May miscellany.

After Tocal Field days, I had a few days off here and there, caught up on some big housework jobs, and tried to rest. Unfortunately after I push myself, I have a few weeks of inflammation, worse arthritis and fatigue. This lemon pie was probably a day off treat. 

How perfect is this Koko Black easter egg? JK bought some easter chocolate on sale because we lost ours to the mouse. The mouse was a lingering plague but seems to be gone now.

I cleaned some of the yuck off the back cement... the rain was unending and things were getting slimy. I also caught up on my emails which were yucky too.

I also did Banjo duties again.

And also build the second part of the spare bed.

I had a bunch of medical things to get done. Still trying to solve the mystery of the 2020 gum lesion so I saw an immunologist and got a lot of tests done, pathology and a chest xray - no idea what is going on. Next job is a biopsy. I'm now on another drug, which is for the lesion and also for RA.

Being tired, going to appointments and tests, made me irritable and I caused this car accident. 6 week wait for smash repair. 

After the smash repair appointment I treated myself to Spotlight (yuck) and Howards storage world where I got this amazing new shower caddy that holds properly and wont rust.

And another job that I finally crossed off the list was getting rid of my old mattresses, now I have the IKEA ones, and there was a council Mattress Muster. So I really got a lot of big jobs done, well done me!

Music has been going well. The band I put together for 6pm has gelled awesomely, and we had lunch after music prac (minus a covidy member, this is her joining in on the phone). We have been practicing on Sunday at 11am in my garage, but now it has become cold we have moved to A's granny flat practice room, and now we have a lot of songs under our belt we can practice 2 weeks music in one session.

The weekend after field days I ran the practice for the Renew conference band. Everyone played and sang well together and I played cello. The end of May was the conference. I was a bit stressed about the Friday night set up and practice, as it was 3 weeks since our first practice, but overall I had lots of faith in the girls. And I was able to think, once the Friday is done, on the Saturday it will just go how it goes and it will be fine! One song leader had to pull out being sick but we had it covered, everything went very smoothly and I could see women really enjoying the music and getting into the singing. The whole day was really successful and the music was a part of a whole great thing.

Once I all these jobs were done, and Renew was off my mind, I checked in on my weight and found out I'm still gradually putting on kgs. Slowly but steadily. So I have implemented some resets. 

• 3 workouts a week (30 min)
• lunchtime walks
• no chocolate at work
• cut out black tea

So basically more exercise and less sugar and caffeine. I was not very excited about this because feeling inflamed doesn't make it fun to exercise, but I did some research and found out that exercise is very good for RA. And, it definitely didn't make it worse, because the inflammation dropped off after I started regular exercise. I've probably reduced my dark chocolate intake by 80% and black tea by the same. These are good improvements. Hopefully this is a sustainable lifestyle.

Some funsies! Had a fun Saturday, with the Maitland Taste festival where JK and I bought cheese and salami and flowers.

And then we went up to Singleton for a light festival and queued a long time for korean food truck chicken. Heather was visiting!

Regular lunchtime walks: baby swans! Between the 2 adults swans so you cant see them but there are 5.

And that is that! Made it through May. It's not the easiest month of the year, with TFD and Renew, and sometimes I am struggling with having a housemate and not having as much of my own space. But I got a lot done, managed my stress well (still reading New Morning Mercies) and finished with better habits than I started. Lots of answered prayer.

April: too short!

When I last wrote, I was doing Covid. On the weekend when I was better I planted seedlings and bulbs, and fenced off the garden because Sweep goes in there to eat compost. A lot of the bulbs started to show only a week later! I gave the leftover bulbs from the show bag (at least half of them!) to Kirsty.

I felt pretty good to go to work, although I had a cough and I had a nap at lunch time in the library each day. I also noticed I made a lot of mistakes such as going to music practice on the wrong night, discussing doing something twice and doing it once, turning taps the wrong way. This is apparently covid fog, it isn't like a fog it's like being stupid.

I played cello for a praise night at church on Thursday before good Friday. I did pretty good! I think I'm probably getting good enough to keep up with church music, so I am thinking about stopping lessons soon. Maybe finish this year or end of term 1 next year. There are other things I would like to do. I'd probably have to take lessons again in future if I let it go for too long though. But ideally it would be nice to stop lessons and transition to playing in church bands and similar.

AM came up on Thursday night for the easter long weekend. We went to church on Friday and I invited parents over for lunch and G was popping by too. I was worried I didn't have a big enough chicken etc but we mixed up a nice salad to supplement baked chicken and veggies.

JK and sweep left which was just as well as AM finds animals stressful when they jump on her and leave poo to step in. 

On Saturday AM and I headed out to the Mt Tomaree walk, there was also a good ice cream cart there and we got fish n chips for lunch by the bay. We checked out a "Green shed" junk recycling place but it was shut for the public holiday.

At some point I made sourdough. I made another attempt at artistic cutting. Better.

Tragically our easter bunny chocolate was destroyed by a mouse. The mouse/mice continues to plague us weeks later. It keeps finding chocolate in places we have forgotten. It has eaten poison, but bounced back. It nibbled into a bag with a scarf in it, in my jumper drawer, and dug into the soil of an indoor plant in my bedroom leaving dirt on the carpet. Sick of it.

Anyway, we were both quite weary and had a lot of rests on the weekend. Other than the walk, our activities were also restful, such as a picnic, and a cafe lunch, and watching Austenland.

Not much open on easter Monday but we had a fancy lunch by the river. I always forget how good a posh drink is and I should get into making them. I think this had gin, lime and mint? It was great.

Small win, after a week on FB market place, some people claimed my free single bed! The joy of getting something out of the house/garage and knowing it has a new purpose. 

Back at work, I was trying to catch up and get things printed and organised for Tocal Field Days. It was a mixed blessing but everyone was on leave, so work was calm, but not easiest to get things approved.

Social life. Went to a games night at this house at Clarence Town with other 6pm church gals.

Did pub Trivia with Aleisha and her sister and grandma. We did pretty well, came in the top 50%, and it was aimed at current events rather than like history and geography so my short term memory of what I had heard on the ABC recently was a boon. I could name a politician for example.

And I went to the movies with Cass and JK to see Lost Kingdom, fun!!

Here is the tent at the start of the set up. I got D to help me hang those banners and others the week before, while it was sunny. Note the grass. It did not survive.

And then the week of was 3 days of hard work. Getting these signs picked up, trecking around college collecting all the display boards and power cords and so on. On Thursday I walked 14k steps or 10km. So I was tired before the event started on Friday.

Tocal Field Days had lower numbers this year because of the rainy days and mud, and probably because of the economy and the election, who knows. But our tent talks (which I organised) did just as well overall, the educational game was a success, just the right amount of challenge and all ages could have a go.

This was a moment of chaos that made me laugh.

It was exhausting though, and I have decided that's it for me, no more organising and setting up. Next year I will design the signage and work in the book shop. 

Some fun highlights were I got a free haircut from the DPI H2Cuts stall! And I met some DPI colleagues from other programs who shared out tent, they were cool and great at pitching in with the packing up. I also bought myself a pair of farm boots, Blundstone 660s. So far very firm, hard to get on. Comfortable to walk in but need to loosen up in general. I was originally worried I got the wrong size, but I think they will be fine. I just can't get them on and off easily and so on. And, I was saying hi to a friend in the tent and her friend recognised me as the person with the green chairs on marketplace! Small world. My chairs went to a friend of a friend.

We got nearly everything packed away on Sunday night, in a nice orderly clean way with lots of instruction from me, because I was clear that last year was a nightmare for me to deal with after their "help". Note the grass. RIP.

The next morning the tent was gone! The last few things we left were just stranded there and muddy.

I actually hurt my toe wearing new boots cleaning these banners.

Here is a little print job that just made it in time for the field days, a kraft paper honey label with gold foil for the bee. 

These are the boots. Dark brown.

Oh and one night when I was lying in bed tired I bid on 2 ceramic vases in an online fundraiser auction! So I am expecting a Shelby Sherritt small vase to arrive soon. I wasn't expecting to win but I'm not sorry, it's fun to do something random and buy a tiny vase for $200. Lucky I didn't win both though.

Today it's Wednesday, my first chance for a day off, 8 days of hard work done. I'm feeling the sorest though. I expected to be sore and tired with the field days, but the fatigue was delayed. I'm getting things done though because things need doing. Got rid of the mouse poo from my drawer and vacuumed for example. Cleaned my muddy boots after Tocal. 

Still got things to do. I am dogsitting Banjo this week, and sometimes I go before and after work, but last night I stayed over the night. Someone just texted me to house and dogsit over a weekend in May but I said no, housesitting just adds logistical complexity to life. I have a duty to Banjo though. The other thing is our first and maybe only band rehearsal for Women of Truth now called Renew, which is this Saturday, I've booked the church for it. I need to think and plan the songs, as I am not playing piano but cello. But I am also having Friday off so there is time to get my brain into gear AND rest. The Renew band is another thing I think I will drop. This is the 5th year and 4th time I've done it. Time to pass it on and take a break. So I am looking forward to next year being a year with some space and energy that I may or may not fill with new things. It could be nice to have a down year. I think April and May could potentially be a nice time of year, if I'm not busy and stressed. I could do the thing where you take a few days off to join the public holidays together and have 10 days off in the middle! I've definitely managed the stress better this year though. Anyway, tally ho!

March: making it to Melbourne!

I shall begin this post reflecting on the culling, the making way. The Summer zinnias have been removed to make way for sweet peas and other babies for Spring.

I picked up an old 3 seater leather couch on Facebook. I really like the look of worn tan leather and it has the right dimensions for head support and extra seating while not over crowding the room. It's not as comfy as the 2 seater but nothing is. I put the 2 seater in the garage for 2 sisters to pick up in the future. I got the 3 seater from a couple in Raymond Terrace and paid them a bit extra to deliver it. It's not intended to be a long term couch, but given I live with an inside dog, and I may move house in the next 2 years, it makes sense to get something that works for us now and I don't over-invest in.

I had a clothes cull too, on a particularly bloated week, where I decided to get rid of clothes that were not fitting well, old, didn't have pockets, and generally weren't sparking joy. There were some very old and beloved clothes in this cull, but I was able to see it positively as making room for clothes I could buy in Melbourne.

For future reminiscing, this is the Summer of rains and floods, where Maitland missed the real storms every time, but was still completely saturated. A patch of the back lawn is dead due to walking on while wet. We're fighting mould and damp (just running fanboy all day to circulate air has been my tactic).

Work has been busy, and here is the first AgGuide book I laid out from scratch. I am also proud of how the field days is developing while I'm not getting stressed and I am involving others.

I got the opportunity to design a mural for the entry of an office that is being fixed up. I've also got a honey label and some other unique jobs on my plate.

I started to wear a mask to work and everywhere, to avoid Covid for my holiday. Covid REALLY took off this month, I would hear of a couple of families a week in my direct circle of friends. My immunity was dropping because it was getting to 3 months since my booster. A perfect storm!

Lil D turned 1! I missed a dream house inspection and risked Covid for her birthday, while she mostly napped and we ended up sitting around awkwardly waiting for her to wake up for 2 hours. But she is a happy baby and we love her. And there was a jumping castle and tasty chicken wings and yummy slice.

My birthday was on a Saturday this year, which was a great joy! I could actually do fun things! I organised a brunch with JK and my 3 exercise friends (but one got Covid) and G surprised me by spontaneously driving up to join us! I picked the below ceramic mushrooms for my gift from G and E, and JK gave me some cushions and door mate which have brightened up the place.

And that afternoon, I flew to Melbourne! I was slightly delayed, and Elsie met me at the airport, we shared a taxi to the city and then E drove a go get expertly out of the city. My directions weren't great, she was a champion! I was unusually directionally challenged this whole holiday.

We got to Ballarat at about 7pm and I realised none of the comms from airbnb actually said how to get into the house, so I left VM and we went to find dinner. The closest was Italian, which turned out to be a bit fancy and also booked out, which was a relief to me as I felt under-dressed. So we next went for Chinese and the experience of this old-school decor was amazing. While we waited for a table, our host called us and let us know the keys were in the mailbox the whole time - we both thought about looking but did not. Lesson learned.

We did a shopping run, getting ourselves set up with some breakfast staples for the week. In the morning, Sunday morning, we ate at home and then drove out to a sunflower farm! It was their last weekend so the flowers were mostly a bit old, but if you wanted to pick them, still heaps of good ones to be found! We enjoyed wandering around making silly videos and photos.

We had learned from Shelby Sherrit's instagram tour of Ballarat that there was a cool shop called Hattie and the Wolf, and we had a long browse here. I bought some pants and a cardigan, some earrings and a gift. A bit of an alarming early splurge but I make great fashion purchases on holidays.

We had lunch at Panchos which was delicious, another instagram recommendation, and then I bought tickets to Sovereign Hill. We did a little underground experience, walked randomly around, and I chatted to these nice ladies. 

We didn't spend too long there, I got very tired, so we went in to town and had a gelato which surprised me by being the best gelato I've had ever. I had chocolate with brownie or something in it.

On Monday we visited the Ballarat Botanic Gardens. It has a lot of statues, including busts of PMs up the main walk. There was a big flashy greenhouse with an amazing display of begonias, we came just after their big Begonia Festival. 

We then drove to Daylesford and the scenic route to Melbourne. Daylesford was beautiful and most suitable for a holiday. We didn't have time to go to all the shops but we walked around, went to Cliffy's for lunch which was very popular and cool, but with good reason because I had a super tasty sandwich with porchetta and buratta. We went to a massive antique warehouse called Mill Markets and I resisted becoming an egg-cup collector. We also stopped for arvo tea break at Trentham and had an amazing pie with custard filling and slivered almonds on top.

We got to Melbourne and the go-get spot was taken :( so Elsie achieved several hook turns to navigate back to the street and sort out the parking situation, during which the naughty car left. We walked 3 blocks to our hotel with our suitcases and checked in, then walked down to eat some noodles for dinner. We had very large noodles which I was too tired to lift to my mouth. Sounds funny but it was a real struggle. Lesson learned.

On Tuesday morning, we went to the victoria markets, because that is what I realised on my last trip - you should shop here on day 1, so you can actually buy fresh food for your hotel and not eat out every meal! We decided to recreate the tasty sandwich from Daylesford which gave us the opportunity to buy veggies, deli food, bread, dips and more. E also bought 2 lovely hats and we both bought a pashmina - mine is a gift as I already have one and like it.

Our home made gourmet lunches. 

I had a couple of shops I wanted to check out. One turned out not to be in the city after all, but Design a Space is still there and I got 2 bargain dresses and a gift.

On Wednesday we split up, I went to the flower show, and had a most enjoyable time. I listened to 2 talks, one on lawns and one on small garden designs. I bought a show bag of bulbs and some ratchet secateurs. I window shopped for a hanging chair and a compost bin and hellebores and other things I couldn't fit in my luggage.

We met Bei-En and Aleisha for dinner, at a good dumpling restaurant where they communicate with walkie talkies (it has upstairs and downstairs). I should mention Victoria is still checking vaccine passports. And we used the Melbourne Money offer to get 25% off so it was a very cheap meal.

We then went to an improv comedy play called Murder Village which I had discovered on google, and it was in a tiny theatre at this alley, upstairs, through a small bar and another random room and up more stairs, into a room seating perhaps 30 people. The cast of 6 incorporated audience suggestions into the plot of an english village where someone is murdered and someone else is the murderer. It was silly and very fun, and the whole experience was excellent value, it was spot on my niche.

Elsie organised the Thursday around Puffing Billy, a tourist steam train that takes you through the Dandenongs to a picnic area, and the tradition is to sit on the window sill and hang your legs out of the train. I didn't think it would be comfortable but eventually I did it, and I can highly recommend. 

The only disappointment for me was that I had packed lots of warm clothes for Melbourne had hadn't needed them. It was shorts and cardigan weather. However this day was much colder than forecast and I didn't have my coat or anything with me. We packed lunches but bought hot chips and hot chocolate to supplement it so we could warm up in the cafe at the other end. Always put a raincoat in the car! Lesson learned.

We had a last dinner in Melbourne! We figured out that we were staying very close to a Koreatown area, and had already had Korean Fried Chicken earlier in the week, so had spicy tofu soup. It did leave us with slightly upset tummies the next morning though, but it was delicious.

On Friday morning, I had hoped to have Aleisha join us for a nice melbourne cafe brunch before we went to the airport, and we picked out a nice cafe, but upon arriving we realised it was super full and very trendy and we'd be unable to get a table. I guess out of a whole week, only having one plan go awry is pretty good! We went instead to a very basic cafe but with windows on a 2nd floor looking over the street at Southern Cross station. We had simple eggs on toast and tea. We had flights at 2pm and there were no delays. I had some interesting rowmates, a woman who shared her entire family and work history and a girl who was a skater and a graphic designer. I played solitaire. 

JK and Sweep picked me up from the airport and that was the end of my first holiday away from home in years! I avoided Covid and had a great time!

Although the next day I got a runny nose, and eventually realised it wasn't dust allergy, I probably had a cold and should get a Covid test. I did a PCR about 2.30 Saturday, and woke up on Sunday to a positive result text. I had so many false alarms from tickly throats, and when it happened for real, my throat had nothing to do with it. I was surprised. And also relieved that I didn't get sick until after I was home. And also relieved to just be getting it out of the way because there would be a serious inconvenience to get it later when I have a band to rehearse or print deadlines at work. So all in all, could have been worse.

Anyway, on Saturday I battled through my runny nose to wash, change sheets, and empty compost into the garden - it was a rare few sunny days and I am glad I made the most of them! I had a lady pick up mums weaving loom which I sold on facebook, but I wore a mask to transact the sale thankfully.

And then I spent 6 days in my room, isolating from JK. My symptoms developed into aches, and then tonsilitis, so I had pretty bad sleep for waking up to take more panadol and eat honey and so on. I ate my own chicken soup from the freezer plus some good food from JK. I mostly listened to audio, and tried to get outside for fresh air occasionally, and move around in my bedroom to help with the congestion - things like watering my plants, doing some stretches, washing my hair. I did my cello lesson over zoom on Monday but that was probably too much. 

Percy hung out in my ensuite or bed a lot of the time. I felt better from Wednesday, got my first sleep through on Wednesday night. Thursday I was up to spending a couple of hours dealing with my disaster of an email inbox and paying overdue bills, and watching netflix on laptop in bed. And today, day 7, Friday, I am deleting stuff to make space on my full laptop and also writing this blog! It's the 8th of April so this has been a bonus week for you. 

And here is a bonus photo of Sweep in his raincoat, very miserable after an attempt at a walk in the rain.