Unfortunately Elvis there isn't any insurance. She is a single Mum who lives from week to week on a single mother's pension mate.

We are here for them and doing what we can to try to get their life back on an even keel. Tricia bought a heap of clothing, mainly underwear ect, fir them and this afternoon and bought a quality fishing rod combo and tackle box to replace the middle boy's fishing gear that was burnt. Luckily the Manager of the shop is a good mate and he gave me a great deal. The rod combo is a graphite rid and shimano reel priced at $160...he have it to me for $79, and knocked $20 off the fully stocked tackle box, giving it to me for $29. I also bought two Winchester Knife and Multi Tool sets for $60, saving maybe $30 each. We bought these kits for the boys for Christmas but of course they were in the house. We will just keep on buying little things when we can to replace items destroyed. My daughter bought a Nikon D3300 Digital SLR package with two lens, and that too was in the house. I am trying to work out how I can replace it for Renee. My youngest daughter is looking at ways to replace a saddle for our grand daughter.
We will just keep beetling on, buying things when we can afford it to get them back on track. She has offers if furniture etc but until she gets back into a house that will have to wait.

Sad to hear Vince, praying all goes well in getting re-established
Let me know if you need some help

Thanks Tiks, your offer is very much appreciated mate.

That's a bad enough experience for anyone mate, never mind a single mum with health problems.
I know there's not a damn' thing I can do to help but tell her the Pom cares.

Thanks Mike. Those thoughts, prayers and cares go an awful long way towards fixing the despair that you feel when someone suffers a loss such as this. Just knowing that people care boosts morale greatly mate, so you are helping a lot, for which I am eternally grateful.

Damn, prayers sent to your daughter & grand kids.

Thanks OV1...as I said to Mike...those thoughts and prayers are important in helping to get past the despair.

Vince,
How are things going.
Everything starting to come together and settle down?
My previous offer is still available if they're still required.

Cheers

Thanks Pete...yes mate, your offer is gratefully accepted...we are just waiting until she can get into another rental so we can start restoring the house for her. She is awaiting approval in a place now.

She is starting to settle down a little, they say the two week point is where things either "blow up" or start to settle. The kids seem to have taken things in their stride, but kids tend to be like that. Renee is keeping busy with all of the necessary things that need doing after an event like this, and I think that is helping her cope.

The usual fools have come out of the woodwork after this sort of things happens, with accusations and suggestions of blame being bandied about. One lady, a supposed friend, was going to take them in and help until she could get another place. Long story short, her husband, a supposed friend, went behind her back and Renee ended up being put out and also lost about $600 in donations and assistance given by others...her supposed friends kept it all saying "it was given to us for helping". This has sparked a bit if outrage amongst some and there have been a couple if incidents that ended up with Police involvement...fences cut, car damaged and a phone call to the Police claiming the husband was suicidal and going to top himself (he is unlicenced and the .22 is not registered).

Renee is stepping back to distance herself from all the crap.

Them yesterday I got more bad news. I had a pest exterminator come in and do his thing and he found termites...fortunately it appears they are in the early stages.

If it's not one thing its another. I think I must have peed on a chinaman's grave.

Or maybe an "abbo"shawmans grave!

Could be right there Troubles...just hope they don't "point the bone" at me mate.

In answer to Bushy's query about how my family is going...my daughter and grandkids are slowly pulling their life back together after the fire. My daughter is adopting a very positive attitude in order to help her and the kids to put the loss of everything behind them and allow them to rebuild their lives.

There have been a couple of unpleasant occurrences in the form of nasty people out where she lives, unfortunately most revolving around the attitude of someone she thought was a good friend. Turns out these people took advantage of her situation to profit, totally restocking their larder at my daughter's "expense" by using a donation given to her by the local supermarket.

Renee was given a $1000 voucher to help her restock her household grocery and toiletry type items etc. This woman and her husband took Renee and the kids in, then said I have to slip into town and get a couple of things from the supermarket. Renee said to use the donation card because she wanted to pay her way. The woman took it, went into town and returned later with $400 worth of groceries, almost half of which was for her two year old twins (diapers, wipes, etc). Renee was a bit taken back but thought, oh well, she is helping us out.

A couple of hours later Renee was told she couldn't stay at their house and given her marching orders ! Rather than make waves Renee said no problems, can I take some of the groceries please because I'll need to feed my children at the place she was going stay. This woman then looked at her and said something along the lines of "do you have to?" Renee was a taken back as you can imagine, but said well, yes because I will need them. This woman then gave my daughter a one litre carton of UHT milk and a small box of tinned goods that was given to Renee separate to the $1K, to help tide her over until she got back on her feet. This was entirely separate from the $400 worth of things purchased by the woman. Renee then asked if she could have some of the meat this woman purchased with the $400, and this said, "if you must" and gave her 500 grams (one pound) of mince (ground hamburger) and a couple of small steaks ! Renee said she saw that the woman had purchased quite a few kilograms of chicken breasts (about 4kg) and steak (unknown qty), but that was for "her family" the woman said. Note that she didn't spend a cent of her own money.

Renee also bought with her to the house another lot of groceries etc that the local Church paid for ($160), and there was also a cash donation of $100 to help Renee feed and clothe her children etc. Renee put all this stuff together in the house and said this should help keep us going for a bit. This woman would not give any of it back to my daughter claiming it was all give to her because of her being a good person and taking them in when they were down. Suffice to say my daughter no longer considers this woman a friend. I have been told by another person in town that the two nights my daughter and grandkids spent at this woman's house cost her around $600 !

We have no idea who did it, but there have been a few retribution type things happen at the place where this woman lives. Apparently there was some damage allegedly done to her husbands car. They have three dogs there and none raised so much as a whimper, which leads me to think there is something very strange about the damage on the car because I know these dogs and they are usually barking and carrying on when someone gets with 50 yards or more of the house. Also, the front fence of their horse paddock was cut three times. My daughter and her kids swear they have no idea who is behind it, and they diasgree totally with what has been done. I was going to purchased 1000 metres of barbed wire to repair the front fence, but I have been told not to because the type of people they are, they will see it as an admittance of guilt.

Someone also rang the Police claiming to be the eldest grandson, saying the husband of this woman had a gun at the house and he was talking suicide because of the car and cut fences. Of course the Police rushed out there and spoke to him. He was a bit stand offish so they did a search of the house and found a .22 rifle in the bedroom cupboard. This guy is not licensed, the rifle is not registered, it was not locked away, the bolt was fitted and it was stored with a quantity of ammo. All of this is an offence under our firearms laws, so he is in deep sh1te over that...big fines and a possible jail sentence if the Police choose to push it hard.

Fortunately the majority of people in the town have seen things for what they are and Renee is getting plenty of support. There has been a couple of thousand dollars raised to help her and people are being very supportive. My long term goal is to build/acquire another horse float for her so she is able to take her two horses and kids to the Pony Club events that is the main thing the kids do, but I have a lot of saving to do before I can get there because a decent simple two horse straight load float will run to between $5K and $7K...money I don't have at the moment because I have just paid out $6700 to eradicate termites found in my house last week.

Anyway...I apologise for this being a bit of a saga, but, like Elvis, it has given me a chance to vent and get the unpleasantness off my chest, and now I can concentrate on getting my daughter's and grandkids lives back on track.

One final and important thing...I must thank our mate dhc4ever, Pete, for giving my daughter a set of pots and pans for the kitchen plus a fair swag of clothing for the kids. Mate, my daughter thanks you from the bottom of her heart for your help, as do I...it will never be forgotten.

I would put those peoples name and picture all over the town and what they or she did !!!!

Yeah, and I don't know what Face Book is like over there in heaven, but I would plaster their actions everywhere I could. If the guy kills himself that's more air for the rest of us. I have absolutely no sympathy for liars , cheats, and sum bags.

16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

Not suggesting any physical action, just public education.

Thanks Trembles...word is getting around the town surprisingly quickly about their actions mate. Chickens have already started to "come home to roost" mate.

Very sage words Lester, and I too share the same attitudes as you mate...no time for people that have no integrity. I'm not going to break heads mate...the satisfaction is only momentary and will get me into trouble. No, I will just let karma work it's magic mate.