Now for something completely different

[ceeceeDee]

22 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

With so much happening, I forgot to mention no power and no internet access.  

Wishing everyone all the joys of belated Christmas, good health and every happiness in  the New Year.

We fly to Auckland on 10/1 for my cruise departing 12/1.  

 

Usual favourite things in Auckland - 

War Memorial Museum

Parnell Rose Gardens

Waiheke Island

Davenport Auckland.

 

I have a day and a half,  Whilst my daughter has three and a half days, 

We were so fortunate to be holidaying in northern NSW hinterland over Christmas. Uninterrupted power, free wifi and a pool, with the added bonus of being able to take our dog and cat, so no boarding fees. Just the cat performing the hallelujah chorus in the key of C lamenting the indignity of travelling to and from in the cat carrier. Explaining to ginger britches that at least the car is air conditioned just elicited a key change in fortissimo.😾😂

Hope you have a wonderful cruise, MM, and looking forward to hearing all about it. 

[MMDown Under]

2 minutes ago, ceeceeDee said:

We were so fortunate to be holidaying in northern NSW hinterland over Christmas. Uninterrupted power, free wifi and a pool, with the added bonus of being able to take our dog and cat, so no boarding fees. Just the cat performing the hallelujah chorus in the key of C lamenting the indignity of travelling to and from in the cat carrier. Explaining to ginger britches that at least the car is air conditioned just elicited a key change in fortissimo.😾😂

Hope you have a wonderful cruise, MM, and looking forward to hearing all about it. 

Our female whippet just shook and shook.  I slept though it all.  

My daughter, who has lived in tornado alley in the USA, said it was just like a tornado.

[ceeceeDee]

3 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

Our female whippet just shook and shook.  I slept though it all.  

My daughter, who has lived in tornado alley in the USA, said it was just like a tornado.

Poor puppy.🥺 Our girl is a Labrador, a gun dog breed, so loud noises (storms, fireworks, etc) don't faze her at all. We had winds and thunder storms at the B&B and she didn't even lift her head whilst reclining on the couch.🤗

[NSWP]

On 12/23/2023 at 11:27 AM, Mareblu said:

Fond wishes and thoughts to all on this thread (my favourite) from our home to yours.  Double that to Lyle and Lyn across the Pacific, who started it all.

xx Linda and Mario

🙏🏻🎄🎉🎅🧑‍🎄🍀🌟

Uncle Les seconds that, belatedly.

 

[Blackduck59]

Happy New Year everyone. I trust you all had your own celebrations last night and I hope a good time was had by all. Perhaps you will have a nice brunch or afternoon tea to mark today. We will be having a very low key evening tonight and maybe do a nice brunch tomorrow.

So a Happy and Healthy New Year to all, full of great adventures and happy homecomings.

Cheers, Lyle & Lynn

[Mareblu]

Thank you, Lyle and Lynn, for your kind words and wishes.  They are returned many times over.

[Bubbeh]

We had a late night on NYE, watched two episodes of Call the Midwife and an episode of Vera then into bed at 11pm.  Almost made it to the bewitching hour 😉 .  Mind you we did better than the last few years when we barely made it past 9:30!  And to think I used to laugh at people that didn't party on the 31st, I swore that I would never get that old and fuddy duddy.  Oh, the arrogance and folly of youth!

[JohnGc]

On 12/29/2023 at 10:14 AM, Jean C said:

🥴

 

Yep, from Christmas day until new years day without power, All food in the fridge /freezers perished including 3 kg prawns a big leg of Ham & all the bulk dogs food in a chest freezer. 😭  The housing estate has many trees broken in half and uprooted and is going to take a big clean up. We are still better off than the people on Mount Tamborine who copped it worse. The area is now dealing with floods from the torrential rain ( now where did I put my wet suit ) and just to top it off we had a heat wave all that time with no air conditioner, thank you very much Father Christmas. 😂

Edited January 2 by JohnGc

[Jean C]

24 minutes ago, JohnGc said:

Yep, from Christmas day until new years day without power, All food in the fridge /freezers perished including 3 kg prawns a big leg of Ham & all the bulk dogs food in a chest freezer. 😭  The housing estate has many trees broken in half and uprooted and is going to take a big clean up. We are still better off than the people on Mount Tamborine who copped it worse. The area is now dealing with floods from the torrential rain ( now where did I put my wet suit ) and just to top it off we had a heat wave all that time with no air conditioner, thank you very much Father Christmas. 😂

I'm so sorry to hear that, it must have been awful for those affected 😪

[ceeceeDee]

14 minutes ago, Jean C said:

I'm so sorry to hear that, it must have been awful for those affected 😪

What is even worse is that I was reading this morning where there are unconfirmed reports of looting on Mt Tamborine. Some people are absolute GRUBS!!! And I hope the authorities catch up with them and throw the book at them. Thievery is bad enough, but stealing from people who are already suffering deprivation is the absolute lowest of the low. Bring back the stocks, I'd happily throw rotten eggs at them (and those would probably be in abundance with all the food spoilage).😠

[JohnGc]

Just now, Jean C said:

I'm so sorry to hear that, it must have been awful for those affected 😪

Thanks Jean, It was not very nice especially when you are in your 80s. We panicked when all the power went off and it was a good job we did not know how long for.It is amazing how you adapt. The worst part is we lost all communication no internet and no phone signal only sos so we had no idea what was happening.Shows how reliant we are on the electricity. We had nothing to cook on ( electric cooker ) and we ended up eating unhealthy with fast foods. Some people had generators and I did think about buying one to keep the fridge /freezers going but my mind kept saying you have lived here for ten years and the power has only been off once for 2 hrs, as soon as you buy it the power will be back on.😊

[JohnGc]

2 minutes ago, ceeceeDee said:

What is even worse is that I was reading this morning where there are unconfirmed reports of looting on Mt Tamborine. Some people are absolute GRUBS!!! And I hope the authorities catch up with them and throw the book at them. Thievery is bad enough, but stealing from people who are already suffering deprivation is the absolute lowest of the low. Bring back the stocks, I'd happily throw rotten eggs at them (and those would probably be in abundance with all the food spoilage).😠

Yes I read that. It is so disappointing. Fortunately they are in the minority as most people will rally around to help. We had offers from people with power to go to their house for a meal and sit in the aircon. Although they offered us to take our 2 dogs as well we felt inclined to decline.

[Mareblu]

Yours is the true spirit of Christmas:  courage and acceptance in adversity, and caring for the plight of others, to name a few of the enviable qualities I glimpse in your story.  Wishing and fervently hoping your lives are returned to normal as rapidly as possible.  You deserve a happy, untroubled year of good health and tranquility.  Hang in there.

[lyndarra]

https://www.choice.com.au/home-and-living/kitchen/fridges/articles/foods-you-do-and-dont-need-to-refrigerate

This may help.

[JohnGc]

2 hours ago, lyndarra said:

https://www.choice.com.au/home-and-living/kitchen/fridges/articles/foods-you-do-and-dont-need-to-refrigerate

This may help.

That is very helpful. Thank you 👍

[ilikeanswers]

5 hours ago, ceeceeDee said:

What is even worse is that I was reading this morning where there are unconfirmed reports of looting on Mt Tamborine. Some people are absolute GRUBS!!! And I hope the authorities catch up with them and throw the book at them. Thievery is bad enough, but stealing from people who are already suffering deprivation is the absolute lowest of the low. Bring back the stocks, I'd happily throw rotten eggs at them (and those would probably be in abundance with all the food spoilage).😠

 

I haven't read the Mount Tamborine story but are we certain they are not cut off people who ran out of resources? Sometimes looting can be out of desperation if you are cut off for longer than expected. I remember that happened during one of Florida’s hurricanes, people were pretty peeved about being labelled looters😂. They even paid for the stuff they took when the shop owners returned. 

[MMDown Under]

11 hours ago, JohnGc said:

Yep, from Christmas day until new years day without power, All food in the fridge /freezers perished including 3 kg prawns a big leg of Ham & all the bulk dogs food in a chest freezer. 😭  The housing estate has many trees broken in half and uprooted and is going to take a big clean up. We are still better off than the people on Mount Tamborine who copped it worse. The area is now dealing with floods from the torrential rain ( now where did I put my wet suit ) and just to top it off we had a heat wave all that time with no air conditioner, thank you very much Father Christmas. 😂

I have a vintage General Motors Fridge, which I couldn't give away, which I turn on every Christmas to keep excess food and drinks really cold.  When we lost power, like everyone else, my daughter was able to buy two bags of ice from Woolies.  Local servo had sold out of ice.  I just checked a week later, there is a little of Woolies ice left, but the freezer is frozen over and badly needing defrosting.  All content kept in perfect condition.  Who would have thought this old fridge would have saved the day at Christmas/New Year 2023/24! Its previous claim to fame was the coldest drinks and watermelon in Queensland hot summers. 

[NSWP]

19 hours ago, JohnGc said:

Yep, from Christmas day until new years day without power, All food in the fridge /freezers perished including 3 kg prawns a big leg of Ham & all the bulk dogs food in a chest freezer. 😭  The housing estate has many trees broken in half and uprooted and is going to take a big clean up. We are still better off than the people on Mount Tamborine who copped it worse. The area is now dealing with floods from the torrential rain ( now where did I put my wet suit ) and just to top it off we had a heat wave all that time with no air conditioner, thank you very much Father Christmas. 😂

Feel sorry for you. My sister at Currumbin and brother at Nerang had the same issues, they had house loads of visitors too from UK, NSW and NZ.   Reminds me of the bushfires down here, no power for nearly 2 weeks. I bet your supermarkets are busy, people restocking.

Edited January 2 by NSWP

[JohnGc]

25 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Feel sorry for you. My sister at Currumbin and brother at Nerang had the same issues, they had house loads of visitors too from UK, NSW and NZ.   Reminds me of the bushfires down here, no power for nearly 2 weeks. I bet your supermarkets are busy, people restocking.

Thanks Les, That was terrible for your sister & brother. It was bad enough for us let alone having visitors. Only bought a few essentials as we need confidence that the power is going to stay on. The wife said the supermarket shelves were fairly bare. The disaster fund pay out for the  the food that was perished will be a big help, it does not cover for what we lost but I am grateful for what we got. You having no power for 2 weeks during the bushfire was a long time we found 6 days was bad enough. We feel lucky though after seeing the houses on Mount Tamborine that got smashed and I am not sure if they have power yet as it is going to take a long time to renew all the power equipment. They were talking about getting them on generators. 

Cheers John.

Edited January 2 by JohnGc

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, JohnGc said:

Thanks Les, That was terrible for your sister & brother. It was bad enough for us let alone having visitors. Only bought a few essentials as we need confidence that the power is going to stay on. The wife said the supermarket shelves were fairly bare. The disaster fund pay out for the  the food that was perished will be a big help, it does not cover for what we lost but I am grateful for what we got. You having no power for 2 weeks during the bushfire was a long time we found 6 days was bad enough. We feel lucky though after seeing the houses on Mount Tamborine that got smashed and I am not sure if they have power yet as it is going to take a long time to renew all the power equipment. They were talking about getting them on generators. 

Cheers John.

I seem to recall parts of  tamborine mountain requires power for water.

[JohnGc]

22 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

I seem to recall parts of  tamborine mountain requires power for water.

 

22 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

I seem to recall parts of  tamborine mountain requires power for water.

Yes I do believe that is correct. Not a good situation.🫤 

[ceeceeDee]

1 minute ago, JohnGc said:

 

Yes I do believe that is correct. Not a good situation.🫤 

Quite dire, actually. Apparently Energex are going to have to replace the entire grid as the damage is too extensive to repair

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, MMDown Under said:

I seem to recall parts of  tamborine mountain requires power for water.

Unlike parts of Tasmania require water for power.

[Blackduck59]

59 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Unlike parts of Tasmania require water for power.

 

Pretty much all of British Columbia uses water for power😉

[Blackduck59]

We had snags for supper. The plate fillers are beetroot, a jacket potato and some pickled cauliflower.