PHEW!!!

MONDAY 31st JANUARY

  My Lloyds Mastercard expires at the end of the day, however an e-mail from Mark informs me that he has posted my cholestrol and blood pressure pills along with my new credit card,so hopefully I'll get it in about a week's time.  I enjoyed a fried egg and smoked salmon for brekkers this morning and then took Reilly for a walk before it really got hot.  However I did feel warm enough on my return to have a cool bath and enjoy several chapters of Richie Benaud's Over But Not Out biography.

  I did a bit more work on the 1961 UK Hits and sent off an invoice to Jan only for it to be returned as undeliverable.  I sent an e-mail to John O'Toole asking if he could confirm her e-mail address and discovered that there were two "n's" in her surname whilst I had only entered one!  The temperatures rose as the day went on and there wasn't a cloud in the sky as I looked out in the garden.  It reached about 40 degrees C.

  Robert picked me up about 4.45pm and we sped over to Epping to see Nick play in the semi-final of his indoor league (they were in the dark kit).  Fairly early on in the first half Nick took quite a tumble and hurt his hip and went off.  The only problem was that his team had no substitutes, there was only the six of them. 

Robert shouted encouragement to Nick urging him to get back on.  Assistant trainer Jane gave Nick some water and a bit of ice on his bruise and he returned, albeit a tad reluctantly to the field of play.  Having no subs took its toll of the players but they manfully played on taking the lead in the first half.  Nick missed a couple of guilt edged opportunities albeit he was fouled one one of them which resulted in a penalty. 

However the keeper saved the shot.  A second goal came the way of the Tigers making it 2-0, although they had their keeper to thank for a series of great saves.  Nick showed a few flashes of skill and put through one absolutely defence splitting pass but the recipient was unable to capitilise on it.

  The scorer of the side's two goals was denied a hat trick when the referee's whistle went a split second before the long range shot crossed the line,  At the end of the game there was quite a bit to think about.  The team's trainer is away next week so Jane will be on her own, and it's the final!

  On the way bck to Oakhurst I told Rob my card was expiring at the end of the day, and had no difficulty in persuading him to pull in at a bottle shop to replenish our stocks, getting two bottles of Chardonnay and a case of 24 bottles of Cool Beer.

  I received the President's foreword, both in Polish and an English translation.  Peter had warned me that I should read it first before forwarding it to the publishers, and he was dead right.  I corrected it to my satisfaction and sent it on to Deborah as Michael Leventhal is on holiday.  I got an e-mail back from her saying she had received it and telling me that her father was from Tarnopol  (not that far from Swirz) and she looked forward to meeting me when I got back!  Well it's just gone midnight so I think it's time for bed.

TEMPERATURE RISING

SUNDAY 30th JANUARY

  I just realised that I have been away for just over three months, so a third through the epic journey.  I got through on the Skype land line to Jim only to discover that he is in bed with a touch of flu.  Unfortunately the line went down in the middle of our conversation.  The temperature rose to 35 degrees during the day, and I only ventured out twice during the day, once to take Reilly for a walk in the morning and the second time with Rob to replenish the beer stocks.  I got a banana milkshake in the shopping centre but it wasn't what I was expecting.  Apparently I should have asked for a thick shake!

  I spent most of the day e-mailing all the photos I had of my father with me to a chap Dr Bartlomiej Bydon from the Army Centre For The Education Of Civilians who told me that they are planning to have an exhibition on my father and asked if I could send him some photos.  This I did in batches of four pictures with as detailed a description in Polish as I could manage.  All in all I sent him over 60 photos. 

                                  In the Austrian Army 1916 - T.K. on the right

                         In Polish Army - shaking hands with wife Irena behind him

                             Colonel Komorowski charcoal drawing by wife Irena

                                   Tadeusz and Irena outside the entrance at Swirz

                                  20th Anniversary of the 9th Uhlan Regiment

                                              First Christmas in the UK - 1945

                                 Tadeusz and Irena in back garden, Wembley 1958

                             Brzezynski laying a wreath at State Funeral in July 1994

However I did not have all the photos with me, for instance the one of him riding in the 1924 Olympics in Paris and the one where he is waiting to be presented to Adolph Hitler at the Berlin Olympics in 1936.  I wrote to Peter in Warsaw as I'm fairly sure he has them and a few others asking him to send them on to the good Doctor.  I've had a reply from Peter confirming that this will be done.

  Afterwards I watched the Aussies win the one day series with a fairly comprehensive victory, the only good part being the last wicket stand between Anderson and Finn.  I also saw Jokovic demolish Andy Murray in the final of the Australian Open, so all in all not the best of days for the Northern Hemisphere! I sat outside in summerhouse and the temperature dropped quite substancially as the night wore on, so much so that I had to don some extra clothing.

However the two R's both seemed happy with the lower temperature.

 I received an e-mail today informing me that it is Michael Hallinan's birthday this week, so in case you haven't seen my comments on Facebook, Happy Birthday Michael.

BOWLING IN CASTLE HILL

SATURDAY 29th JANUARY

  Robert woke me up just after 8.00am, and I must confess that I awoke with quite a hangover - I must have had more of that red wine than I realised last night.  I was rushed out of the house and as a result left my wallet and all my money behind.  We drove over to Carlingford and I managed to get a cup of coffee, but still felt far from sprightly.  After Jingles had thoroughly inspected my toes and then had gone bounding around the room like a demented dervish, we made plans on where to go.  The original intention had been to go to Balmain beach,but as it was cloudy and the temperature was down to the low 20s, Robert declared it wasn't really a beach day, and Nick opted for 10 pin bowling.  We set off for Castle Hill and got there fairly quickly, but once there Robert couldn't find the Bowling Alley.  We must have driven around, through and into Castle Hill about ten times when a McDonalds jogged Robert's memory and we found the said emporium.

  Modesty forbids from relating who won both games, suffice to say that Robert came second in the first game and Nick came second in the next one.  Rob got Nick some chicken nuggets and chips and I had a few of Nick's chips to partially alleviate my growing hunger.






I can't bear to look!

                                    Not totally satisfied with his shot

                                    Robert wonders how he managed to miss all 10!

                                    Now that was more like it.

The scoreboard doesn't lie!

  After the game was over Nick found a "Deal/No Deal" slot machine.  Somebody must have left some money in it as Nick got several games on it and won 195 tickets.  This he was able to exchange for a toy of his choice, so he left a very happy chappie!  Rob drove Nick back to Carlingford where Jane took him on to one of his friends where there is a swimming pool.  We meantime called in at Eastwood where I collected my phone charger and the smoked salmon from the fridge. We then headed back to Oakhurst.  A smoked salmon sandwich went down a treat until a very tasty beef and potato stew finally alleviated my hunger.  I stuck to just a glass of wine tonight, having a cup of tea and shunning the offers of beer and wine whilst watching the female final in the Australian Open in which Kim Clijsters beat Li Na by two sets to one.

LAWSONS

FRIDAY 28th JANUARY

  I got up fairly early and got down to creating the first CD of 25 tracks of 1961 UK Hits.  I got it finished just after midday, and then set off for Eastwood.  I got fresh batteries for my camera in Woolworths, a salmon roll for lunch and the Daily Telegraph to read on the train.  An express train stopping only at Strathfield on the way to Central arrived within 3 minutes.  I came out of the station and started walking down Pitt Street, only to discover after a 100 yards or so that I was heading in the wrong direction!  However it was far enough for me to be approached by a neatly dressed young chap asking me if I could spare him any money for something to eat.  I quite liked the look of him and thought him to be genuine so I gave him all the change that I had which was about $3.00.

  My first port of call was Lawsons where I found two 12th Man CD's in the comedy section at $5.00 each (I later saw the same ones in JB HiFi at $27.60 each), so I guess I got a real bargain.  There was a Della Reese CD for $7.00, a French double CD of Cliff rarities from the '60s, a double best of Canned Heat and a New Seekers CD of their CBS recordings.  All in all a grand haul for just over £20.  I subsequently went on

to one of the many branches of JB HiFi in the town centre.  I picked up a Keith Urban CD.  Urban is an Aussie country singer married to Nicole Kidman. He has made it in the States as a country artist.  Roddy drew him to my attention, so I thought I would check him out as one of his CD's was reduced to $9.99.

  I then decided I had enough and walked on to Town Hall, where I caught a train back to Eastwood and then the 545 bus home.  I spoke to Robert about 5.00pm and told him I would catch the train out to Mount Druitt and ring him when the train had reached Seven Hills.  Again I caught the express train to Strathfield within a few minutes of arriving at Eastwood station.  However my luck then changed as I had a 20 minute wait for a Penrith train.  Just a couple of minutes before the train was due in, my mobile went off.  It was a call from the President's office in Warsaw.  They had the introduction done and translated into English and confirmed they would e-mail scans of both to me.  However they wanted to know where to send the original as it was personally signed by the president.  I told them to send it to me in London and confirmed I would e-mail them my home address.  This I did, but the e-mail with the two versions failed to reach me so hopefully I'll get them on Monday as the publishers have been waiting for it since early December.

  Robert picked me up and we called in at a bottle shop to restock the wine supplies.A domestic crisis awaited me in Oakhurst - the gas oven wasn't working and Jeannette was cooking her quiche on the BBQ.  Further drama - the gas ran out!  Finally she tried to complete the cooking in the grill, but wasn't happy with the pastry.  I found nothing wrong with it nor indeed the whole quiche which contained home grown spinach.  I wolfed down two large portions along with accompanying salad.  Robert and I watched Andy Murray win the semi final in the Australian open and cracked the crossword in the Daily Telegraph. As Jeannette is due to work tomorrow - stock take - she adjourned to bed relatively early. Without quite realising it I think I imbibed more of the Hardy's red wine than I intended and was asleep in no time!

STILL HOT

THURSDAY 27th JANUARY

  Although a bit cloudy it was still very hot this morning.  Took Reilly for a walk about 10.30am and then resorted to working on the 1961 hits for the rest of the day.  Upon reflection about yesterday's head whacking event, I realised that not a word of warning was shouted by Robert.  No "Look out Dad", or "Duck" or "Dive"!  Should I contact my solicitors?  There's a matter to ponder!

  Robert picked me up about 4.45pm and we drove over to Carlingford to pick Nick up.  In the event after initially declaring he didn't want to come, when he eventually changed his mind he wasn't quite ready to go, so we pressed on and Jane brought him out a bit later.

  The Tigers were 2-0 up at half time and eventually won 2-1.  Although he didn't score, this was the best performance I have seen from Robert.  He used his speed and skill to beat players and passed well. 
Maybe I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and refrain from contacting my solicitors after all.

                                          Dougie scores the second and winning goal
Thankfully the temperature had dropped a bit by 6.00pm but it was still quite warm, as I soon discovered when Nick challenged me to a race around perimeter of the park, he on his scooter me on my feet - I must be mad!!

No need to guess the result of that one!  As if that wasn't enough I then played football with him.  After a while I realised that the game wasn't going to end unless I let him score the winning goal.  I had until then defended stoutly, flattening him if he showed signs of beating me for pace (not too difficult as my sprinting days are over).  With muscles I had forgotten I had starting to ache overtly, it was time to let him through to score.

                                         Nick protesting that he had been fouled!
Robert had in the meantime been celebrating the victory with a can of beer, and I joined those celebrations!  We then took Nick back to Carlingford, where I indulged in a game of tennis with Nick in the courtyard outside the garages.  The number of times a ball bounces is irrelevant as far as Nick is concerned and he serves when he feels like it.  However he has the scoring of pat.  Rob gave him a final game as the light totally faded.  We looked after him until Jane returned from her session with her Chinese acupuncturist.  A late meal at the Eastwood with just one glass of wine completed the evening's entertainment.  It didn't take long to get to sleep!

  Premier Julia Gillard announced a levy tax to help pay for the Queensland flood damage.  It has not gone down well with the public, who have already raised millions through donations, charity events and collections and feel that after giving money voluntarily they are now being taxed for the same thing, when the government can easily pay for the damage out of existing funds.  The Premier and the government's popularity is plummeting!

YOGI BEAR (And Australia Day)

WEDNESDAY 26th JANUARY

  I was awake at 7.00am and up half an hour later to down a cup of coffee and a cheese sandwich.  Rob then drove me over to Carlingford, and played Mario Bros tennis with Nicholas.

  I also indulged in a two set match but lost 2-0!  Eventually we went off to the Macquarie Shopping Centre, where Jane went shopping and I took Nick to see Yogi Bear.  Armed with a Yogi Bear popcorn pack we watched the film which both Nick and I enjoyed.  Nick had a good look around the Meyers toy department on the way out and inspected various items in some detail.

Jane then dropped me off at Epping Station, by which time it was definitely getting very hot.  I caught a train to Strathfield and changed on to a train bound for Emu Plains.  I rang Rob when I reached Seven Hills and he was waiting for me at Mount Druitt.  We stopped at a number of bottle shops but my man refused to make a purchase as he reckoned they had raised the prices due to it being Australia Day.  Finally the Woolworth Bottle Shop in Plumpton offered beer at acceptable price and we purchased a pack of Cold. 
Robert then set about the BBQ and cooked jacket potatoes and skewers of kebabs.

  By now the temperature must have reached around 40 degrees, and I suggested we take Reilly for a walk.  I made the mistake of walking in front of Robert when we got to the park - I didn't want to stop because if I did I thought I might not get started again.  I heard Robert snapping off a branch of dead wood behind me, obviously to throw for Reilly.  The next thing I knew I heard a thump and simultaneously felt a severe blow on the back of my head which had me staggering forward clutching my head.  A slightly concerned Robert turned up shortly afterwards.  He examined my head and declared that there was only a scratch, and expressed relief that there was no flood of blood emmanating from my bonce.  He then saw the funny side of it and chuckled - I didn't.  I merely thought that his aim must have been affected by an excess of beer!

Reilly was noticeably subdued and on the way home sat down and waited for us to catch him up.  Upon returning home he showed no interest in his dinner, just lying there panting.  In the end he was allowed into the house to cool down with the aircon reducing the temperature considerably indoors.  Rob and I watched the 4th one dayer which England won making it 3-1 in the the 7 match series.  I'm pleased to announce that after he had cooled down Reilly duly partook of his meal of chicken necks and dog biscuits.

LOCKED OUT

TUESDAY 25th JANUARY

  I heard Robert getting up for work and thought I'd wait until he was finished before I made a move.  Next thing I knew it was 10.30am!  I thought I'd have some coffee and toast but couldn't find the matches to light the toaster and instead settled for tea and a cheese and onion sandwich.  It was even hotter today with the sun beating down incessantly all day.  About midday I took Reilly for a walk.  I had a pair of shorts I borrowed from Rob and didn't spot the pocket that was low down.  I had two keys to the front door, but when I went out yesterday I only needed one to get back in.  I checked which one it was and then went round the back and got Reilly.  We set off for another warm walk in the park.

And warm work it was when you chased another animal over several hundred yards!  It looked like a minature deer to me about 2 ft tall - and it fairly shifted!  However Reilly was hot on its tail.  Not wanting to witness a slaughter in the park I yelled for Reilly to heel, and eventually he heeded my commands and gave up the chase, and the mystery animal made good its escape.  We then had some kids cycling in our direction.  Reilly charged at them barking ferociously!  I nearly went hoase yelling at him but eventually he did a 180 degree turn and came charging back towards me.

  I got home but the front door wouldn't open - the lower knob refused to budge and the door remained steadfastly closed!  Yesterday the knob had turned with no problem at all - it had a key but I'd left it indoors.
I was debating what I would do for the next six hours with no money on me, no mobile phone, no computer and not even a book to read.  I was able to get round to the back garden and noticed that my bedroom window was open, albeit there was a mossie screen in place.  However I managed to remove it, and then with some difficulty climbed inside.  Situation rescued!

  The afternoon was more profitably spent compiling 25 of 1961's UK hits and cracking on with David Baldacci's Hell's Corner.  Jeannette's daughter and her boyfriend Pat brought round the microwave, which they put in the kitchen.  This enabled me to notice that the kitchen had been invaded by thousands of ants swarming over the walls and work top.  I managed to eliminate them and seemingly restore the kitchen to its former pristine condition.

  I spoke to Nick who had earlier in the day appeared on local talkback radio, posing a question about Jingles asking how to ensure that he used the litter tray.  The answer is apparently coming in the post from the pet expert.  He had heard the program in the car and phoned in on Jane's mobile.  I have arranged to take him to see Yogi Bear tomorrow which is Australia Day and the temperature threatens to be in the mid '40s.  An excellent South American meal washed down with wine was followed by a quick walk with Reilly, Rob and Jeannette in the park.

  We sat in the summerhouse after dinner and knocked back a few beers and after Rob and Jeannette had checked out the internet, I carried on with looking up info on 1961 hits.  Reilly climbed all over me and seemingly our combined weight proved to be too much for the chair.  Two down two to go!

WALKING THE DOG

MONDAY 24th JANUARY

  Once the premises were vacated I rose in a leisurely manner and adjourned to the bathroom with a book, where I took time to soak my weary limbs.  After a cup of coffee and a sandwich I took Reilly for a walk, going in the opposite direction this time.  The sun was getting pretty hot by this time, and I returned home fairly knackered.

  After checking the sports news on my Iphone, I checked my e-mails on the computer and tried ringing Jim again on Skype but yet again got no response.  I had the Iphone in my hand when Alan rung, (luckily for him)so I answered immediately. He told me that he was up to date with the blog, so I didn't have too much new to impart. He is off down the beach tomorrow, but other than that I didn't learn too much about his recent activities, (I assume he has been down to the tennis). I then read for quite a while before deciding to crack on with creating the 1961 UK Hits on the Content Editor.  This saw me through to the return of the workers, and as there was curry and rice left over from last night, I cooked some more Bombay potatoes and curried mushrooms and we had another great blow out washed down by further couple of bottles of Bowler's Run.

  Rob and I then took Reilly for another walk around the park, which by the time we got back, left him panting like a good 'un.  I wasn't panting but Cold Filtered certainly went down well.  More reading and catching up with the blog saw me through the rest of the evening.

  Having celebrated Robert's birthday on the 1-1-11, we also had Mark's birthday on 11-1-11 and Armistice Day will fall on 11-11-11, there will also be 1-11-11 truly a digitalised year!  A driver careering somewhat erratically on a street in Adelaide was stopped by a policeman who asked him to blow in the breathaliser.  The driver produced a medical note to say he was a chronic asthmatic and couldn't be asked to blow heavily.  The policeman then said that in that case he would require a blood sample.  The driver produced a medical note to say he was a haemophiliac and musn't have his skin punctured in any shape or form.  The policeman said in that case he would need a urine sample.  The driver produced another letter stating that this man is an Australian cricketer, please don't take the piss out of him.

GONE SWIMMING

SUNDAY 23rd JANUARY

  Jeannette cooked a delicious breakfast of eggs and bacon, after which Reilly and I went walking in the park.  Another scorching day looms by the looks of the sky.  Rob and I drove over to Carlingford with a view to taking Nick swimming at the open air pool in Carlingford.  However Nick declared vehemently that he didn't want to go to Epping only to Ryde (an indoor pool containing a slide).  However Rob took no notice of Nick's outburst and played Wii football with him.  Nick somewhat disgraced himself by harshly dropping Jingles to the floor.  The unfortunate kitten landed with a bit of a thump.  Rob banished Nick to his bedroom.  After a spell of confinement Nick emerged to say that he did want to go swimming in Epping after all. 

  I was surprised at the paucity of swimmers present at the pool, particularly as it was a gorgeous day and a Sunday to boot.  Nick has become quite a proficient swimmer since I last saw him taking swimming lessons, and has no fear of the water.

Rob managed to get his shoulders slightly burnt, not putting on any sunscreen until he felt a tingle.  As this was the first occasion I was exposing mine to the sun I made sure I applied cream before I went out of the changing rooms.  We had great fun in the pool  with Nick swimming bewtween our legs, having swimming races and jumping in the pool.  Robert tried to down me with a rugby tackle under water but the Rock of Gibraltar stood firm!

All in all we must have spent a couple of hours at the pool, and Nick was not over keen on leaving!

After returning to Carlingford and dropping Nick off - I provisionally arranged to take him to see Yogi Bear on Wednesday which is Australia Day - we drove back to Oakhurst - I had mistakenly called it Plumpton, but I'm informed by Robert that it is an adjoining district.  Rob complained of the steering pulling to the nearside and the front wheel vibrating.  This seemingly got worse the futher we progressed.  I suggested it might be the tracking, wheel balance or suspension.  Upon getting back we got the jack out and Rob tried to undo the nuts on the front wheel but they wouldn't shift.  However they were unable to resist my weight jumping on the spanner and we duly got the wheel off.  A chunk of tread was missing from the inside half of the tyre - it could have blown at any moment.  We put on the spare and Rob went for a test drive and all the former symptons were gone.  We had a celebratory beer, and I then cooked Bombay potatoes and curried mushrooms to go with the curry and rice cooked by Jeannette, and we had a bumper feed. 

  The third one dayer is interestingly poised as I write this, but sadly it didn't go England's way.  Anyway who cares about the pyjama game?  I'm about to go on Skype and try to contact Adam and Jim.  I successfully contacted Adam who was in the bath with Leia, so Karen actually answered the phone.  I had a nice talk with Leia who seems to be speaking much better since I last spoke to her in October, and was quite loquacious.  She had just had her hair washed, and we were able to see the results.  Adam on the other hand didn't appear to have have washed his beard and moustache at the time of speaking!  We managed to get the video contact going so we were all able to see each other.  Robert was sporting his skinhead look having had all his hair cut off minutes earlier.  Leia had difficuly in understanding that it was night time in Australia having only relatively recently got up!

  I failed to get any answer from Jim, I'll try tomorrow morning.

TAKING REILLY WALKING

 SATURDAY 22nd JANUARY

  It was by no means an early start to the day, and I had a coffee and choc biscuit to get myself started.  Rob didn't surface until about 11.30am and then had the temerity to ask me if I was ready!  We drove down to Plumpton and then went shopping at Dan Murphy's stocking up on beer and wine and then moved on to the shopping centre to buy food for the BBQ.  I took Reilly for a walk in the park and he raced around like a devil possessed, which considering the high temperature was no mean feat!  After that he kept up a patrol of the premises.

We took Reilly for another walk in the park before Robert cooked the barbie which was a tasty mixture of chops, chicken wings and sausages, washed down by several bottles of Bowler's Run.  I made use of the bath having a long soak and getting through several chapters of Hell's Corner, a thriller I got from Jane for my birthday.  The Fugitive with Harrison Ford was on the TV and I saw the beginning and the end - missing the bit inbetween due to my soujourn in the bath.  I decided to call it a night after that.