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

Val’s comments from the Beyond Zon group.

Oh, that's a GSP - memories of our much loved Mud and Dot! Such fun dogs to own.

It was 34 degrees here today - too warm for me, though I did manage my morning walk (6.5km). I left at 7.30am when it was 20 degrees. The overnight low is supposed to be 21 and a top of 30 tomorrow before it cools down a bit.

I too am finding technology is getting away from me. I'm terrified when the grandkids play with the remote control (TV, pay TV, set-top box, stereo, etc) in case I can't get anything to work again. I'm also convinced that more and more devices have built-in obsolescence. I'll try to download an app on my i-phone or i-pad and it will say you need i-os 13.02 or some such, but when I go to settings, the device says I have the most up-to-date i-os, which is 12.0 something. So I'm thinking the i-phone 6 is on the point of being declared unfit for service. It was a hand-me-down from my daughter so I shouldn't complain. Didn't cost me anything and my plan of £10 a month with unlimited calls and texts suits me fine. I've never gone over the 1.5gb of data either because I don't use my phone as a computer. I only need the weather, train times and occasional footy result when I'm out and about.

We had a similar looking butterflied pork roast last week and while the meat was tender, the marinade, which included five-spice powder, spoiled it for me. I'm not a fan of five-spice or indeed anything that features fennel, star anise, etc. I think we would have done better to try and rinse or scrape the marinade off, but I suspect it would have already permeated the meat.

suzysunshine7 wrote: "Is Tasmanian Salmon more desirable and a bit extra-special by reputation there, Val?

Kind-of like Scottish Salmon is to a lot of folk over here in the UK?"

I don't really know but I suspect Tassie has the major sustainable salmon industry and the cooler climate probably helps too.

Those pork steaks look lovely!

We cooked a vege quiche today and had it cold with salad. Mr H isn't keen on mixing fruit with his meals but I piled on chopped Granny Smith apple and a peach. One of my favourite things about summer is the stone fruits. These yellow peaches are so delicious!

I hate hot nights! 11.30pm here and still 23 degrees C (73F). I'm about to call it a night as I have another day of babysitting tomorrow.

Wow, you are really well-stocked up for the Festive Season and beyond Suzy! It all sounds very tasty - and economical. Our turkey buffet is in the freezer and we also have a couple of pork roasts there too. I'm hoping to buy a couple of Aldi's glazed side of Tasmanian salmon (700g) when they become available next Friday.

I do hope your braces hold fast till Thursday and that you come out feeling like you have a new mouth. Also that your Mum is feeling better soon.

Beautiful sunny day here. I've got a short respite while my youngest grand-daughter (16 months) sleeps. If I'm lucky she will be down for an hour. I got called up for emergency baby-sitting yesterday and today - from 7.30am! We survived yesterday and I suppose we'll survive today - and then we'll have her again next Friday. Luckily she's quite easy to amuse but like any toddler, you have to have your wits about you at all times. I've got all my Christmas cards away and I've got all presents bought but there's a lot of wrapping to do. Plus baking for ourselves and neighbours. The tree is beind delivered tomorrow morning (thank you 1st Malvern Scouts who leave it on the front verandah and pick it up again mid-January) and my two daughters are coming over Sunday to decorate it. That just leaves all the other decorations (I love Christmas!!!) to get out from the garage and display and getting the house ready for both daughters, spouses, three children and three dogs between them who will take up residence on Christmas Eve. Son, daughter-in-law and toddler will be here on Christmas Day. Sings: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, ......

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

I don't think I'm going to be rushing for a vaccine. I worry about the race to be first and the extent of the testing - especially on different age groups and people with existing conditions and medications. The senior GP at the practice I go to said he wouldn't touch any vaccine coming out of the US as it would be money-driven rather than any humanitarian concern. I think the US ones are the ones that have to be kept at low temperatures which is going to cause problems in countries with vast distances to cover. If I understand this article correctly, vaccines won't stop us getting Covid-19; they just lessen the effects.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/20...

Do you like crackling on pork?

I love crispy skin on salmon, trout, etc.

Luckily Mr H only encountered one bone and I had none. I had scored and salted the skin side so that was nice and crispy. We'll probably have the same again tonight although Mr H has taken some chicken drumsticks out the freezer. He makes a great casserole with them using passata, tinned tomatoes, bacon, onions and garlic. Served with shell noodles.

A nice bit of fish tonight. Barramundi is on special this week at Woolies for £15 a kilo (down from £16.50) but as Mr H was wandering through Coles, the deli department was clearing out the last of their fresh Barramundi fillets at £5.00 a kilo! So he bought 2 large pieces and we shared one tonight (2 mins each side in the fry pan) with baked potatoes, peas, tomatoes and a slice of lemon. Delish!

Qashqai 68 wrote: "Good morning folks, weather clearing after a nights rain. I looked up on google HMS Stork a ship my father served on during the last war. He was involved with the Atlantic convoys. What a surprise ..."

What a great find Q! There were recent comments in the Amazon Exiles group by people who had differences with their siblings. Only children (as I am) don't have that problem and fortunately my three children, and their partners, all get on very well.

Last night I was doing a bit of net surfing and came upon the SCRAN website which I have been to before but had forgotten about. For anyone with any Scottish interests, it is a treasure trove of photographic images. I remembered a photo of my Dad had appeared in one of the Edinburgh papers in the 1960s and, sure enough, there it was, and, as an added bonus, all photos are free to download during the Covid crisis (until March next year). You can search for just about anything so I tried a number of Edinburgh streets that have family associations for me. I entered the street where I spent the first three years of my life and up came No. 40, our tenement! And a photo of Mrs K who lived across the landing and who I can remember visiting again as a 7 year old and a 17 year old. The captions are very brief though so if you need more information, you have to cross-check it with one of the newspaper websites.

https://www.scran.ac.uk/

You are the Bargain Queen Suzy! Well done for persevering and keeping your eyes open. Already I'm getting emails about all the big sales coming up but there's really nothing I need or want. And I'm not in the business of shopping just because it's feeding frenzy. I had a parcel delivered from Amazon today and that's most of my Christmas shopping completed. With 4 grandchildren aged 4 and under (and with 3 of them having November birthdays!), I have to be organised. I'm just waiting on one item off eBay and three books coming via ABE. Have completed wrapping for the 2 boys, so just the 2 year old girl to wrap (all birthdays), then I can get on to the Christmas wrapping.

It may be near the end of October but spring here is quite cool. We still have the heating on every night and I'm not looking forward to the gas bill!

Lockdown 2.0 restrictions are starting to ease and we are now allowed to have ONE tradesperson work outside the house on non-essential repairs. As soon as I heard that I emailed the bloke who quoted on our window replacement back in June. The good news is that the window will be delivered next Wednesday and he will install it the following day. Then we have to decide whether we want to paint before Christmas or wait until the new year.

For the last two days Victoria has recorded zero new cases and zero deaths - the first time since early March. From midnight tonight, Melbourne will start to emerge from 16 weeks of the hardest of hard lockdowns. An 8.00pm curfew; restricted to a 5km radius from home; all shops, businesses, cafes, restaurants, bars, pools, beaches, playgrounds, gyms closed; 1 hour of exercise per day; compulsory masks; only food shops open; 1 person per household allowed to shop for food; no visitors in the home; all schools and childcare centres closed; 5 people at weddings, 10 at funerals; all but essential workers working from home. And people have actually done it; pretty good in a city of 5 million people speaking 50 different languages. Retail shops will open tomorrow (some are opening at midnight tonight!) and restaurants and cafes will be allowed 20 people inside and 50 outside. And from November 8 we should be able to travel within the state. We are also allowed one visit per day - i.e. either 2 adults and their dependents coming to us or we can visit them, but only one visit each day. However, up to 10 people from multiple households can meet in a public space. Masks are still mandatory. Just praying there won't be a third wave!

Good luck with all the renovations P. I'm sure it will look fabulous when it's all done.

Although it's not that warm here, we had salad tonight as we had cold chicken and pork to use up plus plenty of salad ingredients - lettuce, roma tomatoes, baby spinach, rocket, sweet corn, red cabbage, carrot, etc.

Great news P! It's nice to have that worry alleviated.

P wrote: "Our grandson phoned us today, he’s self isolating after one of his friends tested positive for Covid. He’s done a test and should have the results in the next 48 hours...only problem is Mrs P and t..."

I'm keeping my fingers crossed, P, for your grandson, son and Mrs P that you hear soon about your grandson's results and that it's a big NEGATIVE!!!! Take care!

Our house is brick with timber windows, single storey. Last year we got a quote to paint the exterior window frames and doors. Came in at 5000 quid. Mr H has always done them himself and they were in reasonable nick. We couldn't justify that sort of price so he did them all again himself and we paid son-in-law 300 to do the high end gable. I have no doubt the painter would have done an immaculate job but sometimes it just doesn't seem worth it.

Try the gluten-free ones - even worse! Years ago I remember a TV ad campaign that featured Weetbix spread with jam and cream, and also Vegemite (not at the same time).