It has started to get a bit colder now. This morning as I went out for my run, it was about 4deg. I could feel the chill, especially on the legs, and wondered if I could persist with just running shorts for much longer.

It has been just over a week of me being all alone. Tress looked like she is having a great family time with her parents and brothers and their families. That has been wonderful to see.

Last Friday night, nothing much happened. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to have anything nice as we normally do on Friday nights, so I just picked a movie that was streaming, and munched on nuts. “The Lighthorsemen” was a coincidental choice – with Anzac Day around the corner. It was a slow going, old fashioned film but the Aussie ensemble was a fun experience. Numerous hitherto unknown actors (to me) proved such delight I wondered why I wasn’t watching more stuff with them in it. The only guy I could recognise was Gary Sweet and after the movie finished, I had to google the cast to find out more about them. “The Lighthorsemen” turned out to be quite topical not just because of Anzac Day either. The battle scene was in Beersheba and talk about how Gaza was also to a potential hotspot with the Germans/Turks made it all sound like it was quite current. Well, the charge of the Aussie mounted infantry to capture the German/Turk controlled Beersheba was a victory that is supposedly etched in Aussie military history. I should have known this better. Better late than never, it was a wonderful way to spend a quiet Friday evening at home.

On Saturday, I slept in a touch, walked that little fellow, then went around on some errands. I picked up a couple of toys nearby (from a FB page that gives stuff away for free). Tress had contacted that young mum who had wanted to part with a few items and I drove , as the crow flies, to that home in Blackburn for the pick up. I then went and picked up the mower from the mower shop on Springvale Road. They fixed the height adjusting locking pin for $44 – that saved me a bundle from having to explore other options, including picking up a new mower which can cost an arm and a leg these days. Just from browsing in that mower repair shop, I saw that mowers were starting at about $750…I was so grateful they could repair the locking lever instead.

I got home, did some clearing on the back eastern end of the garden and removed all the old and dying tomato plants and cleared up that little patch to put in some flowers instead. Tress thinks we should put in the hydrangeas we also have in the front yard and I thought that was a great idea. When I was done with all the work and tidying up, I got cleaned up and headed out for some lunch and grocery shopping, before coming back to walk the little fellow again. I also dropped into The Glen to pick up the HDMI splitter I bought from JB online. Only the outlet at The Glen had it so I had to get there, instead of that trusty FHC outlet I normally visit.

Later that night I searched for something else to watch and I landed on LA Confidential. It was such a treat and seeing another Aussie ensemble (Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce and James Cromwell) along with that genius that is Kevin Spacey, was to revive that wonderful experience of a really good film. Kim Basinger was a bonus. It was also a wonderful way to spend a quiet Saturday evening at home.

At St Alf’s on Sunday, Shannon Hood preached and Peter lead the service. I wondered if that was going to be the last one Peter lead, before he finishes up mid May. Tress and I have booked ourselves in for a farewell dinner for him in a few weeks. After St Alfs’s, I went to that Chinese noodle and dumpling place at FHC, and had a wonderful bowl of “jiajiang” noodle. I had wanted to just go and get a ban mih at FHC but that shop (“Baowie”) looked empty with only 2-3 customers in there (read: quiet, no waiting) and sitting down to a bowl of noodle in a quiet spot sounded pretty good so there I was, slurping away at the mixture of shredded cucumber and carrots, minced pork and whole soy bead kernels, mixed into very nice noodles. I poured in some chilli oil and voila – super yum.

Later that arvo, I went into Bunnings and got a shower caddy to replace the one that had come off. Decent shower caddies are harder to come by now. I wondered if that’s because newer showers now have recessed space in the wall to house all those bottles of washing liquids. Back home, I got that caddy fixed, and also installed the HDMI splitter on my work desk (at home).

As I settled down to watch that mindless but entertaining “I’m a celebrity…” and exchanged messages with Tress who was having a wonderful dinner with her family in Klang, I realised how much I was missing her. It has been just over a week, and it’d be just under another week before this house welcomes a touch of warmth again…

As an Aussie, I’m bound to knock and mock the English, but just occasionally we should pay attention. During the same week as England banned puberty …

England’s Ban should lead to rethink in Australia

On Friday, Tress and I came back from a catch-up dinner with Nic and Jon in a Chinese joint as the crow flies, and after Nic and Jon left our home (they came back with us to chill for a bit, watching a bit of the Korean “Physical 100”), we snoozed a little bit.

Tress than woke me up just after 1am, and we left home a bit after 1.15am, to head out to Tulla. We got there just before 2am, parked and walked to the Air Asia counter, where the queues were starting to snake out. I could not believe that so many were happy to cop Air Asia’s disgraceful flight time. Taking off at 5am meant check ins at 2am, and yet many are happy to do this. I guess the alternative is just very unattractive. MAS (Malaysian Airlines) has been a bad experience for many for a long time. They also cost almost twice as much. So, unearthly hour notwithstanding, AA must have thought they could flog their customers because the competition is hopeless.

As we were the first half dozen or so customers at the bag drop off counters, it didn’t take us too long before Tress was able to complete her queuing. I said goodbye to her a short while later, and drove home, getting back close to 4am. I climbed into bed a short while later, before Tress even took off. The little guy kept sitting up, waiting to hear some noises to say Tress is at home too…

The next morning, after waking up around 9.30am, I had a quick brekky and then walked the little fellow. I had first thrown a load of clothes in for laundry, and when the little fellow and I got home, I put the laundry on the hills hoist before taking the mower to the mower shop to have the height adjuster lever looked at. The locking pin had sheared off and I was wondering if this was something that can be fixed, or I’d have to keep using my improvisation make-do/stop-gap (literally…) to keep using it. Thankfully, the young fellow at “Mower Power” said he could fix that, so I left the mower with them. I then got back, showered, and headed out to the FHC. Someone had agreed to take the Supernote A6X off me for a reasonble price. It has been a great note taker for me but the inability to work with One Note and other MS/Office tools make the switch to the iPad mini as a note taker, unavoidable for me. I had gotten the Mini 6 to replace the older one as apparently it is a much better tool for all sorts of work stuff.

At FHC, I met the buyer, completed the deal, dropped off an old winter coat at the Salvos, did some grocery shopping, had lunch and then came back home before taking the little guy out again for a walk at the oval. Tress had pinged me at 2pm, just as I was having my bite to eat, saying she had landed in KL. This was some 12 hours after I left her at Tulla, and did a whole morning’s errands. That sort of affirmed my aversion to overseas travel – all that hullabaloo surrounding transport transfers, immigration, customs, flight pains and time zones, all add up to make overseas travel an unnecessary pain – in most cases – that is to be avoided whenever possible. The consolation is the thought that Tress’ parents will get to spend a couple of weeks with her, and vice versa.

Getting the new iPad mini meant I got 3 months AppleTV free subscription, so I jumped on to catch Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon”. I then also caught Martin Scorcese’s “Killer of the Flower Moon”. These long movies were interspersed with that celebrity-in-the-jungle reality show and the Hawks’ awful awful show against Gold Coast (that ended up with a 0-5 season starter).

At St Alf’s I warded off the usual queries of “where’s Theresa” with a well rehearsed response. I didn’t do our usual lunch at Donvale, going instead to the FHC for a Vietnamese Banh Mi which was very good. I then went home, played with the little fellow for a bit, and then did the week’s cook. Then it was off to the oval again – all trying to keep to the usual routine that Tress and I kept. It just makes it easier to cope.

It’d be another 12 days before this lonely sojourn ends. At least it’s still only mid autumn, so it isn’t quite that cold yet. Makes it easier to be alone, albeit only for a while…

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Kiddo and Mic, along with little Abby, are away in Fiji. They are celebrating Kiddo’s 30th. I cannot believe this milestone is here. That’s life I guess, and it’s wonderful.

It has been a wet few days. Sydney had it worse so I’m grateful, not least because of all those extra drinks for the farms and gardens. We managed to do some housekeeping stuff on Saturday morning anyway so that was comforting. After sleeping in a touch, we walked the little fellow for a bit before I started to do some sections of the James Sterling as well as do some edging along the new wooden bits that were laid recently. When I was finishing with the mowing however, the mower’s lever lock that keeps the blades in a certain height, gave way. The pin that locks into the holes appear to have been shared away. I rummaged through some boxes in the shed and found something to hold the elevation at the height I wanted. It kept slipping off but I managed to wrangle it into position long enough to finish the job. The mower needs to go into a repair shop again or I’d have to look for a new mower. This is frustrating as I had just replaced the pole trimmer, but I guess this is what happens to tools after nearly 20 years…

Thankfully, the Dyson that Tress worked on inside the house while I nursed my frustration outside with the gardening tools, help up and the house was fresh and clean when I came back in close to 2pm.

The night before, Tress and I went to the Lebanese place on the top floor of the FHC. It’s the last of the Mohicans – the sole surviving joint of all the food businesses on that floor of the FHC that is christened “The Lodge”. We enjoyed the delicious Lebanese fare, soaked in the busy atmosphere, and had a doggy bag of leftovers when we came home for the Gather Round of the footy.

At St Alf’s on Sunday, I was a bit flat. This church thing – God in general – sometimes feels like a mechanical routine. Him being God and real can feel very head-knowledge, with little to no impact on my emotions and those more tangible senses. I know our emotions and need for the senses can fluctuate so I just went along, knowing the ebb itself will ebb. Hopefully.

Peter spoke about 2 Cor 9 – money – not a common topic for sermons in Anglican circles. The Youth Minister, while giving the Kids Talk, made the point that we don’t skip over difficult or uncomfortable parts of the scriptures, hence the topic for that morning. I guess that helped in more ways than one, as I too, said to myself I can’t just skip over those flat and “is this all real/relevant” emotions. Maybe I need to ask myself if there were underlying reasons why they creep in every now and then.

After St Alf’s we went to Donvale again, then came back to walk the little fellow before the rains came back. I then put the week’s cook into a slow cooker, Tress cooked some long cook red rice, and we headed to The Glen for a bit of window shopping. Tress will be heading to Klang soon and we wanted to see if there were anything we can/wanted to to get for her trip.

We came back just a bit after 4pm, took the little fellow to the oval, and then came back home to pack away the cooked food. As I was cleaning up after, I thought about how flat I will continue to feel, particularly when Tress goes away. I need to deal with that a bit more in the next few days.

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Kiddo will hit a milestone birthday soon. I got her an RM Williams voucher and suggested she got those iconic boots. Those boots are so iconic that Aussie PMs wore them when they see US Presidents in the White House, so there you go… She received the voucher and they went shopping, and did pick up those boots. I hope she likes them and will cherish them in the years ahead.

We were in Canberra for Easter last year. So while we missed a few things that usually happen here in Melbourne this time of the year, we more than made up for it with all those days and hours with Abby, Kiddo and Mic. Those were precious moments.

This year, we celebrated Easter at home. A more familiar experience. On Thursday night, we had a home group (“Connect” Group) in our home, as the Longs were expecting another grandchild and we couldn’t meet in their home, which is the regular place the group met. We had a lovely time with the Churchwards and Davies and Juat along, with a few, other than the Longs, absent. The next day, we slept in a little bit and then a tradie came to fix a few things on the outside. The gates at the deck and the edgings on both the front and side/back lawns needed relaying. The guy (a really good bloke named Brent) came over a touch after 8am, and started work. We stayed in, and followed the Good Friday service at St Alf’s online. We then went to Knox for lunch and later, we just whiled away the day at the oval and at home.

On Saturday, we went to Ruth’s at Woodend. Nic and her beau had wanted to visit them and Ruth offered to cook us lunch (lamb, of course!), so we headed there, stopping at the Cross Memorial at Mount Macedon. We had a lovely time there, catching up with Jon, Ruth and Micah, as well as Graeme, Jon’s dad who came over from Tassie to visit them. Their property looked very dry and I’m thankful we’d had the rain overnight – hopefully their paddocks had a bit to drink as well. We left Woodend just before 4pm, and got home around 5.30pm and promptly headed across to the oval. The little Padawan had gone with us to Woodend, and appeared to be far less anxious on the car ride. He looked far happier running around in the oval, which is his playground.

On Sunday, St Alf’s was decked out with beautiful decos that showed a crucified King that rose again. Tress and I were both on communion duty and it was one of those services with heaps more people than usual so the communion was also over an extended period of time. After church, we went to usual lunch spot at Donvale, before coming home for an easy arvo. Tress headed to the FHC for an ethereal session while I walked the little fellow across the ovals again. We then did some grocery shopping.

On Monday, the weather took a turn – a very wet turn. We were meant to be at the G for the usual Easter Monday game between the Hawks and the Cats, but Tress was a bit apprehensive about the very wet (with thunderstorm too) so I suggested she stayed home. I braved the arvo myself and headed to the G. The rain did come down, and the last quarter was delayed as the thunderstorms were a hazard on-field. The Hawks were again beaten, albeit some fighting moments emerged in the second and the start of the last quarter. That’s 0-3 to start the season, and with United also languishing mid table, it looks like another year of doom and gloom for my teams…

Kiddo, Mic and Abby went to Sydney for the long weekend. They stayed with Caleb and Cariss and their boys, and the pictures we received from Kiddo and Mic suggest they had a great time, Abby included. Also, my brother turned 60 yesterday. We bought him a dinner in a nice joint in KL but he’ll likely use it later, and he said he will get “their parents” along. That will be nice.

It has been an Easter with more familiar routines. As always, I’m very grateful.

Hawthorn had its first home game of the 2024 season on Saturday. I had looked forward to it all week, in an otherwise yet another groundhog week. The Blackburn line was however, infected with that plague known as bus replacements so Tress and I did the usual thing and drove to Syndal station to catch the GW line into Richmond.

It was a horrible performance by the Hawks. Insipid. I felt like brewing a whole batch of coffee to offer to the new team, particularly the midfield. Actually the defence was very ordinary too. Just a very uninspiring and frustrating performance. It was a balmy day and I only had a thin t-shirt and a rain jacket of sorts (it had been drizzling earlier in the day) but at the G, the notorious draft/wind was cold and after each quarter Tress and I ducked out of the grounds to catch some sun to warm up. I wished the players caught some sun too, as the damped, cold and hopeless performance needed much boosting. In the end, Melbourne (Dees) beat us by well over 50 points and we went home subdued, with only being with the little fellow again the source of happiness…

The night before, Tress and I went to the Yaring Street Food joint in Mitcham for a bit of very good Thai. It had been a while since we were there and I wondered why, as the food is always good and the people there are always warm and friendly. Maybe it’s the “hole-in-the-wall” nature, and how small the place is, which meant if we lingered, it felt like we were taking up space to prevent a better table turnover. With just Tress and I there however, that was ok and we promptly left after our meal.

Earlier on Saturday, before that damp squib of a game, we got a tradie in to have a look at our deck gate/door, as well as some other works – the edge lines along the lawns needed replacement/fixing and the other door on the eastern side needed fixing too. Later, after the very friendly tradie had a look and took some picture to go away to provide an estimate, I took our long armed edge trimmer to a mower service shop on Springvale Road. I had damaged it the last time I worked on the hedges and bent the blade. The mower shop guy said they couldn’t do it and suggested I took it back to Bunnings to see if they could fix it. So I drove to Bunnings on Whitehorse Road but they couldn’t fix it either, so chances are that trimmer will now have to be binned. I’m sad. It has been a great 4-5 years but it’s still very newish so it hurts… 🙂 😦

On Sunday, David William spoke on John 13. It was about contrasting love as our world knows it today (“it’s about me”) and as Jesus showed in that passage (“it’s about selfless sacrifice”). I scribbled in my Supernote note taker:

“True Love – Sacrifices”

“False Love – Self First”

This morning, as I did my run and listened to Tim Keller in a podcast, he dived into describing how immense was Jesus’ love for us. It brought up in my mind, recent images of God’s love that is akin to a man’s love for his bride. It made me think about how better to love. That podcast also alluded to forgiveness and it also made me think about what Tress and I said about that over the weekend, as we thought about getting Jason and Mel together for dinner with A Hooi and U Marloney. We sometimes felt Jason appears to be uncomfortable to be amongsts folks from ICC/Gateway. He still is, probably. Forgiveness is hard. It however, can be very liberating. I hope that happens for Jason soon.

Tress and I were in Canberra from Thursday to Sunday. We left home around 9.30am on Thursday, and after dropping off the little guy at Heather’s, headed to Tullamarine and hopped onto a Rex flight. Not however, before a bit of drama. We had parked at the value car park and took the shuttle to the terminal and were heading up onto the departure lounge before I realised I left my body pouch in the car. It had my kindle, water bottle and the house key so it was worth the while to make a mad dash back to the carpark and retrieve it. Take two on the escalator and soon we were on board, headed up to the capital city.

We got in a bit before 2pm, and to our pleasant surprise, that little sweet pea took to us like we had never left, although it had been just shy of two months since we were there last.

The birthday was on the next day but the party was on Saturday, in a park not far from Kiddo and Mic’s home. It was a lovely party, with the kids enjoying themselves and the adults catching up on a cool and sunny morning in a beautiful park. The birthday girl had a colourful The Wiggles themed cake, which took centre stage when pics were taken.

Later that evening, we headed to Woden for a bite to eat in a Ramen place, as a pub we wanted to go to was swamped by fans of the Canberra Raiders, who had just won a game. The Ramen place was a good alternative – a lot more serene and the food was good.

We left on Sunday arvo, after visiting the Southside Bible Church. We took the 2.15pm flight, picked up the little fellow from Heather’s, and came home feeling very grateful. It has been a wonderful year of seeing a beautiful girl born and grown. I saw in Tress’ face, the joy and satisfaction of being with that amazing human being that is our granddaughter. It is a a level of joy and satisfaction that surpasses most of our current experiences. Seeing Kiddo, Mic and that little sweet pea always makes me think about whether there are enough factors that make remaining in Melbourne a more attractive option. For now, it is the settled cadence and familiarity. Melbourne is, for whatever reason, home. For now. There is more to process. Writing about that will need to happen another time.

It had been a very warm long weekend. A little bit strange that it is right after the official ending of summer, that we’ve had the longest spell of hot days. Just as well, that Daniel did not manage to visit Melbourne. It would not have been the pleasant experience we wished he would have had. There was a problem with his visa, just as he was about to check in for the flight. Apparently, the class of visa he was issued, required a transfer into his new passport and could not simply be attached to his old passport. It was a big disappointment for most of us, not least to Nic.

We went out for dinner with Nic and Jon on Friday anyway – went to an Italian place at The Glen. It was great catching up again, and after dinner we went around the shops in that mall and Nic and Jon picked up another gift for Abby – in addition to the cute little backpack they had already gotten for her.

On Saturday, we again slept in a little bit. We then walked the little fellow before we came back and did some quick cleaning. Tress vacuumed while I trimmed the hedges and mowed the lawns. I also had to drop into Bunnings to pick up some threads for the edger; we were to catch up with Nic and Jon again in Brandon Park for a bit of Malaysian food so it was a rushed morning with all that work to do. In the midst of the rushed work, I damaged the longer edge trimmer, which is now a bit bent. I’d have to figure out if it could be repaired, else it has to be a write off, which will be sad…

On Sunday, it was again very warm and St Alf’s felt a little sparse. It could be a combo of the long weekend and the very hot weather – it was already near 30deg when we were there. Again later that arvo, we found ourselves at home or at the mall, just finding places to cool down. I’m thankful Tress got the air conditioning replaced recently; it made coping with the heat so much easier.

Monday was Labour Day and it was again very warm. After a quick walk at the oval with the little fella, we went to Knox for brunch – an Asian serve of nasi lemak and soto ayam. It was to be another day with temperatures in the high 30s so we basically just chilled, between home and the FHC.

It could be the prolonged hear for several days but I got tired, and became easily agitated. The constant nagging stiffness and ache of the back did not help. As I sat on the couch to book the airport parking last night, I fretted that we had to do this – the faffing around with flights, transfers, parking and all those painful bits that come with air travel. I’d much quicker jump in a car and make that long drive than mucking around with all those painful bits. Somehow, dealing with airlines, airport and all that come with those, is never pleasant. Not for the last time, I fretted that it takes so much just to be with people we care about. It gets cooler after tomorrow; hopefully it changes how I feel…

The last 3 weekends have seen Tress and I more on less on groundhog day modes, with small modifications of course.

On Friday, we did a home barbie to welcome the weekend. We were both spent, and staying home was just what felt best. It’s also easier on the hip pocket. Everything costs more now, particularly eating out, and often, I don’t get the feeling that we’re getting anything special or that is really different. The biggest thing is the serving size – eating in on home cooked meals just work better in this regard. Being tired at the end of the week also had something to do with it, but I have to say the St Alf’s home group meeting on Thursday, though it took a bit out of me as I was leading the discussion, did make me feel a touch rejuvenated. Physically however, I felt every ounce of juice drained out of my reservoir and I had wanted to just sleep on Saturday.

On Saturday, we did sleep in but I didn’t feel well rested. We took the little fellow for a leisurely walk, then came home and changed into something more presentable for a quick brunch in an Asian cafe in Knox. They have some lovely Malaysian food there and we both just felt like having some. We drove there late morning and no sooner had we ordered and sat down when we saw Kok Eng and Li Lin walk in. They live close to that cafe so they’ve been coming regularly whereas it was only our second time. We chatted for a bit to catch up.

When we got home close to noon, the house further down our street that has been on the market, was to be auctioned off and the crowd had built up. We mossied there after a little while, and stood around as the auctioneers did their thing. It got sold for a bit over the listed price but that was expected. In spite of what real estate agents claim, under quoting is still rampant and it was never going to sell for the $1.3-$1.4m range that it quoted for. It got sold for $1.471m.

Later that arvo, we went and did some grocery shopping at the Glen, but we also went to David Jones there and a few other shops, to look for a birthday gift for Abby. Later that night, my mum rang and we chatted for a bit, and she also asked that we gave Abby an angpow on her behalf. It would be a biggie…

On Sunday at St Alf’s someone asked me to stand in for communion duty – the person I replaced is an elderly man and he was a touch indisposed so I acted on his behalf. It was also a bit cooler, and for the first time since summer began, I was in my jeans and shirt sleeves with a jacket – just as well as I felt a touch more presentable while on duty 🙂

Back home in the arvo after lunch at our usual joint in Donvale, I did the usual cook while Tress again went to Peter James to visit an ex-colleague. Later that evening, we took the little fellow to the oval again for his third walk and soiree for the day. I had felt far less tired by then – the weekend has finally injected some juice back into me battery but of course, it is the end of the weekend again. Later that evening, we exchanged messages with Kiddo on WhatsApp. Bryan, Tress’ nephew will be married in August (in Malaysia). There’s also a Teh reunion thingo in December (also in Malaysia). We also have two other weddings here in Melbourne – one each in June and July, so there’ll be a bit of calendar juggling going on, although we’d almost certainly not be at the December event. With us trekking up north in a couple of weeks and Tress then heading for Malaysia a few weeks after that, those other events as the year ploughs on, would all add up to a year of travels that will feel like I’d have travelled more than I would have liked to. Who knows however, it’s always interesting – exciting even – to anticipate what’s around the bend. For the moment, I’m just happy to look forward to next week when we see little Abby again for her first birthday.