With now over thirty Covid 19 detected in the Beach side areas of Sydney it seems likely a Sydney wide lockdown will be imposed. A pity, because for many weeks there haven’t been any locally acquired cases of Covid in Australia.
If Sydney gets a lockdown my daughter and grandsons won’t be allowed to visit and neither will I be allowed to go there. No big deal really. I will hold my own visit, light some sparkles and sing ‘The little red nosed reindeer’.
I thought I’ll give you, dear followers, some pictures to look at.
A friendly lizard that I spotted at the lake I walk around almost daily.
The wisdom of ducks clearly visible.
A long necked turtle. Unfortunately the turtle spotted Milo and withdrew it’s neck. They are he longest neck owning species of turtles in the world.
My garden is now getting to the jungle-like stage and attracts small birds scurrying for nectar and insects.
More of the garden
Lake Alexandra near my place.
Enjoy the pictures.
Happy Christmas to you all.
See you next year!
Oosterman Treats Blog 
December 20, 2020 at 6:42 am |
Sorry Gerard, singing / chanting and dancing are banned!
Perhaps a simple ‘hummmm’?
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December 20, 2020 at 7:55 pm |
Yes, and no group meetings larger than one person. At all times keep 1.5 meter distance from oneself.
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December 20, 2020 at 8:14 am |
Here’s to a healthy, peaceful 2021, Gez.
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December 20, 2020 at 7:57 pm |
Thank you, Yvonne. The same to you and may your witty mind soar to even greater heights.
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December 20, 2020 at 8:49 am |
So pleased to see that you once again have trees and flowering plants and a private jungle again – plus the company of animals. A contented Christmas!
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December 20, 2020 at 8:01 pm |
Indeed and Milo’s restraint remains resolute when walking past the ducks and waterhens.
The Jack Russell are supposed to flush out water birds but he knows better. He has overcome.
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December 20, 2020 at 9:38 am |
Nice pics. Seems our daughter and son-in-law won’t get here either. The other daughter is still in Vietnam. Maybe next year.
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December 20, 2020 at 10:03 am |
Sorry to hear that Peggy.
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December 20, 2020 at 8:03 pm |
Yes, so sad that family and Christmas sharing will be put on hold for the time being. So sorry to hear that, Peggy.
Just heard the Corona now counts over 80 people that are infected.
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December 20, 2020 at 10:03 am |
A shame for you Gerard, but I love your attitude. It is admirable. Stay safe.
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December 20, 2020 at 8:05 pm |
Ye, safety first, and care especially for the aged and frail.
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December 20, 2020 at 8:12 pm
Indeed – our vulnerable populations.
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December 20, 2020 at 2:01 pm |
your garden is looking great, I hope The Christmas Lizard visits, be sure to leave a plate of bugs out for him. Best wishes for a happy new year, RPT.
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December 20, 2020 at 8:23 pm |
Yes, Robert. The lizard kept looking at Milo but Milo has never shown any interest in lizards. Some years back, Milo and a large blue tongue lizard were both sleeping on the sunny veranda back on the farm. He made friends with it.
Good boy Milo, good boy.
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December 20, 2020 at 2:56 pm |
You obviously learned well from dear Helvi, your garden looks great. It seems a lovely place where you live, and you seem to be enjoying all it offers. Monika and I still plan to visit when we are allowed.
Have the best Christmas you can. I’m off to the club with Margory and Jon, if it’s still on.
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December 20, 2020 at 8:08 pm |
Oh yes, you are right there. Helvi’s gardening is left all over Sydney and the country in places where we have lived. Trees and more trees.
Have a good time at the club and I look forward to your visit with Monica.
Have a great Christmas.
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December 20, 2020 at 6:44 pm |
You live in a lovely place. I hope you’ll still be able to walk to/around that lake. But in any case, you’ve created a wonderful place just outside your door to escape into nature. However it goes, I’ll think of you on Christmas morning.
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December 20, 2020 at 8:14 pm |
Oh yes, the lake is within a few hundred meters from where I live. It is a magic place and weaves its spell each time. There are huge trees who tell their stories each time the wind plays around. And the still waters with v shaped trails of the waterhens gone skiing
You have a nice Christmas.
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December 20, 2020 at 9:01 pm |
A shame about Sydney. So many peoples hopes on high, just to be dashed to the ground. Love the pictures. So very sorry that Christmas this year will be a lonely one for many people. Dear Gerard, have a nice warm Christmas and may 2021 be a time that we can all get together. Xxx
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December 20, 2020 at 9:44 pm |
Yes, all the travel bans and exclusion zones. Enough to make one dizzy. I feel like just sitting in the sand somewhere and listen to the sea. Did I tell you I found love again?
Love makes lockdowns very bearable.
You have a nice Christmas too in Perth, dear Sandie.
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December 20, 2020 at 9:13 pm |
What a beautiful garden and what wonderful visitors you have! 🙂
Nature has been a great companion this past year for me.
It will be a quiet Christmas for us. Not safe for anyone to travel here. We usually host Christmas Day and fix the meals…not this year. 😦 I will greatly miss our kids and grandkids and the lively chatter and loud laughter they always bring home.
But we will keep positive and look forward to next Christmas. 🙂
You will be in my thoughts…and hoping Santy brings you something good! 🙂 Milo, too!
HUGS and be warm, safe, and keep smiling, Gerard!!! 🙂
PATS and RUBS for Milo!!! 🙂
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December 20, 2020 at 10:57 pm |
Ys, it amazes me that the garden has come so quickly about. I now have 3 maples, 4 birch trees, two Manchurian pears , many other shrubs and bushes. I would not be surprised to see rabbits about soon (just kidding)
Yes, I will enjoy Christmas on my own but I have found new love and even though we can’t be together because of Covid 19, it makes lockdowns so more bearable.
I did make a nice Christmas tree, which will be planted after Christmas.
You too will be in my thoughts too, dear Carolyn.
Hugs to you and pats for Cooper.
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December 21, 2020 at 8:06 am
What a wonderful garden!
We have a rabbit living in our back yard now…usually they lived in the front…so he/she ventured out back…I’m trying to put out food every day. 🙂
YAY for your new love!!! 🙂 Enjoy!!! 🙂
I love when live Christmas trees are such they can be planted outdoors after Christmas! 🙂
Be safe! Have fun! Make some fun! 🙂
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December 20, 2020 at 9:22 pm |
Martin, my son, did straight away make sure to get a permit in order to be allowed to rush back to his place in Benalla, Victoria. After Peter’s Funeral on Saturday he left Dapto early Sunday morning with his dog ‘Millie’ and they arrived home safely in the afternoon.
Now with all that is going on, I am not sure what is going to happen with our Christmas Eve celebrations. Will more than 10 people be allowed to come to my place? And if not, who of the family from Sydney and the Illawarra is to be excluded? These are uncertain times. Maybe it is best to live like a hermit!
I just watched the video from Peter’s funeral again. It has two different cameras and a slide-show:
https://www.oneroomstreaming.com/view/authorise.php?k=1608217758448466
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December 20, 2020 at 11:06 pm |
Yes, Dear Uta. Things must be hard for you and Christmas in Lockdown is the last thing you need. Your dearest Peter is out of suffering and at a better place. I remember so well your visits, especially the last one at Helvi’s passing in October last year. Who would have thought?
Yes, I have watched your video of the passing of your husband. It was beautiful. So sorry I did not make it. I was half there and heard the News on the Corona and decided to return home.
I am not sure if it is possible to have Natasha and my grandsons here or not, but decided against it.
I can see them at anytime when all this blows over.
I have a new love and that helps a lot. Even so, I can’t see her either right now.
All the best, dear Uta.
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December 21, 2020 at 1:11 am
Thank you very much for your reply, dear Gerard. My granddaughter Natasha showed me so much love. She gave a long hearfelt speech at the funeral, and she sent me a copy of it. I was very touched by this. She also gave me Christmas photos of all her dear nephews (you saw them in the video!) and also a photo of Father Christmas with her dear little one year old niece. These sweet four great-grandchildren of Peter and me came to see us several times during the last few months. Peter enjoyed them very much even when he was so sick that he could hardly move any more. He also loved it when Martin’s dog Millie showed him affection. The children loved Millie very much too! 🙂 It was so good that Peter because of palliative care could stay at home right to the end —
Wishing you all the best too for the New Year, dear Gerard. And keep writing! 🙂
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December 21, 2020 at 1:25 am
Thank you, dear Uta.
Yes, the caring palliative care is what I remember most from the last week or so with Helvi here at home. She kept smiling till the last day.
Little did we know that a few months later all broke loose with the Covid19.
You are fortunate to have such a large and extended family. They will help and support you, I am sure. You both did a great job bringing up the children
I admired your strength shown on the video which I watched a few times with the different cameras.
I will remember Peter for his kindness and sense of humor. You had a good life together and the memories of dear Peter will sustain you, Uta.
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December 20, 2020 at 10:58 pm |
Dear Gerrard, Times are definitely uncertain. Wishing you peace and love at Christmas. We’re on edge, not knowing if family is coming or not, with permits revoked and then readmitted, Who knows!! One member in hospital, so living in the moment!! ❤
Hope you're keeping well and surviving the chaos!!
Best wishes, Barbara
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December 20, 2020 at 11:13 pm |
Thank you Barbara,
It is funny how the world is now so tipsy turfy. It is a credit to Australia though, to have tackled the Corona virus so head on.
Looking at Holland and the rest of the world, such pain and suffering! The isolation we are suffering has paid off.
But the pain is keenly felt by families missing out on the Christmas festivities.
The chaos remains though.
All the best for you, Barbara.
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December 21, 2020 at 1:08 am |
And then there is this. From word knitting to wool knitting. It’s all in the game of life and love.
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December 21, 2020 at 1:09 pm |
Here’s a bit of irony for you, Gerard: those of us without family learned to adjust to holidays without relatives in the past, so restrictions aren’t felt quite so sharply as they are for those with children, grandchildren, siblings, and such. On the other hand, friends with whom I’ve often spent Christmas are in various forms of self-imposed lockdown, so there is that. I will confess this, however: last week I stayed in the home of a dear friend in another town and (shhhhhh!) we hugged one another both coming and going! We’re both still alive and kicking, and probably will be in the new year, as well.
It’s wonderful to see your garden – thanks for sharing those photos. I’ve wondered how it was coming. And a long-necked turtle? I’m going to have to explore that one. I noticed, too, that you seem to have a special relationship that’s developed. Have I missed the details? Or have you been a bit reticent about that? If so, it’s understandable. A light touch on some subjects often is wise!
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December 22, 2020 at 10:27 pm |
Yes, Linda, we enjoyed our get togethers with family and friends, including Christmases but both Helvi and I were not particularly stuck on specific dates.
Finnish people are spectacularly unsentimental, they are too honest for that, would be my take. Even so, we liked lighting candles and home made bread with shared feelings of intimacies during special times.
I am going to make a Raan dish. An Indian Royal Raan. Lots of spices and Garam Masala. I confess it is a lamb dish. Not one of your favorites, Linda. It includes marinating the meat in yoghurt and lemon juice for two day in the fridge.
Yes, a relationship is developing and so far all is heavenly. I thought it impossible and at my age. However, it seems special indeed. We make each other shine. We both like Sibelius violin concerto and that has to be a good sign.
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December 22, 2020 at 10:57 am |
Wishing you a happy and healthy holiday a nice new year. I like the pics very much especially the ducks at the lake and seeing some of your potted plants in bloom. Since your garden is now growing into itself it will definitely make your house feel like a home and provide you with lovely scenes when you step outside.
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December 22, 2020 at 10:31 pm |
You too, Ivonne. ‘Healthy’ is the word. I had a small baby frog in the kitchen sink this morning. It was dead. I can’t see how it got there. Rather strange.
However, frogs are a good sign and it must have come from my garden and a lot of rain. At one stage 100mm in two hours. It was frightening but no water damage. Poor little frog.
You too have a good Christmas and happy new year.
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