What's for dinner?

The last photo should give it away. The air fryer normally sits to the left in the corner but is moved closer to the exhaust fan for its workout.

Funnily when we last saw Hippie Niece the subject must have arisen and she said 'I bet you like different mint sauces. One of you likes sweet mint jelly and one likes tradition mint sauce'. She was quite correct. Take a guess at who prefers which. 

Point Lonsdale and spider alert

I've never mentioned exactly where Sister and Bone, Doctor and Jo live and it is Point Lonsdale in the Borough of Queenscliffe. The only other town in Queenscliffe is Queenscliff, where we stayed at Christmas. The e is not errant. Pt Lonny is full of wealthy older folk along with comfortable younger people of a similar age to Sister. As a married dyke couple with a sixteen year old daughter, they are well knitted into the accepting local community. Even when walking the dog at the beach one day, someone asked who I was while walking Sister's dog. 

This visit we were looking after Sister's cats and dog and staying in their home. We know the dog Fuzzy Coco very well, the sister cats not at all. They were very wary and from what I later worked out, they spent much more time outside in the initial days of our visit but quickly became used to us and then tried to take advantage. I asked Sister to write down explicit feeding directions and she did. 

Dry food in the morning for the cats, wet food and dry in the evening. Dog, wet food and dry food morning and evening, plus an evening pill. 

When we had cats we would never allow them up onto a table or kitchen benches. We quickly understood this was not Sister's practice with the cats. They were quite used to sitting on the dining room table and harassing us at the kitchen sink when preparing their food, and the dog's food. I fed them when I rose at 7 and when R rose after 9, they tried to convince us they had not been fed, with lots of nagging behaviour. 

The cats did amuse us but I've decided I am more of a dog person. Dogs are more like men. I understand them and it was pointless to shout at Coco after she opened the rubbish bin and spread rubbish all over the floor just to have a lick at food containers.

Monday we visited Fire Fighting Nephew and his wife in Torquay kind of on our way to Point Lonsdale it was lovely to see their four year old daughter and the 18 month old twin boys. The family is moving. They bought their off the plan two bedroom apartment about five years ago for $625 in a prime location, now worth about $1.2. They have housing options open to them. Two bedrooms and one bathroom are not enough for a family of five nowadays and I appreciate how difficult it is to take such young children out on your own. With a single standing house, they will have space to run and play. 

We settled into Sister's, and with a balmy evening and we sat outside under the grape vine to have our take away Point Lonsdale fish and chips. As I don't blog when on holidays, R doesn't cook.

Tuesday was cheap food and coffee for brunch from a kiosk at Queenscliff Beach. We went on to the ferry port and were prepared to use the stairs to climb to the top of the viewing area. Oh, what a shame, the stairs were closed due to high winds and we were forced to use the lift. 

That evening we dined at the Shelter Shed, dining like we rarely have before. The Shelter Shed is not cheap but the service and food are excellent, and the hydrangeas we saw when we brunched there at Christmas were still looking good.  

I didn't take many photos but a few on the first day.

R was alerted by a paw sticking out that a cat was within the cupboard under the bathroom basin. There is a white blob slightly to the left above the blue towel. 

At Fire Fighting Nephew's place, there is a bush land park across the street, but it was locked off by padlocked  gates. Outrageous. 

Sister's place comes with local wildlife, including ants, mosquitos and mice (gift from a cat). This is the kitchen window. 

Queenscliff Beach at low tide is like an enclosed bathing area. Shark proof.

The cabin where my late mother stayed for Sister's and Bone Doctor's wedding,  the cabin paid for by Sister, overlooking the beach in the photo above.

It really was such a shame the stairs were closed and we had use the lift to get up top. You believe me, don't you? 

The Sorrento ferry.

The marina.

The black lighthouse in the distance.

Queenscliff Pier.

The impressive ferry terminal with a restaurant within.

Oreo quickly liked us. Her sister Athena took a little longer. 

It seems there is no rule to what spirit or liqueur comes with your affogato. In this case it was Frangelico. That worked. Our fellow diners came close to cheering when our affogatos were brought out. That's strong coffee in the glass to the right.

More soon.

Retired swimmer champ

Australian Olympic swimmer Mack Horton is retiring. In my best imitation of Dame Maggie Smith at her most haughtiest in The Importance of Being Ernest, he leaves swimming to work at an ADVERTISING AGENCY. Ah well, each to their own.

What I do like about Mack Horton is that he refused to stand on a dais when a later proven Chinese drug cheat winner Sun Yang was on the dais. Mack made a significant change to the world beyond

Good onya laddie, for both your prowess and moral stand. 

Rekindled memories

Janice of Jabblog posted about old children's tv memories, along with more modern tv shows. Her post stimulated my memory of childhood times and when we used to look after our great niece Jo. Memories of Pepper the Pig, Tro Tro, and a song I remember vividly, Pizza, pizza. I love da make da pizza. 

Felix the Cat was one of my favourite tv shows. For some reason I thought it was made in Japan but it seems not. It was made in the US. But wait, it has Japanese origins from the silent movie period. I does me research.

'Felix, Felix the wonderful wonderful cat. Whenever he gets into a fix, he reaches into his bag of tricks'.

We had the locally made Zig and Zag show, which was great. To our grandfather, 'Pop, get us home by 6 to watch Zig and Zag'. Sadly one of them turned out to be a pedo.

I was eight years old before we had a television set and what a fine piece of furniture it was. Functionally, vastly inferior to the screens we now watch. I think some Disney tv shows could be seen, such as Micky Mouse etc. 

Was it late 60s or 70s when tv really came into its own when there were terrific shows such as from Britain, On the Buses, The Rag Trade, Love thy Neighbour (odd that it doesn't appear on YouTube), so many I can't remember.

The US gave us Gilligan's Island, Green Acres, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Lost in Space, My Mother the Car, Leave it to Beaver, My Favourite Martian, The Second Hundred Years?, Petticoat Junction, Rin Tin Tin, The Littlest Hobo, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, The Lone Ranger, William Tell and Robin Hood. I'm sure I've left some out. 

I enjoyed the innocence of my youth. Maybe some of this stimulated your memories or maybe I am being a boring old man wallowing in past pleasures. 

My life

This is an edited version of comment I left on a blog. Sometimes I spend too much time writing comments on blogs and I think this may have been one such occasion. 

I think back to the late nineties when we had the www and I still gardened, maintained things, was very social with friends and family and worked shift work, yet I found plenty of time for www. I would chat to people around the world, when such a thing was easy, explore the internet, hook up to put it bluntly and just enjoyed what it had to offer. As self taught about computers, I had a lot to learn too and I then became an advisor to friends who were new to the www. Then the same happened with mobile phones, where I was on the cutting edge and educated others. Now I know nuffin' and I'm often too busy being a retired person to do some very basic things. 

I rise at 7, watch YouTube clips on my tablet until 8. Shower etc and at 8.30 I turn on the pc. I answer blog comments from the day before, check spam, then start going through the rss feed of blogs I read where I make comments, then blogs where I don't generally make comments.  

R will appear at some point, usually after 9 and I don't like t\o type much then, so if the blogging isn't finished, too bad but there are usually only blogs to read by then. Then it is a quick look at Face Book followed by the electric newspapers. I may return to the pc for various reasons during the day, but normally briefly. At about 5.30 with my pre dinner wine at hand, I look at blogs again and make more comments and perhaps start a construction of a post for the next day. Break for dinner at 7 and back at the pc, like now as I type this. I will generally be here until bedtime at sometime between 10 and 11 unless a tv show really grabs me and I want to give it full attention (like the final series of Total Control). 

As Dr Alban sang at Fernsehgarten, It's My Life. 

Queenscliff 5

No rush to read this as there won't be new posts for several day as we are away again to guess where? The Bellarine Peninsula again, not to Queenscliff but Sister's and Bone Doctor's house ten minutes away from Queenscliff to look after dog Fuzzy Cocoa and cats Oreo and Athena, while the family  holiday where they have been going each summer, Bright in northern Victoria. It is a lovely place. They no longer camp, Sister is getting old, though ten years younger than I am, and is inclined to like her comforts more now. 

Sister and Bone Doctor had generously given us a $70 voucher at Christmas for what turned out to be a rather good local cafe, well perhaps informal restaurant would be a better description. It is called The Shelter Shed and is owned by the brother of former detective Ron Iddles. They both grew up in Rochester you may remember we saw the mural panel when visiting Step Mother. We sat in the covered courtyard and look at this fabulous hydrangea. The photo doesn't do it justice.

The Point Lonsdale Christmas tree. I has been illuminated for many years, now with LED. It is pointed out to cruise ship passengers passing by. 

Planted in what I think were former night soil lanes, this is a monster gum tree. It's branches waving around were fascinating to watch,

In the main Queenscliff street Goebbels Street Hesse Street. 

Clean and green public transport.

I think this is Sister's cat Athena. 

I asked Sister if it was mussel season and would they be selling them at the Port Arlington Pier. My cunning plan worked. Sister invited us to dinner if we went and bought the mussels. One kilo would be enough, she suggested. Then she thought to ask a friend and her husband for dinner too. She messaged to us while on our way to buy the mussels to get 1.5 kilo. It must be about seven years ago when we last bought mussels at Portarlington and they were $5 a kilo. They are now only $7, which is pretty good in my opinion. The last time it was a very generous guessed kilo. This time they were weighed. 

Sister had developed her own cunning plan. She mentioned the van at the pier that sells fantastic doughnuts and suggested we should try them. They are Jo's favourite. Well, you can't deny a child a doughnut can you. We bought doughnuts for them and us and dropped them in, with the mussels to Sister's for preparation on our way back to the cottage. The doughnuts were of a weird shape, but yes, very nice indeed.

It was lovely dinner. We've met Sister's friends a couple of times and we all had a jolly old time. The mussels were nice. 

This is cutesy woodpecker adornment to the top of the clothes line at our cottage.

I've mixed days up but no matter. One day I walked across the road to Queenscliff Station to see passengers load onto the train.

The train is ready to depart.

There she goes.

Queenscliff 4

Sister and Bone Doctor went off early by train to to the cricket at the MCG, armed with sandwiches, cake, water and a vacuum flask of coffee, along with a book each. I would need a very good book to attend a cricket match. Maybe more than one.

We picked up Jo at 11 to go to a farm to pick blueberries. Of course there was a cafe at Tuckerberry Hill Blueberry Farm for us to have brunch. We then collected our buckets for blueberry picking and down the hill we went. The berries could only be picked in certain rows, marked by flags. I didn't find it very exciting and I think when I suggested we should wrap up, R and Jo readily agreed. It was rather hot in the sun. 

I let R and Jo go in to pay for our pickings. R came out with a jar of locally made strawberry jam as well (delicious). I never did find out the price per kilo for the blueberries, but it was much cheaper than paying retail. I was never a fan of blueberries until I learnt that you scoop up a handful, shove them in your gob and munch away. The effect of the antioxidants within the berries was better than sex. (Really Andrew, don't be so silly)

Once back in Melbourne R was determined to make blueberry and apple pie, just like his mother did. He bought Granny Smith apples but kept forgetting to buy pastry sheets. About a week after picking, I just ate the blueberries. I don't know what will happen to the Granny Smith apples. Alas it is all my fault for not reminding him to buy pastry sheets. 

We drove on to St Leonards for a look see, and then back to the cottage after dropping Jo off at home.

We had a nice enough dinner at the very busy Queenscliff Brewhouse. Being unfamiliar with the pub, we got our seating a bit wrong but we will know next time. 

It is years since we have watched a dvd but once back at the cottage, with flat batteries in the remote control, I managed to make the player work with the few buttons on the machine itself. Open/close, play/stop. As you can see, it is a star cast and we both enjoyed the film. Interracial connections interest me and a posh London black daughter found her rather common white biological mother in the regions. 

As R took a nap, I went out to visit a beach area, the car park being an assembly point for when Sister and Bone Doctor married. I didn't walk down to the beach, below a cliff. This is the white lightbouse and a more modern construction that displays lamps. 

Memorials to many lost ships. 

Very nice views. 

Point Nepean. 

Point Lonsdale. 

I stopped off at the Queenscliff fort on the way home. A fort tour is 1.5 hours, too long for me.

There's the black lighthouse in the background. Ship navigators would line up the white and black lighthouses to enter Port Phillip.