Things improve

 

 

I am thrilled.  The TV unit I ordered arrived in just a few days and is better than I expected!  It is an exact match for our coffee table and fits into the space nicely.   Even better when I removed the pile of cablers under the old plank system the cable end of the wire that connected the tv to the HD box broke.  The box was very wonky and caused the Tv to keep cutting out or getting lines across the screen.  Our neighbour came in with a new cable and took the box home to examine but much to my surprise the tv works much better without it!  Wd were thinking we would have to buy a new tv, but the urgency is off now.  Edd and I do watch TV in the evening because we are too tired to do much else and the charity shops where I buy books are still closed.

 

On the Corvid 19 front things are going well.  Cases over the last week dropped dramatically and one day was even 0.  Some restrictions came off last weekend but none that helped us.  We are now allowed to travel 25 km from home or work but that still means we can not see most of our grandchildren.  Still, the lock down seems to have worked well and curbed the upward trend, so we are very grateful our PM followed scientific advice.

 

The new shed is complete, and we have started to move all the stuff out of the big shed. The shelving system we were given after the fires is perfect for storing things, so we are gradually dismantling it and moving it over.  Everything is filthy.  Dust and dirt make this an unpleasant job.  My motivation to keep working on this is to get the upper space in the shed as a new clean area.  Edd wants the lower level as a garage space where he can work on vehicles so we both have different things to spur us on.

 

I also went over to help Bo work on her house and get it ready for real estate viewing.  She and her family have found a bigger house in Yarra Glen that they would like to buy so Bo’s house maintenance efforts became urgent.  She has done so much work on her place but with 7 or so people living there it is hard to keep on top of things.  Bo has also been working from home and the kids have been doing home schooling but at least the latter has ended and her two youngest are back in normal education.

 

Food is flowing here.  We have good crops of snow peas and broad beans and some old seed I sowed has produced a lush crop of mizuna to add to our salads.  I am fighting slugs to try and preserve the pumpkin and zucchini seedlings, but my cucumber seedlings died. The first of the Portuguese millipedes are arriving too, which is an ominous sign.

living between times

 11.10.2020

 

I can’t believe it is so long since I posted anything.   I think we have just been very busy.  Edd’s new shed is now nearly complete, and we have sold the bottle-fed lambs and buck kids.  They all went to good homes as pets.  I was actually surprised at how fast they sold. The price of a pet has shot up considerably, dogs cost thousands now that almost every pet is neutered.  It is not a totally good move because mongrels are often the healthiest best dogs and breeders can be breeding for looks rather than health or temperament.  Perhaps a goat is a dog substitute, and a lot less work.

 

Spring has really started. Flowers everywhere and the grass lush and green.  The weather is still swinging with some days hot and sunny and then a sudden return to frost at night. Over all things are improving but we have been warned that the Nina system will bring more rain than usual.  

 

We are still under heavy lockdown and cases of the virus are below 15 a day but not dropping fast.  We notice that more and more people are just ignoring the rules.  Yesterday an acquaintance entered our house, uninvited and sat down at our table without even a mask on and we felt very uncomfortable.  We did not expect anyone to do this so had no coping strategy planned.  Mostly everyone is trying hard to look after others but if the rules relax, we will have to set our own boundaries.

 

Our tenant CB in the donger is very respectful of our space.  We never enter each other’s houses and observe social distancing when talking outside.  I can see that we are in a sort of limbic situation where the old way of living is over and the new normal brought on by covid and climate change has still yet not started.   We really face so many uncertainties that it is not possible to plan for the future in the long or short term.  I have come to the conclusion that I actually feel quite at home in these sort of times, because I can just be in the now and excuse myself from any worrying about what I should be doing to get ready for what is going to happen.

 

Working on the farm is enough to give our daily life structure and meaning.  Basically, we produce food. I get up early every morning to milk the goats and clean up the dairy. With the lambs and some kids sold we now have milk to male cheese again.  In the garden we have started to harvest the broad beans and snow peas and we are trying to get the pumpkins and zucchini established.  The tomato seedlings germinated, and I have pricked them out into separate pots. But the cucumbers don’t seem to be sprouting. Perhaps the seed was too old.

 

My biggest issue is that with the charity shops all closed I have run out of novels to read.  I have lots that I am rereading but it is not quite the same. I have ordered a small unit to sit the TV on.  At present it is balanced on a plank held up by two other loose bits of wood.  Each week it is a nightmare to dust as the wood is rough.  We decided anything will be better. I am never sure when buying stuff like this online but what’s life wit out a few risks?