MONDAY 28th FEBRUARY
Well summer comes to an end today, and the forecast is for showers right up to the weekend. Mind you the temperatures are set to be between 25 - 36 degrees during this period, so not exactly cold. I watched India v England in the World Cup last night up to the end of the India innings - things might have been worse but for Bresnan's bowling at the death, but even so it was the highest total against England in the World Cup. Robert set the England innings to record, so when I got up I went straight to the TV. Unfortunately the instructions I had received didn't seem to work, although eventually more by luck than judgement I managed to locate the recording and set it in motion. It all looked to be going splendidly with Strauss passing 150 and Bell well past his 50 and England with only two wickets down needing 80 odd off of 12 or 13 overs. At this point the recording abruptly came to an end. Confidently looking for an England victory I was somewhat disappointed to find on the Foxtel Sports News that the game had ended in a tie with England having only two wickets in hand (as they had lost less wickets than India I think England should have been awarded the game). There was some consolation to be gained from West Ham beating Liverpool, and Birmingham beating Arsenal in the League Cup Final.
It was a pretty hot morning, so after I had caught up on the sports news I took Reilly out for his walk. There was no sign of his molester from yesterday. About 2.30pm I decided to walk up to Plumpton Shopping Centre reflecting that the weather forecast people had really got it wrong with their predictions of showers, as by now the sky was blue and the sun was really beating down. As I reached the Shopping Centre, I happened to glance behind me and noticed that the sky was black and the clouds were heading my way! I just managed to get in the centre before the skies opened and the rain beat down ferociously. I went looking for a brush for Reilly and found just the thing in Big W, a PetLite brush for removing loose hairs. I purchased a Telegraph and went into a cafe to have a coffee and a cake whilst I caught up on the worldwide news. I could see the rain bouncing up from the pavements outside, and pondered on just how wet I would get walking back home. However by the time I had finished both the paper and the coffee the dark clouds had cleared and it had stopped raining.
I put the brush to good use on my return and the dog's fur is now nice and smooth and fluffy, whilst the brudsh has collected quite a number of hairs. There have been quite a few more showers this evening and I have had to don a long sleeve shirt as there is a cool breeze blowing ce soir. Robert has been intent all evening on pulling off the plasters holding the dressing on elbow, however I have declined his kind offers telling him that if I wanted the dressing off I would pull the plasters off myself. Thankfully he has now gone to bed!
Monday 28 February 2011
Sunday 27 February 2011
GAY DOGS
SUNDAY 27th FEBRUARY
It was quite a late night last night and I didn't get up until 10.00am. Jeannette had left early to go to Penrith to join her parents in a mass for one of Juan's younger brothers who had died earlier in the week at the age of 47. I took Reilly for a walk and about half way round a smallish dog (about half of Reilly's size) appeared apparently unescorted by an owner. The siddled up to each other sniffed their respective rear ends, and then before I knew it the other dog had mounted Reilly! I rushed over and tried to get this offending animal off of Reilly. Whilst I temporarily succeeded the pest followed us determinedly. I looked around only to find Reilly lying on his back with the other dog standing over him. Again I shooed him away, but not for long, for he was soon in the same position. I decided it was time to head for home and called Reilly to heel, who obediently stuck close to me. The other dog followed us all the way back to the garden gate. I made sure he didn't slip through it, and closed it promptly in his face. The worrying problem to resolve is, is Reilly gay?
He found my wounds an irresistable temptation to lick, and I had a job keeping him off me, until Jeanette applied her nursing skills and doused my elbow with Dettol and then applied a dressing to it. (My knee already had a plaster on it that I had applied in Carligford). Whilst it stung intially, I must say that it feels a lot better now. Anyway I have currently dubbed Reilly "Gay Boy".
Rob and I left after midday to go to Eastwood to look after Nick, whilst Jane went off to Arden School. After being beaten 5-1 at indoor football, I indulged in a sword fight with Nick without either of us sustaining a serious injury. We then took Nick to a basketball court to practise his skills, and spent an hour or so passing and shooting. Then Robert went off for a rest and Nick suggested that he play me in a one on one game. Within seconds of starting Nick and I got our legs tangled with the result that I went flying and crashed on the tarmac surface cutting my knee open as well as removing a large chunk of skin from my elbow. I must admit I was a bit shaken up. I retired to the bench as Rob and Nick carried on. Then Rob joined me on the bench and Nick carried on practising. When we got back to Carlingford, Robert realised he didn't have a front door key. and as a result we had to drive over to the school in Beecroft to drop Nick off and pick up some keys so that Robert could retreive his cigarettes. We drove back to Oakhurst with self in a degree of pain. Jeannette had cooked a fantastic fish dinner with roast potaoes, brussel sprouts, runner beans, with a really tasty lemon sauce. All this washed down by a couple of bottles of excellent white wine.
I got an e-mail from Bridie confirming that she had got the photos of Eastwood and seemed reasonably upbeat about the location, but had yet to speak to Angela about it. After dinner I managed to raise Jim and we had a long chat. The upshot is that he still can't make up his mind what to do. I also spoke to Alan and apprised him of the fact that I wanted him to get the travel book on South America off of Jim and give it to Angela so that she could bring it out to me (insurance in case Jim fails to join me on the South American leg of the World trip). I do believe it is Dick's birthday today. Happy Birthday Dick!
It was quite a late night last night and I didn't get up until 10.00am. Jeannette had left early to go to Penrith to join her parents in a mass for one of Juan's younger brothers who had died earlier in the week at the age of 47. I took Reilly for a walk and about half way round a smallish dog (about half of Reilly's size) appeared apparently unescorted by an owner. The siddled up to each other sniffed their respective rear ends, and then before I knew it the other dog had mounted Reilly! I rushed over and tried to get this offending animal off of Reilly. Whilst I temporarily succeeded the pest followed us determinedly. I looked around only to find Reilly lying on his back with the other dog standing over him. Again I shooed him away, but not for long, for he was soon in the same position. I decided it was time to head for home and called Reilly to heel, who obediently stuck close to me. The other dog followed us all the way back to the garden gate. I made sure he didn't slip through it, and closed it promptly in his face. The worrying problem to resolve is, is Reilly gay?
He found my wounds an irresistable temptation to lick, and I had a job keeping him off me, until Jeanette applied her nursing skills and doused my elbow with Dettol and then applied a dressing to it. (My knee already had a plaster on it that I had applied in Carligford). Whilst it stung intially, I must say that it feels a lot better now. Anyway I have currently dubbed Reilly "Gay Boy".
Rob and I left after midday to go to Eastwood to look after Nick, whilst Jane went off to Arden School. After being beaten 5-1 at indoor football, I indulged in a sword fight with Nick without either of us sustaining a serious injury. We then took Nick to a basketball court to practise his skills, and spent an hour or so passing and shooting. Then Robert went off for a rest and Nick suggested that he play me in a one on one game. Within seconds of starting Nick and I got our legs tangled with the result that I went flying and crashed on the tarmac surface cutting my knee open as well as removing a large chunk of skin from my elbow. I must admit I was a bit shaken up. I retired to the bench as Rob and Nick carried on. Then Rob joined me on the bench and Nick carried on practising. When we got back to Carlingford, Robert realised he didn't have a front door key. and as a result we had to drive over to the school in Beecroft to drop Nick off and pick up some keys so that Robert could retreive his cigarettes. We drove back to Oakhurst with self in a degree of pain. Jeannette had cooked a fantastic fish dinner with roast potaoes, brussel sprouts, runner beans, with a really tasty lemon sauce. All this washed down by a couple of bottles of excellent white wine.
I got an e-mail from Bridie confirming that she had got the photos of Eastwood and seemed reasonably upbeat about the location, but had yet to speak to Angela about it. After dinner I managed to raise Jim and we had a long chat. The upshot is that he still can't make up his mind what to do. I also spoke to Alan and apprised him of the fact that I wanted him to get the travel book on South America off of Jim and give it to Angela so that she could bring it out to me (insurance in case Jim fails to join me on the South American leg of the World trip). I do believe it is Dick's birthday today. Happy Birthday Dick!
PAV, PAV & PAV
SATURDAY 26th FEBRUARY
Another early start to get down Chatswood way to see Nick play basketball. On the way we bumped into (not literally) Pav on the way to a job. We eventually found the school in question, it was in the middle of a plush residential area, and we got there just before Jane and Nick. We were all late as the game had started! The school was located in a former private home and was in a beautiful setting. Nick came on with the first change of personnel and seemed much more alert than last week and had one particularly good dribble down the left wing and put in a shot but it wasn't high enough. He lacks the upper body strength to get the ball high enough unless he is close to the net. Anyway Arden won 16-12 so a second victory on the
Robert and Narni in the background during the team talk.
trot. On the way back we got slightly lost but eventually emerged in Lane Cove, where lo and behold Pav was motoring along the road. Robert waved him down and they stopped to have a chat. Apparently Leslie's mother had gone to New Zealand with her best mate from Canada and they flew back to Sydney half an hour before the earthquake unleashed it's torrent of destruction on the town.
When we got back I took Reilly for his walk in the park. It was a gorgeous day, again not a cloud in the
sky. After I got back in, I found Robert watering the back garden with the new adaptor he had bought for the hose. He suggested we give Reilly a wash. After spraying Reilly a couple of times with the jet spray (he ran hell for leather each time), I went and got the strawberry shampoo from the bathroom and held Reilly by the collar as Robert doused him, and then applied the shampoo. Finally he was rinsed down, smelling of (I was going to say "roses") of strawberries. I took a chair out into the garden in the hope that he would lie beside me in the sun and dry quickly. He had other designs, racing around the garden like a demented dervish. All in all it got him dry fairly quickly!
I had received the two plates of photos and captions from the publishers but found a number of mistakes like a picture of me labelled "The Marshall of the Sejm unveiling a plaque to General Bor-Komorowski". Hopefully with the corrections I sent, we will finally get there and progress with the publishing of the book. Thank heavens for the internet as without that this process would have taken weeks if not months instead of days.
The evening meal was a barbie cooked by Robert that included jacket potatoes, corn on the cob and pork chops.
Pav and Leslie arrived with immaculate timming just as the meal was cooked. Leslie had to adjourn to the garden to deal with an apparent problem with their 14 year old daughter and attempts with some boys to buy alcohol at a bottle shop. Leslie then imparted her good news, having inherited £15,000 from an aunt in Glasgow. We had a very pleasant meal accompanied by wine and beer, and then adjourned outside into the summerhouse for a few more libations. After the Pav's left we started discussing my onward trip to Chile. Jeannette said she'd love to go to Chile, so I suggested that maybe she would like to come with me. She seemed taken with the idea but then said that meant she would have to take out Australian nationality to get a passport. (She is the only member of her family who so far has remained Chilean). The problem with getting a Chilean passport is that the bulk of her relevant documents were destroyed in a house fire some years ago. However she has two options for a passport, and Robert was very encouraging urging her to go. A Spanish speaking travelling companion with relatives in the country sounds ideal to me, so I will do all in my power to persuade her to go.
Another early start to get down Chatswood way to see Nick play basketball. On the way we bumped into (not literally) Pav on the way to a job. We eventually found the school in question, it was in the middle of a plush residential area, and we got there just before Jane and Nick. We were all late as the game had started! The school was located in a former private home and was in a beautiful setting. Nick came on with the first change of personnel and seemed much more alert than last week and had one particularly good dribble down the left wing and put in a shot but it wasn't high enough. He lacks the upper body strength to get the ball high enough unless he is close to the net. Anyway Arden won 16-12 so a second victory on the
When we got back I took Reilly for his walk in the park. It was a gorgeous day, again not a cloud in the
The evening meal was a barbie cooked by Robert that included jacket potatoes, corn on the cob and pork chops.
Friday 25 February 2011
CRONULLA
FRIDAY 24th FEBRUARY
Another early morning start, I was ready and raring to go at 7.25am. Robert dropped me off at Mount Druitt and I caught a train into Town Hall within minutes of arriving at the station. It was a good hour's journey into town and I then searched for a while to find the right platform for Cronulla (it was the blue line marked Illawara that I wanted but it took a while to deduce that fact!). This was about another hour long journey and I dozed off before reaching my destination. I woke up with a start to find the train completely empty, but thankfully stationary. I divided off with some alacrity and to my relief found I was on Cronulla station. (In case you cannot reconcile my timings with the time on the clock - no it isn't broken, I
took the picture on the way back). I followed my nose and headed on down the main drag in the hope that it would lead me to the beach. However the road went on and on, but nevertheless I persevered, and
eventually came across an establishment that claimed to serve the best brekkies in town.
I decided to give it a go and after ordering a flat white coffee and brekkers, I grabbed a copy of the Telegraph from the rack, and noted that the water temperature was allegedly 23 degrees. The breakfast when it came consisted of two fried eggs, five rashers of bacon, six slices of toast, a fried tomato and mushrooms. It set me up for the day.
(My partially eaten breakfast)
Once I had consumed my repaste and read the paper from cover to cover, I carried on beachward.
And sure enough I eventually got there. Hanging my sandals from my shoulder bag I proceeded to walk down the beach, which seemed to stretch endlessly off to the left. The airport was over the lefthand arm of the bay and a number of planes came in as I strolled along the edge of the water, dipping my toes (and occasionally ankles and calves when a big wave came thundering in) in the 23 degree sea. It felt cold at first but after a while was quite pleasant, but I don't think it was warm enough to have tempted me in to swim even if I had had some bathers with me, which I didn't.
Anyway the surfboarders seemed to be enjoying themselves, oblivious to the temperature of the water. Once I had gone a fair way I found a convenient sand dune on which to stretch out, and with the skies having clouded over a bit, I allowed myself to drift off for a bit of a zzzz, lulled to sleep by the soporific sound of the waves breaking on the shore. I woke up just short of the hour mark, and gathered myself together and started back, once again skipping along the edge of the incoming waves, well perhaps wading would be more accurate! I got back to the road leading to the station and indulged in an apple and passionfruit smoothie, and then continued my trek towards the station. I paused at a bookshop opposite the station but then decided not to go in and instead carried on to the station. There was a train on platform 2 bound for Bondi which was the train I needed, and it departed within 30 seconds of my clambering aboard - just as well I didn't pop into the bookshop. I thought I would get of at Wynyard, but the station after Town Hall wasn't Wynyard but Martin Place. I had to wait 15 minutes for a train back to Town Hall where I got off and walked through the QVB
building, which according to Alan is somewhere Bridie wants to go as well as Darling Harbour. I walked down to King Street and turned left and there was Red Eye. I had a look through the secondhand section and found several items that caught my red eyes!
After a fifteen minute wait at Wynyard I caught an express train back to Mount Druitt which only stopped at Redfern, Parramatta, Blacktown and Doonside. I phoned Robert when leaving Blacktown and he told me he would be 20 minutes. He was as good as his word, and told me I had interrupted his Friday evening drink with Jeannette, but had decided to pick me up and bring me over to the pub. I bought myself a drink and it was the cheapest one yet in Australia at $2.60 - apparently 5-6pm is happy hour. I was so taken that I went back and bought a round before we reached 6pm. We also decided to dine there and my Mexican pizza defeated me, and I bought a slice home with me.
Another early morning start, I was ready and raring to go at 7.25am. Robert dropped me off at Mount Druitt and I caught a train into Town Hall within minutes of arriving at the station. It was a good hour's journey into town and I then searched for a while to find the right platform for Cronulla (it was the blue line marked Illawara that I wanted but it took a while to deduce that fact!). This was about another hour long journey and I dozed off before reaching my destination. I woke up with a start to find the train completely empty, but thankfully stationary. I divided off with some alacrity and to my relief found I was on Cronulla station. (In case you cannot reconcile my timings with the time on the clock - no it isn't broken, I
Once I had consumed my repaste and read the paper from cover to cover, I carried on beachward.
After a fifteen minute wait at Wynyard I caught an express train back to Mount Druitt which only stopped at Redfern, Parramatta, Blacktown and Doonside. I phoned Robert when leaving Blacktown and he told me he would be 20 minutes. He was as good as his word, and told me I had interrupted his Friday evening drink with Jeannette, but had decided to pick me up and bring me over to the pub. I bought myself a drink and it was the cheapest one yet in Australia at $2.60 - apparently 5-6pm is happy hour. I was so taken that I went back and bought a round before we reached 6pm. We also decided to dine there and my Mexican pizza defeated me, and I bought a slice home with me.
Thursday 24 February 2011
WINDSOR IN SHORT HAIR
THURSDAY 24th FEBRUARY
Today turned out to be a lovely warm day without a cloud in the sky. I finally decided to let Robert have a go at my hair with a no 4. I spent the morning sending 10 e-mails to Bridie, each one with one photo attached. I had tried sending all ten in one go and the system just seized up. I tried with three and again I failed. Doing them one at a time was more successful. After I had done all that and Robert had complete a massive clothes wash, we set of for Windsor. It is a picturesque town about 15 minutes away which really comes to life at the weekends (so I'm told).
We took a stroll around and popped into a secondhand bookshop where Robert bumped into a former work colleague. Robert led me to the English shop where he inquired about Walker's Cheese & Onion crisps and Quavers. Unfortuately they were both on order but currently out of stock, so we moved on. By the time we had strolled the length of the main thoroughfare it was time for lunch, and so we adjourned to the pub at one end of the main road. I had a seafood platter whilst Robert indulged in a bruscetta. We had the beer garden area to ourselves.
The car was parked alongside the Hawkesbury River which runs more or less parallel to the main high street in Windsor, affording a very pleasant view. (Apparently this was the site of Reilly's first attempt at swimming when Robert threw him in!).
On the way home we called in at a farm where the were selling 5kg of chicken necks for $5.00 - a bargain compared to supermarket prices, so Reilly is seen to for several days! We quickly called in at Oakhurst before carrying on to Eastwood where Robert dropped me off whilst he went off to sort out football registration for the coming season. I had a quick shower to try and get rid of some of the hairs that had gone down my back during the morning's shearing.
When Robert got back we went over to Carlingford to look after Nick whilst Jane went to yoga. I played a lengthy game of catching, followed by an even longer game of tennis with Nick, terminated when we lost the ball. It was well timed as Robert called Nick in for dinner seconds later. Nick had a bath and I finally got him back for the bowl of cold water he threw over me several week's ago by dousing him with a large cupful of cold water. I then went round to the bottle shop at Robert's bidding (and with his money) and got a couple of bottles of Zywiec. "That's good beer", remarked the salesman. I slightly non-plussed him by saying "I know I've been to the brewery in Poland". The rest of the evening was spent playing cards with Nick. By the time we got back to Oakhurst it was about 10pm. I discovered all too late an e-mail from Jim to say that he would try to ring me at 9.00am UK time = 8pm Eastern time. I tried ringing him, but got no answer - at least his Skype is now working. Robert is back at work tomorrow and I'm contemplating going to Cronulla.
Today turned out to be a lovely warm day without a cloud in the sky. I finally decided to let Robert have a go at my hair with a no 4. I spent the morning sending 10 e-mails to Bridie, each one with one photo attached. I had tried sending all ten in one go and the system just seized up. I tried with three and again I failed. Doing them one at a time was more successful. After I had done all that and Robert had complete a massive clothes wash, we set of for Windsor. It is a picturesque town about 15 minutes away which really comes to life at the weekends (so I'm told).
When Robert got back we went over to Carlingford to look after Nick whilst Jane went to yoga. I played a lengthy game of catching, followed by an even longer game of tennis with Nick, terminated when we lost the ball. It was well timed as Robert called Nick in for dinner seconds later. Nick had a bath and I finally got him back for the bowl of cold water he threw over me several week's ago by dousing him with a large cupful of cold water. I then went round to the bottle shop at Robert's bidding (and with his money) and got a couple of bottles of Zywiec. "That's good beer", remarked the salesman. I slightly non-plussed him by saying "I know I've been to the brewery in Poland". The rest of the evening was spent playing cards with Nick. By the time we got back to Oakhurst it was about 10pm. I discovered all too late an e-mail from Jim to say that he would try to ring me at 9.00am UK time = 8pm Eastern time. I tried ringing him, but got no answer - at least his Skype is now working. Robert is back at work tomorrow and I'm contemplating going to Cronulla.
HITHER AND THITHER
WEDNESDAY 23rd FEBRUARY
Usual walk with Reilly first thing. Robert is now well into Nasser Hussain's biography and he retired to read that whilst I caught up with matters on the computer. Just before midday I asked Robert to give me a lift to Mount Druitt, and then caught a train to Strathfield, where I got on the Newcastle express, first stop Eastwood. There I adjourned to the Paradise cafe indulging in a pot of Earl Grey along with a salmon sandwich whilst reading the Daily Telegraph. The paper was full of images from the Christchurch earthquake disaster.
I walked up to Ward Street and took pictures of the gaff from all angles to send to Bridie for her to assess if she and Angela wanted to stay there. It is a bit compact for two, but there again it would only be used as sleeping quarters.
I walked back to the station and took a picture of the Eastwood Hotel whilst waiting for a train back to Stratfield and from there caught a train to Newtown. I walked up to Elizabeth's Second Hand bookshop and picked up three David Baldacci thrillers to replenish my reading stocks. I caught a train to Redfern changing there for a train bound for Blacktown where by the skin of my teeth I caught a train on to Mount Druitt. Following my phonecall Robert came and picked me up. We called in at the Liquor Store getting some Cabarnet Sauvignon and Henigen beers in. We later settled down to watch some of the Ashes highlights. We picked the first day in Melbourne and the first day in Adelaide enjoying watching the Aussie wickets tumble. By the time we had watched all that it was 1.30am, so we called it a night at that stage.
Usual walk with Reilly first thing. Robert is now well into Nasser Hussain's biography and he retired to read that whilst I caught up with matters on the computer. Just before midday I asked Robert to give me a lift to Mount Druitt, and then caught a train to Strathfield, where I got on the Newcastle express, first stop Eastwood. There I adjourned to the Paradise cafe indulging in a pot of Earl Grey along with a salmon sandwich whilst reading the Daily Telegraph. The paper was full of images from the Christchurch earthquake disaster.
I walked up to Ward Street and took pictures of the gaff from all angles to send to Bridie for her to assess if she and Angela wanted to stay there. It is a bit compact for two, but there again it would only be used as sleeping quarters.
I walked back to the station and took a picture of the Eastwood Hotel whilst waiting for a train back to Stratfield and from there caught a train to Newtown. I walked up to Elizabeth's Second Hand bookshop and picked up three David Baldacci thrillers to replenish my reading stocks. I caught a train to Redfern changing there for a train bound for Blacktown where by the skin of my teeth I caught a train on to Mount Druitt. Following my phonecall Robert came and picked me up. We called in at the Liquor Store getting some Cabarnet Sauvignon and Henigen beers in. We later settled down to watch some of the Ashes highlights. We picked the first day in Melbourne and the first day in Adelaide enjoying watching the Aussie wickets tumble. By the time we had watched all that it was 1.30am, so we called it a night at that stage.
Wednesday 23 February 2011
QUAKE IN CHRISTCHURCH
TUESDAY 22nd FEBRUARY
Walked over to the Plumpton Shopping Centre and bought a new camera case, after taking Reilly for his morning constitutional in the park. When I got back the terrible devastation wrought in Christchurch by the earthquake was all over the news. It was only a couple of days ago that I got an e-mail from Scott in Dunedin asking me when I was planning on coming over and I told him I was flying into Christchurch on the 28th April. The devastation looked quite horrific, and the Aussies were quick to send over emergency teams to help with locating survivors. The news stated the tremors had reached as far as Dunedin - Scott's home town.
Come the evening it was time for the Holland v England World Cup Match. We watched it up to the end of the Dutch innings, and I cannot recall a worse England fielding display for a long time. Apart from the dropped catches and mis-fields, Anderson and Pietersen running towards each other and then stopping dead in their tracks as a skier from Holland's top scorer fell between them (he was on 49 at time as I recall and went on to get 117) was a schoolboy howler. Matching it was England only having three players in the inner circle when Broad bowled the Dutch skipper, only for him to be recalled as the delivery was declared a no-ball. Collingwood was the guilty party trying to scramble into the inner circle after the ball was bowled. What has happened to all that superb fielding we saw in the Ashes? This was pathetic. Robert set the England reply on record enabling us to go to bed just before midnight. We shall see how England got on chasing down nearly 300 to win in the morning.
Walked over to the Plumpton Shopping Centre and bought a new camera case, after taking Reilly for his morning constitutional in the park. When I got back the terrible devastation wrought in Christchurch by the earthquake was all over the news. It was only a couple of days ago that I got an e-mail from Scott in Dunedin asking me when I was planning on coming over and I told him I was flying into Christchurch on the 28th April. The devastation looked quite horrific, and the Aussies were quick to send over emergency teams to help with locating survivors. The news stated the tremors had reached as far as Dunedin - Scott's home town.
Come the evening it was time for the Holland v England World Cup Match. We watched it up to the end of the Dutch innings, and I cannot recall a worse England fielding display for a long time. Apart from the dropped catches and mis-fields, Anderson and Pietersen running towards each other and then stopping dead in their tracks as a skier from Holland's top scorer fell between them (he was on 49 at time as I recall and went on to get 117) was a schoolboy howler. Matching it was England only having three players in the inner circle when Broad bowled the Dutch skipper, only for him to be recalled as the delivery was declared a no-ball. Collingwood was the guilty party trying to scramble into the inner circle after the ball was bowled. What has happened to all that superb fielding we saw in the Ashes? This was pathetic. Robert set the England reply on record enabling us to go to bed just before midnight. We shall see how England got on chasing down nearly 300 to win in the morning.
Monday 21 February 2011
RELIVING THE ASHES
MONDAY 21st FEBRUARY
Usual start to the day, a bath, taking Reilly for a walk, a spot of breakfast, checked out the sports news on Foxtel and then got around to sorting out the e-mails, only to discover that Bridie and Angela have booked their flights to Australia and are arriving on the 26th March. Having remembered to get Rob's keys off of him, I decided to take a stroll over to the Plumpton Shopping Centre. It turned out to be a pleasant walk, some 20 minutes in each direction. I stopped for a coffee and read the morning paper, and took a look around Big W. There I found a copy of "Sgt Bilko 50th Anniversay" DVD for $8, but more importantly a three DVD set entitled "The Ashes 2010 - 2011" for $24. I snapped both these bargains up - the Ashes DVD runs to 9 hours!
Usual start to the day, a bath, taking Reilly for a walk, a spot of breakfast, checked out the sports news on Foxtel and then got around to sorting out the e-mails, only to discover that Bridie and Angela have booked their flights to Australia and are arriving on the 26th March. Having remembered to get Rob's keys off of him, I decided to take a stroll over to the Plumpton Shopping Centre. It turned out to be a pleasant walk, some 20 minutes in each direction. I stopped for a coffee and read the morning paper, and took a look around Big W. There I found a copy of "Sgt Bilko 50th Anniversay" DVD for $8, but more importantly a three DVD set entitled "The Ashes 2010 - 2011" for $24. I snapped both these bargains up - the Ashes DVD runs to 9 hours!
After walking home again I managed to connect up the DVD and promptly watched the first four day's play of the First Test in Brisbane. I had missed the first day's play altogether as I was flying from South Africa at the time, so it was all completely new to me. Although I had watched the rest on my hotel TV, it was nevertheless enjoyable watching it again. I look forward to watching the remainder of it in the forthcoming days. In the evening I watched some of Australia v Zimbabwe in the World Cup, but decided to call it a day at the end of the Aussie's innings. In the end they had a comfortable if not devastating victory against one of the minnows who performed creditably in the field but were unable to match it when batting.
GOING INDIAN
SUNDAY 20th FEBRUARY
Jeannette was invited to a birthday party of one of her work colleagues and the invite was extended to Rob and myself. It was in fact the 1st birthday party of the couple's son Darsh, for which they took over an Indian restaurant in Granville. Robert was feeling a bit under the weather and I must admit I wasn't at my brightest. We sat at a table with other work colleagues of Jeannette's and the party then started. There was dancing by young children dressed in Indian costumes and then Rob and Jeannette were invited out to perform the opening dance. I must give him his due, Robert gave it his all, with his new streamline haircut!
Silver balloons spelling out the name DARSH were put up on the wall behind the buffett but resolutely refused to stay up, collapsing in various stages letter by letter. Eventually the sign writers gave up and the letters were dumped in a pile. Various games were organised, there was quite a bit of dancing, plenty of Indian music and loads of helium filled balloons, which amused all the young children no end.
Our table contained Jennette's predecessor who is on maternity leave and came with her husband (on left of above picture) and her baby, as well a very attractive German raised Muslim lady with her husband and two children (in the middle of the picture). Rob and Jeannette can be seen in the background. There was also a Maori couple with their son (I guess around 9 or 10) who seemed to be totally bored by the whole proceedings and probably wondering why he couldn't be at home playing on his X-Box as usual. They can be seen in the centre of the picture below at the back. There was also a young white Australian couple sitting to my right. The appetisers were served and I have to admit that I was one of the first in the queue helping
Jeannette was invited to a birthday party of one of her work colleagues and the invite was extended to Rob and myself. It was in fact the 1st birthday party of the couple's son Darsh, for which they took over an Indian restaurant in Granville. Robert was feeling a bit under the weather and I must admit I wasn't at my brightest. We sat at a table with other work colleagues of Jeannette's and the party then started. There was dancing by young children dressed in Indian costumes and then Rob and Jeannette were invited out to perform the opening dance. I must give him his due, Robert gave it his all, with his new streamline haircut!
myself to a sort of bean salad, pakoras and delicious samosas. The appetisers remained out for some considerable time, and indeed more were brought out when the initial stocks ran out. I paid more than one visit back to the buffet table to replenish my own personal stocks! Robert remarked to me in a disappointed kind of voice that it looked as if the appetisers were all that was going to be served. (He had accepted the invitation in the belief that there would be loads of superb Indian curries on offer, and had wangled an invite for me as well). However no sooner had he said this than the main courses arrived on the buffet table. A portion of each curry on offer was more than adequate to completely fill me up, although I noticed that my plate was the only completely empty one on our table when they came round to collect the plates!
We were among the first to leave at about 2.30, but we had to get back to Oakhurst to collect Robert's car and drive over to Carlingford to allow Jane to go into school and get some jobs done there whilst we looked after Nick. He was in much better spirits today and back to his normal cheeky self. Robert had quite a job getting him to do his homework which was about a week old. Nick kept up with a stream of excuses, but Robert was having none of it and forced him to do it in the end, although he was far from happy with his standard of handwriting which he frequently told Nick was utter c--p. Nick was very taken with my little trick of falling towards him with my arms outstretched and palms together pointing at his face and then at the last split second moving my hands apart to land on the palms of my hand either side of him. "Do it again Grandad", he kept on pleading, and when I finally told him that that was it, he insisted I did it to Robert, which was a trickier task as there is a lot more of him!
It was a relatively quiet night after returning to Oakhurst with just a few beers to finish off the day. It had been a pretty warm day but tomorrow is forecast to be much cooler with showers.
Sunday 20 February 2011
SPRING ROLLS
SATURDAY 19th FEBRUARY
It was an early departure at 7.30am to arrive in Epping in time for Nick's basketball match at 8.30am. We stopped off at a drive-in McDonalds to sustain ourselves with an egg and bacon McMuffin. Nick had been to school on the Friday, but didn't look normal self. He wasn't one of the first set of players on the pitch.
But he came on with the rest of the team and made some good runs and dribbles, but at times he seemed to drift off and lose interest in what was going on, he obviously still wasn't himself.
We walked down to Banjo Bookshop with one of Nick's mates Locran, and whilst the two boys looked at the books we went into the cafe and ordered some refreshments. I had a coffee and cherry flavoured chocolate slice. There were papers to read but as I didn't have my glasses all I was able to read was the headlines! Jane ordered a milkshake and a banana bread for Nick, but Rob drank most of the shake and the bread got wrapped up and taken home.
So what do I do with it?
It was an early departure at 7.30am to arrive in Epping in time for Nick's basketball match at 8.30am. We stopped off at a drive-in McDonalds to sustain ourselves with an egg and bacon McMuffin. Nick had been to school on the Friday, but didn't look normal self. He wasn't one of the first set of players on the pitch.
As I'm not totally au fait with the scoring in basketball, I just kept the score in terms of the number of baskets each side had got. The game swung backwards and forwards with the lead changing hands many times. By my reckoning Arden had won 11-10 but apparently the score was 19-14 to them, whichever they won. Nick was fairly exhausted by the end and declined to talk to anyone, including Doug and Narni who had come to watch, let alone his parents or me!
Apparently Nick recovered sufficiently by the afternoon to go swimming with some other friends. We headed back to Oakhurst where a gathering of the Cacares family was scheduled for a massive cooking session of spring rolls. A portion of these rolls gets eaten on the day and the rest are frozen for future consumption. These rolls also contain either minced chicken or beef and pork fillings. There was a full gathering with sister Kathy and husband Nick and their three children, Charlene and fiancee Sam, mum and dad (Juan And Rita), Jerri (Jeannette's daughter) with her fella Pat, Jeannette's two sons, not to mention Pav with wife and son.
Juan and Rita with daughter Kathy. Jeannette and Leslie in background.
Robert and Pav with Charlene's fiancee Sam
Charlene between her parents, Kathy with her back to the camera.
Jeannette in the kitchen
Charlene and Sam are recently returned from a trip to London, Paris, Rome (where Charlene shook hands with the Pope) and Egypt. She is about to be married to a member of the Coptic Catholic faith, which initially didn't totally please her Roman Catholic father, but I gather Sam has won him over. Sam brought back a present for his future brother-in-law Nick, which he brought over and set up with banana flavoured tobacco. Several people had a puff.
Cor blimey O'Reilly!
Pav at one point decided he needed to go and stock up on Peroni beer and purchased a case, all of which was duly consumed. Not that Rob and Jeannette were short on beer, with several large cannisters of Heineken in the fridge. A feisty argument ensued after I casually threw in the comment about who was this Oprah woman who had come over to Australia larging it up. Kathey and Leslie were very pro this so called celebrity, whilst Rob and I were totally disparaging with Pav tending to side with the two of us. Anyway nothing like a good debate to stir the passions!
Gradually members of the family drifted away, until there was only Pav, Leslie and their young son left. They decided they had had to much to drink to drive (I don't include young Jack in this statement), and elected to stay the night. Leslie adjourned to bed with her son, Jeannette stretched out on the settee, and Rob, Pav and I had a few more beers. About 1.30am Rob and Pav decided it was the perfect time to go to the pub. I decided to forego the pleasure and instead took Reilly for a quick walk and adjourned to bed.
Last picture of the evening!
Friday 18 February 2011
NO GO NO KEY
FRIDAY 18th FEBRUARY
I arranged with Robert to leave the front door keys out for me so that I could attempt a walk to the Plumpton Shopping Centre and back. However when I looked on the nominated shelf it was completely devoid of any keys. I took Reilly for a walk slipping out of the garden gate, and probably woke up most of the neighbourhood as Reilly raced around saying good morning to all his mates.
When I got back I checked my e-mails and found one from Charly asking me to check out missing writers and publishers on a 54 track '50s compilation, which took me most of the afternoon. Robert was quite late home and admitted he had remembered about the keys when he got to work! Alan came through on Skype and told me that Jim's Skype was down which would account for why I haven't been able to get through to him. Apparently next week is half term so he'll be off all week. He has the doctor's visit on Monday. There is the Valentine's Concert this Saturday and apparently they are a bit short handed with Andy away, so Jim's daughter Sarah has promised to give a hand on the door, and of course there are the red roses to distribute to all the ladies attending the concert. I gather that the benefit concert for Craig Douglas in December went well and raised around £5000. They managed to get Craig and his wheelchair on the stage and he performed three numbers. Alan also told me had heard from Bridie who was having difficulty finding reasonably priced tickets to Australia - I'll have to take a look and see what I can find.
It's another early start tomorrow as we're going to see Nick play basketball at 8.30am in Epping. Another pretty warm day with tomorrow promising to be in the mid 30s, but then dropping on Sunday with rain around until the middle of the week.
I arranged with Robert to leave the front door keys out for me so that I could attempt a walk to the Plumpton Shopping Centre and back. However when I looked on the nominated shelf it was completely devoid of any keys. I took Reilly for a walk slipping out of the garden gate, and probably woke up most of the neighbourhood as Reilly raced around saying good morning to all his mates.
When I got back I checked my e-mails and found one from Charly asking me to check out missing writers and publishers on a 54 track '50s compilation, which took me most of the afternoon. Robert was quite late home and admitted he had remembered about the keys when he got to work! Alan came through on Skype and told me that Jim's Skype was down which would account for why I haven't been able to get through to him. Apparently next week is half term so he'll be off all week. He has the doctor's visit on Monday. There is the Valentine's Concert this Saturday and apparently they are a bit short handed with Andy away, so Jim's daughter Sarah has promised to give a hand on the door, and of course there are the red roses to distribute to all the ladies attending the concert. I gather that the benefit concert for Craig Douglas in December went well and raised around £5000. They managed to get Craig and his wheelchair on the stage and he performed three numbers. Alan also told me had heard from Bridie who was having difficulty finding reasonably priced tickets to Australia - I'll have to take a look and see what I can find.
It's another early start tomorrow as we're going to see Nick play basketball at 8.30am in Epping. Another pretty warm day with tomorrow promising to be in the mid 30s, but then dropping on Sunday with rain around until the middle of the week.
Thursday 17 February 2011
END OF SEASON
THURSDAY 17th FEBRUARY
It was an extra early start as the Foxtel (local version of Sky) man was coming between 7.00 and 12.00 to install a new dish. Just in time for the start of the cricket World Cup - what excellent timing. To this end I was up at 6.30am! After everybody had left I thought I'd watch the second half of the A.C. Roma v the Ukrainian team whose name eludes me at present - Shakta Denesk or something of that ilk. However turning on the TV completely eluded me, so I watched it on the small telly in the summerhouse. The Foxtel fellow arrived at 9.00am, making a mockery of my 6.30am rising! Anyway it took him under an hour to do the deed and I asked him not to switch the TV off and kept it on all day with the volume turned down, except when I decided to watch it. (I had mastered the volume controls). By luck they showed highlights of the A.C. Milan v Spurs game, so I was able to catch up on that and also saw the highlights of Arsenal v Barcelona.
After the Foxtel man was gone I took Reilly for his usual walk and then spent the rest of the day working on the 1961 UK hits, until Robert returned home from work. We then shot off to Carlingford to see Nick who was still off school. Jane had a parents evening at school so she wasn't there. Narni was filling the breach looking after Nick. He had just made Nick a pizza which Robert encouraged him to eat as we were leaving. Just at that moment Jingles managed to miss his litter tray and deposited a poo next to it. Narni uttered German threats, but said he would clean it up!
We arrived just on time at Macquarie Park for the 6.00pm kick off. Robert got off to an impressive start slide tackling an opponent, winning the ball and heading for the open goal, when he slipped and went arse over tit losing the ball in the proccess. His team created chance after chance but kept blazing over the goal or wide of it. A mishit cross from the opposition landed up in the goal having completely deceived Epping/Eastwood's keeper. This was only one of two shots from the opposition in the first half compared to about a dozen from Robert's lot. However the half time score was 0-1. In the second half Pav got himself booked for a clumsy challenge and thought he had been sent off by the ref who in fact gave him only a yellow card. Protesting his innocence, Pav was heading off the pitch when Robert apprised him of his misconception. However he was soon substituted anyway. The rolling subs keep changing as super fitness is not one of the team's attributes. Robert came closest to scoring in the second half when running diagonally across the front of the goal, he trapped the ball just about a yard too late, swivelled and hit a fierce shot back into the post. He has lost that yard of pace that made him such a danger before fags and drink took their toll. I have to admit that he hasn't lost his skills and he played pretty well, beating players, putting through perceptive passes, but non of his colleagues were able to take advantage of his canny passes, and quite unbelievably lost 0-1 to a much inferior team. Must have been end of season blues.
Robert had put himself about a bit during the game, and suffered a bit of a strain in one of his legs. As a consequence he asked me to drive home. I reckon if I do it a few more times I might just about remember the route from Eastwood to Oakhurst. We stopped off at the Plumpton Shopping Centre to replenish beer stocks before returning home for one of Jeannette's truly excellent meal which was a sort of cocoanut noodle curry with meat and loads of different veg. All washed down with red wine. I had no hesitation in having a second portion when offered one! I think it was a South American version of Indo Chinese cuisine. My compliments to the chef!
It was an extra early start as the Foxtel (local version of Sky) man was coming between 7.00 and 12.00 to install a new dish. Just in time for the start of the cricket World Cup - what excellent timing. To this end I was up at 6.30am! After everybody had left I thought I'd watch the second half of the A.C. Roma v the Ukrainian team whose name eludes me at present - Shakta Denesk or something of that ilk. However turning on the TV completely eluded me, so I watched it on the small telly in the summerhouse. The Foxtel fellow arrived at 9.00am, making a mockery of my 6.30am rising! Anyway it took him under an hour to do the deed and I asked him not to switch the TV off and kept it on all day with the volume turned down, except when I decided to watch it. (I had mastered the volume controls). By luck they showed highlights of the A.C. Milan v Spurs game, so I was able to catch up on that and also saw the highlights of Arsenal v Barcelona.
After the Foxtel man was gone I took Reilly for his usual walk and then spent the rest of the day working on the 1961 UK hits, until Robert returned home from work. We then shot off to Carlingford to see Nick who was still off school. Jane had a parents evening at school so she wasn't there. Narni was filling the breach looking after Nick. He had just made Nick a pizza which Robert encouraged him to eat as we were leaving. Just at that moment Jingles managed to miss his litter tray and deposited a poo next to it. Narni uttered German threats, but said he would clean it up!
We arrived just on time at Macquarie Park for the 6.00pm kick off. Robert got off to an impressive start slide tackling an opponent, winning the ball and heading for the open goal, when he slipped and went arse over tit losing the ball in the proccess. His team created chance after chance but kept blazing over the goal or wide of it. A mishit cross from the opposition landed up in the goal having completely deceived Epping/Eastwood's keeper. This was only one of two shots from the opposition in the first half compared to about a dozen from Robert's lot. However the half time score was 0-1. In the second half Pav got himself booked for a clumsy challenge and thought he had been sent off by the ref who in fact gave him only a yellow card. Protesting his innocence, Pav was heading off the pitch when Robert apprised him of his misconception. However he was soon substituted anyway. The rolling subs keep changing as super fitness is not one of the team's attributes. Robert came closest to scoring in the second half when running diagonally across the front of the goal, he trapped the ball just about a yard too late, swivelled and hit a fierce shot back into the post. He has lost that yard of pace that made him such a danger before fags and drink took their toll. I have to admit that he hasn't lost his skills and he played pretty well, beating players, putting through perceptive passes, but non of his colleagues were able to take advantage of his canny passes, and quite unbelievably lost 0-1 to a much inferior team. Must have been end of season blues.
Robert had put himself about a bit during the game, and suffered a bit of a strain in one of his legs. As a consequence he asked me to drive home. I reckon if I do it a few more times I might just about remember the route from Eastwood to Oakhurst. We stopped off at the Plumpton Shopping Centre to replenish beer stocks before returning home for one of Jeannette's truly excellent meal which was a sort of cocoanut noodle curry with meat and loads of different veg. All washed down with red wine. I had no hesitation in having a second portion when offered one! I think it was a South American version of Indo Chinese cuisine. My compliments to the chef!
Wednesday 16 February 2011
VICTORY IN MILAN
WEDNESDAY 16th FEBRUARY
The highlight of the day was waking up to the news that Spurs had beaten A C Milan away in the first leg of the European championships. Thereafter it was a pretty mundane sort of day. A hot bath, a walk with Reilly
and then I worked on the 1961 chart hits for most of the rest of the day. Reilly is no longer in disgrace not having destroyed any more plants since destroying the potted oregamo, but I put that down to boredom, after all he did it when nobody was around all day. I had an e-mail from Zosia, she is off shortly to Poland for Jadzia's 60th birthday, and other than that there is not a lot to tell. Weather overcast but reasonably warm around 25 degrees.
The highlight of the day was waking up to the news that Spurs had beaten A C Milan away in the first leg of the European championships. Thereafter it was a pretty mundane sort of day. A hot bath, a walk with Reilly
(Here are some pictures of Reilly especially for Shauna and James because I know how much you like dogs, and he is a fine specimen).
Tuesday 15 February 2011
FUNERAL DAY
TUESDAY 15th FEBRUARY
Robert and I set off for Carlingford shortly after 8.00am. Nick was flat out on the settee, and Robert checked his temperature and it was 37.8. We had a bit of a palava after Jane left, when Robert tried to get Nick to take his medicine, with Nick refusing to do so. Thankfully Rob took no notice of his tantrums and forced him by continued persistence to take it sip by sip, each sip washed down by a glass of water. He complained that "it was spicy" but eventually consumed it all and fell asleep again on the settee. After Robert left I got to work on the computer, but after sorting out my e-mails and answering some queries from Peter, the damn thing crashed on me, so that was that. I had my book, which I read as well as dozing a bit and watching some TV. I saw part of the Fulham v Chelsea game and Fulham's penalty miss.
The first to return was Robert and he got Nick to say a few words although he was still pretty sleepy. Jane returned with a box of sandwiches from the wake (held at the crematorium). Apparently my flowers with a card from "Adam & Bridie & the Komorowski Family" arrived all right. The service contained a Neil Diamond song, John Lennon's Imagine and concluded with the Bee Gees More Than A Woman. Jane and her brother Simon spoke about their mother, and apparently the whole service went off well. I was sorry not to be able to be there, but glad that I could be of some practical use on the occasion.
Rob and Jane took Nick to the doctor just after three, whilst I had a nap in the car outside the surgery. Afterwards Rob drove to a McDonalds where he got some chicken nuggets which were the first thing Nick had eaten all day. After taking the young lad home, and telling him to get better I told him I'd see him on Thursday. We then drove back to Oakhurst. I managed to revive my computer and got it up and running again.
It was decided that we would go out for a meal to
where I had an excellent beef and onion pie on mash and Robert had barramundi and chips whilst Jeannette had chicken with mushrooms and pumpkin, and Jayden had a schnitzel. Not a crumb of food was left on any of the four plates!
I felt so bloated upon my return I lay down for a nap until about 9.00pm and then received a Skype call from Peter. He was trying to identify people in a photograph of my mother's funeral. He tried to send me a better copy via Skype which seemingly caused his computer to crash. We re-established communications but then lost them again. In the end the matter was concluded via e-mail. To complicate matters the second picture he sent me was slightly different to the original, so that different people appeared in the second row. Anyway hopefully he now has all the correct info. Everybody has gone to bed and I'm operating here on my own. I have just found the name of General Ander's adjutant in the picture, it is Lieutenant Jan Konopka, so I must e-mail that to Peter and then I'll be done.
Robert and I set off for Carlingford shortly after 8.00am. Nick was flat out on the settee, and Robert checked his temperature and it was 37.8. We had a bit of a palava after Jane left, when Robert tried to get Nick to take his medicine, with Nick refusing to do so. Thankfully Rob took no notice of his tantrums and forced him by continued persistence to take it sip by sip, each sip washed down by a glass of water. He complained that "it was spicy" but eventually consumed it all and fell asleep again on the settee. After Robert left I got to work on the computer, but after sorting out my e-mails and answering some queries from Peter, the damn thing crashed on me, so that was that. I had my book, which I read as well as dozing a bit and watching some TV. I saw part of the Fulham v Chelsea game and Fulham's penalty miss.
The first to return was Robert and he got Nick to say a few words although he was still pretty sleepy. Jane returned with a box of sandwiches from the wake (held at the crematorium). Apparently my flowers with a card from "Adam & Bridie & the Komorowski Family" arrived all right. The service contained a Neil Diamond song, John Lennon's Imagine and concluded with the Bee Gees More Than A Woman. Jane and her brother Simon spoke about their mother, and apparently the whole service went off well. I was sorry not to be able to be there, but glad that I could be of some practical use on the occasion.
Rob and Jane took Nick to the doctor just after three, whilst I had a nap in the car outside the surgery. Afterwards Rob drove to a McDonalds where he got some chicken nuggets which were the first thing Nick had eaten all day. After taking the young lad home, and telling him to get better I told him I'd see him on Thursday. We then drove back to Oakhurst. I managed to revive my computer and got it up and running again.
It was decided that we would go out for a meal to
I felt so bloated upon my return I lay down for a nap until about 9.00pm and then received a Skype call from Peter. He was trying to identify people in a photograph of my mother's funeral. He tried to send me a better copy via Skype which seemingly caused his computer to crash. We re-established communications but then lost them again. In the end the matter was concluded via e-mail. To complicate matters the second picture he sent me was slightly different to the original, so that different people appeared in the second row. Anyway hopefully he now has all the correct info. Everybody has gone to bed and I'm operating here on my own. I have just found the name of General Ander's adjutant in the picture, it is Lieutenant Jan Konopka, so I must e-mail that to Peter and then I'll be done.
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