Reading ……………………..18 to

from Beagle Weekender Vol 217 July 23rd 2021

What’s On …………….... 27 to

Inside Goodbye sun Hello moon Days go by. Come back soon..... Our days of freedom From this gloom! We try new things Cause we have me Baking, drawing, wri ng a line Sharing calls, to pass the me Hello to neighbours from a distance Always watching their resistance Dogs s ll bark and power tools screech When can we go back to the beach? “Oh great, “now, I hear a ring From the courier...... What did he bring? Groceries, ingredients for me to bake For hungry kids who like to skate! On my path to the washing line Every day a er nine!

Vol 16 September 15th 2017 Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018

By Mary Murray

The Miles Franklin shortlist for 2021 comprises six novels by Australian writers that are deemed by the judges to be of high literary merit in represen ng "Australian life in any of its phases". This year's shortlist is notable for spanning from early -career to established authors, with three debut novels (Andrew Pippos's Lucky's, Madeleine Wa s's The Inland Sea and Daniel Davis Wood's At the Edge of the Solid World) up against the fourth novel by Booker Prize winner Aravind Adiga, and the eighth book by award-winning author Amanda Lohrey.

Acclaimed Tasmanian author Amanda Lohrey has been awarded Australia’s pres gious Miles Franklin Literary Award for her novel The Labyrinth, published by Text Publishing. For the second me in the Award’s history, trustee Perpetual announced the winner via live stream, enabling literary enthusiasts across the na on to tune in and celebrate unique Australian literature. Established through the will of My Brilliant Career author Miles Franklin, for the “advancement, improvement and be erment of Australian literature”, the Miles Franklin Literary Award recognises a novel of “the highest literary merit” that presents “Australian life in any of its phases”. Seven- me novelist Ms Lohrey has appeared on the Miles Franklin longlist three mes and on the shortlist twice, making this a well-deserved win. Ms Lohrey will receive $60,000 in prize money for The Labyrinth. She is the second Tasmanian author to be honoured with the Award in its 64-year history.

Vol 16 September 15th 2017 Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018

100 Years Ago -23 July 1921 VITAL STATISTICS. - Mr. P. H. Mills, our obliging C.P.S. has kindly supplied us with the following sta s cs for the quarter ending 30th June: - Marriages 5; births, males 10, females 15, total 25; deaths, males 12, females

Vol 16 September 15th 2017 4, total 16. Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018 LOSS. – Mr. A. Russell suffered a severe loss on Sunday through the death of a fine upstanding draught colt, which he purchased at a high figure a few months ago. The animal was in the pink of condi on, Mr. Russell having just had him brought in from the bush paddock preparatory to placing him in work. At 2 o’clock on Sunday a ernoon the colt was grazing, and an hour later he was seen to whirl around and around, then stagger and fall. Mr. Russell and Mr. C. Stubbs succeeded in dragging the horse out of a hole into which he had fallen, but not knowing the cause, were unable to relieve him of the terrible pain from which he was apparently suffering. A er a couple of hours’ writhing and groaning the animal died, and in the morning the skin had turned green. As this is the second or third horse that had died in this district under similar condi ons, we would like our local Stock Inspector to give our readers an idea of the cause of these deaths. £100 FOR NEW MAP. – “The Commonwealth,” a new Australian weekly, is offering £100 in prizes for a map showing the best division of Australia into between thirty and fi y provinces (as far as prac cable by a grouping of exis ng municipali es), with reasons for the boundaries recommended, and appropriate names for the suggested provinces. ACCIDENT. – On Wednesday, Mr. Harry Mehl had a miraculous escape from death whilst working in the bush. He was squaring a log about ten yards from his brother Frank, who was scoring and taking flitches off a log. When in the act of spli ng off a flitch Frank somehow slipped and in doing so the axe slipped from his hands and struck Harry on the side of his head, slicing off a por on about the size of a five

Vulcan Street Moruya

-shilling piece. Only for Franks presence of mind in calling “Look out,” and Harry immediately ducking his head, the probabili es are that he would have been killed instantly. The vic m was at once brought into Dr. Quilter who dressed the wound. THIEVES AGAIN. – That stealthy winter night bird, known as the “woodpecker,” is again very ac ve in our midst. Hearing a suspicious noise at his wood-heap very early the other morning, Mr. Dan Buckley got out of bed to inves gate, but unfortunately the “bird” had flown. There is one consola on for those who are having their firewood surrep ously removed, is that the sneak will not require any in the next world, as a cosy warm corner in his Satanic Majesty’s home is being prepared for him. Extracted from the Moruya Examiner by the Moruya and District Historical Society Inc. h ps:// www.mdhs.org.au

The bar a endant strode across the bar and placed a schooner in front of Bazza. He then opened a laptop in front of him and stood back.

‘There you go, Bazza. Mick should be joining you shortly.’ Bazza scanned the bar and gave the odd nod here and there and had a generous drink from the schooner. He then focused on the entry to the pub. ‘Oi Bazza, down here, mate.’ Mick’s booming voice and his smiling face momentarily filled the screen un l he leaned back and replaced it with a hand held full stubby of beer. Bazza put his reading glasses on, he then took them off and put them on again and shook his head. Mick’s face reappeared. ‘I’m in isola on, Bazza. I had a bit of a sore throat but thought I would be on the safe side, with the mother in law visi ng this weekend, and got COVID tested. I need to be isolated un l I get the results, but I thought I would s ll join you for a zoombeer.’ Bazza frowned and gave his forehead a rub and registered the a en on from other patrons in the pub. ‘You’re all over this stuff, Mick. I must say having a beer with you in your pyjamas is a new experience but can you adjust the angle of the camera?…….. Curious as I am, I’m really not all that interested in the insides of your nostrils……. and turn down the bloody volume.’ Bazza eyes darted around the bar and he gave his teeth a grind. He was somewhat comforted by the sight of a few others talking at their laptops or phones, with one bloke splu ering beer into his screen at an apparent joke. Bazza shook his head and mused about the reac on to such behaviour a decade or two ago. The general vibe in the bar matched the grey skies outside and the song ‘Everybody Hurts’ by R.E.M. playing in the background hardly li ed the mood. A longer shot of Mick appeared on the screen and Bazza removed his glasses. Mick’s dog came into focus and Bazza put his glasses back on, just before the whole image tumbled. Mick’s voice went up another few decibels.

‘You bloody mongrel. Go on….. get out of it….. you useless bloody thing.’ The decibels went up further and Mick’s swearing got worse….. a lot worse. The whole bar went silent and all eyes trained on Bazza and his face whitened and his hands shook slightly. He raised his eyes just above the screen and faltered with an explana on. ‘Mick’s ah dog…….. bloody dog…. stuffing things up.’ The bar a endant strode across, audibly sighed and adjusted the volume on the laptop. Bazza took a deep breath, a long drink and opened his mouth to speak but Mick cut him off. ‘Calling me a dog, eh Bazza? Pre y bloody low blow when I’ve gone to the trouble of staying in touch and even bought you a beer. Get stuffed!’ And the screen went blank.

Vol 16 September 15th 2017 Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018