News & Updates from Vicki Avcin ~ AusCrafts · Page 51

Again Facebook has kept friends together. Love it or hate it, Facebook is good for keeping friendships strong when family and friends have distance between them.

Hubby used to work with Martin many years ago and through Facebook they have kept in touch.

So much water has passed under the bridge and yet they have stayed in touch. Martins fiance Lyndal was with Martin all those years ago but broke up and they went their separate way only to get back together a couple of years ago and they are now engaged.

True love always works out.

So when Martin and Lyndal took holidays this year, they stopped in for a couple of days on their way back to Brisbane.

Although I had never met Lyndal I instantly felt like I knew her and the boys picked up where theyd left off all those years ago as if it had only been a week since they spoke.

We had a wonderful time and hopefully they will come up for weekends every now and then. They loved Hervey Bay and were thrilled when down where the barge goes to Fraser Is, to see a mum and baby dolphin frolicking just off the car park.

I found two photos of my aunt and uncle that were like second parents to me while sorting out some photos a few months ago.

Taken back in the war days they were showing signs of age.

One of my favourite past times is restoring old photos and photo manipulation (ie taking someone out or putting a person into a photo) so after removing some marks and scratches on these old photos I then coloured them.

Sadly both are no longer with us so its lovely to have some great photos of them both, taken in their younger days during the war.

I did a lot of photos for people after Hurricane Katrina in the US a few years ago.

People scanned photos and sent them over the internet, Id restore them and email them back to them. There was a group of about 20 people who restored thousands of treasured memories for people. I also did a lot of photos after Tropical Cyclone Larry here in Queensland too. Some people wanted them colourised, others preferred the black and white or old sepia photos to stay original.

Ive removed people from photos that people no longer wanted in their lives but the photo was a good photo that they wanted to keep.

Its a wonderful reward when people have new old photos that otherwise werent in great condition and they thought theyd lost

Last Sunday I had the pleasure of presenting a Prepare Act Survive (PAS) presentation to the members of our community.

I did this in the capacity of being a Volunteer Community Educator (VCE) and at the request of our local Community Association.

Education is a passion on the other side of being a firefighter whether it be training new members or educating people in the community.

Last year after the big fire we had on the southern end of our community, people were really worried what would happen if there was a fire in the two environmental parks we have in the area.

One park is 120 acres and the other is 40 acres.

As there is only one access road into and out of the community people were worried that should a big fire happen they had nowhere to go.

So I was asked to do this presentation. The main message I delivered was about how residents can best prepare their properties well before any fires that may happen.

The focus is how to prepare, how to act if and when there is a fire in the area so that they have the best possible chance to survive, not only themselves but their houses/properties.

We also explained the different fire danger index levels and what the standard emergency warning advices mean as well as identifying the areas that were safest to go to should homes have to be evacuated.

We had a great rollup throughout the morning and residents had lots of questions which we were able to provide answers to help them make the best decisions for them.

I have been doing community education for many many years now, but usually on a face to face basis and Sunday was the first time I had to stand in front of a crowd and do a full presentation.

It was quite daunting but I got through it and Im happy with the fantastic positive feedback Ive received. As a VCE I will work with many different communities, not just our locals, so I was glad to do my first presentation in front of familiar faces, hopefully future presentations will be less daunting with people I dont know.

I think the locals would be my harshest critics!!.

I have always loved planes and used to spend ages at the airport just watching the big silver birds coming and going.

I still go out to the viewing platform at the Brisbane airport when Im down there. But through the wonders of technology I can watch at home….

Not quite the same but it satisfies my fix. With the live crosses to airports I can see and still get to hear the power of the engines as they lift the big birds up into the sky.

The other day I had the absolute delight of watching the Antonov 225 as she called into an airport in Scotland to refuel on her way to France.What a magnificent flying machine she is.

Built in Ukraine to originally carry a space plane (Buran), she was completed in 1988 and this is why there is no centre tail stabiliser and 2 bumps on the topas the spaceplanes sat on the aircraft..

Mothballed for 8 years she was refurbished and reintroduced as a cargo plane for over size payloads. Unlike most cargo planes she does not have a rear door but instead the nose lifts, and she kneels on her front wheels and is loaded from the front.

Bigger than the A380s she has been in and out of service over the years but is now being used for freight during the Covid pandemic.

She holds over 200 world records for the amount and size of cargo she has carried. So of course I was fascinated watching her come in to land, taxi round the airport and after refuelling take off.

Isnt she a beauty?

If she ever comes back to Brisbane I hope Im down there to see her.

Last week we had above average rain for our area which was lovely. After the rain the nights were freezing when we returned to clear skies and the fog rolled in as the heat of the day had heated up the wet ground and we had a super foggy night.

Hubby shone the torch into it and we could see the fog rolling through. Definitely wasnt rain because we stood out and couldnt feel any rain drops. We did take a video but the photos will have to do for the newsletter. Very eerie but really cool to see.