A week ago on Wednesday we were in Newcastle. Our son Martin drove us there to see Lauren, who is his daughter, Peter’s and my granddaughter. We had lunch together at the beach.
Lunch in Newcastle
Category: Old Age
Diary, August 2017
Here are Martin and Peter soon after our arrival at Sussex Inlet on Friday, the 18th of August 2017:
We were the first to arrive at our ‘camp’ at Sussex Inlet. Four more cars with ten more family members turned up during the late afternoon. We all stayed until the following Sunday and had a very good time. These family gatherings are very stimulating. I would not want to miss them.
My Diary, August 2017
https://www.broadsheet.com.au/sydney/guides/guide-marrickville
Wikipedia Copy:
“Marrickville is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney 7 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest suburb in the Inner West Council local government area. ”
We had lunch in the Post Cafe with Caroline and Matthew. It was a sunny day and we were sitting outside under an umbrella. Peter had lamb’s fry with bacon. He was very happy that this was available. And I had haloumi burger and a huge salad with it. I liked my meal very much. I also had a chai tea.
https://www.yelp.com.au/biz_photos/post-cafe-marrickville?select=eFK6Ovd4E4ZFDUK8AtcjOw
I never went inside to have a look. However the above photos give me an idea what the place looks like inside.
There are no lifts in this building. But we had to climb only two floors up to get to their apartment, which was great exercise for us. From Caroline and Matthew’s apartment one has a great view to the city. The apartment is surrounded by a large balcony!
Fuggerei
Whenever I think about the housing crisis and that so many people in this world have to live without adequate housing, I think of the Fuggerei in Augsburg. My father’s older brother used to live in Augsburg. In 1977 Peter and I visited this uncle and his wife. They showed us the Fuggerei which is still maintained to this day.
I just looked up the blog I published about it some time ago. Here it is:
Here I copy the comments it got to this post about the Fuggerei:
10 Responses to “The Fuggerei is the world’s oldest social housing complex still in use.”
Taoist Tai Chi
A few weeks ago Peter and I enrolled for a six week Tai Chi course. Today we had our fourth lesson on the terrace of Wollongong Hospital. We started with 16 participants, in week two only 11 people came, then in week three and four only 7 of us were left!
Peter found the following YouTube video about Taoist Tai Chi. These exercises look very much like the ones we are being taught, only we are of course still very much at the beginning.
Published on Apr 11, 2013
Master Moy Lin Shin, founder of the Fung Loy Kok Institute of Taoism, demonstrates the Taoist Tai Chi® arts.
In 1970, Master Moy immigrated to Canada, where he devoted the rest of his life to fulfilling the the aim to help people restore and maintain their physical, mental and spiritual well being through the practice of the Taoist Tai Chi® arts.
Master Moy was always careful to point out that these teachings were more than just a mere set of movements, they encompassed practical wisdom for living, drawing upon the richness of Chinese culture and Taoist tradition.
Read more on http://www.taoist.org/about-us/our-fo…
My Diary, Last July Day 2017
The other day I wrote in my diary ‘we are in a bit of a rot.’ I thought that does not sound right, not at all. So I looked it up on WordWeb, and I changed it now to ‘rut’. which is according to WordWeb: “A settled and monotonous routine that is hard to escape.” This now sounds about right to me. WordWeb often helps me out when I am in doubt!
It is true, the ‘monotonous routine’ is often hard to escape. Today for instance was the last Monday in the month. So we had our monthly residents’ get-together today. After spending the morning sorting out things I was not looking forward to have to get ready for our monthly get-together. Luckily, I made the effort to join my friends for afternoon coffee/tea and a lot of goodies. And it was not monotonous at all. We had some very lively conversations. Within ninety minutes we covered about a few dozen different subjects. But still, it was interesting how all of us chose something different to talk about. And everyone treated everyone with love and respect. We were four currant women residents plus two previous women residents of our complex of ten dwellings. All these women are close to me in age. It is quite apparent that all of us have similar health problems due to our advanced age.
Last Friday Irene drove Barbara, Marion and me to Erika’s place. ( She lives a bit further away, a bit too far to walk there and back.) We were five women for our games afternoon at Erika’s. We talked about it that it had been a long time since we have had any rain. Everyone said we would need some rain for our gardens. We wished very much for some rain.
I went to the Lakelands Park on Saturday and noticed a lot of dry patches of grass there on the soccer fields. Then yesterday, on Sunday. we had a very hot winter day. The temperature climbed to 26C, really one of the hottest July days ever for our area. But today we are back to 15C and to our delight, we got some beautiful downpours for our gardens. Everyone I saw today was very happy about the rain.
As I said, on Saturday I went for a walk to Lakelands Park. Some soccer teams had used the Park for a bit of soccer earlier on. But by 12 o’clock the park was totally deserted again. I remembered how in the past I often took some pictures while walking in the park. Well, probably nothing much had changed since I last took some pictures there. However I decided I would take a few pictures anyway. That way I had an excuse to interrupt my walking, giving me a bit of a rest. (I do feel better when I can take frequent rests!) I took pictures of some soccer fields and of some flowers in the neighbourhood.
My Diary, still July 2017
Last night Peter and I started listening to what Noam Chomsky had to say on one of his July 2017 YouTube videos. The theme was THE EMERGING WORLD ORDER. Here I published this video just as we started listening to it last night:
https://auntyuta.com/2017/07/28/noam-chomsky-july-2017-the-emerging-world-order/
We knew it would be running for one hour, and we were rather tired already. It was nearly past our bedtime. But I agreed, we should start watching it. Peter meant we could always stop it half way through and finish listening to it the next day.
Well, what Chomsky had to say sounded only all too scarily true to me. At some point I said I wish to stop it now, otherwise I might not be able to go to sleep. Peter thought he would not have any trouble going to sleep. True enough within a short time we were both fast asleep. We had really been very tired. It had been a long day again.
There are many, many more videos on YouTube about what Chomsky has to say about the state of the world. It is very interesting to listen to someone who has this amazing grasp of reality, a reality that most politicians do not seem to grasp at all. Could someone like Chomsky be a politician? Maybe not. Somehow it is remarkable that he can deliver his voice on the internet. Anybody who is able to access the internet really has a chance to listen to him. And voices very similar to Chomsky’s can also be accessed on the internet. I wonder whether in the long run these voices are going to change anything for the better as far as the actions of our politicians and other powerful people are concerned?
July 2017 Diary, continued from yesterday
Well, it was only yesterday that I mentioned that I feel as though we were in a bit of a rut at the moment and that I would like us to do a bit of travelling as soon as possible. Did I mention Germany? I think I did. So today we talked about it a bit more. It seems Peter is thinking of only going for a short holiday, maybe a two weeks holiday. So it really does make more sense, to stay within Australia for our little holiday. We already booked for a holiday weekend in August for Sussex Inlet. It looks that we could go for a two week holiday in September. Peter says he would like to go a bit up North where it is already a bit warmer in September. I agree, that it would be great to have a bit warmer weather. Peter mentioned going by car. I objected. I said straight away that I would prefer to fly up north. Now I leave it up to Peter to find out where we could stay further up north. I think Peter is thinking of Port Douglas. Many years ago we stayed there for a few days in July. Port Douglas is so far up north that it was there pleasantly warm even in July. We could go swimming in the ocean. The weather had been just perfect for a beach holiday. In September it probably would still be there great for a holiday. I wonder what a holiday package is going to cost there now.
A Bit More Diary, Still July 2017
Before I forget again, here is what Peter and I talked about this morning. Somewhere Peter had read that these days authorities may get suspicious if you leave the house without your mobile. It happened to a journalist in Germany who went out without his ‘handy’. He straight away became a suspect. What did he plan? Without carrying his phone, nobody could trace where he was going! So why did he leave his phone behind? What did he want to cover up?
My response was, what happens to people who do not own a phone? I for instance have no mobile, never had one. When I go out, who can trace my steps? Peter said, this was all right for I am a non-person, I do not count. Ah well, so this means, that nobody really knows whether I am alive or dead. The German government generously pays me a monthly pension. It is a very nice little addition to my Australian pension. How do they know, I am still alive? They do not know, do they? The same applies to Peter. This is why we are required to let them know once a year that we have not died yet. That means every year at the beginning of July Peter and I make an appearance at our Australian Centre Link Office. When they see us they believe that we are alive and certify our existence, The signed and stamped papers about our existence we then send off to the German Centre for pensions in Germany, and this safeguards the payment of our small German pension for another year. We do get this pension since we turned 65. My goodness, that is nearly 18 years for me, and over 17 years for Peter. It adds up. Quite a bit of money really. No wonder that every so often we can afford a trip to Germany. At the moment we are in a bit of a rut. So I suggested to Peter today, that we should look into it whether we could book another trip to Germany for sometime this year just before another cancer treatment is due for Peter. Meaning that maybe we should not wait until someone in our family wants to travel with us again. Maybe we should just take off on our own as soon as possible. How about it?
My Diary July 2017
One week ago we celebrated the fifth birthday of Lucas. On that Sunday all the family met at the Illawarra Yacht Club for lunch.
In April, we also had some lunch at the Illawarra Yacht Club where there is a beautiful view across Lake Illawarra. We had visitors from Germany at the time: My brother and his wife.
And it was three weeks ago, soon after the twins’ 38th birthday. that the family met at the Shellharbour Club. The kids, Lucas and Alexander, were keen on checking out the club’s kids entertainment.
https://www.instagram.com/theshellharbourclub/
theshellharbourclub
We meet the family again next month for a holiday at Sussex Inlet. We booked some accommodation for the weekend from the 18th to the 20th of August. We stayed for a weekend in August at this holiday place at Sussex Inlet just three years ago when I turned 80. We have known this holiday place since 1984, visiting there quite often with our children.
This is one of my blogs that I wrote about Sussex Inlet:
Sussex Inlet December 1993, August 1995, June 2000, August 2014
In my pages at the top of my site you can find many more blogs about Sussex Inlet.
AuntyUta 
catterelAugust 10, 2015 at 7:53 pm Edit #
Fascinating! I’ve always wanted to visit Augsburg properly (I changed trains a few times there but never got beyond the station) – maybe one day I’ll make it.
berlioz1935August 10, 2015 at 8:13 pm Edit #
It is a great place. The main street has buildings reflecting the wealth of the former trading post.
auntyutaAugust 11, 2015 at 8:03 am Edit #
We have some lovely memories of the place, Cat, spending the day with Uncle and Flora. Gee, this goes back to 1977!
berlioz1935August 10, 2015 at 8:26 pm Edit #
I remember the day well. Flora, a Berliner speaking with the out of place accent, was a retired GP who did some work for the Army checking up new recruits. She was a no-nonsense person who liked to be in charge. In the restaurant, she was the queen.
She had ordered a huge platter laden with cheeses and cold cuts. We could not eat all and she ordered all the left-overs being packed up to take home.
The building in the main street seemed to be covered in gold and great churches could be seen. The Fuggers of the 16th century financed half of the known world.
auntyutaAugust 11, 2015 at 8:06 am Edit #
It is quite impressive how rich the Fuggers were. Their housing project is a good example of what can be done for needy people.
auntyutaAugust 11, 2015 at 8:21 am Edit #
Yes, Flora was quite a character. Both she and Uncle were marvellous hosts to us. They walked with us showing us very interesting places around the city centre. After lunch back it was back to their luxurious apartment for coffee and yummy cakes.
Uncle was overjoyed when he could hand us a minuscule grandfather clock to take home as a gift. We loved this little clock because it was given with so much joy and reminded us of that beautiful day we had spent in Augsburg. Alas, sadly in Australia it soon broke to pieces! 🙂
gerard oostermanAugust 11, 2015 at 11:27 am Edit #
Yes, the idea of ‘owning’ own place is fairly new. We had no idea of that concept before we came to Australia. We always rented in Holland and it was as secure as owning.
Social housing has a lot going for it. Just look at what the Fuggerei achieved and it is still going.
Something like that in Australia would now be a shopping mall or a McDonalds.
auntyutaAugust 11, 2015 at 3:31 pm Edit #
This uncle Edmund and his wife lived in a patrician. very spacious apartment. And I am sure they did not own it but paid rent, which they presumably could very well afford. I assume each one would have had a very good pension. As Peter mentioned, Flora substituted her income by doing some casual medical work.
Edmund as well as Flora were widowed when they decided to get married. Edmund seemed to be quite content to have resolute Flora for company in his old age.
stuartbramhallAugust 12, 2015 at 9:32 am Edit #
Very interesting background. Excellent example of German determination to retain the commons. As I understand, resistance to enclosure was strongest in Germany. It was only under the Third Reich that customary rights were abolished in many regions. It’s good to see this institution survived the Nazi regime.
auntyutaAugust 12, 2015 at 4:02 pm Edit #
Yes, it is quite amazing, Stuart, that the institution survived over such a long time. However it says In the Wikipedia that the Fuggerei was heavily damaged by the bombings of Augsburg during World War II, but has been rebuilt in its original style. I am glad that it was rebuilt in its original style! 🙂