Hiatus

This morning (we stayed at Abbotsford last night), there was no sign of Alex the Russian builder. I phoned his boss and he said Alex can't start on the bathroom until Thursday, so we have a sort of reprieve, except some of our stuff is up in Collingwood. Everytime we reach for something, we realise it's not here. I've phoned the Airbnb people to tell them we won't be around much till Thursday and rearranged the weekend paper deliveries. Meanwhile, we're back to using the denuded shower here. I can at last start on the next bit of the biography. That is proceeding well and I should finish my report today or tomorrow. P. made delicious scrambled eggs with smoked salmon for lunch. I told you we were doing it tough. However, our planned dinner tonight with Noel has had to be cancelled. At a $1600 fine, it could have been an expensive meal. Instead, after a nap, P. made spicy chicken wings while we watched old pedo priests on the teev. Is the world weird or not? Followed up with some cheery art detective work which was a relief from pedos and coronavirus. Then bed.

The move (sort of)

P. and I were both up early to get on with the packing. I've booked Saada the Yaris for high noon so we can do two trips to Collingwood to our new temporary residence. I've packed my 'personal' items, like clothes and medicaments while P. has gone full steam ahead on the bathroom. I got Saada and we loaded our clothes and personal things, dropped them at our home for six weeks (it's a garage really but well fitted out), came to our real home for lunch and picked up some food to drop back to Mater St. Then, having dropped Saada we came home again for a nap and P. cooked duck for dinner followed by normal Monday night teev. As you can see, we're really suffering living in two locations. We can stay in Abbotsford tonight as Alex didn't appear today so everything is intact.

More BIG novel plus more disaster

This morning we slept in a bit (bad) so finished the Sunday crossword a bit later, then I did some more on the BIG novel, tidying it up (the changes). We had soup for lunch then a nap. On waking up, we found one of the fuses wasn't working, so had to (at vast expense) get an electrician because we couldn't self-diagnose. He came lickety-split and worked out that (probably) water had got into the gas heater (it's happened before). Back on track, we had leftover lamb and tomato for dinner instead of the planned duck. I finished off the novel, as the author responded to my queries promptly, then sent it off to the publisher. We thrive in adversity. Now for a quiet night with the teev plus a bit more packing for the move tomorrow.

Papers and the rest

The usual avalanche of Saturday papers, though this week the Travel supplements were more like pamphlets with no ads for death ships. I settled in to proofing the BIG novel. We had minestrone for lunch, then P. went off to see Robin S. in rehab. I put on the slow-cooked lamb for dinner and went on with the proofing for a while. As I've come to the end of this pass, I'll treat myself to a nap. The lamb turned out to be pretty good. It is baked with tomatoes in verjuice. We then watched the excellent series on country music.

Misfortune lingers but things are looking up

I went up early this morning to get pills at the Health Centre. Then when I went across the road to pick up Barnaby the Yaris, he was not there. Instead, GoGet told me he is in Laverton. What he's doing there is a mystery. However, they rebooked me with Saada the Yaris and soon P. and I were off to Victoria Gardens where we did our shopping and Noel's and delivered his. We now both have ducks in our fridge, which is not bad for a crisis. After salmon patties for lunch, it was time for a nap. Our architect is optimistic about the bathroom starting on Monday, so, for now, it's all go, go, go. And Alex has finished the outside toilet and it looks splendid but Alex the Russian builder is not the optimistic type, I fear, though he wants to keep going. I am cooking salmon for dinner. The teev was good for the times with two fairly mindless cop shows to temper the news. P. pointed out that it's been a bit of a rollercoaster ride since Nick and David left just last Saturday, less than a week ago. It seems much more than a week.

The front just got messy

P. had a U3A post-colonial literature on Zoom this morning, while I went on with proofing the BIG novel and Alex went on with the outside toilet which he has nearly finished. However, the bombshell is that Dan the Dunnyman has said we will move on to stage 3 restrictions 'soon' but won't say what they are or when. If/when this happens, the builders won't be able to get supplies if places like Bunnings are closed. So the builder and we will have a big decision to make on Monday, the day we are moving into our airbnb. On a calmer note, we had soup for lunch and a nap. We are finishing the beef curry for dinner and drowning our sorrows in champagne which is probably not wise but too bad.

All's quiet on the front...

Alex has not appeared yet. Perhaps he is off buying things. We don't know. Meanwhile I'll go on proofing the BIG novel rather than empty the bathroom preparatory to it being demolished. I'll do that later in the morning after I get halfway through the novel. Meanwhile, I am waiting for a call from a possible place to stay in Fitzroy. If all else fails we can move into a hotel for a few days until something is arranged. We could stay here at a pinch but we still would need somewhere to shower. P. is still not feeling well and is resting. Alex has appeared and is busily reconstructing the outside toilet. We're keeping our 1 and a half metres distance because of infection risk which is a pity. I'd rather be more social. P. and I are having pies for lunch. After a nap, it became less quiet as I organised an airbnb in Collingwood for (maybe) the duration of the bathroom fixing. P. made a delicious beef curry for dinner and we planned (sort of) the temporary half-move as I'll still be coming 'home' for work (as Scummo says I can/must). It will be a bit of an adventure, moving into what is described as a 'funky Collingwood studio'. I don't feel very funky, but never mind. I hope to get the BIG novel finished before we move, but maybe not.

A crazy day

Today, I woke up to a call from Giuliano the builder to say that Alex, the Russian bathroom man, would be here soon to start work on the outside toilet. I said we hadn't cleared out the toilet yet, but he said they would do that. Meanwhile, I'd organised Graham Beer the rubbish removalist to come and remove the same rubbish around lunchtime. It all worked out okay, with Alex removing the rubbish and Graham collecting it and some more from the verandah. We are now in renovation mode and P. was not well all day. We had leftovers for dinner and took stock. We're not sure what to do now, though several options are open.

Boring proofing

Started work on proofing the big novel, having printed out just over half of its 410 pages in large type for easy reading. I had a momentary glitch when my printer went off level, but that is now fixed. Off we go! P. went off to see Robin S. in St Vincent's, then got Zoom to work on my computer for the U3A meeting tomorrow. Meanwhile, I had a nap, then made aglio e oglio for dinner which turned out okay. We then watched the usual Monday night teev which was enormously predictable, though the government will hate the ABC for Norman Swann.

Dead as a dodo Sunday

Apart from doing the Sunday Age big crossword, P. and I didn't do much today. We seem to have no trouble being lazy self-isolators. We had soup and leftovers for lunch, then leftover moussaka for dinner. Then teev. How more uneventful could a day be? I printed out a bit of the big novel, my only concession to activity. At least I got to bed at a halfway reasonable hour.

Exits and entrances

David and Nick went off in the wee-small hours. I vaguely woke up as they left around 4.30am but didn't rouse myself in time to say goodbye. I had trouble going back to sleep but got up to greet the Saturday morning papers. Then I did a final proof on the short story and sent it off to the author/translator. Now I'm sorting some administrative things to do with the renovations. P. went up to the shops to get milk as the supermarket was hoarded out yesterday or, in the new vernacular, magpied out. We're having tinned soup for lunch then a much needed nap. I made garlic prawns for dinner, then we had baby cheeses and watched country music on SBS. It was an excellent and revealing show. Then we watched a part of Platoon though it palled after a while with the complete pointlessness of the American involvement in the Vietnam war (called in Vietnam the American war).

Shopping plus later action

We had Barnaby again today as Harriet is out of action. P. and I went shopping at the mall. Coles was denuded of many things but not toilet paper or paper towels this time. We dropped Noel's shopping off to him with a few substitutions for things that were unavailable. We then had salmon patties for lunch. Nick arrived earlier than expected having left Moss Vale very early. We had a very good moussaka dinner cooked by P., then David turned up later having (unsuccessfully) tried to retrieve his last wages from the cafe. They are off early in the morning for Moss Vale. It was very good to catch up with Nick, albeit briefly. Everything seems to going okay with him and his family, at least as well as can be expected. The same applies to Kit and Ben, as far as he can tell. Safe trip back to NSW before the border is closed.

Short story

I nearly finished work on the short story this morning but I'll reproof the printout tomorrow or the next day just to be sure. I also sent off a very few queries to the author of the big novel. Sadly, I'll have to resize it before printing it for proofing as the present font is too small. After soup for lunch (tomato and cheese), it's time for a nap. We had leftover frittata for dinner, then some rather poxy teev. I'm doing some computer work instead, having received replies from the author of the big novel. It is all set up now for the big, long proofread. We watched Network on SBS 70s movies, which turned out to be a waste of time. David is off farewelling work and Melbourne, till the wee small hours probably.

Big novel

This morning I've been through the big novel and checked the author's changes. I've got a few queries left for him, then I'll print it out and proof it carefully. It is looking good. P. and I had soup (tinned minestrone) for lunch and David has gone off for his last day of work. Now for a nap. We had leftover chicken in one pot for dinner. It has matured well and is a bit spicier. Now for normal Wednesday night teev. Plus a new short story has turned up for editing so I'm going to be busy.

New normal

After the mayhem and disorganisation of yesterday, today seems like getting back to normal with just a visit to the health centre for a pill top-up. Just the usual, no panic. It took four shops to find a Tuesday Age. The man at IGA said people are buying the Age because it's softer paper! None of the four supermarkets had any loo paper. The woman in Metro laughed. Home for P.'s avocado for lunch, then a nap. I made rosemary and onion frittata for dinner which this time came out perfectly. Now for evil priests on the teev.

Oops

Subsequent to last night's advice, now the NGV, Arts Centre and the Recital Centre have all declared total shutdown until after Easter AT LEAST. The cleaners came, lickety-split, and will be back in a fortnight, renovations permitting. I have gone on to finish my report on the short novel this morning, then sent it off to the editor. P. went into town to do some shopping and said it was quite busy. The Victorian Government has declared a four-week emergency which keeps it in line with the venues mentioned before. Ah well! We'll see what happens and hope that a lock-down doesn't occur before Nick arrives on Friday and he and David leave on Saturday, when Kit arrives. We are effectively self-isolating because all of our outings have been cancelled, apart from the shopping, though there might be little to shop for. P. and I had a nap today and David has gone off (on his day off) for a gaming night with his ex-housemate to say goodbye. P. is making one-pot chicken for dinner. ANAM have confirmed that their public activities are canned until at least 20 April, one week longer than the rest. So it looks like no concerts or plays for four to five weeks. But GoGet carshare have confirmed continuing with added precautions for them and users. And Kit's tour to Victoria has been cancelled, which is very disappointing on several fronts. We might catch up with her once we can travel safely to Sydney or she can reschedule to Melbourne in the spring.

Crossword and little else

We did the Sunday crossword a bit late this week as both P. and I slept in. We had tinned soup for lunch, then a quick nap, so it hasn't been a very active Sunday. David went off to work and we cleaned out the leftovers in the fridge for dinner as we will need one more meal than expected because of a concert cancellation. The cancellations so far seem based on the size of the audiences mostly and the current government advice is that you can go to the movies. Go figure. However, our first cancellation this week is for a concert in the Salon which has a capacity of around 200 I think. The next cancellation is a Morning Masters with Musica Viva which makes more sense as the Hall holds at least 1500 and we are nearly all ancient for a morning concert. However, so far, our play on Wednesday night in the Fairfax Studio (probably under 500) is still going on.

Papers plus Giddens

This morning was normal with a rush of Saturday papers. We had salmon patties for lunch and David went off for work for the fourth last time. After a nap, P. and I went to Superhiro for a good meal then went to the Recital Centre for the last concert for a while with Rhiannon Giddens and two pals for a great concert, probably the last for a while at the MRC as it will probably close down for the virus. We met up with Lesley P. and her friend Deb. We'd all enjoyed an inspiring concert. Unfortunately, our concerts for next week are closing down one by one.

Shopping, brunch

We picked up Barnaby the Yaris this week as Harriet was indisposed. With Frank, we went to Victoria Gardens where we shopped for ourselves and Noel, and delivered Noel's goodies to him. As Frank has secret MBS business, P. and I had an excellent brunch at Dr Morse while David went off to work. Now for a nap after a couple of calls about insurance during the bathroom construction and non-delivery of wine. After a nap, I made salmon for dinner then we watched not-bad teev, the Gardening Show and Endeavour which had a very good conclusion.

Work, builder, Sal and concert

This morning I finished reading the 'novel' (really faction) and started on my report. Meanwhile, Giuliano the builder came to investigate the outside toilet. Apart from a bit of junk, he found it contained a live possum, which we will have to remove along with the debris. Then Sal arrived at lunchtime and has kindly offered her barn to accommodate us while the work is done which the builder says will be six to eight weeks. We will probably also take one or two trips to the country during that time depending on work and other commitments. After a short nap, P. and I headed to the Recital Centre for a Syzygy concert at the PP Salon. It was, as always with Syzygy, a splendid concert with works from Ireland, NZ, Australia and Canada/Singapore, all very different but making up a good program. They are part of this year's series about climate change. This was the optimistic one. We had dinner at Superhiro then went home. David is having a day off, at last.

Busy morning again

P. and I were getting ready for a meeting with Dan the architect and Giuliano the builder. The builder was late (he forgot about the meeting) but we then settled into a good chat and are about to start soon (probably at the start of April). Most questions were resolved to everyone's satisfaction and the builder might come tomorrow to do more checking on the outside toilet. We then had a scratch lunch and David and I swapped bedrooms to resolve the disparity in our working hours which was stopping me from using the computer. Now for a nap in my new bedroom/study. I made anchovy pasta for dinner, which wasn't bad. David is off at work. It is ABC 'comedy' night.

Busy

Everything was abuzz in a fairly normal morning, for the moment. I got a new book for report last night which I have started on. The rubbish bins have been collected and I have had a good mag with Barry D. After lunch (prawn bisque from Hobart), I went off to see Genie the nephrologist. She said I was more perfect than usual as I had no, zilch, nada protein in my urine (that's good apparently). She has given me some tests to find whether my trouble walking could be related to my medication. I'll have those tests before I see her again in two months. Home again to drop her scrips, which only she can do, at the Health Centre. David went off to work and P. and I (after a nap) went into town for dinner at Tazio in Flinders Lane. As always it was reliable with good service then we went to 45downstairs for Daniel Keene's new play The Curtain. It was a great pity that the coronavirus is keeping people away as it is an absorbing (if depressing) play with fine performances by Milijana Cancar, Gil Tucker and Paul Weingott, who had to play to a miniscule audience. Small venues like this will suffer badly if the scare continues for long.

Holyday - Moomba

This morning, I caught up with the author of the BIG novel and we had a good chat about my comments on it. I think we're on the same wavelength and he has gone off to do some cutting and revisions. It will be interesting to see whether this 'difficult' novel can find a publisher. P. went off to do some shopping but couldn't find any toilet paper on the denuded shelves though Lesley P. has posted a photo of vast numbers somewhere in Fitzroy. We had leftovers again for lunch (lamb stew and chicken) and David has gone off to work. It has been a great holyday as I slept through most of it. P. is making slow-cooked pork belly for dinner. There was a very good doco. on Peter Yu as part of a short series on Broome on NITV. Then the usual media watch and a fairly indifferent Q&A with our friend Hamish.

Crossword plus not much

We despatched the Sunday crossword fairly easily then had soup for lunch. David has decided to go back to Moss Vale to get his medical problems attended to (physio. etc) and get back into dancing as there is little to keep him in Melbourne now that he is not with a dance company. He has had amazing experiences since going to Europe virtually alone at 17, staying there for two years then having a bit over a year in Melbourne. It is an great achievement, in spite of so far having come to little by way of continuing employment. He's off to work at the cafe. We had leftovers for lunch (P. made curried chicken). Then a nap. I'm making beer-battered flathead for dinner, then it will be a relax in front of the teev.

Shopping plus an inventive concert

This morning, P., Frank and I and Barnaby the Yaris went shopping after I picked up some pills from the Health Centre. We delivered Noel's shopping to him, and Frank home then had fishcakes for lunch. The Fish Pier has opened again at Victoria Gardens after renovations to make it look more posh. The fish is the same! We then had a nap, after greeting a very tired David who stayed late at the party, and now has to pay for it by going to work at 3pm. Good luck. We then joined Frank at Bellota in South Melbourne for a good quick meal, thence to the South Melbourne Town Hall for the opening concert of the ANAM season with a heap of new faces and a very good program from Stravinsky to Bizet to Beethoven and everything in between. Well, not quite, but it was a super concert to start the year. Peter R. kindly gave us a lift home.

A significant outage and an outrage

This morning I woke to find the internet was not working. This means that under the newish NBN regime the landline is not working either. I used P.'s phone to ring my computer man, Shane, who advised ringing Westnet to find whether the NBN was down. I did and it was but it is now fixed and everything seems to be working. Phew! It would have been a bad day to be incommunicado with David moving in. P. went off to American Literature for a dose of Henry James which went well apparently. After a nap, David S. turned up to move in temporarily having become homeless through various scams and underpaying. It's the way of the world, it seems. He's gone off to work to collect his pay and go to a party. P. and I had leftovers (tasty eggplant parmigiani, I got it wrong at first), then watched Endeavour, very satisfying, on the teev.

Vampires and big novel

I got up early today to drink gallons of water before going to the Health Centre for a blood test, but vampire Bernadette still took three goes to get my blood. She was very skilful though and nearly painless. Home again to finish the BIG novel which I've now done. Now I have to compose a report which is fairly difficult because, though I like the novel, I fear most publishers won't. We had tinned minestrone for lunch and before taking a nap, I've roughed out a report while the novel is still fresh in my mind. I'll polish it up later. Now, I've sent if off to the author but haven't heard back yet. P. made delicious eggplant lasagne for dinner but free-to-air TV was so bad we watched a couple of videos including the bizarre Liliom by Fritz Lang, made in France with a young and slim Charles Boyer.

Novel plus splendid concert

I haven't been able to finish the BIG novel this morning but I have less than 100 pages to go so should finish it tomorrow. I am really enjoying it and wish that I had more time to savour it. P. is not feeling well and is staying abed. We'll have tinned soup for lunch as an invalid tactic, then a nap. We then went to Superhiro for a good meal, thence to the Recital Centre, where, after a couple of drinks and some chippies, we saw a splendid concert by the Flinders Quartet with works by Webern, Schubert, Brookes and Beethoven. Their new combo includes the fabulous Thibaut Pavlovic-Hobba and our friend Wilma as well as their old stalwarts on viola and cello. It was one to cherish. Home again for Black Comedy and Mad as Hell.

Novel plus

I went on with the BIG novel while P. went off to Sunbury to see the Shaw sisters. I should be able to finish it tomorrow then do the report to the author. P. had a good time in Sunbury. I made Neil Perry's lamb casserole for dinner then it was indifferent teev including Scummo being evasive to Leigh Sales.

Start of week

It was the usual start-of-week things like the Australian's Media Diary column which is sometimes good value like their Arts page (give the news a miss). Now I'm back to the BIG novel and this morning got halfway through. It is very good and I thought it would have more difficulties than it has. Also, we got the final three quotes from Danny on the bathroom etc. and have given him the go-ahead so chaos lies in front of us, but not till the end of March at least. We finished off the pea-and-ham soup for lunch. Now for a nap. I made tomorrow night's dinner (Neil Perry's lamb casserole) then leftover chicken for dinner. Then we had normal Monday night teev. Hamish made his second debut on Q&A very successfully, though it might have been cheating having no ga-gas on it.

Accounts plus Italian music

I started March by doing the February accounts, lickety-split. Then the crossword. How routine we are. After soup for lunch, P. and I joined Frank and Margaret G. at the Recital Centre for the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra with soloists Slava Grigoryan (guitar) and Michael Dahlenburg (cello) playing Vivaldi, Handel, Giuliani and Verdi. It was, as usual, a great concert. We also caught up with Neil. Home again for roast chook then teev, a rather mysterious program trying to be arty called Stateless, then Four Dames, the English actrines, amusing as always but not truthful.