Big Loss

Here in front is our Camphor Laurel tree before it was cut down. — The Camphor Laurel tree before it was cut down.

The Camphor Laurel tree had to be cut down. (Its stump can be seen in the first picture.) After the tree lopping team arrived, they first cut down our umbrella tree, then they started working on our palm tree and last of all was then the camphor laurel tree taken care off.

In a few days they’ll come back to cut out the three stumps.

We feel we suffered a big loss for we loved those trees. We enjoyed them over many years. But unfortunately they had to go. They did grow much too big for our small backyard, and they were too close to the fence and to our house. There just was not enough room for them. They’re also classified as ‘noxious’. Their roots spread everywhere. From the spikes in the palm tree one could get poison into one’s skin causing nasty skin infections.

Man cutting the palm tree's trunk. — Man cutting the palm tree’s trunk.

Our backyard looks pretty bare at the moment. But we're going to plant soon something new and hopefully a bit more suitable for this small area. — Our backyard looks pretty bare at the moment. But we’re soon going to plant something new and hopefully something a bit more suitable for this small area.

Tuesday, 23rd of August

Peter took yesterday some pictures of our backyard and just sent them to me. Here they are:

Wedding Reception

https://auntyuta.com/2015/11/03/the-wedding-reception/

Last year I published this blog about the Wedding Reception of Ebony and Ryan. I probably never published the photos that were taken in Wollongongs’s Botanical Gardens on the morning of the wedding on 31st of October 2015. I found in my drop-box three of these photos and publish them here now.

11219342_1077237902288846_5633398254641679417_n — Bride and Groom have already two sons: Lucas (3) and Alexander (1)

12247026_1074932685852701_1216448809190250998_n (1)

12249754_1074933115852658_5615760444264758010_n

1st of August 2016

Last month Lucas turned four. His birthday was celebrated in the Yacht Club at Lake Illawarra. From the club one has a good view across the lake.

The family birthday party was on a Sunday, the day before the actual birthday. Matthew, Peter and I had earlier on that Sunday picked up Caroline from Sydney Airport where Caroline had been flying in from Darwin via Adelaide.

Here is Ebony with her two sons Lucas and Alexander. Caroline and Natasha are looking on.

This is the food that Peter chose as his lunch.

I very much liked the rice and some of the very good tasting vegetables

Alexander and Lucas in the club's playground — Alexander and Lucas in the club’s playground

I loved to walk around and take pictures.

Natasha was keeping an eye on her little nephews.

Alexander is about to try out a bit of climbing.

Another View to the Lake from the Playground Area

Ebony and Natasha are about to take the children back to the table for the cutting of the Birthday Cake!

Peter and Matthew can be seen in the background.

Who is it under the table? — Who was under the table?

Pentecost Sunday, 2016

Today we went to the German Club for lunch. Since Peter’s birthday is tomorrow, which is a working day in Australia, we celebrated with the family already today. Peter took some photos of some of the family. We were a dozen people and had booked a table for our lunch. Every one was very happy with their Mittagessen, meaning we could all order whatever we liked. There was some dance music from the 1950s that Peter and I liked very much. We even had a little dance! Lucas and Alex, our great-grandchildren, enjoyed themselves too. It is great that children are so welcome at this club.

Uta’s Diary

Many months ago we booked our trip. It is exciting that our departure time is getting very close: We’re going to leave for Berlin on Friday, the 3rd of June. So, only three more weeks to go!

Today, Peter, Caroline and I are going to Wollongong. I have an appointment with Dr. Pearson for 9 o’clock. Friday mornings there are always markets in Wollongong. We plan to go to these markets after I’ve seen my doctor. We might be able to buy some fresh vegetables at the markets. In the afternoon I meet my lady friends for our games of Scrabble and Rummy Cub.

On this coming Sunday we’re going to meet the family for Peter’s birthday lunch, and on Monday Peter takes our old car to Warrawong to get it inspected for re-newel of registration. Caroline and I want to go with him to Warrawong to visit a nice cafe there where we’ve been before.

It seems we are busy all the time. I am sure the next three weeks will be gone in a flash. And then it is going to be only four more weeks and we will be back in Australia. We arrive back on the Saturday, the 2nd of July, which is going to be Election Day in Australia!

We talked to Peter’s sister Ilse the other day. She reckons for our family re-union we are going to be some 25 people! We also talked to my brother Peter Uwe recently. He wants to come to Berlin to see all of us. But we can also visit him and Astrid at their place in the country.

At last another Entry in Uta’s Diary

https://auntyuta.com/2016/04/12/utas-diary-tuesday-12th-april-2016/#comments

The last entry in my Dairy was exactly one month ago! Time flies . . . .

At my age time flies more and more.

On the 14th of April I published some comments to a blog by John Lord and Catterel wrote a comment to what I had said on that day:

auntyuta.com/2016/04/14/on-july-25-2014-john-lord-published-a-post-about-whether-grammar-matters/

I said: Finally I’d like to make a comment on the subject. I did not finish high-school and have never been to university. English is my second language. I have been blogging since July 2011. I very much enjoy the contact with other bloggers. I am aware that university educated people do find that there is a lot wrong with the way I write. I know that my daughters as well as my son may point to quite a few errors in any of my writing that I have published.

Here is what Catterel wrote:

“Dear Uta, as long as you communicate honestly and clearly, especially in a language that isn’t your mother tongue, all is forgiven! I’ve seen too many students traumatised into silence by over-critical teachers who leapt on every tiny error and destroyed the learner’s confidence. Yes, grammar matters of course, otherwise we’d be mutually incomprehensible, but it’s only one aspect of a language and like all living things, it evolves.”

Here is a bit of what I wrote on the 15th of April:

auntyuta.com/2016/04/15/how-did-world-war-two-affect-us/

I wonder, how many people, alive today, have never been affected by war? Wars continue to be fought in a lot of countries and a lot of continents. The refugee crisis is now worse than ever. Is mankind going backwards? The few people, who are not affected by wars, do they not ever consider how wars affect the rest of humanity? For as long as some of us can live in peace, we do not care what is being done to the rest of humanity? How can we be so selfish? Has it just got to do with a survival wish?

On the 17th of April Gerard Oostermann wrote the following reply to a Reblog I published on that day:

“There is a lot there, Uta. I think there is so much more in living with someone that many just choose to totally ignore. The ultimate banana skin is what in the west we call ‘love’. Many get blinded by that, especially romantic love, and this is just a cruel trick of nature. As soon as someone says: ‘I truly love you,’ run away as fast as you can. It is so often doomed to fail. When ‘love’ enters, we start to project the most outlandish, wonderful but totally unrealistic qualities onto the person of our affections.
A good friendship, care, consideration and mutual respect might well be the much better and more solid ingredients of love.”

I replied: I very much like your insightful comment, dear Gerard. They say hate and love can be very close together. I suspect that my parents had a love/hate relationship. They probably would have projected the most “outlandish unrealistic qualities” onto each other! And I reckon respect is absolutely essential for a lasting and mutual beneficial love relationship. And of course without friendship, care and consideration you cannot live together in a satisfactory way.

My re-published reflections about my parents you can find here:

auntyuta.com/2016/04/16/reflections-about-war-reflections-about-my-parents/

The following days during last month I just did some reblogging of different authors’ blogs that I found very interesting. After the 20th of April I did no more blogging for quite a while. For weeks I did not even touch the computer to do some reading. I read instead Jonathan Franzen’s Novel FREEDOM which I had acquired at a very reduced price. I thought, reading this novel was extremely well spent time! I actually had a few health problems which caused me not to want to sit at the computer . . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr9dB2Xf9e8&list=RDJr9dB2Xf9e8#t=23

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr9dB2Xf9e8

http://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/federal-budget/melbourne-dad-duncan-storrar-steals-the-election-debate-from-the-pollies/news-story/3e3bdcd28baf3005b65f677cf3952271

An ARTICLE called “The truth about my father” you can find in Google.

Duncan Storrar became famous after last Monday’s Q & A program. I think what Duncan’s twenty year old son says about his father makes an interesting background story. Duncan seems to suffer from debilitating anxiety attacks. To speak his mind on Q & A was extremely brave of him!

HOW DID WORLD WAR TWO AFFECT US?

http://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/zeitgeschehen/2016-04/kriegsenkel-2-weltkrieg-

http://www.zeit.de/index

Peter and I, we both looked yesterday at two articles in ZEIT ONLINE. These articles are written in German by

Matthias Lohre

There are two pages with the following titles:

Seite 1 — Das zähe Seelenerbe des Zweiten Weltkrieges
Seite 2 — Eine Kindheit auf Zehenspitzen

Reading these articles prompted us to think once more about how WW2 affected us. We both came to the conclusion that we did not experience anything that would have caused us some trauma. Both our fathers survived the war, but we agreed that both our fathers most likely would have gone through traumatic experiences during the war. Both our parents’ marriages ended up in separation and divorce after the war.

Peter has written a number of blogs about his experiences during and after the war. On the 16th May 1945, soon after the end of the war in Germany, Peter turned ten. Now, more than 70 years later, Peter still remembers amazingly much about 1944 and 1945, and as I said, he has written about it. You may find some of his blogs here:

https://berlioz1935.wordpress.com/page/2/?s=World+War+Two&submit=Search

Following is a link to the blogs that I wrote about my childhood during World War Two and after:

https://auntyuta.com/?s=World+War+Two&submit=Search

Matthias Lohre writes about how badly millions of people had been affected by the War. Yes, millions and millions of people. And a lot of readers wrote comments on this subject. I read only a few of the comments, there are just too many. But just reading some of the comments, one becomes aware how badly even second and third generations have been affected by the traumatic experiences of their parents or grandparents.

Even if Peter and I have not been affected personally by traumatic war experiences so I must say that as children and later young adults we were very much aware how much suffering the war had caused. Some families were totally or nearly totally wiped out because of the holocaust, military casualties or bombing raids on civilians. o All survivors from families with such traumatic experiences were experiencing trauma themselves and even the next generation became very aware that the parents were affected by war.

Or is it just a feeling that we have no power to stop wars? But at least we can voice an opinion that we do not want all these wars, can’t we? I really do wonder whether mankind has any chance that some true peacekeepers with a lot of power will come to the fore once more to stop all this fighting! Well, for as long as there is life, there is hope! Or is there?

On July 25, 2014 John Lord published a Post about whether Grammar matters

The heading of this post by John Lord from 2014 was:

My Last Post?

The post started as follows:

“In the everyday context of reading and interpreting the written word. Does grammar matter? Should those who have good grammatical skills refrain from criticism?

Should those lacking good English desist from airing a view even though the value of their contribution is unquestioned? Or in the broader context should those of little formal educational merit abstain from expressing an opinion? . . . . ”

To read on please go to:

http://theaimn.com/last-post/

John Lord said in his post:

“. . . . This blog does not employ a proof reader. It relies on its writers to get it right. Unfortunately this writer who is almost entirely self-educated is the biggest culprit. Inevitably everything I write comes under criticism for one grammatical error or another. And rightly so I might add. So much so that, sometimes, there are more comments about my grammar than the subject of my writing. . . . ”

Towards the end of the blog John Lord wrote as follows:

” So I finish where I started.

“Should those lacking good English skills desist from airing a view even though the value of their contribution is unquestioned. Or in the broader context should those of little formal educational merit abstain from expressing an opinion?”
The answer is of course an empathetic NO.

Undoubtedly there will be some who will find fault with this piece. You can email any corrections to me and I will correct them. You can as a lot of people choose to do, tell me in the comments. However, I defy any reader to say they cannot comprehend the meaning of my language.

johnlord@wideband.net.au

Finally I’d like to make a comment on the subject. I did not finish high-school and have never been to university. English is my second language. I have been blogging since July 2011. I very much enjoy the contact with other bloggers. I am aware that university educated people do find that there is a lot wrong with the way I write. I know that my daughters as well as my son may point to quite a few errors in any of my writing that I have published.

Uta’s Diary, Tuesday, 12th April 2016

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/abc-qa-germaine-greer-slams-claim-extreme-jealousy-causes-domestic-violence-20160412-go3xri.html

This link is about last night’s Q&A program. This program is on late at night, a bit too late for Peter and myself. We decided we’re going to watch it today. Luckily Peter could record this program.

I am very much looking forward to watch it, especially with Germaine Greer in the panel. Apparently there is some talk about domestic violence. For sure, there would have to be said a lot about this subject!

Heads or Tails: Being a Winner in the Blended Australian FamilyKindle Edition

Kindle Edition

by Bronwyn Vanzino (Author)

Be the first to review this item

Here follows what Kindle says about this novel:

“Novel about a young koori man finding his identity in the emerging multiculturalism of Australia in the 1980s. The storyline focuses on a fictitious young koori policeman, James Finley (Fin). A born leader, Fin tries to help a man wrongly imprisoned. Anger at injustice threatens to devour him in the case and in his unusual personal life. He battles with finding his place in the early multiculturalism of Australia during the 1980s, when many want to use him for their own purposes. Fin finds he has to personally change to succeed in relationships and learns that the road to reconciliation is not as straightforward as many tell him it is, but he believes he can discover success and happiness – on his own terms – and has to learn to play by the rules in the pursuit of justice.”

I have read this novel on Kindle. I would like to have the paperback. However it seems not to be available any more. This novel was dealing with very interesting subjects. What is said about Fin in the above write up says it very well: This young koori man “has to learn to play by the rules in the pursuit of justice.”

This novel is of course fictional. But I would like very much that more people in our society were concerned about the pursuit of justice. This koori policeman is a good example how multiculturalism can work in our society. The book shows how it can be quite a struggle for some people to find out about themselves and where they fit in. This does not only apply to indigenous people but also to migrants from different cultures.

Last but not least, here is a link to a blog with some excellent photos about cooking:

https://42weimar42.wordpress.com/

Affordable Housing

http://www.domain.com.au/news/why-my-family-has-given-up-on-the-sydney-property-dream–for-now-20160405-gnyjnq/

Above is a link to the blog that Nikki Wallman wrote about her family’s move from Sydney to Bowral. She points out that Sydney is much too expensive for first home buyers. Apparently they made a good choice in moving to Bowral where they bought “a lovely, light-filled, four-bedroom, three-bathroom house on a big block in a beautiful wonky street where daisies grow wild and cockatoos call to each other like grumpy old men.”

And she goes on writing:

“Enormous trees hug the skyline around our deck; we’re walking distance to town. We’ve made great friends who live down the road (Bowral seems flush with young families in similar situations to ours). We stroll there with the pram, past the “ducks crossing” signs, for drinks and playtime in the backyard.”

Nikki writes how much they love Sydney life. However, “the increasing stress of chasing tails and deposits and ever-rising house prices” was grinding them down.

This reminds me of C and M, who were renting for ten years a two bedroom unit in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney. Paying rent in Sydney they would never have been able to save up enough money for a deposit on a house. Finally they decided they could commute from the South Coast. It means for them long hours on the train to Sydney and back. But finally they are in a position to save a bit of money and look for a suitable affordable place some distance away from Sydney.

C is our daughter. She lived with M for close to ten years already. M is the father of two children, who are by now both in their twenties and continue to live in Sydney. We offered to C and M to live with us for the time being. This should give them some time to look for suitable housing in our area. For Peter and me it is very beneficial to have family around. Right now C is away on an overseas business trip, and that means, we all miss her a lot. She’ll be away for all of April!

Many months ago, before the great influx of refugees to European countries, we did already some bookings for the month of June. So Peter and I are now looking forward to go to Berlin to see our German family once more, as well as some old friends. We are going to be there with quite a few of our Australian family which is rather exciting!