I went back to the blood bank, with great interest, because after a very low haemoglobin result the last time (116) I ate a lot of beef, and vitamin c, was feeling good, and was expecting a higher number. I failed. They took blood from both fingers and my arm and it tested between 103-109. They sent the blood off for more analysis and I got a letter banning me from donations for 6 months and I should go to the doctor. It's disappointing that I got worse instead of better in spite of my beef effort. Also it's puzzling because I had low iron when I was a uni student but while I lived in Sydney it was well above the minimum. Now I'm back down and I can't think of a cause. So anyway, I saw a doctor and he just said "Women have low iron, get another blood test in 6 months". I've got ferro-grad tablets anyway. I've had some days that I've been really really tired, like exhausted after walking up steps and falling asleep in front of the TV and stuff. So that's the blood news.
Then flood news. Wind woke me up before 5am on a Tuesday morning, which is unusual because I always sleep through storms. I started to drive to work but I saw a police car guarding a tree/electricity combination on my street and then traffic lights flashing orange so I turned around and came home. Checked in with a colleague in the office who said he was the only person there other than maintenance and front office. So I stayed home. And then it started to really rain.
The backyard started to pool, and I was worried that the drain was blocked, so M and I went out in the rain to feel around in the drain, but it was just more water than the drain could take. So water filled the backyard until it started to flow over the retaining wall at the fence line and down into next doors yard. Which was lucky. Otherwise it would probably have come up another few inches and inside the house. Not so lucky for people at the bottom of the hill.
The front is a driveway, and it has large drains, but they were over capacity so we watched the water rise, just up to the garage door, before the rain stopped, and it slowly receded.
The only thing is that the gutters must have overflowed into the roof a bit because water was pouring through the back light. I'm a dummy who likes to see what happens so I told M to turn the light on. All the lights in the house went out. We switched the fuse back on, everything was ok. Not my best moment though.
Some time in the afternoon the water had drained away leaving all the woodchip mulch from the garden blocking the driveway drains because it all floated around. So we went out in the rain with a rake and shovel and cleared the drain and driveway, getting soaked. More heavy rain was predicted so at least the water could drain next time. In the end it didn't rain that much again.
My parents, sister and a woman from church came over at night, to cook dinner and watch TV in our electricity. I am immensely thankful we had power because if you are going to be home all day it's pretty boring if your phone goes flat and you can't boil the kettle and all that. As it is, we really enjoyed watching TV all day. Turns out nearly everyone lost power for at least one night and lots of people for 3-5 nights.
Maitland is built around a river, so suburbs are pretty much on hills with flood plains in between that have farms. Gives it a nice rural feel. It means that you can't really get around easily after a lot of rain because the roads between the suburbs get cut off by water as the rivers and creeks rise. So each morning for the rest of the week I attempted to get to work, but there were too many flooded roads. Work had no internet or running water anyway so there was no real need for me to go there and be a burden on resources making ebooks.
The next week was VERY busy, preparing for the Tocal Field Days, which at the last minute were cancelled due to an unstable road and more potential rain.
I'm feeling happy about the breadmaker. Mum gave it to me because she doesn't use it, and I had my doubts about using it too, but I use it a few times a month because bread is a really good social food. I've had people over and made olive bread and pull-aparts. It does all the messy stuff for you! I take the dough out after it's kneaded and risen in the machine, roll it out, spread cream cheese and tasty things on it, fold it and slice it and twist it, and then bake it in the oven in a cake tin. Really really good. Way more convenient than kneading by hand. Bread is going to be my specialty!
I inherited a pile of old jumpers from Granny. There are two that are good enough to wear that I'll keep, two that I'll pass on to someone who will appreciate them, and some that are not really going to be worn. I could donate them all but I've seen a craft on Pinterest for a blanket made of old jumpers that are felted and cut into squares and sewn together.
A cup of peppermint.
My peas didn't have sufficient wire structure to support them so I bought some wire mesh and untangled the pea pile and now they will grow tall and tidy.
No comments:
Post a Comment