Category: Personal

Hello 2024!

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Its crazy making that its already most of the way through the first month of 2024.

Only to months until Autumn is upon us for goodness sake!!
That’s pretty wild…

I know its said the the older you get the fast the years fly by, but it seems like last year and this have blurred into one, with barely a breath in between.

My big aim before winter is upon us, is to get all the nursery plants that are being ‘stored’ in the pools at the moment, planted out.

Once Autumn and Winter are here, it will be very busy in the vegetable garden once again.
For the time being with all the wet and heat we’re experiencing, its just a matter of trying to keep on top of the weeding, and looking after the perennials and some of the most robust annuals.

We noticed last night then we were making dinner, that we only have about 3 big jars of tomato soup left, so that will be next on the list of things to can when I have enough produce collected.

I canned some turkey mince last week, and we’ve got at least a good years worth put up, so I won’t need to do any more of that any time soon.

I will need to can some more chicken casserole and beef casserole meals though, so will be keeping my eyes peeled for good meat specials over the coming weeks to get those canned and put up in the pantry.

I also made some lovely blueberry yoghurt this week, so am enjoying it a lot yeah morning for breakfast.

We’ve also decided that three of the raised garden beds we’ve been using for potatoes, are going to be refreshed, repurposed and replanted with blueberry bushes as soon as we dig up the remainder of the potatoes.

Whilst we will still grow a small amount of potatoes, we live in an area where potatoes are large-scale farmed, so we can usually get them for a fair price.

Anyways – on with the diary of what I’ve been up to, and I want to wish you all a Happy, Healthy and Simple 2024.

Monday

– got a few things from Bunnings and collected a parcel from the post office and sent another one.

Came home and cooked dog food, as well as a whole fish that we’ve had in the freezer.
I’ll make fishcakes with it once I shin and bone it.

Set up a fan on a timer in our laundry shipping container as it’s a bit damp in there after the storms and the dryer usage and we don’t want stuff in there going mouldy.

Tuesday

– went to the next town over my friend L to get my Loves Xmas pressie.
Thank goodness I finally worked out what to get!
( a weather station)

Managed to get another couple of towels for the bus too, so was very happy about that.

Mowed another third of the paddock and hope to get it finished tomorrow.

Wednesday

– went to another of the towns close by to the “Over 55s” meetup again.
They were having the Xmas party which was really quite nice.
Another lady turned up that I hadn’t met before, who was very inclusive so that was nice!

I only stayed about an hour and a half as I wanted to get back and finish the mowing before the rain comes back in.

Finished mowing the paddock after I had some lunch, and started to get some of the plants that we’d tucked away when the cyclone was coming, back out into their regular places.

Thursday

– our Son and his family flew up from Adelaide today and we’ll get to see them probably tomorrow as the in-laws are collecting them from the airport.

I had a really nice quiet chilled day today as Ive had such a busy week and just needed some down time.
It was a nice day…

Friday

– our son and his son came and visited for most of the day today so that was lovely.

As it always does, it took our grandson a little while to get used to us again, but then he was back to his usual cuteness self.

Got loads of laundry done today after the dog rolled in a disgusting days-old dead toad – without us realising what it was – and stunk the whole house out including everything she touched or went near.
Gawd it was baaaaad 🤢

Saturday

– an early trip to the supermarket to get some goodies for dinner as our son and daughter-in-law are coming for dinner tonight.

Our son came over for a couple of hours during the day to discuss the bus electrics and give input on design.

He left mid-afternoon and we had some quiet time in front of the tele before they came back for dinner.

Sunday

– Christmas Eve.
We went in to town early to drop off a present to a friend and to get a ham and some croissants.
Our son came around later in the day and helped us with a range of jobs, and I managed to get the house-yard and ½ the paddock mown, and he finished it off for me.

A quiet evening in readiness for breakfast with some of the family tomorrow for Christmas, and then lunch with the in-laws.

Monday

– Christmas Day!
Our son, daughter in law and grandson came over for breakfast which was nice, the. They headed back to the in-laws to help prep for lunch.

We went over to the in-laws and had lunch with everyone over there, and got home about 3pm, right before a huge storm broke, which lasted a couple of hours.

A quiet evening after a busy day.

Tuesday

Tuesday

– Boxing Day
made some laundry detergent first up as I only had just enough to do today’s loads. Made 20 litres.

We dug a hole and cemented in a post out in the paddock for my Love to put the new weather station on.

Our son came over mid-morning and we did a trip to town to get some stuff for the bus so he could work on it.

Another huge storm came through mid-afternoon with thunder, lightening and torrential rain, so our son headed off and we had a quiet afternoon indoors.

Wednesday

– spent the morning working in the vegie garden and getting some of the grounds cleaned up.
My Love helped out by doing some whipper-snipping down in the chook pen, so that was great.

Our son came and did some work on the bus roof getting rid of a pile of rust, but todays storm came is early around 11am, so that put paid to any more work outside…

Thursday

– another big day of working in the garden for me, and another day of our son working on the bus for us.

I got the t-posts put in for the grape archway, which was a bit of a feat as they are 2.4m long so I had to get the t-post driver waaaay over my head to be able to get them in.
I then wired the reo mesh to the posts.
I’m proud of the job I did!

Our son finished putting the awning on the bus today.
I got to help out in a very small way with holding bolts still – but other that that he pretty much did it all solo!

He, our daughter-in-law, and grandson came for dinner, so I cooked one of their favourites. It was a nice day and evening.

Friday

– a huuuuuge day on the bus doing the wiring for the ‘house’ electrics – which really interests me, as I like to know how they work – so I hung around and sucked up as much learning as I could.

Out to dinner this evening with the whole extended family for our daughter-in-law’s birthday which is next week, but we’re celebrating early as they leave very early on Sunday.

Saturday

– did laundry, mowed, cooked chook food.

Our son, daughter-in-law and grandson came over and spent the afternoon with us.
We dragged out a kiddie pool and all sat out in the grass under the shade trees while our grandson enjoyed the pool for a couple of hours.
It was a really lovely time, and one of those days that we will all cherish for years to come.

Once it was time for them to leave, we were all a bit sad and sooky.
We’ve each had some really good chats and time together this trip, and we’ll miss them all.
They fly out at the crack of dawn tomorrow.

Sunday

– it’s one of our Anniversaries today so we took the bus and went out to the lake and got takeaway on the way for lunch.

After lunch my Love had a nap and I read my book.

Was lovely and relaxed after quite a full-on week.

Monday

– New Years Day. Happy 2024!!

A quiet day spent around the Farm doing some tidying up and then my Love watched a movie during the heat of the day, and I did some Life-Admin stuff.

Tuesday

– back to work for my Love, and I took the bus and went to the next town over to get the fortnightly stock-up groceries.

Finished mowing the paddock when I got home, tidied out the fridge, and did some prep work on the vegies for our frittata for dinner.

Wednesday

– installed the microwave in the bus today.
Have managed to tuck it away behind the fridge as its unlikely to be used much so dont need to have it in a super-easily accessible place, but needs to not be a gymnastics effort when we do want it.

I bought three new work shirts this morning and made some ProJellYo and wrote a blog post.
Also did laundry.

Thursday

– nice quiet day pottering about doing a lot of the little fiddly jobs.
Decluttered some cooking stuff I haven’t used in over a year.

We had dinner in the bus up at the lookout tonight.
Takeaway pizza.
I couldn’t eat a whole slice but it was super delicious.

I’m thinking about buying a Cricut (crafting machine), so have been researching them and also talking to a friend who uses one on the daily, and I think maybe the “joy extra” is the one I will get.

Friday

– a huuuuuge day of working out in the paddock.
When I was part way through mowing the house-yard, our GardenGuy turned up to whipper-snip.

After we’d chatted and caught up a bit – he started snipping in the paddock and I finished mowing the house-yard and then moved out into the paddock to start mowing there as well.

We both worked really hard and solidly for about three hours, and by the end of that time we were pretty much done.

It definitely goes so much faster when you’re working with someone else giving help, not just by yourself!

After GardenGuy had gone, I had something to eat and drink and then went back out and poisoned all of the fence lines.
I need to do some more around the garden beds tomorrow, but I was pretty exhausted by the end of that.

In the afternoon I cooked dog food and chicken, and did the folding from the laundry that I had done earlier this morning before starting out in the yard..

Feeling a bit dehydrated from the mornings efforts, so I need to concentrate on getting more fluids into me when it’s as hot and humid as it’s been of late.

Ordered Formulite today also.

Saturday

– Did the rest of the poisoning this morning, and some decluttering in the kitchen.
A fairly quiet afternoon as my Love was home.

Sunday

– I had a really bad sleep last night due to my loyal puppa having to go out with a dodgy tummy every hour or so.
I was also in quite a bit of pain in waking, so my Love decided that today wasn’t going to be a work day, and that she was going to take me for a drive in the bus instead.

We went to the next town over and wandered around the hardware store, then went to Kmart and grocery shopping and rounded it all out by stopping off at the Heritage Museum for lunch.

A quiet afternoon with some tele and reading to finish off the week, and some watering of various gardens.

Monday

– managed an ok sleep last night despite pain from a shoulder injury that I think must have happened when I was mowing or whipper-snipping.

I booked an appointment with my GP for two weeks time, and a Telehealth appointment for a review with my Surgeon for tomorrow afternoon.

I took some flowers to my friend R at the nursery to give her a smile, and spent the rest of the day moving around and cleaning up the inside bathroom.

Tuesday

– went into town to drop off some stuff to the second-hand shop, and found 3 wine glasses while I was there, as I have managed to break most of our other ones.

I haven’t had an alcoholic drink in over 16 months now.
I actually had to count on my fingers to work out how long it has been! 😁

I also did an online order for the circuit machine that I have been researching.
I’m excited to be going to pick it up tomorrow.

Wednesday

– an early start to the day – earlier than intended as I was woken by cramps in my left leg that I had a hard time getting rid of.

I’d planned to get up early anyway as my friend L and I were heading down the hill to the city to pick up my circuit machine and do some other random shopping.

It was a loooong day with lots of looking at recliner chairs for L, and my arm pain has been super bad today, so I’ll be glad to climb into bed tonight.

Thursday

– a very quiet day with considerable pain in my arm.

I opened and unpacked the cricut today but couldn’t use it as I don’t have enough pain free movement in my arm to be able to.
Frustrating!

Had a mid-morning nap to catch up a bit on last nights loss of sleep.
Unusual – but very welcome.

By late afternoon I ended up taking an nsaid – which it’s not recommended that I use any more – but desperate times called for desperate measures and as at the time of writing this in the evening, it has helped break the pain cycle a lot!

I don’t think having ONE will make too much difference to my gut….
Fingers crossed I’ve finally turned to corner to recovering.

Had some rain this afternoon.
Rumour has it that there is another possible cyclone in the making lurking off the northern coast.

Another time of ‘wait and see’.

Friday

– early grocery shop, then home to put them away and watch some cricut videos.
My arm still isn’t mobile enough to play with the machine, but at least I’m getting some idea of the sort of things it can do.

Had to go back into town to the post office mid-afternoon as my Formulite order had arrived.

I’m also marinating some chicken overnight to see if I can make a passable version of the chicken tikka pieces that I have been buying on occasion as a pre-made cold-cut.

Saturday

– woke numerous times in the night to considerable pain in my arm, but just used paracetamol to get through the night.

I picked up my friend C for a trip to the next town over to go for coffee and cake as part of my xmas present from her, so we spent around three hours together talking, looking around shops and such.
Was a really nice way to spend the morning.

When I got home I cooked the chicken tikka pieces that I had marinated over night, and they tasted reallllly good.
I also poached some chicken pieces and made the weekly chook food.

It poured for most of the afternoon, so it was inside chores only.

I took another meloxicam this morning, and have thus been relatively pain free today, so I am hoping once again that todays movement will carry over into tomorrow being a lot better.

Sunday

– another day with loads of rain.
We had a quiet morning at home with me doing a load of graphic design work, and then we headed out to have lunch with ‘the boys’, who we haven’t eaten out with for ages.

We went to one of the country pubs that has been closed for quite a while as they couldn’t get a chef, but they’re back serving meals again, and the food was good.

Once home, my love had a nap and I finished off the rest of the graphic design work.
I ended up doing 130 graphics in total!

Had another lovely asian salad for dinner, with the tikka chicken that I had cooked yesterday.
It was delicious.

I had mine stirred up together in a bowl, and my Love had it in a wrap and said it was really good – so that’s nice to hear. 🙂

Monday

– laundry and ‘clean-up-after-the-weekend’ day.

I also put up the new tibetan prayer flags in the outdoor kitchen / bathroom as the last lot had finally died.

The smoke detector that I found finally got installed as well, but we’ve discussed our concerns about it going off randomly while we’re not home, which would be very stressful for the animals.
Unsure what to do about that as yet…

It’s been raining for most of the day again.
The ground is thoroughly sodden so it’s back to wearing gum-boots.

Hoping to get the chance to try out the cricut a bit tomorrow so I dusted off our old printer which hasn’t been used for a few years, and after lots of reading, restarting the laptop, and an entire new series of ink cartridges, it seems to be working ok-ish.

Tuesday

– grocery shopped first up, then came home and cooked poached chicken, dog food and chook food.

Spent a couple of hours fiddling with the cricut and made a vinyl name logo for my drink bottle as a test run.
I didn’t manage to put it on exactly straight as I didn’t bother with being wildly careful, but that’s ok – it was after all a test drive and I was pretty happy with it!

Wednesday

– a quiet morning then off to town as I had lunch with my ex work colleagues today.
Turned up at the restaurant and it was closed, so had to organise another cafe to go to with them.
There was about seven of us all up.
It wasn’t too bad.
They were all quite surprised with how much weight I have lost as I haven’t seen them for at least two months.

I weighed in this morning for the first time in a whole, and I am now almost 34 kg down on my start weight – not my heaviest weight – but my start weight!

I’m probably about 37 or 38 kg down on my heaviest…

Thursday

– Went down the hill to the optometrist and as expected, I’ve got to get stronger glasses.
I saw a different optometrist than usual, which was a good thing imho, as its a fresh perspective.
Turns out I have been developing cataracts for the last few years, and whilst it is documented on my chart, I have never been told this!

To say I was a little stunned at the news – mostly due to not being told by the other guy – is an understatement.

Went to Bunnings and got a couple of garden beds, and then to Kmart to see if they had another camping mat that we can cut up and use as insulation / blackout on the windows of the bus for when were sleeping, and actually found one.

Got a haircut, but still not as short as I’d really like to go!
I’m a scaredy cat though, as I haven’t had short hair since I was about 5…

Friday

– a day at home catching up on laundry and housework, but in the afternoon I had a play around with the cricut design software and machine, and made some lettering graphics as another test run, for my new laptop table which I got yesterday. I had managed to find a really good one by accident at the anaconda store, and it was only $8 som I got a couple as we can also use them when we go away in the bus as well as at home.

Had a huge downpour this evening.
Gave up trying to watch television as there was just no chance of hearing it, so we read and played iPad games.

Saturday

– I am loaning my cricut machine to my friend C for the weekend, as I don’t really get much time to use it then, as my Love is home for longer periods of time, and we try and do things together.

So I went into town to drop it off, and we also went to the local HarveyNorman store as they had just had a new delivery of more cricut vinyls, and I wanted to get some extra colours.
There are some really lovely colours in their range!

Just as I got home it started to pour raining again.
We ended up having 98mm from yesterday’s storm.

Some rain has come inside today – which it hasn’t done in years, but its to be expected, as we’ve had soooo much, and its unrelenting, and isn’t getting a chance to run off and the ground is at capacity, so it can’t sink in.

There is another cyclone off the coast, so it doesn’t look like it going to let up any time soon.
We had to shut down the roller-doors on our house (shed) to stop too much water coming in, so I’ve put the air-con on just to keep the air moving inside…

Sunday

– put together and test ran the generator this morning in case we need it during the cyclone.
It seems to be quite easy to start so pretty pleased with that!

We then headed to the next town over for a drive in the bus, and did some grocery shopping then went and had lunch at the Museum.

When we got back home my Love watched a movie and napped, and I did some bookwork, and the weekly prep for my cuppas that I have on waking and around 5:30pm.

Instead of my old past faithful of coffee – which I can no longer drink – I now drink a mix of two different types of laksa powder, with a scoop of protein powder and a heaped spoon of fibre powder added to it.

I portion this mixture out into ten small containers which I can then just dump an individual container into a cup, add boiling water, stir and its ready to go, rather than having to measure each ingredient each time I want a cuppa.
Saves a lot of time in the long run, and makes having a cuppa an easy thing, not a fiasco of multiple-container organisation.

Monday

– an early appointment first up with my GP, and apart from low blood pressure (100/65) – which explains my occasional dizzies – my blood results are “perfect” and he’s very happy with me.

We have jointly decided that I am going to take a holiday from one of my medications and see how my breathing is without it.
I’m feeling pretty hopeful, but I’m to go straight back on it if there is any inkling of an issue.
It makes it more risky if I get any respiratory illnesses, but we’ll see how it goes for a bit…

When I got home we’d had a bit of sun, so after having something to eat and putting the laundry on, I got the mower fired up and slowly began the long process of getting the Farm grass under control a bit!

Tuesday

– I promised my mate in the next town over that I would visit her this week, so went over this morning in the bus, which also gave the grass a bit more time to dry out, as it was a gorgeous clear sunny morning.

Spent a couple of hours with her, then went and filled the bus with fuel, and drove back to our home town and did a bit of top-up grocery shopping.

Once home, I unpacked the groceries, had a few crackers and some cheese for lunch, then donned my hat and sunnies and headed out to mow.

There were a couple of places that I still couldn’t mow due to it being too wet, and I couldn’t go tooooo close to one of the groves of trees as I noticed that there is a curlew nesting there, and I dont want to scare her off the nest.

Once done, I messaged one of my older sisters as I have concerns that my brother – who sustained a traumatic brain injury a couple of years ago – has had marked cognitive decline, and as he is executor of our dads estate, I no longer think it prudent that he is making decisions on matters he doesn’t even recall happening.
(eg: he does not remember that the death happened, nor that he attended the funeral!!)

She will contact the solicitor on our joint behalf and voice our concerns so as to find out where we go from here, if the estate isn’t fully ready to finalise.

Wednesday

– moved the cars and finished mowing out where we park, and whipper-snipped there, and the big veg garden.

Cooked Turkey mince and then canned it.
Cleaned out the fridge.
Did a recycles run.
Poached some chicken breasts and made chook food.

Thursday

– garden guy came today and after I got him sorted and working, I did a quick duck in to town to grab some cash for him.

We have another cyclone swirling about the place and while it is due to cross land about 4 hours south, we are already getting some wind and rain from it.

Did laundry, messaged with one of my older sisters, and then talked on the phone for an hour with the eldest sister.

Today I found out via a friend, that the Surgeon who is supposed to be doing my hernia and gallbladder op – the very same Surgeon whom I spoke to last week on a Telehealth call to review how I was going, no longer works at the hospital where I am scheduled to have said operation!!

To say I am supremely pissed is an understatement!!

I don’t give a shit that he won’t be the one doing the op, but I do give a shit that he didn’t have the good grace, decency or the guts to tell me so when we were discussing it over the call!

Friday

– Public holiday today for ‘Australia Day’.
My Love worked this morning for a couple of hours and I did dishes and some yard work, then prepped my soup for the coming week, and ordered 4 bags of protein powder for the next couple of months.

The cyclone crossed the coast last night, and we’ve had not too much damage.
A few branches of pines and gums down, and a few small trees leaned over, but all up not too bad.

Saw a black snake down behind the workshop shipping container this morning, but he was quietly trying to slip away when I spotted him, so very obviously not out to do harm to anyone.

Saturday

– spent most of the morning other than general chores time, writing up a post for our Farm blog, and editing pictures to add to the post.

Overcast and mizzly day.

Sunday

– a day off for my Love and after she had put up the two windmills I got her for her birthday back in November, we went for a drive to all the nurseries in our local area, but they have very little seedling stock in store due to cyclone damage at the wholesale nurseries.

After we’d been back home and let the dogs out to wee, we grabbed the bus and headed to the next town over to grab a large sheet of structural panel, as were going to replace the bench-top in the outdoor kitchen where I do dishes.

After 7+ years of doing dishes there, the old timber benches are about rotted through.
Cutting it into the particular shapes for the bench is going to be fun – but it something that will have to wait until the weather is better and we can wrangle it out on the grass.

What plans do you have for your 2024?

I look forward to hearing from you below 🙂


Some of the ingredients that go into making the chookfood.

 


Wet weather learning day with my new cricut machine.

 


From dry weather Farm shoes, to wet weather Farm boots.

 


Post cyclone flooding near our chook pen.

 

After the rain, the chooks enjoy some moments of sunshine.


There is no better way to Live…!

End of Year

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2023 is almost done, and its been a year of big changes personally, and its also been a year in which I feel like the Farm is well on its way to evolving into a place I am really proud of and love to spend time working on.

I have some gentle visions for 2024, but have not drilled down enough on them to have them cemented in place, so until I have I will hold them close to my chest…

Monday

– laundry, sheets changed, watered big veg bed, did web work.
Had chicken strog w konjac noodles for dinner.
Did the grocery order for pickup tomorrow.

Tuesday

– collected the grocery order, and got a couple of pairs of shorts from Big W.
Did more web work.
Watered a lot of the gardens and trees.
We had a couple of brief showers today and it’s been quite overcast, but needing much more to even dampen the ground.

Wednesday

– went down the hill today to drop a friend off at the airport.
Then went to bcf to collect a water pump, then bunnings to collect two garden beds then headed back up the hill as it was the hottest I have felt down there in a couple of years.
Did some watering and some writing.

Thursday

– work in the garden and then put together the two garden beds I’d bought yesterday, during the heat of the day.
Once it cooled back down again – I placed them around two seperate trees and back filled with soil and compost, then added some flowers.

I’m really please with how they’ve worked out.

Friday

– the two older dogs went to the ‘salon’ today for a haircut and nails trimming.
Did some blogging while they were gone, and started the laundry.

We’re in water restrictions in our Shire at the moment – plus a total fire ban – so I spent a couple of hours handwatering the trees along the fenceline between us and our western neighbours.

That property has now sold, and with the arrival of the new neighbours a couple of months ago, the lush grounds that used to be the shining pride of the previous neighbours, are quickly getting overrun by weeds, and already a few of the trees have died.
It’s really sad to watch…

In our own interests, we have decided to at least provide water to some of their trees along our joint fence as well as ours, as it’s a designated wildlife corridor and as such we want to help preserve it; but we also want to preserve the summer shading and the green-belt privacy the area creates between the properties.

Saturday

– quite a busy day.
Did early grocery shopping then when I got home I pulled apart the bus loo cover I was making and decided to go in a different direction with it as I just wasn’t happy with how it was working out.
I ended up using some stick-on vynal that I’ve had in the cupboard for ages, and covered it in that.

It took quite a few hours but looks great.
I’ll probably still make a ‘throw’ for the top of it out of pretty material for when it’s not in use, but I’m happy with today’s result.

Watered the paddock beds, and started to move our potted plants into the new small pools that I got to use as water holding trays as they’re drying out so bloody quickly using regular ones.

Sunday

– mostly a lazy day of very little getting done.
Worked out how I’m going to build the small shelf that will hold the tap and ‘sink’ in the bus.

Think I might have seen the first close-to-the-house snake for the season.
We also had our first noisy storm this afternoon (thunder / lightening) and had a decent downpour out of it.
Only about 4ml, but absolutely better than nothing!

We even lost power for a little while, which was rather nice.
I (almost) always enjoy a power-out during the rain, as it makes for some really nice ‘enforced’ reading time.

Monday

– went to a friends place in the next town over that I haven’t seen for a few years and we spent an hour and a half catching up.
It was nice!
Came home and did the post weekend cleanup.
Had a wonderful storm again this evening.

Tuesday

– went in to town early and did the grocery shopping.
Came home and cooked chicken breasts, and started on the laundry.

Made some projellyo ready for our weekend away, and made the shelf for the tap to sit on in the bus.
I’ve stained and varnished it, but will leave it to dry overnight then install in the morning.

Collected my Formulite order from the post office, as well as some vacuum bags for food storage for the home and bus, and a little handheld vacc pump for the bags that we can leave in the bus.

Wednesday

– worked in the garden some, installed the shelf in the bus and did various prepping for our trip away in the bus this weekend.

Thursday

– early morning drive into town to pick up my friend L as her car was going in for work.
We drove to one of the next towns over to do some shopping and waste some time.

We went to the 2nd hand shops, hardware, rivers and rounded it out by getting some groceries that aren’t available in our own town.

In the afternoon I did some mowing of the houseyard and part of the paddock, and after work, my Love and I went and did grocery shopping for our trip away.
It’s a bit of a tradition that – when we’re going away – we do it together when we can.

Friday

– spent all day getting myself and the bus ready to go away.
Did laundry and vacuuming in between.
Finished installing the tap in the bus including putting in the water tank.
Also installed a toothbrush etc cup.

Saturday

– packed up the bus, sorted out the cats, bundled up the dogs and headed off early for the kennels to drop them off for the next couple of days.

We then doubled back – cos it’s actually a shorter trip to do so – and headed off down the coast to a caravan park we’ve never been to.

It took a couple of hours, and we stopped off at woolies to get some fresh bread on the way.
When we arrived, the staff were very nice and said we could pick any site we liked.
We ended up choosing one a couple of sites down from our original allocation, as it afforded a bit more shade during the heat of the day.

Mid-way through set up – as we were listening to the rumbles of thunder and wondering if we were going to get a storm – I heard a massive ‘crackle‘.
Looked up and one of the solar panels on the reception roof had sparked and started a fire which after the initial flash and flames, mostly smouldered.

In due course the firies were called and finallllllly arrived, but I’m glad it wasn’t a full blown fire or the place would have been ashes!!

We were both over-heating due to the humidity, but it was definitely doing a number on my Love, so we headed off to soak in the pool for the better part of an hour until her core finally cooled.

We ordered a pizza from the site cafe for dinner, and it wasn’t too bad.
Cheddar instead of mozzarella – but beggars can’t be choosers!!

Even with the heat – it’s been a good first day of ‘holidays’.

Sunday

– we both slept quite well and after having breakfast, drove to MB to go to the markets.
It was very hot walking around, and we didn’t buy anything.

We were never big fans of MB when we used to camp aroun these parts 20+years ago, and from what little we saw this morning – we’re still unconvinced that’s its the hot-spot its touted to be…

Came back and had a swim to cool the core again, then had a hamburger and beer (for my love) at the site cafe.
We’re taking advantage while we can, as it’s closed from this evening until Wednesday – which is when we leave.

After lunch, my Love had a nap – and the bus was much cooler than outside, as I had turned on the new roof fan we got back from the MB drive, and it’s worked really well.

After nap-time – during which I read – we went for another swim and float to cool down some more.

Dinner was a home-made charcuterie board.
Deeeelishussss!

Monday

– woke up early but we managed to go back to sleep til around 8:40!!!
Almost unheard of!

Stinking hot when we got up and we were back in the pool before it had even hit 9:30am.

Drove into MB to have lunch at the pub, and I had some of the best sticky-date pudding I think I’ve ever had!
My love had her first proper (not crumbed) steak in months and enjoyed it for the most part.

Back to the caravan park and back into the pool.
Then some reading and scrolling and back into the pool once again.
Super hot and humid day but we made it through!

Cooked up some sausages for dinner to have on bread.

Tuesday

– much the same as yesterday.
Slept in a bit, got up and had a cuppa, swim, breakfast, swim, read, swim, to a different pub for lunch (another brilliant sticky date pud) a swim, a read, dinner and then a movie in bed.

Prior to dinner we packed up a lot of our stuff so we don’t have to do it in the heat of the morning.
Also turned the bed around to see what it’s like sleeping the other way.
Will see how we feel about it tmoro morning…

Wednesday

– i slept really poorly last night.
Not from turning the bed around, but from a discussion we had at the end of dinner which didn’t go so well, and i got really upset from it and felt horrible.

24hrs later and I’m still feeling pretty fragile..

We woke to overcast skies and whilst we were having our cuppa, rainy showers started rolling in.
We packed up in spurts in between showers, and by 8:30am had the bus all packed up, and were ready to start the drive back home.

It was a quiet drive, and we stopped off at a local dairy to have a coffee, and I had some of their yoghurt.
Very tart, edible but a little too ‘acid-y’ for me.

Once home we unpacked the bus and I started the laundry, tidied up inside, watered some plants, and we then headed back out to go and collect the dogs from kennels.

Filled the car up on the way as I have an early trip down the hill tomorrow for an appt with my dietician, and my friend L is coming too as she has a raft of appts as well.

Dogs home, dinner cooked, and we settled in to a quiet night of tv catch-up.

Got the houseyard mowed as I know I won’t get much time tomorrow for yard work, and I really want to make sure its done before the predicted cyclone rains come.

Thursday

– an early start to head down the hill with my friend L.
Once we got down there I dropped her off at her first appt, and double backed to go to my Dietician appointment.

Dietician was encouraging as always, and made all the right noises – but in all honestly didn’t have anything much to contribute to what I am already doing.
I feel like these days she has become more of a ‘cheer-leader’ than a resource and whilst that’s incredibly useful for some, it feels a bit hollow for me…

I think that unless something goes haywire, that I probably won’t keep going back, as the costs have gone from $90 per visit to $125 per visit in under six months.

Friday

– another busy day today.

There is a cyclone off the east coast of Australia and at present it is tracking toward us and if it continues on its current path is heading right for us – so as we tend to do every year, it’s time to get into ‘cyclone prep’ mode.

It’s a bit earlier than usual this year, so we need to get a wriggle on and get stuff done.

I went into town this morning and got some top-up groceries, and did a pharmacy and rubbish run at the same time.

Once home and all the groceries were put away, I started on mowing the paddock.
At about half way through I had to go out again to get fuel as I’d forgotten to put the containers into the car when I went to town the first time.

Home again and time for a protein shake, then back out into the heat to get the mowing finished.

After I’d done that, I got the house yard cleaned up – I only have to sort out the plants on the table, and lie down the table and chairs in the protected walkway along the fence-line and I think it will all be mostly done.

Next up I went and put some of the loose garden bits into the shipping containers, and turned over and lay down the wheelbarrows and big garden cart, along the fence-line too.
Then cleaned up the majority of the cement area next to the container.

There is a limit to how much stuff I can move away from there, and I’m hoping that the area is pretty protected, even when the wind turns.

I also have created a pile that needs to go to the dump, which we’ll do tomorrow.

It might all be for nothing, but it’s better to be safe than sorry!

Saturday

– ducked into town to get an anniversary pressie for my love as it’s on Monday.
10yrs since our new zealand wedding.

Replaced the pandoras she broke about a year ago, and added another charm to it.  Still need to wrap it properly though.

Spent all day doing cyclone prep, including getting up on the roof and blowing out the gutters. (eeep!)
Also did two dump runs worth of crap to the tip.
Cooked an all-day delicious curry 🙂

Sunday

– a productive kitchen day with the defrosting of some foods I’ve been going to can.

First up was some blueberry and strawberry compote, then I got out all the ingredients for salsa, which will defrost over the next 24hrs and I’ll make and can the salsa tomorrow.
I also need to get a few extra onions to top up the recipe.

I then made some elderberry syrup which is good for immunity boosting, as well as reportedly being good for a whole lot of other ‘ails’.

Did some grocery shopping and also have an order to pick up in the morning.

Monday

– another busy day which started with picking up the grocery order, and then coming home to spend the rest of the day making and canning salsa / pasta sauce.

Tuesday

– laundry, cooking, cleaning and cyclone prep.

Wednesday

– Did some pruning of the lillipillis when we first got up as the wind and rain had bent them over and they were rubbing against the side of our lil house.

Other than the usual household chores, not a lot to be done other than a lot of sitting around, reading, scrolling, singing, chair dancing and just generally waiting for the wind, rain and cyclone to do its thing and pass on by.

We moved the bus back away from the house because if we get as much rain as is expected, it’s going to be weeks before we can move it, due to it being so heavy.
We’ve parked it out near the shipping container next to my Loves car.
We’ve already had over 70mls…

Thursday

– cyclone Jasper crossed the coast yesterday evening and other than very gusty winds and ceaseless rain, we’ve been incredibly lucky!

The cyclone moved more northerly in the final few hours before crossing, which meant that we were spared a lot of the possible devastation that could have come if it had stayed on the original trajectory.

Our power is still on, our roof is on, and despite the fact that everywhere is very very wet having had well over 100mm, we’re safe and sound.
Can’t ask or hope for much more than that!

My Love has gone back into work today after having the day at home yesterday, with the office on official cyclone closure.

As I was sitting writing this morning, our middle dog Molly suddenly jumped up from where she had been sleeping being the couch, ran toward the door, fell over, fitted three times, and then lay very verrrrry still for a couple of minutes.

I rushed straight over – heart pounding (mine) – to sit next to her one the floor to give comfort and to look her over, and to watch and see if there was anything ‘obvious’ happening.

No ticks (that I can find), heart rate ok, she’s a bit vague, and it took her a few minutes after the fitting stopped before she chose to get herself up, and then another little while to reorient.

She then took herself back behind the couch where she likes to sleep because its cool there – but where she can still keep an eye on anything going on in the house, as well as having a birds-eye view of the doorway and can watch us all going in and out.

I’ll be keeping a closer eye than usual on her today…

Friday

– a very quiet mostly indoor day with the pelting rain continuing.

Saturday

– more downpour.
We’ve had over 400mm in the last couple of days.
Most of the Farm is under water.

Had to go out to the work Xmas party this evening which we weren’t keen on leaving home for.
It was 10 pin bowling followed by dinner.

It didn’t turn out tooooo bad to be honest.

I’ve been wanting to go bowling for a while so this may be the poke I need to get me back into it!

Sunday

– another day of more rain and not too much getting done.

Having said that though, we went and got a few groceries, did the laundry, and did some cleaning up and a bit of weeding in the rain in the vegie garden.
Just needed to be outside for a while.

The reports of devastation all over far north qld are just so freakin sad, and we’ve been so incredibly lucky here at the Farm.

The house next door I noticed this morning has a tarp on the roof, as does another house just around the corner.

All the ranges and highways to our area are closed with trees down and major land slides.

Due to me being very conscious of us always having ample supplies on hand, we have plenty of varied foods so we’ll be ok, and certainly have fared a lot better than so may others.

Feeling pretty damn lucky right about now…

My next post will be in the new year, so until then I hope you have a lovely Christmas if you celebrate it and I hope that the New Year brings all things wonderful for you and yours!

 


Making dandelion salve.

A trip away to the coast for a few days.

Making salsa with tomatoes, onion and capsicum.

One of the best sticky-date puddings I’ve had!

We live in a truely magnificent part of the World.

Oct ’23

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o0o

Monday

– cold rainy blustery day.
Heavy showers overnight.
Early trip to town to drop off my Loves car for a service, so she has my car for the duration.

Did laundry.
Cooked some chicken, and precooked some meatballs to have in the freezer so that we can just use them for ‘heat and eat’ meals.

Spent the majority of the day doing blog posts and web-work, but also got a little bit of pruning done, and some soil shovelled into the barrow ready to plant a frangapani when the weather is a little kinder.

Tuesday

– my birthday.
Started out very underwhelming, and being that it was again cold and rainy, it was generally a lil miserable…

Did some writing to get some disappointment out of my system.

Took my gorgeous dog to the vet to get her annual vaccinations and to have her dew claws cut.
It was too much all at once for the poor love and she got very stresssed.

She recovered quickly, but I have learned my lesson and won’t put so many items on her agenda at future visits.

I mostly had a very quiet day but got a lovely Buddha for the garden bought home for me by my Love.

Wednesday

– trip to town to renew my drivers licence, which included needing to have a new photo taken.

Painted the frame around the fan in the bus.
Mowed the house yard and half the paddock.

Worked out how to use the new budgeting app I’ve downloaded.
I’m liking it a lot!

Thursday

– finally gave in and went to our local lingerie shop as they are nationally renowned for having bras in a vast range of sizes, shapes and brands, and I’ve been having a really hard time finding something to fit me at the local bigw.

It took almost an hour of trying on dozens of bras, but i finally found two that were comfortable – one with wires and one wireless.

I have gone from being a 22-24 DD/E to a 14G!!
#MindBlown

Did a lot of cleaning up inside today, but also got the surround to the fan in the bus finished, and recharged the security camera.

Friday

– went into town to collect the groceries but once there was told that they couldn’t process the order as the internet was down, and that I would get a message when it was ready.

Got another message to the same effect about and hour later, and then yet another one an hour after then.
And then another hour later, got a message saying the order had been cancelled.
Annoying, especially as we’re going away for a couple of days tomorrow morning!

I ended up going in to another supermarket later in the day, so that I could get some extra ingredients to make up snacks for myself for while we’re away.

Hopefully the chicken that I had planned on getting will still be on special when we get back.

Once my Wife got home from work, we went out and reorganised the bus a bit.
We’ll do most of the packing of groceries and such into the fridge in the morning before we go.
We’ll also need to drop off the dogs to the kennels on the way to the coast.

Saturday

– we started out morning with packing up the bus ready for our few days away.
Once breakfast was done and we’d got all the animals ready, we headed off to the kennels with our three dogs on board.

Dogs delivered to the kennels, and next stop was to the supermarket to grab the last few bits of groceries, then we were on our way down the hill and onward to Port Douglas.

We haven’t been to this particular van park before, and we’re very surprised at the tightness of the sites.
The most cramped sites we have ever been in actually!

We initially started to put up our gazebo which we always use, but quickly found that we couldn’t open it up fully without hitting our own van AND the neighbouring van.
This is despite having let the van park know ahead of time what our dimensions were, and at no time did they tell us that we wouldn’t fit!

We folded back up our gazebo, and got out our small lean-to shelter, which whilst it isn’t ideal, at least gives our ‘kitchen’ a bit of cover if it rains.

We spent the afternoon just relaxing, and my Love had a couple of naps, which was lovely for her as she desperately needs some time off.
She been mostly working 7 days a week for the last couple of months, with the only exception being when we went away for the funeral – which isn’t exactly a relaxing holiday!

We’re planning to spend a quiet evening relaxing some more, and tomorrow will go walking and looking around what – at one point – was a regular stomping ground for us.

Sunday

– woke ‘late’ around 7:30.
Been a lot of months since we last slept in that late!

Had our soup/coffee on waking, then breakfast and after changing and tidying up a bit, we headed off for a walk to the markets, about 1.5km away.

Wandered around but didn’t find much we were interested in, tho I did get a couple of bead-chains.
They’re one of my weaknesses…

We then went to the pub we always used to drink at, and my Love got a soft drink, and we sat in the cool sea-breeze and people watched for a while while we cooled down, as the markets has been very hot.

We then wandered up the road to see what the various restaurants were offering – knowing full well we would come back to the pub – being the creatures of habit that we are!

But first I needed some new pj pants, as the ones I was wearing were from when I was 30kg heavier, and they had quite literally fallen off me earlier in the day.
😵‍💫😬

Sure enough, we ended up back at the pub for lunch, and I noticed that they had a $4 slaw side in the menu, so ordered that and it was lovely!
Too much of course – but delicious!

My tummy threw a bit of a fit when we got back to the caravan park – but it was definitely worth it.

Did some clearing out and cleaning up in the bus during the afternoon, and finished off with a nice warm shower, including hair wash and leg-shave.

The new pj pants are great and comfy and don’t fall down, but they’re very long!
Will have to cut a good 6-8” off the bottom.
Ohhh – and they’re a 14!!!

Monday

– a quiet day for the most part spent around camp, reading and just relaxing.

In the afternoon we did a bit of sound-deadening on the roof in the bus, which is a tedious job, but this time was made easier by having my Love to help with pre-cutting the panels for me, prior to me installing them, which makes it much easier than constantly stopping and starting to measure, then cut, then install repeat repeat repeat!

It’s still a bloody neck-breaking job though…

Tuesday

– pack up and head home day.
We were so lucky with the weather the whole time we were away, not overly hot, and no rain!
Feeling very lucky.

We stopped off on the way home to get the animals some food which I cooked up throughout the afternoon.

When we got home our wonderful gardener was whipper-snipping and his wife had come along to help out and was doing some poisoning.
They’re a great pair!

I got all the dishes sorted, made lunch, put away the stuff that came in from the bus including our clothing and then got a start in on doing the laundry.

We had to go and collect the dogs from the kennels, which we did after my Wifes one unavoidable appointment for the day.

Wednesday

– early start in the garden as soon as my Love went to work.

While we were away, our gardeners wife had done a kindness and had spread some more mulch in the vegie garden, but unfortunately she had spread mulch in areas that weren’t already mulched, and areas that I didn’t actually want mulched.

She also hadn’t put any cardboard down before mulching the new areas, so weeds and grass would come through very quickly.

On top of that, the particular mulch that we use for pathways is stupidly expensive, so not something to be tossed about willynilly…

So this morning – before it got too hot – I started scooping back up allllll that mulch into the gorilla cart, whilst I had the laundry washing at the same time.

About 2 hours in it was getting super warm as I was now in the full sunshine and despite drinking often, I could feel I was starting to dehydrate, so had to stop for the day.

Whilst I only got about ⅔ of the mulch that I’ll be able to reclaim pulled back up, that was three overfull 200L gorilla carts!

I have done the poisoning, then began the laying of the cardboard down along the northern fence-line and as each cart is filled, am spreading it around the trees and along the pathway that runs along that fence-line.

I’ve made it around ½ way along already, so it was a very productive morning all round.

The afternoon was spent doing jobs that I would usually have done in the morning like dishes, cleaning out the fridge, tidying, folding and precooking tonight’s dinner.

Thursday

– a trip to town first up to return some shorts that were too big for me, and I finally gave in and went an purchased some new Pilbara work shirts.
They’re my favourite and I’ve worn them for years, but during a recent visit, our son told me I looked like a homeless derelict due to how big my shirts were, and that they were pretty much engulfing me.

Turns out I’ve gone from a mens 4XL to a women’s 16!!
I went for an 18 though, as I like them to be baggy so they don’t cling in the heat and for ease of movement when working in the garden.

My friend LC dropped in for a cuppa late in the afternoon.
Always lovely to see her.

Friday

– huuuuuge day!
Started off with doing an early morning grocery order for pickup mid morning.
After my Love left for work, I started raking and clearing and chopping under the trees near our entry door.

At this time of the year I like to have a good cleared area under the trees so we can spot if any snakes are lurking.

Did the dishes then headed to town to grab the groceries, and grabbed a hoe on the way home to get out some of the more stubborn weeds under the trees.

Finished clearing up under the trees then started on the mowing.
House yard first, then once that was done I started on the paddock.

Speaking of snakes, I was mowing down near the orchard when I spotted a snake-skin on the grass, so I stopped the mower to pick it up.
It was around 6’ long, and very fresh – that morning I would guess as it was still very pliable – and by the look of it, it was a brown.
Not ideal!

Couldn’t spot it around anywhere…

With a few breaks for drinks and something to eat, I managed to get the entire paddock done, so was pretty darn pleased with myself.

Exhausted, but pleased!

I’ve got a couple of small blue raised garden beds that I want to put around a couple of trees, so I put them together, but have decided that I want my Love to put some extra screws into the as I’m not satisfied that they’ll be robust enough without them.

Saturday

– a very quiet day spent mostly inside.
Did a little bit of potting, but just generally a quiet day.

Sunday

– a very cold windy and wet morning.
It fined up later in the day but stayed windy.

Made some spelt waffles which turned out very well and were super-tasty.
Could only eat half a one with some maple syrup on, but it was delicious and didn’t make me feel ick.

Went in to bunnings and got two new kid pools to store yet-to-be-planted trees in, as our old pools are cracking and brittle and are no longer hold any use as mega drip-trays.

I also got a new grey-water hose as the one on the washing machine at the moment means I have to leave the shipping container ajar at all times, and I want to be able to close it up to make sure no lil beasties get in there.

Quiet afternoon.
Watched some tele.

Monday

– another cold rainy day.
Did some garden work first up, but the scuds of rain put paid to that.

Had a lunch date with an old school friend and we spent 2 hours chatting.
It was really nice to spend time catching up.
Drove the bus there as it hadn’t been out since we came home from our weekend away.

Tuesday

– quiet day.
Did some computer work, canned some pickled radish and made a satay.
Vacuumed the house, and did a couple of rounds of dishes.

Wednesday

– planted kale and basil.
Watered the big vegie garden, PdP garden and the pot-plants.

Mowed the houseyard again as the mower is going in for a service tomorrow and I don’t know how long it will be gone.

Thursday

– did an early online grocery order.
The ride-on mower was collected this morning, and I collected the groceries after that.
Also went to the nursery and got an indoor plant and a couple of pots.

Planted some fresh veg seedlings in the big garden.

In the afternoon I did some watering and potting up.

Our friend C is having a really rough time at the moment (still) and is getting ripped off blind by tradies and a co-worker, so we’re taking her out to dinner tonight to give her some extra love.

Friday

– last nights dinner was socially nice, but the calamari was very oily and made me feel a bit ick.

Our landscaper guy came this morning and dropped off some more wood-chip for me.

I finalllly planted and mulched the frangipani that has been sitting next to a hole waiting for me to get around to it for months!

Did laundry.
Potted up a couple of plants.
Watered the big veg garden.

Saturday

– a blah day.
Anticipatory anxiety I think, leaving me feeling very flat.

Went out early with my Love and got some cardboard from the bins at HN who have the nice big fridge boxes that they’re very ok with us taking them away for them. We use them as weed barrier prior to putting down woodchip or mulch, and it works fabulously, and helps keep the soil nice and moist.

Made some protein jellies which are like jelly lollies but with a good hit of protein included.
An easy fix on days when it’s a bit hard to get allllll the protein in.

My love worked in the afternoon and I cleaned the bedroom wall, the ceiling fans and the tippy top of the crockery shelving.

We’re going down to the city for the day tomorrow to see our youngest daughter, son-in-law and granddaughters.

Sunday

– left for the city by 8am, and were at the holiday park where our daughter and fam are staying by 930.

We sat around for a while and chatted, and did some craft with the older granddaughter, while the younger one had a nap.

Once the nap, chats and craft time were done, we took two cars and headed to the water park on the esplanade for lunch.
I tried a couple of chips but they didn’t sit well, so I had a mueslie bar.

Monday

– home duties day today.
Cooked: chook food, dog meat, and poached some chicken breasts.

Did laundry, watered the big veg garden, watered some of the houseyard, and my friend L visited for a cuppa and catch-up.

Tuesday

– a friend that I haven’t seen for a few years, and who is planning to move back to the area was due to come and visit today, but didn’t end up coming.
In theory she will be coming up on Friday – so I guess we’ll see…

Did some planting this morning, and this afternoon I de-taped a lot of cardboard boxes, then chopped them into various sizes so that I could use them as weed barrier along the western fence-line.

Will cover them with wood chip once I have finished laying them all out.
I’ve done most of the northern fence line already, and just have the final bits of cardboard and wood chip to finish off – probably only about 3 meters.

The lawn mower got dropped back this afternoon, so I’ll more than likely do the paddock mowing tomorrow or possibly Thursday if I end up going to the next town over tomorrow instead.

Wednesday

– I got brave today and put myself waaaay out of my comfort zone by going to the next town over and went to my first over 55 meetup to see about meeting some new people.

Not quite sure it’s for me, but I will give it one more try next fortnight to get a bit better feel for it, and see whether there are other people or just the three that I met today.

Once home, I mowed ¾ of the paddock but need my Love to do a stick-pick under the trees down near the chook pen before I can mow that bit, and I need to move my car and the bus to mow in their spots.

My sister is down at my brothers place and is sorting through the shipping container that has stored all the stuff from the parents house which – now that there’s both deceased, needs to finally be gone through.

I had planned to go down to help out with it, but didn’t get there due to not knowing what dates she was going, so I couldn’t manage to make it on short notice.
Not feeling great about that…

Thursday

– early grocery order which was ready for collection at 10.
Checked bigw for shorts.
Still none I’m keen on.

Brought the bus into the houseyard and did some work on the inside of cleaning, rearranging and some sound-deafening ready to do some more carpeting of the roof over the coming week.

Finished the rest of the mowing.

Friday

– laundry, cooked dog food and chicken
Worked on the bus.

Saturday

– meh
Worked on the bus console that we have designed and are planning to make.
Went to town a couple of times to grab bits for it.
Just meh…

Sunday

– still meh.
Feeling disconnected and isolated.
Nothing specific / just meh.

 

 

my trust ride-on all loaded up!

 

mulched pathways and a rogue chicken!

 

newly planted frangipani.

 

my birthday rose given to me by a special friend.

 

more delicious pickled radish.

 

working in the bus before it gets too hot.

 

special bus-dog helper.
my favorite hat and book

Sept ’23

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o0o

Another big update covering close to six weeks – so its gonna be a bit of a long one.
Strap in and buckle up!

Monday

– took Noah in to get the wiring done for the maxxfan.
Sat at a cafe for two hours – read and wrote.
Did laundry.
Went to the GP and he’s arranged for me to get some bloods done.
We had a good chat.
Went for a walk to the end of our street. Felt good and strong.

Our daughter-in-law is up with our grandson so we went out to dinner with them.
Decided not to do dinner at home for now, as the grandson had a bit of a freak out at all the animals last time, so we figured it might be better to ease him back into us gently!
I took some yoghurt and muesli to have, as I’m a lil gun-shy after our last meal out and I ended up in the loo having a vomit!

Tuesday

– quick trip to the next town over to get some stuff we needed to pick up, so I took the bus for a run.
Once I got home I chopped up the cabbages and grated some carrot to make sauerkraut so there’s now two big jars fermenting on the bench.

Our GardenGuy came over and took down the old chook run and cemented in some posts to attach the new wiring to.
He’ll be back later in the week to run the wire.

Wednesday

– a gloriously beautiful sunshiny day, and it made me soooo damn happy to be out there in it!!
My faithful dog was very excited to finally get to come down and spend time in the paddock with me too.

I got to do a couple of hours in the vegie garden weeding and cleaning up the beds, and then after a stop for something to eat, I got the entire paddock mown.
Then it was in to town to collect some compost and some parcels.

Thursday

– we woke up to a lovely cold morning – but unfortunately the next part of the day didn’t start as fabulously…

My Wife went to feed the chooks after we’d had our coffee as usual, and walked through the vegie garden on the way there as she does each morning – and the ground around each of the beds was flooded with water.

I had left the irrigation on since yesterday mid-morning…
It’s the first time I’ve ever done it – and gawd I hope it will be the last!

I had put a timer on my one for on for it – as I always do – but when the timer went off I had thought it was the timer for the dog food I was cooking so went and turned that off instead.
What an idiot…

Around 9am I drove up to my friend Ls place in the bus to collect some gardening stuff that she wanted to palm off on me – and I was very pleased to have.

The bus was pretty full by the time I was ready to head home and the final score was:
~ a plant stand
~ 5 bags of compost
~ 1 bag cow poo
~ 1 bag worm castings
~ 1 bag of blood and bone
~ a couple of pot plants and
~ a wooden garden bed

Once back home I unpacked the bus and cleaned it all out, and also unpacked the plant trolley onto the nursery shelves – which I should have got done weeks ago, but which has been put off because of the rain.

Friday

– Dishes, laundry, and updating a pile of websites was the majority of today.
I did manage to get in about an hour a half of working in the veggie garden, and most of that was spent digging comfrey and cassava out of one of the beds.

I am thinking of adding another (smaller) vegie garden in a secondary location on the Farm, and having one set of beds for the winter, and one for summer – but I want to do some more pondering on that before I fully commit…

Saturday

– had an awesome morning of working in the paddock.

My Love actually wanted to do some yard work which was exciting, I love having help and to have someone to work with.

I shovelled lots of dirt and we filled a new garden bed, and then she went to the raw materials place and got some road-base, and we filled all the holes in the driveway that came about from the rain.

We noticed that the guy next door had a mini excavator in, so my Love went over there to see if he’d come over and move some dirt – and he DID!!!
Yaaaay!!

There are now – sort of – three new paddock beds to be planted out.
I say ‘sort of’ because he didn’t actually do what we asked totally, so we’ll get our usual guys back in to fix it up, when they can next get here.

Sunday

– after getting the dishes done we emptied out the ute of the remaining road-base, and kept some put away in a cart incase we need to top up the holes we filled yesterday.

Last night I messaged our usual landscaping guy, and hopefully he will be here in the next ten days or so to do the remainder of the sorting out of the soil piles that will be the next round of paddock beds.

We went for a drive to all (3) of the nurseries to see what sort of spreading and flowering plants we could find.

Once we’d taken the plants home and let the dogs out for a pee, we took the bus and went for a drive to the Lake for a burger and chips lunch.
Relaxing.

Monday

– took the bus for a spin to one of the next towns over to do some grocery shopping.
When I got home it was freezing cold and overcast – unlike where I’d just been – which was warm and sunny!

Did the laundry, made chook and dog food, menu-planned and vacuumed the house.

Caught up on “The Block” once my Wife got home.

Tuesday

– hugely busy day starting with early fasting blood tests.

Spend the majority of the day pulling everything out of the kitchen shelving, decluttering, cleaning and putting back only the necessities.

GardenGuy and his wife came and finished putting up the fencing wire that was started last week, and thankfully she’s taken the stuff I decluttered, and will go through it and then take anything that’s left over to the Op Shop.

My wife kindly bought home a Carbonara for dinner, alas it didn’t sit well with me and I ended up vomiting numerous times.

Wednesday

– did a recycles and rubbish dump run in the morning, then went and bought some chicken and picked up our new hot water system from the post office.

Spent almost two hours in the vegie garden composting, planting some starts, watering and mulching.
Later in the afternoon I did some more wiping down and decluttering.

When you’re Parentals to 7 kids – even though the youngest is now almost 30 – there is still a lot of ‘just in case’ stuff that we have, and each time we do a decluttering binge, we manage to get rid of more and more of all that sort of old stuff…

The Courier delivered the new little 12v freezer for our bus, so we’re looking forward to tasting that out.
Our current bus fridge is a dual zone one which means we can use it as a fridge and a freezer, but we only require a really small space for frozen goods, so figured it would be better in the long run to have a seperate freezer unit.

Thursday

– a trip to drop off a bag to vinnies and collect a couple of plants and some storage baskets, and then it was back home and straight into the decluttering and deep-cleaning.

I also got some tidying up done in the house-yard and enjoyed listening to an audiobook while I was working both inside and out.

Tomorrow I’ve got lunch with the ex-colleague crew.

Friday

– woke to rain again this morning, so I got the laundry and webwork done early in the day, then off to have lunch with the ex-colleagues crew.

I got a toasted ham and cheese but could only eat a 1/4 of it.

In the afternoon I made some satay and cleaned the windows in and out.

Saturday

– this week is allllllll about the cleaning!

Another rainy cold biting wind day, so it wasn’t a hard decision to work inside!

I managed to get about half an hour during squalls to prune some branches off the lillipillis outside our bedroom window.

Finished cleaning the rest of the windows in and out.
It always lets so much more light in once that thin film of slimy scum algae from the incessant rains is removed!

Attempted to install the new water heater, but we need a larger fitting for the gas bottle hose, and we went into bunnings to get one, but they don’t stock them.
No hot water today!

Sunday

– decided to go to the hardware store in the next town over to see if we could get the part for the water heater, but neither of their two hardware stores had it either. We will have to wait to go to the gas shop tomorrow and hope that they have one!
In the meantime we’ll hook back up the old heater which – whilst it isn’t making the water very hot anymore – is still waaaay better than no heat at all!

Our middle son dropped in for a quick visit this evening as he arrived up from Adelaide today.
Was lovely to be able to hug him.

Monday

– I annoyed myself when I ducked to the dump and into town around 9am, and ended up missing the bobcat guy who had come to do some work.

I saw him on the security cam and messaged him that I was on my way back, but he didn’t get the message in time.
I’d thought he wasn’t coming until the afternoon. He’s now rescheduled for Wednesday morning.

Spent some time during a break in the weather doing the mowing of the houseyard and about ⅓ of the paddock before the cold blustery rain came back in.

Mid-afternoon our son dropped over and spent a couple of hours discussing nutrition and physicality with me.
It was really interesting and not only did I learn a lot, but it gave me much to think on.
I reallllly like that kind of learning!

When my wife got home, we did a test-pack of her carry-on bag as she has a work conference in Brisbane that’s she’s flying off to on Wednesday morning, and she’ll be back on Friday.

Tuesday

– did some more planting this morning, while the laundry was on.

Got a FaceTime call from our youngest daughter and her girls while I was gardening which was a nice surprise.

Our son and daughter-in-law were coming for dinner so I had to duck in and get some cheese for their requested meal, which is fish tacos.

While I was out I collected a parcel of some new pages for my planner, and also ordered the refill of the daily calendar (week at an opening) for next year.

My friend LC came over for a cuppa and a catch-up and I always enjoy that.

Cleaned up inside the bus in the afternoon as it has been becoming a bit of a dumping ground for things that need to be in there but haven’t yet been put away properly, or don’t yet have a proper place to be.

Did some potting-up of indoor plants during the afternoon also.

Had a lovely dinner with our son, daughter-in-law and grandson.

Wednesday

– a pretty big day!
First up I needed to drop my Wife into town to her bosses home as they’ve headed down to Brisbane for the work conference.

When I got home, GardenGuy was here and had started in on the whipper-snipping and I started in on washing our sheets, as it was sheet change day.
Garden Guy will be back on Friday as he has to leave early to take one of his kids to an appointment.

Around 9:30 our regular excavator / landscaping guys arrived, and set to work out in the paddock doing all the cleanup and levelling that was still to be done; and they also filled up a garden bed for me.

While one worked the excavator, the other went and got a nice big load of wood-chip for us.

They did around 3hrs work all up, and the paddock looks bloody amazing now!
Super happy!

Around lunchtime our son came over with his father-in-law and we all went for a wander to have a look at the new earthworks.

Our son is staying overnight and will sleep in our bus, so we just spent the rest of the day hanging out and getting lots of little jobs completed.
It was a nice time…

Thursday

– Early rise and got most of the morning chores done by the time our son came in for breakfast.

Got some computer work done and our son finished making the trim to go around the fan in the bus.

Mid-afternoon I went down to the chook pen and realized one of the hens had died, so I dropped it off at the tip when I dropped our son back to his in-laws.

Quiet night enjoying being alone in silence for the first time in over 2 days – which is a lot of people-ing for me!

Friday

– the morn was spent vacuuming and mopping the floors, as well as chatting to Mr & Mrs GardenGuy who dropped in to pick up some goodies I had saved for them.

Did a bit of reading and computer work through the middle of the day, and spoke to my sister on the phone for quite a while, who is currently still overseas and is looking after her son and his family whilst he has cancer treatments.

Ducked in and got a few groceries and collected my darling Wife who had come back from the Conference, where she won a few Awards, and much acclaim.

Saturday

– took a run in the bus to coles in the next town over, and it was lovely to be driving out in the warm sunshine.
Bliss!

Managed to find an adjustable kettle-bell at Kmart, so I got it as it half the price of the one that our son recommended on Amazon, as I dont want to spend a fortune on it if it isn’t something I am going to use long-term.

Spent most of the afternoon doing some social media posts and just spending some quiet time by myself and reading a bit.
I’m still feeling pretty tapped out by my busy peopley days earlier in the week.

I have started using my new all-in-one Planner, that will hopefully be replacing my previous planner plus daybook.
I’ve got all the birthdays and other recurring date reminders already into next years calendar – which I like to get done by mid-september each year – so I’m actually even a bit ahead of myself!

Sunday

– our youngest grandsons birthday, and fathers day all rolled into one.

Our son came over this morning to help with the installing of the dash cam on the new car, and also with removing the old pallets from the pallet wall, and installing the new ones.
This also meant removing allll the plants that were in pots on the wall so we can transfer over to the new wall.

We also got one of the new small raised beds that we planted out last weekend mulched, and a vertical planter at our entry gate planted out and mulched.

Mid-afternoon we went over to our daughter-in-laws parents home to participate in cake-eating for our grandson, then back home to make a ‘last supper’ (for us) dinner for our son and his wife, as they leave to go back to their home in South Australia on Tuesday.

It was good to spend some time alone with them while we had dinner.

Monday

– did an early online grocery order for collection midafternoon.

My spending has been a little out of hand for the last few months on expenses for the house / yard and for the bus, as well as a few other big-ticket items, so its time to reign it in for a while so that I can get some saving back under my belt.

Through the morning – as well as getting some blankets washed – I emptied the gorilla trolley into the raised garden bed that we started filling last weekend, and it’s now fully topped up.

I also situated an old beaten-up metal garden bed out in the paddock away from everything, so that I can use it as a fire-pit to get rid of a collection of old fallen branches from the gums, that are currently littering the chook-pen.
It will be nice to give it a big clean-out as it’s been rather neglected of late.
(the pen surrounds, not the chickens!!)

Then it was into the big veg garden to weed, compost and mulch the raspberries and loganberries before they start wildly shooting now that spring has sprung, and the warmer weather will be here full-time before we can imagine.

Our son and daughter-in-law came over after my wife got home from work, to say their goodbyes.
Our son ended up staying for dinner.
We’ll miss them…

Tuesday

– got out into the garden and started planting out one of the new beds that the excavator laid down the other day, and the soon-to-be grove is already looking pretty exciting with four citrus trees and some tansy planted out.

We have a pile of trees in pots waiting to be planted, but at least I’ve managed to make a start…

My order from Formulite arrived today.
It will probably be my last one as they’ve increased the price, and the new price means it would be around $300 a month and I just can’t justify (or manage!) that, so I’ll be working out what I can make on my own as a low-cost alternative.

Our young friend asked me to drop her at an appointment today – so I was happy to do that and waited around in town – and did the ‘Containers for Change’ run while I was wasting time – until she was finished then dropped her home.

Wednesday

– quiet day today after yesterday big effort of fruit-tree planting.

Did some housework, unpacked and put away the Formulite supplies, vacuumed the house and dusted.

Cooked up some snags and chicken for the animals, and some meatballs for the Mrs.

Thursday

– took the bus for a drive to the next town over to go to coles and did a big buy-up of all my ‘special foods’ so I shouldn’t have to go back for a couple of weeks now I don’t think.

Friday

– did laundry.
Spent the majority of the day doing various ‘Life Admin’ jobs, including the working out of a revised budget and cancelling a couple of subscription services.

Saturday

– pulled everything out of the main freezer and went through it all and took out the old food.
Cooked the meat up for the dogs and the vegies for the chickens.

Sunday

– worked in the garden in the morning.
Catch-up tv in the afternoon.

Monday

– did an early morning grocery order, which I picked up when I went into town to have a cuppa with my Wife.
A sweet lil sorta date!

Just as I was arriving back home, the truck was dropping off the reinforcing mesh I’d ordered last week.
Looking forward to getting into chopping that up to make archways!!

Cooked up dog food, did the laundry and folding, and cleaned out our junk ‘drawer’ which is actually a big rolling under-bed tub that’s fits under our kitchen bench.
It’s much more organized now!

I also got some rosemary planted down in the big veg garden.

Dietician appointment tomorrow.

Tuesday

– shit nights sleep last night.
Down the hill to the city this morning for a mid-afternoon dietician appointment.

Went to the Northside shopping centre and tried to get some clothes, but didn’t find much – ended up with just a couple of shirts.

What I did do however – was go the the hairdresser and got my hair cut to just above my shoulders!!
Going from below my bum to above my shoulders has been a big leap that’s for sure – but hopefully now that’s it’s had a big lop, it will start to regenerate and will maybe make it back to a decent thickness in time…

The appt with the dietician went well.
She’s pleased with my progress considering how difficult I am finding it to each much, and that some foods just instantly make me throw up.
She was a little concerned that I still don’t have a surgery date for the hiatal hernia repair and gallbladder removal, but knows that the timeline for that is a total unknown unless I end up back in hospital in an emergency capacity.

Wednesday

– grocery trip, life admin, and the cavalier dog to the vet to have her steroid injection and nails cut.

Thursday

– huuuuge day!

Our cavalier dog had to unexpectedly go back to the vet today as they’d had a cancellation and she has to have some more teeth work done.

She’s now only got 4 teeth left, and on top of that her heart murmur is getting worse.
She is heading for 14 so I guess it’s to be expected…

After helping to get the dog ready for dropping off at the Vet, the morning started out with cutting the reinforcing mesh into six strips which took me a couple of hours with the angle grinder.

After that I mowed the paddock for a couple of hours and got most of it done. I’ll have to finish the rest tomorrow.
Whipper-snipped the house yard and  cooked some food for the animals.

In between all that I had a visit from my friend LC, who came over for a cuppa.

We’d prearranged a week or so ago to go out with some male friends to one of the hotels for dinner. Unfortunately there was nothing on the menu – not even soup – that I could eat, so I missed out and got to watch everyone else eat instead – which was rather annoying!

Friday

– had a mid-morning coffee date at home with a lady that I used to work with, and it was really quite lovely to reconnect.
I think we’ll probably do it more often… I hope so.

Got the laundry done, and collected the pop-up bath tub I had ordered online, from the post office.
Looking forward to trying it out once the weather warms a bit more.
I also managed to finish the mowing of the paddock, and the houseyard too.

Saturday

– I had to go for a drive this morning to get some chicken breasts for the animals and for our dinners and to top up the freezer, so I decided to take the bus for a drive as I hadn’t been out in it all week.

Something very out of the ordinary for me, I decided to message friend and see if she wanted to come for a drive – and she did – so we ended up going to the next town over and going for a walk through the markets which we hadn’t known were on; and then going and having a coffee and cake at one of the cafes.

We ended up chatting for almost 2 hours, and were up to 3 hours by the time we both got home!
It was a really nice way to spend what turned out to be a beautiful sunny day.

I’ve been quite the social butterfly this week, and we’re having to duck down to the city tomorrow to see one of our sons who is doing a fly-thru again, so we’ll visit with him at the airport on his layover.

Phewww

I’ll need to take a break from all this peopling next week! lol

Sunday

– drove down to the city to meet our son at the airport, and spent 2.5 hrs with him having cuppas, drinks and snacks then back up the hill home.

Went and got some milk and a few other groceries on our way, and got home late afternoon.

Watched about an hour of tv while we settled from the trip, and then it was into a nice hot shower for each of us.

Unfortunately – the gas ran out while my poor Love was in the shower washing her hair, so it was a quick change of the gas bottle so she could get back to it, and then i got to have my lovely shower.

A quiet night with an easy dinner of soup from our homemade shelf stock.

The end of another week already!
Time goes sooo bloody fast…

Monday

– cold wet rainy miserable day!

Another Anniversary that only I remembered…

Did laundry and general post-weekend cleaning.
Quiet day.

Tuesday

– went to a nearby town in the bus with my friend L, so we could go to coles and have lunch together.
It was a nice trip, and I had half a cheese and ham toastie and bought the other half home for the chooks.

Wednesday

– worked in the garden weeding, tidying and watering.
Garden Guy came and spread some mulch in the veg garden pathways for me.

Thursday

– did an early morning grocery order for a midday pickup, and worked in the garden from mid-morning until it was ready for collection.

Cooked dog food, and poached some chicken breasts.

Did a bunch of computer / web work, and also set up a new time-management app I’ve started using and am really enjoying.

Lovely warm sunny classic Spring day!

Friday

– went into town this morning to exchange a bra that I had bought, and went to the second hand shops looking for some yard-work shirts, but only found one – which was a bit disappointing.
I just can’t afford to buy new right now, but my old shirts are for too big for me so I’ve had to donate them.

Got a FaceTime call from our youngest daughter and her girls while I was doing the dishes, and the eldest one took me for a ‘tour’ of their new house (well, her bedroom anyways lol), so that was lovely!

I then spent most of the rest of the day in the garden doing tidying and repotting.
It’s been another day of gorgeous weather.

Saturday

– my gorgeous (dog) girls 7th birthday!!

My wife brought home my puppas preferred traditional ‘birthday cake’ of a sausage roll, and she very happily scoffed it down.

I spent most of the morning tooling around getting ready for the wedding we had to go to this afternoon, and my Love had some work appointments she needed to attend to.

It poured down rain on the way there, and there were numerous showers and gale-force winds before, during and after the ceremony – but maybe that will bring them luck!

It was bloody freezing in the marquee, and there really wasn’t anything much I could eat on the menu, so that wasn’t fun…
I had taken some snack, but we’d eaten them all earlier in the evening as the dinner component was almost two hours late, and we were both super hungry.
Glad I had thought to take food with us!

We came home “early”, but by that time it’s was after 9pm and we were both done with it 😬

Sunday

– did some garden and general property tidying, watched some tele and got a few inside jobs done.

Got a few groceries when we went into town to get medications from the pharmacy.
A slow day.

====

As I press publish on this, it is the day before my Birthday.

We will be going away in the bus next weekend for a couple of days, but today the cold and rain have settled back in and the sun is hiding, so its quite a dreary day.

I’m looking forward to this week being hopefully a bit more quiet and settled than the last few have been, but I’d really like the weather to be kind enough to allow me to bask in some sunshine while I pull the ever-present weeds…

 

One of our ‘regular’ landscaping guys, getting the excavator off the back of the truck.
One of the new paddock beds that the landscape guys shaped and levelled out for us.
The first planning into our new paddock beds.
Citrus trees and yarrow.
The new fencing along the chook-run for our Rooster and Hens.
The first pieces of reo cut and ready to make archways out of.
Weeding the soil that’s going to be used for some of our raised flower beds.
Pretty little walking irises.
Love these flowers!

Long-winded Update!

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Its coming up for close to a month now since I last updated, and it been a season of busy – so I’ve just been trying to make a few notes at the end of each day to remind me of what’s being going on – so that’s basically what you’ll be getting here… including some filling in of any details that I think might be relevant.

Monday

– In to town to collect parcels from the post office, then back home to do some writing whilst the laundry got done.
The sun came out for a while this morning and gladdened my heart a LOT!
It’s still quite cold and windy though.

We’ve booked our flights to go back down south for my (step)Dads funeral Service.
He died back at the start of July.

My Love will be coming with me this time, and we’ll be taking a couple of days extra to go do something nice for ourselves.

We fly out next Thursday morning, and will be putting our dogs into the kennels that we have been using for almost two decades, and our cats will be looked after at our home by our GardenGuy and his Wife.

Tuesday

– had to go into town again this morning as my Darling forgot to tell me yesterday that we would need more chicken for the animals, so I went in to get that and to pick up a carton of Formulite and another parcel that was waiting at the post office.

Spent some time packing to go away for the night tomorrow as I’ll be leaving early and won’t have time to pack in the morning before I leave.

I am taking our van down to get the maxxfan installed.
It’s such a fiasco when you need to pack all the protein powders, shakers, cups etc and it takes up so much room, so I end up packing a bag twice as big as I really wanted to!

I also need to be mindful that I will be walking from the car drop-off place to the motel, so the weight that I’ll be carrying needs to be considered.

Wednesday

– early trip down the hill to the city to put the bus in to have the fan installed.
The wiring won’t get done today as e isn’t an auto-exec, so I’ll have to book that in another day with our auto-elect back at home.
Got stuck in the morning traffic jam, but made it with only being about 15mins late, and I called them in the way to let them know.

The receptionist was kind enough to drop me to the motel that we’d booked for my overnighter.
Originally they couldn’t find my booking, but then finally found it under “car-lady“.
The room understandably wasn’t ready, and so I waited in the reception area for around an hour, before I could get in – but that was ok.

I unpacked and made it ‘homely’, went to the loo and then headed off for a walk up the street to the huge DFO mall.
Thankfully the room has a microwave, so I could buy something for dinner and be able to heat it up!

I started to have a bit of a walk around, and did my usual handbag / backpack ogling at the luggage shops, but wasn’t really feeling much of a ‘shopping vibe’ (tbh, I’m bloody lousy at shopping without a purpose – its definitely not my idea of a fun time!) so I just went to the grocery store and collected some bits and pieces for me to have for lunch and dinner, got out some cash for the Car Guy, and then headed back to the motel.

A snack and a drink, a bit of a sit and some scrolling, then into the shower.
It was heavenly!

Thursday

– I messaged the car place early and they said that they would pick me up at 8:45am as my car was finished – which was great and super helpful.

Drove back up the hill to home, stopping off at the auto electricians on the way, and he’s happy to do the electrics for it once we get back from down south.

Once home, I did dishes, unpacked, sorted out something for dinner, then mowed and whipper-snipped the house yard and cleaned up the aisle-ways in the big vege garden.

Friday

– cooked dog food early as I was going out for lunch with my friend Louise.
We ended up going to one of the cafes in town, and I got a ham and cheese toastie, but the cheese ended up being cream cheese(!!) – not ideal on a toasty as far as I’m concerned!
We then went to do some shopping for Louise and then she dropped me home.

She re-pierced my ears for me before she left wth some new earrings I had bought especially for the job; which was good and saved me the cost of having to go to one of the local piercing places.

Spent the afternoon, tidying up and doing some chores around the house and repotting an indoor plant, while listening to podcasts.

Saturday

– the power was off from about 830am until around 1pm, so for a while I just sat out in the much-missed sun and read and soaked it alllll in!

After that I pulled everything out of our crockery storage shelves and wiped it all down, removed some stuff, and sorted through what was left and replaced it back on the shelving.

I also cooked some excess eggs for the cats and dogs, and some chicken for them as well.

We go away again next week – back down south for the funeral service – so it will be time to think about packing again soon.

Sunday

– an early start to drive down the hill as our youngest son – whom we haven’t seen for around two years – was flying in and had a two hour layover, so we were going to spend some time with him at the airport.
It was soooo good to see him and hug him, and we all shed a few tears as we put him back in his next plane.

We didn’t get back home til around 3, so took the dogs out, then had a shower and relaxed for a bit before sorting out dinner.

Monday

– busy day.
Grocery shopped, put the mattress back into the bus and made the bed, changed the sheets in our daily bed, and washed the dogs blankets.

Talked to my sister about the details of Friday’s funeral for my (step)Dad, and the ashes scatterings of he and my Mother.

Tuesday

– Our Garden Guy came today and we did a big clean out of the shipping container, and thankfully he took most of the stuff we didn’t want home to his place – as it was still good stuff – just not stuff we required or wanted any more.

He and his wife came back later in the afternoon, so that we could go through what we needed them to do with the cats while we’re away at the funeral.

We went out to dinner at the International Club with our young friend C for dinner, and had some lovely fish.

Wednesday

– we woke up to torrential rain again this morning and some really wild winds, so we’ve decided that we will go down to the city early – and stay overnight prior to our flight – as we don’t want to risk there being a crash on the range due to the weather and us missing our early morning flight.

So I spent most of the day getting the last of the laundry done, house cleaned, car vacuumed, the cats organised, bags packed, and dietary requirements sorted; and once my Love had come home from work, we packed the car up with our suitcases and dogs, and headed off to the kennels.

Once we’d dropped the dogs off, we headed down the hill to the city.
We’re staying at the same place that I stayed at last week when I came down, as I was very happy with the rooms and service.

We got some takeaway from the nearby Thai restaurant for dinner: fish-cakes, spring rolls and some satay chicken.
Underwhelming.

Thursday

– a spectacularly craptastic night of sleep and I was glad when the alarm finally went off just after 5, and more than happy to get up!

After a cuppa and a repack of our bags, we headed off to drop our car at the parking place, and they then dropped us at the airport.

Once we’d bag-checked and gone through security we had breakfast.

Once we’d landed at the other end, we were collected by the rental car company and taken to their offsite dispatch yard, where we then had to wait and hour to get our car – which was bloody annoying(!) – but we finally got is and headed north to my brother and sister-in-laws place, stopping on the way to buy some groceries.

It was around 4 when we arrived.
We unpacked the car, took the groceries upstairs, and made a cuppa.
It wasn’t too long before my other brother arrived, whom we haven’t seen for a couple of years.
Actually – probably close to five!

I cooked ‘Swamp Food’ for dinner as requested – it seems to be a big hit – and after dinner my other brother headed off to his motel, and we headed off to bed.

Friday

– best sleep I’ve had in a week or so.
Funeral day.
Not too many attendees, but the ones who were there it was good to see.
Kindly, Dads doctor friend came for the service, which was appreciated by all.
The service was performed by Dads Baptist Minister friend, who is also the same Rev who did my Mothers service 5 years ago,
It was very lovely and tears were shed a number of times.

After the service and nibbles, a few of us headed off to the Noosa Heads lookout to sprinkles the ashes of both the Parentals, to reunite them together one final time for eternity.
Hopefully a nice rain fell that night, and washed the ashes off the hillside into the ocean…

A quiet night back at my brother and sister-in-law’s place.
We’ll head off in the morning.

Saturday

– woke up to a gorgeous morning with mist spilling into the valley – so picturesque it almost made me weep!
Lots of photos taken.

We left my brother and sister-in-law’s place around 9am and headed off on our drive south to the Gold Coast, arriving about 1:30pm at our motel where we will stay for the next couple of days.

Had a quiet afternoon in our room, catching up on some work and such.
Ordered a pizza to be delivered for dinner.
It arrived an hour late.
We were not pleased about that – when we’d ordered it two hours before we actually wanted it…! 😡

Sunday

– we weren’t sure whether to go to SeaWorld today or tomorrow – but eventually decided to wait until tomorrow, hoping that it will be less busy being that it’s not a weekend.

We went and had a look around Pacific Fair, and then went to Carara Markets.

We got a few things at Typo and Kiki-K, and a pair of pants and a bra for my Love, but nothing else sparked our interest too much.
We’re just not the type of ppl who shop for the sake of shopping / entertainment.

Walked to the surf club for dinner.

Monday

– spent the day at SeaWorld which we both enjoyed, but it wasn’t quite as good as our memory has us believe it was.
A lot of the shows seemed much shorted and less ‘elaborate’.

We dropped the rental car back off to the car company as we leave tomorrow and will just walk or catch a cab to the airport in the morning.

Dinner was Noodle Box from Uber Eats.
Home tomorrow – early flight.

Tuesday

– early rise at 3:45am, a cuppa and then off to the airport in a cab.
Flight was pretty much on time, and once we’d collected our bags we got the bus to the car-park place to collect our car.

After a couple of stops we headed back up the hill to home, stopping at the supermarket on the way to grab some milk and dog food.

We picked up the dogs from the kennels later in the afternoon, as well as getting the bags unpacked, and my Love went and checked in at work.

An easy dinner and we both pulled up pretty well considering we’d been awake since so early.

Wednesday

– another early start as I took a friend down to the city as she was booked in to get an epidural for her back pain issues, and it’s best that she has a driver to come home, as it’s about an 80 minute drive.

Didn’t get home until mid-afternoon, so not much got done around the house today. Managed to get some laundry done at least…

Thursday

– spent a day at home doing laundry and general housework that hasn’t got done in the last few days with us being away etc.

It’s been wildly cold and windy today – and of course the rain is still ongoing – which is a lil beyond the pale by this point…
The ground is back to being so incredibly sodden, and parts of it are even growing a type of slime.

It’s definitely been a day of wearing knee-high mud boots with thick socks to be able to walk around the Farm in comfort.

Friday

– another day of cold wind and incessant rain.
Once again it’s getting me down but I’m trying to push through.

Woke up this morning with a sore throat this morning.
Yesterday evening I felt a little tickle in my right gland and thought that maybe I was starting to get something and sure enough – I have – woke up in the early hours of the morning with my throat like gravel!

Into town around 830am and went to see if bigw had any pants in my ‘new’ current size, but there weren’t any.
I then collected my grocery order that I had booked yesterday afternoon, and went to the nursery and got some vegie seedling in the hope that maybe we’ll get some sunshine soon and can finally get back out into the garden and put some plants in the ground!

It’s been too wet to be able to put seeds in, so I’ve given in and bought some starts.
I also made some dog food.

Finally remembered (after breakfast!) to weigh in and I’m now under 75kg, with a loss of a whisker under 27kg.

Saturday

– My nose is running like a tap, but thankfully my throat isn’t nearly as sore as it was yesterday. I’m very blocked up though, and it was a very broken sleep last night because of the difficulty breathing.

We actually got a few hours of sunshine through the morning, but the wind was still bitterly cold and gusting.
I sat out in the sun with the cats and dogs for a while and just basked in the warming rays.
It truely was delicious!

By mid afternoon the clouds had come over and it was trying to rain again.

We ducked in to town to collect some tissues and lozenges, then we rugged up and watched a few YouTube videos we’d missed seeing while we were away.

Sunday

– went out for breakfast and it was an absolute shit show!
We usually try and share a breakfast these days, but considering that they forgot the bacon – there was barely any breakfast to share, so I just waited till I got home and had a shake.

The rain was in in the afternoon so we watch telly, played a few games, read some, did a bit of work on the computer – just generally bludged around.

Monday

– it’s hard to believe that it was only a week ago that we are at Seaworld!!

The rain is still here, as is the cold and wind, but we’ve had some intermittent blasts of sunshine today which has been very welcome.

Last night I manage to crick my lower back – just as we were going to bed – when I was trying to get the cat to stay off the bed and leave us alone.

When I woke up this morning it was not good, so breakfast consisted of Panadol with my soup.

Managed to do the laundry and a deep clean vacuum, then did some research on small houses, building designs, and any builders in the area that google inferred may do small-house building.

Tuesday

– it’s been a few weeks since the bus was last driven due to us being away and just life getting in the way, and I usually like to try take it for a run at least twice a week.

So this morning I headed off to one of the nearby towns to blow any cobwebs out of the bus, and to have a general change of scenery for me.

I messaged a friend who lives there to see if she wanted to catch up in town for a cuppa, but she called me to explain that she couldn’t that day, as she already had another appointment that she had to go to; but we spent about 30mins yacking on the phone and catching up, so that was nice.

After the call was finished, I went for a wander through one of my favourite hippy shops, then went to a nearby cafe and had a ¼ of a lemon tart.
I took the rest home for my love to have for her afternoon tea.

Made some dog food in the afternoon, and cooked up some chilli beef to go with our garlic smash, and put the first coat of varnish on the new Ganesha artwork I got today, so that I can hang it outside.

Wednesday

– another day of the weather not playing nice.

This morning I finally put together a set of shelves that I bought the other day.
I keep forgetting to do it until it’s too late in the day, but I got it done today and put in to place in the shipping container.
There’s still some more tidying up and rearranging to do in there, but I’m glad that I’ve at least manage to make a start, and its already looking a lot better.

My friend Lou came for a visit today which was unexpected so that was nice – and she bought her four dogs – so they got to come and play with our dogs while we had a cuppa and a catch up.
I’ll be going up to her place next week sometime as she has some stuff she wants me to go pick up as she’s having a bit of a declutter.

I booked the bus in for the auto-electrician on Monday morning so that they can do the wiring for the roof top fan.
That’s a bit exciting!

Mid afternoon, I went into town to get some groceries and got some chicken breasts, which I cooked up for the dogs and cats.

I’ve been making a point each week of trying a different supermarket drink to try and work out what I can and can’t drink, for when the eventuality arises that I get caught short without a drink – when in town – so I’ll know what I can grab.

Trying to find something low sugar but with decent protein is blooody difficult!
(feel free to drop a recommendation if you know of any)
It was soooo much easier when I could just drink water!!!!
Hopefully that day will come again…

Thursday

– we had no internet all day which was super annoying and meant I couldn’t get a load of work done that I’d planned on.

Mowed the houseyard and got about ¼ of the paddock mowed.
The sun even came out for a couple of hours which made for a VERY happy me!

Went out for dinner and I had a bit of my Wifes grilled fish, but ended up having numerous vomits afterwards – side effect of the hiatus hernia.

Friday

– we expected ‘clearing showers’ today, but instead got shitful freezing rain.

Our garden guy came over for a cuppa and a catch-up which was nice.
Did laundry.
Got a few weeds pulled in between the squalls, but not many.
Quiet day for the most part.

Saturday

– some sunshine in the morning which was so well received by humans and animals, but unfortunately it didn’t last too very long and by afternoon the rain and cold came back in.

In the afternoon we put YouTube on the big tele as one of our sons was in the Nationals Weightlifting Competition, which we watched well into the night.

He did himself (and us!) so very very proud – and we’re rapt for him.
He ended up taking out 11 National Records, and 2 World Records.

Sunday

– sun again this morning.
Glory beeeeee – soooo happy.
Did a ton of weeding and pruning in the vegetable garden and in the houseyard.

Harvested two cabbages (one was 3490 grams) and around 20kg of yačon.
I’ll share some of each with our GardenGuy family, and may sell some of the yačon tubers.

=====

I think that that’s way more than enough for this little update, so I’ll stop here…

I guess the takeaway from it in [TLDR] dot point would be:
– we travelled south and had the funeral service
– we did the ashes sprinkling for TnT (the Parentals)
– we went to Seaword
– its been incessantly raining for the majority of the last 2 months
– we’ve had some really cold and windy patches mixed in with the rain
– any sun we’ve seen has been muchly revered
– I got a cold, but am coming through the other side of it now

Taking in some much-needed – but not much seen – SUNSHINE!

 

My motel room when I was away overnight getting some work done on the bus.

 

Funeral flowers – beautiful and simple.

 

The Headlands where the ashes of the Parentals have been spread.

 

Speedy gorgeous little penguins at SeaWorld.

 

Watching the turtles at SeaWorld was so incredibly relaxing.

Hello July!

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Monday

– I flew to the Gold Coast yesterday, then drove all the way to Gympie and did some grocery shopping, then drove another 35mins or so to get to my Brother and Sister-in-Laws Farm.

I have come down because my StepDad is palliating.
I slept poorly overnight, a combination of a strange bed, different night-time noises, and the knowledge that the coming days are going to be incredibly emotionally draining.

I need to put my ‘big girl pants on’!!

I went into town to the Aged Care Home right after I got up and had some soup for breakfast, and spent around 6hrs by the bedside of my StepDad, then headed back to my Brothers place.

In the afternoon I did some writing, washed dishes, and then just spent time with my brother and his wife in the evening.

Tuesday

– another night of not a lot of sleep…
Back in to the Home early for another 11 hours bedside, reading to, talking to, and playing music for Dad.
He is declining quickly and I’m pretty sure that tonight will be the night…

I know he won’t ‘go’ until he’s by himself – so I came back to my brothers just after dark.
It was a slow drive in the dark and rain and took almost an hour.

I showered and had something to eat and changed my clothes ready to go back in once I’d had a rest, but it wasn’t long before the call came that he had died.

I will wait now – and instead go back in the morning – as I will need to clean out his room, as we’ve already had in place arrangements for his body to be collected by the funeral home.

Rest in Peace AP, may you be back in the arms of the woman you have always loved so very much – my Mamma… 🤍🕊️

Wednesday

– went in to Big W early and got some tubs to put Dads stuff in, and also got a dozen large cups of donut-holes for the Staff at the Home; then went to the Home and spent the next couple of hours packing up what is left of all his ‘worldly goods’ from the last five years since he and my Mother went into care.
(My mother died very soon after.)

I then dropped my Mothers ashes (she was cremated 5 yrs ago) and a photo of she and he off to the funeral home, ready for the Service which will be in about three weeks time.

Once back at my brother and sister in laws place, we unpacked my car and then went for a drive around their farm to move some cows and check on fence-lines.
It was good to get out in the fresh air for a bit, and not have to think too much…

Later in the afternoon I went through a lot of photos and cards to give to my sister when she next comes down, when we have the funeral service.

Thursday

– In to town early to do some grocery shopping so that I can cook my brother and sister-in-law dinner tonight.
Its the least I can do as I have been pretty much using their home as a motel for the past few days.

I noticed on the way to town that I am breathing easier and deeper this morning.
The stress of the week is obviously lessening slowly…

I leave early tomorrow morning – around 4:30am – to drive to Brisbane Airport to fly out at 9:50am.

I’m panicking about getting there in time, returning the car, checking in my luggage, not being late for the plane etc
Ugh!

I’m eager to get back to my own bed though, and hopefully settle into some decent sleep.

Friday

It was a very long day travelling…
I woke at 2:30am and couldn’t go back to sleep with the nerves of getting lost, being late or any other of the numerous catastrophes that I was imagining!

I oc course made it with heaps of time, but I was so anxious by it all, that I ended up bursting into tears when I handed by the keys to my hire-car.
The poor guy was very sweet at coping with my tears…

Once through security, I went to sit at a cafe to pass the time, and ended up sitting right next to my Surgeon!
We chatted for a while, then both moved on.

The flight ended up changing gates twice, and due to an issue with our intended plane, we ended up on another plane, and left 90mins late.

To add insult to injury, the flight-staff didn’t end up serving me my preordered food, and I was still a little too fragile-feeling to make a fuss about it, and wasn’t thoroughly convinced I’d actually remembered to order it – so went without.

My Love picked me up from the airport, and it was wonderful to see her, and to get back home to my wonderful pooch, who was so insanely and cutely surprised to see me!

Saturday

– I  slept like a proverbial log last night and I needed it badly!
I was at about breaking point with exhaustion…
Spent the day doing the usual: Grocery shopped, post office, Big W, laundry, and also put in for a refund with Jetstar, and a complaint that Staff didn’t at any point actually come and see me at all!

Sunday

– We went to Harvey Norman and had a look at toasters but they all so stupidly priced!
Ended up going to BigW and buying a long sunbeam one from there that didn’t break the bank.

The power has been off since around 9am, so a lot of the usual jobs can’t be done while it’s off, and due to the fact that we stream all of our viewing content, we also can’t watch tele or even watch (much) stuff on the laptop – although it’s well charged.

We do have some movies on usb so there is that option if we really feel the need. For now though, writing and reading is sufficient.

If the bloody rain and wind would stop we could do some gardening too, but it’s too wet and cold to be out in it at the moment.

Monday

– Had quite a big day with fuelling up the car, going grocery shopping, collecting a weeks worth of mail and parcels, going to Bunnings to get some potted colour to put along the new fence, and then coming home and cooking chook food and chicken breasts.
Then did dishes, cleaned up the house and just general other duties as well as the laundry and folding.

Well be having Frittata tonight and we have loads of eggs as the chickens are back on the lay.
Will probably cook the cats and dogs some scramblers tomorrow too, to add to their evening meals to top up their protein a bit, as they luuuurve having eggs occasionally!

Tuesday

– It’s a public holiday for Show Day.
Its been raining all day so we won’t be going.
Pretty much a wasted day of getting hot much done at all…

Wednesday

– Got the entire pantry decluttered and wiped out today and feel a lot better for it. It’s a big job that has been niggling at me for a while now.
I try to do it 3monthly, but do tend to procrastinate on it a bit.

Thursday

– Another busy day.
Vacuuming, mopping, moved the freezer and cleaned under it, washed down the sewing machine table, did a run to the dump to take the recycles, then scrubbed the recycle bins in and out.
Repotted one of the house-plants.
Arranged lunch for next week, with my friend LC.
Cleaned the dining room glass doors in and out.

Friday

– An early trip to the grocery store to get mustard seed, as our seems to have disappeared, and I want to process two huge Daikons that I have in the fridge.

Then it was off to the post office and got a nice surprise parcel from our youngest daughter, of an owl graphic.

Once back home, I changed over the laundry and then started to get everything ready to pickle and can the daikon radish.
I was in the midst of that when our garden guy and his wife dropped in for a visit and a wander.

Cooked some mexi-chilli for dinner while I finished off the canning.

Its still bloody raining, and to be honest its really starting to do my head in…
Again / Still!
I need some sunshine dammit!!

Saturday

– Ever since my trip south, my laptop has decided it’s had enough after around 6yrs of faithful service, so I spent the morning researching which one will be my next laptop.
As much as I think I’d like to go the route of moving to an iPad Pro – which would easily cover all my needs and then some – I truely can’t justify the extra added expense at this point, so I’ll stay with the much cheaper MacBook Air.

Otherwise, it’s just been another slow rainy day…

We ended up going to HN late in the afternoon and getting me my new laptop when my Love got in from work, so I spent the evening ogling it’s loveliness, and getting it all set up and working how I like.
She’s speedy that’s for sure!

Sunday

– Took a trip to the next town over to get some sunshine cos I was about ready to lose my shit!

Thank goodness we struck sunshine less than half way there, and got to bask in glorious rays for the next couple of hours.
I can almost feel it topping me up!

Did some grocery shopping for stuff we can’t get in our town, and then went to the Heritage Museum for lunch and I had half a cheese and tomato toastie.
Headed back home and within 15 mins of arriving, it was pouring. [ffs!]

Thankfully we had enough time to unpack the bus and take out the mattress, linen, table and chairs – as I’m taking the bus to the city overnight on Wednesday, to finally get the big fan installed in the roof.

I am now 25.5kg down on my weight-loss / get healthier adventure, and feeling pretty darn good for the most part!
Some days my body decides not to play nice, and while I continue to wait for the Hospital to schedule my hiatal hernia and gallbladder removal surgery, this will be an ongoing problem, but I feel like I am managing the difficulties quite well overall…

The dawn of a new era. Dad died last night… RIP AP.

 

While I was cleaning out Dads stuff, the rain cleared for a short while and the sun came out and shone on his chair…

 

Flying out from Brisbane and going over the Queen St Bridge.

 

A dog that loves me, a new laptop, and my Love by my side. What a great way to spend a Sunday!

 

Canning pickled Daikon Radish, So pretty and delicious.

 

Giving my pj shirt a second life, and adding a reminder to myself…

This time of year

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Almost every year for the last 7 years (at least) – June has kicked my ass.

Last year was the first year that I got through (mostly) unscathed, and I had thought that I was finally clear of whatever was the heavy darkness that June had bought with it in previous years.

This year It came back – but it only lasted a couple of days, and I made it a topic of discussion during those few days to try and help to chase it back to where it belongs – in the past!

I’m not sure when it first began.

Maybe its always been there and I’ve just been too busy with Life, and Work, and Family and such…

It might have been in the June of a particularly bad miscarriage when I was in my 20s, or it might have been the June my Father died, 22 years ago.

Maybe it was the June back in 2016 when I had a particularly bad back injury that left me bed-bound for around eight weeks.
During that time I needed to stay in bed at all times unless I was going to the toilet or getting up to eat.

It was a really tough time and I spent almost all of my days at our Farm, where my Love would drop me drop me off to before she went to work – because we weren’t living there yet – and I would spend the days in bed with my dog Digby by my side.

It was a dark period and I spent a lot of my time being very scared that I was in a position that if things went more wrong than they already were, I might never walk again.

When I needed to get up and go to the toilet Digby helped me by being my ‘walking stick’; walking beside me so that I could lean on him to make my way to the toilet.
He would hold steady to help me get up from the loo, and then he would walk me back to my bed.

There were many days when I’m pretty sure him being there saved my life.

Eventually and thankfully, I ‘recovered’ from that injury, although there are still ongoing issues with my back and I need to be very mindful of how I move my body during my day to day goings on.

Then there was the day that I had to rehome that amazing Digby dog – through no fault of his own – when my heart shattered into a billion little pieces that it still hasn’t recovered from…

In June of 2017, I was freshly dealing with my friends husband being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, only a few short weeks before their wedding anniversary.

I was also dealing badly with the grief and guilt of no longer having Digby by my side, and his birthday is in June.

In June 2018 my Mother died.
Whilst we were never considered wildly close, she nevertheless was still my Mother, and it was sad.

As she and her husband had moved into aged-care right before her death, the ‘kids’ of our family all rallied to pack up my Mother and her Husbands home, and my sister and I were tasked with selling it – which we did.

It was an intense time that’s for sure.

My Loves Mother also died in June, many many years ago – and whilst sadly I never got to meet her when she was earth-side, I believe she visits and spends time with me often…

In June of 2019, I saw my friends husband for the last time – he died only a few short weeks later.

The day after he died, I gave notice at the job I had held for over thirteen years, as the stress of it was having a cumulative effect, and this latest death had reinforced in me how very ‘short’ life is.

As my career was coming to an end, our youngest sons child was born with critical heart issues, which required months of ICU care, a number of ‘crashes’ in his health, and multiple operations.

Somehow he survived it all, however the same can’t be said for the relationship of his parents.

2021 bought the death of my sisters Mother.

This year, June bought the death of a friends Father, who I had helped in the transfer and care of.

It also bought a serious cardiac event for my Mothers Husband – my Sisters Father.
He is still holding on as I write this, but is slowly deteriorating.

So yeah – June kicks my ass!

A lot of really lovely things happen in June too and I not only remind myself of them often, but I consciously look for the good and beautiful that June brings.

I met my Love in June – over 25 years ago now!

The birthday of our middle son is in June, as is the birthday or our youngest daughters eldest child.

The garden comes to life after the dry blistering heat of summer is finally gone – as June heralds the start of the cooler whether – which I very much prefer.

I will keep looking for the good, and I will keep working on leaving the past in the past where it mostly belongs; but sometimes it just sneaks up on me, and it leaks out my of eyes…

 

Late June

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Things I’ve been up to of late…

Monday

– went into town to drop off three books that I had sold online on Marketplace, and also to grab some top-up groceries for the next couple of nights dinners.

Once home, I got out into the garden as it was a glorious sunny day.

I refilled all four potato beds with soil, then planted them out with potato starts, topped the beds with more soil and then mulched with cane mulch.

When it came time to water them, the hose blew off at the tap, snapping a piece of the hose inside the new irrigation pipe, and it took me a couple of hours and quite a bit of swearing to get it fixed.

I have replaced the part that snapped with a brass fitting, so I can at least be pretty sure that that particular piece won’t snap again!

The piece that snapped should never have been reused when the irrigation system was installed, but I hadn’t realised that the guy had done that, or I would have been sure to have said something at the time.

Wasn’t thrilled with that little bit of corner-cutting!

When my Love got home from work, we went out into the paddock and situated one of the new big garden beds that we have made and painted, and we’ll check in on it over the next couple of days to see if its aesthetically in the right place before we fill it up with dirt and plant it out.

Tuesday

– the sun alternately came out and then hid again for the majority of the day, so I spent the morning mostly inside writing blog posts, and then researching kindle samples of books I might want to read.

It was quite cool when we first woke up, and within an hour had become colder,  so I spent all morning in a jumper.

The afternoon was quickly filled up with installing another panel of carpet on the interior ceiling of the bus.
Its quite taxing working upside down, with a huge slab of carpet and spray adhesive!

I am hoping that I can find someone in town who does laser cutting of timber so that I can design some bespoke timber surrounds for the ceiling vents, so I might head off into town tomorrow to see if I can’t find someone…

Wednesday

– I went into town to have a look at what vent covers the hardware stores had, as I figured I might as well see what I can get cheaply and easily first, before moving on to the more expensive alternative.

Even if my eye thinks it would really like to see timber vents, the trust of the matter is that its basically a cover that is just there to give the ceiling a more ‘finished’ look – so what its made out of is really quite irrelevant.
As long as it doesn’t restrict airflow, it will do the job.

I also used a spray bottle to coat Noahs roof with ‘30 second cleaner‘ once the sun had gone behind the clouds for the day.
I’m hoping it will do its job over time to get all the bits of mould in the nooks and crannies.

I emailed the folks who were supposed to install the maxxfan into the bus back in March, but which we had to cancel due to the bus being back down at the mechanics; to see if they could fit us in again sometime soon.
Hopefully they won’t be too busy with it being winter.

Before the rain came in, I managed to get ½ of the paddock mowed.

Tonight we went out to dinner with our friend NW and whilst dinner was a tad tasteless, it was still a nice evening.

Thursday

– back into town today to get some groceries and pick up an order from SuperCheap, and buy an extra vent cover, as the one I tested yesterday fits well.

Once back home, I cooked some dog food and some chicken breasts, then went out to work on the bus installing the vent covers.
I initially tried using heavy duty velcro, but that wasn’t successful, so ended up using a splat of some sells glue on the corner of each cover, and it’s worked well.

Our Garden Guy also came this morning to drop off all the supplies for the new houseyard fence, and to install the posts, so that they have overnight to set before adding the crossbars and palings.

I heard back from the fan installation people, and they have an opening on 1 July, so I will take it down then, and stay overnight.

Managed to get some laundry and repotting done in the afternoon.

Friday

– Our Garden Guy came again this morning to add the crossbars and palings to the new houseyard fence.
Its looking wonderful, but unfortunately sue to my incorrect measurements, we ended up being around 8 palings short of finishing up, so he will do those next week.
I didn’t see any point in him making a special trip to finish it when we can easily cover the gap for a few days with an old gate.

While he was doing that, I got a lot of weeding and pruning done in the house-yard, and took two loads of cuttings down to the chickens for them to eat and scratch through.

In the afternoon I finished mowing the paddock and got the house-yard mowed as well.

My Love picked up her new car today, and excitedly took me for a drive in it when she got home from work.

Saturday

– had a quiet day today for the most part.

Cooked some chicken for the animals, vacuumed and made a Chicken and Green Bean Curry for dinner.
It was delicious!

Sunday

– we went for a drive to Mareeba today to do some shopping for items we can’t get at our stores in town.

On the way home, we went via Lake Tinaroo and got our lunch from the food van out there.
They very kindly made me just a burger patty with sauce, without making a big fuss about it, so that was nice – and it was yummy!

Once home, we picked a big bucket of lemons off our tree, and caught up on some on our YouTube favourites.

After my evening shower, I got my Love to cut the scraggly ends off my hair, which ended up with 15 inches being snipped off.

I can definitely no longer sit on my hair, and it now only reaches my bra-line, but its also looking much healthier already.
I’m glad I finally did it.

So that was it for the week!

 

installation of the new house-yard fence.

 

the vent covers that I finally settled on, installed.

 

My Loves new car. His name is ‘Wally’, so there are lots of “where’s wally‘ photos coming in.

 

Twice a day I have a protein shake to try and “kill two bird with one stone”: keeping up fluids, and keeping up protein. Thankfully, i LOVE them! ($12 kmart cup for the win!)

 

Mid June ’23

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o0o

Monday

– Yesterday I thought I was getting a bit of a scratchy throat, but overnight each time I woke up, there was a definite tickle going on in there.
When I got up this morning, my voice sounded like a 1900 call-girl – all deep, husky and gravely, and my throat felt thick.

Once my Love had gone to work I got the dishes done, but by the time I was finished I had the chills and shakes, my head ached, and my muscles were starting to ache too, so I took some paracetamol and headed off to bed for about 90 minutes.

Felt marginally better when I next got up, so I had a 400ml protein shake to at least try and get some hydration and nutrition into me.
Spent most of the afternoon on the couch wrapped in a blanket, and taking Panadol 4 hourly.
Its been another wet day.

Tuesday

– two birthdays in our ‘living’ family today.
Our middle son is 33, and our granddaughter is 4.

I had planned to have a cuppa with my friend Patti today, but she had to do a last minute trip to the city to organise a site for her taco truck to dispense from at one of the local festivals.

As I had already planned to go over to the town that she lives near, I still went to her place to drop off some tamarillo, as I didn’t want the fruit that I had specially picked for her, to spoil. I just hung them on the door handle for her to eventually find.

I then drove back to our closest town and did some grocery shopping, then back home to cook some dog food, after putting away the groceries.

Later in the afternoon I listed a pile of gardening books for sale on Marketplace.
Raining again today.

Wednesday

– Laundry day and changing of the sheets.
A few of the books I listed yesterday have already sold, so I had people going to collect them.

Our friend Nellie came over for dinner tonight, and we got takeaway Chinese food to eat at home.

She and I are both under the weather with a cold and sniffles, and her with coughing, so we figured we’d rather not be out in public sharing our germiness!

Thursday

– David the NBN tech came nice and early this morning and spent a few hours trying to sort out our signal issues.

He’s actually the same guy who came to fix an issue a few years ago, and the partner of the lady who used to help us out on the Farm a few years back.
Its definitely a small community in some ways!

He replaced the outdoor unit, which then wouldn’t register for the longest time with the nbn company, which was increasingly frustrating for him, but eventually it did whatever it is that it should have – and he headed off on his merry way.

Hopefully the issue is now fixed, but time will tell!

I dropped off four of the books I had sold to a lady in town, and collected a click-and-collect grocery order of a few top-up items whilst I was there.

Friday

– today marks the ‘anniversary’ of the day that my father died 22 years ago…

Around 9am, Heath the civil engineer guy came and started in on the drainage works along the eastern fence-line.

He’s doing an absolute cracker of a job, and the swale is so beautifully contoured and has excellent fall down toward the back drain.

He couldn’t quite get the entire drain finished today, so will be back in the morning to do the final touches.

I can’t wait for the next big monsoon to see if it makes as big of a difference as I think it will!

I spent the afternoon doing a big declutter in the kitchen.

I dug through a lot of the things that were hidden in the back of shelves and never used, and they are being rehomed to a friend of ours who is keen to have the extra good-condition kitchenwares.

Saturday

– Heath came back early this morning and completed the drainage works.
I’m so happy we that we decided to give this ‘new kid on the block‘ a go!
We’ll definitely be highly recommending him.

There are some huuuuge piles of dirt left over, so we’re going to need to do some extra landscaping works in the coming weeks / months to incorporate them into the landscape in a better way.

This evening I got word from one of my sisters that my step-dad has had a cardiac event.

Tomorrow is the ‘anniversary’ of my mothers death 5 years ago, and he misses her desperately.

We all think he’s probably finally had ‘enough’ – and all I can hope for is that he gets to pass quickly and gently so that he can be back where he belongs – by my mothers side.

Sunday

– We went for a lovely long spur-of-the-moment drive in our bus (Noah) today and it was just lovely!

We went and got lunch and went up to the look-out to eat it, and on the way back down heading for home decided that we’d take the ‘long way’ – but instead of taking the long way, when we got to the road where we turn off to head toward home, we instead kept going straight head; and for the next hour or so just kept on driving all over the beautiful backroads of the Tablelands.

It was a really nice way to spend a drizzly afternoon, and we even managed to catch a few moments of sunshine here and there.

Today is the 5th ‘anniversary’ of my mothers death – aged 92.

Monday

– After much discussion, my Wife is going to be getting a new car.
A Mahindra dual cab ute.
She currently has a Colorado – which I have never been a fan of – but its her car so that’s irrelevant! lol

This morning we were booked in to take one for a test-drive, which she wanted me to go with her to, so I met her at the dealership mid-morning.

We both liked the car, so will move forward with the plans to purchase, using the Colorado as a trade-in.

After the test-drive I went to the post office to collect a parcel, then headed back home to do some cleaning.

Tuesday

– Our Garden Guy (the Mighty MG) came over this morning for a coffee and catch up, and so that we could do a bit of a planning session with regards to what we’re going to do next around the Farm, and how we should proceed with our plans for the dirt piles left behind from the drainage works.

Did the laundry, folding and putting away; and vacuumed.

The 12 volt fan in our composting loo has gone on the blink, so I’ll have to try and work out a fix or replacement for that tomorrow.
It was too dark by the time we realised that it wasn’t working, to be able to see well enough to attend to it.

Wednesday

– The 2nd ‘anniversary’ of my step-mums death.

My brother went to sit with our step-dad today.
Since his cardiac event last week, he has been slowly deteriorating, and is very confused and tires quickly.
My sister will be going down to stay for a bit and to assess how he truely is, (she too is a nurse) but she won’t arrive until tomorrow.

I drove to the next big town over this morning to collect a new fan for the loo.
They only had large ones in stock which fit just fine, but it’s quite noisy.

I have installed it to get us through until the smaller less noisy one that I have ordered online, arrives in the mail.

‘June’ is starting to take its toll on me, but I will write more of that in another post…

Thursday

– My sister arrived to be with my step-dad today.
She knows I will go down to be with her at a moments notice, but for now she is doing okay.

She has said that while he is quite exhausted, he is happy that he is no longer having to take his heart medications.
He is also having regular morphine for any pain, and has had a few bouts of lucidity during her visits where he recognises her.

I went back to the next big town over again today, as there were a few things I had forgotten to do while I as there yesterday – and to be honest, I desperately needed the sunshine that can almost always be found there!

Last night the father of one of our very close friends died.

In the last few years we had become quite close to he and his wife as we had helped with their deciding to move from Melbourne to our town, and then assisted with getting them both admitted into the local aged care home, where I used to work.

Whilst we knew that his death was imminent – its still sad…

Friday

– I was supposed to go to lunch with the ex-colleagues crew today, but just as I was about to go in and get ready, our Garden Guy turned up with his wife and two of his kids to collect some stuff – so I ended up spending an hour with them instead.

It was a nice sunny day for a change, so I was glad of the excuse and to instead be able to enjoy more of the sunshine.

I finally got brave enough to tackle the carpeting of the first panel of the ceiling inside the back of the bus.

Whilst it was a little tricky – and I don’t think I could manage doing it with really big pieces of carpet – it was quite empowering to look at the (almost) finished job and notice that I hadn’t done a thoroughly hideous job for my first effort, and didn’t feel like I needed to pull it all down and start again!!

Saturday

– I spent the majority of the morning writing.

Its back to being overcast again today, and I’ve really had a gut-full of this shitty weather!

I am someone who needs regular doses of good solid sunshine, and when that doesn’t happen, my mood goes down the tubes disturbingly quickly.
Not fun…

This afternoon – after my Love had finished work – we went into town to buy food for the cat and dogs, which I cooked up once we got back home.

After the cooking, we sat for a while and caught up on some of our backlog of YouTube videos on channels that we are subscribed to.

Sunday

– a quiet day for the most part.
Did a nice bit of gardening in the morning, and then watched some travel and garden shows in the afternoon.

Made a really yummy coral trout in a laksa sauce for dinner, served on a bed of rice.

So that’s it for this week!

One of my happy places, relaxing in our bus by the lake.
This week I got my delivery of tasteless protein which I add to drinks and food.
Making Lemon Cheesecake Protein Balls. Delicious AND good for you!
Snack time! Cheese and grapes.
Another one of my happy places – my vegetable garden.
Glorious golden gorgeousness from the garden. Yellow squash.

Wk 21 of ’23

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An update of the week that was.
Week 21 of 2023

Monday

– I did some canning while on a FaceTime call with our Daughter-In-Law as she has a new pressure canner and has no experience using it, so we did a live ‘walk-through’ and canned together.
She did some home-grown apples from their little Farmlet, that she had puréed for their little boy, and I canned some beef mince.

Once we were done with that call, I cooked some dog food as well, then did the usual Monday things like laundry and tidying up the house following the weekend.

Still have diarrhoea.

Tuesday

– Our garden guy (the Mighty MG) came today and he finished off building the hoop-house that we’ve been ‘going to get around to‘ for about a year.
It looks bloody great!

I did some weeding and garden tidying, but am feeling quite weak and foggy and despite trying I haven’t managed to do very well with hydrating today.
Less than a litre.

Still have diarrhoea.

Wednesday

– Heath ( a civil engineer) came over to preview the job we’re hoping he will do to fix some of the drainage issues along the eastern fenceline, and he will send us through a quote later in the week.
Seems like a nice young guy.

Its been cold and rainy today – definitely an inside kind of day!
Wearing long sleeves and long pants and closed in shoes.

Blogged.

Day 8 of diarrhoea.

Thursday

– somehow corked my shoulder in my sleep last night.
I think it was because I was so exhausted and run-down from the diarrhoea that I slept for five hours straight without moving.
Unheard of for me – I am usually a rotisserie.

Raining and cold again.

Our eldest Daughter arrived on a spur of the moment visit for two nights, today.

Friday

– laundry day again!
Got most of the stuff packed that we will want for our trip away this weekend.
We’re leaving Saturday morning and coming back Monday afternoon.

The pain I’m having in my arm has made sleeping very difficult overnight, and I can’t use my arm, or raise it at all.

I’m in lot of pain.
Getting more than a little concerned tbh…

Saturday

– I ended up at the hospital Emergency Room overnight with the uncontrolled pain the I just couldn’t get on top of, and was at the point where I couldn’t sleep and also couldn’t move around in bed or even get up easily, without assistance.

After some observations and history etc I ended up having some more Panadol and some Oxycodone and was released to see how I fared.
The diagnosis was a probable pinched nerve.

I was discharged with some extra meds and a script for more in case I needed them.

Woke up in a lot less pain – thankfully!!
It makes a big difference when you can finally break the pain loop…

My Love was not terribly keen to still go away, but after much discussion she agreed that we could still go, as it was obvious I was a lot better than I had been overnight – plus I had the extra medication in case things got ‘exciting’ again – so off we headed – away to palm cove in the bus for two nights!

Yippee!!

Sunday

– We spent the day relaxing and reading and hanging out in the gazebo beside our bus, then wandered up to Esplanade to have lunch at the surf club.

We decided to have dinner at our favourite pizza place – Il Forna – so wandered up there just on dusk, and were spoilt as always, by the wonderful staff.

It was a really lovely day, and neither of us is wildly keen to go home tomorrow.

I always sleep so well in our bus!
For some reason I feel really safe and cocooned when I’m snuggled up in there in my bed at night.
Truely one of my absolute happy places…

So that’s it for this week!

 

The revamped Hoop-House that our Mighty MG Garden-Guy whipped back into shape in a matter of hours.
Road-Trip ready!!
The picturesque Esplanade at Palm Cove.
Its a little messy in this pic, but its my happy place. Snug, safe and warm in our bus.

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