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

Val’s comments from the Beyond Zon group.

Our winter weather here hasn't been too bad. Some cold nights - down to 5 degrees C - and the heating has been getting a work out from about 4.00pm onwards. But the days have mostly been sunny - 20 degrees yesterday and today - and good rains have mostly been overnight. With an 8.00pm curfew in place there's no need to be out at night anyway. Between the sun and the rain the garden has gone ballistic. I haven't bothered pruning a climbing Iceberg rose as it's still busy flowering! And the nights are definitely getting lighter - we're now closing blinds and curtains about 6.45pm.

Inside The Forum:

http://eastend.melbourne/venues/forum...

I've attended many gigs there (and hopefully will get to go again sometime) - off the top of my head, I remember Ryan Adams, Tim Minchin, Darren Hayes, Marianne Faithfull, Rickie Lee Jones, Nick Lowe, John Grant, Crowded House, M. Ward, Steve Earle, Neutral Milk Hotel, Tom Jones, Elbow, First Aid Kit, Laura Marling, Jenny Lewis, Aesop Rock and Kimya Dawson.

One of Melbourne's biggest tourist attractions is the Penguin Parade at Phillip Island.

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

As you're sitting on the tiered steps, the penguins march underneath you to get to their burrows. Phillip Island is about a 2 hour drive away. There is a much smaller colony at St Kilda beach which is about 20 minutes away from our home. You can see the St Kilda penguins here:

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

Cathedral? That's either the National Gallery of Victoria or The Forum - one of my favourite sticky carpet rock venues.

But football ovals are a very moveable feast. That's why some teams play better on some grounds - they're shorter/narrower/longer/wider. See here for how every ground is different:

https://imgur.com/a/L9gdrSS#0IybusS

Docklands = Marvel Stadium in Melbourne; Kardinia Park is Geelong's home ground; the "new Perth Stadium" is Optus Stadium.

suzysunshine7 wrote: "Ohhh Val?! ... I never quite realised, until now, just what an incredibly beautiful and fascinating City Melbourne really is! ;oO

I'd SO love to get to see it one day ... that Stained Glass Ceilin..."

I think we all live in beautiful places, it's just that we can often take them for granted and familiarity can breed contempt. I've been watching "Vera" of late and have decided that Newcastle must be the most beautiful city!

That stained glass ceiling is lovely and I love that people just stretch out on their backs on the floor to admire it. But I've never quite understood why tourists are so enamoured of the water wall. It's just water inside a glass wall. You can see it at the start of this clip:

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

Suzy - there was some similar advice for Melburnians:


How to recreate Melbourne experiences at home

When you can't go outdoors to experience Melbourne, bring the experience indoors for free

https://www.timeout.com/melbourne/thi...

I can relate to 7, 8, 10 and 12.

I'm back on the soup again in lockdown 2.0. I made the Italian soup La Sfarrata which is very easy when you use tinned tomatoes, chick peas and cannellini beans instead of the traditional dried spelt and legumes. It's very filling and satisfying and as it only used 2 stalks of celery, I'll use the rest of the bunch of celery to make celery soup.

suzysunshine7 wrote: "Well, we all knew it was going to be coming any day now and here it is ... Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and East Lancashire are now pretty much effectively back to being under full Lockdown o..."

I know exactly how you feel Suzy. We are now three weeks in to a scheduled six week lockdown (Version 2.0) and things aren't getting better so we may be facing even stricter measures. This article says it all:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentis...

suzysunshine7 wrote: "Ohhh fantastic! - I'm SO very glad to hear that you don't have to worry about your Medications, Val ... x

Your Chemist sounds so caring, and so organised and efficient compared to ours! - LOL!!! ;o>"

I don't know how your system works but a possible downside of ours is that you have to see the GP (free for pensioners) every time you need a renewal. On second thoughts, maybe not a downside because it's probably just as well that you get re-checked for whatever ailments you have. My GP will give me maybe 10 renewals (i.e. one script available every 4 weeks) for a cholesterol medication but sometimes as few as 2 (but currently 5) for blood pressure pills.

Over here, the GP writes out prescriptions and hands them over to you. It's then up to us to go to any chemist and get them made up. Luckily I've always gone to the same chemist for years. It made it much simpler when I was a tax payer because they could give me a print-out of the family's purchases and I could claim for anything over the threshold. Since retiring and becoming a pensioner, we pay roughly £3 per script but there is a safety net that kicks in when you get to £150 per family in a calendar year and scripts are free thereafter. We reached the threshold this week. When the pandemic struck, I rang the chemist and he said just put your scripts in your letterbox and we'll pick them up today, which they did. The scripts are now kept by the chemist and I just have to ring up when I need them and they are delivered the same day. Works for me!

Jeepers P! How lucky that you heard him! What a worry for you!

Sounds like your day was as good as might be expected. At least you know you've done your best. You certainly couldn't have done any more. I hope the port and lemon went down well and that you got a good night's sleep. At least today's dinner is sorted and there's always cake!!!

I've got all my fingers and toes crossed for you Suzy that Dad recognises all the trouble you've gone to and winds up enjoying his day even if he's determined not to. Your spread sounds amazing!

Wow! They look really glam Suzy! I hope you are able to find designs you like and that fit well and, most importantly, do the job! Good luck!

Qashqai 68 wrote: "Good morning folks, sunny start to the morning. Just me and our pesky dog. As they say in the U.S. of A, have a nice day. 😎"

I prefer "Have a nice day" to "Have a good one".

Agree with you re Stellan Skarsgard Duke. One of my favourite ever TV series is "River" where he stars alongside another fave of mine, Nicola Walker. I reckon he is about the best actor going round today.

Hope everyone is keeping well, enjoying the good weather and getting out a bit with the dogs. It's a lovely sunny day here though we've had some very cold days (and nights) of late. Got the gas bill yesterday (heating, cooking, hot water) and it was a big one! Worked out to about three quid a day. But I believe in staying warm, I won't be cutting back on heating. At least these days, your power supplier has to print on your bill whether they can offer you a cheaper plan. Our gas and electricity come from the same supplier so we already get discounts for bundling, for paying on time and for being pensioners. When the last electric bill recommended a better plan, I was straight on the blower to them and we are now supposed to save about 120 pound a year. We'll see. I'm back to organising supermarket delivery now that our State is experiencing the second wave spike (over 400 new cases yesterday). Be warned, it's not pretty. Stay safe everyone.

Tonight I made Cheese Puff Pie - a recipe I copied laboriously by hand in 1972 when Jimmy Young was on Radio One. I haven't made it in years but it always went down well and tonight was no exception. I think it's the crumbly pastry made with porridge oats that makes it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JKqd...

Fish 'n' chips sounds lovely! Night before last was carrot soup (roasted carrots, onions, garlic, whizzed with 2 cans of chick peas and veggie stock), served with sour cream and crispy, fried chick peas. I thought it was yum but Mr H thought 1 teaspoon of cumin was 1 teaspoon too much. Last night was homemade pizza - lots of hot salami, olives and anchovies. Tonight will be using up some schnitzels from the freezer. Back in lockdown for 6 weeks but we are well stocked up. TV news is reporting more panic buying. Deja vu all over again.