G'day Downhome people. We get your magazine each month and have been for many years. I'd like to share a few stories that have made me laugh out loud and puts a smile on my face when I think about them. My 3 year old niece, a very bright little girl, was sizing up her mother's friend who was heavily pregnant. After a few moments of staring, the expectant mum notices and tells my niece she has a baby in her belly. Without missing a beat my niece says, "You shouldn't eat babies." My nickname is Bernie, but very few call me this apart from my husband Harold. One day our neighbour's 5 year old was over hanging out in the kitchen while I was making lunch (toasted BLTs). Well the toast started burning, the smoke detector went off, and the child looks at me and asks, "Is that why Harold calls you Bernie?" Our girlfriend of many years lived in the Pilbara, which is inland dessert 1,200 km from the Australia coast, so we'd only catch up a few times a year. On one of those visits her young son was in our care while mum was out, so we decided to go to the beach. Upon arrival to the beautiful Indian Ocean this young lad, having never seen the ocean before, says, "Wow what a big pool!" And lastly, one of my favourites: I am from a very large family and have nephews and nieces that are my age and older...actually I met my husband through one of my nephews and we still remain best mates. So while we were much younger trying to save money to do the things in life you want to do, we shared a house with one of my nephews who is our age. My young niece used to visit with her mum often, since we all lived in the same city. One day while driving home from auntie's house, her daughter asks, "Mummy why does auntie have two husbands, one upstairs and one downstairs? These are all true stories and it would give me much joy to see them in print in our next Downhomer issue. Cheers! Marie Clarke   Submitted By: Harold Clarke