ACCORDING to green thumb Jeannie Finlayson, the trick to a good flower arrangement is simple — they have to be beautiful.
As an accredited flower judge and president of the Victorian Floral Art Association (VFAA), Ms Finlayson knows her stuff.
The sprightly Swan Hill senior has been working with flowers since the late 1980s, and earned her flower judging credentials back in 1995, travelling around Australia to judge various shows and flower competitions.
“It’s like a therapy,” she says.
“When you’re doing flower arranging you have to concentrate, you can’t think about your worries.”
Ms Finlayson says judging requires an open mind and willingness to learn.
“You’ve got to keep doing it [competing] otherwise you really couldn’t be a judge,” she explains.
“You’ve got to keep current — it’s a bit like clothes, they change.”
And with Ms Finlayson just yesterday receiving a life membership to the VFAA, she shows no signs of slowing down.
“I intend to do it as long as I can stand and think.
“You have to think and concentrate so I’m hoping that it’s helping to keep me mentally and physically active.”
PETER Armstrong always had an inkling phones would become smarter.
He witnessed a myriad of improvements to the local telephone system during his 30 year career working at the Swan Hill Telephone Exchange, beginning as a trainee telephone technician in the early 1960s.
Back in the days before automatic phones, only 15 lines connected Swan Hill to Melbourne and locals used to have to book calls well in advance.
“Anywhere you wanted to call, you had to go through Melbourne,” Mr Armstrong said.
“In the case of emergency we would commandeer lines.”
He also recalls the struggles local farmers faced getting good quality phone lines back in the day.
“They had private lines they had to maintain themselves,” he says.
“They were pretty shoddy lines.
“[The improvements] must have helped them no end.”
FOR Alan ‘Pluto’ Phyland, cows have been a constant in his life.
Growing up on a dairy farm, Alan began working at the Swan Hill sale yards when he was just 16, continuing on in some capacity or another until his 74th birthday.
Retiring completely five years ago, Alan says he doesn’t miss the hustle and bustle of the sale yards, but he did miss the cows.
So now early every morning Alan rises and makes his way over to the cow pen, where he operates an antique electric midget milker, collecting fresh, unprocessed milk in a big silver bucket.
Then wife Gwen uses an old separating machine to collect the cream, churning home made butter from a recipe given to her by Alan’s mum.
According to Gwen, the Phyland’s might just be the only house in the district with a milking cow.
And despite recently undergoing surgery and put on strict instructions by his doctor to only perform light duties, milking has stayed part of Alan’s daily routine and he says he’ll keep milking until the cows come home.
“I prefer cattle to sheep, I reckon they’re smarter” says Alan.
“We all seem to get on pretty well together, me and the cows.”
