Novel then Hansel and Gretel

After perusing the papers this morning, including the Saturday Paper with a spirited defence of Bruce Pascoe against Professor Andreas Bolt, I went further in reading the novel (no. 1 of 3). After leftover cooked meats for lunch, P. and I went to Homo Hall for the MSO under Andrew Davis doing a concert performance of Hansel and Gretel. Very well sung and performed, we enjoyed it immensely then headed for Thornbury to have dinner at the eatery where David Sims works. We had a very good meat platter, then came home for the usual spate of repeats on ABC and a fillum on SBS.

Shopping and eating

We went shopping again with Davo the Corolla (his real name is Davie, but I prefer Davo) but not Frank and saw Noel with his shopping. Home again for salmon patties for lunch. Next week, we will be shopping with Harriet the Corolla as GoGet have replaced Olwen the Yaris with her babyseat. Yay! After a nap, we had oysters then garlic prawns for dinner, followed by a Clive James orgy on the teev. What about the much more worthy late Sam W. from Queensland? Not to mention the late Beatrice Faust who revolutionised things for Australian women through the Women's Electoral Lobby. What did Clive James actually do? Apart from contribute to Australian cultural cringe?

Off to the haircutters

This morning after a bit of tidying-up, I went up Johnston Street to try Frank's barber-school haircuts. I didn't have to wait, contrary to expectations, and got an efficient job from a man who looked younger than my grandson David. A hair and beard trim all for ten dollars. Home again to return a call to Magabala's CEO about an historical matter then soup for lunch, followed by a nap. P. made potato salad to go with the leftover chook for dinner.

More corrections then guitars

This morning I worked hard on entering the corrections for the autobiography and nearly made it to send it back to the authors. P. and I had leftover anchovy pasta for lunch, then a nap. Then off to the PP Salon for the Guitar quartet playing new arrangements of works by Glass, Part (both much maligned), Jarrett (a bit cerebral) and Vasks. It was good to hear these works but the guitar quartet lacks texture and volume so, while subtle, is also fairly dull. We then went to Carlton for a good meal at Jimmy Watson's for variety. Then home for a modern fairytale: The Prince and the Paedophile, this time on the ABC not SBS, the Royal, Hitler, train channel.

Hard work

This morning I was working so hard on entering the corrections to the autobiography that I barely even noticed the cleaners, lickety-split. I've nearly finished and should be able to knock it off tomorrow morning. P. went off to have a haircut and avoid the cleaners. I can retreat to my office but he really has nowhere to go to get out of their way. I love the way they fold the toilet paper as if we're a hotel. Now for a nap. P. made delicious roast chook for dinner, followed by normal Monday night teev.

Crossword plus MCO, final for the year

The crossword was solved, lickety-split, then I settled in to a bit of work on the autobiography. I might get this stage finished this morning though it's the references which are a bit tricky. I did finish just in time for lunch, for this stage, and we polished off the last of the mushroom lasagne (thanks P. and David Herbert) which will certainly make a return. Then we went to the Recital Centre for the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra for Mozart the King, with Mozart's piano concerto no. 22, performed bt Stefan Cassemenos, with his own cadenzas. There was an overture by Cimarosa and a Romance no 2 for violin, rescored for string orchestra with Natalia Harvey very ably doing the honours, then Haydn's The King symphony no 98. Home again for a night with the teev (probably i-voo) and anchovy pasta.

Papers plus lieder

After the voluminous Saturday papers, I did some admin. work then got back to proofing the autobiography which is proceeding well. In between times, I looked at a new chapter of one of the biographies. They keep coming. We had salmon patties for lunch then a quick nap. We then went into town to the re-opened Yoyogi, now renamed SuperHiro, perhaps after Hirohito. It proclaims Bar and Jap Food. Anyway, thankfully it is much like the old Yoyogi with a slightly revamped menu, much the same prices and a bit more grog. We had a good meal, then went to the Hanson-Dyer Hall for a concert of Schubert, Brahms, Wolf and Strauss by Daniel de Borah, piano, and Steve Davlisim, tenor. It was a very good concert for a near capacity audience with two encores.

Shopping plus

I forgot to mention: just when I thought I was getting on top of things another novel turned up, not so much for editing but for checking and 'fixing'. I've seen it several times before. We'll see. We picked up Davie the Corolla, the new Flexicar (I think I'll call him Davo), dropped off the drug list at the Health Centre, then got coffee and Frank. We shopped till we dropped at Victoria Gardens, delivered Noel's shopping to him and had a short mag, picked up the drugs, then had a good brunch/lunch at the Marquis of Lorne, near an old erstwhile house of ours in Kerr Street, Fitzroy. Home for a nap, then I made salmon for dinner, followed by Friday night TV drama, the 30th anniversary of Gardening Australia and Unforgotten, forgetting soppy Grantchester.

Back to work

Having had distractions for two mornings (nephrologist, concert), this morning I settled down to the four projects on my desk at present, some small, some large: an autobiography, a novel, and two biographies (the smaller ones). I sent back comments on the two biographies and got responses from the authors. I made good progress (for once) on the autobiography and spoke to the author of the novel. P. and I polished off the remaining soto, well matured, for lunch, then had a hot nap as it's now 38 degrees. In the evening, we had leftover mushroom lasagne for dinner then went off to the Playhouse for a wonderful concert by Vika and Linda Bull with a great scratch band. It was the best thing for ages.

Mozart and Haydn

P. and I went this morning to Mostly Mozart where the ANAM orchestra and Nick Deutsch performed Mozart's Oboe Concerto with panache, then reprised the Haydn Symphony no 90 which we heard the other night. It didn't dull with repetition nor did the enthusiasm of the conductor, Gabor Takacs-Nagy, who also joyfully announced that the ANAM students were on holidays from next Monday. Then we had a good lunch at the Tea Room in the NGV, then home for a nap. My application to Flexicar was a success so on Friday we are shopping with Davie the Corolla from Trenerry Crescent, in the Yarra Valley near our home. P. made yummy rosbif for dinner with all the condiments, horseradish, Dijon mustard and mushroom sauce. Then Wednesday night teev where Years and Years killed off another protagonist.

Genie visit then Carlton goodies

Early this morning, I headed for Genie the nephrologist's rooms. As usual, my proxy mother declared I am 'perfect' (meaning my blood readings, blood pressure etc.). On the way home, I got quiches, eclairs and Dijon mustard from Parisienne Pate, as well as more mundane purchases (milk, eggs, newspapers) from the supermarket. We had the quiches for lunch, then a nap, then went to hear Quartz at the Recital Centre. It is an all-girl quartet who gave muscular accounts of Haydn no 2 and Tchaikovsky's no 1. We then came home for leftover soto for dinner followed by the eclairs and the teev including a very good doco on Ben Quilty.

Proofing and food

I spent most of the morning proofing the autobiography (now about two-thirds through). After prawn bisque for lunch (prepared in Hobart), P. went off to service the U3A office. In the evening, he made delicious mushroom lasagne for dinner followed by usual Monday night teev.

Crossword plus cooking

This morning, we finished the crossword earlier than ever (not that it's a competition. Not much,) Now settling in to cook soto ayam which should last for a couple of meals unless I freeze some of it. Having finished phase one of the soto (fried potato and boiled eggs to go) we had tomato soup (canned) for lunch with leftover lamb. After a short nap, Sally turned up to pick up her marmalade and jam which we got for her at Lorne. We had a coffee and a natter then P. and I had soto ayam for dinner followed by the last episode of Total Control.

Shopping plus not much

With Billy the Corolla, P. and I picked up Frank, did over Victoria Gardens (or some of it), took stuff to Noel's then to our place. Frank went off to 3MBS while we had salmon patties for lunch. After a nap, I 'made' oysters for dinner followed by garfish in garlic and butter. Then some (mainly i-voo from last night) teev: Gardening Australia and Unforgotten.

Adam's Rib plus lunch

After a bit of work proofing the autobiography, P. and I were off to the Library for Adam's Rib, the second last of Teresa's sassy dames series. It was a fine, if somewhat confusing, piece of gender bending and war betweeen the sexes starring Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracey in fine form. We continued the discussion over lunch at Mavis. Then a short nap. In the evening, P. and I went to town. Unfortunately, Yoyogi has not reopened and seems to be transforming into SuperHiro, Japanese bar and food. We'll see. We tried Real Viet which was okay (we were the only skippies therre) but was mainly pho. We then joined Frank at the Recital Centre where we filled up on prawn dumplings and chippies. Also there were Sally and Roger (and Penny from U3A). It was ANAM's final concert of the year conducted by Gabor Takcs-Nagy (ex-Takacs Quartet) who conducted inspirational performances of two overtures by Schubert and Beethoven and two symphonies by Mozart (no 25) and Haydn (no 90). It was a breathtaking concert.

Blood done

After drinking gallons of water as per Mary's instructions, I went to the Health Centre. Bernadette the vampire did a great job and the blood was extracted. However, next time I might need to go easy on coffee as all the water I was taking in was going straight out again. Now, home again and to the autobiography. P. has trekked off to Sunbury to visit the Shaw sisters. He got back fairly late (I was still napping) and he made roast lamb with trimmings for dinner. A fine meal!

Blood not done but the end of the world happened

I went off to Mary the vampire at the Health Centre this morning but because she said I was dehydrated she was unable to take blood. I have to go off tomorrow after SIX glasses of water an hour before appearing. P. went off to U3A committee meeting and I went on with the autobiography proofing but didn't get very far. After a nap, P. and I had a good meal at Blondie then went to a Plexus concert in the Murdoch Hall which was a splendid combination of a premiere of a Deborah Cheetham piece for Plexus, then an appealing piece by Stuart Greenbaum for Plexus plus cello (Michelle Wood in good form), then a reprise of Stefan Cassomenos' Requiem for the End of Time with superb singing from Cheetham, Liane Keegan and Christian Smith, ably marshalled by Michael Dahlenburg. A very satisfying evening.

Modern Masters

This morning, P. and I went to the Recital Centre for Morning Masters (ex-coffee concert) where we arrived in time to scoff the odd cakie, sango and fritatta slice. Then the Trio Marvin, winners of this years Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, played two piano trios, Brahms no 3 and Shostakovich no 2 very well. They encored with a short piece by Tchaikovsky. I came home and P. went to his Credit Union/bank. Then a nap for both of us. I made Asian greens and leftover fritatta for dinner then we settled in for the teev, catching up with Total Control on i-voo.

Proofing

Today, I made some progress on proofing the autobiography but I'm still not halfway through. We had tomato soup for lunch, then Danny the architect and a prospective builder Damian came to have a squiz at the place. He seemed quite nice so I hope his quote is not too high. P. made leftover chicken curry for dinner which had matured well in the fridge. Then we settled in for normal Monday night teev, though Four Corners is about to end, so normal won't be normal anymore. This last one was a fair report by Louise Milligan (the author of Cardinal) about teaching reading. I was worried it might be an excuse for more teacher bashing, but it largely wasn't, except for the odious federal minister for education, Dan Tehan, who, in common with most of his colleagues, tells lies.

Sunday as usual

We despatched the Sunday crossword, not as quickly as last week, then I did a small amount of proofing on the autobiography, though I'm still not even a quarter way through. We had French onion soup for lunch, and I made fritatta for eating before we go out tonight. P. and I went off to the Forum for a fairly weird idea: a concert by Katie Noonan accompanied by the Australian String Quartet to poems by Oodgeroo Noonuccal. The songs were written by various composers including Noonan herself. Noonuccal's granddaughter read the poems in Jandai, her mother's language. Unfortunately, I could follow the words in Jandai as well as I could in English because of Noonan's high voice (read sometimes screechy) with poor articulation. The playing by the ASQ was exemplary especially in the two string quartets they played (by D'Netto and Sculthorpe). The main problem was lack of changes of tone in the songs, partly because of Noonan's voice and I suspect a lack of direction in the commissioning of the new pieces. However, in spite of all my reservations, the overall effect was bracing and brave and deserved the applause it got as well as the number of exits at interval.

Shopping in the cold

Yesterday (Friday), P. and I picked up Billy the Corolla, went to the pharmacy for pills and to Jaspers for coffee (two stops for drugs) then picked up Frank and went to Victoria Gardens. We shopped, dropped Noel's off to him then dropped off Frank and went home for soup (French onion). It was chilly when I dropped Billy off and a bus went missing so I was very grumpy. After a nap, I made salmon for dinner, then settled in with the teev. Unforgotten (the series) is hotting up. This morning (Saturday) the cold has set in. I had moved the fan into place betting on warm weather but I've now moved the heater back. I finally caught up with the autobiography author and had a good chat with her and also called back Carmel B. who left a message while we were in Lorne. We had salmon patties for lunch. Afterwards, we went on the Collingwood Historical Society annual walk, around Abbotsford. I only lasted on the first half, whereas P. did the lot. As usual it was very interesting with titbits about old stuff and developments on the drawing board. I had a nap but P. finished at the pub. He then made a delicious chicken curry for dinner, then we watched Vanity Fair (not bad) and a very boring, puzzling film on SBS, Churchill. What was it all about?

Home again, post Lorne

We're home again after a few days in Lorne on an Escapes package. On Tuesday, we picked up Billy the Corolla and headed off through Geelong to Anglesea and Torquay (where we paused to visit the olds old unit). We lunched at Airey's Inlet then checked in to the hotel at Lorne which had a superb view across the bay through the bird-inhabited trees. We had a nap then a quite good meal in the bistro after our 'free' cocktails as part of the package. Next morning, after breakfast, we went to the beautiful Erskine Falls and forest, then we drove further down the Great Ocean Road as far as Kennett River. It was a beautiful sunny day though a bit windy. We had another 'free' cocktail, then a very fine fixed menu meal at Movida downstairs which was done very efficiently and well. This morning (Wednesday) after breakfast we drove through the forest to Winchelsea, where we had coffee and cake, then back to Melbourne. After a short nap, we went to see Joan Didion's Year of Magical Thinking, beautifully performed by Jillian Murray at 45downstairs after a quick meal at Tazio.

Banking and food

This morning, after a bit of admin., I went to the bank to give them some change ($125 worth, as it turned out), then came home where P. had heated vego quiches for lunch as well as making Vera Bolognese for dinner. Then it started to rain so I had a nap (I know that's a non sequitur). P.'s bolognese turned out to be delicious, then we settled in for usual Monday night's ABC TV declining to turn over to the SBS Royal Channel (a change from Hitler but what's the difference?).

Sunday at home

The Sunday crossword was done lickety-split before 9am, the earliest we have ever done it. Now settling down to work on the autobiography at last, after many delays, on the stylesheet checking and the cursed endnotes. Just finished over 200 endnotes before lunch. Yay! And have started prnting out the ms. for proofing. We had salmon patties for lunch then a nap. I made sardines for dinner, panfried, then we watched the teev but retreated to i-voo after the options ran out.

Shopping again then Ludovico

P. and I picked up Billy the car and Frank and went to Victoria Gardens where we did a very efficient shop then delivered Noel's to him (apart from the teaspoons which I forgot). Then off for brunch at Melvin's in Johnston Street (close to Billy's home because it was raining). A very good brunch with cheery service. Now for a nap before dinner. We had a bite of leftover pork sweet'n'sour before heading off on a slow trip, not to the Recital Centre, but to the new Con. next door for the christening of the Louise Hanson-Dyer Hall. It worked well for a concert by Ludovico's Band with works by Purcell, Handel, Dowland and others with singer Maximilian Reibl, counter-tenor. It was excellent, then home again for a bit of i-voo from last night.

Autobiography again

P. went off to American Literature at Bargoonga Nganjin (wow, did I practise that). I went on with the autobiography but I haven't yet finished the stylesheet checking. Perhaps tomorrow. After a nap, we went to the Recital Centre and met Frank for the Song Company for a very ingenious program of songs through the centuries (from the 9th to now) with interpolations from contemporary Australian composers. It worked well and was magnificently performed but perhaps the Company's inventiveness is its own worst enemy in terms of attracting an audience. P. and I had a good quick meal at Tiamo.