IN FOR SERVICE
OLIVE’S SIXTIETH POST
Mike
We are approaching the first anniversary of this blog.
Our first story was Swims and Shandies
We first published, Ollie and I, on Feb 16th. 2007.
The first comment came from Kelly Corey
# Kelly Corley Says:
February 20th, 2007 at 11:06 pm eWow, you are an amazing lady! I am excited to be coming in on the beginning of your journal. Looking forward to so many wonderful stories I know you have to tell.
My husband and I talk of visiting Australia one day. We think it is an amazing place.
Mike
She has them from time to time when she shows signs of being anemic.
Usually it perks her up a lot, but this time she’s still flat on her back two days later.
I went round this morning and peeped in.
There she was, a small shriveled thing on her bed, curled in the dim light, her arm bruised to the elbow, no doubt from the needle.
I tiptoed off.
I phoned tonight. She was somewhat better. We made some jokes, but she’s still feeling wasted.
She needs a pie, a good Aussie pie, dripping gravy.
……………………..
…………………
Mike
I need one too but I’m not allowed to have them anymore.
There are moments when they swim lazily into my vision, their crust so golden, their aroma so seductive, that it’s almost unbearable to abstain.
……………………………..
………………………….
Olive
Stop it!
Mike
I told her Katya is not feeling good either and Ollie’s concern immediately turned towards my wife.
I reminded Ollie that she was sick too.
Olive
Oh, I’m alright. Just need some rest.
Mike
To change the subject, I’m going to Sydney tomorrow, my dear.
To an exciting meeting
Olive
What’s happening?
Mike
I’m not telling. I’ll wait to see what comes of it before I tell you
Mike
In fact, don’t breathe a word, dear readers, I’m going to see the head of Epuron here in Australia.
Epuron’s the German based company which is going to build that two billion dollar wind farm outside of Silverton.
Silverton, as you know, is near Broken Hill, which as you also know, is where Ollie was born and which, as you also also know, is of great interest to our heroine of the spring 1899.
I love Epuron’s commercial which I added to the last post. Don’t miss it.
So, why am I seeing this person? Guess.
I leave you with a shattered dream.(Personal)
As an Aussie exile living in Canada many years ago, I dreampt of launching Aussie meat pies in those cold wastes.
But I never got much past rustling up reasonable replicas in our Montreal kitchen
……………………
………………………..
Mike
I could have been the Pie Potentate of North America, a territory which has never said “no” to a new fast food.
I’m just not cut out for business, I guess!
But I am quite good at keeping you informed of how Ollie’s going, and that, I promise to do.
Come to think of it, she needs a shandy too
………………….
- Olive
…………………
Wednesday, February 6th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
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26 Responses to “IN FOR SERVICE”
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February 6th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Dear Ms. Riley and Mike!
I hope you are getting better and have enough strenght to eat a good aussie pie. I havent tried that one but I guess it tastes good!:)
I really liked that commercial in the previous post about Wind. Mike, you found a really good way to explain how a wind farm works. Congrats for it!:)
Take care and hugs
Attila
February 7th, 2008 at 5:21 am
Hello, Mike & Ollie! I’m sorry to hear that Ollie is feeling poorly, and Katya, too. Godspeed to them both.
Have fun on your trip, Mike. I look forward to hearing about the progress on the wind farms!
Barbara in California
February 7th, 2008 at 6:06 am
So sorry to hear Olive isnt too good…I certainly hope the blood transfusion bucks her up a bit! Also Mike…Ive been wondering how YOU are! You didnt put any comments on any of the last replies! (which was very unusual for you to not have anything to say!! lol!) Love to all of you over there…and a big hug for Olive (but dont squash her!)
Karen UK
I’m fine. Just finding my healthy lifestyle a bit of a pain. Mike the helper
February 7th, 2008 at 6:43 am
Dear Olive,
Please get well! We need to have people like you telling us about the past!! We need your stories!! So heal like a lizard, meaning quick!! And the same to you Mike and Katya!
Linda in NJ
February 7th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
Hi Olive and Mike ~~ I do hope Olive is feeling
much better by now, and also Katya Hope she is better. nd Mike, keep on keeping on. Take care, all
of you. Love and Best wishes, Merle.
February 8th, 2008 at 7:58 am
Hi Mike
How did your meeting with the windmill people go yesterday? Are you just tilting or is this project in Silverton for real?
How is Olive and Katya. Hope both are on the mend.
Cheers
Hans
It was a great success, Hans. But I can’t tell you till I’ve told Ollie. Mike the helper
February 8th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
So sorry that Olive was feeling poorly and your wife too Mike.
Is that you Mike in the blue shirt? You sure have a lovely smile.
We need more smiles in this world and Olive has a wonderful smile to.
Some time could you please post the recipe to Aussie Pie.
Hi pepperlady. I don’t know the exact recipe but try this. Find a round or rectangle pie tin, not too large. You can see the size from the pies we are eating.
The base pastry which is to hold the mixture should not be too fatty but firm.
I used to pre cook that the lower pastry a bit before putting in the meat. The meat is a chopped beef that has stewed long enough to make a rich gravy. You can put in whatever you like to enhance the gravy.
Some fried onions are nice. One can usually buy many varieties, plain meat pies, steak and onion, steak and mushrooms, steak and cheese, etc. They call is steak, but it’s usually some sort of stewing beef. A dash of red wine does not go amiss.
When the mixture is rich and thick, ladle it into the base. Then, cover the pie with a puff pastry. I whet the lower rim and then crimp down the edges of the soft cover pastry with a fork.
Finally , bake till golden brown. As you can see, we eat it out of th hand so the supporting pastry has to be solid enough that it does not fall apart as one eats it. Let me know how it turns out. Mike the helper
February 8th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Hi Mike,
I do hope Olive, and Katya are feeling better now.
Thank you for introducing us to Olive, and sharing your lives with us.
Someday I hope to visit Australia with my family. I imagine we would need several weeks to just begin to enjoy a smidgen of your great land.
Looking forward to hearing more on the windfarm, and that both lovely ladies are back on their feet.
Christine
Edmond, Oklahoma - USA
We are waiting for your visit, Christine. Yes, you would need a few weeks. At least a month, I’d say. I’ve never been to Kackadu but I believe it’s spectacular. Where we are is great too, on the Central Coast just north of Sydney. Mike the helper
February 9th, 2008 at 1:54 am
everybody get well soon! what’s a shandy?
Minnie, a shandy is a mix of beer and lemonade. mike the helper.
February 9th, 2008 at 2:22 am
I hope that both Ollie and Katya feel better soon!
February 9th, 2008 at 11:20 am
I hope that Ollie and Katya are feeling better now. It is winter here in the US, but unusually warm here this week in North Carolina (50 degrees F / 10 C). What a great idea to use a wind-up flashlight to demonstrate how the wind turbine works. That was a fun entry to read. They make a meat pie in Michigan that they call pasties. They sound very similar to your meat pies down there. Sometimes you can get pasties which are all veggies inside. (try google for some interesting links, including a wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornish_pasty)
We have pasties also here, Rosemary. They are slightly different treats. pasties are mostly veggies with a stress on turnips which gives them a distinctive flavor. Pies, on th hand are mostly mean, usually beef. I left a recipe on the blog for the Pepper lady (in comments) Try making one of our pies, Ro. Mike the helper
February 9th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Dear Mike and Ollie,
Sorry to hear that Ollie is feeling under the weather. My grandfather lived to be 98 1/2 and he had to go in for periodic transfusion “tune-ups” as well. I hope that Ollie will be feeling up to par really soon. I agree that a pie (or a piece of one of your pies) and a shandy sounds like a great idea. My grandfather enjoyed his steaks and brandy to his last days. Someone needs to sneak some into Ollie’s residence when Mike is visiting.
Best,
D. Belfiore
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Dear D. from Philly. thanks for the encouraging news about your grandfather. Apparently transfusions are quite common. We are lucky here that it’s all free, doubly so for Ollie since she’s got veteran’s benefits as well as Medicare. He second husband, Bing, served in the 2nd WW. Mike the helper
February 10th, 2008 at 3:48 am
Happy Anniversary from Denver, Colorado Olive and Mike!
Thanks Lisa. Mike the helper
February 11th, 2008 at 6:41 am
Lots of get wells to Ollie and Katya…and heaps of Aussie meat pies and shandies for Olive…maybe they should transfuse her with shandies…now wouldn’t she feel good after that?
Seriously, I hope you’re feeling more chirpier soon, dear Olive. Then you can have a pie and a shandy for lunch…
Hi Robyn, next time we get her out, we’ll recharge her with shandies, or at least one. (Ollie’s not a big drinker) I’m also resolved to take her a pie very soon. It’s past due. mike the helper
February 12th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Hello Olive and thanks to Mike to keep your blog going on. It’s good to hear
from you and to know you are still this very optimistic and great lady. Now
about wind farms I would not say I hate them. I saw some in Lanzarote
(canary islands) and they looked like very modern wind-mills. Driving along
the small roads and following their shadow in the evening was a pleasure, I
liked them like a piece of art. I kiss you Olive. Keep on telling us small
stories. We love you. Denise
Denise, this was a lovely message you sent. Sorry we did not reply before. The blog was not working. I’m glad the wind mills looked good as art. They are an image that we’ll have to get used to. Mike the helper
February 12th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Happy Anniversary!!
Hope you’re feeling much better, Ollie! Love reading the blog - Keep it up!!
February 13th, 2008 at 3:36 am
Dear Ollie and Mike,
first of all Congratulations to your 60th post and anniversary. Thanks to Ollie for the smiles and Mike for catching them for us.
Hope the hospital is taking good care of you and that your stay won’t be long.
And Mike, if you need someone to sell Aussie pies in Toronto, I’d be happy help out, we love ‘real’ (fast) food down here too, not just in Montreal.
Trouble is, at the moment they’d freeze instantly, it’s mighty cold here right now.
Susanne, they would do so well in TO. But you’ll have to go it alone. My days of promoting pies are over. If i do so, I eat them, and that’s not good. Mike the helper
February 13th, 2008 at 5:17 am
I hope Ollie gets well soon. I’m sure she will. Wooooow, Mike: that cake looks so delicious, tasty and tempting! I am sitting here in front of the screen and I’m almost drooling over the thought of having a small bite! What does it contain? It looks really good. And… already a year! Can’t believe it. Many more to come.
Monica, they are not cakes, they are a meat pastry. it you go back to very early post about pies, you’ll see inside. Mike the helper
February 13th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Hope Olive and Katya are fine now.. You are doing a very good job, Mike. Keep it up and Happy Anniversary
February 14th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
I do so hope that Olive gets well soon Mike and Katya too. I hope you can sneak a meat pie into her also-bet that would cheer her up.
Please tell them both hello and cheers!
many hugsssssss for all.
Jana in California by Yosemite.
February 15th, 2008 at 5:22 am
I’m shamefully behind here. Hoping Olive is feeling better by now. Oh, you know I’ll have to blog about those meat pies, now! Thanks for the idea, dear Mike. I’ll eat one for you ;o)
February 16th, 2008 at 7:26 am
Hi,
Just visited Merle’s site and she mentioned your blogaversary was coming up. I am so very impressed to see someone your age enjoying the computer. I see so many who say they are too old to learn and that is a bunch of horse hooey. Enjoy your day.
February 16th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Dear Olive and Mike,
I thought I would pop in from Marrakech to wish you a very happy blog anniversary. olive, I am glad you are feeling better since your transfusion!
We are still living in Marrakech on our olive grove and building our dream house. And we still have peacocks roaming in our garden. I thought you might like to see a picture of one here http://moroccanmaryam.typepad.com/my_marrakesh/2008/02/marakech-and-lo.html This peacock’s name is Karim and he aware that he is so handsome and is VERY vain. All the peahens are in love with him and it’s going straight to his head.
It’s a very nice time to be in Marrakech now. I was on the city’s main square yesterday and all the snake charmers were out. They really do play music from flutes and the cobras dance as if in a trance. Also on the main square, there are women in veils who will paint intricate patterns on your hands in henna or who will tell you your fortune or recommend spells. I brought my cousin to one of them and she suggested that putting a bag of white rice under her pillow and keeping 2 white chickens in her room for a week or so would be a good solution to her problem.
Anyway, i just wanted to wish you a big hello from Morocco and tell you that you continue to be a big inspiration to a lot of people, Olive!
February 17th, 2008 at 6:38 am
Happy blogoversary sweet one.
February 17th, 2008 at 7:21 am
Congratulations on your one year of blogging. I have read your blog before and find it very interesting and quite entertaining. I only wish I could sit and have a good visit with you over a nice cup of tea.
Keep up the good blogging.
Blessings from the Pacific Northwest, USA.
February 24th, 2008 at 12:52 am
Olive,
Happy one year bloggaversary!!! I enjoy reading you often, and I hope to continue reading you for years to come.
And if you didn’t finish all of your pie, you can send me some!
Beth
Midwest USA
Thanks, beth. Mike the helper