Uta’s Diary: Last Day in January of 2018, that turned out to be a very cold Day!

A large piece of sweet potato in front and 2 kohlrabis in the back

Some cut up pieces ready to be put into the oven

I think it was Wednesday when the weather suddenly went from very hot to much, much cooler. This was the day when I baked some vegetables in the oven. I cut up one of the kohlrabis and some potatoes and arranged the pieces on the sides of the tray. In the middle of the tray I placed the cut up carrots and right behind it some pieces of sweet potato . The whole lot I sprinkles with olive oil and a bit of sea-salt.

It was nice to have a bit of red wine with the meal.

Diary towards the End of January 2018

On Monday we had some goulash and dumplings left from Sunday. Peter liked the spicy gravy very much. He also got a little bit of left over red cabbage and some other vegies. I chose the following for my meal: Cannellini Beans ( Peter did get some of these too), Natural Yogurt, and Beetroot.

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To the beans I added some Psylium Husk Powder and grated cheese. I also added some Turmeric to the beans and there were also some salad leaves on the plate. We were both very happy with our meal!

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The other day at Bunnings in Warrawong we did get a spray can for painting the outside table a bright yellow. Peter also bought a new shower head. He already changed the shower head. And the new one works very well! Good job done Peter.

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We always buy a lot of different fruit. Every day we eat a bit of banana. The banana skin gets cut into small pieces for the worms in our worm farm.

DSCN3746 — The apricots were delicious. Peter added one onto a piece of bread and thought it tasted as good as jam!

Up until last Sunday we watched a lot of tennis on TV. They showed quite a few very good matches from the Australian Open in Melbourne. The adds were very tiring though. It was usually very hot during the AO. Here at our place we had a lot of hot days and nights the past few days. We even put the air-conditioning on a few times!

“Nobody inherits emails and tweets!”

“Nobody inherits emails and tweets!”

This is what Wally says in Di Morrissey’s novel that I talked about yesterday in my blog:

https://auntyuta.com/2018/01/26/the-red-coast/

So, I think Wally raised the point that what is written down as a family history, can be passed on to future generations.

Wally says there is a chance that someone might find the written down family history sometime in the future and become interested in it. But something like this is not going to happen with emails or tweets. And I think this statement is correct!

This statement makes me feel good since for the past few years I tried over and over again to write down as much about my family history as I could remember. According to Wally I seem to have done the right thing writing down whatever I could. There is just one thing, I am still far behind in copying everything onto paper. To my mind it is much safer to leave everything on paper besides having it in the computer. So far having my writing in the computer seems to be more or less safe. However, I am not so sure that safety is guaranteed for all eternity! It should really be one of my priorities to copy my writing onto paper. Why do I find it so hard to persevere with this? Many distractions. perhaps? The distractions seem to be never ending. I make excuses every day why I cannot do certain things. With advancing age there are days when I find it difficult, to continue reading interesting articles in the media or in WordPress. This dreadful lethargy makes me just play games on the computer. At least, usually I am still capable of getting good results when I play these games. I stick to three different games only. I am not interested in finding any more games to play on the computer. These three games, that I keep playing, I find to be enough entertainment. I do not want to get bogged down with any more games!

My three games on the computer are:

Free Cell
Spider Solitaire
Solitaire

Today, after a break of two weeks, we finally managed to do some house cleaning again. I was happy to be able to share in the task, and I was also very happy when after a couple of hours or so I had the feeling that now the house was reasonably clean again.

The next thing on the list was travelling to Warrawong for a bit of shopping. Peter was not very happy when I suggested a tea-break. Bunnings, the huge hardware store, where we managed to get a few things that we had been looking for, well, this hardware store was not air-conditioned. It was very hot and humid outside. The hot humid air was allowed to fill the store through the open doors. I think a few fans were blowing in the shop. It was not disastrously hot, but the humid air made it extremely uncomfortable. I usually do not like a lot of air-conditioning, but when the hot air is so very humid, then I am really grateful for a bit of air-conditioning. Our next stop was the huge Warrawong Shopping Centre, and this place was cool.

This is when I suggested our tea-break. It took a while to talk Peter into it. When Peter goes shopping by himself he never stops for tea or coffee. And very reluctantly he agreed to have this tea-break with me.

Today was the day after Australia Day. The coffee/tea shop in the shopping centre still had some Australian flags on display.

One week ago, on Saturday, we had our lunch meeting with the future in-laws. The wedding of Caroline and Matthew is going to take place in three weeks time, namely on the 17th of February 2018. This is the day when twelve years ago Caroline and Matthew met for the first time!

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THE RED COAST

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35724024-the-red-coast

“THE RED COAST” is the title of a novel by DI MORRISSEY. I am now about half way through reading this book. Last night = just before going to sleep – I got stuck on pages 184/185. DI MORRISSEY tells the reader about a writers’ festival in Broome where some well known authors are present. During question time Wally, a 90+ old man from the audience asks one of the authors:

“So, tell me, how would you suggest getting a book together from a whole pile of notes and letters?”

“Are they yours? Or someone else’s? You mean like compiling a family history?” replied the young author.

Wally points out that it is not just a family history but “a ripping yarn, an adventure and a mystery” which is all true and “would be a bloody good movie. But sad though.”

The author’s advice is as follows: “Start at the beginning. Pretend you are writing a letter to a friend.” And then he asks Wally: “Can you use a computer?”

Here is Wally’s answer: “Bloody oath, I’m on Facebook. – Well, computers might be all the go these days, but I reckon we should all be writing down our family stories. And even if they don’t get published, someone will find and read them. Nobody inherits emails and tweets. My wife’s family history is an oral one, so unless the stories are told to the next generation, the history will be lost. You got to keep your family’s stories.”

So DI MORRISSEY writes: “There was a burst of applause when he said this, and Wally sat back down looking pleased with himself.”

Recently I’ve been reading a lot of novels about outback Australia, wriiten by Australian authors. I find it always very interesting to learn a bit more about outback Australia. What this over ninety year old bloke says in DI Morrissey’s novel I find most interesting. For instance he says, that nobody inherits emails and tweets. This is pretty sharp, wouldn’t you think so?

https://diverstavern.com.au/event/corrugation-lines-broome-writers-festival/

Grassroot Records and Divers Tavern present a special Corrugation Lines, Broome writer’s Festival opening event. Shane Howard in Concert. The Tavern will be transformed into a seated theatre for this rare chance to see one of Australia’s treasured artists in an intimate concert. Marking 20 years since he produced the widely loved Pigram Brothers album “Saltwater Country”, Broome welcomes back the writer and poet in all his heartfelt storytelling magic. Do not miss!

The above was a Broome Writers’ Festival Event in August 2017.

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

Locust Girl by Merlinda Bobis wins Christina Stead prize for fiction

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/the-locust-girl-by-merlinda-bobis-wins-christina-stead-prize-for-fiction-20160516-gowcra.html

MAY 17 2016

Susan Wyndham

” . . . .

Philippines-born Bobis, who lives in Canberra, came to Australia as a student 25 years ago, taught creative writing at Wollongong University for 20 years, and is the author of novels, stories, poetry and radio dramas in English, Filipino and her native language, Bikol.

Locust Girl grew out of her concern for the people and nature in both her countries, which has led her to work with the International Water Project, leading a community in the Philippines to tell stories about the dying river that supplies their water.

“We think there is a border between us and the non-human world,” she says. “We think of water only as a resource, but we’re looking at how to teach people to care for water, and how to help students reimagine water.”

Thinking about climate change, poverty, terrorism, globalisation, she says, “I wondered how I could write about all this and make a big issue come alive in a small story, so that even a child could understand.”

. . . . .

http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/

The State Library of New South Wales is a large reference and research library open to the public. It is the oldest library in Australia, being the first library established in New South Wales.

Following is a write-up by the State Library about the Christina Stead Prize:

http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/about-library-awards-nsw-premiers-literary-awards/christina-stead-prize-fiction

About the Prize

The Christina Stead Prize ($40,000) is offered for a book of fiction.

The award may be made for a novel or a collection of stories.

A collection of stories may contain some previously published work. In such a case the judges will determine whether the new work is sufficient, in quantity and quality, to merit an award. It is the nominator’s responsibility to clearly identify previously published material.

Works of creative non-fiction, including fictionalised memoirs, are eligible for consideration under this category, but not under the Douglas Stewart Prize. Works of multiple authorship, including anthologies, are not eligible for nomination.

About Christina Stead

The award commemorates Christina Ellen Stead (1902-1983), Australian novelist and short-story writer. Stead was born in Rockdale, New South Wales. She published fifteen novels beginning with The Salzburg Tales and Seven Poor Men of Sydney (1934). Her most well-known novel The Man Who Loved Children (1940) was based on her childhood in Sydney. Stead lived most of her life overseas, in Europe and the U.S., but retained a strong sense of national identity, reviewing Australian novels for the New York Times Book Review and keeping up with news from Australia through family correspondence. Her work, including several volumes of short stories, is acclaimed for her satirical wit. Stead’s literary popularity in Australia increased significantly after her return in 1974. The same year she received the inaugural Patrick White Literary Award to recognise her lifetime achievement.

Sydney’s Royal National Park bushfire downgraded after burning 600 hectares

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-20/sydneys-royal-national-park-blaze-downgraded/9345834

by:

Paige Cockburn and Philippa McDonald

Updated about an hour ago

“A fire burning through the Royal National Park in Sydney’s south has been downgraded to advice status, although thick plumes of smoke are still drifting across the city.”

As we went home by train last night we could see and smell smoke from the fires in the Royal National Park. The guard made an announcement on the train about the fires assuring us that the fires were not near the railway tracks and that it was safe for the train to continue as usual.

So we did arrive home safely.

Uta’s Diary, Reflections in the Midst of an Australian Summer

Today is Friday, the 19th of January 2018.

Tomorrow we’re going to meet the in-laws for lunch. We’re very much looking forward to this. Today is going to be very hot. I think tomorrow it may be getting even hotter, However we had some very cool early morning hours. The temperature was as low as 18C, quite cool really for by around lunchtime we may have about 40C or more! We bought recently a portable air conditioner. So far we did not have to use it yet. But should during the next few days the temperature in our house rise well above 30C then to have this portable air conditioner might prove to become very beneficial!

We always buy fresh farm eggs. There is an IGA shop close to where we live. This morning when it was still cool enough, Peter and I went for a walk to that IGA shop and bought a dozen of these locally produced farm eggs. During our walk my thoughts turned to a few things my father liked to point out. I think Papa often looked at politics in a very philosophical way. As in a lot of things in life he very much disliked any exaggerations. So also in politics. I could not say whether he was more left or right. It seemed to me he was exactly in the middle! He often would explain how important the middle in politics could turn out to be. He called it “Das Zuenglein an der Waage!”

I published this post on the 21st of January 2017

This picture was taken exactly one month ago on the day of our 60th Wedding Anniversary.

We visited our grandson with his family on our way back home from Melbourne. The above layout pictures are from our visit at the farmhouse where Tristan and family live now.

These are Kia and Jaki, our great granddaughters.

Son Martin and grandson Tristan with his wife Stephanie

The following are some pictures from our anniversary celebrations on Christmas Eve:

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What we did on the 23rd and 24th of December 2017

The Epiphany is a Christian feast day, also known as the 12th day of Christmas, which falls on January 6 and marks the official end to the festive season.

Two weeks ago, on Saturday, the 23rd of December 2017, we went with son Martin to Berry for morning coffee, then to Kiama for an early fish and chips lunch, and later to Shellharbour for ice-cream. After we have had our delicious ice-cream, Martin drove us to the Beach Farm with is now a beautiful public area close by the sea.

I think our Christmas Season started already with Sunday, the 24th of December, when the family gathered at our place for our customary Christmas Eve celebrations. Matthew and Caroline had arranged that Matthew’s mum could join us for Christmas Eve and stay overnight at our place. This was really great, that Yittah could join us!

DSCN3664 — Yittah enjoys watching her son Matthew with Lucas and little Alexander

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DSCN3677 (2) — A Family Photo taken by Yittah

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https://wordpress.com/post/auntyuta199172524.wordpress.com/1065

21st and 23rd of December 2017

DSCN3609 — We had lunch with Martin on the 21st of December

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DSCN3600 — Martin looks at his new Wollongong Calendar

Towards evening Monika and Mark came to see us. It was the day of our Wedding Anniversary!

Martin had arrived at our place the previous night. He did arrive a bit late. He arrived at Moss Vale by coach because his train had been cancelled because of signal failure in extremely bad weather. Because some passengers arrived late at Moss Vale, the usual coach to go down Macquarie Pass had not been waiting. But a taxi to go down to the coast had been organised by the railway. Martin had had some hot take away when his coach had stopped at Yass. He messaged to Peter not to wait with dinner. We had planned to have dinner ready for Martin’s arrival. I had cooked red cabbage and Peter wanted to fry some pork cutlets. The next day, Thursday, we went out for lunch and we did not cook anything in the evening. But on Friday we had our big meal then. I did not fancy the meat, I just had a sausage instead of the meat. The red cabbage tasted very good. There was even some left for Sunday, Christmas Eve, where the cabbage and some potato salad that I had made, was served with all the cold food, and everyone liked it. Not all the food is seen here on the pictures. There was plenty of food because everyone had brought some food along!

The following pictures I took in the main shopping street in Berry where we went with Martin on Saturday, the 23rd of December for some coffee and cake.

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For lunch we had fish and chips in Kiama and later on ice-cream in Shellharbour Village.

Martin did all the driving on that day. So after we had finished our take-away ice-creams Martin drove us to the Farm Beach that is a beautiful public area these days. It was lovely to walk around this place for a bit.

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