Val’s Comments (group member since Aug 28, 2019)

Val’s comments from the Beyond Zon group.

Qashqai 68 wrote: " I must admit, I think Boris’s hair style is really cool. On that basis I would definitely vote for him if he stood again ..."

I was watching a show on gender politics in Australia (1921: the first woman elected to Parliament; 1974: female toilets installed in Parliament House). The point was made that if a woman politician (in Australia) had hair like Boris Johnson, she would be castigated and mocked through every media outlet. So very true unfortunately!

Seems none of us are happy with the weather. Today has been cold, wet and windy. The trifecta! We reached a high of 11 degrees C at mid-day and it was all downhill from there. I thought I heard some hail a while back but it was too cold and dark to look out, plus I don't want to know if any damage has been done to my anemones, ranunculas and hyacinths which are just starting to flower. We've got a supermarket delivery coming between 7 and 8. Pity the poor drivers delivering in this weather!

It seems that many northern hemisphere countries are adopting a "live with the virus" strategy - which may be understandable when a large number of the population is vaccinated. Downunder, it's all about eradicating the virus. So while Sydney has been in lockdown for 2 weeks, with another 2 to go, here in Melbourne we have just started Lockdown 5.0 - hopefully only for 5 days. Our state was looking good until a firm of house removalists left Sydney (presumably not knowing they were infected), moved the furniture into an apartment block without wearing masks, infected at least two other people residing there who then passed it on to others in the community. So it's back to wearing masks everywhere, restricted to a 5km radius from home, schools closed, no visitors in the home, 10 people at a funeral, no weddings, all sport and entertainment crowds banned, etc. etc. At least here in Victoria, lockdown means lockdown. All retail, except food, is closed. Up in Sydney you can shop at major outlets like Ikea, JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman and the like. Strange days indeed. We've only managed to get around 10% of the nation's population fully vaccinated. The roll-out has been a shambles. Mr H and I get our second jab (Astra Zeneca) on July 27 - bring it on!

We've had a couple of relatively mild days here (low of 8, high of 15) but it looks like we'll have rain for the rest of the week. Mr H has almost finished painting all the drawers and cupboards in the kitchen (they're a greenish-grey colour with white surround) but the heavy-duty gloss paint is taking a while to dry. I've taken the opportunity to empty all the cupboards, give them a good clean inside, wash all the china etc before re-arranging everything into a more logical order. This is akin to rearranging the deck-chairs on the Titanic - everything's moving but I have to empty one cupboard before filling it with stuff from another and so on. Consequently, no one can find anything. The box for the charity shop is filling rapidly but I can't see where any space has been freed up. Murphy's Law : stuff always expands to fill the space available.

I'm very partial to falafel! In fact any Middle Eastern food. Lebanese and Turkish restaurants are the bees' knees.

I'm exhausted just reading about what all you lot are up to! It's been very cold here (maximum of 10 degrees last Saturday!) and a bit wet but not as bad as forecast. We were told to expect hail on Sunday and Monday so I had to cover up all my ranunculi and anemones which are just about to flower. Didn't happen so I unbagged them today. Watch it hail tomorrow!

Things are getting back to normal here (until next time) so I was able to go to the theatre on Saturday - compulsory masks on public transport and for the whole performance. It was only 90 minutes, no interval, so quite doable even though it was very warm in the theatre. Saw a great play - The Lifespan of A Fact - which explored to what lengths a writer could bend the truth for effect.

Five of us managed to empty two bottles of bubbles and dispose of a pizza and two bowls of polenta chips afterwards. The City Council is offering 20% back if you spend $50 or more on food and drink. I've claimed it twice and the money's in the bank in a couple of days. I was surprised the theatre was full; the week before it was 50% - rather odd seeing as they had everyone filling the rows closest the stage! Rather defeats the purpose I think.

Monday I was back in my regular child-care role (3 year old grand-daughter). Today I had lunch with a friend at a local cafe. We live very near each other and have been friends for over 35 years but we never seem to catch up as often as we should. Picked up my car after getting a headlight replaced (I'd rather pay £10 than attempt it myself). Tomorrow, Mr H has decided to take a break from painting (he's doing all the kitchen cabinets) because he thinks we need an air fryer. I don't see the need personally but they seem to be all the rage at present so we shall see. I remember when microwave ovens first came out and we were all buying cookbooks that told us how to roast a chicken, cook a steak, bake a cake. Now what do we use them for? Re-heating leftovers mainly!

suzysunshine7 wrote: "If you keep an Eye on the daily Schedule for Radio 4Extra you'll find that they often repeat the entire series of many fantastic vintage classics such as The Goon Show, Dad's Army, Round The Horne,..."

I grew up in what was Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and television didn't arrive until the end of 1960, when I was 11. So my formative years were all spent around the radio - and there was only one station! AND it closed down between 2.00pm and 5.00pm! I can well remember gathered around the old bakelite set in the evening with my Mum and Dad listening to The Navy Lark, Around The Horne, Take It From Here, My Word, etc. I know The Goons were broadcast too but the humour was above me at that time.

EDIT: plus one of my favourite serials, Paul Temple

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmEYm...

Congratulations P - it's been an eventful week!!

Thanks for the birthday wishes. It's been a busy couple of days here but a great birthday celebration. I'm quite exhausted but still got a busy few days ahead. Melbourne is starting to open up just as Sydney is closing down again. The new normal!

Cool here too. Our overnight low tonight is forecast as 4 degrees. However it has been dry the last few days. Can't have everything!

Duke - you may be interested to know that there is a shortage of building materials here in Oz too - mainly timber. My son-in-law is a builder and they are being held up on a number of jobs. It seems to be country-wide here as I've seen reports from Tasmania and Western Australia.

https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/art...

Happy Birthday Suzy!! Hope your day is everything you wish for! xxx

We've had three days of glorious winter sunshine with a top around 18 degrees. Lovely for getting some work done in the garden. Today it was unpotting a very large gardenia that lives on the front veranda and has been sulking for a while now. I think it's been overwatered by Mr H. We cut it back quite hard, put in fresh potting mix and gave it a stern talking to. I've convinced Mr H to put a bucket of water on it once a week and then leave it to its own devices. Sink or swim! ...And the weather forecast is for even cooler nights, rain tomorrow and some wintry-looking days next week. No problem - with lockdown extended for another week, I'm not going anywhere. Sad that five shows I had booked have been cancelled/postponed and next Saturday's one is a likely casualty as well.

So sorry to hear about your back Duke. I hope rest and appropriate medication does the trick. It's often the simplest, silliest things that cause us to injure our backs. Get well soon!

And birthday wishes from me too Duke. Hope you have a lovely day.

On weekdays Mr H and I usually make do with a couple of Weetbix (Aussie spelling) for breakfast, maybe a cup of tea and a slice of toast, but on weekends we go the full hog : 2 fried eggs on toast, 2 rashers of bacon, fried tomatoes and sometimes mushrooms. Today we added black pudding. I was expecting a couple of slices, but no, Mr H had bought and cooked black pudding sausages - and they were enormous! I managed less than half. I'll have the remainder for tomorrow's breakfast. Didn't need any lunch. Dinner is a chicken fajita pizza.

Had my annual flu jab this morning. Much worse than Astra Zeneca!

A brilliant sunny day here (as was yesterday). We're having an unusually cold autumn - it was 6 degrees when I got up! But the forecast top is 19 for today and tomorrow so can't complain. I'm off to the opera this afternoon - Verdi's Ernani. Next week I have two gigs - Kiwi Marlon Williams on Thursday and local lass Melody Pool on Friday. They're both favourites of mine so really looking forward to seeing them again. AND a play next Saturday. Great to have live entertainment back again. No masks or vacant seats but you have to check in to every venue with the State Government's QR code tracing system. This goes for all cafes, restaurants, etc as well. I don't know why they don't make it mandatory in supermarkets as well.

I'm sure you will do your best to come up with something unique - whether he appreciates it or not. Could you get an online crossword puzzle emailed to him every day? We once got a personalised wine bottle label for my Dad's birthday. This was before the internet and I answered a small ad in the newspaper classifieds. I was sent a long questionnaire about my Dad's first girlfriend, his first car, etc. When the label arrived it was written in beautiful calligraphy and in the flowery language that sometimes is used to describe wine. "Tended in the fertile Edinburgh soil but with delicate hints of Irish ancestry, ....etc."

A couple of suggestions:
A framed photo montage of his life (assuming you have a photo collection going back 8 decades)
A newspaper from the day he was born