Author: Cathy

Its funny how some things change and others stay the same.

This evening I’ve been thinking about some of the roads here in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. I like living out east and even tho’ I have buses and trains available almost on my doorstep I like the freedom of driving. We are a big city and often its impractical to take public transport to where I want to go.

Last Monday DH and I took a drive to Ikea, which is on Victoria Street in Richmond near the old Skipping girl sign. We decided to go into Box Hill, take Mont Albert Road and then Barkers Road, which is the way we would have driven to the city many years ago before the Eastern Freeway opened. Of course the other alternative would have been Whitehorse Road, trouble with that is you run the risk of catching every traffic light all the way to Kew Junction.

I really had forgotten what a pleasant road Mont Albert Road is. Lined with huge trees that have that visual effect of meeting in the middle of road, flanked on either side with huge houses and so many private schools it is the epitome of wealth in the leafy green eastern suburbs. From memory there are only 2 sets of traffic lights along the way from Elgar Road to Burke Road and even tho its 60kph we seemed to move along at a splendid pace and were there in no time at all.

Today I had to drive to Ringwood along Mt Dandenong Road and met up with all the road works where Mt Dandy Road and Maroondah Hwy meet. Across the intersection is the start of the Ringwood Bypass which goes round the back of Eastland to Ringwood Street.

Well I haven’t been there for a while and was surprised to see amidst all the road works at the end of this road another one stretching ahead. This is where the start of Eastern Freeway will be now its been extended from Springvale Road to Ringwood and it is such a shame and quite confronting to see the concrete and bitumen so close to houses in that area – but will I think about that when it opens next year and we won’t have to drive all the way to Mitcham along that dreaded traffic light infested Whitehorse Road to get to the ‘quick’ road to the city.

Edited: I didn’t copy/ paste the last sentence

Don’t get me wrong, I walk to local shops and do use the public transport. Seniors here are able to get a ticket lasting 24hrs for $3.10 and travel on all trams trains and buses which is fantastic value but there are times when the car is a necessity.

Hello again,

I have finally found a moment to sit down without being interrupted. So many times over the past week I’ve found things to blog about, something has happened and the moment has passed and the thought forgotten. Thank you to all the visitors this past few weeks, I’ve noticed you dropping in but never seem to say thank you.

Remember that old saying – A stitch in time save nine.

I discovered how true that was the other day.

Do you know how much time is used up when the car has a puncture?

Most of a morning as I found out last week.

In a tearing hurry and all ready to go out, I stepped outside and discovered one tyre had a very large nail embedded in it and was flat as a pancake.

I can’t understand how they stay inflated while you are driving and then go flat whilst the car is standing still overnight? My luck that day DH had gone out for a walk (a long one he said as he went out the door) and there sitting on the side was his mobile phone. I contemplated calling the RACV but thought about how long they take to turn up and reasoned DH would be back in that time.

Now I’m strong but not that strong – meaning there was no way I could get the tyre off and the other one on. I emptied the boot and got the spare out ready for when he got home and guess what I found.

Yes you guessed right – that was even flatter than the other one. Words are going to be said to the mechanic next time it goes in for a service as he is supposed to check that for me. (Stitch in Time)

DH gets home and raises his eyebrows the way they do and huffed and puffed at the wheel nuts. He then looks me in the eye and says ‘put both tyres in my car and tootle off down to Bridgestone Tyres nearby, look at the man nicely and ask him if he could fix it for you – quickly’ Not my normal behaviour but I gave it a shot:)

Drove in and am trying to get one of the tyres out of the car when a lovely young mechanic comes over and says ‘Can I help you?’ I thanked him and let him take over, sat down in the waiting room with the morning paper and in no time at all was driving back up the road to home.

Had to cancel my morning out but I can always catch up another day. And even tho’ I had to wait till DH was ‘ready and in the mood’ to fit it back on I saved myself the agony of being embarrassed when the flat spare tyre was discovered by the RACV man.

Melbourne Cup Day here and its turning into quite a pleasant day. Cool this morning but is warming up so all the Ladies in their posh frocks and hats shouldn’t be too cold.

Now if it had been the big day on Saturday or Sunday it would have been a different story. We had some rain over the weekend, lots of rain. More rain than some places wanted with some areas of the state flooded.

We got loads in our area and my veggies seem to have grown inches overnight, they appear to be saying ‘Thank You very much we have enough to go on with at the moment’ but we only need a few warm days with northerlies and the soil will have dried out again.

Its been a busy 2 weeks – so haven’t been on the computer much. Lots of ‘things’ took precedence over blogging and as we are going interstate on Sunday morning I think this will be it for a couple of weeks or more.

I have just got in from meeting up with some of the children for a little birthday get together at a pub close by. I’ll be in Adelaide next week and won’t get to see them on my special day so we had a meal at Daisey’s in Ringwood.

I came home complete with my new project – a Can o Worms.

A while ago I happened to mention to one of the girls about seeing mice around the compost heap and that I didn’t think I’d put any vegetable peelings out this summer as that may be the cause. That I was thinking of starting a worm farm to use all of that up and lo and behold thats what she carried into the Bistro lol And then with lots of smailes one of the boys gave me a gift voucher for Bunnings so I’ll be able to get my first lot of worms when we get back into town in a couple of weeks.

Rhonda at Down to Earth had a good post recently about starting a worm farm so I’ll be spending some time reading it when we get home.

After we leave Adelaide we are going to take another week and drive home via the Riverland and spend some time in Mildura – up on the big River Murray.

Clicking on the links will open new pages

Well I’m not sure what the name of the bug was that I’ve had but I really am glad its left my body now.

I’ve been feeling a bit ‘Poorly’ over the past week or so and couldn’t raise the energy to sit here and tell you so and as we were told as children that ‘Coughs and sneezes spread diseases’ I stayed away from others and suffered in silence at home. Some days I did a bit of web surfing, read a few blogs but didn’t comment on any.

It was a good job DH was fit and I didn’t pass it on to him as we had arranged for a couple of the granddaughters to stay this weekend past as well as look after another one yesterday.

One set of parents were out of town for the weekend and weren’t getting home till late Sunday and as school holidays started here in Victoria last Friday those girls stayed till yesterday (Monday) evening as both Mum and Dad weren’t getting home from work till late.

The other little one has parents who both work fiull time and to break the monotony of going to vacation care each day of the week we agree to look after her for one day each week of the break.

Funny how it wasn’t till it was all arranged I realised it mean’t I’d have the 3 girls in the house for the whole day. For me thats a worry as even tho they all ‘love’ each other and usually get on well together I still believe that old saying. You know the one that goes: Two’s company – three’s a crowd.

One of these girls can be bossy and I often have to sort differences of opinion out when she’s with some of her cousins.

Thankfully by Friday I was feeling lots better and we had a good time with them all.

We went to the swimming pool in the morning and had a meal out on Saturday night.

The weather man had made promises of a good day for Sunday and it turned out that way. It was a beautiful day and we drove into Melbourne and down to Elwood beach.
The fresh air and sunshine gave me a new lease of life and it was fun walking along the sands looking for shells and other things. I found lots of green sea glass to add to my collection.

It was quite windy and the tide was on the turn and there was the occasional wave that came in a bit further than the others which mean’t lots of squealing but Grandad was making noises about not wanting wet clothing in the car so even tho’ it was sunny I drew the line at paddling.

Yesterday I drove the 3 of them up to the top of Mt Dandenong to the maze.

School hols often means free entertainment and there was a man up there called (click on his name) Didgeman and here also who was talking about playing the didgerdoo and teaching children how to go about it. It was hit with the girls and all the other kids there.

Got them home in time to go to a session at the local cinema. We saw Hairspray which they loved for the music and the young actors and dancers but the the actual ‘meaning’ of the movie went right over their head.

So last night after taking 2 to the other side of the city in peak hour traffic – via the Westgate Bridge route – DH driving so his choice (thought it would be nice for them to look back at the city in the twilight) and then droppping the other one off at her home five minutes from us (DH thought she’d like to take her cousins home with us) I was pleased to get home and pout the kettle on.

My cup of tea tasted so good and it was so quiet in the house and and I went to bed early and thought about being retired and not having to be responsible for anyone and anything……………………….’cept for DH – but he’s a big boy and can make his own cup of tea lol

Normal programmes will resume in a few days time 🙂

Have to tell you about 2 things that happened yesterday that haven’t happened for a while.

We had rain for the best part of the evening yesterday. It also rained for the best part of the night, poured in fact and has also rained for most of today.

Now that makes me feel better.

I planted some green beans on Saturday and pottered around the garden most of Sunday so it is a great time for the rain to fall. It will help those plants settle in and give them a good start.

Had to run out first thing this morning and sprinkle the snail bait I forgot on Saturday. The wet weather will bring the little blighters out to see what’s on offer at the deli in Cathy’s garden and devour the seedlings in no time at all.

The other thing to happen is that I finally foound some oomph and motivation and went to a body pump class yesterday evening.

Yeah for me – it was so good to be in that room with 30 other people lifting those weights in time to the music.

I didn’t realise how much I’d missed it until I got up this morning and found there were some muscles in my body feeling like they had really had a good workout. Its been a few weeks since I have done anything physical, not even walking, and I have no idea why I lost interest and sat on my bum.

The scales at the Leisure Centre told me the end result of all this laziness – I have gained quite a few kilos. This time last year I was almost at the goal weight the doctor set for me – since we returned from overseas I have put on 6 kilos – over 13lbs – nearly a stone and most of my clothes are letting me know as well.

So as of last evening I am off and running again, well walking to begin with :))

I have to start thinking again about the healthy lifestyle I aimed for last year. Up until we went overseas I was going great guns but since we got home last October I certainly have gone off the rails. Food and exercise don’t seem to have the priority that they had before, my enthusiasm has not been the same even tho I tried hard at times and if I go on this way I’m going to have the GP giving me the rounds of the kitchen as well. I well remember his warning about the connection between waist measurement, BP going up and risk of heart disease and stroke. I also remember my father being fat round the middle, haveing very high BP and having several heart attacks and finally dying from a stroke. so its not a sif I haven’t been warned.

Well now – after the cool change we are having at the moment goes we’ll be back to the lovely spring weather we had these past few weeks and then summer will be arriving and I certainly don’t have cash or the need to shop for new clothes ‘cose if I sort myself out and go back to the active sensible eating lifestyle I was living I won’t need to buy new ones as the ones in the wardrobe will fit me again.

Water bottles to the ready, am off to set the alarm for an early rise and a walk – even if it is in the rain.

Well the Netball team lost, good game but the better team on the day won. So its on to the other attraction in Melbourne during the month of September.

Now as Catherine asked in a comment last week I never mentioned AFL Footy – well its a long story but I’ll just say that with 5 adult children all barracking for different teams and lots of grandchildren all barracking for different teams sometimes Grandma keeps quiet about some things :))

We have supporters of Hawthorn, Essendon, Richmond, Sydney , North Melbourne (now known as the Kangaroos), Footscay (now known as Western Bulldogs) and Collingwood.

Unfortunately in our house over the years the game and team loyalties have been known to cause some friction between some of the diehard fans especially if they happen to be a Collingwood supporter and nobody else except one of said person’s daughter is 😦

Me – well as I mentioned I stayed clear of the weekend conflict, it was bad enough years ago when all the games were played on Saturday afternoons but now its Friday Saturday and Sunday and on occasions Monday. If I chose a team to follow I think it would be Port Adelaide, a new team on the block as they say. We lived in Adelaide for a few years and when we arrived only Adelaide Crows were in the league and then Port were admitted and oh the fuss that went on in the city and even out in the bush.

There is a certain rivalry between South Australia and Victoria so when the chardonney set at the Adelaide Football Club got their knickers in knot over Port joining I decided if I ever had to name a team that would be the one for me.

Besides the colours of their strip was really nice and their nickname is Port Power and it sounded good. And they are doing well in the finals so I may get the last laugh after all:)))

The news at the moment is about what they are calling The Green Drought – the paddocks look green and promising as a result of the rains earlier in the year but there is no moisture underneath to sustain the crops to harvest time.

I have noticed the same thing in the garden here at home.

Grass is a fabulous green colour, roses are starting to shoot, early spring flowers are out

When I was digging around the other day it was really noticeable that below the surface the ground was dry and going hard. So if there is no more rain for a while we are in for a testing time.

Did a bit more tidying up down by the back fence today, dry and sunny again and just the right temperature to be working outside. I found a big bag of potting mix from last year in the shed so spread it over the spot I have in mind for some veggies, next job is to see what’s in the nurseries that I can grow easily. Green Runner Beans are about $12 a kilo at the moment so maybe thats the one to start with. I’d describe the spot as long and thin so probably woud be good with a bit of trellis rigged up as support for them to climb.

I also planted a Blood Lily given to me yesterday by an old friend – have a look at the retail price and see why I gave her a big hug when she mentioned she had divided hers and would I like some. Hope it takes to its new spot.

Have to be out early tomorrow so I’m off now

Looks like my link didn’t work

Netball

Its that time of the year when the talk is all about Finals.

Winter sports are coming to an end and the ‘top’ teams are about to play off for the honour of winning the flag.

Like lots of girls and women all round Australia several of the grandaughters play what could be classed the Australian Women’s favourite sport – Netball.

In most places the local Football and Netball teams are part of the establishment and in real country areas the life blood of the towns.

The aim is to pass a round ball similar in size to a basketball to each other up and down a court and score goals through a hoop that to me always seemed to be about 10 foot in the air.

Unlike basketball, players are not allowed to run with the ball, so once its in your possesion one foot has to stay on the ground as you move on and pass to someone else just hoping not to hear the whistle being blown and the words ‘stepping’ coming out of the umpires mouth.

Often it means you swivel around desperately try to fathom out whose hands in the sea of waving hands and moving bodies jockying for a position in front of you belong to your team.

Its also supposed to be a non contact sport – meaning you cant hang on to, push or shove any other player – try telling that to some of the ladies I’ve played against in years gone by tho :))

Played at its highest level its a joy to watch – The Australian Netball Team versus the New Zealand Team or even the Jamaicans are games to savour and enjoy.

Anyway – This past couple of Saturday mornings I have been up at the Netball courts very early to watch my budding athletes because their teams have qualified for the Finals.

Now remember this is a Winter sport and its a very enthusiastic family – ‘cose for some there could be more than 1 girl playing – that braves outside Netball courts at that time of the morning and I have to admit that even tho’ I love them very much and want to see them progress and (kill the opposition – did I say that :)) I don’t go to watch every week but maybe every 3.

Because of the amount of girls that play on Saturdays during the season the games begin at ungodly hours like 8.45am and go on right through the afternoons so like the weekly games the finals are spread out over the day according to age grouping which has mean’t we have been there from early morning until lunchtime and then its been home for soup and sandwiches and to give lots of cuddles and hugs to the ones who have been eliminated.

The Grand Finals in Mooroolbark are on this Saturday and there is one team left in for us to go and cheer for.

This game isn’t till 12.45 lunchtime so I’ll be able to get to the gym first and then go and holler like any good supporter for the SPJ Under 15 Netball team!!

Days of moaning and groaning just showed me how reliant I have become on this machine :((

Yes we are back on line and the household is running as smooth as usual. This episode did prove to me I have a problem and made me see how much I had missed out on other things.

I did lots of knitting during the few evenings DH tried to fix the machine and I also read a new book; these two things were just ordinary run of the mill happenings a few years ago and unless I make a special effort I never get round to doing them. I used to say our new technology wouldn’t make a difference to our household – oh was I wrong.

Anyway the book I read was by Jacquelyn Mitchard – Cage of Stars, and I haven’t read anything that moved me so much for a very long time. Tears rolled down my face at times and I couldn’t wait to get to the end.

A while ago I read another by her called The Deep End of the Ocean and that also was something I couldn’t put down till I finished.

Will have to check the library for others.

Lovely day today, good gardening weather. Has been very cold overnight this week about 4-5c/40f but its been going up to 16-17c/60f and so I ghave managed to get a lot more done in the garden. Still no rain tho and none forecast either. Sounds like a broken record doesn’t it.

Will be gone for a little while Dh has really ‘stuffed things up’ and we have ‘nothing’

No computer No nothing

Hope its not too long

See you

Another dry day today so I have been emptying the last of my compost heap onto the garden. Kiera our brown Burmese follows me most places and she thought she’d check out the almost empty space – about the same time as Mr Magpie.

This area is tucked away down the side of the garage but close enough for me to get to when I need something.

That big blue drum is where I’m starting the next load – we haven’t mown the grass for months so its been slow going. Theres been loads of leaves and weeds but because I saw some mice I’ve been wary of putting food scraps (peelings etc) there. The possums have been hungry so I’ve left fruit in another place for them. When we get more things to add I’ll roll it over and spread it on the heap area and well go from there.

I’ve been turning a spot over and adding to the soil as this year I’ve decided to go back to growing Tomatoes in the ground instead of the big tubs I used this past couple of seasons. Even tho they need sunshine and warmth they didn’t fare well as the tubs got really hot in the sun (I tried wrapping them in a wet sack but it didn’t work as we were wasting water ) plus the fact it was impossible to keep up enough water to them.

Kiera wandered off so Mr Magpie came down onto land and looked off to see if anyone else was around

All clear so he set to looking for goodies in amongst what was left of the black gold on the ground.

You can see bigger photos by clicking to enlarge.

Yes we are home again

Had one granddaughter to stay overnight on Friday – after being a very meek little girl who whinged and whined about everything she has now developed into a very confident, out there nearly 9 year old We never know what to expect with her hence the picture above of her with our 2 cats.

Could I have a picture taken with Leroy and Kiera was was what she actually asked – not can I frighten the life out of them:)

Good job Burmese are the best family cat you could ever get. They just lay back and take all the surprises that come their way.

Later after breakfast it had warmed up so she went out onto the deck to say “Sorry” to Leroy. The word is that Melbourne is having an early Spring as so many blossoms are out and I spied snowdrops in my garden the other day. You can view a larger picture by clicking on the image

I don’t mind the sunshine and warmer days as it means I can get out and do some gardening but please may we have some more rain.

Yes only 2 more sleeps till I’ll be flying home.

Its been a trying time this past few days, trying to look after the children whilst their Mother is in the house has been a challenge.

Instead of resting upstairs in her bed she has insisted on being down in the lounge on the couch which has mean’t both boys have wanted to climb all over her and then get very upset when told (by her) not to.

Enough said – and of course with the Father running a business from home but coming in and out of the office every now and again and carrying on at them its been a ‘lovely’ few days.

One really great thing however has been that the weather in Sydney has been just what I needed. Dry and sunny and WARM.

Yes WARM – up to about 24c yesterday and I spent a lot of it just sitting reading and watching the boys in their shaded sandpit. Eat your heart out Melbourne :))

I do miss my own bed and can’t wait to get back to it.

We are going to have an eclipse of the moon towards the end of the month – look here (Melbourne Planetarium site) scroll down the page a bit and there is all the info.

Something unusual to look forward to so I will have to mark the calendar but I’m sure it will be in the papers and on the news.

Look further down and you’ll see the sunrise and sunset times – it becoming really noticable that the days are lengthening and when they are sunny and dry its a pleasure to be outside.

It been a lovely day today so I managed to get some more gardening done, went to the Big Green Barn (Bunnings) for some more cow manure and taking them out of the car managed to catch one of the bags on the window handle.

Well its smells quite ‘country’ in there at the moment, took ages to vacuum it all up – thank goodness we have an ald one we use to clean the cars out. It would have meant a trip to a car wash place if I had ot use the one from inside – I may well have to do that anyway if the ‘healthy’ smell doesn’t go away. :))

Yes its been rather windy here yesterday and today. DH and I spent a long time yesterday cutting up a large branch from a Banksia Spinulosa that had come down overnight and was all over the driveway. Bit of a shame as it has the most beautiful huge great candles on it at the moment.

I had an inkling something would happen as I thought there had been a drop in the foliage during the evening – noticed the end of the branch was closer to my car when I was going to the rubbish bin so as it was dark and raining just moved the car out of the way and hoped it didn’t fall too close if it did come down overnight.

Yes I know but there wasn’t much we could do at that time of the night, it was blowing a gale and pouring and the Banksia is 25 years old and if its going to lose a branch so be it.

Its in the driveway chopped it into smaller pieces and now all I have to do is persuade one of the sons to load it into his trailer and take it to the tip for me.

Found out today we’ll be off to Sydney again next week.

Daughter in law is going into hospital for a cholecystectomy (lap- choly) in other words removal of her gall bladder so we are needed to mind the two boys for a few days. This operation is nothing like it used to be – no big long incision these days its done by the laproscopic technique through small incisions in the front of the body. So she will be in and out in a couple of days, resting afterwards is the most important thing, hope the boys realise that and don’t want her attention all the time.

Lovely clear day today, got the washing dry outside which is good as the forecast is for temperatures going down very low ( been loads of snow again up in the ski resorts ) and also lots of rain over the weekend.

Me – well these days its usually porridge oats (oatmeal) but it could also be cold cereal like weetbix along with fruit or toast. Hot toast with vegemite or ginger marmalade Yum.

Sometimes when we are away we will indulge in a full cooked breakfast – but nothing like the Ulster Breakfast my granny in Belfast would put on the table. I wish I could find soda bread and potato bread here that tasted the same as hers did, maybe if we go to Ireland next year I’ll see if one of my cousins will do it for me just for a treat. I can’t remember the last time I had fried bread either.

Anyway, look at this blog called surprisingly ‘The Breakfast Blog’ and see the breakfasts this fella in Melbourne comes across. One day I’ll look up some of the places when I’m in the city but I’m not sure I’ll be on the 7am from Croydon so lets hope they serve brekky till maybe 11am :))

Reading my ‘Bird’ entry again I realised I hadn’t actually provided any information on the birds

SO

If you follow these links you will be able to ‘read all about it’

Yellow tailed Black cockatoo

Australian Magpie

Rainbow Lorikeet

Eastern Rosella

Crimson Rosella

Hope all the links work

I woke yesterday with red itchy eyes which got worse and worse as the day went by, they were really painful during the night so had to get an appointment with the GP this morning. As he’s just round the corner I took a chance and fronted up as they opened at 9am and was really lucky in that the receptionist addeed my name and slipped me in first. She probably didn’t want me sitting in the waiting room looking like death warmed up, with red bloodshot eyes and big dark circles under the eyes.

Anyway I now have 2 sets of eye drops, am not allowed to drive (what a pain thats going to be) and have to see him again on Monday morning. Bang goes my plans for Monday as he made mention of seeing an eye specialist if it hadn’t improved. The other cruncher is I have to stay away from the computer – so this will be it for a few days

Going to be -1c here this evening – I think thats about 30f. I may not even get out of bed tomorrow:))