Opinion Australia

The old man is back… not at all well… as you’d expect. He ended up having *four* teeth out when the dentist realised one of his other teeth was in fact damaged beyond repair.

What struck me was the level of nervousness he displayed!

After all… 60 years ago he was clambering into a bomber to fly over Europe at the height of a war when thousands of people saw him as a legitimate target and were actively trying to kill him. When I queried this… he told me he was never worried by it… and yet a visit to the dentist was enough to reduce him to a quivering wreck! Most odd.
Just for info… he has to go back yet again on Monday *and* Friday!!

I bet he wishes now he’d gone more often over the past 60+ years!!

I ordered my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows a few weeks ago from the local Dymocks shop.

Had a call from them telling me because I’d pre-ordered I was eligible to collect ‘a small prize’ after April 1st… hmmm… I was considering going in dressed in cloak and wizards hat… but decided against it in the end.

However… when it comes to the final book in the series… I may *well* get made up into a chunky version of a ‘wizard’ when I go in to collect it. In fact… since I’ll probably have to buy a copy from the kids school as well… I might just turn up *there* dressed up as well.

If I do… and I promise nothing… I’ll post a piccie!

I was outside this morning taking the bins out to be emptied so decided I’d *not* collapse in bed… yet… but make an effort to clean up the hidden triangular area where the bins, pool pump etc is tucked away.

Started 9:00 a.m. and managed to get it all tidied and washed down. Also did some work on the pool itself, backwashing and clearing out bits of leaf that had fallen in. Finally went back inside for a coffee at 10:00 a.m.

During that time the dogs surrounding me barked continuously… and one sounded as if it was deperately trying to throw itself through the paling fence either to our garden or the one adjacent. In total there are 6 dogs in the 5 houses we share a fence line with… plus our two. Except ours were indoors all this time.

The menopausal old bag next door rang me a couple of months ago telling me if I didn’t keep *our* dogs quiet (!) she’d call the council with a complaint. I’ve not spoken to her since which is a shame really… else I’d go in and ask her if she ever wondered why her whingeing hadn’t quietened down the barking. D’you think maybe because the old bat complained about the wrong dogs??

This is the same old bat by the way who came over during the landscaoing to tell us what trees we could plant in the beds near ‘her’ side of our property.

Our animals are ‘house dogs’. They live indoors more than out and get told off when they *Do* bark… unlike the other owners who go off to work for the day leaving their dogs barking their heads off.

Bloody neighbourse… bloody dogs… barking mad the lot of ‘em!!

So ok… for anyone who isn’t with it, ‘Jagnjeci But’ is just a way of cooking marinated lamb. There are a few recipes out there but the one I like is as follows… as is obvious from the list this is an old version from the UK:

Basic Ingredients:
6lb leg of lamb, few large tomatoes chopped (or 14 oz tin chopped toms) and some oil.

Marinade:
3 fl oz white wine vinegar, 10 fl oz dry while wine teaspoon, salt, large onion (thin sliced), couple of garlic cloves (chopped), 2 carrots peeled/chopped, couple of bay leaves, teaspoon dried rosemary, half dozen or so black peppercorns, tablespoon fresh parsley.

Pre-Method:
Chuck marinade ingredients into a saucepan, bring to boil quickly and simmer for two mins or so.

Put lamb in large bowl pour marinade over, leave it a few hours (prefereably overnight) and turn now and then.
Method:

When you’re ready to go… preheat to a warmish oven (Gas Mark 4… or 180º C).
While it’s warming. Pour off marinade and keep it. Pat dry the leg, fry it in some oil over a moderate heat turning it now and then for 15 mins or so.

Transfer lamb to a casserole, pour over the marinage and add tomatoes.

Cover… chuck into the oven… cook 2 – 3 hours basting now and then

When cooked… remove meat from casserole, strain liquid into a saucepan, skim fat, and reduce for 10 mins or so til it thickens a bit. Season… and serve

Ours is in the fridge gently marinating ready for tomorrow evening… probably with mashed spuds… baked onions… string beans maybe??

And for tonight? Something simple… poached salmon and steamed courgettes sounds good. I’m not too sure I can eat the lamb but I know I *can* knock off the salmon!!

The old man seems to be moving more in favour of applying for a retirement Visa, but is taking two steps forward and one back.

The rules would seem to imply that if they pass the medicals, they might not need to actually pass over the moolah for up to a year… maybe eighteen months after initially applying. Nto sure how true this is but it would put off the evil day before their house would have to be sold for some time.

Of course they still have to pass the DIMIA medicals… but the suggestion is they go have a ‘pre-medical’ before they put the application in to see if they would qualify. After that they can decide if they’re willing to take the chance, spend the visa application fee… and appeal if one or both are deemed unfit.

The sister is getting the house valued this weekend… mainly because *if* it isn’t going to be able to raise sufficient capital then some sort of ‘Plan B’ will have to be created… though right now I don’t know what that would be… so to speak

I suppose in the end if the house isn’t deemed sufficiently valuable they’ll just have to return to the UK, which would be sad for everyone concerned… including the family in the UK.