A bit of gardening.

When I go to bed Jinx is never far behind.

This is my one and only female pumpkin flower.

If you have a look you can see lots of yellow flowers. All of them male. There are a gazillion more flowers about to grow and bloom and they all look like bloody males.

The damn vine really is trying to take over.

I pulled everything out of the vege pod, ripped out the tomatoes and tipped out the soil in the spud beds. This is the result before everything else went into the green bin. Those white things are what were meant to be spring onions. I am sure they will be edible. Not sure what to do with all those green tomatoes. Try to ripen them in the sun? I have lots of carrots and a handful of spuds. I will grow spuds again next year but in different containers. The jury is out on tomatoes.

I planted some carrots, radishes, rocket, pak choi and spinach. I plan on getting some more mesclun lettuce and getting peas into the ground soonish. I will also try my hand at sprouts, caulis, cabbages and broccoli. And of course, herbs. The roses got a bit of a prune. I fear I will lose a few. Not sure what I am doing wrong. Maybe it's the humidity we've had over the past couple of summers but they have been hit with black spot.

Himself went to his cardiac rehab and I came inside to sit down and do a puzzle or two and bang - migraine. I was able to take my meds straight away so once the vision cleared I was just left with the hangover headache and a feeling of fuzziness. 

Dinner tonight is a chicken tagine kit we got from Aldi. Could be great. Could be pizza!!

Planning

 

This is something I finder harder and harder to do! When I was in NSW the girls wanted me to get down on the floor and play with them. The problem is getting down is easy. Once you're down there you realise that getting up is, if not nigh on impossible, certainly extremely ungainly and inelegant.

When we saw the delightful Chris from Centrelink on Friday he told Himself to come back around 2pm today to get the paper work stating he had a commonwealth seniors health card. 

He rocked up to the counter and was asked if he had an appointment. No, he replied, he had been told to come back by Chris.

Take a seat and someone will be with you shortly TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT

Someone did come over and after Himself explaining the situation was told that he couldn't see Chris because Chris doesn't deal with the public. But he saw us, said Himself, and told us to come back. Doesn't matter, unhelpful dude replied, you can't see him as he doesn't deal with the public. 

No wonder there are security guards all over the place and no wonder people get angry. 

Himself had his xray and ultrasound on his knee today. MRI on Wednesday and we will make an appointment to see his GP for the results next week.

In breaking news ... I have flowers on the pumpkin. It must have heard me threatening to pull it out. The only problem I can see at the moment is I have ONE female flower and about a dozen male flowers. How many males are required to fertilise one female? And to make matters even worse, the female (understandably, I suppose) has decided to grow as far away from the males as she can. It looks like I might have to get my pimping hat on.

Sunday

This was last night's sunset. Aren't the colours just glorious.

 

Himself finally broke down and admitted this job was too much for him. He rang One who was busy but Three came over and helped hammer nails in and sand. Himself had just started to apply the first coat of oil and rains came. Oh well. He got a lot more done with help and it lightened the mood no end. Apparently I do not know how to use a hammer.

I hid inside and did some weaving and played some puzzle games.

Dinner is beef rendang from the freezer. I hope tomorrow is a bit brighter chez merlot.

Men! Or more precisely just one man.

The urologist rang Himself this morning. Surgery is go. He will be in overnight (rather than several nights). Prostate tissue may grow back in a few years but can be excised again. They can't do histology for cancer (the laser basically vaporises the tissue) but blood tests have ruled that out.

Yesterday he went to Bunnings to get sandpaper so he could spend the day sanding the deck ready for oiling. Today he went to Bunnings to get more sandpaper, a new angle grinder, more sandpaper and something else - each requiring a separate trip. Needless to say the sanding didn't get started until quite late.

I was sitting knitting and listening to a podcast when he came inside and announced he was bleeding. He had been using some sanding tool and had turned it off and put it down WHILE IT WAS STILL TURNING and it ricocheted into his shoe, THROUGH the shoe and into his foot. Just below the big toe. There was not a lot of blood, surprisingly (blood thinners, remember?). 

He took the shoe off and there was a cut about 2cm long. Initially I thought we would have to face the awfulness of a public hospital on a Saturday evening but after having a good look at it I decided it wasn't actually that deep. I originally assumed the tool had been going and he had sort of ground it into his foot but when he told what actually happened I was less concerned. I cleaned it up and used bandaids to close it and then cover it. 

He was instructed to stop for the day and put everything away or, if he insisted continuing, to wear socks and steel capped boots.

So he decided to continue sanding in bare feet. Not for long, mind you. Just enough to teach me a lesson in keeping my mouth shut!

He had a shower and it is now just oozing blood which I would expect with his medication. I have put more bandaids on and we will see how he goes.  

He is even further in my bad books as he found the secret for emergency use only chocolate stash.

Green for go

We went and saw the delightful Chris at Centrelink. He was extremely helpful but was still unable to do what was needed because it's not tomorrow yet. We are very lucky to have him on our case as some things have been backlogged for up to six months. This includes people who have applied for the age pension. Just appalling. I don't blame the workers at Centrelink - rather the governments that control the purse strings - and there have been two with no difference in funding. Out of sight, out of mind. Let's throw money at the things that make the news and make us look good.

While we were there Chris went through our applications for the senior health care which is what this is all about. He also made sure the documents I uploaded last September were actioned. It turns out that my identity hadn't been confirmed because, you know, Somalia, not leaving the country since I arrived in 1971, not having a passport, blah blah blah. I always get the anxious feeling they are going to discover I shouldn't actually be here and deport me - but to where? Anyway, I am now apparently identified as far as this particular govt department goes. They paid me a benefit for 7 years so it can't have been too bad although it wouldn't surprise me if they decided they'd made a mistake. 

Himself went to Bunnings (because the day ends in Y) and on the way home got a call from the urologist's rooms. It looks like the surgery will go ahead because the surgeon uses a green laser (*google will be implemented shortly). The cardiologist is happy for him to have the surgery as long as he stays on the blood thinners and the urologist himself will call on Monday to assess and give the final go ahead. 

Life is just one excitement after the other!

The Aldi chicken Kiev was delicious. From memory they were about $5.50 for two and will definitely be something I keep in the freezer for the days I can't be bothered. I usually have cooked rice in the freezer and always have frozen peas on hand so an easy inexpensive meal ready to whip up in about half an hour.

Tonight we are having pizza because my brain hurts.

*Dr Google to the rescue. Very interesting. It looks to be far less invasive, hospital stay is much shorter so he may come home the day after as predicted, bleeding is next to nothing and the results are pretty much instant. 

When it takes longer to think of a title than it does to write the post

When Himself had the stent inserted two weeks ago he was started on some pretty serious blood thinners. Any foreign object in the heart can cause the formation of clots which can lead to strokes and further heart issues. He has to take these for a minimum of 6 months and is then on aspirin for the rest of his life.

His TURP instructions state that he is to cease all blood thinners 5 days prior to the op. Not an unusual request as you don't want to exacerbate any potential bleeding.

After numerous calls and emails to the cardiologist's rooms he went there in person. As he was there the nurse received a text from the cardiologist stating in no uncertain terms that he is NOT to stop taking the blood thinners.

The TURP will now be rescheduled for later in the year.

I got a call from a lovely chap at Centrelink about our appointment tomorrow and asking for more information. That's easy. When I had a look at the form we have to fill out to apply for the seniors heath card it is asking all the questions we filled in when first applying for benefits back in 2014. Where were you born - Somalia. Are you a citizen of Australia - no. What Visa are you here under - NFI. It asks you to list every country you have lived in SINCE BIRTH before you arrived in Australia for the final time. Short trips don't count. What's a short trip? I have no idea of my family's movements in my childhood in that amount of detail. I have rough dates. I am sure this will be OK but I am a stickler for filling in forms accurately.

Tomorrow will be interesting.

Himself has bought the oil (except it's not oil cos it's water based) with which to stain the deck. The upside of him not having surgery is that we have time to get things done before we go to Lakes which means if we DO decide to up and go we can get the house on the market more quickly.

Of course, if I could shed this ongoing ennui I could contribute to the process. Even if we don't move, the vege beds need doing over, the roses need a final prune if I am to get a last bloom this summer (whatever that is), the craft room needs sorting, craft needs to be done ... I just sit and feel overwhelmed. But if I try to actually sit and read or knit I get antsy and have to move.

The new grown up scrabble dictionary arrived today (as opposed to the one I bought which was approved for use in schools). 

****OFFENSIVE WORDS FOLLOWING. DON'T READ AND THEN COMPLAIN!****

Cunt and fuck are still there. Nigger and Poofter have been removed. I don't feel comfortable having our language sanitised. Education not censorship.

**** YOU MAY NOW READ ON (unless Aldi offends you) ****

Dinner tonight will be an Aldi chicken Kiev (Kyiv?). I will give you the verdict tomorrow.

A good day

Last night's dinner was amazing. Way better than takeaway. I am a messy eater, especially with thing like hamburgers (and eggs and pasta and soup and gravy and and and). When Alice was a baby Amy made her some bibs. After a particularly spectacular fail with bacon and eggs I said I needed some, too. She made me three. I wear them when I need to - probably not as often I should if truth be told. I knew last night's dinner would be a challenge so I wore this one ... 

And this was dinner. Home made hamburger with cheese, bacon and onions (and the ubiquitous lettuce and tomato) with potato cakes (or scallops or fritters or whatever they are called in your neck of the woods) and onion rings. So good.

We went to our appointment with centrelink. I still don't know what the issue was but it seems you cannot do ANYTHING in advance. 

On Saturday, when I turn 66 and a half, we will no longer be eligible for our current govt benefits and the cards associated with them which means we will no longer get reduced pharmacy, medical etc. We are eligible to apply for a commonwealth seniors health card but we can't do that until Sunday. And it can take up to 28 days to receive. Anyway, the woman we saw was so helpful and we are going back on Friday with a *gasp* paper form to fill in to apply for the health card as we can't apply on line before Sunday. One of the team working today is working overtime on Sunday and she will enter the details into the system and the team leader has approved everything so hopefully we will have the card by Monday. Confused? I don't blame you. 

It wouldn't be an issue but Himself has a whole lot of stuff booked for next week and we really don't want to have to pay if we don't have to. MRIs ain't cheap.

Lakes Entrance update ... today is a maybe day. We have pretty much decided that unless we win lotto, building is out of the question because of the costs of renting etc during the build. We now have to decide if we are prepared to risk selling here and hoping the right place will come up for sale down there when we are ready to buy. So, yes. Today is definitely a maybe day.

Dinner tonight is BLTs with potato cakes and onion rings. When we were at Aldi getting bacon (they have the BEST bacon and it's not expensive) I bought meals or the makings thereof that will see us through the next 3 nights. Plus there is stuff in the freezer. 

I am over meal planning and eating well at the moment. I know this will pass. A lot has to do with the whole centrelink stuff which is nearly over. 

Several people commented on the scarf I posted about yesterday. For those who are interested here is the link. It is a free pattern on Ravelry. Basically it is a twelve stitch repeat. k5, k2tog, k4, kfb. The pattern calls for 96 stitches but you can make it wider or narrower. Once you get into the rhythm it is very easy. My tip is to put a stitch marker at the end of every repeat so if you stuff up (as I do regularly) you can easily count back to see where. It works beautifully with variegated sock yarns. It is such a good pattern for an inexperienced knitter (as long as you can count!) and the results are beautiful.       

I found my WIP (work in progress for non-crafters). I am using a self striping yarn that is a bit thicker than sock yarn so using 4mm needles. I really should finish it.                                                                                  

I have noticed the blogger gremlin has been sending comments to spam again. I do apologise if you have commented and I haven't replied. I value all your comments and like to respond to them all.