Love where I live

Andrew asked what the postie was delivering yesterday morning that wasn't a pair of white runners (they belonged to someone else!). It was this ...

Our house gets very cold. I think it's the combination of a concrete slab and lots of tiles and no sun getting into the living area. This is a happy hoodie (a knock off of Oodies and much cheaper). I bought one with cats on as a bit of a joke and Himself loved it. I then decided that I was getting bloody cold, too, so I bought him this one in a tradie fluro colour and I have taken the cat one. They are very warm and light to wear. I thought I would hate it but, no. This is from their website, sadly, not Himself modelling it.

This morning we did another really long walk along the waterfront and here are some photos for your viewing pleasure. Biggerise the photos for the best affect.

It gets quite warm when the sun is out.

I am not sure what this bird is but it was pretty cool.

Our ubiquitous black swans. I believe swans mate for life and the dappled ones would be from last year's hatchings. Teenagers if you like. Not sure if this is mum or dad but whichever the partner wasn't far away catching things to eat.

The constant changing shore line is always a delight. I love the patterns the water has made in the sand.

A honeyeater having a whale of a time in a native bush

And the noisy, destructive sulphur crested cockatoos. This is only a small part of the flock as they flew away from us. You can see the yellow tinge to their feathers. They look amazing in flight but I still loathe them. The damage they cause is devastating.

We stopped to chat to a bloke who was working on this installation. The seat mentioned is at the other end of the bridge in the above photo but still has fencing around it while they finish it. It will be amazing and I can't wait to see the shields when they go up. They are currently installing the totem posts they will be place on. This gives a more detailed explanation including the artists impression of the area they are currently working on. Sadly funding is still needed for stages 2 - 4.

It was a very long walk and by the end my hips, knees and back were not happy but my brain was so all good.

Last night we put Jinx in the cone of shame as it seems she licks at herself during the night. We will do it again tonight. I hope she breaks the habit soon.

It is getting cooler so time to don my happy hoodie and burrow in for the night.
 

Better

This morning I woke to Jinx barking (she growls and barks through the night which is bloody annoying but this was a different bark). I went to see why and there at the front door was the postie. Great. It was a parcel that needed signing for so there I was in my nightie trying not to show him more than he really needed or wanted to see, signed and retreated back to bed. I was expecting a delivery but this didn't seem to be it. I opened it anyway and there was a pair of shoes. Oh well, I thought, I must have bought these for Himself and forgotten about it. Knock knock knock on the front door. Postie again. Turned out the parcel I WAS expecting was still in his truck and the one I had opened was for same number different street. Whoops. In my defence the print on the label was really small. I hope the recipient enjoys their shoes and postie didn't get into trouble.

I was still feeling a bit flat and glum when I got up but agreed to go for a walk with Himself and the hoonds. Best decision ever. Having a day off yesterday seemed to make my hips much happier and we did a long walk in the glorious but chilly sunshine. Lots of people commented on the dogs and they got lots of pats and we had some pleasant conversations. Three rang and we have worked out when Sally will come to visit and I might get some extra Three time if he comes to pick her up as well as drop her off. 

After the walk we went to the block and I got Himself to drop me off at the coffee group. I am so glad I went. I had a great time and the women were just lovely. Because I didn't have my car he had to come and pick me up and we did another drive by of the block! It will be a while before we see any action but lots is happening on other blocks and it gives us hope - and I do love the view.

It was probably a combination of the support from you lot (reading blogs and the comments on this are part of my morning ritual), the long sunny walk and catching up with the coffee group but I came home feeling much brighter.

Dinner tonight is a mix of Indian treats from Aldi. Onion and spinach are in there somewhere so that will be my nod to veges!

Here's to another good day tomorrow. 

SAD

Well it looks as if the past 6 months have well and truly caught up with me.

I am feeling rudderless. I keep crying for no reason which really upsets Himself as he doesn't like to see me sad but there is nothing he nor I can do to fix something with no obvious cause.

I saw the new GP yesterday. I forgot to take important paperwork with me, couldn't remember the names of my medications or dates of procedures and must have come across as a total nuff nuff. Oh well. I will be better next time! Assuming he is there, of course. He is a locum and spends his time filling in for country practices all over Australia. We had a chat about why it is so hard to find doctors for rural populations and it all comes down to our new doctors not being properly trained to be able to practice in a small town so they lack confidence. In the old days family doctors did a bit of everything. These days everything is a speciality and a GP is basically a referral service. It does explain why we can't get doctors in the country but it doesn't bode well for the future as the old family type doctors who can do a bit of everything continue to retire.

While I was writing this Himself got a call from the builders with a final quote. It is better than we dreaded and means we are nearly at contract signing. We will go through the figures line by line just to make sure nothing has been missed but it looks as if we won't have to change anything to save a buck or two.

Next hurdle will be the council permit. I am hoping they won't take too long.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

I wrote that this morning.

We have gone through the contract draft and apart from a couple of things that need minor clarification it all seems good to go. There will probably been some extra costs that can't be included at the moment that will depend on third parties like connection to the NBN and the like. 

Himself walked the dogs but I stayed home. I just wasn't up to it.

Tomorrow is coffee group. I will probably go as it is someone to talk to but I really need to make some friends. It reminds me of when we first moved to Langwarrin and how desperately lonely I was. The craft group changed that. I have had a look at the local U3A and there are certainly some groups I would be interested in and I will suss them out a bit more.

Don't get me wrong. This is such a friendly place and I am not sorry we moved - I just need to find my feet and my people. And I do miss Three and his lot and knowing that a couple of good friends were only a call away for a coffee. 

I think I may be affected by SAD which is crazy as autumn and winter are my favourite times of the year! August always seems to see me down and discombobulated.

I did pull out my knitting bag. I might even work on a sock tonight!

I apologise for the constant whingeing but it helps to put thoughts and feelings into words and brings things into perspective.

Better

Today was a better day.

We took the dogs for a walk up to the lookout. On the way back we met a woman pruning a vicious bougainvillea in her front garden. Himself offered to lend her his large shears so he took the dogs home and I was shown around her back garden. He returned, still with the dogs, gave her the shears and we took the dogs down for a walk along the waterfront. Then up to the block where they had a really good run on the vacant blocks and said hello to the dogs behind us.

The Mermaid rang for a chat - she's bored and lonely but still won't consider moving down here!

A trip to Aldi to buy some books for my collection for the grandkids, Woolies for hamburger makings and back home to waste time on the computer.

It is now cold and dark and I am having a scotch (and raising my glass to Andrew in memory of his mum who died very recently). It doesn't matter how old we get or how old and difficult our parents become, they are still our parents and we grieve when they go. Sometimes, the more complicated the relationship was the harder the grieving process becomes.

Tomorrow we both have our first appointment at the medical clinic here. We will be seeing a locum but the main thing is to get on their system so we can see a doctor when we need to (or at least within 3 or 4 weeks of needing to!).

My plans to bake, weave, knit, crochet and ride my bike are still gurgling away in the recesses of my brain. They will happen.

Flat

I think the past six months have finally caught up with  me. 

I am feeling extremely flat. 

I am also feeling the cold which is most unlike me and usually an indication I am unwell. I thought I might have caught Henry's bug - nothing like an 8 month old for sharing germs - but I think it is more of an existential malaise. 

I am certainly struggling to find joy at the moment, in spite of living in paradise. 

I will be fine. This happens to me more than I wish it did and it usually occurs after episodes of considerable upheaval - and I think that is a reasonable description of my life of late!

Himself has managed to assemble my bike. This just adds to the pressure as the expectation is that I will ride it tomorrow when I would prefer to just wait until the mood strikes. When I am like this I need to be left alone but in this household that is not going to happen.

I shouldn't whinge.

I am blessed.

Jinx

You may remember a while ago we had Jinx at the vet with problems with her nether regions. She was put on antibiotics and steroids and the issue cleared up. 

When I got home on Wednesday night I checked and all looked good. The Mermaid commented that someone had been licking a lot overnight when she stayed on Wednesday (the dogs chose her company over ours!) and when I had a look yesterday she was red again.

We took her back to the vet this morning and it appears that she actually has a physical malformation which means when she wees moisture stays in the area and causes problems. We knew this was a possibility from our old vet when this first started early this year. The solution is very expensive surgery which, of course, we will do if we have to but we are going to try some basic interventions like regular cleaning the area, washing it with a betadine solution and applying the numbing cream. And the cone of shame overnight to stop her licking. She doesn't lick during the day and if she looks like she might we stop her.

We go back to see the vet in three weeks and hopefully we will be able to break the licking cycle.

After the vet we took the dogs for a good long walk along the beach and a bit of a swim in the lake (them not us!). I wasn't sure how they would take to the water but they seem to be working out what they are meant to do in it.

While we were walking a chap on a bike stopped for a pat and a chat. Turns out he is a local bus driver who carries his bike in his bus and whenever he has a break he uses the bike to ride for exercise. We had a good chat about bikes and Himself tackled assembling the ebike I bought before we left Langwarrin. Instructions are never easy and he almost had it done but now he can't fit the mud guard so he will have to see where he went wrong tomorrow! Then I will have to see if I can remember how to ride a bike as well as learn how to manage the heavy frame and use the power assistance. That will be mainly for getting up hills.

Now I am off to google German Shepherd vulvas.

I'm BAAAACK!

What a week and a bit it has been.

The Mermaid arrived on Tuesday afternoon. We took her to see the block (obligatory), took her to the 3 o'clock dog group, had fish and chips for dinner (another obligatory activity) and we set off on Wednesday morning after (you guessed it) doughnuts and coffee.

The drive on the first day was brilliant. We drove East up the coast to Cann River where we turned left onto the Monaro highway and over the mountains to Cooma where we stopped for lunch and a bit of a walk to stretch our legs. The countryside was glorious and the weather was perfect. We kept going, bypassing Canberra's southern suburbs, onto the Federal Highway and thus to Goulburn where I had booked an inexpensive but quite adequate room for the night. The chap that booked us in was the spitting image of One, right down to the way he spoke. I asked for a recommendation for dinner ... "Well, I'm Australian and you can't go past a fucking pub and a bloody good steak!" The pub was, indeed, very good. Busy with an open fire and great food.

The next morning we had planned to mosey around Goulburn, have a coffee and fill the car. It was bloody freezing - we had to wait for the ice to melt off the windscreen - so we skipped the coffee and hit the road. 

An hour or so down the freeway my car kindly informed me that I had insufficient fuel! I had about 48kms left in my tank. Fortunately we had hit the outskirts of Sydney and my GPS found me a petrol station and we rectified our lapse of memory on leaving Goulburn (I blame the freezing temps). Thank god it didn't happen earlier or I would have learned how my Hyundai roadside assist works.

I dropped The Mermaid off at her mother's place without further incident and made my way to Two's place. 

It was lovely seeing them all and we did some fun things. In no particular order: Two reminded me how to use a camera (we couldn't use mine because I hadn't been able to find the battery charger - I have since bought one). I went to Audrey's 100 days of school celebrations, her gymnastics and her footy game (I use that term very loosely - one kid seemed more intent on finding out how many spinny whizzies he could do before falling over with no idea of where the ball was or interest in it if it came anywhere near him and the rest of the team were just as hilarious to watch!) We had lunch out a couple of times. We went to the beach and the girls played in the sand. We went to a water park and Granny was in charge of paddling only and failed miserably at that task - thank goodness there was an old towel in the back of the car. The girls and I did lots of craft activities. I got lots of baby cuddles from 8 month old Henry. 

The downside was how appalling behaved the girls are. "NO" and "I don't want to" seemed the default response to any question or request. Throwing things, kicking, biting, screaming tantrums, etc happened every day several times a day. Mads did warn me that they were trying to bring this behaviour under control by not reacting to it. I do think they are trying but I did see some examples of how and why the whole thing has got so bad. It was very hard to stay out of it all and a couple of times I was able to get the girls to calm down by distracting them. Henry was unwell while I was there with a fever and a runny nose so he also contributed to the general level of chaos.

I have been invited to go up in November for a couple of birthdays and if I can manage it I will. Partly to see the kids for the birthdays and also to see if they have managed to bring some order back into their lives.

I think they could do with some family counselling as it is more than just children misbehaving and a lot is down to their parenting style but not my kids, not my business. It was very sad to see, though. Nobody was really happy.

I picked The Mermaid up on Tuesday morning and we left Sydney via the harbour tunnel and I was very proud of myself for braving the traffic and negotiating the roads. I did get slightly lost at one point even with my trusty GPS but we got back on track and had a lovely drive down the south coast stopping for lunch at Bulli.

We stayed the night at Narooma in another inexpensive but comfortable motel. We mosied down to the pub, had a couple of drinks in the bar and then had dinner in the bistro. Another excellent country pub with another open fire and the best pork knuckle I have ever had. The Mermaid had a fish pie which she declared the best she had ever had.

Yesterday morning we filled the car up (not making the same mistake twice in one trip!), had breakfast and hit the road. It was a long drive through some beautiful country. My mistake was having breakfast before leaving. If we had waited for an hour or so we could have had brunch in a country town and a proper break. As it was I drove for nearly 6 hours which was bloody stupid. By the time I realised I needed a break we were in an area with no towns in which to stop so we pushed on until we got home.

Last night we went to our local pub to celebrate the Mermaid's birthday (Monday). We had a lovely meal and came home for a bit more of a chat before I couldn't stay awake any longer.

This morning the Mermaid left for home after a cuppa. Himself and I attempted to walk the dogs but the rain and the wind beat us.

We went into Bairnsdale to have a look at window coverings as we have decided we don't like what we have chosen. We bought some artificial plants to replace the live ones the cats keep eating, a new printer and signed up for solar panels on the new build (whenever that happens!).

A late lunch and a proper walk with the dogs (still bloody cold but I'd rather be here than anywhere else) and I am now chatting to you with a scotch and soda. 

Lamb backstraps for dinner (I missed Himself's cooking) and life is slowly returning to normal.

We have been here nearly seven weeks and it feels a lot longer. I am over the moon that I have no trips planned for another seven weeks when, at the end of September, I will be returning Sally home after a holiday with us and then attending the Mermaid's daughter's wedding. 

I want to feel that Lake's is well and truly home.