Nice to meet you! Thanks for dropping by, I hope you'll find something here to grab your interest and make your day a little brighter!

I'm a 50 year-old divorced Mum of 2 kids, a daughter Sheree aged 31 and a son Brett aged 28. Sheree is unmarried and lives with me here in Tasmania, the lovely island state of Australia, where I was born and raised. Brett lives in Perth, Western Australia and has a lovely fiancée Renae. He drives trucks for a living, currently for a delivery service around Perth.

I'm a Bible-believing Christian of no particular persuasion. I have an Associate Diploma of Information Technology awarded in 1995, which means I can actually get paid to do what I love doing anyway ~ playing with computers! I can take one apart and put it back together again without too many screws being left over! These days though I think my qualifications would merely enable me to be a curator at a Museum of Computing...

My heritage is a proud Tasmanian one, of Irish, English, Scottish and Welsh origins. I have 20 convict direct ancestors in my family tree, some who were some of the first settlers in Tasmania and some who came via Norfolk Island on the Second and Third Fleets to Australia in the late 18th century. 

I also manage a group at http://haycousins.multiply.com for the descendants of Robert Hay (convict per "Calcutta", 1804) and Maria Hopper Hazelwood, daughter of Norfolk Island convicts William Hazelwood and Elizabeth Hopper. If you'd like to share resources and information about this wonderful large family, you're more than welcome to join!

You can read partial biographies of my convict ancestors here, the list is not yet completed though - it should only take me a couple more weeks.

The father of my 2 kids is of mixed origins - Australian Aboriginal (Baardi tribe, from around Lombadina and One Arm Point in north Western Australia), Asian and British. His great grandfather Jack Hunter operated pearl luggers out of Broome. I have a deep appreciation of indigenous cultures, but more than anything I just love people, no matter who they are or where they come from. So please, feel free to say g'day to me, and let me know how your day has been!!

HOBBIES: reading (non-fiction), creating greeting cards, desktop publishing, graphic design, knitting, crochet, computers, folk-art, lead-lighting, appliqué quilting, ceramics, learning languages (I am almost conversant in Spanish - Por favor, escríbeme si tú hablas español y te gustaría practicar el inglés conmigo), travel, and collecting rocks, and shells. I also love creating "stationery" for Outlook Express 6, and I also love creating fantasy scenery in Terragen!

But most of all, I'm a mad scrapbooker and even madder rellie hunter (family tree researcher)!! You can see my tree on Rootsweb.

FAVOURITE BOOKS: The Bible , of course! ... and in the secular realm, I love:

"Thanks a Lot, Guv!" by T. Garth Hyland. This has to be the best book I have ever read! It provides a semi-fictionalised account of Garth's 6 convict ancestors - John Ireland/Hyland and Harriet James, James Britton, Sophia and James Charles Gunyon and William Heard. Also included is the story of Isaac (Ikey) and Ann Solomon, who is not related to Garth but whose lives crossed with the others at various points and whose stories serve to flesh out the account of convict life in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) in the early days of settlement under what could be a cruel and inhumane system. If you'd like to buy this wonderful book, please contact me (addie below) and I will pass your message on to Garth. 

"Wild Swans" by Jung Chang. A real heart-breaker and I can't recommend it highly enough. This is an account of China under Chairman Mao, a definite case of "Emperor's New Clothes" went on there as in all Communist regimes.

"Dingo", by Sally Dingo, is her hubby Ernie's family biography, and in my opinion should be made required reading in high schools throughout Australia. It's brilliant!

"Escape", by Carolyn Jessop. This is a brilliant picture of life in a polygamous cult, run by men who see women as chattel, and a leader who, like so many despotic cult leaders, believe they have special revelations from God which are against the teachings of the Bible.

"The Little Hero", by Andrew Crofts. The story of Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who worked as a slave in a carpet-making factory. He escaped at the age of 10 and for three years worked tirelessly to release child slaves from other factories. He was assassinated in 1995 at the age of 13.

FAVOURITE SONGS: Amazing Grace (has been sung & played by many different people, but my favourites are: the one played by Native American traditional flute-player R. Carlos Nakai; and one sung back in the 70s by Judy Collins), Yolngu Woman (Yothu Yindi), and most of Enya's work. And I love Irish ceili music and Chinese erhu music!! I'm a big fan of Arauco Libre, an Andean folk music group originally from Chile who live here in Tasmania.

FAVOURITE FOOD: Anything edible - except broccoli!! (I'll happily debate its classification as food!) I love Chinese food, and sweet to mild curries. I love Kentucky Fried Chook but don't get to have it very often. E-mail me your favourite recipe, and I'll e-mail you one of mine!!

PEOPLE I ADMIRE:

• My kids, because they put up with me even when I'm a wee tad grumpy. (Which isn't all that often, I might add!)

• My pioneer ancestors - many of them were here because they were forced to be, and they did their best to forge a living from the land and to raise loving families. Others came here as free settlers in hope of new beginnings, and found love and respect with new families and neighbours.

• People who can speak more than one language fluently. Oh you clever clogs lot!!

• My daughter Sheree because she does most of the cooking, and she is a wonderful cook. Oh, and she doesn't force me to eat broccoli!!

• My son Brett because he rebuilt his own car from a mere shell at the age of just 18. I guess I did a good thing letting him pull apart all those old appliances and mechanical toys, and buying him little electronics sets, when he was a little fella! He's a beaut son too, always ready to help his Mum in whatever way he can.

• And "me Mum", just because she's mine!

This is me, showing off a cushion I made in 2002. It was the first time I'd done any sewing since I was 10 years  old - and now I'm thoroughly addicted!! I've since made more cushions, a lap quilt and numerous wall-hangings. All with appliqué!

See more of my family photos at http://mandy-jones.fotopic.net

Email Me! write to:

How many clever people found their way to this page? See below!

Special thanks to Primus for providing space for my page!