I parked today in in Gembrook's main street, as I often do, to buy something at the local IGA or go to the post office newsagency There, right in front of me, planted in the strip between the road and the footpath is a large sign telling me of the bushfire rating of the day. It's in the form say, of a fuel gauge on your car dashboard, but instead of a needle that indicates the level of fuel in your tank from empty left, to right to full, this one goes from low, green, through to red with black stripes for Code Red. In between are the ratings, moderate, high, severe, extreme.
Today the sign indicated that that the fire risk today was low. Tell me something I didn't know! of course it has shown me this every day for July, and for all of June, and all of May, and most of April. Before that I don't recall, I guess that for March, Feb, Jan and Dec, the needle moved around from low through to extreme, someone would have manually moved it when necessary as it has no automated ability to move according to the weather conditions.
Gembrook is not alone with this sign. I have seen them situated in just about every country town the length and breadth of Victoria. I have often wondered about the total cost of this and who pays for it, although I'm sure that ultimately it's the tax payer.
My point is this - it's a total waste of money, besides being an ugly affliction to the streetscape.
Do I really need to be told today that today was a low bushfire rating? And when it is a hot day come December and the wind picks up, do I really need to be told that the bushfire rating is high? And what if it's 45C with a howler gale? Do I need the sign to tell me it is extreme? And if there's smoke in the nostrils and ash dropping, the code red indicator may be a little late!
Every man woman and child should be well aware of fire danger without the need of a sign to tell us. There's something terribly wrong if we need to go see a sign to tell us. And all this stuff about bushfire strategy plans is very suspect. The instinctive thing is to not be downwind in bush land on a hot windy day, and if there's the smell of smoke or sign of smoke in the distance, get the hell away from timbered areas and into cleared farmland, or the concrete jungle.
It's seems simple to me. No need for the ugly expensive signs. And no need for all the in-fighting we've seen with the CFA and the unions and government policy. The common enemy is the bushfire and it needs united effort of the highest management quality of all resources. All this bickering makes me sick. It's silly squabbling over the spoils of the war chest, the multi billion dollar war on bushfire, most of which is wasted money. I don't care who's in charge so long as the chain of command and the intelligence is the best possible.
It should be automatic that all of us are watching the horizon and smelling the air on a hot day and make sure we are not in the path of a potential fire storm.
No need for those silly bloody ugly signs.
Sunday, July 31, 2016
Saturday, July 23, 2016
A Big Week
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| From Shirley's place |
Spring is coming with a rush. Japonica, witch hazel, daphne, it's all go.
I am pleased to say I am working well. I have little pain since I went on the Abatacept weekly injections, combined with the methotrexate and low dose cortisone I'm almost pain free and have enthusiasm and surprise myself with my vigour.
I love this pic of little Pip. And luculia on a winter's day, and gardenia from Shirley Hughes now at our front door.
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| In my van with the autumn foliage |
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| Scented beauty |
Monday, July 18, 2016
The Good the Bad and Rickyralph
Let's start with Rickyralph. He's now level pegging with me in the footy tipping. He tipped Hawthorn and I Sydney last weekend. The Hawks stole it with a bit of help from the umps.
Now the Bad. Melbourne has lost 14 games in a row to the Saints, and 24 of their last 25 at Etihad Stadium. Damning stats.
The Good? I took Rickyralph's tips for a 9 multiple, as well as mine, but in each I had a saver with Port Adelaide as well as North, as I reckoned Port might get up. So I was almost barracking for the Saints to beat Melbourne on Sunday, and one of my 4 tip nines, $5 each, came in paying $179 for my $20 outlay. At least I was happier than usual when my team loses, which is often.
Now the Bad. Melbourne has lost 14 games in a row to the Saints, and 24 of their last 25 at Etihad Stadium. Damning stats.
The Good? I took Rickyralph's tips for a 9 multiple, as well as mine, but in each I had a saver with Port Adelaide as well as North, as I reckoned Port might get up. So I was almost barracking for the Saints to beat Melbourne on Sunday, and one of my 4 tip nines, $5 each, came in paying $179 for my $20 outlay. At least I was happier than usual when my team loses, which is often.
Tuesday, July 05, 2016
Election
My prediction of a landslide LNP coalition victory was certainly wrong and it seems the event has got us nowhere. For my part I voted at about lunchtime at the local primary school after standing in a queue. The best part about it was seeing and talking to my friend Dulcie who was handing out Greens voting pamphlets.
The Emerald Secondary College had sausage sizzle going but I didn't see one person buy a sausage, the people on the queue were not in the mood for them at $2.50 each and $1.50 for a can of soft drink. there were many people I had never seen before including a mum and dad in front of me with three rowdy kids. The bloke bent over to pick up his demanding toddler every second minute then put it down again, each time his bum crack exposed, the mum, whose hair at the ends was died bright pink, was speaking very loudly to the other two in banal kiddie speak and I was finding it all hard to take. There was woman with purple hair, blokes with grotty track suits and sneakers and baseball caps, and shaved heads and bits of metal stuck in lips ears top and lobes or eyebrows. Another pair of parents with metal facial paraphenalia and black clothes attended a baby in a pram, the mothers arms and the backs of her hands heavily tattooed.
It was relief to see my friend Barbara come out of the voting area, she spotted me and came over to me. I noticed she had a handkerchief in her mouth covering her lower lip and realized straight away she had not found her lower teeth. Mum told me she had called in top pick up a posy last Friday at the farm and she was distressed because she had lost her lower teeth somehow and was upset and couldn't really talk properly with mum. Barb told me the posy was lovely and she had the box and tin it was packed in in her car and if she could give it to me it would save her taking it back to Elvie. I said yes and followed her to her car after asking the bloke behind me if he would let back in the queue in a few minutes.
The day had started badly when Lib on her way to work was distracted trying not to spill her cup of tea and got her front wheels off the gravel and slid nose first into the shrubbery, thoroughly bogging her car. She took Ian's Subie instead and I rang her work to say she'd be a few minutes late. It was dark still and cold and wet, and besides not being able to see I couldn't have got the car out easily anyway so I pretended it wasn't there and got on with the laundry before going to back to bed for an hour or so.
I baked some Cippollini onions in prep for our visitors coming the next day, to add to the numerous dishes Lib had prepared, and bought a tomato and bacon quiche at the bakery as instructed and also a chicken breast which I cut up into small pieces and baked in the oven with the onions. These dried out meat treats I give to Pip at different times and a batch lasts a few weeks. I set the fire and organized wood for a few days and before I knew it Lib was home from work. I found a tow rope and managed to pull Lib's car out forwards with the Subie in low ratio after cutting away shrubbery. There was little damage, just a busted headlight protector.
I didn't watch must of the election count on TV, I watched a bit of footy and fell asleep in the chair.
My prediction may have been wrong but I do think our nation is in serious crisis. Turnbull talks of 'Jobs and Growth' but the only businesses proliferating around this district are coffee shops, pizza shops or real estate agents. Jason Wood has promised money to do up the local footy club rooms, and those at Officer, and has pledged $5mil to Puffing Billy to set up a Heritage Centre at Emerald Lake Park to attract hordes of Chinese tourists (the last thing I want to see I might add) - pork barreling at it's best, like the $8million Police station and the $2mil firestation at Emerald from the Libs after the state election before last.
Hopefully the phone will be a little quieter now that politicians and survey seekers will be taking a break. The calls will now be from the multitude of charities that are forever seeking money. The media was full of tales about beggars in Melbourne recently, homeless people camping and asking for money. These charities are sophisticated beggars, always wanting money. The telemarketers rattle of their spiel with hardly a break for breath, the theory is - "keep em on the line, make em think they've taken up your valuable time as you crusade for good, they'll give you something if you you make em feel they've used up your valuable time."
Just like the car salesmen tactics described brilliantly in Stienbeck's 'The Grapes of Wrath', which I'm re reading now after 40 years, and realizing how relevant the theme is in today's world. The telemarketers work on commission just like the car salesmen.
There's something seriously wrong with government in this country and we are in a real mess. And now we have Pauline Hanson back! What does it say about us?
The Emerald Secondary College had sausage sizzle going but I didn't see one person buy a sausage, the people on the queue were not in the mood for them at $2.50 each and $1.50 for a can of soft drink. there were many people I had never seen before including a mum and dad in front of me with three rowdy kids. The bloke bent over to pick up his demanding toddler every second minute then put it down again, each time his bum crack exposed, the mum, whose hair at the ends was died bright pink, was speaking very loudly to the other two in banal kiddie speak and I was finding it all hard to take. There was woman with purple hair, blokes with grotty track suits and sneakers and baseball caps, and shaved heads and bits of metal stuck in lips ears top and lobes or eyebrows. Another pair of parents with metal facial paraphenalia and black clothes attended a baby in a pram, the mothers arms and the backs of her hands heavily tattooed.
It was relief to see my friend Barbara come out of the voting area, she spotted me and came over to me. I noticed she had a handkerchief in her mouth covering her lower lip and realized straight away she had not found her lower teeth. Mum told me she had called in top pick up a posy last Friday at the farm and she was distressed because she had lost her lower teeth somehow and was upset and couldn't really talk properly with mum. Barb told me the posy was lovely and she had the box and tin it was packed in in her car and if she could give it to me it would save her taking it back to Elvie. I said yes and followed her to her car after asking the bloke behind me if he would let back in the queue in a few minutes.
The day had started badly when Lib on her way to work was distracted trying not to spill her cup of tea and got her front wheels off the gravel and slid nose first into the shrubbery, thoroughly bogging her car. She took Ian's Subie instead and I rang her work to say she'd be a few minutes late. It was dark still and cold and wet, and besides not being able to see I couldn't have got the car out easily anyway so I pretended it wasn't there and got on with the laundry before going to back to bed for an hour or so.
I baked some Cippollini onions in prep for our visitors coming the next day, to add to the numerous dishes Lib had prepared, and bought a tomato and bacon quiche at the bakery as instructed and also a chicken breast which I cut up into small pieces and baked in the oven with the onions. These dried out meat treats I give to Pip at different times and a batch lasts a few weeks. I set the fire and organized wood for a few days and before I knew it Lib was home from work. I found a tow rope and managed to pull Lib's car out forwards with the Subie in low ratio after cutting away shrubbery. There was little damage, just a busted headlight protector.
I didn't watch must of the election count on TV, I watched a bit of footy and fell asleep in the chair.
My prediction may have been wrong but I do think our nation is in serious crisis. Turnbull talks of 'Jobs and Growth' but the only businesses proliferating around this district are coffee shops, pizza shops or real estate agents. Jason Wood has promised money to do up the local footy club rooms, and those at Officer, and has pledged $5mil to Puffing Billy to set up a Heritage Centre at Emerald Lake Park to attract hordes of Chinese tourists (the last thing I want to see I might add) - pork barreling at it's best, like the $8million Police station and the $2mil firestation at Emerald from the Libs after the state election before last.
Hopefully the phone will be a little quieter now that politicians and survey seekers will be taking a break. The calls will now be from the multitude of charities that are forever seeking money. The media was full of tales about beggars in Melbourne recently, homeless people camping and asking for money. These charities are sophisticated beggars, always wanting money. The telemarketers rattle of their spiel with hardly a break for breath, the theory is - "keep em on the line, make em think they've taken up your valuable time as you crusade for good, they'll give you something if you you make em feel they've used up your valuable time."
Just like the car salesmen tactics described brilliantly in Stienbeck's 'The Grapes of Wrath', which I'm re reading now after 40 years, and realizing how relevant the theme is in today's world. The telemarketers work on commission just like the car salesmen.
There's something seriously wrong with government in this country and we are in a real mess. And now we have Pauline Hanson back! What does it say about us?
Monday, June 27, 2016
Normie's Yellow Rose
Normie's Rose; 10 days after the funeral service it still is beautiful. Norma's favourite flower was the yellow rose and her casket had them dominating and we were invited to take one home.
Sunday, June 26, 2016
Nearly There
Next Saturday we finally reach election day after the longest campaign in my recollection.
My phone rings daily, my mailbox is full of election stuff, Jason Wood's photo with Malcolm Turnbull looks at me everywhere I drive, and the radio talkback is constantly going on about it, and it is in every newspaper front and square.
It looks to me that it will be an annihilation. Turnbull will be returned and Labour will be decimated, perhaps the ruination of the Labour Party forever, maybe it is totally finished.
As disappointing as Turnbull is to me, it was a master stroke to get rid of Abbott. Abbott gave Shorten some chance.
So, my call is early. Labour is finished. It does not surprise me. Unionism is finished.
Sadly, it is a comedy of uselessness. Australia is cruelled by greed and laziness.
A country driven to point of ruin by self interest greed and laziness.
My phone rings daily, my mailbox is full of election stuff, Jason Wood's photo with Malcolm Turnbull looks at me everywhere I drive, and the radio talkback is constantly going on about it, and it is in every newspaper front and square.
It looks to me that it will be an annihilation. Turnbull will be returned and Labour will be decimated, perhaps the ruination of the Labour Party forever, maybe it is totally finished.
As disappointing as Turnbull is to me, it was a master stroke to get rid of Abbott. Abbott gave Shorten some chance.
So, my call is early. Labour is finished. It does not surprise me. Unionism is finished.
Sadly, it is a comedy of uselessness. Australia is cruelled by greed and laziness.
A country driven to point of ruin by self interest greed and laziness.
Sunday, June 19, 2016
On a Winter's Day
I woke this morning and went outside to relieve the full bladder to be enthralled by the jousting magpies whose warbling and acrobatics have delighted me all this month.
It must be the first sign of spring as these beautiful native birds presumably are asserting territory in the prelude to the mating season. A group of about 8 birds have been darting and chasing in twos or threes from tree to tree in spectacular competition accompanied by magnificent song during interludes when resting in perches.I think it must be parent birds chasing away young from last year's breeding prior to this years, as I believe happens.
There was plenty of sunshine this morning to cheer the spirit of this pilgrim as I soaked up the luxury of a day at home after a tough week. On Thursday I woke and opened the back door to find only one gumboot where there should have been two. Must be a neighbour's dog doing devilment was my conclusion, the same creature that regularly pulls things out of the recycling box at the back door during the night, chewing up yoghurt containers and foil that has had food traces in it.
Gord and I went to 'Blossoms' funeral that same day, at the Springvale Crematorium starting 11.15am. I'm glad we went. She was a good friend. I'm saddened that I will not see her again. Norma had said what she wanted at her funeral service and I was a little disappointed for two reasons. Firstly there was no mention of her marriage to Henry and her time at Emerald which was about a decade, and secondly, the concluding song at the service was 'My Way' by Frank Sinatra. I would have preferred something better, if you listen closely to the lyrics of that song it is not a nice song, it is a selfish construct, and I read somewhere it is the no 1 choice for funeral service songs. Normie could have done better surely. Nevertheless I teared up a bit.
From there we went on to Mentone pick up some beekeeping supplies in prep for next spring. It rained all the way and the traffic was horrible. We late lunched at Parkmore shopping centre then went to FTG where I bought some new 'Oliver' work boots and then on to Lowes at Knox where Gord wanted something or other. All the way traffic horrible. Melbourne is a hell hole. I finished in Tecoma for a massage and Chiro adjustment and got home in the dark after what seemed like a whole day driving in traffic, which it was really. Exhausting.
Friday was not the quiet recovery I hoped for. Orders came in at 10.30am for a whole lot of stuff extra to what I had already known about and planned to do at leisurely pace. Therefore followed 7 hours of picking top pace no break to speak of in drizzly shitty weather. Completing that we went to Monbulk to pick up the take away Chinee for dinner and to shop at Aldi and the green grocer, and drive home in the dark and drizzle without my glasses which I had left at home. Exhausted again.
Sadly, there was another vanishing incident to outdo the gumboot of the previous day. I do like dim sims, steamed Chinese home made ones. I bought 6, two entrees of three each, so that I would have some for left overs to have with the fried rice and noodles that are always left over for the day or two following. Well, after taking a drink of white wine and getting in my footy tips to Rr and placing a few footy multibets I took a bath. I'd seen Gordy eat a dim sim and his spring rolls before heading to the bath then when I came out I had a plate of SFrice and Singapore noodles and checked where the dim sims were, yes fine in the fridge, I'd have them tomorrow. Now I do like Chinese food but my tastes are simple... dim sims, fried rice, noodles. I leave all the other sloppy stuff to others, I'm happy to leave all that.
I was completely peeved when I went to get a dim sim or two yesterday to have with the left over rice. Lib took them to work for lunch and of the whole 6 I bought I had narry a one. The others had eaten the prawn entree and the spring rolls and all my dim sims to boot. I was left with all the sloppy stuff.
Fried up in the pan though it was pretty good.
It must be the first sign of spring as these beautiful native birds presumably are asserting territory in the prelude to the mating season. A group of about 8 birds have been darting and chasing in twos or threes from tree to tree in spectacular competition accompanied by magnificent song during interludes when resting in perches.I think it must be parent birds chasing away young from last year's breeding prior to this years, as I believe happens.
There was plenty of sunshine this morning to cheer the spirit of this pilgrim as I soaked up the luxury of a day at home after a tough week. On Thursday I woke and opened the back door to find only one gumboot where there should have been two. Must be a neighbour's dog doing devilment was my conclusion, the same creature that regularly pulls things out of the recycling box at the back door during the night, chewing up yoghurt containers and foil that has had food traces in it.
Gord and I went to 'Blossoms' funeral that same day, at the Springvale Crematorium starting 11.15am. I'm glad we went. She was a good friend. I'm saddened that I will not see her again. Norma had said what she wanted at her funeral service and I was a little disappointed for two reasons. Firstly there was no mention of her marriage to Henry and her time at Emerald which was about a decade, and secondly, the concluding song at the service was 'My Way' by Frank Sinatra. I would have preferred something better, if you listen closely to the lyrics of that song it is not a nice song, it is a selfish construct, and I read somewhere it is the no 1 choice for funeral service songs. Normie could have done better surely. Nevertheless I teared up a bit.
From there we went on to Mentone pick up some beekeeping supplies in prep for next spring. It rained all the way and the traffic was horrible. We late lunched at Parkmore shopping centre then went to FTG where I bought some new 'Oliver' work boots and then on to Lowes at Knox where Gord wanted something or other. All the way traffic horrible. Melbourne is a hell hole. I finished in Tecoma for a massage and Chiro adjustment and got home in the dark after what seemed like a whole day driving in traffic, which it was really. Exhausting.
Friday was not the quiet recovery I hoped for. Orders came in at 10.30am for a whole lot of stuff extra to what I had already known about and planned to do at leisurely pace. Therefore followed 7 hours of picking top pace no break to speak of in drizzly shitty weather. Completing that we went to Monbulk to pick up the take away Chinee for dinner and to shop at Aldi and the green grocer, and drive home in the dark and drizzle without my glasses which I had left at home. Exhausted again.
Sadly, there was another vanishing incident to outdo the gumboot of the previous day. I do like dim sims, steamed Chinese home made ones. I bought 6, two entrees of three each, so that I would have some for left overs to have with the fried rice and noodles that are always left over for the day or two following. Well, after taking a drink of white wine and getting in my footy tips to Rr and placing a few footy multibets I took a bath. I'd seen Gordy eat a dim sim and his spring rolls before heading to the bath then when I came out I had a plate of SFrice and Singapore noodles and checked where the dim sims were, yes fine in the fridge, I'd have them tomorrow. Now I do like Chinese food but my tastes are simple... dim sims, fried rice, noodles. I leave all the other sloppy stuff to others, I'm happy to leave all that.
I was completely peeved when I went to get a dim sim or two yesterday to have with the left over rice. Lib took them to work for lunch and of the whole 6 I bought I had narry a one. The others had eaten the prawn entree and the spring rolls and all my dim sims to boot. I was left with all the sloppy stuff.
Fried up in the pan though it was pretty good.
Thursday, June 09, 2016
Footy Tipping
Well were almost to the halfway mark of the season.
I'm pleased to say I'm leading our home comp, on 70. Gord is next on 69, Rickyralph is 67, and Lib brings up the rear on 58. Rickyralph keeps banging away but has so far not been able to to bridge the gap on me that I established early on.
The funny thing is that he tipped 9 last week and caught up on me one as I only had 8, but because my tip was speculative on Melbourne beating Hawthorn, which didn't happen, I put $5 on Rr's tips with Sportingbet and collected $88 for the 9 multiple.
I'm pleased to say I'm leading our home comp, on 70. Gord is next on 69, Rickyralph is 67, and Lib brings up the rear on 58. Rickyralph keeps banging away but has so far not been able to to bridge the gap on me that I established early on.
The funny thing is that he tipped 9 last week and caught up on me one as I only had 8, but because my tip was speculative on Melbourne beating Hawthorn, which didn't happen, I put $5 on Rr's tips with Sportingbet and collected $88 for the 9 multiple.
Cheese
The crisis in the dairy industry has made big news recently and I sympathize greatly with dairy farmers. I heard it said somewhere in the media that we should all make sure we buy Australian milk in order to support the dairy industry.
We don't buy a lot of milk but I have never even considered that the milk we buy is from anywhere other than Australia. It is incomprehensible to me how or why we would import milk when we have so much of it here, and if we did how it could be competitive on price after travelling from overseas.
It has also been said we should eat more cheese and i have been doing my best. Cheese I love and I snack on it most days when I come home from work with a few dry biscuits. Also it is my habit to put grated cheese over certain left over meals say like tuna rice or risotto as I heat in the pan with a sprinkle of cayenne pepper. Mumma Mia! Grilled cheese on toast with or without tomatoes is also a treat, melted cheese is a delight.
And there are so many types of cheese to enjoy. I adore grated Parmesan on my spaghetti sauce and don't mind some blue vein now and again.
And let's not forget that great companion to cheese - wine.
Oh how I'm looking forward to getting home tomorrow night to enjoy the open fire and some Friday night wine and cheese. Even a terribly dead and boring footy match like Essendon and Hawthorn will not be able to spoil that.
We don't buy a lot of milk but I have never even considered that the milk we buy is from anywhere other than Australia. It is incomprehensible to me how or why we would import milk when we have so much of it here, and if we did how it could be competitive on price after travelling from overseas.
It has also been said we should eat more cheese and i have been doing my best. Cheese I love and I snack on it most days when I come home from work with a few dry biscuits. Also it is my habit to put grated cheese over certain left over meals say like tuna rice or risotto as I heat in the pan with a sprinkle of cayenne pepper. Mumma Mia! Grilled cheese on toast with or without tomatoes is also a treat, melted cheese is a delight.
And there are so many types of cheese to enjoy. I adore grated Parmesan on my spaghetti sauce and don't mind some blue vein now and again.
And let's not forget that great companion to cheese - wine.
Oh how I'm looking forward to getting home tomorrow night to enjoy the open fire and some Friday night wine and cheese. Even a terribly dead and boring footy match like Essendon and Hawthorn will not be able to spoil that.
Sunday, June 05, 2016
Vale Normie
The phone rang today, my mobile, at about 3pm. As it rang I was taking out the cards in the bottom draw of our kitchen with the intent of writing a birthday card for my friend Norma who was to turn 79 years old next Thursday the 9th of June. It has been a custom of Norma and I to send each other a tattslotto ticket and a card on our birthdays for the last twenty years or so. I thought I'd post it on my way up to watch the last quarter of the local footy, to save me having to do it next Monday and risk forgetting.
The mobile phone was in my office and I quickly dropped the stack of cards I'd taken from the drawer and managed to take the call before the caller hung up. It was my friend Craig, a young man of great quality whom I met through Norma some 20 plus years ago, and who through all that time I have had business dealings to our mutual benefit albeit on a small scale. He was a young man just left school when I met him, and with his young lady companion Leanne was embarking on a career in the nursery industry. They married and started a wholesale tube sale business on line and have gone on to great success and have two children. I regularly get plants from Craig, and he regularly takes cuttings at the farm and NHP. No money changes hands, our dealings are on a favour basis in the best of spirit.
Craig told me he had received word from his mother that Norma died on Friday. In the card I was about to write her I was to say that we, Gord and I, would be down to visit her in the next week or so. It has been my habit to visit her a couple of times a year. Gord and I last visited in February, after she had moved from Banyule to Balwyn after the subsidized housing she was in sold up for development and she had to find somewhere else, this time a Catholic church residence, a tiny flat.
Norma had a florist shop in Armadale through the 1970's My father used to sell posies and vegies to her on his deliveries. She married foliage grower Henry from Emerald in the 1970's and lived with him at Emerald in the 1980's after she concluded her business. She visited the farm regularly to buy vegetables and we picked foliage and flowers on their property.
In the early 1990's Henry took ill, Normie went to court, to go for an out of time settlement 19 years after their marriage as they had separated within one year, lived apart for some time then got back together although divorced. It was an an ugly situation with great acrimony between Norma and her husband's daughter, her step daughter. I could write much about the dramatic events at the time which involved me coincidentally but there is no need for it in this post.
Norma came out of it with a pay out which was taken out almost completely by $110,000 legal costs and she was basically penniless for the last twenty years or so, living on a pension and paying rent.
She was a powerful personality who pushed me to the limit of my patience at times but through it all she was a great friend who offered her best wisdom even if it was sometimes a little overbearing. But she was always there as a friend, on the phone, and when I visited. She was a brilliant cook, her soups were magnificent and she taught me much. She was a raconteur and had an interesting life. In the late 1950's she went out with Big Bob Johnson, Melbourne ruckman and forward, and she was friends with Bart Cummings and cricketer Keith Miller.
I will miss her greatly. She has been there to pump up my tyres for such a long time, and I'm very sad that I'll not see her again. Not on his plane anyway.
The mobile phone was in my office and I quickly dropped the stack of cards I'd taken from the drawer and managed to take the call before the caller hung up. It was my friend Craig, a young man of great quality whom I met through Norma some 20 plus years ago, and who through all that time I have had business dealings to our mutual benefit albeit on a small scale. He was a young man just left school when I met him, and with his young lady companion Leanne was embarking on a career in the nursery industry. They married and started a wholesale tube sale business on line and have gone on to great success and have two children. I regularly get plants from Craig, and he regularly takes cuttings at the farm and NHP. No money changes hands, our dealings are on a favour basis in the best of spirit.
Craig told me he had received word from his mother that Norma died on Friday. In the card I was about to write her I was to say that we, Gord and I, would be down to visit her in the next week or so. It has been my habit to visit her a couple of times a year. Gord and I last visited in February, after she had moved from Banyule to Balwyn after the subsidized housing she was in sold up for development and she had to find somewhere else, this time a Catholic church residence, a tiny flat.
Norma had a florist shop in Armadale through the 1970's My father used to sell posies and vegies to her on his deliveries. She married foliage grower Henry from Emerald in the 1970's and lived with him at Emerald in the 1980's after she concluded her business. She visited the farm regularly to buy vegetables and we picked foliage and flowers on their property.
In the early 1990's Henry took ill, Normie went to court, to go for an out of time settlement 19 years after their marriage as they had separated within one year, lived apart for some time then got back together although divorced. It was an an ugly situation with great acrimony between Norma and her husband's daughter, her step daughter. I could write much about the dramatic events at the time which involved me coincidentally but there is no need for it in this post.
Norma came out of it with a pay out which was taken out almost completely by $110,000 legal costs and she was basically penniless for the last twenty years or so, living on a pension and paying rent.
She was a powerful personality who pushed me to the limit of my patience at times but through it all she was a great friend who offered her best wisdom even if it was sometimes a little overbearing. But she was always there as a friend, on the phone, and when I visited. She was a brilliant cook, her soups were magnificent and she taught me much. She was a raconteur and had an interesting life. In the late 1950's she went out with Big Bob Johnson, Melbourne ruckman and forward, and she was friends with Bart Cummings and cricketer Keith Miller.
I will miss her greatly. She has been there to pump up my tyres for such a long time, and I'm very sad that I'll not see her again. Not on his plane anyway.
Saturday, June 04, 2016
Count Your Blessings
On the phone a couple of weeks ago I asked a lady friend to have lunch with me. She declined as she had an appointment on the day I was suggesting and couldn't make it. I was disappointed, but it was important that I had made the invitation, for reason that I will explain.
There was nothing in my invitation of a picnic in the park that could be seen as untoward. The lady is a casual friend whom I have known for some years. I first met her through an involvement I have in a local organization which caused us to liaise now and again and see each other incidentally over a period of years. Our contact was cordial, polite, respectful, pleasant if I think back, she is one of those people you are always pleased to see, who leaves you feeling a little better about the day and the world in general.
Years passed and our involvement ceased on an organizational level but we bumped into each other shopping every couple of months or so and always had a yarn in a warm friendly exchange. The lady, younger than me by a decade or so, had an interesting local family history and in her own right her life story justified me to ask her if I could do a profile on her for Signpost magazine. She agreed and it was on the agenda but I didn't get around to it before I stopped writing for Signpost at the end of last year.
A couple of months ago we met shopping in Woolworths and I apologized for not having followed through and explained that I had ceased doing the Signpost articles. She was not concerned, and told me that her mother, who would have been an important part of the story, had died recently.
I then said that I had not got around to doing a profile on her good friend's father either, I had asked him about it once and he was reluctant but told me to try him again later when he didn't have so much on. She asked did I hear about her good friend. I said no.
"She died on Christmas Eve".
This floored me. She went on to say that her friend woke up with a splitting head ache and after no improvement she sought medical assistance but before any could happen she collapsed and an ambulance was called but she died quickly from a massive stroke, aged about 50, leaving a husband and teenage family. My friend and this lady were close friends, and both were part of the organization that I had dealt with over a number of years as mentioned above.
As we continued our chat in the supermarket she told me she had had a terrible time. Her mother died, her friend died shortly after, then her husband walked out on her, all in a matter of a couple of months. Apparently her husband, a policeman, had been having an affair for years and leading a double life unknown to her totally until he walked out, leaving her with two teenagers. Worse still, he was behaving with animosity and intimidation over the nuts and bolts of the separation.
I could scarcely believe all that I was hearing as this lady friend had always been of such pleasant nature and warm character, and her family situation as read by me was of perfect harmony and good citizenship. She teared up while telling me about it and we hugged and said that we must have lunch and a walk in the park where we had been involved in community affairs over a decade or so. I said this as a gesture of friendship, with understood but unspoken offer of counsel to help her through her trials.
As weeks went by I rang her a couple of times to arrange a picnic lunch but she was not home. Gord kept reminding me to do it, he was with me when we had met in the supermarket and he was as equally moved as I was by the lady's misfortune. Eventually I found her home but the day I suggested was unsuitable to her. I'm sure my offer was appreciated and served its purpose as a show of support and friendship and I must contact her again soon.
I hope she comes through it OK. Life can be a real bastard.
I count my blessings for my good fortune.
There was nothing in my invitation of a picnic in the park that could be seen as untoward. The lady is a casual friend whom I have known for some years. I first met her through an involvement I have in a local organization which caused us to liaise now and again and see each other incidentally over a period of years. Our contact was cordial, polite, respectful, pleasant if I think back, she is one of those people you are always pleased to see, who leaves you feeling a little better about the day and the world in general.
Years passed and our involvement ceased on an organizational level but we bumped into each other shopping every couple of months or so and always had a yarn in a warm friendly exchange. The lady, younger than me by a decade or so, had an interesting local family history and in her own right her life story justified me to ask her if I could do a profile on her for Signpost magazine. She agreed and it was on the agenda but I didn't get around to it before I stopped writing for Signpost at the end of last year.
A couple of months ago we met shopping in Woolworths and I apologized for not having followed through and explained that I had ceased doing the Signpost articles. She was not concerned, and told me that her mother, who would have been an important part of the story, had died recently.
I then said that I had not got around to doing a profile on her good friend's father either, I had asked him about it once and he was reluctant but told me to try him again later when he didn't have so much on. She asked did I hear about her good friend. I said no.
"She died on Christmas Eve".
This floored me. She went on to say that her friend woke up with a splitting head ache and after no improvement she sought medical assistance but before any could happen she collapsed and an ambulance was called but she died quickly from a massive stroke, aged about 50, leaving a husband and teenage family. My friend and this lady were close friends, and both were part of the organization that I had dealt with over a number of years as mentioned above.
As we continued our chat in the supermarket she told me she had had a terrible time. Her mother died, her friend died shortly after, then her husband walked out on her, all in a matter of a couple of months. Apparently her husband, a policeman, had been having an affair for years and leading a double life unknown to her totally until he walked out, leaving her with two teenagers. Worse still, he was behaving with animosity and intimidation over the nuts and bolts of the separation.
I could scarcely believe all that I was hearing as this lady friend had always been of such pleasant nature and warm character, and her family situation as read by me was of perfect harmony and good citizenship. She teared up while telling me about it and we hugged and said that we must have lunch and a walk in the park where we had been involved in community affairs over a decade or so. I said this as a gesture of friendship, with understood but unspoken offer of counsel to help her through her trials.
As weeks went by I rang her a couple of times to arrange a picnic lunch but she was not home. Gord kept reminding me to do it, he was with me when we had met in the supermarket and he was as equally moved as I was by the lady's misfortune. Eventually I found her home but the day I suggested was unsuitable to her. I'm sure my offer was appreciated and served its purpose as a show of support and friendship and I must contact her again soon.
I hope she comes through it OK. Life can be a real bastard.
I count my blessings for my good fortune.
Sunday, May 29, 2016
Goodbye to Autumn
The weather changed two or three weeks ago and we lit the open fire, as we have every night since. It's a great thing and especially so when firewood supply is no problem and the wood you have stored is well seasoned and dry from the rain. Not that I'm on top of it totally, there's a lot of wood exposed to the weather, I haven't yet got it all under cover in the shed but have had some there and some under tarps so I'm OK for now. There's dry spell forecast now for a few days and my plan is to barrow a lot of wood into the shed for the next month or so. I would have done it this weekend but I took the day off yesterday, at Lib's urging, to go with Gord to Powelltown to watch the Brookers, and I did museum roster today.
Gord wasn't playing, he has been training but is only offering his services if they can't get the numbers. So far the ressies have had enough. I felt it would do me good to go with him yesterday. I have been to Powelltown with him the last two years, two years ago it was his first game I think. I love the drive to there. There are some beautiful trees along the way, even the messmates somehow look better along the road nearing Powelly.
We arrived shortly before quarter time in the ressies. Gembrook had 3 goals 2 on the board and Powelly 5 behinds, which was the score at the break, The second quarter was all Poweltowns as they caught up on the scoreboard and really should have gone in well ahead at halftime but missed many shots. Gembrook were fumbling and looked quite inferior. I bought a meat pie at the canteen and a coffee. The pie was so hot I had trouble eating it without burning my mouth. I did burn my mouth. The lady put milk in the coffee without me asking for it, it was luke warm and insipid but the cost of both was $5.50, not bad hey.
The third quarter was much like the second, Powelly on top but not dominating the scoring. At the last break Gembrook was behind by a small margin. On top of the reserves ladder, Gemmy had to pull something out, The last quarter was a hard slog. Halfway through the quarter after two or three desperate acts I called early, they would win, and they did. I had a pasty during this. it was red hot like the pie but with lots of sauce and me going out the back away from the throng i ate it slowly in peace, this time with a straight black tea from a tea bag. Another $5.50 well spent.
The senior game kicked off and Gembrook looked ordinary. It's quite stark the contrast between the ressies and the seniors. It's obvious straight away that the standard of footy is higher, and some of those on the field are actually very good. Again, Gembrook did not look convincing, at half time scores were about level and with a number of Powelltown players looking confident and competent, it looked to me like the home side would win the game.
I went inside the Powelltown clubrooms at half time, not the changerooms, but the social room with all the pictures on the wall of past premiership teams, cricket and football. I was looking for an old teammate of mine from the early 1970's, Allan Warburton. He was a carpet layer, and just how I got onto him I don't know but he installed the carpet in our house extension in 1985. He said he was still playing footy for Poweltown. I had well and truly given it away by then. I found no mention of him on the walls which did not surprise. Al would have been at the end of his footy when he played there and while he was a good strong ruck rover he wasn't a star, although on his day he could dominate. His brother Lloyd was captain coach of Ormond Church of Christ in 1971-73. Lloyd was an excellent full forward, ex captain of Melbourne U19's. He kicked 150 goals in our premiership year of 1971 in the modest Eastern Suburbs churches League E grade. He was only 5 foot 9 inches in height which prevented him going on in the VFL as he was a genuine full forward type player but he had big strong hands and an excellent lead, very hard to stop. We had a good team in a competitive comp which had some excellent players despite its lowly status. We were runners up in D grade the next year and just missed the finals in C grade the following after a season mauled by some ugly brawling and fighting incidents on field after which the club wound up. I had three happy years of footy and social life there and didn't play again until 1978, except for some games at Qld Ag College in 1974 in their inaugural team in the SE Qld comp. Many of the players in that team were new to Aussie rules and we were poleaxed most games, once by 50 goals against Aviation, a team from the Oakey Army Aviation base which was comprised mostly of blokes from the south who'd played Aussie Rules all their lives. It was humbling and embarrassing but I have fond memory of it and the brave effort of my teammates who were on a hiding to nothing but loved it.
I have gotten away from my point but that is the beauty of blogging, you can do that. After half time Gembrook gained the upper hand emphatically and kicked eight goals to nought in the third quarter. It was impressive with hard working little blokes driving forward and strong defenders sending the ball back. The best of it was when big Clarky, the 36 or so year old co coach getting a lovely tap at a centre bounce down to a running captain Ricky Causer whose long well placed kick to full forward where Andrew Ship took a hanger from behind. Just classic footy. Shippy didn't kick the goal he gave a little pass to someone very close. It broke the back of the opposition.
Gord and I drove home slowly so as to minimise the chances of hitting a roo or wallaby, one of which jumped across the road in front of us quite close, and after Lib's altercation with one a couple of weeks ago I didn't want to be putting in another insurance claim.
It was nice coming home to a roaring hot fire that Rob and Lib had going when we got back after a little shopping in Yarra Junction. I had set the fire in the morning, which will be my habit most days if not all for the next three months or so.
Gord wasn't playing, he has been training but is only offering his services if they can't get the numbers. So far the ressies have had enough. I felt it would do me good to go with him yesterday. I have been to Powelltown with him the last two years, two years ago it was his first game I think. I love the drive to there. There are some beautiful trees along the way, even the messmates somehow look better along the road nearing Powelly.
We arrived shortly before quarter time in the ressies. Gembrook had 3 goals 2 on the board and Powelly 5 behinds, which was the score at the break, The second quarter was all Poweltowns as they caught up on the scoreboard and really should have gone in well ahead at halftime but missed many shots. Gembrook were fumbling and looked quite inferior. I bought a meat pie at the canteen and a coffee. The pie was so hot I had trouble eating it without burning my mouth. I did burn my mouth. The lady put milk in the coffee without me asking for it, it was luke warm and insipid but the cost of both was $5.50, not bad hey.
The third quarter was much like the second, Powelly on top but not dominating the scoring. At the last break Gembrook was behind by a small margin. On top of the reserves ladder, Gemmy had to pull something out, The last quarter was a hard slog. Halfway through the quarter after two or three desperate acts I called early, they would win, and they did. I had a pasty during this. it was red hot like the pie but with lots of sauce and me going out the back away from the throng i ate it slowly in peace, this time with a straight black tea from a tea bag. Another $5.50 well spent.
The senior game kicked off and Gembrook looked ordinary. It's quite stark the contrast between the ressies and the seniors. It's obvious straight away that the standard of footy is higher, and some of those on the field are actually very good. Again, Gembrook did not look convincing, at half time scores were about level and with a number of Powelltown players looking confident and competent, it looked to me like the home side would win the game.
I went inside the Powelltown clubrooms at half time, not the changerooms, but the social room with all the pictures on the wall of past premiership teams, cricket and football. I was looking for an old teammate of mine from the early 1970's, Allan Warburton. He was a carpet layer, and just how I got onto him I don't know but he installed the carpet in our house extension in 1985. He said he was still playing footy for Poweltown. I had well and truly given it away by then. I found no mention of him on the walls which did not surprise. Al would have been at the end of his footy when he played there and while he was a good strong ruck rover he wasn't a star, although on his day he could dominate. His brother Lloyd was captain coach of Ormond Church of Christ in 1971-73. Lloyd was an excellent full forward, ex captain of Melbourne U19's. He kicked 150 goals in our premiership year of 1971 in the modest Eastern Suburbs churches League E grade. He was only 5 foot 9 inches in height which prevented him going on in the VFL as he was a genuine full forward type player but he had big strong hands and an excellent lead, very hard to stop. We had a good team in a competitive comp which had some excellent players despite its lowly status. We were runners up in D grade the next year and just missed the finals in C grade the following after a season mauled by some ugly brawling and fighting incidents on field after which the club wound up. I had three happy years of footy and social life there and didn't play again until 1978, except for some games at Qld Ag College in 1974 in their inaugural team in the SE Qld comp. Many of the players in that team were new to Aussie rules and we were poleaxed most games, once by 50 goals against Aviation, a team from the Oakey Army Aviation base which was comprised mostly of blokes from the south who'd played Aussie Rules all their lives. It was humbling and embarrassing but I have fond memory of it and the brave effort of my teammates who were on a hiding to nothing but loved it.
I have gotten away from my point but that is the beauty of blogging, you can do that. After half time Gembrook gained the upper hand emphatically and kicked eight goals to nought in the third quarter. It was impressive with hard working little blokes driving forward and strong defenders sending the ball back. The best of it was when big Clarky, the 36 or so year old co coach getting a lovely tap at a centre bounce down to a running captain Ricky Causer whose long well placed kick to full forward where Andrew Ship took a hanger from behind. Just classic footy. Shippy didn't kick the goal he gave a little pass to someone very close. It broke the back of the opposition.
Gord and I drove home slowly so as to minimise the chances of hitting a roo or wallaby, one of which jumped across the road in front of us quite close, and after Lib's altercation with one a couple of weeks ago I didn't want to be putting in another insurance claim.
It was nice coming home to a roaring hot fire that Rob and Lib had going when we got back after a little shopping in Yarra Junction. I had set the fire in the morning, which will be my habit most days if not all for the next three months or so.
Thursday, May 19, 2016
An Unusual Day
I took a day off today. Thursdays are normally my quiet day and I had a massage appt in Tecoma scheduled for 4pm, so when Merle asked me was there a chance I could attend a function in Berwick on behalf of the Friends of Gembrook Park I said yes I could. Not that I had any desire to, but I badly wanted a haircut and thought I could easily be down that way doing that and fit in the function which I was told was to start at 12.15pm and run for half an hour only as the Minister for Social Services was on a tight schedule.
It was an announcement of the volunteer grants to organizations in the Latrobe electorate, $99,000 to 26 organizations who had successfully applied for a grant. I had had nothing to do with our application but the chap who did it was away in Qld and Merle could not go. I went because I could, and I was curious. It was held at the new Impaired Vision school in Berwick which was an impressive place as were the students and the staff who had a small assembly to welcome everyone and kick it off. Local Federal Member Jason Wood and Christian Porter the Minister both spoke briefly and it was a short and sweet announcement followed by a tour of the school.
Apparently Jason Wood had been instrumental in achieving funding for the school around the time of the last election and this was news to me. The children who spoke at the assembly were most impressive and it showed me how important it is that disabled kids get opportunities to progress and play a valuable role in society. As part of the assembly a girl played a little organ and two other kids put an Australian flag in a stand and everyone sang the National Anthem Advance Australia Fair.
Everyone except me that is. Not out of protest, anyone can sing what they like is my view, or not sing if they don't want to. I remembered singing the National Anthem thousands of times at school like an obedient parrot, in those days it was 'God Save the Queen', and I have often thought if I could go back I'd not sing and say "no thanks not for me". I just don't see the point in singing it on cue, or making kids sing it. A bit like when I went to church recently and everyone was up and down singing like a parrot from a cue card numerous times. I just don't get it. It doesn't do it for me. I know politicians are big on national pride and allegiance to the flag and all that stuff, and there was no shortage of signage on the roadsides showing pictures of smiling Jason Wood and Malcolm Turnbull advertising the one billion dollars they were to spend on the Monash freeway if re-elected. There was a even a very large one looking straight at you as you drove into the school.
And the kids also thanked the elders past and present of the indigenous tribes for the use of the land we are now occupying, something like that was the wording, at the start of the assembly. I have seen this down at council meeting when I attended one a few years ago, and I believe it is done at State and Federal Parliament. It seems much like lip service to me, tokenism. A bit like saying we do this because we recognize we took your land from you, now we can get on with the development. The plight of indigenous people in Australia is as desperate as ever, and I was shocked on a visit to Central Australia a few years ago.
With that of my chest, let me say I had a great day. I had a haircut in Pakenham. I went to a bloke I'd been to before in an arcade off the main street knowing he was an avid Melbourne fan and could fill me in on the club news, but he was closed for two weeks. There was a lady barber Meagan who does men next door, a Sydney fan, but she had three blokes ahead of me so I looked in the window of the lady's hairdresser on the other side of my bloke and there was no one in there and the lady said come in she'd do me straight away. She was a total delight, Soni was her name, an Indian migrant from the Punjab, she has owned the business 2 years and her husband is a truck driver and they have a six year old daughter, after migrating nine years ago. She only charged me $15 which is what the man next door does. Sometimes you meet people who give your spirits a lift and she did that.
After the meeting in Berwick I went to drop some lemons in to Rickyralph round the corner. He happened to be home as he worked night shift in his new job last night, and he was so happy Gord and I called in. We talked for an hour over a couple of cups of tea before Gord and I went to Fountain gate then onto Aldi at FTG and my massage at Tecoma. My session with masseur Lisa was exquisite euphoria, her hands like magic as she worked for 45 mins on my lower and upper back and shoulders and neck.
It was an announcement of the volunteer grants to organizations in the Latrobe electorate, $99,000 to 26 organizations who had successfully applied for a grant. I had had nothing to do with our application but the chap who did it was away in Qld and Merle could not go. I went because I could, and I was curious. It was held at the new Impaired Vision school in Berwick which was an impressive place as were the students and the staff who had a small assembly to welcome everyone and kick it off. Local Federal Member Jason Wood and Christian Porter the Minister both spoke briefly and it was a short and sweet announcement followed by a tour of the school.
Apparently Jason Wood had been instrumental in achieving funding for the school around the time of the last election and this was news to me. The children who spoke at the assembly were most impressive and it showed me how important it is that disabled kids get opportunities to progress and play a valuable role in society. As part of the assembly a girl played a little organ and two other kids put an Australian flag in a stand and everyone sang the National Anthem Advance Australia Fair.
Everyone except me that is. Not out of protest, anyone can sing what they like is my view, or not sing if they don't want to. I remembered singing the National Anthem thousands of times at school like an obedient parrot, in those days it was 'God Save the Queen', and I have often thought if I could go back I'd not sing and say "no thanks not for me". I just don't see the point in singing it on cue, or making kids sing it. A bit like when I went to church recently and everyone was up and down singing like a parrot from a cue card numerous times. I just don't get it. It doesn't do it for me. I know politicians are big on national pride and allegiance to the flag and all that stuff, and there was no shortage of signage on the roadsides showing pictures of smiling Jason Wood and Malcolm Turnbull advertising the one billion dollars they were to spend on the Monash freeway if re-elected. There was a even a very large one looking straight at you as you drove into the school.
And the kids also thanked the elders past and present of the indigenous tribes for the use of the land we are now occupying, something like that was the wording, at the start of the assembly. I have seen this down at council meeting when I attended one a few years ago, and I believe it is done at State and Federal Parliament. It seems much like lip service to me, tokenism. A bit like saying we do this because we recognize we took your land from you, now we can get on with the development. The plight of indigenous people in Australia is as desperate as ever, and I was shocked on a visit to Central Australia a few years ago.
With that of my chest, let me say I had a great day. I had a haircut in Pakenham. I went to a bloke I'd been to before in an arcade off the main street knowing he was an avid Melbourne fan and could fill me in on the club news, but he was closed for two weeks. There was a lady barber Meagan who does men next door, a Sydney fan, but she had three blokes ahead of me so I looked in the window of the lady's hairdresser on the other side of my bloke and there was no one in there and the lady said come in she'd do me straight away. She was a total delight, Soni was her name, an Indian migrant from the Punjab, she has owned the business 2 years and her husband is a truck driver and they have a six year old daughter, after migrating nine years ago. She only charged me $15 which is what the man next door does. Sometimes you meet people who give your spirits a lift and she did that.
After the meeting in Berwick I went to drop some lemons in to Rickyralph round the corner. He happened to be home as he worked night shift in his new job last night, and he was so happy Gord and I called in. We talked for an hour over a couple of cups of tea before Gord and I went to Fountain gate then onto Aldi at FTG and my massage at Tecoma. My session with masseur Lisa was exquisite euphoria, her hands like magic as she worked for 45 mins on my lower and upper back and shoulders and neck.
Friday, May 13, 2016
Big Roo
Lib hit a big roo on her way to work yesterday. Fortunately she kept the car on the road after having no time to brake or swerve, it just appeared suddenly and she collected it left front. It damaged the front panel and bonnet and the side panel around the wheel.
She was able to drive on to work and rang me at 7.05am. I went and looked early arvo after reporting it to our insurance co. I was surprised at the extent of the damage and drove it to Officer to Berwick Body Repairs which is accredited with our insurance. They were excellent last year when they repaired Gord's car after he swerved to miss a wombat causing him to hit a stationary object on the roadside.
You never know what's coming on any given day. We're told it will cost us $600 excess and it will be about three weeks before we get it back. We're lucky to have Ian's Subie to use in the meantime. Let's hope another roo doesn't jump in front of it. They are a real hazard this time of year along that road, on Lib's way to work in the early morn.
Poor Lib. It gave her a fright. We're feeling lucky that she was not injured. I feel sorry for the roo, it was just doing its thing. It disappeared from the roadside after the accident Lib said but I can't see that it would survive after such a violent collision and I hope it was not a slow death. There's terrible carnage to animals and birds on the roads.
.
She was able to drive on to work and rang me at 7.05am. I went and looked early arvo after reporting it to our insurance co. I was surprised at the extent of the damage and drove it to Officer to Berwick Body Repairs which is accredited with our insurance. They were excellent last year when they repaired Gord's car after he swerved to miss a wombat causing him to hit a stationary object on the roadside.
You never know what's coming on any given day. We're told it will cost us $600 excess and it will be about three weeks before we get it back. We're lucky to have Ian's Subie to use in the meantime. Let's hope another roo doesn't jump in front of it. They are a real hazard this time of year along that road, on Lib's way to work in the early morn.
Poor Lib. It gave her a fright. We're feeling lucky that she was not injured. I feel sorry for the roo, it was just doing its thing. It disappeared from the roadside after the accident Lib said but I can't see that it would survive after such a violent collision and I hope it was not a slow death. There's terrible carnage to animals and birds on the roads.
 |
| Gord took this photo while I was giving Lib the keys to the Subie. It looked far worse from the side |
Monday, May 09, 2016
Election Called
Somehow PM Shorten just doesn't sound right. But then I never thought PM Abbott would have happened either. I think it'll be a returned Turnbull Government, but I suppose anything is possible in the next eight weeks.
There's not much difference between them anyway. I was surveyed a couple of years ago by Jason Wood's office (our local member for Latrobe). His office asked me what I thought was the most pressing local issue, and for the nation. On both counts I answered the environment, closely followed by affordable housing.
So, I'll be voting accordingly.
Simple as that.
There's not much difference between them anyway. I was surveyed a couple of years ago by Jason Wood's office (our local member for Latrobe). His office asked me what I thought was the most pressing local issue, and for the nation. On both counts I answered the environment, closely followed by affordable housing.
So, I'll be voting accordingly.
Simple as that.
Sunday, May 01, 2016
Dr Phillip
I worked a little today, Sunday. This because a customer, my best customer, asked could he have 20 bunches of purple wattle to pick up Monday morning, meaning it would need to be picked Sunday.
Yes I did it. I also picked 10 bunches of Mexican Sage at Keith's, and a little extra for Elvie to use in her mixed posies. This to make the exercise of driving to Emerald a little more worth while. It rained on and off for most of the day. I have to go the specialist tomorrow so rather than say no (they would have to wait until Monday afternoon pick up) it suited me to work today and get it out of the way, leaving tomorrow comfortable for my 2.00pm appt.
Purple wattle you may know is a type of Cootamundra wattle. I planted a row at the farm some twenty years ago and several trees at home. I used to sell quite a lot, then for whatever reason no one asked for it and the trees deteriorated. These things are better if you cut them regularly so they put on new good growth. If not cut they deteriorate.
So for now there's a renewed interest, albeit by only one customer that buys from our wholesaler, and probably fleeting. While I was picking I thought of Phillip, who, a couple of years ago bought good quantities of wattle foliage and blossom. He was a good customer who paid on the nose and bought a lot of stuff we would otherwise have not sold.
He was a nuisance in that he wanted stuff outside my normal routine but the benefits outweighed the negatives so I did my best to get what he wanted. He was a likeable guy. He was a doctor, working in emergency at Dandenong Hospital, and studying to be a surgeon. But he loved floristry and plants and gardens and flowers, and worked in his time off for a florist. He always had a camera at hand and was always taking pictures of flowers and trees.
He was a big bloke, half Asian looking but dark skinned. Very handsome, and well spoken and extremely polite. He said his mother was Vietnamese, and his father a black American serviceman.
This went on for a year or so. He was a little unreliable, not turning up when he said he would, but with the good excuse that he was unable to get away from his work at the hospital and had to work long shifts. Sometimes he'd turn up with an unusual vehicle, saying the florist's van was unavailable so he had to hire one.
Then he just stopped coming. He owed us a small amount of money but the weeks and months passed and we assumed he wouldn't return. In the meantime we picked up another customer a lady from Monbulk, who fills the Phillip Gap. In conversation one day she told us that she knew Phillip and he was a total fraud, he was not a doctor at all. We have not seen him since.
To the footy. Keith was happy his Saints had such a good win. He reckons ruckman Hickey set it up by nullifying the influence of Max Gawn. Maybe too, but I just think the Saints were better all over the paddock. Keith is eighty years old +. He recently had an operation to have a pig's valve inserted in his heart where his own was failing. Now on the other side of his heart, the valve is leaking, top and bottom. He thinks they can't give him another pig's valve. maybe due to age. He is out of breath very quickly. But in his eighties he keeps his business selling camellias going and still drives all over Victoria delivering to nurseries.
A great thing about my lifestyle is the people along the way. Keith is a great favourite and his wife Jenny is a beautiful lady with the the most lovely nature I have ever come across. They recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Fantastic.
Yes I did it. I also picked 10 bunches of Mexican Sage at Keith's, and a little extra for Elvie to use in her mixed posies. This to make the exercise of driving to Emerald a little more worth while. It rained on and off for most of the day. I have to go the specialist tomorrow so rather than say no (they would have to wait until Monday afternoon pick up) it suited me to work today and get it out of the way, leaving tomorrow comfortable for my 2.00pm appt.
Purple wattle you may know is a type of Cootamundra wattle. I planted a row at the farm some twenty years ago and several trees at home. I used to sell quite a lot, then for whatever reason no one asked for it and the trees deteriorated. These things are better if you cut them regularly so they put on new good growth. If not cut they deteriorate.
So for now there's a renewed interest, albeit by only one customer that buys from our wholesaler, and probably fleeting. While I was picking I thought of Phillip, who, a couple of years ago bought good quantities of wattle foliage and blossom. He was a good customer who paid on the nose and bought a lot of stuff we would otherwise have not sold.
He was a nuisance in that he wanted stuff outside my normal routine but the benefits outweighed the negatives so I did my best to get what he wanted. He was a likeable guy. He was a doctor, working in emergency at Dandenong Hospital, and studying to be a surgeon. But he loved floristry and plants and gardens and flowers, and worked in his time off for a florist. He always had a camera at hand and was always taking pictures of flowers and trees.
He was a big bloke, half Asian looking but dark skinned. Very handsome, and well spoken and extremely polite. He said his mother was Vietnamese, and his father a black American serviceman.
This went on for a year or so. He was a little unreliable, not turning up when he said he would, but with the good excuse that he was unable to get away from his work at the hospital and had to work long shifts. Sometimes he'd turn up with an unusual vehicle, saying the florist's van was unavailable so he had to hire one.
Then he just stopped coming. He owed us a small amount of money but the weeks and months passed and we assumed he wouldn't return. In the meantime we picked up another customer a lady from Monbulk, who fills the Phillip Gap. In conversation one day she told us that she knew Phillip and he was a total fraud, he was not a doctor at all. We have not seen him since.
To the footy. Keith was happy his Saints had such a good win. He reckons ruckman Hickey set it up by nullifying the influence of Max Gawn. Maybe too, but I just think the Saints were better all over the paddock. Keith is eighty years old +. He recently had an operation to have a pig's valve inserted in his heart where his own was failing. Now on the other side of his heart, the valve is leaking, top and bottom. He thinks they can't give him another pig's valve. maybe due to age. He is out of breath very quickly. But in his eighties he keeps his business selling camellias going and still drives all over Victoria delivering to nurseries.
A great thing about my lifestyle is the people along the way. Keith is a great favourite and his wife Jenny is a beautiful lady with the the most lovely nature I have ever come across. They recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Fantastic.
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
The African Queen
I finished 'The Horse Whisperer' the other day. I confess I choked back tears more than once in the latter stages of this book.
Lib went to a market Sunday before last, I think at Berwick. She came home with a book for me, 'The African Queen' by CS Forester, which she picked up for two three dollars. Now it's strange what can come back to you after more than 50 years but my response was immediate.
"I read that at school at Malvern Grammar as an English text, it's a great book. And I can tell you a line that is on page 84."
I flicked to page 84 and sure enough I was right. I'll cut to the line, it completed the chapter, this at the time Rose and Charlie Allnut became physically intimate.
"put her arms round Allnut's slight body and press him to her breasts while he did his will- her will- upon her."
Don't get me wrong, I'm not turning into a silly old smut. It's just that I had this flashback to my youth with amazing clarity. You can imagine how that line excited the 12 or 13 year old boys in 1964 or 65.
I look forward to reading it again but I've started another book, 'Unholy Trinity' by Denis Ryan and Peter Hoystead. This is Denis Ryan's story of his pursuit of paedophile priest Monsignor John Day while he was a detective in Mildura and how his efforts to have Day prosecuted were thwarted at every turn by the heirarchy of the Catholic Church and Victoria Police. I'm only 25 pages in but it's spine chillingly scary that such evil could exist and be protected. I bought this book through Booktopia after seeing it on the internet somewhere.
I love reading books. I can't imagine myself ever being bored or unhappy or dissatisfied with life, whatever happens, so long as I can read books. I find my mother's predicament, failing eyesight, most unpallatable. She has not been able to read books or print- unless it's abnormally large- for some time.
The weather has been fine and warm for a week and I have been busy with garden tidying and putting a coat of stain on the house. In spare time that is. I got honey of the bees for Leanne to extract, manna gum I think. Work has been pretty full on too. Bring on tomorrow, I have a 45 minute massage session booked in the afternoon with my Lisa at Belgrave Chiropractic and I can hardly wait, so good does it make me feel, during and after. Had my 7th Abatacept injection tonight. It must be doing me good, because despite being sore around the ribs and shoulders, I seem to have more mobility these last few weeks and more energy. I've surprised myself with my productivity and general higher spirits.
Lib went to a market Sunday before last, I think at Berwick. She came home with a book for me, 'The African Queen' by CS Forester, which she picked up for two three dollars. Now it's strange what can come back to you after more than 50 years but my response was immediate.
"I read that at school at Malvern Grammar as an English text, it's a great book. And I can tell you a line that is on page 84."
I flicked to page 84 and sure enough I was right. I'll cut to the line, it completed the chapter, this at the time Rose and Charlie Allnut became physically intimate.
"put her arms round Allnut's slight body and press him to her breasts while he did his will- her will- upon her."
Don't get me wrong, I'm not turning into a silly old smut. It's just that I had this flashback to my youth with amazing clarity. You can imagine how that line excited the 12 or 13 year old boys in 1964 or 65.
I look forward to reading it again but I've started another book, 'Unholy Trinity' by Denis Ryan and Peter Hoystead. This is Denis Ryan's story of his pursuit of paedophile priest Monsignor John Day while he was a detective in Mildura and how his efforts to have Day prosecuted were thwarted at every turn by the heirarchy of the Catholic Church and Victoria Police. I'm only 25 pages in but it's spine chillingly scary that such evil could exist and be protected. I bought this book through Booktopia after seeing it on the internet somewhere.
I love reading books. I can't imagine myself ever being bored or unhappy or dissatisfied with life, whatever happens, so long as I can read books. I find my mother's predicament, failing eyesight, most unpallatable. She has not been able to read books or print- unless it's abnormally large- for some time.
The weather has been fine and warm for a week and I have been busy with garden tidying and putting a coat of stain on the house. In spare time that is. I got honey of the bees for Leanne to extract, manna gum I think. Work has been pretty full on too. Bring on tomorrow, I have a 45 minute massage session booked in the afternoon with my Lisa at Belgrave Chiropractic and I can hardly wait, so good does it make me feel, during and after. Had my 7th Abatacept injection tonight. It must be doing me good, because despite being sore around the ribs and shoulders, I seem to have more mobility these last few weeks and more energy. I've surprised myself with my productivity and general higher spirits.
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Flowers Today
I picked some flowers for the restaurants today as I do most Mondays and Wednesdays, as well as my foliage. The photo below shows some of them after I put them on the work bench at the farm for the ladies to pack.
I also picked elderberry flowers from a bush in a creek bed on the south side of Emerald which are not in the photo. At least it's light work and and interesting. Often I also pick rocket and borage flowers, and calendulas, but Meredith had enough at the farm to do these herself today. It always a bit of a struggle having what they want in the quantity the wholesaler wants. They've been strong on fennel flowers for a few months but they are finished now. Most things are seasonal. Coriander and dill are finishing. Hearstease, pansies are hard to have when they want them. Often when things are flush there's no demand, I suppose because chefs access gardens themselves or there's plenty at market cheap.
 |
| Abutilons Fuscias Nasturtiums |
In truth I'm just glad we have our customers both wholesale florists and herb/restaurant people and that by good fortune as much as good planning, we have enough produce to provide our income. One things for sure, industrious we are, and always trying to keep things rolling.
Tomorrow is forecast fine and warm and I'll have a look at the last couple of beehives that I look after, with a view to readying them for winter. I have a plan to put the bees in new hardened foodgrade polystyrene hive material next spring (imported from Finland), just because I have never heard of this or tried such before, and to get a couple of good queens of quiet stock, perhaps my last hurrah in beekeeping as I'm aiming to make life as simple as I can from here on and reduce my activity. The bees are not mine really, I have given them away, but I'm still helping as the new owners learn. It's a case of necessity really, as well as desire, to slow down and have less work to do. The clock keeps ticking.
Monday, April 11, 2016
Books
I'm currently reading 'The Horse Whisperer' by Nicholas Evans and am enjoying it immensely at about half way through. I watched the movie a few years ago with Robert Redford in the lead role. My memory of it is not strong but I know I enjoyed it thoroughly, and the book, from which I assume the movie morphed, is grabbing me.
There's something very beautiful in the relationship between animals and humans, something that moves us all as a great connector between us and nature. I have never had much to do with horses but they are closely allied to man as are dogs and cats with whom I have had closer affinity.
The book I read immediately previous was 'All the Light We Cannot See' by Anthony Doerr, a long novel of over 500 pages set in WW11 France and concerning a French blind girl and a German youth, whose life stories came together towards the end, most improbably I thought, but it made for a good read that I'd recommend. To me it portrayed the stupidity of that part of history while giving a glimpse of the humanity in the circumstance.
Both these books were given to me as gifts by Lib, who consistently through our time together has provided me with reading material which has greatly improved my understanding of the world and how it works and my part in it.
There's something very beautiful in the relationship between animals and humans, something that moves us all as a great connector between us and nature. I have never had much to do with horses but they are closely allied to man as are dogs and cats with whom I have had closer affinity.
The book I read immediately previous was 'All the Light We Cannot See' by Anthony Doerr, a long novel of over 500 pages set in WW11 France and concerning a French blind girl and a German youth, whose life stories came together towards the end, most improbably I thought, but it made for a good read that I'd recommend. To me it portrayed the stupidity of that part of history while giving a glimpse of the humanity in the circumstance.
Both these books were given to me as gifts by Lib, who consistently through our time together has provided me with reading material which has greatly improved my understanding of the world and how it works and my part in it.
Wednesday, April 06, 2016
UFO
About an hour ago I put two slices of fruit loaf in the toaster for supper and made a cup of coffee. I went outside to put a couple things in the deck fridge and took a little walk to empty the bladder in the garden.
As I happily peed away my eyes scanned the evening sky. A star, more yellow than the others in the north east sky seemed to be moving. I watched it closely, and it moved not in a continuous direction but back and forward and up and down, not much but perceptibly to me with my glasses on. I went in and called Gord who took a minute or two to come out. During this time the star went out, that is, its light faded and disappeared, but after I told Gord about it it came back on. He said yes he could see it moving, and with eyes better than mine he said it was changing colour too.
We watched for a few minutes, it continued it's erratic small movements which we could discern from the tree branches close to the line of vision, and its light faded and came back or varied in its hue and configuration, if that's an appropriate word for it.
So I went and got the binos, the powerful ones that Boongus left here, and I had a good look at it before passing the binos to Gord. With the binos, and Gord concurred with all that I'm about to write when we described what we saw to each other, it looked about the size of the moon would to a naked eye. It was spherical and seemed to have many tiny lights on its surface which came on and off in different colours and in different parts of the sphere which gave the thing an overall different shade as the lights moved around and ranged through yellow, white, blue and red.
Weird. I have no idea what it was. Could it be a satellite with a shiny surface reflecting light from all over space? But would a satellite move like that? I have never believed there are aliens from outer space visiting Earth, but this thing did look like a spaceship of sorts. I'll go with satellite, but I'm very curious now. I'm going out now before I go to bed to see if it's still there.
When I went out just now there was cloud cover and no stars visible.
As I happily peed away my eyes scanned the evening sky. A star, more yellow than the others in the north east sky seemed to be moving. I watched it closely, and it moved not in a continuous direction but back and forward and up and down, not much but perceptibly to me with my glasses on. I went in and called Gord who took a minute or two to come out. During this time the star went out, that is, its light faded and disappeared, but after I told Gord about it it came back on. He said yes he could see it moving, and with eyes better than mine he said it was changing colour too.
We watched for a few minutes, it continued it's erratic small movements which we could discern from the tree branches close to the line of vision, and its light faded and came back or varied in its hue and configuration, if that's an appropriate word for it.
So I went and got the binos, the powerful ones that Boongus left here, and I had a good look at it before passing the binos to Gord. With the binos, and Gord concurred with all that I'm about to write when we described what we saw to each other, it looked about the size of the moon would to a naked eye. It was spherical and seemed to have many tiny lights on its surface which came on and off in different colours and in different parts of the sphere which gave the thing an overall different shade as the lights moved around and ranged through yellow, white, blue and red.
Weird. I have no idea what it was. Could it be a satellite with a shiny surface reflecting light from all over space? But would a satellite move like that? I have never believed there are aliens from outer space visiting Earth, but this thing did look like a spaceship of sorts. I'll go with satellite, but I'm very curious now. I'm going out now before I go to bed to see if it's still there.
When I went out just now there was cloud cover and no stars visible.
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