{"id":2317,"date":"2017-01-21T04:01:08","date_gmt":"2017-01-21T04:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fatbeetle.com\/blog\/?p=2317"},"modified":"2017-01-22T02:45:32","modified_gmt":"2017-01-22T02:45:32","slug":"xmas-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.fatbeetle.com\/blog\/?p=2317","title":{"rendered":"Bill’s bear in the Xmas heat."},"content":{"rendered":"

Gallery of images here.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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How was your Xmas, Taff? Asked no one, probably in expectation that I\u2019d only go and answer.<\/p>\n

Well in the run up to Xmas we, (me, L~A, and Mary,) went to see the only one-dayer cricket match we\u2019d see this season, (Day\/Night, played under lights.) Though it turned out to be a pretty good match, played between Aus and New Zealand.<\/p>\n

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Owwzaaaat! My best photo from the match<\/p><\/div>\n

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Nothing much to tell you about it, except that the sunset we saw from the ground that night was so good that even the BBC reported on it.<\/p>\n

Australia may have beaten New Zealand to claim a one-day cricket series victory on Tuesday night, but many spectators were more interested in the sunset at the ground.<\/h3>\n

Great images on this BBC page,<\/a><\/p>\n

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and here\u2019s one of mine of the sunset as well. (Click on images to go to the match gallery.<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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We also saw good old Bill Bailey, always worth the price. He seems to like Canberra, probably as nothing ever bloody happens here, so therefore he\u2019s always guaranteed to get a full house. As per norm I\u2019ll not try to relate any of his set, as that\u2019s a bit pointless. But, he did paste\u00a0an amazing little video clip on facebook, as his digs for the weekend he played here, were rather classy. There\u2019s not many places you can stay where you get a free bear with your room.<\/p>\n

Here’s the clip, enjoy!<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.fatbeetle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/15430595_2186052511619371_7584129121874083840_n.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

During his stay in Canberra for his recent gig at the Royal Theatre, Bailey was put up at the Jamala Wildlife Lodge at Canberra’s National Zoo and Aquarium, which, famously, allows its guests to share their accommodation with some of the world’s most dangerous and endangered animals. Which are behind glass, of course.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bailey posted on Facebook a video showing viewers around his room – there’s the bed, there’s the bathroom, there’s the tea and coffee and, oh, there’s the “massive bear just outside this glass”.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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In terms of entertainment, in the coming months we’re seeing the PM’s XI against Sri Lanka<\/a>, a T20 match, “The \u00a0Damned”<\/a> up in Sydney’s Metro Theatre, \u00a0and Dara O’Briain at Sydney Opera House.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Then Xmas itself came around. Here’s L~A’s lot from work trying, and failing, \u00a0not to go totally bloody hatstand mental, while waiting for Xmas to arrive.<\/p>\n

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Can\u2019t say I\u2019m a big fan of Xmas in Aus, too bloody hot for a start, but we make the best of it, and for-a-bloody-change<\/em> I wasn\u2019t working on Xmas day. Me and L~A had reached an agreement about our present buying for each other this year. L~A \u00a0had found a store which sold nice dresses, and I wanted new headphones for making my bloody awful music. We agreed that she could buy three or four dresses, as \u201cthey\u2019re only $40.00 each\u201d<\/em>, and I could spend a similar amount, say $120.00, on new headphones. \u201cDeal! So we\u2019re not to buy each other anything else, ok!!!\u201d. <\/em>We shook on it.<\/p>\n

Hmmmm…<\/em> I was in JB HI FI, when I saw a food smoking gun<\/a>, which was going cheap. Knowing that I couldn\u2019t pass this bargain up, but that I\u2019d get my nuts cut off if I bought it, I decided that the prospect getting regular home-smoked cheese\/fish\/everybloodything was worth the swap. Then, in the local shops, I saw a bottle of the highly recommended “Lady Lola” <\/a>\u00a0Pino Grigo, and as Pinot Grigio is L~A\u2019s \u00a0current tipple of choice, I had to buy it. Then I saw... fucking loads of stuff….<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Seeing as my\u00a0nuts were already guaranteed to be removed just for buying the smoker, I was free to go mad.<\/p>\n

Funnily enough on Xmas eve we were watching \u201dRiver Cottage at Xmas\u201d<\/a>, and Hugh F-W, (our new fave chef,) was smoking some mussels; \u201cWe should get a smoker,\u201d<\/em> said her indoors, much to my delight.<\/p>\n

There’s something incredibly masochistic about watching a program like \u201cRiver Cottage at Xmas\u201d when it\u2019s 38 in the shade outside, it’s actually mid bloody summer, and thus\u00a0you feel as Xmassy as Ebenezer Scrooge when he’s having a very bad day, don\u2019t you think? For fuck’s sake, this is our Xmas morning dog walk!!<\/p>\n

Xmassy? Bah, fucking humbug!!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Xmas day itself was great fun. We had B1 and B2 stay over with us, and so had a proper family Xmas. I got lots of great presents, including a bottle of \u201cDistillers Limited Edition Lagavulin\u201d<\/a> from B1and B2. Lagavulin somehow overtook Laphrohaig as my favourite scotch last year. There\u2019s an almost medicinal iodine(y) flavour to it. Bloody love it.<\/p>\n

L~A had, as tradition demands, sourced me a fab Xmas jumper to wear on the big day. This one;<\/p>\n

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Everybody seemed more than happy with their presents and L~A didn\u2019t beast me (too much) for buying her more that I should have.<\/p>\n

Our Xmas lunch was gorgeous, if a little non-traditional.<\/p>\n

<\/a>

Starters<\/p><\/div>\n

Starters of scallops in the shell, prawns, salt and pepper squid, and oysters.<\/p>\n

mains<\/p><\/div>\n

Baked mackerel, or slow cooked lamb with Asian marinade, roast tatties, all green veg was from L~A’s veg patch, Dijon sauce. There was also a vege loaf, (recipe here,<\/a>) made by yours truly, my only contribution.\u00a0But it was fucking lush I tell you.<\/p>\n

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For dessert L~A made Heston’s Exploding Gateaux<\/a> and a cherry pie.<\/p>\n

Diverting a touch. L~A’s veg patch has been a revelation, all summer all the veg and herbs, and some strawberries and chillies, we have eaten have all been home grown and organic. It’s certainly given L~A \u00a0a great hobby, and one that is very therapeutic. Part of the therapy is her venting frustrations by spending most mornings out in the garden threatening her plants. It seems to work..<\/p>\n

My headphones? Well, seeing as L~A confessed that the dresses she\u2019d eventually bought came in a \u201clittle over\u201d*<\/strong><\/span> the $120 forecast, I was given a bit more leeway on my headphone spending. Which was dead handy as I\u2019d set my heart on a pair of AKG K702 PRO<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I decided to wait until after New Year, in the hope of getting them at sale prices.\u00a0New year came and went, and they didn\u2019t drop a penny, so much for that cunning plan. I bought them in any case.<\/p>\n

New Year’s itself? The usual story. I was working NY day, so our \u201ccelebration\u201d was a couple of glasses of of Lagavulin, a quick bunk up, and in bed by 10.00 pm. I\u2019m itching to get back to spending NYE examining the underside of UK pub tables.<\/p>\n

*double it, then add some more.<\/span><\/p>\n

And so that was our Xmas<\/p>\n

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My birthday came around once more. I do wish it would stop doing that, I\u2019ve had enough of getting older thanks. L~A got me a Calvin Klein dressing gown, utter luxury, and another pair of repro Sherlock Holmes posters, which I love. (Though I\u2019ve not yet got around to having them framed, let alone put up.)<\/p>\n

For a treat L~A found a restaurant which we hadn\u2019t visited, Seasalt, in Bruce<\/a>, which is dead local to us.\u00a0Here\u2019s my review, just to annoy Charlie.<\/p>\n

As I always say, you’re not going to get a great view dining in Canberra, nor eat a building of any distinction, Seasalt does not buck this trend. However, they make the most of the functional aesthetic, and the layout is appropriate, the furnishings comfortable.<\/p>\n

Fashionably late<\/p><\/div>\n

There were five of us, with about another half a dozen or so dinners. For a post-New Year, middle of the week, dining session this was a fair indication that the place is liked\/respected.<\/p>\n

I like the menu, it’s not one that swamps you with choice, but delivers some interesting and reasonably novel plates. I had the Fresh Vegetable & Herb Salad to start and was very impressed. (I made this myself the following week, L~A said mine was best.)<\/p>\n

My bloody mother in law had the lambs brains, (I nearly wrote HAS lambs brains, but thought better of it). I’m sure she only has it to annoy me, revolting stuff.<\/p>\n

The mother-in-law’s brains<\/p><\/div>\n

For mains I had the Whole Baby Barramundi, which was a real treat, but far too much to eat.<\/p>\n

I hate it when my dinner stares at me.<\/p><\/div>\n

So why I had the cheese plate for dessert I do not know. The food was well cooked, the serves were exceedingly generous. Bethy kept trying to stop me taking foody photos, for some reason.<\/p>\n

it didn’t work<\/p><\/div>\n

So why no 5 stars? OK. The service was good, pleasant, affable and knowledgeable, but needed a bit more attention paid to empty plates and empty glasses, we had to ask on more than one occasion for drinks etc to be renewed. The cheese board, although generous, was uninspired, nothing “wow” about the selection. There were no good single malts on offer, and I love a good, and hopefully new and challenging, Scotch with my cheese when I dine out.<\/p>\n

So, 4\/5, would highly recommend, and will return<\/p>\n

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You may or may not remember, that when I was back in the UK, the mother-in-law\u2019s dog, Meech, was bitten by a brown snake and died. Mary toughed it out, all alone and lonely, until a week or so ago, then dragged L~A to the local pound with her. There, surprisingly she made a reasonable choice of a new companion. We had tried to get her to take Millie, our elderly, senile, little Shitzu, seeing as they have so much in common. But she was adamant she wanted her own dog. (\u201cI don\u2019t want a lapdog, only old people have lapdogs!\u201d<\/em>) We were expecting her to get a deerhound, rotty or wolf or something daft, but at the pound they met this little chap.<\/p>\n

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Sweet natured, very timid, small sized, and ideal. The next problem was always going to be a name for him. Mary has \u201ca way\u201d<\/em> with dog naming, her last dogs have been named<\/p>\n

Cue L~A:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Her first dog was called Boo. then her second was \u00a0“Meeyan\u201d. \u201cMeeyan\u201d was named because … Me an’ you and a dog named \u201cBoo\u201d. \u00a0\u201cChibber\u201d was so named as she had a white spot on her chin and mum’s grandad used to call the chin a chibber. \u201cMeech\u201d, was so named as it was \u201cMeeyan\u201d and \u201cChibber\u201d \u00a0squashed together in a revolting mess. \u00a0I despair of my mother\u2019s abilities to name animals. <\/span><\/p>\n

Which is all very well and amusing, unless you\u2019re the poor bastard (me) who has to walk them and shout those names out in public. But, as they were walking in to do the adoption paperwork, Mary turned to him and said; \u201cCome on mate, let\u2019s go,\u201d<\/em> and the dog responded. Dogs listening to her is a new experience for Mary, her dogs are not known for their obedience, (the fuckers listen to me though, they know it\u2019s obey my voice or my boot.) So that was it, the dog\u2019s name is now \u201cMate\u201d<\/em>, I can live with that. She gets all huffy if you call her dog \u201cMatey\u201d<\/em>, so I do, constantly.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve introduced him to our beasts, and now that the pecking order is established;<\/p>\n

Taff\/L~A<\/span>
\n Ginger<\/span>
\n Digby<\/span>
\n Matey<\/span>
\n Millie<\/span>
\n Mary<\/span><\/p>\n

All is well. Ginger let Matey know who is boss, basically by pissing all over him. There\u2019s a touch of the Germanic to our Ginger.<\/p>\n

Mary still won\u2019t let Matey off the lead, and hence won\u2019t let me walk him as she knows I will. This is mainly due to her fear of him running off to play with the snakes. L~A is insisting Mary goes to puppy training classes. I\u2019m insisting the dog goes too.<\/p>\n

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Joan, our trusty Subaru outback, went in for a service.<\/p>\n

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I went to pick her up, expecting a huge bill, and the guy there said; \u201cI haven\u2019t done any of the work she needs, just the service\u201d<\/em>. I thought this may be\u00a0a good thing, then he showed me the list of work she needed doing to keep her road worthy. This ran to two sides of A4. \u00a0Oh fucking bollocks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs there anything good at all on her?\u201d<\/em> I asked, \u201cWell she\u2019s got a new oil filter\u201d<\/em>, was his honest reply. The new oil filter was part of the service. We had been hoping Joan would see us out until we retire (more on this later, ) but it was not to be.<\/p>\n

So on our next \u00a0day off together, me and L~A headed down to Fyshwick, <\/a>the local industrial estate, and not to look in the porn shops or brothels<\/a> for a change. We\u2019re not really car people, so car shopping is always fraught with danger. We\u2019d agreed a top end of $3500 to spend, knowing full well that this meant $5000.<\/p>\n

The first sales lot we went to, I was mooching about inside, getting out of the heat, and getting entirely disheartened at what $5000 would buy me. I went outside and L~A said; \u201cHave a look at this.\u201d<\/em> I looked, nice looking motor, a \u201cMazda Premacy\u201d \u00a0<\/a>asking price $3000.<\/p>\n

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I told L~A to leave the bargaining to me, as I’m big and mean and drive a hard bargain. I called the guy over; \u201cWe\u2019ll have this one,\u201d<\/em> was my opening gambit. \u201cSold\u201d<\/em> was his. That\u2019ll teach him that incompetent Welsh twats are not to be trifled with. We went into the office to sign our lives away.<\/p>\n

I asked him if he\u2019d give us anything for Joan, he said to drive her onto the yard and he\u2019d have a look. Now, and this is God\u2019s own truth, hand on heart, I was going to ask him for $150 for her, as I knew the scrapper would only give me $100. He looked at her, sucked his gums, (he had the worse teeth I\u2019d seen outside of Liverpool,) and said; \u201cOk, your car plus $2000, deal?\u201d<\/em> I nearly ripped his arm off, we were $850 up!!! I was so shocked I nearly asked him to consider a lower offer.<\/p>\n

So the new car, now known as \u201dMacy\u201d,<\/em> is turning out to be a real treat. Totally gutless, and slow, compared to old Joan, \u00a0but it has lots of things that Joan didn\u2019t. Things such as a working radio, a clock, remote central locking, and aircon. Aircon is a real treat in this summer heat, on Joan the only aircon was winding all the windows down and sweating. The rear seats come out and you can use it like a van. The one thing I cannot shake is the feeling I should be flogging ice cream from it.<\/p>\n

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How are the retirement plans coming on? Well countdown has started in earnest. I\u2019m now, more than ever, committed to leaving Aus in feb 2018. We\u2019re attending a \u201cSuperannuation seminar\u201d on the first of March, and hopefully from there we\u2019ll be able to plan with a bit more financial accuracy, if not competence.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve written to HR to find out how much \u201clong service leave\u201d I\u2019ve accrued, and hope to be on full pay for the first 3-4 months or my retirement. L~A also wrote to HR to ask the same question, but they cocked hers up and gave her her current \u201clong service leave\u201d accrual, which was not what she wanted. She was wanting to know how much she\u2019d have as of May 2018. L~A plans to stay in Aus a few months after I leave, mainly so all the house rebuilding can be done without her getting covered in rubble.<\/p>\n

One of the sad events that has driven my desire to return immensely, is the sad passing of my \u201cuncle” Terry . Terry, who I mention in my <\/a>mother\u2019s passing blog post, had been suffering from heart problems, unfortunately in early January he suffered a fatal heart attack. Terry was an immense influence on me. I won\u2019t relate again how and why, suffice to say I would not be who, I am today if not for him and his wife Noreen, they were real inspirations, and showed me that life could be lived.<\/p>\n

RIP Terry mate, I\u2019ll miss you.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Also, sadly, I have to say RIP to David, my aunty Anne\u2019s husband.<\/p>\n

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So, just to end on a more cheerful note, those of you who are Facebook mates\/friends, will know I run an occasional cooking thread there “Cooking with Taff”<\/a>. Just to add some spice to the last one, “Green Tomato, pear and date chutney”<\/a> \u00a0I did it entirely nude. There were numerous complaints of “swindle” and “chicken” due to in the images for it I used an apron to cover myself, but hygiene must be considered and observed. Check the gallery for more risque shots, but don’t you dare complain, you go there of your own free will<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gallery of images here.   How was your Xmas, Taff? Asked no one, probably in expectation that I\u2019d only go and answer. Well in the run up to Xmas we, (me, L~A, and Mary,) went to see the only one-dayer … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fatbeetle.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fatbeetle.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fatbeetle.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fatbeetle.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fatbeetle.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.fatbeetle.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2317\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fatbeetle.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fatbeetle.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fatbeetle.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}