Author: SimpleLifeFarmer

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An update of the week that was.
Week 19 of 2023

Monday

– grocery shopped, cooked dog food, did laundry, watered big veg garden, cleaned.

Tuesday

– I want to redo the fence-line between the house and the house-yard double gates and put in a wooden paling picket fence – only abut a metre high – so I need to move the nursery as it is currently along that fenceline, so today I spent most of the day going through the first half of the plants, weeding them, sorting them etc and getting them packed into the gorilla cart so that I can tow them down to the new location next to the hoop-house.

My Love kindly came home early and took the trailer to the raw materials yard and got me another trailer load of soil.

I am hoping to get the other half of the nursery sorted through tomorrow and then I’ll be able to get down to the business of tidying up the ground in that area ready for the fencing works.

Wednesday

– We woke up to a very cold morning and day.
The coldest night and day this year so far.

I’ve moved the first load of plants down to new nursery.
The way the weather looks like its going to be wet for the rest of the week, so I don’t think I’ll get to the other half of the nursery done for a while yet…
My Love had takeaway Chinese for dinner. I had soup.

Thursday

– I took the Mazda back to Charlie the mechanic as the knock-sensor had arrived and he’s going to fit it before he has a week off on holidays.
He’s been such a joy to work with since we found him!

When I was heading out to the road to meet my Love when she was coming to pick me back up to collect my car, I got to meet our new eastern-side neighbours.
They seem like a sweet pair, and are probably in their 70s.

Had a fairly quiet blah rest-of-the day for the most part…

Friday

– it rained overnight and most of today.
Had planned to mow and the garden guy was going to come around, but that’s all being postponed.

I went into town and ran into my friend MB at Bunnings.
We stood around and chatted for ages, and I really loved our little mini catchup.
I wish that I got to spend time with her more often…

In the afternoon, my coffee-buddy friend LC visited on her way home from having her bloods done.
Always a catchup I enjoy.

Saturday

– this morning we were taken out to breakfast by our surrogate daughter and friend, for an early mothers day pressie.

It was the first time we had been to the new cafe, and we were both quite underwhelmed; but it was nice to be out, and very kind and loving of C to think of us and treat us.

My Love had to go work after we were done, and I spent the morning cleaning up, doing dishes and reading.

Once my Love was home for the day, we did a bit of pot-gardening, and rearranging until the cold and rain came back in.

Sunday

– Mothers Day.
we had breakfast at home then my Love had an early appointment out near the lake, so we decided that we would take the bus and both go, then afterwards we headed off to one of the next towns over and went to the hardware stores there, and to the nursery.

After that we went to Coles and bought some fixings for lunch, which we ate in the park at the Heritage Centre.

On the way back home we stopped off at Woolworths to pick up a few groceries including some meat for the dogs, which I cooked when we got home.

In the afternoon, I mowed around ⅔ of the paddock while my Love planted the last of the flowers in the #2 monument bed.

Hopefully I’ll get the rest of the paddock and the house yard mowed tomorrow if the rain holds off, and I manage to get my other chores out of the way enough to make the time!

So that’s it for this week!

 

 

 

 

 

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An update of the week that was.
Week 18 of 2023

Monday

– A public holiday (Labour Day) so my Love was home for most of the day but worked for a while in the morning so that we had been able to have all day Sunday together for a change.

I did the majority of the paddock mowing, (even managing to get bogged once!) and my Love finished up the planting out of the #1 monument bed that she rebuilt last week, as I had topped up the soil in the bed before I mowed.

It’s looking really pretty, and I’m looking forward to the second one being filled up later in the week, so it can be planted out too.
It’s going to be a lovely visual welcome as you come down the driveway, and will give us a smile on the daily.

Tuesday

– we had to go down to the City as I had follow-up appointments with my Dietician and Surgeon.

I am tracking well with my weightloss as far as the Dietician is concerned, and I won’t be having another appointment with her – unless I feel the need – for another six months, as I feel that I am going well for the time being and the money that I am spending with her I feel could be better used elsewhere.
I’ll go back if I feel like I need it – but for the time being – I’m doing well.

Had the followup with my Surgeon and we went through the results of the ultrasound and CT that I had a couple of weeks ago.
It turns out I have a gallbladder full of stones, and a ‘well-developed’ hiatus hernia.

He will do the removal and repair of both at the same time, through the public system, so that it won’t cost me a fortune and also because he understands that I don’t want to go back to the same private hospital that I had my last surgery at, as I really was very uncomfortable with the total lack of care that I felt was practiced in that facility.

While we were down the hill, our Garden Guy came and filled our #2 monument bed, ready for us to plant into on the weekend, and did some other cleanup work around the Farm.

Wednesday

– I went into town to the local Showgrounds where the mobile Mammogram Clinic is currently in residence until the end of the month, for my annual mammogram.

I spent the rest of the day reorganising where our linen chest is going to go, as we have realised that when we moved it away from the end of the bed last week during a big cleanup under the bed, we liked the extra visual space that was there when the linen chest wasn’t!

The area that I am moving it to is also the place in our home where the internet cables come in and go out through the wall, and the broadband box and router ‘hang’, so I also had to move and reroute the boxes and associated wires, to get them out of the way of the linen chest.

We needed to get some extra pavers to put the linen chest on, as that corner of our home has been known to flood in serious rain deluges, and whilst that hasn’t happened in the last three plus years; we still like to keep things off the ground on that side of the house, just to be in the ‘better safe than sorry’ category!

Thursday

– I grocery shopped early as my Friend L was coming around lunchtime for a cuppa and catchup.
She is SO excited about the upcoming Coronation of King Charles that she is almost beside herself!

My Love dropped off and picked up our two older dogs, as they went to the salon for their last haircut until winter is done with, and to have their toenails clipped.

The rest of the day I spent finishing off the furniture moving and cleaning up from the previous day.

Friday

– I spent the morning working in the vegie garden – weeded, watered and planted.

In the afternoon I was a ‘hair model’ for an apprentice, which wasn’t something I had ever done before, and to be honest – I would not recommend!

Being the guinea-pig for a third year hair-dressing apprentice, and I feel like my hair got yanked a lot!

She had to wash, massage, and blow-dry my hair; and she was also required to put big curls in my hair.
The wash and massage was ok, but when she tried to brush my wet hair once that bit was done, that was when I first voiced my concern.

I have very long hair – as in ‘past-my-bum long’, and a brush on long wet hair is anything but ideal!
I requested she use a wide-toothed comb, and it threw her for a bit of a loop – which was a bit of a concern.

We made it through though, and an hour or so later it was eventually blow-dried, curled and sprayed to within an inch of its life, and I was free to go.

Unfortunately though, by the time I made it home – which was less than nine minutes from the time I got up from the salon chair to walking in the door of our home – the curls had entirely fallen out, so there is no photographic proof of the afternoons events.

I never did get asked for feedback!
Weird…

Saturday

– My Love and I made an early trip down the hill to the City before she had to go to work, as we’d been notified by the mechanic that our bus Noah was ‘fixed’ and would be taken around to their affiliate car-yard so we could pick it up from there, as the workshop isn’t open on Saturdays.

I took a 400ml protein shake and a bottle of prepped cordial with me, and I managed to drink all of the shake by the time we got to the car yard, and had a few slugs from the cordial bottle on the way home.

The bus drove like a dream on the way home, which made for me being a very happy girl.

Sunday

– We did some chores around the Farm during the morning which included my Love setting out some plants in the new monument garden (still in their pots) to see how they all looked.
Having perused the handiwork, we decided that we wanted to get a few extra pops of colour, so we went to the nursery on our way to the Lake, but they have increased their prices ridiculously exponentially, so we purchased nothing.

After the disappointing nursery visit, we then headed to the lake with our pre-packed lunch, which we enjoyed lake-side whilst sitting sheltered from the wind by the bus.
After lunch, we read for a bit whilst lying in the bus bed, and my Love ended up having a nap.

It was so lovely to just enjoy actually being able to be in it and going somewhere, and to enjoy being beside the lake as well.
The breeze was cool enough that both needed to get a blankie!

We dropped into Bunnings on the way home, and in a stroke of good luck they had a couple of cheap pots of colour, so we grabbed them and took them home.
they’ll be planted in the #2 monument bed later in the week.

Weight-loss to date: 19.9kg
So that’s it for this week!

 

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An update of the week that was.
Week 17 of 2023

Monday – I blogged and spent most of the morning doing up a timeline for our busted bus Noah.
Planted some broccoli and red cabbage, and netted the entire garden that I put them in.

Noah (the bus) was collected by the tow truck late afternoon, and I then had a shower and washed my hair once that was done.

Prepaid $35 on the electricity account.
This is something that I do every fortnight, and it has resulted in some lovely surprises of occasionally not having anything to pay when the bill arrives, or only needing to pay a minimal amount.

I started doing this after I got a horrendous bill-shock when we first had the air-conditioner installed.
I knew it as going to be extra, but I was soooo excited to not be sweating bullets 24hours a day that I used it far more than was actually necessary.
Lesson learnt!

Tuesday – Anzac Day and my Love was home from work as it’s one of the days that she can’t legally work.
Did a trip to the grocery store to get some bread as she was hankering for cheese on toast for lunch.
I had rice crackers with tomato and cheese.
Fertilised the vegie gardens, and sold 3 books on Marketplace.

Wednesday – I delivered my car to the mechanic and my Love dropped me back home whilst it was being looked at.
I spent the morning pruning some trees, and doing weeding in the vegetable garden
After lunch I started cleaning up inside, as I wanted to do a deep-clean on the bedroom and lounge room area of our little home.
Mid-afternoon my car was ready to be collected, but hadn’t been fixed as it needs a new part which the mechanic has to order.
He has assured us though that it is fine to drive until the part turns up, and he’ll call us as soon as it does. 😬
Pleaseeee don’t let him be wrong!

Thursday – I did more of the bedroom and lounge room deep-clean.
I also did a click & collect grocery order and went and picked it up.

Our garden guy came and snipped the eastern fence line, and ended up doing the whole Farm, before it again started to rain quite heavily, so he headed off home with his son who had had the day off school, pleading illness.

I got the house yard and about ¼ of the paddock mowed in the afternoon.
We went out for Dinner at the International Club with our friend CW and had some nice fish.

Friday – early run to replace the mop-head as we bought the wrong one last night.
Another full day of laundry, housework and podcasts.
Also changed the sheets and put on some snuggly lovely new flannel ones, as the nights are starting to cool down.
They’re so soft!!

Saturday – My love came home for lunch and bought fish and chips with her.
I had four chips, and a small bit off the end of her piece of fish, which I peeled all the batter off as it makes me feel icky these days.

In the afternoon after my Love came home from her after-lunch appointments, we filled the last of the new monument garden bed alongside the driveway, and put a pile of mixed flowers into it, and a tibouchina in an old rusty bottomless fire pit that we sat upon the end of the bed.

Sunday – the day went quite quickly with my Love and I spending a big part of it in the garden.
Apart from a couple of hours in the very warm middle of the day after we had lunch, we watched a bit of tele and precooked a satay for dinner.
After we had done more yard work, I had a shower and washed my hair.

I’ve started back on eating a kiwi-fruit a day again, as I had become quite constipated when I slacked off and stopped eating them.
The results within 24 hours were gratifyingly ‘easy’ – for those who’d like to know. lol

Tomorrow is a public holiday and then the next day I have to go to cairns for follow-up appointments with the Dietician and Surgeon.
Its going to be a busy week!