Happy New Year to you all

Santa manged to stuff these big things into his sack and the kids and their mother are out there now, having a great time on the trampoline.

I'm trying to motivate myself to sort out some paperwork so I have a clear start to the new year.  I've done the major cleaning jobs like dust, vacuum and clean windows and am now left with great piles of those wretched colour brochures with graphs, begging letters from charities, car registration papers, my Opal card (for trains, buses, etc), and various other annoying things that arrive in the mail and pile up and up because I hate attending to them and always leave them till later.  

The most urgent job is to answer emails.  Long overdue.  I always leave the ones in French and Italian till last, then try to get my brain into gear for these almost forgotten languages.  I so envy you clever people who learn a second or third language with ease and always retain it.

LATER  It's 8:45 pm and I've had a delicious dinner upstairs with the family and been to aquazumba. Now I'll sit down and watch the fireworks on telly.

Today's disaster is:

Oh dear, here we go again.  Another disaster.  I'm trying to decide if I'll stop listening to / watching / reading the news altogether.  I planned, this being Monday, to get back into normal routine this morning, but was woken by a peep from my iPad, telling me this plane has gone missing and I was thrown into the doldrums again.  (I used to speak Indonesian fluently and did a course in central Java many years ago and flew from Surabaya to Den Pasar in Bali on my way home.)  

Nevertheless, I made the effort to get to the swimming pool and swam 12 laps, then hosed the car and house windows when I got home.  I plan to have a big cleanup today.

I've listed 18 things as New Year resolutions, and will practise them between now and New Year's Day.  If I manage to keep to anything, I'll leave it on my list, otherwise forget it.

Winifred, I hope your sister is OK.  I've been hearing all about your dreadful weather on BBC4.  Today is absolutely perfect here, 23 degrees at the moment (10:15 am) and 30 forecast.  

Sad things happening...

Of course the kids got lots of presents and we had a feast yesterday but a pall has been cast over Christmas this year with the death of a friend and the news that another friend is dying.  Almost a disaster a day, it seems, with the dreadful things going on in the world.

You may well ask what a photo of a frog is doing here.  No logical reason whatsoever. This fellow and a mate were both swimming in the pool this morning, so we fished them out and put them into a dish of fresh water.  One hopped away, but this one stayed for quite a while, giving me some nice poses.  

If I haven't replied to your mail or card, please forgive me, as I've been feeling pretty low.

With my own eyes...

I went into the city yesterday to pay my respects to the two killed in the Lindt siege. 
Flowers stretched over a large area and it was touching to see.

As I type it has been announced on the radio that the killer's partner's bail has been revoked.  Thank goodness!  She was laughing at us.  I thought she would have gone underground - was surprised she actually turned up at the court.

Here she is with the murderer, in better days:

Amirah Droudis Man Haron Monis

Why bail was ever allowed for them both is beyond understanding.  She is charged with murdering his former wife and he with being an accessory (as well as many other offences).  Evil creatures, both.

Sad aftermath

Thousands of people are lining up to leave flowers for the siege victims.  

The press has gone right over the top - it was NOT a terrorist attack, but a deranged man who happened to be a Muslim.  There are sieges like this maybe every week across Australia and they don't get any publicity.

For what it's worth, Russell Brand agrees with me:

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/russell-brand-blasts-media-and-tony-abbott-for-linking-sydney-siege-to-terrorism-20141217-1293lr.html

Winifred, I hope your Philip and Janna have arrived safely.  I hate it when family/friends are in the air.

It was LOVELY to get a Skype surprise last night from a German epal!  I was absolutely thrilled.

Too sad for words...

A nightmare...it could have been any one of us.

Oh dear...

On Tuesday I completely forgot to have lunch with a friend.  Have never been so embarrassed in all my life!

Woke up to yet another storm

The plumber is here, putting in a pipe to divert some of the water.  Let's hope he gets it down before the next downpour.


3:55 pm
Another storm caught me just as I was picking Emma up from school and I couldn't take her to piano lesson as I had to rush home to see if the new pipe was working.  It was.  But I still needed to switch the pump on to get rid of some water, now flowing in from another direction.

Here's another good pic:

If you Google Sydney weather you'll see lots more.

Another day, another downpour

This is becoming monotonous - drains cleared out; new pump bought; towels; buckets.

And still more storms are forecast...

Yes, we're lucky to have our grandchildren so close, Winifred.  Ours are pretty good eaters, even greens.

More storms

Luckily the plumber solved the problem by cleaning tree roots out of all the drains!  Let's hope the one outside my bedroom won't overflow any more.  Yes Winifred, bringing the sunshine inside would be a very good idea - much cheaper than hiring that big blower.

This is a fabulous shot, a long exposure taken by a Sydney man.

More storms to come.  This is like February weather.  Not hard to believe the weather all over the world has changed.

It's raining at the moment, and hot and humid.  Emma has come down for her Saturday night with Nanny and the big countdown to Christmas.

Storm

Yesterday about 5:30 pm I was curled up on my bed reading when an almighty wind blew up, followed by torrential rain.  Poor Philip had just got off the bus a few doors down the street and was soaked. He burst into my bedroom, exclaiming that all was awash.  I'd been so engrossed in my book it hadn't entered my silly head that water might be lapping round the bed as had happened once before in a dreadful storm.

The problem is my granny flat is very low - too low - to the ground and the paved path outside slopes towards the building, instead of away from it.  There are several drains along the wall, but when there is an absolute torrent of rain in a few minutes, they can't cope, so the water flows into my bedroom and bathroom.

Philip put a hose into one of the drains to siphon some water downhill on the other side of the pool and we both then scooped bucketsful of water and threw it over the side fence. The whole downpour was over in about 10 minutes, but caused a huge problem.  We had to move a chest of drawers into the bathroom and put all the drawers on the bed, and put blocks under the piano. Once we've had a new drain put in we won't put carpet down again, but tiles.  For the moment we'll do nothing, as the carpet, in spite of two drenchings, is reasonable (and Muffy likes to eat lizards and vomit on it).

At 6 am this morning Philip hired the industrial blower in the photo and we left it on all day.  (Last time he got two, and left them both on for four days and nights.)  During the day I spent a long time sweeping leaves and bark from the deck, and scooping stuff out of the pool.  It was all very stressful and exhausting.

Unfortunately we're told to expect more summer storms.

10:30 pm  Oh no, another downpour.  Philip, Manami and I bailed out and were successful this time.  No water came inside.  Plumber will be called in the morning.

Friends everywhere

This mosque has been in the news lately, with the visit of Pope Francis, and I've put it here for you, Feyzi, (an online friend who is actually studying in Istanbul at the moment). 

Lovely to hear from you, Michael, and to know you are still looking at the blog.  Haven't heard from Olga for a while - are you about, or gallivanting round the world with Wadim?
And Bianka, what are you up to in your exciting life?

Winifred and Frank, you are both is constant touch, which is good.  And of course I often see Lina, who lives not far away.  Various other friends dip in and out of my life, but never disappear.

Summer tomorrow

I think Sydney's jacarandas get better and better every year.  I got this photo from the internet, but could just as easily have taken it myself, as this is what it looks like all round here.  This morning I took Emma to my favourite French patisserie for breakfast and now she's at a birthday party and I've been sitting by the pool reading the papers.  She's decided she wants to learn French, so we have a short lesson once a week and I've suggested she Skype her French grandfather (in LA) frequently, to keep her motivated.

I've just cooked some risoni, a new type of pasta - well, new for me - which I'll make into a salad and have with lamb cutlets for lunch.  Then I'll do my Christmas cards, play the piano and read some of P D James's last novel, 'The Private Patient', since she died last week and I'd never read any of her books. So far, I'm really enjoying it.  Will have a swim later in the afternoon.

The weather today is quite pleasant, though who knows what's ahead this summer.  I think I'll be staying inside a lot, where it's always about 10 degrees cooler than upstairs.

Winifred, I like the sound of that double expresso and some chocci biscuits!!!!  (You should have seen what I had at the patisserie this morning!  I'm depending on you, Frank, to peddle the extra fat off for me on your exercise bike!)  But who cares what I look like!

Oh what a feeling!

Finished sorting and tidying at last and all set to do my tax return tomorrow.  Clean, sweet-smelling sheets on the bed.

It's been a very hot day but here inside I don't feel the heat at all.  It's always cool in my home.  During the day I read the paper, had a swim, played the piano and listened to Radio 4.  Now I have some potatoes roasting in the oven with salt and rosemary, and am doing jigsaw puzzles and drinking a beer while I wait.

You'll notice I'm still standing at the computer - you can see it's on a box on my desk. Much healthier. But unfortunately I think all my breaststroking laps have affected my knee.  I went to a physiotherapist on Thursday and have to go back next week.  The knee cap seems a bit wobbly.

You exercise to stay healthy, and in the process do yourself an injury - you win some, you lose some!

Getting there...

Trouble is, I do have a filing cabinet, Frank, as well as the coloured drawers you can see in the last photo, but stuff arrives at such a rate I never seem to get round to filing it. And like you, Winifred, I come across lots of stuff to go through and can't quite work out what to label it as for filing.  Until I started this current tidy-up, the yellow container was full of unsorted stuff, but now it's stuff ready to throw out!

There's stuff from World Vision, International Fund for Animal Welfare, philosophy online courses, my late mother's purse containing the change and keys she had in her purse just before she died, cards written and drawn on by Emma, old diaries, bank statements, examples of children's handwriting and dictations, hundreds of receipts, old postcards, new cards, bookmarks, old letters, bills, spare buttons, etc.

At least now that I'm doing the blog frequently I can still remember how to do the photos.
As you can see in this one, Hugo has given up waiting for Nanny to play with him and has fallen asleep on the bed.

I usually print and bind a calendar each year but didn't do one last year, so of course couldn't remember how to do it this morning.  Philip printed one for me and after a bit of a wait I managed to dredge up from the bottom of my memory bank the way of binding it.
That's after I managed to find the binder in the storeroom...

Looking for something

How hopeless am I!!!!  I need a couple of receipts for my tax return and this was my bedroom last night!

Actually, it's the same this morning, and I will have to spend the entire day sorting things out.  It's the thing I hate most.  Into the bargain I have a swollen, stiff knee, which makes it very hard to get up and down.

Feeling miserable

Just now when I went to do the blog I held my camera in my hand and had absolutely no idea of how to get the photos out of it, into Picasa, the laptop and finally the blog!!!!!!!!! For several minutes I stood here racking my brain until eventually the solution came to me.  I had assumed there must be a cord to attach the camera to the laptop, so searched vainly for one, then it occurred to me that there was no cord, I simply had to take a little gadget (no idea what it's called) out of the camera and insert it into the laptop.

Since I've been feeling irritable and down for quite some time, I had planned to put in a photo I took the other day of a hailstorm, which pretty much illustrated my mood.  But none of the hailstorm photos had come out, and for some incomprehensible reason, about two thousand other photos, all of which are already in Picasa anyway, downloaded (uploaded?) themselves.

I have come to the conclusion that my moods are just as changeable as the weather - sunny and bright at times, then down in the dumps.  And for no apparent reason.

Anyway, with no hailstorm photos I chose this one (which might brighten me up).  I made these decorations for the Christmas tree last year.  (This year I've made some felt and sequin balls, but have not yet photographed them.)  I love sewing on sequins!

Winifred, the beautiful sculptures in the last blog are in the garden of the home of this man:  http://www.ulric-steiner.com.au/steiner/steiner_home.nsf  He lives a couple of km from me and I've only just discovered him.  The house is in the bush, on a steep slope, and the swimming pool is furthest down the slope.  That day Lina and I (and another friend) drove round the area to look at various exhibitions by Arcadian Artists.

Beautiful sculptures

Yesterday Lina and I visited some local artists and were most impressed with these sculptures.  Some people are just too clever!  The bushland setting was just gorgeous, as was the house itself with a swimming pool below the deck.

It's a while since I've made an entry.  Time flies too fast for me to keep up.  We retired folk always say, 'How did I have time to work?'

Still exercising or swimming six days a week and eating watermelon, rock melon, cherries, strawberries, mangoes, oranges and apples.  We are so fortunate in first world countries.

Creatures from Hugo's party

Hugo had pneumonia on his actual birthday, so we had the postponed party last Sunday.

The weather was perfect and we had the park almost to ourselves.

Mana excelled as usual, with the watermelon feast, dragon pinata and dragon birthday cake.  Philip was wonderful too, running all the games - egg and spoon race, pin the eye on the parrot, pass the parcel and hit the pinata.  It's not easy with 4-yr-olds, as they all want to win every prize!

Last night's storm

Strong winds, rain, thunder and lightning hit Sydney last night, and towns in the Blue Monuntains, a couple of hours' drive to the west, were snowed under where last year dozens of houses were ablaze.

And here was I thinking about swimming in our pool any day now.  It's only 17 degrees in my living room and I'm wearing winter clothes today.

Good to hear from you, Michael, with your impeccable English that would put many Australians to shame.

Lazy Sunday

This is the same view as the other day, but with the camera raised a bit to show the gum trees that were hidden before.

I like that expression, Winifred, 'brain engaged'.  That's it exactly!  It definitely takes longer and longer these days for my brain to engage when I attempt to do anything. Whenever I leave this blog too long between entries I have great difficulty remembering how to do it.  Getting the photos here is always tricky.

Don't think I've mentioned it's been like a hospital upstairs over recent weeks.  First Hugo had pneumonia, then his mum got sick, then Emma got pneumonia, followed by her dad getting sick.  And downstairs Muffy has been losing weight and barely eating.  I felt it was because the special diet food she's been on for about five years for a urinary problem was just too awful, and I was afraid to give her anything else in case it killed her.  So I took her to the vet and, a few hundred dollars later, have learnt she's got mild kidney disease and probably cystitis, which required antibiotics that made her vomit.  I picked up a different type of antibiotics this morning - no refund on the first packet that cost me $45, even though she'd only taken two out of 40.  The vet has also given her - sold me - tablets to stimulate her appetite, after telling me I could buy her a barbecued chicken and some tins of tuna in spring water till she works out whether to put her on a special kidney diet. Naturally Muffy wolfed down the chicken and tuna - she's not stupid - before even having the appetite stimulus.

It seems she's just sick and tired of her boring dried food and is yearning for a decent diet.  But since the vet sells the special food, am I going to be told the truth?

In spite of all my activity at the pool I still get exhausted and am going to my GP on Tuesday to get results of my latest blood test to see if that shows why.  Was too tired to have a coffee with Lina this afternoon, which really annoys me.  I spend most of my life sleeping, like a cat.

Ever so pleased with myself...

When I was upstairs the other day I noticed a couple of threadbare silk cushion covers, so volunteered to make some new ones.  Under my bed is a huge plastic bag full of materials, and I knew there was some Thai silk there that Philip had brought back from Thailand for me years ago.

I dragged the big bag out and spread the small bags all over my bedroom floor till I found the one I wanted, and set about cutting out and sewing.  Oh dear, I get annoyed with my own incompetence! I could barely remember how to use the machine, and sat for ages puzzling over the most basic things.  Then, of course, the thread kept breaking and I was nearly in tears because my eyesight is deteriorating and I could barely see to thread the needle again.  However, I did manage to finish one cover and decided to leave the second one till this morning when the light would be better.

After swimming my 10 laps at the council pool and having breakfast here beside our own pool, I set to, and in between hanging out a couple of loads of washing and Skyping a friend, am now thrilled to have two brand new cushion covers for upstairs!!

Next job is to clean up dozens of threads all over the floor, put away the ironing board, sewing things and machine.  By then, the washing will be dry as it's a beautiful day, so I'll put the sweet-smelling sheets back on the bed.

Garden haircut

At my instigation, Philip got three men in today to prune by half the trees round the deck. When we bought the place, the bushes were so thick you couldn't see through them, but recently I'd noticed that at night you could see the lights of the house at the back.  So we got advice and decided to prune back hard.  Thankfully, all that has been exposed is more trees further down the hillside. Soon new twigs and leaves will appear and thicken the screen.

I laughed at your encounter with the young man on the bus, Winifred.  I must say, in our local area, bus behaviour is exceptionally good.  Without exception, school kids offer adults a seat and every single person thanks the driver when they get off.  No feet on seats problems, as the seats are too close together!

Grumpy old woman

Yesterday I set out to revisit Woollahra, a suburb where I lived when Philip was 3.  I took this pic at the bus stop, a few doors down.

I travelled by train on the north shore.  Two seats in front a couple of teenage girls were sitting facing each other.  A couple, aged like me in their 70s, got on and went to sit in front of me.  As she sat down, the woman tapped one of the girls on the shoulder and said loudly, 'We have to sit on that,' presumably because she had her feet on the seat.  I tapped the woman on the shoulder, smiled at her, and said, 'Good on you!'.

At the next stop, another teenage girl got on, sat opposite me and put both her feet on the seat.  Emboldened, I said to her, 'Excuse me, we have to sit on that.'  To her credit, this girl said, 'Sorry,' and immediately took her feet off.  The woman in

front turned round with a big smile and a thumbs up.

Public transport would be all right if it wasn't for the public!

After a delightful visit to the Woollahra village, where I had lunch, I hopped on the bus and continued to Bondi Beach.

That was a mistake.  Bondi is an appalling area, with dreadfully ugly buildings.  It was an unusually hot day of 32 degrees, so the beach was crowded - well, the sand was crowded, not so many people actually in the water - and people packed onto the bus like sardines, with strollers and surfboards as well.  Couldn't get back to the oasis of Hornsby Heights quickly enough.

Time do do a little catching up

One year ago I sent this plant through InterFlora to Jacky and Maxime in Brittany (France) for their 50th wedding anniversary.  Yesterday I got this pic, showing how it has flourished!  It certainly was a good choice.  And Jacky must have green fingers.

It's school holidays and I'm breathing a big sigh of relief - no English, Japanese or piano lessons. However I'll keep up my fitness program and have already swum my 10 lengths this morning.  Today's task is to sort through the accumulated brochures and letters that I usually put to one side when they arrive.  They build up to a pile that almost reaches the ceiling before I force myself to attend to them.

Keeping fit is wearing me out!

Winifred,I don't think I'll be able to keep it up for a year like you.  It's not just the physical activities, but the changing of clothes and having showers all the time that I'm finding hard.  (Not to mention hanging onto our heads so the Muslims won't chop them off, as they're threatening to do to random Sydneysiders.  But since Hornsby Heights is as far as is possible away from the city centre, we might be lucky up here.)

I took these pics at the centre earlier this afternoon, at my second Zumba session.  As you can see, it is beautiful.  There has never been more than one other person in my slow lane in the outside pool, whatever time I've been.  (They really need to have a Painfully Slow lane for me.) The view from the west side is absolutely glorious - tree tops in the valley seen through a glass wall.

The last two pictures could be side-by-side.  They show the interior, with the pool at the bottom closed due to 'contamination'.  'Baby poo' in other words.  Oh, yuk!!!

It's quite possible for you to hear the music in UK - thank goodness it still is United - as we prance around.  Would somebody please explain to me why the noise level must be at maximum?  Seems it's the same for you, too, Winifred.  Don't know how long before it will drive me away.  I'm told the neighbours within a hundred-mile radius are complaining.

Fitness fanatic now!

Last Wednesday, tired of my slothful self after weeks of not being allowed to go to exercise class, I went to our new pool and joined, unlimited, for 6 months.  This entitles me to everything - Zumba, pilates and aqua classes as well as lap swimming.

So far I've breast-stroked 10 laps on three days, been to one Zumba class, and had a rest day on Sunday (as Philip assures me all elite athletes do).  And the plan is to do something six days per week every week.

Good to hear from you Olga - what a fantastic life you are having.  Hope you're OK Michael.

My very own recipe

DIANE’S MEATLOAF

1 pkt Aldi organic beef

5 slices bread, crumbed

3 tblspns tomato paste

dash Worcestershire sauce

1 egg

salt and pepper

flour to sprinkle

spray oil for tin

milk to brush on top

¼ onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

handful pine nuts

1 tspn garlic

Fry onion, carrot, pine nuts and garlic in a pan till soft.

Meanwhile, put all other ingredient (except flour, milk and spray) into a bowl.  Add fried ingredients.  Mix together by hand till firm.  Roll in flour.

Place in lightly sprayed rectangular baking tin, pat down, and brush top with a little milk.

Bake in 200 oven for 45 minutes.

Delicious as a sandwich filling.

                         ***********************************************

I do apologize for my long silence.  Busy, busy and sick, sick.  But completely fine now, and hope you all are, too.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry

I was sitting reading the paper this morning when a very wet Muffy flew inside in a great panic, leaving a wet trail behind her. I grabbed her and dried her in a towel and turned the heater on for her.  I went outside to see what had happened and took these photos of another very wet trail, this one leading from the pool to my bedroom door (just open enough for her to come in and out).  Lately she's been drinking from the pool, and this morning had obviously toppled in!

Poor darling - the water is freezing cold and the fall must have almost scared the life out of her! I'm so pleased she ran into Mummy for help, instead of doing something silly and running away.

A barbaric tale

Port Arthur Penitentiary (Tasmania) about 1850

How privileged we are, compared to the convicts.  Those poor devils would never have had to worry about cleaning products.

I just finished reading 'For the Term of his Natural Life' by Marcus Clarke, which I bought at Port Arthur in February.  The terrible cruelty and suffering made it hard to read.  And people are behaving just as badly today, in spite of Steven Pinker's latest book, 'The Better Angels of our Nature', putting forward facts that prove we are less violent.

Emma's birthday present

Emma and family are in Tasmania for her birthday and struck it lucky with the heaviest snow fall in 40 years at Cradle Mountain.  Lucky because snow hadn't even been forecast, yet it started to fall as soon as they arrived!

I've been catching up on your comments, Winifred and Infogenium.  Interesting what you both have to say about cleaning products.  And I've taken a renewed interest in cemeteries since you told me about Philip's book, Winifred, and planned to visit a couple today, but - oh, old age! - the other day I pinched a nerve in my right ankle and when I walk the ankle tends to collapse under me, so perhaps I'd better rest a bit longer.  I'll learn some Japanese instead.