I don't think I've got a lot to say about February. It was a very meh month. My lack of enthusiasm for 2018 has continued. However here are the highlights.
I treated myself to a yellow shellac on 4 Feb, and it's still in good condition although I have 1/3 of my nails regrown and I've cut them, so they look a little weird, but I still like them and also shellac is a job to remove. I went to a farewell for Wendy who moved to Alice Springs.
I had a doctors appointment for my low iron, and I decided to go to a proper GP instead of medical centre, to have a proper conversation about my health and establish a relationship that will be there in the future when I have something complicated. So that was really good, I am glad I have sorted that out in my life.
Tried to get back into the swing of Jillian, cello practice, but it was all a bit hard to get off the ground.
I am unable to make a decision about building a pergola. So I decided to build more wall gardens for the fence, and in March I'll replace the last garden that the house came with, which is just cheap metal edging buried in the ground and some agapanthas, with a raised pine bed. I used my new drill for the first time on these wall gardens and it was really lovely and easy!
I'm on a high iron diet so I have 100g beef mince for lunch (with salad and whatever), and I've been slow cooking a half leg of lamb each weekend to have for dinners in a variety of forms. I'm cutting back on cereal with milk, yogurt and ice cream for dessert, and zinc tablets. So a pretty big shift. But like January, I continued to be pretty tired and flat.
E has been obsessed with fasting and low carb high fat. I dipped my toe in fasting by delaying breakfast, which has been good, it's good to have the option to save time in the morning, or when you are travelling and have to buy breakfast in a hotel, just skip it and wait until morning tea.
C the housemate was away for a week and a bit, so I started her birthday present, a cactus on a round canvas.
I am pretty happy how it turned out.
Here is a hat I did for work.
Here is me sick again. My second cold for the year. So fed up with the hot weather and being tired and being busy at work. However getting sick was a helpful circuit breaker with work, I've been much less stressed since I went back.
The back fence sank, so the latch wouldn't close, so I removed the latch and used my new drill to put it back on lower down, and now the gate is perfect! This is an exciting achievement.
Went to Maitland Show w Ros. Didn't go on any rides this year, but it is delightful to watch people and lights and movement.
We went in the evening when it was cooler, and to watch the fireworks. Everything has been so dry that we got a good grass fire also.
C celebrated her 21st.
A kayaking date was cancelled because of hot weather and tiredness, but we did get out there on a Friday evening as it was cooling down, we did more of the river near Paterson. This is a mysterious gate in a creek.
The next morning J and I paddled from Lorn to Morpeth, it was a pretty warm day so it was a hard workout. It's 8km. But we went with the tide and there was no breeze to work against.
My team leader organised a 3 day workshop in Canberra (meeting in the middle of Tocal and Yanco), and it was really nice, very thoughtfully prepared. Enjoyed the driving and talking with colleagues, the catering and the Australian National Botanic Gardens and the National Library.
This is the current microfilm filing of the Maitland Mercury. There are thousands of drawers of all the newspapers in Australia and some internationally.
The vastness of the stacks.
It's been an intense start to the year at work, and another designer has gone on stress leave. Will he return on Monday or will I get his work on top of mine, nobody knows.
This morning I did a 30 minute Tiff tone, and some down dog stretching, because I'm trying to get back into good physical routines. Get some fitness back, regular stretching for my back, sleep better. I'm glad it's Autumn, so that it gets cool soon, and I've had a good week or so with energy, so I think my iron might be improving.
We had good rain 2 weeks in a row, and it has made a stunning difference to everything. Grass is green! Irrigation was a life saver, but real rain, there is nothing like it.
