A Friday full of weather

 

We have had some doozies of storms. Isolated and pass quickly but when they come it buckets down.

Mother is law is OK. The surgery went well but they are struggling to manage the delirium. It's a balance between pain management and over sedating. And, of course, the unfamiliar surroundings and us not being able to visit.

I submitted my application to start the Auslan course. I should have done it last year as it is highly likely I won't get in. Oh well. I have an interview in 2 weeks (the earliest I could get) so I would imagine the 10 or so remaining places will have gone by then. And you know what? I am fine with this. Which is unusual for me. I must be mellowing.

A quick trip to Ikea to look at the kitchens again. We bought meatballs and loganberry jelly and sauce from there for dinner. We will have them with mashed potatoes and peas. Their meatballs are amazing.

My phone is charging. Tomorrow I will start to play with it.

Briefly

Mother in law should be in theatre but we're not sure. The hospital have been wonderful with their contact with us but as it's mainly me I am a bit wrung out. So many calls about pacemaker, delirium, anaesthetic risk and so on and we can't visit her which is heart breaking.

A few of us went to the yarn cafe's devonshire tea. It was packed which was great. Especially as it looks as if we have restrictions again. Which we were told wouldn't happen.

Some famous tennis dude has had his visa cancelled cos he didn't meet our border requirements. Or something. The world is horrified. I am pleased that the rules have been enforced but I am damn sure some court will overturn it. And people will flock to the tennis and this damn virus will keep spreading. But small businesses will continue to suffer as they aren't front and centre of the media. I am mightily pissed off. 

I have applied for the Auslan course. I had to sit an online English and Maths test. I took a call from Frankston Hospital during the English test which blew my time out. Hopefully that won't count against me. The maths test? Holy Moly. Trigonometry? Pi? I did remember the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the opposite two sides! And piRsquared being the area of a circle. My father would be proud.

My new phone has arrived. It is still in its box. I want to enjoy the unboxing. And I am frantically trying to delete all the shit that keeps getting transferred from phone to phone!

It is now dinner and wine time. Here is a picture of my hair ..

A mixed bag

Himself woke me in the wee small hours to say that the aged care facility had rung and MiL had had a fall and was complaining about a sore knee. Long story shortish. They called an ambulance several times but the ambulance service was in chaos. She was eventually picked up at 7. She has fractured her neck of femur (NOF) and is awaiting surgery tomorrow. We cannot visit her but the hospital (Frankston for those in the know) have been fantastic with communicating with us. She should be back in the facility by next week. In the olden days a fractured hip was a death sentence to the elderly more because they had to spend weeks in bed and developed pneumonia. MiL has the constitution of an ox so I am sure she will be fine. Never smoked etc etc.

We had our first breakaway craft group catch up today at the yarn cafe. A few had to drop out because of That Which Shall Not Be Named but it was still a lovely afternoon. Amy and K hit it off really well which makes me happy. We are going back there tomorrow for a crafting devonshire tea afternoon. I will have to eat a scone. Devastated - not. And I have my eye on more yarn. A cotton and silk blend which will weave up beautifully and will replace a gift I have already made. 

K came back here and cut my hair. I have now put a bright pink colour through it and am hoping I have enough grey for it to take. I would post a pic but no!

The hospital just rang and updated us on MiL's condition. I guess they sort of have to as no visitors are allowed but very happy with the care she is getting. 

Glowing

Growing up I was taught "Animals sweat, men perspire and women glow". With the humidity we have at the moment I am glowing up a storm. It's not that hot but just sitting doing very little results in a massive glow. Now I can say that next month is the last month of summer. We still get hot days in March and sometimes into April but at least there is a light at the end of the hot, sticky tunnel.

For some reason this really made me giggle.

We have been eating a lot of salad lately. I am not usually a salad person but right now it is certainly the weather for it. The bread roll worked yesterday. Today I am trying a couple that have been frozen for longer so we will see if the yeast has completely carked it. Himself really enjoyed the roll last night so fingers crossed he is as appreciative this evening. Just need to work out what protein to have with the salad. I'm thinking a bbq chook.

I finished the scarf. It has been fringed and is in the wash as I write. It will be interesting to see what it's like once I've dried it. I wonder what it would sell for. It only cost me $7 in yarn. 

Himself received a document from MiL's income stream fund thingy wanting proof of life. A bit difficult to get her to sign it so he has been trying to find a JP to witness him as PoA but everyone is on holidays. The company said a pharmacist could sign but our local one refused as it isn't listed as a designated signatory on the form. He has spent so much time dealing with her affairs. He will deserve a large gin when he gets home.

Vodaphone have lost a valuable but not valued customer. We will be moving our phones and broadband to another mob and save in excess of $600 a year. Himself has gone to try to find the phone I like to buy outright. I guess phones, like other appliances, have been hit hard with imports. He may be gone some time.

It is cooler today, thank goodness. We are forecast a bit more heat during the week but worse will be the humidity that will come with thunderstorms.

We have a craft group catch up on Wednesday at the yarn cafe. Unfortunately T is in isolation as her son has tested positive. Apparently 1 in 5 tested are returning positive results. They are saying the majority are Omnicron and those hospitalised are Delta. Or something. It's all a bit confusing. Again I ask, do we really need this level of information? Not many people really understand or need to know. It just adds to the confusion and anxiety. We can find it out for ourselves if we want. We don't need it shoved down our throats every time we look at media. 

T's sister is one of the aluminium hat brigade. According to her 7 doses of vaccine have been produced for every single person and one of those 7 is the kill shot. Sort of Russian roulette with vaccines. Do you know how it kills you? By activating your T cells. Which the last time I looked are actually an important part of the immune system (AIDS sufferers have very low to non-existent T cell counts). I hang my head in despair.

Well, Himself drove all over town in search of the elusive phone. Apparently there are a couple at Melbourne airport but that is way too far and no guarantee they would still be there. I am going to try buying on line from Samsung. 

More weaving this afternoon. I am using a cheap acrylic (and I mean cheap as opposed to inexpensive). It was to show the yarn cafe people what it would look like woven. I don't enjoy using acrylic yarn at the best of times. I should get it finished tomorrow. Then I can weave something pleasant.

Dinner tonight is steak and salad. I am trying freezing uncooked rolls and seeing how they go once defrosted. It will save us eating them all when I bake! I have one ready to try this evening. You have to use a bit more yeast than normal so it will be interesting to see how it goes.

Stillness

I know this is still the holiday season and people are out and about and down at the beach but I love these early days of the new year. There is a certain stillness. A time to reflect and wind down. To regroup and be gentle. To look forward with a quiet optimism. No need to go anywhere or see anyone. Time to just be.

Himself is on the search for a good deal on a new phone for me. Vodaphone - who we have been with since before they were vodaphone are being most unhelpful. So much for long term (decades) of customer loyalty. It looks as if we will buy a phone outright and change our provider. Boo sucks to you, Vodaphone.

Cherries, blueberries and raspberries with plain yoghurt were had for lunch. Tonight I am having a piece of cold chicken and a hardboiled egg with salad. 

One, Two and Three played a round of golf today. It makes my heart sing when my boys get together.

Right now, it's time for a gin and soda.

2022 here we come

 

We watched a movie last night and I was in bed by 11.30. There were fireworks but we can't see them from where we are and the dogs weren't fazed so all good there.

It's another hot day today so hanging around in the coolth of the air-conditioning. I will do some weaving and Himself is down in the garage doing something.

And while he was pottering in the garage he found the wallet. Where he told me it absolutely couldn't have been.

I finished a scarf and have started another. The YarnCafe sell on consignment and said they will take my work so I might be able to make a bit of money to keep my addiction funded.

I am also going to look at doing a certificate 2 and 3 in Auslan. Not sure if I will be able to claim a concession as I already have a degree but a phone call will sort that out. If I can do it, it will mean I won't have to keep pretending to look looking for work. I will never be one of those people standing beside the pollies but if I can volunteer to work with the deaf I will be happy.

Himself and I weighed ourselves and measured our waists bellies. Chicken and salad for dinner tonight. With a glass or two of wine. Softly softly catchee monkey.