The Florals

Every year a nearby residential building has a beautiful display of flowering azalea. 

Lunch with Bone Doctor at the marvellous Acorn Nursery, and I bought this potted plant for my balcony. I can tell by not many new flower stalks about three weeks later, it won't last too long, and then I will buy some glorious petunias. 

No where on the label was a common name, but Hippie Niece, who had worked in parks and gardens, when visiting told me it is an African Daisy.

The cyclamen is now down to three blooms, and with respect to River, I will say no more.

These came at a very cheap price from Aldi. Phyllis was most impressed when the buds eventually opened. As I write this, he had been in the kitchen cooking for three hours. I will eat his food tonight...I've forgotten the name of the grub. I think he is making food for another night or two, as well. 

Friday Funnies

I've never quite learnt the definition of memes and I can't be bothered, but I think these are memes? I've gathered them from different sources over time, as they appealed to me. 

This went down a treat when I quoted it to Sister, not. 

Oh yes. Yes indeed.

I'm learning a stronger combination of words from Phyllis. 

Yes but don't as your first instinct may not be correct.

Aww...too far? 

Water and War

I listened to the podcast linked below and if our ABC is similar to the BBC, you should be able to listen to it anywhere. The podcast is is made by the RN radio programme Rear Vision and discusses the disastrous privatisation of the water and sewerage system in I think, England and Wales. I am not sure about the other countries in Great Britain. 

The privatisation was initiated by late Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (she without empathy) and has been an utter disgrace, so if you want your blood to boil in fury about sewerage flowing into fresh water and governmental permission to rip off the people of the aforesaid countries, take half an hour to listen to the podcast. It is very enlightening. 

Sadly ABC no longer allows direct downloading as it wants everyone to use the ABC app, which I believe you can use overseas. You can listen online though. 

https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/rearvision/water-privatisation-in-england-and-why-it-s-failed/104238770

In other matters, for months the Australian government has been warning its citizens against visiting the Middle East and over the past several weeks, it has been urging Australians to return to Australia before things really kick off in area. Well, it seems kicking off is pretty close to being underway. 

Now the government is talking about emergency evacuation flights and ferries. If my government was urging me to return home, I damn well would have at the first serious warning, promptly. I suppose there are some citizens of Australia in the Middle East who would be reluctant to uproot their established lives there, but at least they know the situation and can make educated judgements. Wouldn't it to be better to be safe than sorry? I do not like the idea of Australians or anyone being put at risk to evacuate those who were too stubborn and could now be screaming help. Of course down the track our government will receive bad press, by leaving all those, 'innocent and desperate people overseas who are innocently caught up in a war'. 

Yes, I am in a bit of a grump tonight. 

La Sagrada Familia

La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is due to finished in 2026, 100 years after the death of its designer Antoni Gaudi. Construction began, would you believe, in 1882. I am a person who thinks public transport is good but sadly Gaudi was killed when he was hit by a tram, at his age of 73. 

The first photo is from the Sagrada foundation and the rest are mine. 

This was the view from the balcony of our apartment in 2017. We wondered what on earth we were looking at when we first entered the apartment.

Of course we wanted to visit and I looked online. We should have booked days ahead. Entrance was booked out, as were all tours. 

I really wonder what Gaudi was thinking. 

No post today

It was lovely to catch up with Hair Dresser Friend and Dyke Friend from Tasmania mid afternoon. Coffee, then dips with flat bread. Whoa, Dyke Friend remarked. We need wine with dips, so we bought a bottle of wine, cheap as it was happy hour. We ran out of bread for the dips, so more was ordered. It was still happy hour, so another bottle of wine was ordered. By then, two and half hours later, it was after 5pm. I made it home, as I instinctively know how trams operate in spite of me being somewhat disorderly. Having recently received some money from Ray, I told my friends that Ray was paying, and he did, via me. 

Hence, no post this morning.  

Well, I could just post this. Last night I told Phyllis I like the kitchen cleared of pots and pans and anything else. Surfaces sweetie, surfaces. Today he left a frypan on the stove hob. I wiped it down, still oiled and put it away.  I also mentioned to Phyllis that Bounty bars had disappeared from supermarket shelves. He found me one and brought it home tonight. It was the last one on the shelf in Upper Combuctor West, somewhere on the outskirts of Melbourne. He can be such a sweetie and it is hard to be cross with him. I can be mollified by a Bounty. 

Monday Mural

AC/DC Lane is of course named after the famous rock band. I used to like their music when I was young. Not sure where my head was at.

Blogaversary

I began the Highriser blog, now the From the Highrise blog, on this date twenty years ago. The former blog was killed by Google for reasons unknown, perhaps copyright infractions in one of the sites in the Google empire. I have to accept that happened but I hated losing my history. Nevertheless, most of my old blog is archived, at least the written words. Things are just much harder to find.

This I think was my first post, on this day twenty years ago. Our friend received a heart transplant and is alive and well, retired and now living in Launceston, Tasmania after a successful latter career in sports administration. She has just turned 62. Once a year our medical system pays for her to fly to Melbourne and accommodates her for two nights to have a heart check. Launceston is not a big city with a big hospital where such health conditions can be best monitored. This in not uncommon.

I don't think I tagged initially but went back and added tags later. 

I can't really remember how my blog looked at that time, but you can see it here. I remember this look. And this one. One of my blog templates featured an orange theme, but I can't find when that was now.

My first blog post. 

Sunday, September 26, 2004

Pretentiousness

I don't like it in others and I try not to be like that, but already when setting this blog up with the details and profile etc, it looks pretentious. Oh well.

It is not the first blog I have started. The first I deleted after one post. I only showed it to one person, a dyke friend and she found it quite amusing. It was a bit of nonsense about how to empty your toilet bowl of water by putting a long double length of toilet paper a bit down the S or P bend and the wick effect slowly removes the water.

Sadly her lupus medical condition has caused terrible complications with her kidneys and heart and she is at a major hospital awaiting a heart transplant. It is so sad for someone who is 42, so fit and so vital with so much to live for. I am not a religious person but before sleeping one night last week, I did say the Lord's Prayer for her, just in case I am wrong.

Labels: Blog, Friends, Medical