o0o
Summer is racing toward us at a great rate, and the earth is starting to crack in places where there isn’t enough organic matter to help protect the soil from the elements.
Its getting dry – very dry, and its compounded by the hot winds which dry everything out even faster…
My mood seems to have been slowing improving over the last week, and I think that’s because I know we’ll be having a long weekend away starting next Saturday, and there is a plan in place for us to have a bit of a discussion about what each of us would like for the next 5-7 years…
Onward and upward!
Below is a brief rundown of what I’ve been up to in the last month.
Monday
– I’m even sick of myself by this point. Being a misery-guts isn’t fun…
Collected our grocery order and did some gardening.
Not much else.
Tuesday
– worked in the bus for most of the morning doing carpeting of the ceiling. Its a neck-hurting job.
Did laundry.
Cooked chook food and poached chicken breasts.
Wednesday
– spent a couple of hours removing excess comfrey from the big vegie garden beds.
year it runs a bit wild during the down season, but its so very good as a compost and mulch and adds so much nutrition to the gardens that I dont want to ever get rid of it totally.
Planted some tomatoes and capsicum.
Got some fresh bags of compost.
Washed and vacuumed the car.
Super hot day – even put the aircon on for a while!
Thursday
– went to the next town over for a shopping trip with my friend L and had sushi for lunch. It didn’t sit well 🤢
Cooked dog food.
Friday
– my friend L came for coffee early as she’d left some stuff in my car yesterday.
Took recycles to the tip and then into town and bought a new bedspread and some blockout curtains.
Did some work in the bus.
Did laundry.
Watered.
Saturday
– finished carpeting the ceiling in the bus.
My wife finished work around lunchtime so after we’d had some sourdough toast, we got to work on the centre console we’re building for the bus.
It’s looking really good and I’m pleased with how it’s turned out.
Installed it and will take it for a test drive tomorrow.
Any excuse! :))
Sunday
– took the bus for a drive to the next town over today and went to the hardware stores and got some nice plants and a couple of extra pots for the wall plantings.
Our neighbours son came over to play with the dog for a while, and the neighbour told us he’s selling.
Sadly we weren’t surprised… 😕
Monday
– had a visit from a friend G who is going overseas for a couple of weeks so dropped through for a cuppa as she leaves tomorrow.
Spent most of the rest of the day finishing the curtains that I started at the end of last week.
They’re hung now and are blackout curtains but I’m not quite sure how I feel about the look of them yet.
Maybe it because I am used to having colour on that window, and they’re grey – dunno.
Tuesday
– the curtains worked well this morning.
Minimal light coming in, and the dogs slept a bit later.
That’s a win in my book!
Did an early grocery order.
Did some weeding and planting in the big vegie garden while the laundry was on.
Collected the groceries order mid-afternoon and did the watering of the raised beds in the house-yard.
Wednesday
– took the bus for a drive to the next town over and went to the ‘Over 55s’ social group again.
Still not wildly keen on it if I’m being honest.
Different age group and social circle / ideals mostly I think…
Thursday
– early trip to get groceries and pick up a book from the post office.
Did some cooking when I got home.
Charged the security camera.
Worked in the vegie garden in the afternoon.
Friday
– went early to the next town over to get some protein bars that were on special, and to get some plants I was looking at on the weekend.
On the way back I dropped into vinnies and got some pj pants and a couple of jars.
The Farm is drying out really quickly and some of the trees are starting to show signs of stress so I spent most of the afternoon doing spot water and some sprinklering.
We’ve had some serious fires close to where we live, and people we know have been affected or have had to evacuate and wait to be able to return to see if they still have a home.
It’s such a scarey thing…
Saturday
– huuuuge day in the garden pulling out old plants including the spoils of the sweet potato bed, and topping up some of the beds in the house-yard with fresh compost ready for replanting and mulching.
My love actually only had one appt today, which I went to and waited outside as it was just a signing – so we combined it with a trip to bunnings to get compost.
While I was doing my garden work, my Love started checking on the irrigation system in the house-yard and along the driveway fence-line as it hasn’t been used for the last almost year due to having had so much rain; so it needs some tweaking where it’s leaking or has just deteriorated or got buried under plantings.
Sunday
– we decided to take a drive to a coastal town we haven’t been to in many years, and even then when we did go there, we would always just be passing through on our way to somewhere else, so we thought we’d go on a bit of an adventure!
It took about an hour and 20mins to get there in our bus, and we hadn’t quite realized (even though we kinda of knew) just how much of the town revolves around also being on a river.
We drove around a bit to investigate what sort of businesses we could see, and then went down to the riverbank / esplanade to have lunch at one of the hotels.
I had a ‘topper’ of grilled chicken with some pepper sauce, and it was quite lovely, but I could only eat two small pieces.
We bought the rest home in the bus fridge.
We stopped off at Coles to get some chicken breasts before we headed back up the range to home.
Its lovely to be able to put cold stuff straight into the fridge in the bus, so we don’t have to worry about anything spoiling if we get sidetracked on the way.
It was a really nice way to spend the day, and a good change from our usual habits.
We’ll do it again for sure!
Monday
– big morning in the garden getting more of the house-yard gardens composted and mulched.
Cooked dog food.
Did houseyard watering of the wall and pots.
Tuesday
– a fairly quiet day spent mostly inside as I had to drop off both my dentures to the dental technician this morning to put in a new tooth as I’m having a tooth removed by the dentist tomorrow morning and I want the replacement in as soon as possible after having the tooth out.
It means that I am without a top denture from this morning until tomorrow morning after the extraction – which isn’t fun when you’re trying to eat something – so it’s a day and night of yoghurt and soup for me!
Not much different than usual, but I can’t eat anything like cheese and crackers or muesli bars – so of course I’m missing them, being that my diet is already so very limited.
Wednesday
– 24 hours of having no top denture is not something I want to repeat anytime soon!
Ugh – nevermind the dietary disturbances, it just felt horrible!!
I had the appointment for my extraction this morning at 830, and by 835 it was out, and that included the wait time for the anaesthetic to kick in.
It was soooo ridiculously wobbly that we figured he could probably use a pair of eyebrow tweezers to get it out 🤣🤣
Once home and the site had had some pressure on it for 10 minutes, I put my denture back in and was very relieved to see and feel it back in place.
I do wish that I had had the forethought to get two teeth added to the denture and two taken out today – instead of just the one; but hindsight is always twenty / twenty as the saying goes!!
I spent most of the rest of the day out in the big veggie garden refreshing two of the beds and planting out a few batches of seedlings.
We went out to dinner with our young friend, and it was nice to catch up properly in person, for the first time in while.
Almost zero tooth pain, and my denture feels and looks wonderful!
Thursday
– My friend L had to put her car in for a service today, so I met her at 9 at the dealership so that I could entertain her and drive her around while it was being done.
We had a snack at a cafe neither of us had been to before, then went for a look around the local camping shop, cheapie shops, hardware store and grocery store, then for some sushi for lunch.
I could only eat ⅓ of a roll, but thankfully L ate the rest so it wasn’t wasted.
The weather has started to heat up, and at least a couple of days a week we’ve had to aircon on in the middle of the day.
Thankfully though, with the loss of weight has come a much better tolerance for the heat, so when I do finally put the aircon on these day I run it at 25° which the old me would have been horrified by!
Past me would have had it on 22° at the absolute highest. 😐
Friday
– our eldest dog has his turn at the vet today.
He’s 16 now, and had to have some teeth out.
He has a heart murmur, heart disease, he’s going blind, his hearing is dodgy, and his dementia is advancing to the point that he often forgets what he’s doing or where he is.
He does however zoom around like a two year old and has an amazing love of life and is a chirpy little character – so while he’s still enjoying his life, we’ll help support him with that.
I spent most of the day in the garden, cleaning old plants out of one of the big vegie garden beds as well as some overgrown comfrey, and refreshing it with compost and mulch.
There is still a good amount of food in the bed (tomatoes, rumex, chard, rosemary), but now there is room for more!
Saturday
– another good day in the garden getting cleaning out and pruning done.
Did the laundry.
Sunday
– a morning in the garden together, then a lazy afternoon.
Did some grocery shopping.
Monday
– went to the next town over to fill the bus with fuel as it’s 14c cheaper over there, and it isn’t far so is worth the drive, and isn’t a false economy.
Did laundry and some garden work in the afternoon.
Decluttered.
Tuesday
– took my friend L for a drive in the bus to the next town over to see if I could find what I have in mind for my Loves birthday present – which (yaaaay) I did!!
When I got home I ended up ordering online the extra lithium battery I’ve been thinking about for ages for the bus.
had planned to buy it when I was at the next town over, but even though they had it in stock, the customer service was quite poor with the lack of knowledge about it, and to top it off, I could get it from the same company online for $150 cheaper!! Got it at a really good price as well 🙂
Quiet afternoon.
Wednesday
– garden guy came this morning and whipper-snipped.
Went to town to collect some plants that the nursery lady had saved for me.
L came for a cuppa.
Still no rain so watering the house-yard to try keep a bit of green space for the animals.
Thursday
– planted some squash in the big vegie garden before the day got too hot, then went inside to cook some animal food, and some lemon chicken for an early dinner for us for tonight, as we are going to the next town over to watch a film – something we never do!
I’ve already seen the film online at a permaculture film night, but it seemed like a good ‘community’ idea at the time I booked the tickets.
Not so much no that were going to have to drive there and back and won’t get home til late…
Hopefully it won’t be a shit experience!
Friday
– the movie last night was good, but I was a little ticked that I didn’t know Jade Miles was going to be there as MC – or I would have asked her to sign my book… (iykyk!)
Was definitely fan-girling a big bit! 😍
Had a busy day.
Fertilised plants, mowed the driveway, did laundry, poisoned around the new garden beds, watered the big vegie garden and parts of the house-yard.
Wrapped my Loves prezzies as it’s her birthday tomorrow
Decluttered some inside throughout the afternoon.
Started work on the cover I’m trying to make for the bus loo; and the new extra lithium battery and box for the bus arrived by courier.
Saturday
– my Loves birthday today.
She worked but was home by lunchtime.
We watched a lil tele in the heat of the day, then once it cooled a bit we did watering and some pruning.
Sunday
– cooked chook food and dog food.
Grocery shopped.
Did some watering
My love put together the windmills that I got her for her birthday.
I’m really pleased they turned out so well, and it seems she is too.
I had a pretty lazy day!!
Fresh home-grown peas and tomatoes
Home-made waffles, which get popped into the toaster for breakfast.
A beautiful rose given to me for my birthday.
Two double-yokers from our girls this week!
Cleaning out and topping up being done in the big vegie garden.
Advice to live by 😉