Castle in the Mud

The weight of the rubbish for the last 2 weeks is 488g so the total so far is 3.05kg (3057g).

This morning I filled some saved small plastic bottles with cleanser, shampoo and conditioner so that I am only taking approximately the amount I need for the time we will be away.

Today I lodged the request for holding the mail and bought my new camera. This evening we filled in an online application to get 2 rental phones while we are in Japan. That way if we split into separate groups we can always track each other down.

I have been running around this evening trying to get things organised for the trip. I feel as though it is coming together and I am determined not to be in a mad rush on the last night.

Almost time to fall into bed.

The title says it all. My excuse is that there is so much to do and so little time. G and I went to the DFO near the airport today and I bought a new suitcase for our trip. The other one I had has served me well over quite a number of years, however, the corners have holes, the handle is a bit dodgy and one wheel is not functioning properly. I bought one for $69 - medium size and red. I am happy that it will be suitable for what I need. I also bought a lightweight spray jacket (for the trip).

I have started putting things that I will be packing in the spare room so I feel like I am making some progress. I did several loads of washing including the bedspread from our bed today. G and I cleaned up the desk in the study and I renewed my driver's licence online. I have done quite a bit of ironing, although it is not finished. No more tonight as I think I will have an early night.

No, not the renovations I mentioned a couple of posts back. Today we did some refashioning of "Chez Chikki"- otherwise known as the chook house. It is one that we inherited when we bought the property and we are seriously thinking about building a new house in a different location. However, the prospect of asking someone to feed the chickens and collect the eggs while we are away finally stirred me into action. The problem was the nesting boxes - they were low to the ground and difficult to access so we did a bit of very rudimentary carpentery and have ended up with a 2 storey affair which is much easier to get to and retrieve the eggs.

We went into town this morning to vote and do a few other jobs. I have also done some ironing, sorted the freezers and planned the meals for the rest of the week. Apart from $10 worth of fruit and veg we can live quite nicely on what we have. In fact I can't remember when I last went shopping. This morning G made scrambled eggs and grilled bacon on toasted Turkish bread for breakfast. As he served it the comment was, "That will be $15.90, thanks. Tilly's - eat your heart out." His remark was a reference to the yummy breakfast we had at Tilly's Cafe in Canberra last weekend when we were there with a group of friends.

Our Japan planning is gradually coming together. We now have arrangements for the chickens and the dog. I have started making lists of what we need to take. I am trying to keep on top of the washing and ironing so that it is not a mad rush later in the week. Tonight I need to put the itinerary together and gather all of the info we have saved on the interenet so that I can print it off next week.

It is finally the end of the week. I am really tired so this is going to be short and sweet as I am about to head off to bed.

I managed to do 2 loads of washing during the week so not much laundry to do on the weekend but plenty of other jobs.

Tomorrow we need to go and vote, return library books and buy some fruit and veg. I will do a menu plan in the morning after checking out the contents of the freezer. There is enough to feed us for a week until we head off to Japan. Also, on the weekend I need to finalise the itinerary and other paperwork for the trip as well as make a list of what needs to be packed and what I still need to get before we go.

......Is what I have tonight because we have just signed the contract for our house renovations. The work will start in about a month (after we get back from Japan). We are having new windows and flyscreens, new wall cladding and insulation, a wall knocked out and a new kitchen, new built-in wardrobes in 2 rooms and concreting under the house. We won't know ourselves.

We still have to make decisions about various colours and products so lots to think about.

For those of you who are watching the rubbish results, I forgot to weigh the rubbish (or put it out) this week so it will be held over till next week.

Today was a No Spend day again. I worked a long day and simply had no time to spend anything even if I had wanted to. I took salad and some Chicken Roll (from the freezer) and met my mother for lunch in the park. My salad included lettuce and tomatoes and hard-boiled egg - all from our garden and chickens.

So much has happened since I last wrote an entry on Thursday.

After going to work on Friday, we stayed in Brisbane so that we could catch the very early flight to Canberra on Saturday morning. There we met up with about 6 other couples who I knew through Simple Savings who had come from various parts of Qld, Vic and NSW. Some I had met previously, some not but we all seemed to click and had a great weekend of fun and socialising. G and I managed to fit in going to the Degas exhibition at the National Gallery as well as a couple of other exhibitions there and spent several hours on Sunday at the National Portrait Gallery.

On Sunday morning the group met up with some others from Simple Savings who live in Canberra. Prior to meeting them at the Old Bus Depot Markets G and I went to Queanbeyan to go to Spotlight. I had a $10 voucher which expired that day and I wanted to buy some netting and fabric to trim the netting to make covers to throw over plates of food to keep insects off. I will post a photo one day when they are made. That is 2 Sundays in a row that I have failed on my No Spend Sunday challenge. Hopefully, I will get back on track. Even though we ate out several times I did stick to my savings plan by taking biscuits, cheese and salad which G and I ate for lunch on Sunday – felt very virtuous.

The next couple of weeks are going to be very busy as we finalise our Japan trip. We leave on Sat 28th March so not much time. I will try to do an entry each day but they will most likely be fairly brief.

Today C came into town at lunch-time and we sat in the park and ate our lunch. It was lovely to spend even a short time with her on a one-to-one basis as Baby O was daycare. C works 5 days/fortnight so has one day off to herself. When a shower of rain started we beat a hasty retreat and wandered along looking in the shops. C saw a couple of nice cardigans but decided that she would have to check her other clothes and decide what colour would be the most versatile - no impulse buys here!

This evening I have spent some money but it is for the garden. I received the Green Harvest email advising of the availability of garlic and potatoes so I have ordered seed potatoes in 3 different varieties and 2 types of garlic. Although it is mail order their warehouse is in Maleny and I usually arrange to pick my order up when I am next in town. It saves me money and it is great to chat to the staff.

I have just arrived home from a trip into Maleny. I had my hair cut at the local barber shop, took a couple of items into the picture framer/gallery to have them framed, deposited some money in my savings account at the local community credit union, bought some fruit at the greengrocer, bought shampoo and body wash at the co-op, borrowed some books and magazines from the library and picked up a parcel from the post office.

I am pleased to be supporting local businesses and local jobs wherever possible. I think it is really important for us all to support and sustain each other within our communities.

While I was in the credit union I signed up for programme where the credit union round down your savings account at the end of each month and the "spare cents" are transferred into a community trust account. The maximum possible amount would be $11.88/year. This money is then distributed as grants to worthwhile community causes as decided on by a board of trustees. Th local IGA supermarket also has a Community Benefit Club where a 1% of the value of your purchases is donated to the group you nominate. Check the link for more detail about this great scheme.

I have really blown it this week! The rubbish for this week is almost as much as for the previous 9 weeks :( The reason is that due to the possible cyclone we checked all of our emergency equipment. We have 2 lanterns which are powered either by 12V(car battery) or 6 x Size D batteries. We had not used the lanterns for some years and the batteries had been left in and leaked. We had to throw the batteries out and 12 x Size D batteries weigh rather a lot. Anyway, hopefully next week we will be back on track.

Week 10 - 1143grams (1.14kg)

2009 total - 2569grams (2.57kg)

Today I had a yummy lunch. I made salad using the first leaves from my crop of lettuces, cherry tomatoes that are growing wild on the neighbour's footpath, mild chillies from the garden and local marinated feta cheese. The dressing was some that was leftover from the Green Bean salad which we had on Sunday. It was red wine winegar, olive oil, dijon mustard and garlic. I also had a couple of slices of the Chicken Roll (which I made a couple of months ago) from the freezer. Tonight was zucchini quiche and salad - more lettuce and cherry tomatoes as well as pickled cucumbers. The fresh cucumbers are finished - I used the last one to make tzatsiki dip on Sunday.

Tomorrow I have a day off so I plan to catch up on the housework and get everything up to date before we go away for the weekend.

At the moment it looks as though the cyclone will not make landfall, however, they are so unpredictable you never say never. We will continue to be aware of what is happening.

We had nearly 40mm of rain here today and it is quite cool and windy tonight.

Once I have typed this I will be going to bed as I only had about 4 hours of broken sleep last night, thanks to the wind and general unease about the weather. I am so tired that I am sure tonight will be better.

We are looking forward to our trip to Canberra on the weekend to meet up with friends. I think all of the planning is done - tonight I booked the long-term car parking near the airport. I hope the cyclone watch is finalised before we go away.

This week we are eating from the freezer as I want to reduce our frozen supplies a bit before we head off to Japan in under 3 weeks. Tonight was spaghetti bolognaise and today I took some vegetable casserole to work for lunch.

Watching and waiting. That is what the next couple of days will be all about. We have done al of the preparation that can realistically be done at this stage. Now we just have to go about our daily business of work etc and wait and see what track the cyclone takes and consequently what effect we will feel here. I must say it is a bit unnerving. A cyclone coming this far south is unusual but not unheard of and I fear a lot of people will be caught unawares as they have no idea of what to expect.

More news tomorrow.

Meanwhile we did have a lovely, leisurely lunch with our guests today. A most enjoyable gathering.

As I write, another chapter in the book of Australia's extreme weather is about to be written.

Severe TC (tropical cyclone) Hamish is tracking south-east parallel to the north Queensland coast. The communities most at risk in the near future seem to be Mackay and the Whitsunday Islands. Some island resorts have already been evacuated.

Here, in the Sunshine Coast hinterland all appears to be 'normal'. A slightly overcast day but no wind or rain, however, I suspect that may change over the next 24 - 48 hours. Although we are not close to the coast we are on a fairly high, exposed ridge and often get quite strong winds from the coast.

Due to the possible deterioration of weather over the next few days we have made some preparations and will do more tomorrow. So far we have checked on the food stocks, plenty of matches, full gas bottle as well as torches and lanterns working. Tomorrow we will clear the loose furniture, pot plants, laundry trolley etc from the verandah. I also want to fill the 20 litre drum of water. We have our own tanks and certainly hope nothing catastrophic happens this far south but you can never be completely certain.

I decided not to get my hair cut today as on closer inspection it can wait another 2 weeks - or I may get it done on Wednesday if I have a day off.

Today we went to Brisbane to the exhibition which I mentioned in yesterday's post. It was well worth going and I would thoroughly recommend it. The exhibition is on until 19th April. While we were out we also went to Aldi and did some routine grocery shopping and replenished our stocks of food.

Tomorrow I need to go into Maleny to buy some specialty cheese and also some fruit and vegetables for the coming week and also for lunch as we have guests (my sister and her husband) coming for lunch. That will be my first failure in my No Spend Sunday challenge!! We are having Tasmanian Atlantic salmon with potatoes, Green Bean & Feta salad and minted cucumber. My sister is bringing dessert so that is a surprise.

Thank goodness it is Friday at last. I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend.

Today I got my boots repaired but unfortunately they did not have the batteries that are required for my pedometer in stock. I will try again next week.

I also picked up my yearly rail pass which will save me about $25/fortnight compared to the cost of a weekly ticket. I don't have to pay for it upfront as my pay office deduct a fortnightly amount from my salary which makes it relatively painless.

Speaking of money, the electricity bill arrived in the mail today and the exciting news is that the account is actually in credit. We pay a set amount each fortnight and our consumption has been consistently reducing, thus a credit balance. I will see how it goes during winter but may consider reducing the amount we pay each fortnight - I wouldn't want to be too far in front!

Tomorrow we are going to have a look at a house with C & A then heading off to an exhibition of Cressida Campbell's art at the QUT Gallery in Brisbane.

Before that I will need to do some mundane things like do a menu plan for next week, buy some fruit and vegetables and perhaps have my hair cut. I would normally leave it another week but since we are going away next weekend I would like to get it done before we go.

Life continues on as usual without any earth-shattering events but lots of little stories to tell.

Today I spent the enormous sum of $4.95 on a chain for my computer glasses. They are perfect for working at the computer and also reading documents, however, every time I get up to go and photocopy something I just about fall over if I look through my glasses. Rather than putting them down on the desk constantly I have resorted to a chain around my neck - it may not be super-stylish but much more practical.

I have also found a bootmaker in the arcade near the train station so I intend to take my winter boots to get them re-heeled and toed before I do any major damage to them. He has quoted me about $25 which is much better than $180 for a new pair of boots. I will take my pedotmeter in as well and see if I can get new batteries in it (they are like hearing aid batteries).

This morning I caught a later train and was able to water the lettuces in the garden - they are growing (so are the weeds) and 45 of the orignal 57 seedlings that I planted have survived. Not bad for a $2 punnet. I picked 2 ripe figs which I had for breakfast. The pumpkin vine is quickly sprawling everywhere and I know there is at least 1 full-size pumpkin on it already.

I managed 2 loads of washing today - 1 this morning which was dry when I got home this evening and is now folded and put away except for the ironing which has been added to the pile. I will try to get some done tomorrow afternoon. I have set aside 2 pairs of socks which have small holes and I will 'darn' them using the zigzag stitch on my sewing machine. I did the second load of washing this evening and hung it out.

I want to say thank you to everyone for their interest in my ramblings and encouraging comments. They help to keep my focus. Thank you all.

Another week and another rubbish report:

Week 9 - 87grams

2009 total - 1426grams (1.42kg)

It is 3 1/2 weeks until we head off overseas so hopefully at this rate I should be able to achieve my goal of less than 2kg by the end of March.

Here I am, home at last. It is good to be back with G. The dog also seems to have noticed my absence as he greeted me with gusto when we arrived home this evening. After a gap of a few days I am back to my writing.

I had a great weekend in Melbourne and Bendigo, catching up with family and friends. Lots of eating, chatting and fun. I went to the Haute Couture exhibition at the Bendigo Gallery which was excellent and well worth the admission cost.

My knitting which I have mentioned previously can now be discussed in full. It was a scarf for a belated birthday gift for my friend in Bendigo, although it will have to cool down considerably before it is scarf weather.

Yesterday was an orientation day for work. I flew back to Brisbane last night and then stayed at my mother's place.