red garnets, Spess garnets,  turquoise, and loads of other stuff. Good fun.

Adding to my knowledge of ancient coins...Roman, ancient Greek, ancient India, Baktria, etc.

Last week had to retire my old station wagon.....general old age increasing the repairs frequency and c ost.  Bought a 2001 Falcon wagon in top condition. Should do for a few years.

Bought a new computer finally. Never had a new computer before,an actually new one.
   Had a whole stack of secondhand ones here, replaced as they just became to outdated.

 This one is actually new, and fast....no more going for a run around the  lock while the computer  boots up.

Of course lots more has happened in a couple of years, some of it even interesting.
But this blog is just to check in.

Hopefully see you before another two years.

Ward

What an amazing speed at which I am blogging....and getting faster !!! It took two years from first entry to second one,and now only just over a year since me last entry. Breathtaking speed.....LOL.

What's happened in the past year?

eBay Store.....I've now opened a store on eBay....just go to Google (where else?!) and type in eccentric_collectibles.....and that will bring up a link. Don't forget the _ and it's -ibles.

Not trying to sell you anything,but just something I do more often than I might make a blog entry,and you might like to drop in out of curiosity.

Mowing my 5-acre block..... What a chore ! Actually,as long as I have a ride-on mower working well(lawn tractor to some of you), I really enjoy it and find it quite relaxing. Sort of a break from other things I've been doing which require using my brain(which I also like).....but the mowing just requires sufficient concentration to drive and steer away from obstacles etc., and watch out for deadly snakes.

Every time the block gets overgrown for some reason,I am then mowing very high grass,often up to my shoulders while I am sitting on the mower,and yes, snakes are a real danger.....since several of the world's deadliest types of snakes are in my grass,under logs,fallen-over sheets of roofing metal,and indeed anywhere else they can get shelter.

If you're not Australian,go to Google and type in Eastern Brown snake,Australia......and have a look at my "housemates".

I've actually found one twice in the house. Creepy. All I can do then is leave the door open in the darkness of the early night,as they will eventually leave.

Mainly I see deadly snakes here,brown snake,red bellied black,etc......and to a lesser extent the harmless but huge diamond-back python ,carpet snake etc.

The diamond-back has an outline diamond pattern on the back, and the carpet snake really has what people would generally consider a carpet pattern......now of course if you're of a certain age and your home carpet/rug has a picture of George Clooney on it, then no, our snakes don't have that type of carpet pattern. And no,no Stars wars pictures either. Just old style traditional carpet pattern. Since the snakes were around first,one wonders if that's where the carpet pattern itself came from.

BACK TO MOWING: For years I've had two Cox brand ride-on mowers,made here in Queensland state in Australia. These are popular here because,unlike most mowers which choke up when the grass gets just a little bit high or thick, the Cox mower (and also the Greenfield which is made here too) will generally just chew through whatever they come across.

Naturally you have to do that type of heavy mowing carefully,and often have to nibble away at the edges of metre-high weeds, the Cox/Greenfield does clear it.

With most other mowers,especially ones with twin-cutting dec ks, just don't bother.

Anyway, my larger Cox mower just suddenly wouldn't start about 18 months ago. I stopped for lunch,had a lesisrely lunch followed by an even slower mug of hot black tea(the Asian way,no milk,no sugar,nothing except teabag and hot water).

Then I got back on the mower.....wouldn't start....and hasn't start since, until repaired last week.

Meanwhile I had the slightly smaller and older one....and have been using just that until it's 1978 original cutting deck finally managed to break part of the spindle that controls the spinning of the deck.

So while I searched to find a replacement deck,I finally put the larger model in for a way to get it started again. Turned out to be a faulty foot switch. On the later Cox mowers, as well as using the key to start it,you also have to put your heel on the foot switch quite firmly. It's probably a way to make sure little kids don'y start it when the adults are not looking.

Got a suitable secondhand deck and installed it and then I had my smaller5 Cox mower running again,better than before.

Then a friend,who lives in a normal house and can't use a ride-on, found that one of his work-mates was going to buy a new m ower,.....my friend did a swap of some collectibles for that mower,only 8 years old and very well maintained.....and then immediately traded it off to me the same way.

So now(at that time) I had at least this one mower,which though in perfect condition,is a twin-deck American mower made just for lawns,so I can only use if where the grass is not high,but everything else,and it is very modern and comfortable.

Then I obtained the replacement deck for that smaller Cox machine,and when it was ready, I now had two mowers.

Meanwhile,when I had no mower,I'd placed a free ad in a local ad magazine, had c alls but nothing useful to me.....and then a guy phoned and he had a small,only 8hp, Rover mower....a local brand again.....but of the type I'm less comfortable with because the engine is behind the driver and the driver's feet are a bit close to the snakes. But this one has the driver sitting higher than many of this type,so that's good. And it starts with a pull-start rope ,which means when I don't have a working battery.....okay,worth looking.... maybe.

What really interested me was that he had a Greenfield slasher also.....one of those large walk-behind machines that will cut down stuff that even the Cox and Greenfield mowers won't do.and they can also be poked in other overgrown trees etc. where someone on a mower can't drive in.

They are of course self-propelled,so you put the thing in gear and then walk behind it and steer etc.,and of course quickly take it out of gear when necessary.

I went and bought the slasher, and had a quick look at the smaller mower but not really what I wanted.

But now I had two working mowers and one slasher. Getting better.

Next day,when going to get the slasher,I'd had a think about the pull-start Rover,and since it was c heap, I bought both machines.

Now had three ride-on mowers and a slasher.

Then the large Cox mower was returned and running well with a new foot-switch and a few other improvements, and now I have four ride-on mowers and a slasher.

Some people collect stamps.

So the mowing has proceeded......I've had a go at using all these machines. The two Cox mowers are my favorites for mowing because they'll mow anything.

The American mower is a nice ride and good for just having a leisurely run over the areas that don't need heavy clearing.....good for maintaining the mowed areas. And it is my latest-model machine,only 8 years old. Practically fresh from the showroom floor....LOL.

Especially when you consider the smaller Cox mower is a 1978 model.

The small Rover with just the 8hp engine does very well (surprisingly,for its size) and handles some of the rough stuff too. So it was a bargain at the price.

Got a huge lot of clearing done yesterday with the help of that friend who found the American mower for me. He likes to get out here and have fun burning piles of rubbish and things like that....one of those people who likes everything really neat. Not enough work for him in the family house which just has a normal suburban yard. Only problem is that when he decides he wants to come and help clear up, it means I have to work much harder than I would if here alone. Oh well.

Genealogy: I haven't been doing as much work as previously on the genealogy,though still interested. It is partially because it's gotten much harder to find information I don't already have. It's n ice though that some contacts do keep sending me anything they find that might suit me. And I still do look myself whenever I have some free time,the proverbial coffee-break etc. Not that I drink coffee, just strong black tea......but the idea is the same.

I've now gotten the Point Verde Greenes file up to about 228 pages,and the Judge Families of Newfoundland to about 88 pages. Smaller results on Pike,Corbin,Bradshaw,etc.

Always happy to heard from anyone with Newfoundland links to these surnames.

Signing off for now.

Where did the time go ?!!

Wow!! My last post was over two years ago !! Guess I'm not destined to be a daily blogger.
By the way,for old friends,relatives, etc......if you want to contact me for any reason....you'll find me on Facebook and also on some of the main genealogy sites.
If you go to Google and type in... Ward Greene,Judge,Newfoundland....that'll find some of my genealogy postings.
Or of course,as I just mentioned,on Facebook.

#### Not writing anything on this blog was not a conscious decision....it just happened. I am always interested in so many things that I go from one to the other quickly. I guess blogging wasn't high on the agenda...LOL.

#### What specifically of great interest has happened with me in the past two years? Probably nothing. Of course it's all been of interest to me,as I go from book writing to building something on my block to seeing what I can coax out of the vegetable garden area to going to big collctor shows,swap meets,etc., a few dozen other things,and back to working on books again.

#### Got a couple of motorcycles. One is an XV750 Yamaha that needs some work on it. Since I shortly after got a top condition Honda GB400,
the fun of the XV750(the year before the Virago...looks like a Virago)....,thinking about the amount of work and my non-existent free time to mess around with it.....I'll probably now just trade it off for something else I can use around here,maybe a mtorized rotary tiller/hoe or a motorized slasher or something else along that general line.

#### Been trying to find time to brush up on my Chinese through putting onto my computer a Rosetta Stone Mandarin course. Also got a Wenlin 3 course and put it on the computer also.
Very different things. The Rosetta Stone one lets you try out speaking,understanding(audio),reading,etc. via a series of photos of people doing all kinds of things in daily life.
The Wenlin 3 is very different....it has large dictionaries and search facilities, even a small inbuilt screen area where you can,using the computer mouse, write your own attempts at Chinese characters.

### Hope to be back before two years !

CHINESE GIRLS

I'm reminded of this topic by a blog from a girl in Singapore in these G-Blogs, about Chinese girls.
Personally (and yes,I'm a white Australian)I would never think of marrying anyone except an Asian girl, most likely Chinese descent,most likely peranakan, meaning Indonesian girls of Chinese descent.
In general,I like the combination that results ,giving the Chinese interest in education and business,and the Indonesian refinement overall. Of course many other qualities too from both backgrounds.
But added to this needs to be a rather intellectual personality,someone to show an interest in books and writing,and an interest in many other subjects.
As someone who personally doesn't drink,smoke,gamble etc., Asian middle class girls suit me just fine.
So to that Chinese lady in Singapore with your G-Blog here too....yes,I'm in great agreement with you. Now if only I were three years younger...LOL. Ward.

CHINESE COINS

I'm not exactly making this a daily chore,as it's been 22 days since my previous posting.

Like a lot of bloggers,I have lots of ideas on everything that happens in the world,but I personally am not overactive in any field.

So my latest non-confrontative interest is starting up a collection of Chinese coins.This comes from my interest in Chinese things generally,including when I am old enough,to marry a suitable highly intelligent girl of Chinese descent.I'm only 63 yet,so mustn't rush things.

Anyway, I bought a Hartill catalog on ancient Chinese coins,which has mainly those little ones with the square hole in the middle,but also much older money in the shape of knives,spades,bells,cowries,etc. The early money tended to be small copies of useful everday items.

Then I draged out the few Chinese coins I already had,and bought from overseas maybe 150 coins,all very old,mainly the ones with the square holes,but one ancient knife money also.The knife mney was from roughly 200 BCE.

Only problem now is that I have to learn to read Chinese. Ward.

Ward Greene

I've just started this blog .
Therefore ,because up to my proverbial ears in other work, and until I get the hang of this , just letting you know some of my interests.
(1) I have been working on my genealogy,my family tree for my assorted surnames located in Newfoundland and USA and Ireland.
So far I have compiled 71 pages on "Judge Families of Newfoundland". I have found that everyone with the Judge surname in Newfoundland over the past 200 years or so is related to me. So,if you know of anyone related to the surname Judge,anywhere in the world,who also has a connection to Newfoundland(Nfld.) at any time in the past,please contact me and help fill in my family tree.
The surname is of Irish origin,and most likely from Connaught area of Ireland,which means up around Sligo,Roscommon,Mayo,Leitrim counties. The previous Gaelic spelling was Breheny and similar, and there is an older longer Gaelic spelling. The name is closely tied to the McDermott clan of that area.
I am especially looking for ANY information on ANY man or family named Judge who moved from Ireland to Newfoundland before 1838.This would give me a link to the specific family branch in Ireland.

(2)Point Verde Greenes...meaning the Greene family of Point Verde,Newfoundland,Canada. Newfoundland was a separate country up until 1949,and so it's hard to find much information on Canadian sites etc.,and they mainly,quite understandably,give genealogy information on Ontario and Quebec,which were known as Upper Canada and Lower Canada.And then some information on Nova Scotia. But almost nothing on Nfld.
My GGG-GF (great etc. grandfather) came in from Boston,Massachusetts about late 1778,with his brother Robert, leaving a third brother behind,either in Boston or perhaps Nova Scotia. They had previously been trading back and forth to Placentia,Nfld.,on their own schooner,and the possibility seems to be that the family was already established in Placentia,Nfld.,and may have simply been returning home.Robert had apparently fought briefly on USA side in Revolution,and John was a Quaker not wanting to join either side.
Their father Michael Green(no e,it seems)...one wonders where he suddenly appeared from... bought huge land in nearby point Verde in 1803. The deed is on the net if you go to Google and type in ...deed,Point Verde,Costebelle,1803...that means it's an old French deed , as the land used to belong to the French governor Costebelle prior to 1713 when the area was taken over by the English.
Anyway,I have managed to accumulate 134 pages on my Greene family so far. As well as the obvious Newfoundland members,there are maybe up to 10,000 or more relatives who have lived or are living in USA since early 1800s.
So again,if your own ancestry includes someone from Placentia,Nfld. area,do contact me and compare notes. I am also related to many,many other surnames from that area,mainly Irish surnames.
This means I am,for example,looking for Corbin,Bradshaw,Clancy,Hill,Burke,Power,Larkin, and a lot of others from late 1700s onwards.
Also family tradition says one of our ancestors was a john Green(e) who arrived in New England in early 1600s before either he,or more likely a descendant,moved on to Nfld.
And one more, Pike family. A man named Pike,presumably a relative as he was from the same town s my Pike ancestors in England, was in Nfld. in 1510,for the summer fishery. Then the Pikes from that area (Dorset) settled in Nfld. in early 1600s, and from those Pikes they came down to my GGF,John Gilbert Pike of Salmonier,Nfld., and his daughter, my maternal grandmother.
Go to Google and type in .... Princess Sheila,Gilbert Pike...for some interesting family mythology or history...we're not exactly certain.
So...do I have any as yet unknown relatives out there ?

Ward