Dull

It's days like this that make me reluctant to try to write something every day!

It has been so hot I haven't been outside other than to top up the water in my tomato bowls and hang a load of washing out (which I have just remembered is still out there!)

I have spent the day faffing around on the computer playing word games (good for my memory I keep telling myself - not wasting time) and reading.

Boud asked what I am reading at the moment. It is The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling). I really enjoy a good mystery/whoddunit (or "bloods" as my dear old dad used to call them) and Galbraith/Rowling is an excellent story teller. Her eye for details is very satisfying. This is the 7th book in the Cormoran Strike series and I have loved them all.

I don't even have a photo for you today as I you don't want to see any more tomatoes and my washing is hardly exciting. I could show you the bloody flies that come in every time someone opens a door but you know what flies look like.

Dinner tonight is parmesan crusted chicken baked in the oven with a salad and panna cotta with berries to follow. Still from the F800 books.

I have just wasted half an hour looking for something interesting/funny to share from youtube amd failed.

I am going to have a gin and read more of my book.

Tomorrow may be more interesting - I have an osteopath appointment.

Fingers crossed, a gardening success (thanks to the interwebs)

It's been a very hot day but at least it hasn't been unpleasantly humid. 

This morning I took my friend (the one who's husband dumped her after 37 years and who I shall call Prue) out for coffee/brunch. It is just about impossible to find somewhere for coffee when it's peak season but thanks to Penguin I have discovered Off the Wharf cafe which gets packed for lunch/dinner but if you get there early enough you can get a good table with a lovely view of the water and a decent coffee and toastie. I hope it stays that way over summer!

The tourists are entertaining, though. A large group arrived and, like Goldilocks, tried nearly every table in the place (including one with a reserved sign) until they found one they appeared to like. They then proceeded to order a variety of beverages ranging from iced tea to beer to a fancy cocktail. At 10.30 in the moming. Oh well, when on holiday ...

Prue and I sat and chatted for a couple of hours and she is still offloading about the soon to be ex. He does sound like a right piece of work but there are two sides to every story and I haven't heard his and I am unlikely to nor do I want to. He rang four times while we were there to ask her about plants for the soon to be on the market house. She kept reminding him that they weren't landscaping to keep so to buy cheap and cheerful not expensive and stunning. I really feel for her. The next few months are going to be very hard and she has back and knee issues that aren't helping her frame of mind. 

When I was out watering I noticed this wee fella. When I was in hospital with the hip a couple of friends came to visit and brought me a cyclamen in a pretty pot. Once it had finished flowering I planted it in the rockery at the back with little hope it would survive. It seems quite happy even though it does get full sun and has produced this flower and a bud. After I took the photo I removed the flower and bud so it doesn't waste energy keeping them alive and can focus on new leaves.

After my recent post about my tomatoes and the advice given by my wonderful bloggy friends I did some googling and pruned with no mercy (well, maybe a little bit of mercy) and took a lot of leaves off that the google gardener gurus suggested (and, Pixie, I think). I watered them well this morning but by lunch time they were very droopy and the soil was dry. I had tried the old soft drink bottle with the neck stuck into the soil trick but I think the pots are too small. Himself went into Bunnings (in Bairnsdale - half an hour away!) and bought deep saucers so the water will drain into them and hopefully be reabsorbed into the soil as it dries out. It has to better than just washing away and might even retain some nutrients. Tomorrow I shall source tomato food - I forgot to ask him to get some when at the big green shed - and I will report back with the watering results.

I'm not sure if you can see the water in the saucers here but I am sure you can imagine it ...

A tomato! I have a few like this but they need to get much larger and much redder for me to be able to claim success. 

If you look closely you can see a lot of yellow flowers that should, gods of tomatoes willing, become lush, red, juicy bites of wonderfulness.

If you can be bothered to compare the above with a photo I showed you on 1st Jan you can see that the plants are a bit perkier and a lot more open.

Despite the heat I thought it a good idea to make soup for lunch and of course it was a recipe that required the oven first. Roasted red capsicum (bell peppers?) and butternut pumpkin (squash?) soup. It is, I think, the best soup I have made and I make a lot of soup*. Next time I will have the oven at a higher temperature to blister the capsicum - I ended up roasting for twice the cooking time and even then taking a blow torch to them (just the sort you use to brown a creme brulee - nothing too scary).

It is gin and tonic time and we are in for another hot one tomorrow that may well be unpleasant as a stormy change is forecast for Monday. I just hope that the winds don't exacerbate existing bush fires or cause any more. 

*I mentioned a couple of months ago I was following Michael Mosley's Fast 800 weight loss plan and most of my recipes come from Dr Claire Bailey's (his widow) cookbooks and we love them. I don't follow strictly (see gin and tonic) but closely enough to be slowly losing weight and feeling better in myself.

Another recipe and a cat

This is the recipe for the salmon we had last night. I am probably breaking all sorts of copyright rules by taking a photo but I couldn't be bothered typing it out. Just pretend I did, ok?

It was really yum. I halved it again which made the egg a bit tricky and I also made the crust ahead of time - next time I will make it just before I put it on the salmon as it was a bit gluggy - I think I picked the juiciest lemon to zest which didn't help. 

The veges ready to go in the oven ...

... with the salmon and crust topping ...

.. and after it was cooked (I remembered the photo this time).

The crumb should have been more, well, crumby but it tasted delicious. I couldn't get fresh dill so used the dried stuff in from a jar and it was fine. Maybe a tablespoon or 2.

The family of the brother in law who forgot the cats are most displeased with him, as they should be. They normally spend every Friday evening together but he and his wife are going to the movies instead. Guilty much?

And because you all care about cats I give you more of Max the Magnificent. Since we moved in here he is much more approachable and will even come up and wind around your legs. He was very standoffish for a couple of years. I think because he was a foster but Mini came from the same litter and she is very affectionate so who knows. Maybe it's because he identifies as a dog because he is very affectionate with Jinx and Murphy.

Regardless, he is very handsome.

 

Chicken and stuff

Here is the link to the chicken tray bake I made last night.

I halved the quantities as it was just the two of us and my lemon wasn't very juicy I realised when looking at the video so next time I will make sure I have a juicy lemon or use extra. It was delicious, though, and will be on regular rotation. I added an onion to the mix as well. Next time I might cook it at 180C and give the veges a 10 minute start which is what I usually do with this sort of cooking but if you like chicken and lemon and veges give it a go - any vege that can be baked would work just make sure to adjust the cooking times if necessary.

Here it is before it went into the oven 

I had meant to take a photo when it came out of the oven but forgot and we were hungry!

When Three and his lot were down his brother in law was meant to feed the cats. He forgot. So they weren't fed from Friday morning til Monday afternoon. This morning the female was showing some very strange behaviour. Amy took her to the vet and her blood sugar was 29 - it should be around 10. It seems that not feeding a geriatric diabetic cat for over 48 hours can lead to some pretty awful symptoms (to be fair her diabetes hadn't been diagnosed but I had my suspicions when Three told me she had lost a ton of weight recently). Sadly they made the kindest decision to have her put down. Three is not impressed with his brother in law but has been told not to make a fuss as BiL would be upset. I think a fuss should be made and to hell with his feelings.

I went for a short walk today after embracing Boud's suggestion to try something new just because. I plan to do this every day even if it just taking a different route on a walk or trying a new coffee shop. The short walk also reminded me that my fitness levels are in the gutter so another new thing might be joining the aquadome which has fitness classes for old people as well as the pool.

I did a bit of weaving while listening to my current favourite podcast The Rest is History which presents history in a novel and interesting way. We listen to some of the episodes in our U3A history sessions which is how I found out about them. Apparently they are responsible for igniting an interest in history in a whole new younger generation. How cool is that?

Another new dish tonight and another tray bake. This time it is with salmon with a dill, lemon and nut crust. I shall let you know how it goes.

Happy New Year

Two gave me this. I don't know why but he found it very amusing! I could always put it in the front window to let people know if I'm feeling sociable. Although, with the drug house just up the road that's probably not the best idea!

Himself went into town for the 9.30 fireworks. The place was packed! I watched from the front of the house and was underwhelmed. There was a huge police presence which, sadly, was necessary but they did nip trouble in the bud and nothing got out of hand. It happens every year.

Remember my tomatoes? They've grown!! I took this after just watering them so they are a bit droopy still. My mistake was not putting them in large enough pots so I need to water then sometimes three times a day! I'll know for next year. I'm hoping the ones already formed will ripen. I might get some tomato food and see if that helps. 

We went for a walk along the foreshore. I stopped half way and read my book until Himself and the dogs came back. My hips and lower back are tight and walking too far is painful but I am walking a bit further each time.

Chicken with a lemon parmesan crust traybake for dinner. It's a new recipe and looks great. I love anything that can be cooked in one pot/pan. If it can be prepped early even better. I'll let you know what it's like 😀

New Year's Eve

And here we are again. Another trip around the sun. 2024 has certainly had its ups and downs. When I look back I realise that I did cram quite a bit into it!

The new house and the new hip took up a lot of time, several trips to Melbourne, dealing with the awful rental and the fall out, making new friends (hi Penguin), joining  U3A and then the committtee and generally getting used to our new lives in Lakes. We are still convinced we made the best decision moving here.

On Monday last week we had some neighbours over for drinks. It was lovely getting to know them better. One couple have sold their house and will be moving mid Jan which is a shame. Their new next door neighbours are a challenge (drugs, feral kids, noisy cars and we get frequent visits from the local constabulary which is fine by me) which was the catalyst in them selling although they had been toying with the idea to be closer to her children and grandchildren. They have only been here 2 years. He is our neighbour that works at the local transfer station and he will continue to work there for the foreseeable future so we can still catch up. 

The other couple live next door to them on the other side and are more our age (if not a bit older) and I think we will see more of them. 

I also invited Sue whose husband recently decided he didn't want to be married anymore after they built their new house so she is living in it alone (he comes up from time to time to work on the garden, decking, fence, etc and makes her cry) until it is sold and then she will have to decide whether to go it alone in Lakes or move back to Melbourne where she has family. If she chooses the latter it will be a huge financial struggle for her as her share of the sale won't get her anything half decent in the city whereas she could get a nice little unit here. Either way, I will continue to support her as best I can whilst she is in this awful situation. We have coffee at least once a week and she just talks about the soon-to-be-ex.

While they were here we got notification that our VCAT hearing will be on 4th February. It is all now in the hands of the magistrate and on 5th February we can put that episode behind us and move on regardless of the outcome.

We had a quiet Christmas. We took the dogs for a walk along the foreshore and as the tide was in and the tourists scarce we let them have a bit of a swim.

                            

                                            

A couple of my favourite feathered residents ...

                                        

                                

... it was a glorious day.

On Friday Two and his lot arrived and stayed until first thing Saturday. I had my trepidations about this visit as his kids are not well behaved and his wife is not the best at setting boundaries. My fears were well founded. I was very sad when they left that I couldn't say they were welcome any time and I couldn't wait to see them again because, honestly, until the kids' behaviours improve they aren't welcome and I can't see that happening any time soon. 

Three and his lot arrived later on Friday and it was lovely to see the cousins interact but everyone was exhausted including Sally as everything was a drama. If Two's kids don't get their own way they literally scream until they do. 

Once the NSW lot had left things were a lot calmer. We had doughnuts for breakfast, played in the new playground and generally chilled.

Part of the issue with Two's girls is their fear of dogs but instead of reassuring them, their fear is fed. Billie said she didn't want the dogs inside and Himself said the dogs would come inside. Mads said that would be interesting as Billie always wins. Well, this time she didn't and the dogs did come in and the girls were told in no uncertain terms to stop squealing which they did. And they even patted the dogs. 

Which is why these two photos mean so much to me. Alice also used to be terrified of the dogs - and understandably when you realise how big they are and how small she is - but she is told to be calm and tell them to go away (which they do) and we end up with this ... 

... maybe one day Two's kids will be the same.

On Sunday we had doughnuts for breakfast and the blokes took the girls to play minigolf while Amy and I looked at the shops. We had a quiet afternoon and then had fish and chips for dinner on the foreshore before heading to the carnival. We did this last year when they surprised us with a visit. Sally wanted to go on the ride she struggled with last year and asked Himself to go with her. It wasn't a success! Initially they seemed fine but her face quickly changed to one of acute discomfort. Unbeknownst to me Himself had knocked back two 500ml energy drinks whilst waiting for the fish and chips to be cooked - he has only just discovered these and didn't realise the effect of such a caffeine hit. He ended up very unwell and took himself home while we stayed on. Energy drinks and fairground rides don't mix well!

If you have looked at the link to last year's visit you will remember the dude who helped Sally with the backward/forward turns. He was there again this year and was amazing with the kids who obviously wanted to challenge themselves. Including, no surprise, Sally.

She was very hard to photograph but had an absolute ball.

Himself had gone home by this point so the 5 of us went on the ferris wheel. The views are still amazing. Like last year, this is the best time as the sun is setting but you still get a good view of the area.

   

Alice was still mainly interested in the kiddie rides but she and mum thoroughly enjoyed the dodgem cars - as did Dad and Sally.

It was a quiet morning yesterday as they packed up. We went to the pub for lunch and then they headed home.

This morning we hit the shops but not early enough! You can always pick the tourists - they are the ones with an entire family in a small supermarket; grandparents, parents and many kids all meandering around the store blocking the aisles and discussing what they should or shouldn't buy. I wanted eggs and neither Woollies or Aldi had any. We tried Foodworks on the offchance and they were unloading a delivery from a local free range chook farm. Score!! 2 dozen eggs and I was happy. We have had a huge issue with bird flu which is why eggs are so scarce but the price hike is crazy. They are almost in the luxury food category whereas they used to be a good, inexpensive source of protein.

And now here we are. 

Himself is planning to go into town to see the 9.30 fireworks. I will not be joining him. I understand we might see some from here and that will be fine whether we do or not. 

I realise I haven't posted much here this year but I did write something every month! I will try harder next year but if I have nothing to say I will stay quiet. I admire those who manage to come up with such interesting content every day (you know who you are and I salute you). 

I am so grateful to be part of this online community. You make me laugh and cry, you challenge my thinking and you share so much of yourselves and your lives. Thank you.

Have a very happy and safe New Year's Eve and may 2025 bring you health, happiness and the strength to navigate the ups and downs of life. 

Christmas 2024

So here we are. 

A very merry Christmas to each and every one of you. 

Be safe, be happy and gentle with yourselves.