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

Val’s comments from the Beyond Zon group.

Aah! Melbourne in spring! 12 degrees, the garden carpeted with hail, wind blowing a gale, what's not to love?

Sorry to hear that the play was a disappointment Isabella - on so many levels. It's a shame when those involved don't pick up potential problems when rehearsing. Tomorrow night I'm off to see (or, more probably, hear) Richard E. Grant. I'm not sure what the format is going to be - possibly a Q & A session with an interviewer as happened when I saw Julie Andrews and Jane Fonda. On Saturday I've got my last play of the 2022 season - "Sunshine Super Girl" - the story of Evonne Goolagong. The stage will be a tennis court with the audience on two sides. It's had mixed reviews - I'll let you know how I go. I've already done my booking for the 2023 season by the Melbourne Theatre Company. It's no joke trying to wrangle 8 people who want to go to anything from one to ten plays but I've become quite expert at it. The final bill is eye-watering (about £2,200) but thankfully my friends are all good about reimbursing me immediately. The last play I went to this year ("Girls and Boys"), I was the only one of the gang who wanted to see it (influenced by the fact that the West End production starred Carey Mulligan and I love her). It's not as much fun going on your own (not a problem next year) but I'm so glad I did because it was terrific. But I was glad I had read up on it before I went because the subject matter was truly traumatic; I don't know how I would have coped if not forewarned. At least this Saturday's play, with two friends, should be lighter.

Update: it's 11.30pm and outside it's heavy rain!

Rain is forecast for 5 of the next 6 days.

On a good note: we managed to vote today. Parked just a few spaces away from the polling station and there was no rain!

Today's weather:
Cold
Sunny
Rain
Hail
Rain
Sunny
Cold

We've had the heating on most of the day. Only 15 days till summer!

Very wet and windy here today and looks like we're in for a bit of a cold snap (9 - 14 degrees tomorrow) for the next three days - and rain too, just for a change! Luckily the cricket went off last night with no rain delays. Well done England! - though I was barracking for Pakistan. Saw the breast cancer surgeon today for my annual check-up and she was very happy. If I get through the 2023 check-up it will be 10 years since my two ops and she will clear me from her books! Hooray! Hashtag:reclaimNovember!

We have a State election on November 26 and the early polling booths opened today. I think Mr H and I will try to vote tomorrow - weather permitting!

Yesterday we were at the joint birthday party for grandsons who turned 4 and 6 this month. It was held at "other grandma's" house and a good time was had by all. Especially the children attending as my daughter had hired a bouncy castle for the back garden. It was around 20 degrees but cloudy and it did cool down quite a bit as the day wore on. However, today I am surprised to find both my upper arms are sunburnt! Not severe or sore but noticeably red and warm to the touch. Just shows how those sneaky UV rays are never far away.

I hope that works out to your benefit P. I'm sure you would prefer it sooner rather than later. I had a good experience last year when I broke my wrist. The public hospital I first attended was full of Covid patients so I was directed to a private hospital nearby. Fabulous private room with its own bathroom, staff readily available and unstressed and a menu that wouldn't have been out of place in a posh hotel.

I think that the only places that masks are mandatory now (here in Victoria) are hospitals and aged care homes. Queensland has just re-instated wearing them on public transport. I always wear a mask in shops and on trains. All the theatres I have been in lately make an announcement before the show recommending mask wearing - at which point those not already wearing them sheepishly drag one out their pockets. I think I've said before that the main people I see wearing them are (often young) Asians - they haven't forgotten SARS and MERS!

No one seems to celebrate November 5th here (plus fireworks are illegal to buy) so a quiet night last Saturday.

Our temperatures are forecast to be in the high 20s this week - but rain every day. Hate humidity!

On a good note, I aced the eye specialist today. He says I have the vision of a teenager (thanks to the lens implants he put in three years ago) and no need to come back for two years. It was weird writing an appointment for November 12, 2024 in my diary.

Woke up to a sunny day with a forecast top of 22 and only a 10% chance of showers. I'm putting all my little seedlings out for their first taste of sunshine.

Heavy rain (or any rain really) seems to affect our satellite TV service, but only in the bedroom, not in the living room. It's annoying for Mr H who often retires early to watch the cricket from wherever in the world it's being played.

Sunshine here today (for a change) and high temperatures forecast for the week ahead - 29 degrees on Wednesday! Today we met the new grand-daughter for the first time. Spitting image of her sister and second babies seem much easier - she's already regained her birth weight in a week!

A few light showers today and the heating is still on. It's been arctic (or should that be antarctic) of late. On Tuesday, Melbourne Cup day, it reached 13.3 degrees - the coldest Melbourne Cup since 1913.

Today I had the dentist (managed to walk there and back without having to put up the brolly) - teeth still holding their own and I got out with just a clean and polish. Last week was the podiatrist (bliss) and the hairdresser. Next week it's they eye specialist, following week the breast cancer surgeon, week after that more blood tests, last week of November a core biopsy. First week of December the haematologist and hopefully get that steroid injection in my shoulder and after that, I should be good as new and right for another 12 months.

Isabella wrote: "Your weather doesn’t sound great, Val. I think I’m stuck with an image of sunny Australia, even though I’ve been caught in storms there. Daft how stereotypes linger! I think I’d be tempted to try t..."

I thinks it's a La Niña spring which is bringing all this rain - and cold. Yes, the heating is on again and it's been raining since about 5.00pm. Tomorrow's forecast is: "9 - 14. Cloudy. Very high (95%) chance of showers, most likely from the late morning. The chance of a thunderstorm in the afternoon and evening. Possible small hail in the afternoon and evening."

One good thing though, no trick or treaters came to the door, even though I was prepared for them. There aren't a lot of young children round here (the neighbourhood's gone up in value) although I did see quite a few in the street. I think these days, parents tend to gather with their children in the big park at the end of our street - the kids can run wild and the parents can shelter in the rotunda. But it was a bit too cold and wet and most seemed to be heading home by 6.30.

I know what you mean about stereotyping countries. I grew up in what was Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, but because my parents were Scots and I was reading Enid Blyton and similar, my vision was always of green fields and going to "the seaside" (Zimbabwe is a landlocked country). Aussies go to "the beach", never "the seaside". While quite young, I read all my parents' Nevil Shute books and had no desire to go to Australia as I envisaged it as a country of red dust. Obviously, there are parts that are mainly red dust, but not not in the south-east corner.

Our day was mostly sunny but the rain started about 5pm. Now there's a gale force wind blowing outside. The forecast is for showers every day of the week ahead and cloudy on Saturday and Sunday. This is a big racing week in Melbourne - we get a public holiday on the first Tuesday every November for the Melbourne Cup. So a lot of schools and businesses opt to close on the Monday and make it a long weekend. I feel sorry for all those going to the Cup in bad weather. And I'm not looking forward to Halloween. Last year we were still in lockdown so we just tied a bucket of sweeties to our letterbox. Tomorrow, between daylight saving, no school and the holiday on Tuesday, I think we can expect loads of kids doing the rounds. Fingers crossed for heavy rain!!

We've had rain all week and rain forecast for every day of the week ahead. The garden is loving it - everything growing apace, weeds most of all - but it's hard to get out and do anything. And it isn't warm either. Heating on again as I type this. I was in town today for a play but just managed to avoid the showers.

Grandchild No. 6 (Grand-daughter No. 3) arrived this morning around 3.30am. Only 8 days overdue. Everyone doing well.

Our forecast was rain for today but I took a chance as I had a lot of messages to run. Managed to do them all with nary a sign of a raindrop, but there has been some rainfall after dark. Tomorrow it's the hairdresser, Wednesday the podiatrist and next week the dentist. I'll be a new woman!

P wrote: "Morning folks…think i’m going to turn Aussie! What a concert and what a band! We had a five star evening at a lovely theatre, and managed to snare the last parking place a minutes walk from the the..."

So glad that your last show of the year was a good one and lived up to all your expectations!

Isabella wrote: "In a spirit of nostalgia we watched the Hancock's Half Hour on TV tonight. Still funny, in our opinion, but I was a bit surprised by the show itself. It was the one about the jury and although the ..."

I know what you mean Isabella. It's amazing how our sensibilities have changed over the years. Now some things really strike you and you realise how narrow our view was back then.

We often watch a TV show called Jukebox Saturday Night which features pop music videos from the 50s, 60s and 70s, many of which I've never seen before. Last Saturday this clip was shown and Mr H immediately said "How sexist is that!" - something that we probably laughed off in the 70s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iYpb...

We had quite a nice day today - cool but dry, but now the wind has got up and I can hear it blowing outside. The forecast for the week ahead is all showers. We've certainly had plenty - a real thunderstorm yesterday evening with a full-on lightning show. I got the family Christmas cake baked today so that's another task done. talking about weather, there's been a lot of controversy because the Bureau of Meteorology wants to rebrand itself (at a huge cost). It has asked that we refrain from referring to it as "BOM" or "The Weather Bureau". Instead, it wants to be called "The Bureau". There was a very funny response from the Carlton football club (Aussie Rules). They have a very good young player called Tom De Koning: “We no longer want Tom De Koning to be called “TDK” … Please refer to him either as “Koning” or “The Tom”.

Although I've never been a fan of T20 cricket, I've got quite caught up in the current World Cup, especially watching "the minnows" - Namibia, Scotland, Ireland, Afghanistan, etc. We're now down to the final 12 and tonight's game was India v Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. I've never seen the ground so packed. The record for a cricket game there was 93,013 in 2015. I'm sure it was broken tonight. When the tickets went on sale (over a year ago), this game was sold out in 10 minutes. Luckily it turned out to be a real nail-biter and I don't think anyone left early.