The laundry

A comment by River about Fire Fighting Nephew not having a laundry in his apartment made me wonder if he had what we call a Euro laundry, so I had to check the plan on the website. I believe they have a stackable washing machine and dryer in the large enough bathroom. 

I last showed my Euro laundry in 2020 when at the worst of Covid lock down, our wall mounted clothes dryer broke down. It would have been 22 years old, and we had already replaced the door hinge and the rubber drive belt. This time it was either the motor or heating element. I can't remember but it had to be replaced. Our washing machine was also old, so what about a combined system? A washer and dryer built into one. 

We found a bargain at an online site for a dual machine. It was duly delivered by a couple of handsome men, with the old appliances taken away, We were well aware that such a machine took a long time to wash and dry clothes, but we washed about three loads of washing each week and aside from a drying finish off to soften towels after they were already dry from being hung on the clothes rack, only socks and underwear and bedding were dried in the dryer. The rest of our clothes dried on the clothes rack too. 

The clothes rack sits in the spare room and if the door is closed, it can feel very damp in there, but with the overhead fan on, the clothes dry quickly, like in about eight hours. 

I've showed my Euro laundry before but readers come and go. Here it is again. We had already updated the bathrooms a few years earlier, so there were now nice chrome taps. 

The dryer used to sit above the washing machine on the left. If you embiggen this photo and look at the shelves Ray that I put up, you can see the old dryer vent above the lower shelf, covered with silver foil. It vents into the main exhaust system, so best that we blocked it off. My washing basket is on the left and that of Phyllis, sans handles, is on the right. The iron and ironing board have not been used since Ray died. 

I am not sure how clearly you can see this but after having lots of bathroom tiles regrouted last year, mould has reappeared in my shower. From a YouTube video, thanks Scott, I have applied  toilet paper wet with bleach to the areas of mould. To simply explain, a sheet of toilet paper wet with bleach stuck on the mould spots. It will be interesting to see how well this works this morning. 

Later edit: The mould removal worked almost perfectly. Say goodbye to expensive anti mould sprays, that don't work. 

Bellarine visit 2/2

When Mother used to visit Sister, she would set up office under the vine where she wrote her letters, notes and lists, with a cup of tea within reach. I did similar with my tablet. Although I needed one of Gattina's cleverly repurposed boxes to see the screen clearly. 

The vine grows under a clear Perspex type roof and when the sun is on the roof, it forms condensation on the underside with moisture rising from the vine and then dripping down on to the table and whatever is sitting there, including people. It is pure water and you do get used  to it. 

Breakfast with a view at Ocean Grove. I like the shark fin bollards. 

I've never seen an outdoor phone charging station. An ash tray is provided below for you to smoke while you phone fills with juice. 

Bone Doctor must have  something to do with Medecins San Frontieres.

Living the hard life.

The modest local war memorial, where Jo once sang at an Anzac Day dawn service. 

I've used these stairs in the past. 

Jo uses this occasionally for costume making. It sits in front of my grandmother's china cabinet. 

I used the tape measure to check the growth on a single tendril of the mock grape vine, and in two and half days it grew 25 millimetres, an inch. 

Alert but not alarmed. 

How sweet, a lovely present, I think from the other cat who spends more time outside and is more active.

I visited the large Lake Connewarre fed and drained by the marvellous Barwon River after it leaves Geelong. It was so peaceful, with a very basic boat ramp. There was one car with a boat trailer parked there. 

There was one Asian man fishing from a deck, being bothered by someone trying to engage him in conversation, to no avail. The talkative one left so there were there only the two of us. The Asian man was more talkative to me, so together we set off into the...

Is this what is called a framed photo? 

I think Victoria's second largest city, Geelong, is in the distance.

I went on to the Connewarre Wetland Centre, and while it is essentially for those who are serious about bird watching and those keen on environmental matters. I had a chat to the paid manager of the site, which was very interesting, as the organisation is continuing the restoration of the area began by the previous owners, but is kind of a hunters, shooters and fishers organisation, so where there is the restoring the environment and wildlife, for three months a year, they shoot wild ducks. The chat was so interesting and the person was quite candid. 

At Sister's local beach, the beach disappears at high tide. I sat on some rocks for about twenty minutes as the tide noticeably came in. It was fascinating to watch and I would have stayed longer but I could become wet from splashes on rocks, and a rock is not the most comfortable place to sit. 

There is a disused boat ramp, but useful for putting a canoe or kayak into the water, as Bone Doctor does.

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Sister's tv sits above this unit and I had to think about the white things stuck on it. Do you know? I remembered it was some kind of system to stop Little Jo opening the drawers. 

Queenscliff was once a destination for wealthy visitors who stayed in grand accommodation like these after travelling by steamer across the bay, and later by train. This one is now houses eight apartments. I just checked and you can buy a four bedroom, two bathroom apartment for $2.6 - $2.8 million. The building is called Ozone, no doubt named after the steamer ferry that once carried tourists. 

This one is known as Lathamstowe and seems to be a private home undergoing renovation.

The Royal hosts events and receptions, with also an art gallery and cocktail bar within.  

Another what seems to be a private residence. It doesn't seem to be so important and is post Victorian. 

I crossed through parkland to see the view down to the beach. This is the pier.

And there is a closer pier. 

A few photos of nearby Fort Queenscliff. It is a very large site owned by the Defence Department. 

If the written laws aren't broken and redundant, I suppose there is no need to update them. 

The view from nephew's balcony in Torquay. A two bedroom apartment is not enough for two adults and three children under the age of five. I visited with cakes and packets of speciality lolly shop snakes. The twin boys and their older sister were very welcoming and so lovely. You can check out the apartment at https://www.realestate.com.au/property-apartment-vic-torquay-147058564  Believe me, it did not look like this when I visited. 

A high achieving day

But, I am now too weary to post anything beyond some cloud photos. 

The Bellarine 1/2

The first full day stay at my Sister's to look after her cats was quite weird. I had my phone, my tablet and my Kindle, everything I needed for relaxing week away, yet I felt so unsettled, like pacing around, looking for things to do, and realising it was impossible for me to make much of a tidying or cleaning impact on Sister's house. With some reflection, while I still read your blog posts, I didn't comment as it is too hard without my keyboard. I was pining my desktop computer. 

One cat was immediately friendly, the other much more cautious. The first time Ray and I looked after them, they were real scaredy cats, so this time they clearly remembered me. Of course when it came to food time, such caution was abandoned in the haste of starving cats getting food. 

Around noon, the more forward cat tried meowing at me in a attempt to convince me that he normally has lunch. No no. That is not on the list Sister left for me. 

When you are carrying the cat food in bowls to where they eat, why do the creatures walk in front of you and entangle your feet instead of walking behind? I sorted that for the breakfast by putting their food in place before letting them out from the night stays in the car garage. Not so easy in the evening. I know they will jump up onto the kitchen bench as I am serving their food into bowls, so I set up a physical barrier with my cereal box and a couple of bottles, and that worked. 

Here are some photos from my stay.

Is this a fire on the horizon? 

No, it is just public transport, carrying passengers. 

  

Public transport is good. There is no shame at being on a train, tram or bus.

It's time to turn the video recording phone system on. 

There is marvellous little cafe at the Queenscliff Beach car park, but alas, it is closed Tuesday and Wednesday, or maybe Monday/Tuesday. Whatever, I brunched at the very nice Willow Tree Cafe. I am doubtful about the name. I think it may have changed. Next door is a very traditional butcher, selling quality meat and it has a fly wire door to enter. It didn't seem to be a self closing door, so you must take responsibility for the door, and everyone did, closing the door behind them. 

To be fair, this is the worst room in Sister's house. When it all starts coming out along the floor from the walls, you have a problem. To be crude, so much shit!

The blacker cat Oreo is the more friendly than Athena. As I have always thought, a male pet cat, and a female pet dog are best. 

Making the best photo of Sister's front garden. Let me describe it as a dry woodland garden, with a sparse but roaming underplanting, complimented by a strawberries growing in a purposely designed pot. Well, something was growing in the strawberry pot, so perhaps I gave some weeds some flourishing water. 

The nearby town of Drysdale has a new library, which I saw when I was there a few days before my stay at Sister's. We took a look inside and it was being well used, and I really liked the design. The town is worthy of further investigation. 

Sadness and anger

In 1998 the horrific details of the homophobic torture and slow death of Matthew Shepard in the State of Wyoming, slowly emerged. As hardened as I already was to humans mistreating other humans, this case really upset me, and it still does. very much. 

Matthew's parents, Judy and Dennis, have been activists ever since against homophobia, with Judy awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Joe Biden.

In act of despicable pettiness, within a couple of days of #47 being sworn in, a statement on The Whitehouse website was taken down, which had marked the 25th anniversary of Matthew's death by President Biden praising the work of the Shepards. 

What bastardry. 

You can read more at the Star Observer website.  

PS I came across this later, https://www.facebook.com/share/p/12DETqfTC7Q/ In brief, photos of former LGBT...whatever,  war veterans were removed from a public area at a veterans' hospital. 

Hopefully something a bit cheerier tomorrow.

Monday Mural

Along with Sami and others, here is my contribution to Monday Mural, this week being a couple of murals I discovered in Ocean Grove on The Bellarine as I stayed at Sister's, Bone Doctor's and Jo's home about 15 minutes away. 

I expect both of these are commissioned works, or at least approved by property owners.

I was driving past when I saw this house. The car stopped very quickly as the hill was so steep. You may have to embiggen the photo a little to appreciate the work. 

A beautified public toilet in a supermarket car park. It's a nicely expressed sentiment, as we take over the land from our native flora and fauna, as the ponzi scheme of expanding our population continues. Hey, the system is working, for now, but at what cost.