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

Val’s comments from the Beyond Zon group.

Well it might be 21 degrees here today but, oh, that wind! I think Mr H may have to abandon his exterior window-frame painting with all the dust and leaves flying about. And I would normally put my little seedlings out in the sun, but I think I'll leave them in the shelter of the greenhouse.

The last supermarket delivery included pumpkin and cauliflower so I booked a slot in the kitchen and made a fabulous rogan josh curry with them (in very big pieces so they didn't go to mush) plus green beans. Served with some rice and yoghurt. Even Mr H. said it was good and he isn't all that keen on vegetarian meals.

I think my sweet peas are being attacked by caterpillars. There are a lot of cabbage moths around so I think they are laying eggs. I've put some cabbage dust on them and am keeping my fingers crossed.

Hope Duke has some luck with rebooting/repairing-replacing his laptop. probably not the best time to be doing it as, with so many folk working from home, office supplies stores can be in short supply. Another gorgeous day here - really hot if you're in the sun. My little seedlings are loving it.

Hope everyone is keeping on keeping on. We too are having lovely weather - a few cooler nights, got down to 9 degrees earlier in the week, and we have had the heating on - but the days are lovely. 21 degrees today. The streets are eerily quiet. We live in a quiet area anyway but there's usually cars about and children walking to and from school. Now, if you hear a voice, you look up startled. We managed a good chat with our neighbour - he standing at the end of the driveway, me at the front door throwing food to the magpies and the other half up a ladder painting yet another window frame. I used to have coffee with friends every Friday at a local cafe but now we catch up via Zoom or Messenger, so that will take up much of tomorrow morning. Otherwise, little to report here.

Getting home deliveries, I usually order what's on special and then organise meals around that. Coles had 3 ginormous avocados for £2.50 so we've had fettuccine with chicken and avocado and it was yum.

Great news P! Hope he finds it suits him right now and maybe even into the future.

To both P and Q : my thoughts are with you both at this difficult time. I can't imagine what it is like to have family members with serious health problems and to feel that they are mostly dependent on you to keep a look out for them even in good times. Factor in this dreadful virus and you must be worn to a frazzle. I can only hope that there is a suitable job out there for your son P - one that allows for his ongoing condition. And Q - I hope that your step-daughter and children will feel safe in being able to return home in the not-too-distant future and that your wife can get some rest and be able to concentrate on what she needs in order to feel her best. Make sure you take care of yourselves too.

I was allowed into the kitchen tonight and made a stunning version of that old fall-back tuna mornay. I used parmigiano, manchego and cheddar in the cheese sauce and it was the bees knees.

The lockdown has also forced me into video catch-ups with family and friends. I have downloaded and learnt how to use both Zoom and Messenger. Only problem is I have to get out of my jim-jams to look presentable!

My little seed(?) is still there so I put a small clear plastic container over it (you know, the small ones you get with dipping sauce in them when you order an Indian takeaway). Hope this keeps it warm and protected from creepy crawlies. I've got four punnets with seeds in them in the tatty plastic greenhouse and I think there's one spinach and one silverbeet sprouted! I feel like a proud parent!

I noticed something that may be one of the seeds I planted sprouting. Of course, it could be a weed. And even if it is the real deal, I have no idea what it might be. I put some random vegie seeds in a planter that already has impatiens in it. Fingers crossed!

Does mending count? I've shortened hems on one pair of track pants and two pairs of jeans for Mr H.

The Twelve Apostles are a major tourist attraction on Victoria's Great Ocean Road:

Still on religion (sorry to harp on folks - blame it on the season or lockdown) but I struggle with the fact that my daughter and son-in-law have chosen to baptise their children in a Roman Catholic church. Why do I struggle? Because I see it as hypocritical - they don't observe the faith in any way and the only reason they've done it is so that they can enroll the children in Catholic schools down the track.

I can't even see why the schooling has such an appeal (especially given the Catholic church's record in systemic child abuse) and as someone who attended an all-girls Convent school for thirteen years, I can't say it made me a better or wiser person than my contemporaries who went to state schools.

P wrote: "I have no problem with people having faith, indeed I have sometimes wished that I did, but to me, religion was a crib sheet as to how people should behave, and the more that people ignored it, the ..."

I agree P. How much easier would life be if we had faith. We could believe in an afterlife. We could believe we would see our loved ones again. (I've often wondered whether we could choose what age we could come back as? If you had lost a partner and re-married, would you want both spouses in the afterlife?) Faith must be like having a cushioned safety net. I have told my children, if there's anything left when I go, it gets divvied up three equal ways and if there's any arguments or falling out, I'm coming back to make their lives miserable!

theDuke wrote: "Having been born into an atheist family....i had zero interest in religious eduction at school, i'm not sorry to say Val. I not only did not want to be in those classes, i actively tried every trick in book to get out of learning anything about any religion..simply because....i despise religion.."

I have no problem with all you say. The problem I have is with our collective ignorance (and I'm not excusing myself here) about why traditions exist and what is the history behind them. I think we've evolved into a lazy society where we enjoy holidays and treating ourselves to chocolate but we don't know or care why it should be so. By all means don't be a believer but at least know why there is a cross on a hot cross bun. Know what an egg is supposed to symbolise. And respect people who do follow their particular faith. Here in Melbourne we have a public holiday on the second Monday in March. Ask most people why and they will tell you it's to celebrate the Moomba Festival - parades, fun fairs, etc. No! Moomba is an artificially created event (started in the 50s). The holiday is actually called Labour Day and it celebrates the eight-hour working day, a victory for workers in the late 19th century. Does anyone care? Possibly only me. Perhaps we should all cease being hypocritical and go out to work (virus restrictions allowing) at Easter and Christmas because they only exist as holidays (holy days) in the Christian and Orthodox faiths. Or maybe we just indulge ourselves and rebrand them as Spring Festival and Mid-Winter Festival? Or maybe the economy would collapse? Maybe we should just carry on having our cake (Easter egg) and eating it too. We're a weird lot us human beings!

I'm not at all religious but I was raised a Catholic and spent 13 years at a Convent school. I still find it odd that anything should be open on Good Friday. In recent years, cinemas have been allowed to open (fair enough, not everyone is a Christian) and we have had football games on the Friday night. This year, everything was closed here in Victoria. I'm also taken aback when people say "Happy Easter" on Good Friday - the most solemn day in the Christian calendar. "Happy Easter" and Easter egg consumption belong to Easter Sunday. Yes, I know, I'm old and pedantic but the celebration is not about Jesus's crucifixion, it's about him rising again on the third day. Here endeth the religious lesson.

Maybe change the thread name to In The Garden or similar. Q put up photos of his amazing bird feeder and I did put up some photos once of all the African daisies in full bloom. Now that it's spring up your way, there may be more garden projects planned, and while we're all in lockdown, there's no excuse for us not doing something in the garden. I've planted some dwarf narcissus bulbs in pots but they were ones I lifted last year and they didn't look all that healthy to me. I've also planted seeds of sweet peas, dwarf curly kale, rainbow chard, silverbeet and spinach. But I'm not expecting much from them - I have no idea how old the seed is, my plastic greenhouse has holes in it (and we've been having some cooler nights), and in the unlikely event something does sprout, it's a sure bet that snails, slugs or caterpillars will have their way.

Hope you are all keeping well, and well provisioned and not bored out of your collective trees. At least at our age, we know there's always something that needs doing, even if it's only dishes or ironing. Mr H has been painting window frames (outside) and hoping the rain will hold off. I've done bits and pieces of gardening and am now on to the mending basket. I'm looking forward to seeing your planter boxes Duke and hope your seeds bloom. I doubt mine will. I think the seeds themselves were rather old and we've had a bit of a cold snap here.