AS: Life downunder

11617182022

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  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    Congratulations to DD.

    Cake #2 is in the oven and I am wondering how to stay awake for the next couple of hours.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Congratulations to him indeed - he'll have to change his name to Dangerous Bishop. :smiley:
  • Congratulations DD!

    Are you awake Huia? 😉
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    edited December 2018
    Yes, the second cake cooked more quickly. I think it's because the tin is newer and made of a darker metal. I have to buy more butter for #3, but as the temperature hit between 25 and 26c today I decided to wait until a cooler day.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Very wise - you don't want to be baking something for hours and hours in that kind of heat!
  • I love the difference in the "hot" threshold between countries. Colleagues were saying it was hot yesterday...hot to me is 35+.

    Though I may get used to this NZ weather and not be able to go back! 😁
  • Glad to see you are liking Kiwiland Climacus!
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Climacus wrote: »
    I love the difference in the "hot" threshold between countries ... hot to me is 35+ ...
    No, no. "Hot" begins at about 20°. :mrgreen:

  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    Anything over 25c is hot, and over 30 is outrageous!

    Climacus, I don't know if you've discovered the Metservice website, but they give the forecast for up to 9 days ahead, though the one for 5 days is more reliable. They also give the current temperature in your area, an indication of what it feels like and how many layers of clothing to wear (although you may need more).
  • LothlorienLothlorien Glory
    edited December 2018
    Similar service here says mainly sunny. They need to look out the window where they would see there have been showers and the sky is dark grey.
  • It was a beautiful evening here and we ate dinner outside tonight. Local rep of large courier company drove down our drive. “Are you P or T?” “”T” said one son and took the parcel from him. “However, this is for Mum.” Together we have had 23 deliveries in one week, Christmas has come early for the courier. Mine have been presents to give. Around a dozen have been pump parts, garage door opener pieces etc.
  • Wow! You need a frequent delivery card to get some free. 😁

    Great website and app for the Metservice: thanks Huia!

    I'm exhausted after my first full week in the office (4 days training first week). A lot to learn. But a very nice team.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Climacus wrote: »
    ... But a very nice team.
    Glad to hear it, Climacus - considering that you spend half your waking life with your colleagues, it's always a good thing if they're nice!
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    The calibre of workmates is always an unknown when you start a new job - glad you have some good ones Climacus.

    My last cake is in the oven - at least I think it's the last. I may yet bake my own, which is a diabetic one with no sugar (apart from the dried fruit), or butter. It's meant to be cut in the most miniscule slices😏. Because of the lack of sugar and butter it doesn't keep as long, so I freeze some and take the rest to church post Christmas. I also put more interesting ingredients in it ,such as a little finely sliced crystallised ginger, figs, and maybe some dried apple - along with nuts.
  • Sounds yummy Huia. HVe you tried Equal ? It is a long time since I did any cooking for a diabetic and I have forgotten name. Used just like sugar
  • ZappaZappa Ecclesiantics Host
    Piglet wrote: »
    Climacus wrote: »
    I love the difference in the "hot" threshold between countries ... hot to me is 35+ ...
    No, no. "Hot" begins at about 20°. :mrgreen:

    Hot begins at 38 ... though I believe it was 47 in Marble Bar today and that's getting a bit owie
  • Seven years ago we were assisting our son and d-i-l to move to the Northern Territory. Mid-afternoon on New Year's Day in Port Augusta the readout on the car thermometer was 49degC. We had eighteen consecutive days with maxima above 39 while on that journey.
  • Oh my.

    25 here over the weekend but it felt much warmer when I was out and about. I'm also a bit red. I'll need to apply sunscreen more regularly I suspect. And do some research as to whether the sun is "stronger" here.

    Hope you're settling in well to your new locale Zappa.
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    I think it is Climacus - We have one of the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. I try to remember a hat when I'm out and about, even though it sometimes makes my hearing aids squeal with feedback. :confounded:



  • Gee DGee D Shipmate
    You should not be wearing your tin helmet then.
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    :smile: The lighter, straw hats are OK, but the Akubra (sp?) style one has a solid brim, which is enough to set off the left one.

    No sunhats needed here today, intermittent drizzle is forecast. I'm posting 2 of my cakes to Wellington today. The presents I'm sending to Chicago will arrive sometime in the new year, but it was worth being late to get what I wanted.
  • I just got a box of Roses chocolates in the post from my mobile phone and internet provider to say Thank You for joining! Truly this is a strange land.
  • Gee DGee D Shipmate
    How many young men of today would shyly give a box of Cadbury's Roses to a young woman as he drops her home after a date?
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    The last time I was given a box of Rose's Chocolates was when I delivered an empty supermarket trolley back to the local Countdown from outside a block of flats - a distance of about a kilometre. As I don't eat many chocs I passed them on to a local pharmacist who had been helpful to me. I thought it was a good way to share them.

    Actually there is usually a trolley or two outside those flats so I could probably have enough to share around for Christmas.😉
  • Gee DGee D Shipmate
    Just a little trip down nostalgia lane.
  • I wish people wouldn't give me Roses chocolates; I buy dark chocolate for myself, and only Whittaker's, a long-established NZ firm.
    Local Countdown had a bin of Arnott's Royals, like Mallowpuffs only smaller, and some were dark choc, so I bought several packets in the course of a couple of weeks. I hoped they were a new line, but when I finally looked for a 'best before' date it was hard to read but seemed to be out-dated.
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    Whittaker's is the best!
  • I woke last night to a strange noise. No cat was in my room. Several times more and nothing. I decided it was a possum on verandah outside sheltering from yet another thunderstorm. Woke feeling exhausted but got up to get coffee.

    Son came down, equally bleary as I was. Possum yes. Verandah , no. It had climbed up a window, pulled insect screen down and got in upstairs. Son got up and it careered around the upstairs bedrooms, finally pulling down the curtains in granddaughter’s room. She was not there last night. There are two rooms with curtains here and possum picked one. Son got thick leather gloves used for Jotul fire here. Took a towel and finally caught the beast. He managed to get it outside and well away from house. Some repair work needed today.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Crikey! Hope you're all OK!
  • Gee DGee D Shipmate
    It would only be a loss of sleep after the towel had been thrown over the possum. With that done, gloves to minimise scratches and the beast taken outside it would have got away as quickly as it could.
  • mr curlymr curly Shipmate Posts: 42
    Cake done, soaked in brandy and stowed. We didn't do one last year due to travelling, so looking forward to it.
    The year at work can't come to an end soon enough. Hopefully with people leaving and new people starting it will improve in the new year.
    It's all hands on deck for Christmas Eve activities for the kiddies, with all the Curlies involved bar me. Biggest is in charge this year, which is exciting, although he's feeling the pressure, especially from older adults who take it upon themselves to tell young leaders what to do in contradiction to the decisions of the leadership group. No wonder young people don't stick it out at church when the only thing oldies are happy for them to do is crank the handle on the same old same old.
    I need to catch up on shopping and plan our meal. Bring it on!
    mr curly
  • Perhaps the old guard needs to realise that the new guard has picked up the responsibilities, never an easy task.

    On a different track, we have discovered we have a blue tongue lizard here. With such a large block up here, I thought it likely, but one has been seen. Good opportunities for more to be around. The front garden is a bit of a shambles just outside the verandah, but we are currently observing, not working in it. Plenty of opportunities for shelter and food. Two drystone walls also offer concealment. There are two cats here but they are indoor, although one ventures out with a harness and leash. A former show cat, he is used to the harness from being shown.
  • mr curlymr curly Shipmate Posts: 42
    Our resident blue tongue has not been seen for a while, but a healthy looking specimen was spotted on the weekend. Whether it’s the long term resident of the space beind the water tank or a successor is unclear, but very welcome either way.
    The cake is cooked and it looks a corker. There are 6 egg whites left over after its construction, and last night I made Stephanie Alexander’s Date and Chocolate cake. 6 whites into a meringue with 200g sugar, with 200g dates and 200g chocolate chopped and folded through. It’s a heavy crunchy yet goey meringuey thing, and delicious, for home group Christmas dinner on Wednesday.
    mr curly
  • Books ticket to my curly's location for tomorrow night's dinner. :smile:

    Hope Biggest gets a say and the elders allow a voice.
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    I had a bar of Whittaker's dark chocolate today and in my mind I was back to being a young child. We had a grocer, Mr Arnold who drove an old bus stocked with basic groceries, plus a few treats around our Valley. Very few young families had cars, and if they did the men drove them to work (women with children usually stayed home to look after them). Mr Arnold's bus meant no having to carry groceries home. He stocked Whittaker's Dark chocolate, and although the shape of the bar has changed the taste is still the same.
  • LothlorienLothlorien Glory
    edited December 2018
    Our turn last night in the thunderstorm lottery. Unbelievably heavy rain, then a simultaneous flash of lightning and an incredibly loud clap of thunder, seemingly right overhead. Wifi dead and son is now resurrecting it. Currently running on Telstra 4G but it is very patchy indeed
  • All fixed now. Son cleaned up messy original installation by our supposedly major supplier, tidied the box and all now works. Till next lot of storms this afternoon.
  • Happiness in action. 13yo grandson using ride on mower on our large front yard.
  • Our little town was between the major cells yesterday. Massive action to the south and to the north. We had heavy rain for a short while but no close lightning and no hail. That's been the pattern for most of the storm season so far. Probably just as well, as there are still buildings in town waiting for roof repairs from the supercell in November last year.
  • LothlorienLothlorien Glory
    edited December 2018
    Family on road above river going to Windsor had power out till a very short time ago. That was quicker than other areas hit by first storm. Cool here today so far, very pleasant. I see heat will be back in force at end of week. trees around look much happier than a month ago.

    We pick up meat order this morning. We are hosting two gatherings this year. New house and all that. Around a dozen on Christmas day and a larger gathering, the traditional family gathering on Boxing Day. It looks like a good day to glaze two hams, nice and cool. One is a traditional gift to friends of one son.
  • Gee DGee D Shipmate
    As from yesterday, I'm all but retired. I've sold my room and given Dlet my library - not worth much in these days of internet searching but some of us still like the hard copy. I have a few matters which have been adjourned for further hearing having taken longer than the time estimated when they were fixed. At least the evidence has been completed in all of those and they are listed for submissions only. Then there are a couple of cases where I did the original hearing and there's been an appeal. All of these outstanding matters should be finished by mid-April. Then I'll be free having started formal work (not a job at DJ's at Christmas) just under 52 years ago now as an articled clerk. Madame will also be free very soon with all the arrangements ready to roll in January. She, too, will have ongoing commitments, and they will continue longer than mine.

    We've decided not to do anything until after June or July. No holiday save for a quick trip here and there, simply enjoying being home together. We have made a booking to rent a comfortable looking house in the Scottish Highlands for November. That may seem an odd time, but we enjoyed our winter stay in Vienna a couple of years ago and the complete change will be interesting.
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    I strongly recommend retire Gee D-it's wonderful.

    Thunder and lightening here, as well as some hail. I'm hoping the bloke who mow my lawn can do so before Christmas because he's going away after Boxing Day and it's already quite long. If not, well at least the cats will enjoy keeping themselves cooler.

    I am all but finished the only Christmas card I'm stitching - only part of a Y left to do - then make the card itself and stick the design in - blessings on the person who invented double sided sticky tape (which is accurately described as having an aggressive adhesive). Nothing like a bit of aggression amidst the Peace on Earth message. :error:
  • Gee DGee D Shipmate
    Thanks Huia - just those little ends to finish and hen no more. I'm not taking on any new advice work even for long established clients who've supported me over the years. Once the few outstanding mattes are done, then that's it.
  • Lothlorien wrote: »
    Our turn last night in the thunderstorm lottery. Unbelievably heavy rain, then a simultaneous flash of lightning and an incredibly loud clap of thunder, seemingly right overhead. Wifi dead and son is now resurrecting it. Currently running on Telstra 4G but it is very patchy indeed

    When I lived in Blackheath I learned the hard way that whenever there was a storm brewing in the Mts to unplug everything, we lost a computer one time, modem and phone another time. I mean unplug not just turn off. Quite often the storm would blow over but it was better safe than spending time and money on replacements
  • The problem was actually Telstra’s but son cleaned the messy connections in their box. I once begged an electrician friend out of Goulburn to unplug. Eventually he did. Within a minute, flash fried all connections, lights and points entirely down one side of his house. It would have killed his computer.

    Sister is very glad to have power back at niece’s place. Almost 4 days. I thought it was less but have been corrected. Hats off to all the linesmen out there working to fix lines in dangerous and awful conditions.
  • Two days before Christmas and our little street is half deserted. #4 sent around an email inviting us for drinks and chat at 11 yesterday morning; two of us were able to come, one had a bug she didn't want to spread, and one didn't reply; the other four said thank you but were all away already. We were a small but cheerful gathering, and although I'd been later than I intended getting my two Christmas cakes in the oven, it was easy enough to pop back a couple of times. to check on them. Likewise our congregation at church this morning was somewhat depleted; with the grandparents among us having families in distant places the 'regulars' are often elsewhere — though I don't think anyone was actually overseas this time.
    I wish Christmas blessings and joy in 2019 to Shipmates. GeeD, may you both have a happy and rewarding retirement.
  • Gee DGee D Shipmate
    That is very kind GG and much valued.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    @Gee D - wishing you and Madame a long, healthy and happy retirement! :smiley:
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    Hi GG, good to see you.

    We had a few away, but the service was brilliant, with a singing group accompanied by a harp and a trumpet (at different times). We also had a family of children singing some Christmas songs. In the last 6 months we have had two families with children join the congregation, whereas previously there were none. It's lovely to have them.
  • Gee DGee D Shipmate
    Thanks Piglet - we're both 71, so barely out of nappies.
This discussion has been closed.