Tag: Food for thought Friday

Posted on

This goes with that…..

https://www.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/Our-services/Waste/What-can-I-put-in-my-bin

Two years on the council is still trying to ‘educate’ rate prayers

Remember the little stickers I mentioned here the other day
The supermarket says they need them to identify the item/fruit so the consumer is charged the correct price.

Here’s the latest letter box drop that came from the council on Wednesday- guess what they’ve singled out as a No No

Those pesky little fruit stickers!
They are plastic but they’re the the wrong sort of plastic to go in the recycling bin so they have to go in the household rubbish
It seems the consumer is saying……I’m fed up trying to work out what goes where so I’ll just leave them on and let ‘them’ sort it out

So now we have three bins with various coloured lids each with its own scheduled pick up week…….thankfully all on Monday morning .
Spare a thought for Sue in Suffolk (in the UK) plus those around her because most of them are soon going to be responsible for 5 – yes, five bins. Where on earth would you house them all
https://attheendofasuffolklane.blogspot.com/2025/10/all-change-in-village.html

Posted on

Short back and sides…..

The van park was sold at the end of last season so the new owners are managing some things slightly differently. There’s a more casual feel about the place for a start…..

Grounds and garden maintenance is happening as usual , safety issues mean things like tall palm fronds are removed (can’t have them falling down on RVs or campers) but the hedges between sites that provide a bit of privacy have been let grow slight taller. It was nice to not see the square formal look……

…..because it meant that many of the hibiscus hedges were allowed to flower. There was some colour about the place – blooms of different shapes and colours not seen for the past few years were appearing again.

When we got home from Rose Bay on Wednesday The Golfer said……‘something’s different’ but couldn’t put his finger on it
I knew straight away what it was…..

The gardeners had been playing barbers……..

Realistically we know nothing stays the same and what a shock it is when it doesn’t – see THIS POST about my reaction to previous changes here – now changes are happening again.
One that has been welcomed by all the long stay winter visitors is the return to the system where actual sites can be booked ahead for the next year – no more filling in a request form then waiting till the new year to see what/where you have been allocated. Yes, those who have been coming for years become quite protective about their site and want the same one each time plus there’s always one neighbour they don’t want to be parked next to…..

Guess who knows which cabin they are going to be in when they return next year…..

Posted on

A conversation with a stranger…..

A very one sided one actually!

In the supermarket looking at the broccoli thinking those are nice big heads rather than the tiny little ones they had recently, which I don’t like buying because you end up with two lumpy stalks and not one when I hear….

“Oh the Reindeer Carrots are back…I’ll have to get some for the grandchildren”

“Oh my goodness would you look at that”

“Gosh that’s cheap, I’ll get two”.

I’m not usually a chatty person when I’m shopping but curiosity got the better of me and I turned round…..

My talkative shopping neighbour then went on to tell me $1.95 was an extraordinarily low price for cauliflower at the moment……who on earth would want to buy a coloured cauli (most likely full of chemical dye)…..and labelling the carrots as just the thing to give to Rudolph was stupid but her grandchildren thought he’d like them. And with that she plonked a bag of carrots in her trolley and moved away – but not until she’d rummaged around in the cauliflower section for the 2 largest ones she could find.

Oh dear I thought, she’s not going to be happy when she gets to the checkout and discovers the ticket actually said $1.95 cauliflower halves……lower down was a ticket saying $3.90 each.

I did pick up a nice head of broccoli even though it had gone up to over $7 a kilo but it’s the same everywhere (unless you grow your own that is) and am still wondering if anyone bought that manky looking purple cauliflower priced at $3.50!

(Also wondering if anyone else in Melbourne is having ‘eye problems’…..something seems to be playing havoc with my eyes. They’re red itchy gritty, weepy at times – which is usually what happens when it’s hot dry and windy not hot moist and muggy – so I’m limiting my screen time and using the occasional antihistamine)

Posted on

They’re at it again….

Or maybe.
I should be so lucky….

$$$$$$$

My name is Mrs. Edythe Broad, the wife of Late Eli Broad. My Husband is an American businessman,  and a philanthropist (The Eli & Edythe Broad Foundation). He Died on April 30, 2021 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, United States.

I am presently sick and Hospitalized with endometrial Cancer and I am having some Funds deposited in a Bank after I sold all my inherited Estate estimated at $3,500,000.00. Please, I want you to help me to use at least %60 of the funds for less fortunate people in your region, then the rest %40 will go to you for helping me accomplish my dream before it will be too late for me . If you can, Get back to me for more information.  

 I await your positive response before we proceed.

Yours.
Mrs. Edythe Broad

*****

My name is Carlos Slim Helu, A philanthropist, the CEO and Chairman of the Carlos Slim Helu Charitable Foundation,i have decided to secretly give {$2,500,000.00} Two Million Five Hundred Thousand United Dollars, to randomly selected individuals worldwide. On receipt of this email, you should count yourself as the lucky individual. Your email address was chosen online while searching at random. Kindly get back to me with your full address at your earliest convenience, so I know your email address is valid.

Regards,

Carlos Slim Helu

$$$$$$

Isn’t it strange the way people are willing to give you all that money
And isn’t it sad the way people are still falling for these scams and losing so much of their own

(Sadly Carlos Slim Helu and Edythe Broad are real live persons)

Scam 1 – Scam 2

Posted on

Why is it so….

I have no idea why but I definitely agree

And if you cut those triangles in half you get even more !

******

And somehow I think the next few days are going to be ‘Sandwiches Days’
because
This was next week’s forecast when I was preparing this post yesterday

All I can say – and many would disagree- better late than never 😎😎

(Although 37c/98f and windy is not a good combination
especially when everything is so dry)

If you’re interested this site provides bushfire and other information .
The blue area is the site of the Beaufort fire from a couple of weeks ago

https://www.emergency.vic.gov.au/respond/#

Posted on

Spring 2023 Week 8

Our week has been like this
Cool Cloudy Cold even
Warmish at times Wet to very wet at other times.
If the sun shone it was a welcome change to the dull days

Tuesday was forecast to be dry and sunny so an executive decision made it sheet change day – yes, that’s the day I wrote about on Wednesday, the day when we went out and about and then I was faced with making bed late in the evening.

Anyway as we’re over half way through spring, each time a warmish day/night has turned up I’ve contemplated changing back to summer cotton sheets, then looked at the upcoming overnight forecasts and decided ‘No, we’ll stick with the warm and cosy ones I told you all about a couple of years ago.

Here in my outer east foothills suburb Tuesday’s o/night was 3c/37f – Wednesday was the same – Thursday 5c/41f…..whatever way you look at it it was cool chilly or if you think like me ‘down right cold’.
Good thinking Catherine!
Tonight’s forecast is for similar so Warm and Cosy is the way to go for a little while longer I think😊

Highlight of the week was lunch at Healesville – a belated birthday lunch for us both – not on sunny Tuesday but a cloudy wet Monday
No food photos but one from the upstairs lounge

View from lounge at The Golfer’s 2nd home in Healesville
Mt Riddell in the centre

Mount Riddell (829m/2 720ft a.s.l.) is a mountain in the Great Dividing Range in Australia. The prominence is 162m/531ft.
source


Last September the BOM declared that our three wet years of La Niña were over and we were now in El Niño phase – very dry hot days ahead. Even though we whinge a bit because we’re a little chilly at the moment and it would be nice if it was warmer, there were some very hot days (almost heatwave conditions) last month, and four states have experienced bush fires already so it’s definitely not looking too good for our summer

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/.

https://www.csiro.au/en/news/all/news/2023/september/expert-commentary-el-nino

https://www.9news.com.au/national/weather-forecast-australia-2023-la-nina-el-nino-explainer/40c4efbd-42cc-4426-8d75-bb6757aa455c

He’s back: What the return of El Niño means

Posted on

Changing rooms….

I’ve done very little actual clothes shopping over the recent years that needed ‘trying on’ so imagine my surprise last week at being shown to a unisex change room large enough to hold a dance in.
‘There’s only me’ I said.
‘They’re all like this’ the assistant said.

Certainly looked like a ‘cradle to the grave’ family sized one.
With grab (support) rails on the walls plus plenty of space to manoeuvre a wheel chair…. or pram/pusher and floor space for children to play/wait/run around in…it seems one size fits all these days
Then of course there was the dreaded all seeing- all knowing three sided corner mirror, guaranteed to put you down in the dumps before you’ve even shut the door.
And gone are the days of quick decisions- three hooks on the wall – don’t you love it when traders give you choices – yes, no and maybe. Maybe what….different colour- lose a little weight – I’ll think about it while I’m waiting in line to pay?

Question of the week!
Are you as confused as I am
trying to work out where I was standing to take the mirror shot 😊😊.
(flowers look strange but are covering a very visible- ghastly looking cold sore
that I’d rather you didn’t see…I wore a mask in the store..but even so)

And (sorry fellas, this is for the ladies) a handy wall chart to peruse while you’re standing there half naked wondering ‘why doesn’t this fit properly’

I

Should be back on Monday – hopefully will see you then!

Posted on

All for the mighty dollar….

(This is not an in depth post)

NSW had them well before anyone else – followed by the ACT
But it wasn’t until the 1990s before they arrived here.
All (well about 99%) of the pubs and clubs here in Victoria now have them

Before that (for some) ‘tripping’ across the state borders was the way to go
Bus loads went up and down the highways – train loads in one state
Weekends away were the thing!
I’ll admit back in the 1980s even we took the occasional Saturday drive up to Echuca/Moama – visiting the Rich River Country Club (as it was known then) for lunch plus the novelty of pulling the handle on the machine (as was the way then)

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/the-pensioners-pokie-express-innocent-fun-before-the-music-stopped-20230216-p5cl00.html

https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/lifestyle/sa-weekend/how-hundreds-of-people-caught-the-pokies-express-into-nsw-to-play-poker-machines/news-story/70b1535cc60464dc94ff17bdee75034f

Then it all went a bit haywire
They now can be found in just about any suburb in Australia
It’s accepted that Australia has a problem with gambling on poker machines

Australia’s love affair with the pokies – 2015
except in WA where they are only allowed in a casino
.
Facts and figures from Western Australia – 2023

But it seems we weren’t the only ones doing some travelling over the border.
Here’s a video to watch – (not on YouTube) so anyone will be able to open it.
.
A little 1966 insight into why the Irish favoured a tiny island in the Irish Sea

https://www.rte.ie/archives/2021/0825/1242753-isle-of-man-gambling/

Posted on

Would you do it….

The Leisure Seeker ~ Michael Zadoorian. (2009)

Book Blurb.
The unforgettable cross country journey of a runaway couple in their twilight years determined to meet the end of all roads on their own terms

The Leisure Seeker” is the story of John and Ella Robina, a couple married 50+ years – she has stopped her cancer treatments, he has Alzheimer’s – who kidnap themselves from the adult children and the doctors who seem to run their lives, and steal off on a forbidden vacation…..”

A ‘small short’ easy to read book containing a lot to think about and digest.
It Is as described, about 2 seniors who, without telling their children, go off on a trip – making their way down Route 66 (or what’s left of it) to Disneyland – in their very old motor home.

Much of it is about how they relate to each other, how Ella copes with John’s dementia- the strains of illnesses progressing with no cure in sight for either of them.

There is lots of love shown by John when he’s lucid, bickering by both of them when things don’t go quite right. Accepting their children are worried yet determined to do this trip – to the end of the road.

And it’s at the end of the road that the touchy subject is raised. John didn’t know it but neither of them were going home.

Seemingly promoted as a romantic comedy….yes at times it’s a ‘fun humorous’ read – but it’s much more than that.

It makes you wonder about ageing, terminal illnesses, then (spoiler)‘…..’mercy killing aka murder/suicides’ – are they ‘loving or selfish’ acts.
As much as you loved someone- would you do it?
… … … …

Read February 2023.
I saw this recommended on another blog – true to form I’ve forgotten where!.
I’m wondering if anyone else has read this book – if so, how did you feel about it?

A professional review
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-feb-17-et-book17-story.html

Linking to  Wednesday’s Words & Pics hosted by Denyse. 

Website Built with WordPress.com.