The Life and Times of Peter Green
Archive: 20 September - 3 October 2021
"Finally get a chance to enjoy some sunshine at the beach. Brighton 2021". Photo by Abby.
September 20thBanshee wakes me up early yet again. Bloody cats! I couldn't go back to sleep, which is annoying as it is miserable outside. Where is that sunshine? Thankfully by lunch the sun breaks through and I head off to give Mr Troy a massage. I had the right energy today, felt perfect and a bit healing. Afterwards we took off on the Norton to Monbulk and he shouted me a great coffee at Empire. It gave me the chance to grab some vegies and finally anew Sim card for the new mobile. So now just have to set that up which I'm sure will be a pain in the arse. I truly detest mobile phones.I get home mid afternoon and all I hear are the sounds of crashing trees across the road from us. The neighbours are removing the dangerous trees and they are huge, the earth shakes. A quick storm hits- wind, bucketing down with rain and hail. The tree work stops and I am thankful I am not out on the motorbike during all of this. I spend most of the afternoon replying to Emails-all of them great. It's funny, I love hearing from people but I never wish the old days of 10,000 emails a day back into my life-ever. It was good to make that effort but people don't realise just how it almost killed me, hour after hour of replies. I head to the house in the afternoon & make Lasagne for dinner. I look at my to do list. Call Noel (Crombie) was on it, so tried. It's a bit like Warhol with his silver phone calling "God". A bit odd as I keep getting a disconnected message on the number. God has gone awol. I email Nige as I'm sure he will know. I guess I can scribble "Call Noel" off the list as I did try-a few times. Back to the office at 7.39 PM, maybe for an hour. Am tempted to start work on another file drawer- looking for "treasures". I did find 2 packets of negatives, but they are always fiddly and have to use the scanner etc. Maybe tomorrow. I soak away in the tub for a bit with Concrete Blonde's magnificent "Bloodletting" album keeping me company. September 21stI'm almost laughing at the "Tradies" protest in the city. All those new clean bots and sparkly just out of the box vests- cleanest bunch of Tradies I've ever seen. So obviously fake Tradie Karens paid by the day to cause trouble. All this will do is extended Covid - bunch of morons.A friend needed some more disaster images for a report so I headed out & decided to check out the Ricketts Sanctuary Tea Rooms and boy what a mess still. Most of the Tea Room needs rebuilding and still countless big trees down. The good news is that the 2 main Ricketts art pieces out the front are ok and escape destruction. A bit more climbing among broken tree limbs again but I manage to get the images. I need a coffee after all of that so call into Montage & the girls whip up one for me. I'm in the office for most of the afternoon and some of the evening. I decided THE KILLERS "Direct Hits" is worthy of a play. Loved them from their first single "Mr Brightside". "Jealousy, turning saints into the sea, Swimming through sick lullabies, choking on your alibis, But it's just the price I pay, destiny is calling me, Open up my eager eyes, 'cause I'm Mr. Brightside"! September 22ndEarthquake!!!! That's the problem recently living in a disaster zone where 35,000 trees have come down, each load noise you think it's more falling trees heading towards your house. It wasn't but the 5.6 earthquake that just rocked Kalorama certainly was unnerving & this one seemed to go for awhile. Miss Banshee runs inside with that "what the FK" expression that only a cat can have! Ailsa Craig (Kalorama) is almost 100 years old & she must of seen a lot of Earthquakes. So far from this mornings no new cracks but every gold record award in the office is now hanging at an angle. Oh well they needed a dusting anyway. "If Kalorama's a Rockin' Don't Come A Knockin'"!!!!! #IShakeWithDan trending nicely!I love it when a Z grade "actor" bans me from his Sheepbook page because I called him out for being the hypocritical tosser that he is. Oh how will I ever sleep at night! Sometimes one just has to call a spade a spade. We loved the Michael Caine "My Generation" documentary on the 60's. Lots of sixties celebs chatting, nice to see & hear Miss Penelope Tree making an appearance. Worth watching. September 23rdA fine sunny day here on the mountain. I feel a bit at loss as to what to do with my day. My first task is to phone my car insurance people and find out why they have taken so long to take their money out of my bank account. Usually companies rush to do so, almost instantly. They assure me all is well. OK, I'll keep it for my 3 cents interest.I have a big pile of Nick (Seymour) negatives and some of mine on the floor. Time consuming but I start on them at 1.00 PM. I'd say every second one would be Paul Hester naked! Shock horror- my first negative and yes it's Paulo-with clothes on. Just waking up in the infamous LA Crowded House. Am hoping for some gems -from both of us. I always forget how tedious it is scanning so many. It was good to see an easier layout of Victoria's road to recovery on Dan Andrews FB page. I look forward to the day when we can have 30 people at our place for Christmas! A bit more chainsawing at our place, and a tiny burn pile. It never really ends but we certainly have made a dent. Mark keeps running around going "do you want me to chainsaw, please please". He'll have to go to a meeting soon "I am Mark I have a chainsaw problem". See that's what happens when you watch The Chainsaw Massacre one too many times at the Surrey Rd house in the eighties! Addiction! A really nice long chat to our buddy Warwick tonight. We are all eager to catch up. September 24thAnother week goes by rather quickly. I never have the feeling that I've done as much as i could. I think I need to stuff more into my day.Sis gets in contact & the Steve Kilbey Church Songs shows are put back again in Melbourne-no surpirse-now it's January 2022. It's ok, we just roll with it. Off the mountain for our grocery shopping and the supermarket is packed. We get a super fast check out girl- so the wait isn't too bad. Really nice tandoori rolls for lunch today. On the way home we pass 3 Red Holden Rodeo's like ours. We give our secret Rodeo club wave. My wheatgrass is looking perfect, doubled in height in the last few days , I think a week to go and then i can start cutting it for juice. Good for digestion, a bit of detoxifying and great for stomach stuff. I seem to have a bit more energy when I have some in the morning. I drove to Olinda tonight to grab some food from a local restaurant and was really happy to see the Olinda Pizza shop doing a roaring trade. Duncan the owner helped us a lot during the disaster so this was good to see. I called our mate Giles for his Birthday, just caught them as they were going out- tried not to explain why i was wearing black leather furry handcuffs at the time! Seriously do not ask! (: Some sleet on the windscreen driving home, the night has a cold bite to it. Maybe that's why my handcuffs were woolen lined? Freaky moment in the office tonight, had an urge to play both "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Godspell" soundtracks! Is that weird? The cd versions are crap compared to the Australian Cast Recording LPS. God save the people ...Indeed! JC keeping me i company in the office while I scan endless negatives ... again! Amen. September 25thI find Geoff Wawro from Abandoned Engineering rather cool. Out of all of them he has a bit of sex appeal and articulate without a brutal American accent. He is a professor of military history at the University of North Texas. We are really enjoying the show, so many decaying fascinating structures around the world. Rare that i 'follow" anyone on Twitter but yes Wawro I am stalking., I mean "following"! I like his style.NSW about to hit 300 dead from Covid D - not very good. I feel so sad for the families, I wonder if things would of been different if Berejiklian locked down sooner. Victoria has had 20 deaths in the same time period. I head to Olinda to grab some bread, pies and a coffee from the girls at The Deli. I compliment my coffee making friend on her magpie tattoos, and show her my Gryphon tattoo. A cold old night up here, I use the last of this years firewood. We have 2 years worth of the freshly cut wood but that needs to season for 12 months. September 26thWhat a beautiful day on the mountain. I cook some baked potatoes for lunch - adding lots of extra stuff into them. I eat them while overseeing guard duty of my wheatgrass that is getting some sun on the decking. I don't trust the cockatoos- I'm sure it is way too tempting, all those wheatgrass seeds. By 2.00 PM Mark joins me and we are both sitting around the big glass table enjoying the sunshine, our books and each others company. Miss Banshee jumps up and sits on my lap - a hallmark moment.I didn't realise the climbing rose around my bedroom window was so insane. So the afternoon is spent cutting it back and making room for the ladder so yours truly can climb up and clean the gutters. Well not the entire gutters as that would take days , just the one segment that had some strange plant growing in it. It's a bit wobbly but i trust Mark to hold it, even if I did nearly squash his fingers with my chunky work boots. So nice outside, I wish we would have more of these days, the mountain still needs a good drying out. Sad news filters in that Status Quo's bassist Alan Lancaster passed away. I did hear that he was battling MS for awhile. RIP. Meanwhile I had an energy crash late afternoon. I needed some sleep and warmth inside. 4 hrs later & I finally wake up. September 27thBanshee up at 4.58. I'm in the kitchen preparing some food for her & 2 tiny aftershocks happen from the recent earthquake. You probably wouldn't notice them, I did. One piece of art went sideways and our Hillary Clinton nutcracker fell off the window pane head first into my lush wheatgrass. Poor ol' Hillary. Banshee looks up and continues to eat her food- just tiny quakes baby I reassure her.I start on some ceiling work inside Ailsa Craig today, just some tiny Winter mould. The Pool Room is the worst so that gets done last-one must have the vibe. The entry area near the decking is todays chore and it comes up perfect. After that i call the insurance people as they need to pull their finger out while the weather is good and get these final few things done, I know Covid slows everything down, we are trying to be patient. Work with Marky outside in the sunshine, a small burn pile - the yard is starting to look great. We watch Part 1 of the Obama documentary- fantastic. It makes you realise what an obese dumb fuck Donald Trump is. What an embarrassment to America Chump is. I'm not really amazed that some were suckered by him, lots of stupid people in the USA. September 28thWe awake this morning to the sound of chainsaws on this glorious day. I was hoping it was the guy removing the one last giant tree stump but no, the house across from us-they have dozens of trees that need doing. It really is an exceptional day, we love this time of year on the mountain.This diary clicks over 623,000 views- so thank you for that. During Covid it seems like we have a lot more readers. I recall emailing Deb when I was over the moon when we had 1000 all those years ago, so 623,000 is mind blowing-thank you. I get a call so off to Brighton. Sandringham hospital going to give me a vaccine jab. The beauty of so little traffic on the road meant we arrived at Sandringham very early so time to go to Dendy street Beach at Brighton for a swim. I love those Brighton Bathing Boxes. I meet this cool young Mum called Abby, takes a few snaps of me. Rare but i like them! Troy is off buying us choc-top icecreams after the swim. My vaccination happened at Sandringham, Troy being a Dr charmed them as well. The staff were very very efficient. They were really moving people through , got a few head honcho's to chat with me over a few concerns. 15 minutes in the observation room-and I felt fine. Things changed about 4 hours later- the predicted aches, dehydration, cold sweats and that warm fussy feeling like I'm stoned. i could handle the last. Thankfully I was looked after and this will pass within 3 days. Even this shitty ending to the day couldn't take away the wonderful swim and fun at the beach. I so needed it. September 29thA horrid night due to the vaccine, zero sleep and feel like crap. Sis sends me a nice surprise of gourmet marshmallows from Alfys on line, so that made me feel better. I needed to get some bits & pieces at Olinda and I was driving so slow , just felt I couldn't trust myself and in case I fainted. I was like some old fart in a beat up Rodeo putt putting along. Is that my future?Nice afternoon chat with Dean, i love it when our mates fuss. After that, Miss Wendy and my friend Caz. All checking that I'm not in a hospital. Am feeling the love everyone. September 30thI'm still a bit out of it and sleeping a lot. There is a knock on the door at 8.00 AM and no idea where Mark is. Well i think it was a knock, I'm hallucinating a bit. There is a guy standing there smiling. "I'm here with my robotic rooter". All i could do was giggle like a 12 year old school boy- told you i am out of it. Root means something very different in Australia. Turns out he is the chap that's going to get rid of the massive tree roots and has some funky machine to do so. I walk him to the spot and head back to bed.I email my wicca friend Marilyn about a particular Rune image I saw in an awakening dream, she knew pretty much what i knew. It's a bit odd, a combination of a few things. I draw it in my diary and make a note to follow it up. I fall back into a deep sleep. Mark wakes me for lunch and we check on the progress of the rooting man! He's done an amazing job. So good i call the insurance company and let them know how happy we are. October 1stI am much better today, 99% so. Extra good news is that the NSW Premier Berejiklian has resigned. Good riddance she is such a stinker. She put her ego ahead of the people of NSW and ignored health advice to lock down by health officials. Her incompetence is part of the reason why NSW has daily double digit death figures from Covid D. The only state to do so. NSW has 378 deceased while Victoria has 49. Premier Andrews locked down swiftly, he listened to health advice. Good riddance to Berejiklian I say. A good day for NSW.I organise a photo shoot for Andy White, he seems pretty happy how it went. hard to do in a Covid world, everyone doing the right thing. October 2ndOur first Tier 1 infection up here & it's one of the places I visit. The Deli at Olinda. They certainly could of handled the sending out of advice better. So much confusion. A lot of angry Hills people up here around this. I try to calm some down. A few listen to reason. It seems ok for my 1 date that i visited the Deli. Think i dodged a bullet. A lot of mates are isolating. Looks like I visited on the only good day & my vaccine sickness stopped me on the others. So many rumours, half truths, and a hell of a lot of fear. I guess it had to happen we've all escaped Covid for far too long.A few more rats have deserted the SS Liberal in NSW - up to three now. October 3rdWe loved the first Wonder Woman movie , so we settled in last night to watch WW '84 on cable. What a truly dog with fleas movie, the only superhero movie we have turned off half way. So sad that someone managed to destroy the franchise in one foul swoop. So we watched the latest Abandoned Engineering instead. Far more thrilling that Prof. Geoff Wawro had undone one more button on his shirt then the entire first 85 mins of WW '84. Plus excited that this episode also had Dr Lynette Nusbacher on the cast- who is secretly our old house mate Gina with a huskier voice. M&M you were both right about WW' 84 -terrible.I was buying our Halloween pumpkin at Woolworths and Crowded House "Weather with You" started playing over the store PA. It's strangely a really good song to shop along to! The good ol' days , it all comes rushing back. Found a funky Finn version of the song, link below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4_im_rL2_o Tomorrow Victoria wins the Gold for the most locked down city in the world. We have both handled it really well I think, not a big fuss at all. We both feel safer because of it. I'm just glad that our friends are safe and Covid free. Stay happy Peter |