The Life and Times of Peter Green
Archive: 22 June - 7 July 2024
 "We love our Aussie beaches, even in Winter." (Wollongong 2024). |
June 22ndOur Split Enz MURDER video has now jumped past 8000 views. Several months old now but people keep discovering it and sharing it. It's taking on a life of it's own which is magnificent. There is some talk that it might be part of the video area at the Australian Music Vault at the Arts Centre. I'll need to speak to the band around that.Week #3 for Crowded House's "Gravity Stairs" and as I always say, you can usually tell if the general public love an album during weeks #3 and #4. It drops from #82 to #136 so out of the top 100. Not looking good. I've moved on, to the huge pile of unplayed CDs in the office. I'm finding so many gems. Maybe the tour will turn it around for the Crowdies record? Tahlia gives us cake. Yum. June 23rdI chat to Moss the Vet while sitting in the sun. We both spotted the big black wombat near the Tourist road today, He's oblivious to everything, just wants to eat and run around in the grass. Moss asks how Midnight is doing. Nice that he cares.So why did the chicken cross the road? To show the possum it could be done. I think of that joke as I spot numerous Possum road kill on the way home today. June 24thI hear from Stephen Cummings around The Sports live gig poster I put up, so that was nice. We LOVED seeing The Sports live when we were kids. A fun band.I wander around the yard watering plants, via our big water tanks. Between the tanks and the solar our bills are still small. $55.00 for 3 months of electricity-not bad. I hope the predictions are true , a possible wipe out of the Conservatives in England. Some say 3/4 of the current British cabinet might well lose their seats. Good. Fingers crossed. I detest Conservatives. Out of touch dinosaurs that got lost on the way to the political tar puts. Sis calls me and she has phoned an ambulance for Mum to take her to the hospital, she isn't good. Insane it took 9 hours to arrive. June 25thJune Lockhart turns 99 today. Yes Mrs Robinson from Lost In Space.Hide it in a hiding place where no Ione ever goes. Put it in the pantry with your cup cakes. Coo,Coo,Ca-choo Mrs Robinson. Happy Birthday to Mr TIM FINN too, 72. I send him an email to wish him well. The reissue of ESCAPADE on Red Vinyl loos great. Only 500 made. I spend a big part of my day on the phone to the hospital around Mum. Worried and hate she is going through this. My sister is mighty. June 26thI visit Chantelle at Hair for the Hills for a snip and dye job. Short hair again, so cold maybe I should have kept it long. It's a good cut. People make compliments.Markys Youtube Wednesday today. Split Enz, the rehearsal at Christchurch 2008. GIVE IT A WHIRL. I like the way I filmed the start , the sparse empty bit in front of the stage and straight onto the band. It's a pretty cool version. We have dinner at The Tavern, and Sis calls with the bad news on Mum. A fractured disc on her spine plus so me other stuff. None of this is good. June 27thAt charity, Carol tells me to take whatever time I need around Mum. The girls fuss over me, my head is in another place. I'm seriously worried about her. Old age is shit.June 28thNot much sleep and I leave home at 5.00 am. It's dark and rather spooky on the mountain this time of morning. I swear I see ghosts floating by the way side as I head down off the mountain. The Red Beast will protect me, Wicca blessed and tough. It might just be the brakes but sometimes I think she snarls and hisses.I arrive at the frequent flyer lounge and thankfully it is open. I notice my flight is cancelled but the lady at the desk switches me over, to a slightly earlier one so that benefits me. I have only carry on luggage. Some food, a nice coffee, I'm struggling to stay awake. I have my travel pillow so I sink down in my seat by the window and just relax. I pretend I am asleep for most of the fight to Sydney. Hire car all fine, Sydney airport still looks like a disaster zone. The drive home is fine. I have the urge for junk food so call into Hungry Jacks half way and recharge. I drive down Bulli Pass and the ‘Gong looks rather beautiful. I call into Sis's work and it is so good to see her. We hug like we will never let go. She gives me the spare keys for Mums and I head home and feed the dog and put my bags inside. I drive straight to the hospital. Security doors and a horrid Covid room just down from her. I'm shocked at how frail she looks, her eyes so sad. She gives me a Mum smile from somewhere in the middle of her exhaustion. "SURPRISE" I go. She's happy I am home. I stay for an hour and promise to return. I hand over a giant bunch of the most beautiful flowers and a card. Very sad none of the other people in the wards have flowers , no cards, not even visitors. It''s a shit to be old for many. I promise Mum I will return tonight and head home. I redo Mums room a bit , just new bed covers and sheets, a bit of a vac and feed the critters. Her dog settles down with me, the first time I've never seen it speedily crazy. I unpack, shower etc. The house seems so empty. I keep myself busy all afternoon, call Marky and I get a tiny bit teary when he says he misses me. Think I'm a bit exhausted too. Late afternoon I do the drive down the coast to the hospital again. I meet some of Mums medical staff and they are nice, a young Dr so good to me, well us. I like his tattoo's. Stay with Mum till her dinner arrives. I bring her some bananas as she likes them and they are good for her. I call Sis and she speaks to Mum . Her kids love her. She knows that. June 29thI must of been worn out, I sleep well. It's not very late, so I head down to Kreama & Co , the Cafe down the road and order a toasty and a some coffee. They remember my name which is cool. I like Kreama as they play loads of local music. I ask her what is on and she says Royel Otis debut album. I love the bit of The Cure inspiration in some of their songs. I make a note to buy "Pratts & Pain". Got to support Aussie Music.Morning visit to Mum but before I do I go the extra way to the Kiama Blowhole. The weather has turned, cold, wet and the sea spray is crazy yet the blowhole is boringly in mute mode. I am the only crazy person who hikes in the wet to the cliffs, all the other tourists stay in their warm cars, whimps. Mums seems a tiny bit better today, we chat, even laugh. She enjoys her lunch . I stay for 2 hours. The drive doesn't seem as long now. I return again with Sis and MIM later today . It must be sad for Maddison to see Nan like this. We go for a walk to grab some water and we talk about "Boys". LOL. Dinner tonight with Maddie, Sis and her hubby Mark. We go to Collegians. Boy has it changed since we went as young teenagers to see bands. We were nearly always underaged but got in. Sis says she was trying to get Cold Chisel tickets for their tour later this year. I tell her we saw Chisel at Collegians and it was $4.00! Shit we are old. The food tonight was great but so much. Too much. I rarely eat such big meals. Mim has Sis and myself do some invented (MIM) dance as she films it for her friends. Well thanks (NOT). We will always do whatever Maddie wants, no matter how silly. June 30thMy last day at home, I have to get back for some scans again on my heel. It's 50% improved already so that is good.I get my times wrong and it's not 10.00 am it's only 8.00 am. No wonder the cafe is empty. Before Mum I venture to Shellharbour North Beach. Suns out and it feels warm. The locals all in giant puffer coats complaining that it is cold. I am in a t-shirt and strip down for a swim. I only scream a bit when I hit the cold water. Hmmm I am the only person in the water. I sit and soak up some sun rays, this is nice, a tiny meditation too. Next the hospital , Mum was sick last night so not great today. But she requests more bananas from me and I have some with me. She looks sleepy so I sit with her while she naps. Just holding her hand. I check in using my Qantas App, so thats done. Home again and I clean up a few things and go through the fridge as Mum won't be home for awhile. The dog sits next to me , looking up with his big doggy eyes. Sis picks me up and we have coffee and she buys me a new cover for my phone. We talk about "stuff" which is good. Still so close after all of these years. Next down to the hospital and we hang out with Mum. I tell her I am flying back tomorrow and she is fine. I promise to come back up. I squash some bits into my carry on and sit alone in the quiet house. It still feels weird. July 1stNot much sleep and I wake up every early. I feed the dog and off I go into the darkness again.The Pass is scary, my hire car surrounded by huge trucks which seem to be going way too fast. I eventually escape them and head to Sydney airport. Goodbye Wollongong. The Qantas Club lady recognises me and spoils me totally. She also gets me on the first early flight and upgraded to Business. . So nice of her. The sun begins to rise when my flight leaves the tarmac. We arrive early, my Bus to the long term car park is waiting. I get home in record time. Surprise Marky I am early. I catch him in bed with this sexy 21 year old with blonde hair and great boobs. No not really. Just him and the cat. He makes me homemade sausage rolls for lunch. He holds me for awhile, that's what I need. July 2ndI decide to go to do some charity work today. I could have slept in and had the day off but what the hell.Lachies coffee van is no longer at its spot so I miss that/him. I go elsewhere and it's passable. A fun day, we all work hard. Carols in fine form. She makes me laugh. The latest news poll is in. Labor move on up one more spot. Ahead of the LNP again. Dutton drops further behind as "Preferred PM", Albanese 46 to Dutton the Duds 38. Good! I get the private Top 500 sales ARIA list for Australia. Crowded House ‘Gravity Stairs' week #4 and the album drops to #169. It only sells 209 cd/lps. Crazy. All the driving I've done last week and had the radio on and never heard any of the 3 singles on air. Radio has turned its back methinks. July 3rdMy "To Do"list today. I tick most of them off. I make some cold pressed juice for us. I repair the wombat hole in the west side fence. Midnight is the supervisor. Help Mark carry in some fire wood as we are now lighting the fire every night. Minus 4 here at Kally. The coldest morning in several years. I clean Marks shower and sink. Empty the ashes out of the fire in the lounge room and change the cats litter tray. I also make a really good Lasagne for dinner. My entire day is just fiddly stuff but I get all of it done.Markys Youtube Wednesday is Acoustic Crowded House at Utrecht Holland. A record store appearance in February 1992, in support of the Woodface album. July 4thFoggy, cold and I have the Kalorama sniffles. I need to get fuel so buy my one a day coffee at the petrol station. I get triple flight points, so that is cool.I speak to my Wollongong family in the morning. Not great news but we are taking it all one day at a time. While I remember it, thanks everyone for the kind words and thoughts on our Mum. It really is appreciated. Still so many nice people in the world. July 5thThe UK election tomorrow and it's still looking very good for Labour. The Labour seat win estimate is incredible, they expect 410, that would be a landslide. Hope so. I kind of detest the Conservatives. Ugh!I head off with MG to collect pine cones for the fire, it gives us a few extra days as our wood pile is thinning out rapidly. I check on our Split Enz MURDER video and it's still getting views, every day 10-20 , which is great. Even if only one person a day loves the clip I'd be happy with that. July 6thI wash the car, freezing outside butI get it done. I have to wam the water bait as it's just insanely cold.Good to see the whale rescued on our East Coast has been saved. They removed 80kg of fishing line from around it. Cut it off and off the whale went, on t's migration. Climate change is causing the global supply of Robusta coffee to decrease. Declining by 20% this year. Wow an amazing victory for Labour in the UK 412 seats I am in awe. Lets hope it helps repair England. We love Interview With The Vampire. Season 2. Louis and Armand are so hot together I can no longer resits the urge to bite Mark on the neck. July 7thA sunny morning on Mt Dandenong. I sit in front of the bakery at Olinda and recharge. It is so nice. As always locals come up and chat. My friend Ian gives me the information for the Bulb Nursery at Menzies Creek. It's called Hancocks (also on line). I decide we need to put some bulbs in, so when I finish coffee off I drive to the other side of the mountain. It should have been easy and quick, it wasn't. Tourists crashing cars, roads being closed. So I probably did 50kms. I finally found a way to the place. The best part the bulbs were half price this weekend. So my afternoon was spent in the yard planting them. Ailsa Craig will look extra bright when they all flower.That's it for another diary. Stay Happy and do one kind thing a day for someone, it really changes the world. Peter xxx |