Greetings all .. Andrew from Australia here.

As reported by Paul I received the 18 pairs of craft scissors earlier in the week along with a piece of history in a small cut of the old rope which commenced the awareness/fundraiser.

To keep things moving on I have taken photos of the scissors and myself (don’t be scared now) holding the piece of old rope. Whilst I would have liked to get some local background in the picture ie Adelaide General Post Office or one of our local beaches, it is winter in Australia and it is dark by the time my wife and I are all home from work so I had to orchestrate the automatic timer on the camera set ontop of a Tuperware biscuit container (don’t know whether you have Tupperware but it is expensive storage containers and other kitchen type utensils but of good quality) to come up with the photo.

Perhaps down the track I can send in some photos of some local scenes which I was going to suggest may be interesting but you folk determine that.

Whilst I had no role in the conception of the idea “Money for Old Rope”, I would like to encourage others to take part or even tell other to “take a squiz (look) at the blog” to increase the awareness for Congenital Heart Disease (CHD).

Whilst Paul will probably not say anything, this trade cost Paul and I with postage for the airmail trade. Whilst minimal it still shows that Paul is committed to achieving the best possible result.

Paul will obviously have more to say about looking for the next trade but I would just like to say, cmon .. make me feel like the Sydney 2000 Olympics Official’s shirt worn by myself, such an athlete as you can see, is worth a trade to the next level.

Ciao now

Andrew

www.beatinghearts4kids.blogspot.com

(friend of www.money-for-old-rope.blogspot.com)

I am 23; that means I am a child of the 80's.

The 1980s were such a great time to grow up. We get to look back at all of the fashion disasters and say "I was only four". I have just rediscovered my very favourite TV show of all time - PUGWALL.

If you haven't watched it or can't remember, it was an Australian show about a geeky kid who had a band that played in his garage. I found the theme tune here and I realised that dispite not watching the show for 15 years I knew all of the lyrics, how weird is that.

As I listened to the theme tune, all of the 1980s came flooding back to me -

The Power of Grey Skull
Fraggle Rock
Wax on, wax off
Ice ice baby
Challenge Anneka
Zippy
Pat Sharp
Timmy Mallet
Micro machines
Kylie Minogue
Gummy bears
Transformers (Robots in disguise)

Well, Pugwall got cancelled and they all did bit-parts in Neighbours and that was the end of the 1980s. I hope that you appreciate it as much as I did.

We did it!!!

Into the second round to face Ecuador. They looked good in the first few games but were hammered today by Germany so I am very happy about our chances.

I received news that the scissors arrived safe and sound today in Australia so I hope to have some pictures of this very soon to show you all.

This means that I will soon start to actively look for my third trade. What will I get, I really don't know but it will all be recorded here for you to view. You may even want to take part.

As you can see, I have had hundreds of people visit this site and I know that very soon it will become thousands. Many of you are happy to read the daily blog but I am sure that there are some of you that are itching to take part but just don't know whether you should or not.

Let me say that the trade can be for anything provided you believe that it is better than a Sydney Olympic Official's shirt. You must have something lying around that you no longer want that may be of value to someone else, plus you get to take part in a groundbreaking charity fundraiser.

Hi, I have been very ill over the weekend and have not been able to leave a blog so my apologies for that.

When I was growing up I loved meat. I used to have a roast on a sunday, and I don't think I ever had a meal that didn't have meat somewhere in it. That was just the way it was. I never thought about how vegetarians could survive; I was always told that their growth was stunted because they didn't get the nutrients they needed from food.

When I met Sharon, she told me she was vegetarian, I had never pictured myself having a vegetarian girlfriend but things like that do not matter when you meet the right person. I started to eat things like Quorn and even started liking some vegetables that I had never eaten before. I realised that you did not have to have meat in a meal for it to be a good one.

I still eat meat but I have cut down a great deal, this is mainly due to the fact that my Wife wants me to look after myself more than the fact that she is a vegetarian. But if I didn't know how to cook meals without meat then I would still probably be eating meat with every meal.

Thinking back now I remember that whilst I was being told that you couldn't get the nutrients you needed from a vegetarian diet the top sprinter in my school was a vegetarian. Still it took me twenty years to realise the effect a good diet can have.