Home

We have been home for two weeks, and now fully recovered from jet lag, and for me, the tummy bug.   We have been busy though, a massive clean out of clothes and old toys, plus some scrubbing, and we managed a trip up to Woodbridge but more of that later.

Patrick has been very busy in the house.   There is now a new ceiling, with spotlights, in the bathroom.  Unfortunately the bright light showed up all the dirty tiles, which then had to be scrubbed a few times.  The advantage of a gloomy room is the grime is not noticeable, therefore less cleaning is necessary.  But the bathroom gleams now.

Of course we now have a new roof on the conservatory.  The previous roof had been damaged in the storm in December.   And there is also a new tile effect floor, all very smart, but of course we need new furniture to match the new floor.  One thing leads to the next thing.

Due to a very wet and mild winter, the grass, and weeds have grown unbelievably high.

And of course the moles are out in full force, busily spring cleaning their tunnels.

Last year when we returned, at the same time of year, there were no leaves on the trees, no growth in the grass, no weeds.  Even the daffodils were reluctant to begin flowering.  This year the daffodils were well and truly finished.   Amazing.

All the rubbish from the renovations, ready to go to the tip.

The back patio ready to go.  We have already been outside to have our morning coffee.

The stick holding our garden shed up.   Obviously storm proof. No strong winds blew it over.

And finally, the best news for me, the splinter came out of my hand.  Just slid out when I pushed against it.  After six weeks.   This was a 2 cm splinter, wedged in the fleshy part of the hand, which became infected and necessitated a visit to a medical centre in Euchuca, and a course of antibiotics.  It was so badly infected that the doctor could not see the splinter.

The moral of this story.  Always wear gloves when raking up lawn clippings with an old wooden handled rake.  I suppose I should have been thankful it was not a red back spider bite.  It happened in Adelaide.

And now that we have a sparkling clean bathroom with bright lights, and a lovely conservatory, it is time to spend time on the lounge and hallway.   Badly needed.  Peeling paper, faded paintwork, and an old lounge suite looks very depressing in the bright Spring sunlight.

But it will require some work and motivation on our part. There is always a down side.