And, please read today’s (13th Jan. 2014) update:
Yesterday, on Sunday, I went to the pool instead of going to church. It was another beautiful morning at the pool: Pleasantly warm, no wind. Just perfect for a relaxing swim. Peter declined to come to the pool with me. It was his old excuse about the pool water being much too cold for him! But later on he was waiting outside the swimming centre to walk home with me, which I enjoyed.
Having just reblogged last years pictures of Dapto swimming pool area I noticed with the pictures are some pictures of the Gala Cinema included. This reminds me, that on Saturday (two days ago) we went to see THE BOOK THIEF at the Gala. It was an afternoon session and this time there were quite a few people in the cinema to watch this excellent movie.
But back now to my attempts at keeping up a little bit of swimming. Over the Christmas period when we had family staying with us, I had several times the chance to go for a swim. With Martin and S we went to Wollongong Olympic outdoor pool on a warm morning when even Peter dared to have a dip in the water. The following day Martin and S walked to Dapto pool for a swim early in the morning. I opted out to go with them. I felt I needed a bit of a rest before all the Christmas celebrations would start.
On Christmas Day Matthew drove us to Port Kembla Pool. It was a shockingly cold morning and of course Peter just watched Matthew, Caroline and myself having a good swim. Peter joining us on such a very cold morning was out of the question. And I must say, the sea-water in the pool felt indeed very, very cold. I think Matthew and Caroline went to Port Kembla Pool again the following day, however this time without me. I did not fancy the strong cold wind at Port Kembla.
It’s now several weeks since Christmas, and I finally made it for a swim in the New Year at Dapto Swimming Pool. It is predicted that we are going to be into an extreme heatwave by the middle of this week. The middle of this week (Thursday) we’ll be going to another funeral same as around this time last year when we had a couple of days with temperatures of more than 45 C.
We are distressed that our very fit and healthy 82 year old neighbour all of a sudden died of a massive heart attack. Well, one never knows for whom the bell tolls.
I saw the doctor today. He let me off lightly: He said the blood-tests are okay but when he took my blood pressure it was a bit too high again. He gave me some more time to get my blood pressure down. If it doesn’t improve, he wants to prescribe medication. He was happy that there’s no more swelling and no more pain. Ah, and he said to go easy on salt in my diet and to walk frequently. So far so good. Actually, I can give myself a pat on the shoulder today because this afternoon I actually did go for a walk. I bet the doctor would be pleased about this!
A few weeks ago I walked to the pool early in the morning. Strolling along the way I took some pictures of some flowers in the gardens in front of people’s houses. I always enjoy looking at…
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AuntyUta 
So sorry to hear of the loss of your neighbour. We walk a lot but no more swimming for years. My mum was still swimming in her late eighties and even won a medal in her age group of over 85.
I do everything at a very leisurely pace, Gerard, walking as well as swimming. Still, I think any kind of moving is good for me. When I cannot do much of it for a day or two, I can straight away feel a weakening of my movements.
I have never been a strong swimmer or walker.
This neighbour, who passed away, was of very slim build, very energetic, could still climb on the roof to fix something. The only medication he used for the past few years was something to keep his blood pressure under control. He was always walking quickly and did still drive a car. But he always said, if you live past 80 you live on bonus time!
Glad to hear that Kate Blanchet won ‘best actor’ for Woody Allen’s movie ‘Blue Jasmin’. It was an excellent movie and she was brilliant. Have you and Peter seen it?
No, Gerard, we haven’t seen this movie, not yet. We hope we can still see it! It’s great that Cate Blanchett won at the Globe Awards.
🙂
Einen schönen Tag liebe Ute ich habe auch nie richtig Schwimmen gelernt früher gab es keine Gelegenheit dazu und heute mag ich nicht mehr.Ich hoffe es geht dir gut wünsche dir eine gute und glückliche Woche.Liebe Grüße von mir Gislinde
Hallo, Gislinde! Was das Schwimmen anbelangt, so schwimme ich sehr gern. Ich habe als neunjährige schwimmen gelernt, und zwar nur Brustschwimmen. Allerdings machte ich, als ich 16 war, für eine Weile auch etwas Kunstschwimmen mit einer Gruppe von Mädchen. Ich finde es gut, dass ich immer noch Gelegenheit zum Schwimmen habe. Es scheint mir sehr zu helfen auf richtiges Atmen zu achten. Bei mir sind Herz und Lungen für mein Alter okay, aber ich komme immer leicht in Atemnot, d.h. ich muss darauf achten, dass ich richtig ausatme. Beim Schwimmen kommt das automatisch. Ganz liebe Grüsse von mir, Uta
Sorry to hear that you lost your dear neighbour so sad. Good to hear you enjoyed your swimming, oh that lovely warm weather ahh! lovely. Hope you get your Blood pressure under control, I have been on meds for a few years now. I would much prefer to try and bring it down naturally though.
Have a good week
Hugs Sheila x
I do enjoy the pleasant summer weather that we have at the moment, Sheila. However we are prepared for a heatwave which is due in our area during the next few days. We hope the heat wont get too much over 40 C like it did for a couple of days last year. My blood pressure seems to be pretty much under control right now even without meds. I hope it stays this way. We miss our dear neighbour very much. He was always cheerful and never sick at all.
I hope it won’t be too cold where you are, dear Sheila. Wishing you a good week too. Hugs, Uta xx
Hallo guten Abend sei herzlichst gegrüßt und wünsche dir eine schöne Woche Klaus aus Köln
Hallo, lieber Klaus aus Köln. Danke für die Grüsse. Wünsche dir auch eine schöne Woche. Aus dem sommerlichen Australien grüsst dich Uta.
Hi Auntyuta, hope you are coping with the weather okay,44 degrees here and too hot to even go outside. Ana and I watched the movie the Book Thief last night, it was good but Ana said there is more detail in the book, I enjoyed the story.
Is Peter still complaining that the water is still too cold ?
Regards
Ian aka Emu
Oh yes, I’d say 44 degrees is a bit too hot to go outside much. Peter says too that there was more detail in the book. I didn’t read the book yet. However I think a book that depicts a story which shows so many aspects of the lives people lived under Hitler could never be as detailed in the movie as you can make it in the book. Markus Zusak, the author, grew up in Australia, His father is Austrian and his mother German. But the story the book is based on derives from what a neighbour had been telling him. This neighbour was older than his parents and died aged 90.
When I went to the pool last Sunday morning, Peter refrained from coming with me. I haven’t been to the pool since then. Here the temperature is only a bit over 30 at the moment. However we are expecting a proper heatwave to reach us within the next few days. We coped with 47 C in January 2013. We hope it won’t be quite as bad this summer.
With temperatures like this it’s nice to take a cold shower! I remember last year at your place how nice it felt to sit in your garden area with the sprinklers going!
To come back to the movie. To me the story looks quite real for even though I was a kid during the Hitler period, growing up during the postwar years taught me a lot about what it is like when you have to live under a regime like the one under Hitler.and how people were constantly being lied to. My generation really became a very peace loving one, wishing that war would never become an option again.
There is a drama series on SBS right now about GENERATION WAR. It is remarkable that WW II is still so much on people’s mind. Peter reckons you’d probably be interested to watch this one too.
Greetings from the Illawarra, from Auntyuta and Peter