OK folks of the DT. Xmas day celebration for 'orphans' at my place is a go mission. Please DM me by end of tomorrow for address and public transport info if you are wanting to come.

I have secure bike parking, and there's plenty of street parking available. General area is Thornbury.

Timing is 2 pm to 5 pm approx - this is a bit flexible.

Its come as you are, and if convenient bring a plate of something snackish to share. I'm doing chips & dips and given the likely weather there will be a pot of soup. BYO grog. I'll have soft drinks and tea and coffee available.

PS: an orphan for the purpose of this event is someone who doesn't have another event planned for the day, plus trustworthy significant others.

Hello everyone! Got logged out of my regular login without my knowledge or consent - and couldn't get back in until I made a new account. All sorted now.

Am currently in Munich - have had a busy few days. Basically my daughter in law is about 38 weeks pregnant with her second, and developed major problems on Saturday (in Aust). Had to drop everything and leap onto the next flight to get there an wrangle her first one (aged 3). Son was completely distraught what with everything which should not surprise. DIL is still in intensive care, and son is spending as much time there as possible. Lil one is a handful - smart enough to know that there's something seriously wrong with Mum but unable to really regulate her own behaviour and emotions. DIL's mother will be joining us here at the end of this week so we can hand off kid wrangling to each other as required. Somewhere along the way my login here got cut off, and have only now been able to get a new one.

Haven't seen much of the city yet - son & DIL's flat is over the road and down an alley from some huuuuge gardens - I think it's called Nymphenbourg and there's some kind of historic palace there so kid & I have been checking them out. I have discovered that one year of high school german 50+ years ago is not sufficient for food shopping effectively in this town. Have fallen back on on-line ordering & delivery. The pictures really really help. Next time I brave the shops I will take my life into my hands and try google translate or similar. Any recommendations for a suitable app?

OK folks, I have my family Xmas plans sorted now. My boys are coming down a couple days after the day itself (including the family from Munich) so the family xmas will be a couple of days later. So ...

I'm open to hosting an Orphans of the DT xmas on the fatal day. Basically a low key afternoon of grazing on snacks and playing board games and having a generally pleasant afternoon in good company. I have a mahjong set, backgammon set, chess set, cribbage board and plenty of cards. Drinking alcohol optional. I may have to appoint a Minister for Music as I am a total Luddite when it comes to modern technology and my older boy latched onto my bloke's sound system after he passed. And a good thing too as the damn thing took up at least 4 square metres. Trustworthy SOs/partners welcome. My thought right now is maybe 12 noon to 4 or 5 pm but this is flexible.

No presents, but a plate of something snacklike to put on the table for general consumption would be a nice contribution to the general festivities. I'll be doing basic chips n dips, and soup if the weather is chilly. Definitely BYO alcohol. I'll have tea/coffee/some soft drinks going.

Please DM me if you are interested on this username, as my other one (Thornburywitch) is for work computer only and I won't be accessing it after the end of this week.

At this point I'm looking to see how many people might be interested. Final numbers etc. can be confirmed later.

Hi Peeps. Just about to get on a plane back to Melbs. Have missed you all.

::: spoiler Update DIL has pupped out 2ndkid, and had surgery immediately after for other issues. Both doing fine. DIL's mum is present and will be doing the 1stkid wrangling from now on for a bit. So I'm not needed. Thank gods for the German health care system - it's been a joy to navigate compared to here.
:::

Happy Christmas!

Would you like a black lace cocktail frock? I have one I got from an op-shop for a particular event. Its a wrap around style so it's quite forgiving for fit. Very well made - I think maybe originally a designer style, certainly quite high-end. You can have it for free if you want as it's just taking up space in my wardrobe and I don't think I'm going to wear it again. Was going to donate it once my local Vinnies starts accepting clothing donations again - they aren't at the moment as they are chockers.

Am currently sitting in my back courtyard, discussing a perfectly ripe camembert (thank you Cheaper Buy Miles), a glass of white wine and the first of the ripe figs straight off the tree. Life is good. The last of the peaches awaits the end of the cheese. This is a nice evening.

It was a pleasure Spud. We'll def have to do this again sometime. Enjoyed meeting your partner too.

It's 7ish am here in Munich. So far so good with DIL. Introduced the lil one to fingerpainting yesterday - so cute. Have to food shop today, so wish me luck.

Enjoying some of tone212's excellent brownies for elevenses. Life is good.

Woke up this morning to find a widowmaker in my front yard. That is, a drought stressed gum tree has dropped an entire limb due to sudden change in water/atmospheric pressure. Fortunately, it's a street tree so not my responsibility to fix. There will be others I reckon. Park your car carefully folks.

Happy New Year!

Fam xmas over. Everything washed up and put away. Furniture back in correct place. Time for badedas bath and a glass of prosecco. I love them all dearly but whooboy it's hard work with 2 under 3 years old in the house. Good meal and talking tho. My oldest boy BROUGHT THE SAME GIRLFRIEND AS LAST YEAR! This is a first! Maybe he's settling down at last. Or has run out of options which might be more likely. Will wait and see.

NO YOU AREN'T. Repeat after me - I haven't found the perfect apartment for all our needs yet - and keep repeating until they listen a bit more. And keep looking at other apartments.

::: spoiler rant Because I think they're (collectively) going to keep trying to overrule your opinions and judgment in favour of their own. They've done this before if I remember correctly, so I think they will at least have a good go at it. With the very best of intentions of course. Trust your instincts (and previous behaviour patterns).

Second, if they've fixated on the separate door that can be locked, float the idea of a formal written agreement drawn up by a lawyer. If you are going to be locked out of 40% of your apartment, then I think it's only fair that they should pay 40% of the ongoing rates, taxes, utility bills, service charges for common areas in the building/lifts etc. And a payment to you as the live-in caretaker/cleaner. This needs to be in writing.

If they try the old standard crap that 'family doesn't need lawyers', well, I work in the legal profession in a branch that deals a fair bit with the aftermath of that statement. Very profitable for us but a source of immense family trouble/drama for the participants. If it's family, then you really really need a written agreement drawn up by a lawyer. Trust me. And they've already red flagged that their expectations may differ profoundly from yours.

Third, this is going to be principally YOUR lifespace (and Chook's). To be shared as and when required. If they want to make a contribution to make this possible, then what they get should be proportional to what they contribute. At the very least.

Fourth, they aren't being tactful about this. Or maybe the tact got lost when faced with the prospect of a private apartment in the city, with someone else doing most of the work needed to keep that apartment available to them on a moment's notice. And who will be paying the costs of keeping that apartment available? Perhaps a sit down session to clarify EXACTLY what they want and what their deal-breakers are. Because their expectations may well have changed once they got a better look at what might be available for the price point.

:::

/rant over

Came home from work sick - chills, fever and shaking in every joint. If not better by this arvo, will contact nurse on call.

edit: Courtesy of nurse on call, the nice paramedic has just been and filled me full of antivirals. Back to bed until they kick in.

The derelict van belonging to the squatters in the local (derelict) milk bar got towed by the council. No more of their 3 flea-stricken mongrels wandering in and out of everyone's front yards. Yes those dogs were definitely NOT being looked after properly - all were entire males and challenged every other dog in the street and people too. Sometimes very loudly. They chased small children from the local school coming home, were fed mostly on KFC and were disobedient to their 'owners'. And the squatters' non-registered land cruiser got towed as well. I think everyone in the street rejoiced at the sudden increase in parking and now can walk their dogs without fear of large vet bills. And let their children come home after school unaccompanied. Which I think is healthy. There's far too much helicopter parenting nowadays. While I understand there's a housing crisis, and mental health (and drug) issues make it hard to find a cheap rental, keeping 3 hungry, disobedient dogs in a derelict van only a couple of blocks from a primary school is just plain bad pet parenting. I'm very glad indeed that there were no tragedies.

They did indeed. Mind you, I did insist that they wait until the christmas tree was removed from the oven before they started devouring it. All up, it was a very nice afternoon with good conversation - we ended up not bothering with the board games. I enjoyed the afternoon very much.

Well, that was a new one for me. Stopped in at Richmond Coles on my way home to get some small stuff and they had party mix on special so I grabbed a couple of bags. Had checked out my shopping and paid for it and was searching my handbag for a carry bag when another shopper swooped past and grabbed the party mix bags and tossed them into her shopping trolley. Which was full of stuff. I yelled and the assistance person ran over and prevented the other person from leaving. I told them what had happened and reclaimed my party mix after the assistance person had checked over my docket. Then as I was leaving I saw 3 staff around the other shopper checking all the stuff in her trolley against her docket. And finding quite a lot of stuff that hadn't been rung up through the register. She was yelling unfair unfair I'm being persecuted but I reckon she brought it on herself. So damned blatant.

Cool change is making its way across the Geelong plains. Should be here soon.

Bundaberg brewed lemon & watermelon lightly sparkling low sugar cans are the bomb this weather. I am in love. Available at Cheaper Buy Miles.