NOT AWOL!

Yesterday was a bit of a nothing day so I didn't get around to writing anything.

Himself went up to the block and did some work on the storm water drain (he has permission and supplies from the developer but they obviously can't be bothered doing it themselves) and then did a bit of a tidy up of the building site. Strictly not allowed but it was bugging him. The trades (young fellas) do tend to leave a bit of a mess so Himself just went around picking up drink cans and offcuts of this and that and put it in a neat pile.

The estate is really coming along. There are now three houses completed and lived in, one nearly done (CW's and her builders are going around touching up all the things she found fault with so she shouldn't be far off finsihing), us and another couple well on the way to finishing and another three at slab/frame stage. At least one of those will more than likely be a rental. It is the same design as ours but a bog standard version and the owner is an Indian solicitor based in Melbourne. Andy (site supervisor) says he has overseen a few lately that have been built by Indians based in Melbourne and they are all investment properties which, I hope, will help the long term rental market down here and not just the short term, holiday rental market. As far as I am aware, the other houses will all be owner occupied (apart from one of the completed three which is currently housing CW and will then be a short term rental with the owners using it as a holiday house - it is right up the other end of the road from us so any party types won't bother us).

The topic on everyone's mind is, of course, the awful situation at a shopping centre in Bondi in Sydney where yesterday, a man went on a rampage with a knife and killed 8 people - mainly women. He was shot dead by a police inspector who happened to be in the area and responded to the call. It is believed he had severe mental health issues for many, many years. I wish the bloody media would stop sensationalising this. It is a sad situation where nobody wins. At least we learnt from Port Arthur after which our gun laws changed or it could have been so much worse.

Later ...

Himself has walked the dogs. I am so envious. I try to walk but the pain makes it impossible. The appointment with the surgeon can't come soon enough (8th May) and then I have to wait for an opening in his theatre list. I just hope that the issue is the hip and not something that can't be fixed. Yes, I am catastrophising but pain makes you do that.

We went to the supermarket. The hip/back/knee was so bad today I had to use a trolley to lean on. Steak for dinner and the makings for a slow cook which I will prepare shortly and then turn on in the morning and dinner will be ready in the evening. My favourite kind of cooking!

I am sorely missing my weaving and although all the looms I have could be considered small and portable they still require setting up and take up a bit of space and time to use. Yesterday I found an Australian company that sells pin looms and showed great constraint in only buying a 4" square and a 4" hexagon. This afternoon I went to Hobbii and bought some variegated cotton with which I plan to make some place mats for the new house. It comes from Denmark but they ship very quickly and I used them a lot during Covid. The yarn will probably arrive before the pin looms!!

It should go well with the colours we have chosen. 

Later still ...

I have prepared the ingredients for tomorrow\s slow cook. Beef which I tossed in flour, pepper, salt and dried herbs then fried off. Added onion and garlic to the pan and fried them off. Deglazed the pan with 500mls of beef stock (no, I don't make my own!) then a couple of spuds, some onions, butternut pumpkin and carrots. A squirt of tomato paste, a handful of bay leaves and a good slurp of red wine. It will sit over night then I can turn it on when I get up and we should have a lovely rich casserole/stew for dinner with plenty for leftovers and hopefully the basics for a soup. If I had my own kitchen I would bake some bread but I'll get some from the bakery tomorrow to mop up the gravy.

Speaking of tomorrow, U3A is back and I am looking forward to it. I am going to have to pull out of qigong for now as I can't stand for the half hour the class goes for but I should be able to go back once the hip is fixed (see ... thinking positively).

I did a load of washing earlier and it is still on the line. There is a controlled burn happening close by and the air is full of smoke. I have a feeling I might have to rewash my clothes. Or walk around smelling like an old fashioned Autumn where everybody burned the dead leaves in the gutters and had open fires and incinerators. 

How many Aussies remember those days? 

The brick incenerators in the back yard where if it wasn't composted it was burnt. The piles of leaves smouldering down the street. The smoke whisps from chimneys as the first fires of the season were lit with the promise of chilly Winter evenings to come. 

Your weekly bin collection was a couple of old fashioned metal bins with lids that would clang as the garbos tossed them off and threw the contents of the bins into the truck that never stopped but slowly kept moving up the road. Not that there was much in those bins. Very little came in or was wrapped in plastic. Meat came from the butcher wrapped in paper. Veges from the greengrocer in paper bags. Water came from the tap. Drinks came in glass or cans that went into a black recycle bin as we embraced the reduce, reuse, recycle mantra.

Oh those garbos. Fit young men (often off-season footy players) wearing short shorts and singlets running behind the truck. Many is the time I was stuck chose to slow down behind them. 

Memories ...