Category: Diary

Diary: A few Days away from Home in April 2019

Last week we went on a trip to Benalla in Victoria. This morning I finally uploaded the photos from this trip. So we had left eight days ago and came back three days ago on Wednesday. Well, was it only three days ago that we returned? It seems so much longer already! When we arrived home on Wednesday afternoon both Peter and I were extremely exhausted. We both felt like we needed a long, long rest. I think, we slept in on Thursday, meaning we got up just before eight o’clock. Then we straight away found out that the  date for the Federal Election had been called. While having breakfast, we listened to the News for a while. Unpacking our ‘stuff’ took a while as well as doing some washing and cleaning. Monika came for a brief visit with her little grandson Carter. Next week she wants to come on Tuesday after work. Then she wants to arrange for someone to come and see us for an assessment about what sort of home help as well as transport we oldies might be needing soon.

On Fridays I usually have been going to Marta’s slow movement exercise class. I wrote about it here:

https://auntyuta.com/2011/10/03/diary-of-aunty-uta/

I mentioned in that post, that twenty people were enrolled in that class in 2011. Amazingly, apart from me, there are three more people still enrolled in that class from that long ago! They had joined that class even a few years before me, and they are still there! The amazing thing is, all three of them are 97 now. Imagine this, they still keep coming . . . . ! So last Thursday they were there again. There were four other people as well. Without the three 97 year olds, we would have been only five participants. Too many people dropped out over the years. We have a lot of trouble finding new people for our class. I am surprised that it is still going at all . . . . Marta, our instructor, would like Peter to join. I hope, he’s going to consider it . . . .

For our Friday games afternoons we are usually three or four women. Yesterday our games afternoon was at Barbara’s place. We found out yesterday that Erika is not coming for the next six months or so. First she’s doing some oversees travelling. And then she and her husband want to spend some time in Queensland.

When I looked at the photos this morning, I suddenly remembered a lot again about our last trip. As I said, we went to Benalla in Victoria. On the way there and back we had an overnight stop at Gundagai. We had stopped there previously and liked it.

Our son moved from Melbourne to Benalla about two years ago. We have been visiting him there quite a few times already. The Sydney/Melbourne train does stop in Benalla. I like to go on the train. Train travelling I find far less exhaustintg than car travelling. Peter usually likes to go long distances by car. But this time he found the driving a bit too exhausting too, even though we had these stops in Gundagai! I think he’ll be glad too to go by train to Benalla next time. I have no driver’s license any more because of very bad eye sight. This is a pity. With two drivers a trip like this certainly is much better manageable.

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Well now, this cheescake reminds of that excellent meal we had in Moss Vale on our way to Gundagai. This very well presented cake was our desert.

I decided now, I am going to publish some more pictures from our trip in another post.

So long, Uta

 

PS: Here is a link to another post of mine about Gundagai:

https://auntyuta.com/2019/03/25/on-the-way-to-gundagai/

A Week away from Home in November 2018 and another Trip to Benalla coming up

https://auntyuta.com/2018/11/15/nearly-one-week-away-from-home-in-november-2018/

This is what I wrote on the 15th of November 2018:

“We have just come back from a great few days away from home. I found our trip was very relaxing, and we did quite a few things that are worth remembering. It is always good to be able to go away for a little while. This creates memories.

Both Peter and I are in our eighties. That we still enjoy doing a bit of travelling, I find remarkable. Peter is battling to maintain some normality to his life while old age and sickness diminish his fitness. The one thing he is still pretty good at, is driving a car. He says driving a car on good roads for certain distances he finds relaxing. Our old Audi goes well on highways. In towns where there are a lot of traffic lights, Peter has to stop the car too often. This is when the car uses a lot of petrol pro km. However on freeways and highways the car uses much, much less petrol, and it makes Peter very happy and joyful to not have to stop all the time. However, Peter being 83 and having a few health issues that can make him feel perhaps too tired after a longer drive, he agreed not to drive the 650 km to Benalla in one day, but rather to stay overnight somewhere, that is  at about the halfway point. This time we came up with the idea to stop at Gundagai for our overnight stays. This worked  out very well. I wrote here that we stayed at the “Gundagai Motel”:

https://auntielive.wordpress.com/

http://gundagaimotel.com.au/

After our one night’s stay at Gundagai we stayed at our son’s place at Benalla for three nights. And on the way back we stayed again for one night at Gundagai. This means we left home on a Friday morning and arrived back home on a Wednesday afternoon. So this makes it close to one week! I reckon we did very well, considering our age and Peter’s health problems. And of course I too have sometimes a few minor health problems related to old age!

Peter is booked in for some more treatment in the hospital. We hope the result of these treatments is going to be as good as possible so that perhaps in future we are still going to be able to do similar beautiful trips!”

Today is the 25th of March 2019 and write here a little P.S.:

In less than two weeks we are going for another trip to Benalla. Peter’s treatment in the hospital has been delayed. We don’t know yet, whether he can get some treatment soon. This may be a good thing, for Peter has not symptoms that he is unduly concerned about. So we booked a few stays at the Gundagai Motel again. And Martin knows already that we want to be with him for his birthday on the 8th of April.

Lunch Break at Wodonga

https://www.valentinessourdough.com.au/our-story

“The Valentine’s artisan sourdough bakery and coffee shop operates out of three locations – Rutherglen, Albury and Wodonga.”

After having left Benalla, Peter and I had a lunch break at Wodonga. We went to the Valentine’s coffee shop in Wodonga. The bread was very much to our liking. There were a variety of fresh healthy options to go with the bread. And the coffee was very good too.

On our way back home to Dapto we were staying overnight in Gundagai.  Peter’s driving in our ancient Audi went very well. He loves driving the Audi long distances. The Hume Motorway is not a bad road to drive on.

This is a copy from this post:

https://auntyuta.com/2018/11/29/the-story-of-valentines-bakehouse/

 

 

Visiting the Tatong Art Show as well as the Mansfield Zoo

(Visiting Benalla in November 2018 continued)

Tatong Art Show

We went to this Art Show on Sunday the 11th of November. This Art Show a bit further away from Benalla was part of the Benalla Festival. There were some good pictures by local artists exhibited.
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The following pictures were taken at the Mansfield Zoo where we went on Monday, the 12th of November. Peter took these pictures during our visit to Mansfield Zoo. Mansfield is not very far from Benalla.

AT THE MANSFIELD ZOO
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This is our son Martin with a bucket full of feed for the animals.

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https://www.mansfieldmtbuller.com.au/listing/mansfield-zoo-mansfield/

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When the grounds are wet you can take your pick of gum boots as you enter the Zoo.

On a hot day you can cool off in this very cool room:

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A Settler’s Bar in town

How about a cool beer?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansfield,_Victoria

We stopped here on the way to Mansfield:

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Driving to Benalla (continued)

The next day, on Saturday, the 10th of November, we continued driving to Benalla.

We thought this Mundoonan Rest Area was an excellent site for stopping so Peter could have a bit of a rest from driving.

We arrived in Benalla soon after 12 o’clock. Our son Martin was expecting us and happy to see us.

At 2pm we went with Martin to watch the Benalla Festival Street Parade.

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In the evening of that day we very much enjoyed watching the Benalla Festival Fireworks.

This is more or less just a copy of some posts I published last November:

https://auntielive.wordpress.com/2018/11/15/driving-to-benalla/

https://auntielive.wordpress.com/2018/11/15/visiting-benalla-in-november-2018/

On the Way to Gundagai

https://auntielive.wordpress.com/tag/family-visit-in-benalla/

We stayed at Gundagai overnight on our way to Benalla.

We left Dapto early in the morning on Friday, the 9th of November 2018. At Moss Vale we stopped for breakfast at our favourite cafe where we always like to stop for breakfast. This time we ventured to a table in a snug little room. We could make ourselves comfortable while waiting for the ordered cooked breakfast to arrive.

After breakfast it didn’t take us long to reach the Hume Highway where Peter could drive the Audi at a very good speed of nearly always a comfortable 110 km.

By 12 o’clock we were already in Gundagai where we had booked to stay overnight.

We went for lunch at this very old bakehouse:

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We had tea and pies at an outside table.

The motel where we were staying is called GUNDAGAI MOTEL. (We stayed there again on Tuesday, the 13th, on our way back home!)

http://gundagaimotel.com.au/

https://www.booking.com/hotel/au/gundagai-motel.html#availability

 

Diary

A few weeks ago we bought a couple of dragon fruits. We had no idea what they would taste like or how healthy they are.  Finally, I looked it up here:

https://food.ndtv.com/food-drinks/7-dragon-fruit-benefits-the-antioxidant-vitamin-powerhouse-1247454

Looking at this article I am amazed that this fruit has that many benefits as for instance for the heart. It says: ” Because dragon fruits are loaded with fiber and antioxidants, they both contribute to keeping the heart healthy and young. They fight against plaque clogging up in the arteries, maintaining the blood circulation in the body.”

After reading this, I am determined now to buy more of this amazing fruit and use them for instance in salads and with yoghurt.

 

 

The other day I published a picture of some verses. And here now is another picture of some verses I saw recently when we were visiting the Nan Tien Temple:

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What do I learn from these verses? Being very elderly, for sure certain things are often not easy to accomplish. Whatever I do, it tires me quickly. Walking is one of these things. I know that this is so. None the less I face this difficulty again and again. Soon I’ll by leaving for a little morning walk.

When the body feels a bit painful, a bit of stretching before walking eases the pain. And stopping during walking a few times and do some stretching helps a lot too, especially with breathing. This I have learned. So I do not mind stopping a few times, meaning, I face up to it.

My plan is to walk for a bit every morning and as often as possible during the day. I enjoy it a lot. I love being outside in the open. Also, to walk among trees is most enjoyable! There are lots of trees where I walk along in the morning.

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On the 31st of December 2017 I wrote this:

“Soon we were ready to drive to Nan Tien Temple. The place was packed full and we had to park outside a bit further away from the Entrance Gates. The rain had stopped. So we experienced another beautiful walk to this magnificent building. Peter took some photos as we walked towards the building. The open inside area at the upper level was decorated in celebratory fashion for the year’s end. We listened to some music and watched some of the dance performances. At one of the stands with a lot of things for sale I bought a colourful windmill.”

You can see this windmill in my post here:

Our last Day in 2017

This colourful windmill we set up on our dining room table for our New Year’s Eve celebrations.

This windmill is set up somewhere outside now. When there’s some wind, it does turn round and round. The colours still look quite fresh!

 

 

Diary

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I took a photo of the above verses recently when visiting the Nan Tien Temple:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nan_Tien_Temple

What I feel about family: I like to feel close to family. I am most happy when I feel that my family wants to be close to me. That goes for my immediate family, but also for very distant family. Whenever people in other countries make me feel that I’d like to get to know them personally, they are like my family. I feel that all over the world there are people who could be my family.

Now my thoughts on being busy: I am 84. Has my life been busy? Yes and no. Some people would probably say of me that I am a bit lazy. I feel I often have not been as busy as some other people. Well, I try not to be too lazy. At times I love it to be very busy. At other times I just want to spend time as though I am on holidays!

It says that hard work keeps away poverty. This may be true if your hard work is not being exploited. I have been lucky all my life that I never had to work extremely hard to live a fairly good life. Even in times of severe scarcity after World War II the work I was required to do as a child I would not call hard work. I think it is good to be able to work in an efficient manner and to be able to enjoy working. Whether the work keeps away poverty, well, this depends . . . .

“Toleration keeps away violence.” Well, I love people to be tolerant towards each other. Without tolerance we cannot have a peaceful world. If people hate another religion for instance, we have to try to convince them that people of other religions have as much right to a good life as people who live a different religious life or a non religious life. Love is essential. I believe it can overcome all hate.

 

 

 

Diary

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This is the trunk of one of my favourite trees in the park behind where I live.

Now in the middle of March we are still on daylight saving time. The nights are already cooler but during the day we often still have more than 30C. However, we find that early in the morning it is never too warm to go for a little walk, that is we are in the habit of walking every morning for a little bit just before breakfast. I take only about 4 or 5 minutes to walk to my favourite trees in the park behind our complex of villas. Peter and I we usually leave our place together. I do walk very slowly just to stretch my legs a bit. Walking back home I  usually walk a bit faster. Peter uses some spray on his tongue that helps his breathing. He aims to walk straight away at a faster pace for 8 minutes. He walks quite a bit faster than I walk. I watch him walking in the park in the distance. On the way back, when he passes me, he calls out (just for fun!) Good Morning! And I call back: Good Morning! The whole park area feels to me very private, meaning even if I owned the whole area, I could not make any better use of it than walking there for a few minutes every morning! These days the sun comes up later and later. So often we miss out now on some sun when we walk early in the moring. However, I love the mornings, when the sun does shine through the trees! When daylight saving is finally finished, the sun will be up a little bit earlier again.

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