Birthday Celebrations two Weeks before Christmas 2017

On Saturday, the 9th, it was Caroline’s, our youngest daughter’s, birthday. She and her partner gave us a special treat when they came to visit. They presented very fresh Steak Tartar. Everybody liked this:

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

For Sunday, Peter had baked a hazelnut cake. It had been our daughter Monika’s birthday a few days earlier. So she and some of her family came to see us on Sunday afternoon for coffee and cake.

Two of our great-grandsons, Lucas and Alexander, were among the guests. The boys are three and five now. It was a pleasure to have them around, and I think they liked to spend a few hours at our place. Even though they had not been to visit for a while they could still remember a lot of things, for instance boxes with games and some children’s books. I think their favourite book right now is PUMUCKL, who is a ‘naughty’ goblin (kobold). They went through every page of the book to see where PUMUCKL was and what he was up to.

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

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

They also went with their Dad and later with their Mum into our backyard, where they looked at a lot of the plants and also did some running around from one end to the other. I had great fun watching them! I showed them some ripe black berries which they were allowed to pick.There were many, many green tomatoes in all different sizes. One very nice firm tomato had already turned a lovely red and could be harvested.

In two weeks on Sunday the whole extended family is going to come to our place for some Christmas Eve celebrations. We are all looking forward to this.

Sunday, 10th of December 2017

Yesterday we had our Christmas Party for all the owner residents and also for one previous resident of our complex. Barbara, a resident in our complex, invited us all to her place. There was a sit down place for everyone. Barbara had made sure that we would all fit in. There was of course plenty of delicious food as well as some drinks. Peter did sit at the head of the table surrounded by women. Before everyone started eating I took the chance to take a few pictures.

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Our Complex of ten villas is like a retirement village. Most residents are retirees in their seventies or eighties. There is only one of the owner residents still having a job since she is a great deal younger than all of us. She did not come to our Christmas party. She said she had a previous engagement to go to and looked in only briefly to wish us all a Merry Christmas.

Two of the villas in our complex belong to investors and are rented out. Strangely enough the people that are renting are never invited to our gatherings. And of course being renters they never come to any body corporate meetings. But the owner investors never appear at the meetings either.

Joan sat across from me. She had been on long service leave recently. But she mentioned yesterday that she decided to leave her job for good. I guess that means she is going into early retirement. (Her husband, who sat beside her, has been retired for quite some time already!) We talked about it that Peter and I are the residents who have been living the longest in our complex, namely since 1994, actually ever since the villas had been built. So I pointed out that in 1959 we arrived in Australia by boat with two babies. Joan responded that 1959 was a good year. How so? She said it was the year she was born, and she arrived in Australia from England as a three months old baby. She said she was very happy that she does not have to go to work anymore. Now she is going to have more free time and wants to spend it with art work, like painting and drawing. Two other women in our complex are already very involved with this kind of art work. So Joan should be in good company.

I think it is great that in our complex we are all very friendly towards each other. And our yearly Christmas parties are a great way to keep in touch with each other and are loved by everyone. In Barbara we have a great hostess for these parties. Thank you so much Barbara! Of course, everyone did bring some food and drink along. And quite a few people helped with the serving.

Saturday, 9th of December 2017

https://1800bulkbill.com.au/corrimal/

During the last few weeks we spent a lot of time in this place. In this Medical Centre there are apart from a number of General Practitioners also quite a few specialists and a Chemist. Our Skin specialist is now also my GP and she tries her best to keep me ‘alive’. She is worried about my heart and my very high blood pressure. Among the specialists are also some dentists. Peter saw one of their dentists the other day and is now waiting to get his partials back with a new tooth added to them.

Last Thursday Peter went to the Hearing Clinic in Wollongong to get his hearing aids fixed: They needed to be turned up a bit. So he hears much better now, which is a relief! I waited outside and took some pictures.

Later on we went to the San Churro Cafe for some delicious hot dark chocolate with chilli. Here is what we had:

Churros for One ( but it was enough for two!) 2975 KJ

Azteca: Two cups of Classic Spanish hot chocolate made with chilli

One cup has 1500 KJ

DSCN3553 — We loved to sit here outside .

DSCN3557 — The waitress volunteered to take a picture of us.

In the background of the above picture is the place for buying ‘bulk’ cake. They have very good cake We went there after our chocolate splash at San Churro’s and bought some cheese cake and some poppy seed cake to take home for when Monika came to visit us after work.

DSCN3554 — This Street Art Picture is in the vicinity of San Churro’s.

And here now are some photos I took while I was waiting for Peter in front of the Hearing Clinic:

These huge boulders apparently are some design project right in front of the Hearing Life Clinic.

Uta’s December Diary 2017

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The other day Peter made some “Papierschlangen” (paper snakes). He remembered how he learned to make these as a nine year old at a boys’ home in Friedland (Silesia) where he was to be away from the bomb raids over Berlin.

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Peter did hang up his paper snakes at various places in our living room.

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He also found some colourful electric lights to hang up. I think we used to have them on our old Christmas tree.

Here are some books for the great-grandsons to enjoy when they come to visit.

December Diary 2017

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Well, so far I survived for eighty-three years. So what is there to contemplate? The answer: There is a whole lot to contemplate!

I looked this up in Wikipedia:

“Avram Noam Chomsky(US: /ævˈrɑːm ˈnoʊm ˈtʃɒmski/ ( listen) av-RAHMNOHM CHOM-skee; born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes described as “the father of modern linguistics,” Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He is the author of over 100 books on topics such as linguistics, war, politics, and mass media. Ideologically, he aligns with anarcho-syndicalism and libertarian socialism. He holds a joint appointment as Institute Professor Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and laureate professor at the University of Arizona.^[22]^[23]

Born to middle-class Ashkenazi Jewishimmigrants in Philadelphia, Chomsky developed an early interest in anarchism from alternative bookstores in New York City. At the age of 16 he began studies at the University of Pennsylvania, taking courses in linguistics, mathematics, and philosophy. . . . .”

It seems, that today is his birthday. So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Noam!

From the above quote the expression “diverted to consumerism or hatred of the vulnerable” demands my attention. As a pensioner in Australia without major assets (except for owning own house), I would have to count myself to the bottom half in the population. And yet I must say I lead a comfortable life with most medical expenses covered by Medicare.. Is it because the general population in Australia is “diverted to consumerism”? Or is it “hatred of the vulnerable” especially hatred of so called illegal migrants that makes us prosper in Australia? Well, this is something to contemplate. If we stop being “apathetic and passive” does our good life end then? How important is it to have a “good ” life at the expense of the vulnerable? Would the vulnerable have a better life if we stopped consuming so much?

So, the powerful think they can do as they please. They may think they can do it, but surely eventually this must lead to some kind of disaster. I mean some major disasters like wars are affecting the vulnerable already, but maybe it is only a matter of time when major disasters hit everyone on this planet. So should there be any survivors, they are going to have a lot to contemplate . . . .

Diary in December 2017

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Johann_Wolfgang_von_Goethe

This morning I went to Wikipedia to look for a certain quote by Johann Wofgang von Goethe. When I saw the above Wikiquote page I was immediately hooked. My thoughts were, that this page is very, very interesting. I could not look enough at it. How wonderful it would be if I could study it for hours and hours!

I have the feeling time is running away with me. What with more and more medical tests and all the every day things in life that still need doing if one wants to live independently, one would love to have a bit more time left for reflection and writing.

In old age everything does slow down a lot, in my case maybe more physically than mentally. But the mental capacity is very much reduced too, I am sure. It is often difficult to concentrate on just one thing. The frequent dizzy spells do not help in this regard.

I very much wish to approach the end of my life in a calm, thoughtful way. Haste in any form is obnoxious to me. Alas, quite often it cannot be avoided. Maybe sometimes I feel rushed unnecessarily. But this is how I often feel: “Not being able to accomplish things as promptly as required!” Is that the reason for my blood pressure going sky high? Or are there some other underlying causes?

I am looking forward to some relaxing Christmas celebration with joyful company, some alcoholic beverages and a choice of excellent food. Plus I hope for some soothing music and at other times also some very joyful, exuberant music.

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The other day I bought myself some beautiful sandals in this special shoe shop in Piccadelli, Wollongong.. Afterwards I sat down in that cafe opposite for some coffee and a snack while I was waiting for Peter to return from his medical appointment.

On another day I waited for Peter in the car in Burelli Street in Wollongong. The car happened to be parked where some more retirement building is going on. I took some pictures from the car. When Peter returned we talked about how very convenient it would be to be able to live in an apartment in that new retirement building in the centre of Wollongong. Alas, we would have to have at least half a million to afford a place like this. Our place in Dapto is worth quite a bit, but not quite this much! So I guess we will be staying in our beautiful place in Dapto for as long as possible, trying to look after it as well as possible while we are aging more and more.I really do feel sad sometimes that our place shows some signs of neglect. but on the other hand it is really a beautiful not too expensive place, and we love it!!

Birthdays in December 2017

Today is the 59th birthday of one daughter, and only four days later another daughter of ours is going to turn 39. We are going to celebrate both birthdays with the whole family this coming Sunday. I am very much looking forward to this.

Early in the morning I checked on our tomatoes. I got a surprise when I saw that one tomato is turning already a little bit red!

The first picture is from this morning, the other pictures I took recently on different days:

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How to live an ethical life and change the world

https://www.theguardian.com/australian-ethical-invest-for-a-better-world/2017/sep/25/how-to-live-an-ethical-life-and-change-the-world

Paid for by:

https://www.australianethical.com.au/

“Ethics is about making the right choices for ourselves and the society we live in. With so many challenges facing us and the planet, what can we be doing better?”

I just had a look at this article. I must say that a lot that is pointed out in this article I find fascinating. I am going to copy here just a few sections in this article that I noticed in particular. But I think it is to be recommended to take the time and read the whole article and maybe look at some of the links also. Apparently there are among very successful people quite a few who want to do something good for the society we live in!

In the following copied section is talk about ‘Tribalism’ and how it stands in the way of an honest discussion.

I just read a few pages in Chapter Nineteen of Judy Nunn’s new novel “Sanctuary”. It seems to me the discussion among people in this chapter shows how tribalism affects the thinking of people. Judy Nunn is very good in showing this in her writing.

https://www.penguin.com.au/books/sanctuary-9780143783855

The following are a few copied sections about what we can do to change the world:

“To live a more ethical, sustainable life we need to avoid letting habits or impulses guide our actions. We need to engage in ethical reflection and conversation. We need to understand ourselves, and we need to talk to others.”

With so much ethical and factual complexity in the modern world, Dr Palmer stresses it is essential to challenge our assumptions and seek out different sources of information, as well as different perspectives on that information.

Working against this, however, is a tendency towards “tribalism”, which means we often fiercely defend shared opinions rather than investigating issues with an open mind and engaging in complex debate.

Climate change tribalism is one clear example, he says, with similar challenges facing the discussion of issues like refugees and migration, marriage equality, and inequality and discrimination more generally.

“There are different policy approaches we can take (on climate change). But that’s not the roadblock. Tribalism is standing in the way of an honest discussion of the urgent action needed, like a price on carbon to accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to renewables.

“People resist and embrace change to different degrees, but our capacity to change is part of our humanity, and change is going to be essential to meet the massive social and environmental challenges we face.”

Last Sunday in November 2017

Yesterday we went to Carter’s First Birthday Party. There was a barbeque and a jumping castle for the kids.

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DSCN3516 — Carter with one of his aunties

[gallery type="square" size="full" columns="1" link="file" ids="20076,20075" orderby="rand"]

https://wordpress.com/post/auntielive.wordpress.com/3354

Towards the End of November 2017

We had quite a bit of rain. Our old wine stock did get some new leaves that seem to be wandering off. I like the look of the fresh green leaves.

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This ‘White Princess’ plant did bend over in the rain. Maybe we should try to lift the stems up a bit by inserting some stakes?

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I am glad this Jasmine plant is coming back to life again!

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This stuff is growing well after all that rain. Quite amazing!

We enjoy all this growth. But we are not proper gardeners. Everything grows sort of ‘wild’ in our backyard. From time to time we do a little bit of planting or a bit of cleaning up. But most of the things in our backyard just seem to grow on their own, especially after a bit of rain.

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I believe these yellow flowers are some snow peas flowers. So far the snow peas seeds I planted a long time ago, never developed properly. Just now, I looked up a few hints how to grow snow peas in pots. This makes me want to try again. Maybe I’ll have better luck next time if I observe some of the rules!? Here is one of the videos I had a look at. Usually I skip the ads, But on this video, the ads in the beginning were actually quite beautiful to have a look at! After the ads comes up a bit about growing peas in containers::

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The wild strawberries come up in lots of places. Occasionally we pick some and eat them. They are not very tasty. But maybe they are full of vitamins? We also have strawberries growing in our ‘garden bed’. We had already harvested quite a few of these strawberries.

It looks like some more strawberries may be coming!

I think it was last year when we planted two plants: One Loganberry and one Raspberry!

These plants never seemed to grow. I few months ago I noticed these plants were still a bit there. I cleared the surroundings and gave them some worm juice (diluted with water!). And now – since we had recently quite a bit of rain – they do grow a lot all of a sudden. I wonder whether we are going to be lucky and get some fruit of them eventually.

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This is actually our lemon balm which grows plentiful too after all that rain. It grows close to the berry ‘bushes’, and we have to watch it that it does not spread too close to those berry bushes!

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