And the lights all went out in . . .

Last Friday night, after dark, the lights went out in the Claremont Quarter shopping centre and both blocks of apartments.  Luckily it was not the night before  -  Thursday is late shopping.  Bad enough that the two supermarkets lost all their power and lighting but it would have been a disaster if the power had gone off on Thursday evening.  The boom gates in the parking area were set to let people out but the residents of the 75 apartment could not get in.  The lifts were not working and no-one except a handful of  long-term residents realised that their apartment keys opened the fire escape doors to their apartment level  -  only their level and that did not mean the secure parking which is protected by electrified gates.

I had a small torch and a heap of candles but nothing to light them with but was rescued by a Level 6 resident with a cigarette lighter.  The gas cooktops were no help  - they work off electro-magnets.  I gave Mrs 703 a couple of candles as all she had were four tea lights and a couple of candles for the person with the cigarette lighter, after showing her how to stick a candle onto a plate  -  shades of the 1940s when my family lived here in Perth for a number of years during limited power and hourly blackouts.

The generator which supplied power to Perth was a second-hand purchase from Imperial Russia and was not designed for a growing city.  For the three or four years we lived here power was rationed to every alternate hour  - one hour south of the river and one hour to the north.  Everyone had gas stoves, lanterns and candles and as the supply changed on the hour we all knew when to light the candles.

My grandparents lived in the Adelaide Hills and were almost completely self-sufficient: dairy, orchards, sheep and horses.  Darky, Bluey and Bloss were the draughthorses, Duchy pulled the trap to go into the town to collect the mail and Gay was my grandfathers thoroughbred riding horse.  Lighting was gas and the gas was generated using carbide rock and water.  It must have been difficult to read at night but as children we thought that it was fun.  In the city we had 25-watt globes and blackout curtains.

And to cut a long story short -  I now have multiple boxes of matches but less candles.

The Limerick:-

There was a young fellow named Willy
Who acted remarkably silly.
At an all-nations ball
Dressed in nothing at all
He claimed that his costume was Chile.

Oh, my paws and whiskers

Last Thursday I woke up with a very sore eye which was not working all that well and since it was the eye with the intraocular lens I was a bit concerned so I phoned my optometrist. He felt that I should have the eye properly checked out so he tried phoning the Eye Institute.  They were not answering their phone. He tried a couple of ophthalmologists and got recorded messages telling people that if they had a problem with their eyes they should to go SCGH emergency.  I prefer RPH where D2 is an emergency physician so I phoned her.  She said that SCGH had a waiting list of five and RPH had a waiting list of 17 so I took myself off to SCGH.

The registrar there said that she had never seen so many people with eye problems and, according to D2, the registrar at RPH was exhausted by the end of her shift.  Did all the ophthalmologists go off on Christmas breaks at the same time?  It would seem so.

I am starting back to regular yoga and it is so hard; I have really stiffened up over my involuntary break so it is going to be a struggle to get back to flexibility.  However, I shall persevere.

I spent yesterday morning at the dentist  -  a two-hour appointment.  The stump holding my bling in place had decayed and my dentist wanted to remove the bling, drill out the decay, fill the stump and replace the bling.  Unfortunately the decay was more extensive than he had realised so he is not holding out great hopes that the new bling will last an great length of time and then the roots will have to be cut out.  Been there, done that and it is no great hassle and it is a back tooth which is why I elected to have a gold crown in the first place.

I have started knitting wrist warmers and beanies for Out-reach to get ahead of winter as D3 has given me a whole big bag of top quality woollen yarn.  I have donated the white balls to my knitting group as white is not suitable for homeless people but I have a lot of green, some grey and a small amount of black.  I am not sure how much will be needed for a pair of wrist warmers but when I have finished the first pair I will weight them and do some sums.

I am sorry that this post is such a tale of woe but it serves as a diary for me.  

And now the Limerick:-

Said an envious erudite ermine,
"There's one thing I cannot determine:
When a girl wears my coat
She's a person of note.
When I wear it I'm only called vermin."

Happy New Year and Happy New Decade

My main emotion regarding Christmas is "Thank goodness it's over".   But I have spat the dummy and next Christmas will be held Chez D3.  I have been doing Christmas for about 50 years and had a bit of a meltdown this last Christmas so all the kids got together and provided everything except the potato salad which I organised along with a promise to show everyone how to make the mayonnaise and thinking back  -  just having to do the potato salad would not be too onerous so maybe . . .

After a week of high temperatures the weather is coolish with a strong sea breeze, unlike the eastern States where the fires are out of control and lives have been lost in several States.  I feel devastated for the animals which could not be saved.  They were not even given the option of running to safety.  I can remember my father having to shoot sheep which were caught on a fire which swept through the Adelaide hills.

Christmas was actually very relaxed with the Ds and the GBs all contributing.  We had the usual sausage sizzle and salads followed by Christmas Pudding with very alcoholic brandy sauce.  D1 arrived two days before Christmas with, as usual, her ironing ("why bother to iron things which will get creased in transit") and the makings of a silk blouse ("Your sewing machine is much better than mine").  She is doing a serious Wine Course and provided most of the champagne.  D2 wanted pink so she also brought along a bottle, as well as truffle sausages and Christmas pudding.  D3 brought salad and brandy sauce.  The GBs chopped the stuff which goes into the potato salad to give colour and variety.

My leg is better than it was but is still swollen despite D3's expertise but I am back to doing yoga and, hopefully after my toe is shortened I will be able to start walking around Lake Claremont again.

Blogger has a new format.  I had a bit of a problem finding my way to this site; I will have to study the new format before I dive in.  I wish . . .

And the Limerick:-

Said my friend Albert Fiddle to me,
"I'm a student of divinity.
When I graduate
'Twill be my sad fate
To be known as A.Fiddle D.D."