Messy and Sad Looking.

I have been walking around the yard and it is looking messy and sad.  Just like the inside, again.  There isn't a lot growing and what is needs weeding, picking, pest control.  Slaters are still there in the thousands and this morning the third lot of Tomato seedlings are gone.  It's starting to make me think that if I want us to eat from out there then I will need to use poisons but if the food will not be poison free what's the point of growing it.  It would be easier to just go up to Spud Shed and buy it each week.  Yes I know, I could also buy a box of organic produce but it seems that I am more tight that health conscience...

We're suposed to have another hot one today, 35 I saw last night.  That's too hot to be outside during the day unless you are sitting in the shade sipping tea and reading a good book.   It's way too hot for all the mowing, weeding, planting that needs doing.   So why aren't I out there now doing all that?  I've been up since 5.30 and have come inside for something to eat.   Washing is done, watering is done, the slaters have been growled at...and now it's breakfast time.  

Because I will be inside I am going to sort through some more clothes and hopefull get rid of a few more things.   And I need to find something suitable to wear to a *cocktail reception* wedding.  At a Tapas Bar...I'm hoping I will find something hidden in there that will be suitable.  If it was cool I'd be covered but something halfway decent suitable for a hot day, warm evening...Chances are low.  So the sooner I get sorted and decide if I need to search the op-shops the better.   And in saying that...

Freeway Driving.

 I don't like driving and I am the first to admit that it sometimes scares me but I think that I am a pretty good driver though others don't always agree with me.  Aye T?  But I take care, I'm patient, I don't crash.  When going anywhere with the husband I prefer it if he drives.  Going with some others I prefer to drive, only because I trust myself more than them.  I don't like going with people that like going too fast.  I don't like going with impatient people that get cranky if they need to slow down for other vehicles.  I don't like going with people that check their phones or rummage around behind the seat for something in their bag. I don't like going with people that drive too close to the car in front or people that read the newspaper while they are driving.  Yep, I have been a passenger in a car with people that have done those things. I have seen people driving do all that and worse.  I know that there are idiots on the roads and I know that I am not one of them.  I know that I am not going to speed, I am going to concentrate, I am not going to get cranky and impatient, even with the idiots.  Well, not dangerously so anyway.   Knowing all of that I still get scared.  And it is this stupid scaredyness that is stopping me from doing what I want.  From going on adventures.
So when the daughter needed to get to the hospital in Perth again and no-one else could take her I said that I would.   It meant driving up on the freeway and seeing that I have cried quite a few times when in a car on this road, as a passenger!! I was kinda worried.   I was scared but knew that I had to do this because really, I'm 55 and it's about time I put my big girl pants on, sucked it up and got on with it.  So I did.

I didn't hate it, not all of it anyway but there were bits that I'd rather not repeat.  I knew where I had to go, knew what way I wanted to go, checked the map and even had a second way thought out, just in case I somehow missed the first exit.  Well I did miss the first exit and ended up in the wrong lane for the second exit I had planned.  Oops, now what, where do I go now...follow the road, in with all those bloody cars and hope I could get back onto the freeway.   We get back on and get onto the road that will take us to the second exit.  This is the way that daughter and her fella had been the last few weeks so I figured she'd be able to tell me the way.  I should have payed more attention the the map though, so I didn't have to rely on someone else, so I had more than a vague idea.   She knew where we were but I didn't and when she hesitated and I was at a road I recognised I turned.  Into Thomas which is the road I wanted first but different end.   Fine, go this way, turn right onto Bagot and we are there.  'Ceptin' that the lights that I wanted to turn at had a no right turn sign.  Bugger!  Now what.  Keep going, take the next turn, then again to get onto Bagot, find the hospital, turn around and find a park...Then when she was finished in there try and work out how to get out.  That bit was easy though as we were going into Kings Park for a bit as she had a 2 hour wait before having to go back.  This bit was easy, straight down Bagot, across Thomas at the lights, down Kings Park Road hoping all the while that I wouldn't miss the turn into the park because then I would have ended up...I dunno, lost.  Forever.  We got into the park, got out again and back up to the hospital, more driving and turning to find a park...I had a bit of an idea on getting out, but asked a few people just to confirm...got different directions from them so looked at the map and went my way, a bit of a reverse on how I wanted to get there.  Sitting in the hospital waiting for the results though I started getting a headache.  Mega bad headache caused from not having a morning coffee so the thinking wasn't the best and I was starting to worry a bit about getting back onto the freeway to get home.  I knew I'd be fine once on the freeway but couldn't think how to get there from where I would be when we left the hospital.. And what if I missed the turn, we'd be lost.  Forever!
Needless to say, we made it.  Easy to get onto Mountsbay road, get to the end of that and follow the sign to get onto the freeway.  There was no crying, a bit of worrying, some city driving maneuvers and I think I got tooted for pullin in front of someone, at least once...

I'm glad I don't have to do it again next week but will again if I need to.  Maybe.  Why anyone would willingly drive to and around Perth is beyond me so it's a shame that some of the places that I want to go are the other side of the city.  One day I might do it again but next time I will pay more attention, I will get over sooner when I'm told to get into the left lane, I will listen when I'm told that I'm not on the road they went on.  Maybe...

Another List.

I have a whole day at home, alone, by myself, with no-one else here...I so hope I don't waste too much of it as there is stuff that I want to get done.  And even though I think  I want it more than I want to finish that book...I need to make sure to do the work first.

I need to get in at least 30min moving but could get that by mowing more grass.  Two things crossed of in one go then.  So, list time.

• Mow back yard.
• Ride or walk 30 min min. haha Min min, of course, is minimum minutes.   How clever of me to make up a new word. Done.  Rode, not 30min but will count as an extra 15.
• Sink, clear and clean.
• Bench 1.
• Bench 2.
• Table, cleared off again.
• Oranges, more juicing, again.
• Bed, clean sheets.
• Load 1 of washing.  Small twin tub so there may will be a few more loads that will need doing. Done
• Load 2 of washing.  And more still but these are a must for today.  Done
• Clear off table in sunroom.  From last months list, because I read a book instead!
• Mow outside back door. Needs cleaning up first so that should could be a job in itself.  But no...Done
• Finish weeding and tidying up front garden.  Small job, shouldn't take long.
• Mulch potatoes.  Much bigger job as I have to rake up the chook yard first and I have a few patches to do.
• Freeze failed yoghurt so it can be used in milkshakes.
• Pick and cook enough veg for the next few days eating.
• Mulch Sweet Potato tank...This needed doing weeks ago but I still haven't gotten to it.
• Find an outfit suitable for Vinnies.  Thought I had the clothes sorted but went to put on some Summer pants yesterday and the lacky busted.  They are old and maybe not worth fixing...Looked in Vinnies yesterday but didn't find any so will have to go through a spare bag I have put away.  Yes!  I have spare clothes bagged up and out in the shed somewhere, just as well I didn't get rid of them all aye?

And that will do for the list but of course there is also the normal everyday stuff that needs doing.  I'll put my oats on to soak then make a start before the breakfast is ready.

What's on your list?

6.06PM.  Well  what a fail.  Not nearly enough done and though I have *reasons* they don't change the facts.  My house is a tip.  I eat too much.  I have too much stuff.  I use the soreness as an excuse to sook and not do anything.  Tomorrow will be better.
I did get some mowing/moving in and there was a 3.6 bikeride this morning too so something good there.  I went visiting this morning, I had a visitor this afternoon...Like I said, tomorrow will be better.

Garden Pests.

I was out inspecting the gardens yesterday, didn't have much time as I needed to get a walk or ride in before I was out for most of the day...Cabbages are looking good. 

Most of them are anyway.  A lot have been attacked, yes, attacked!!
By these critters.  And Slaters too.  Can't forget the Slaters.

 The netted thing is a Broccolli, forgotton about and gone to seed.  The net is covered in Slaters trying to get to the plant.


 A bit more looking found some in with the Lettuce too.  Bleedin' things.  And they are eating the Potato leaves.

I didn't do the walk but spent too much time hunting down snails.  Got quite a few and more this morning and I know there are still more out there.  I gave them to the chooks, they appreciate them more than I do.
HoHum, I know what I will be doing in the early hours of the mornings this week.



And rats are back too!  Without the aid of poisons pest control is a daily job and when I let it go for awhile it takes a bit to get it under control again.  Such is the garden pleasures of someone who chooses to not use poisons...

A New Week.

It's Sunday, a new week and I am looking forward to having a few days at home so I can catch up with things.  Inside and out!  Well, I think there will be 2 full days as the third will be filled with stress and excitement.  Yes, Yes it will.  The third day I will be driving my daughter up to Perth as she has another visit to the hospital.  It's a straight forward drive but on the freeway and I have cried in a car on that freeway...once or twice. And I wasn't even driving!! haha.  This time though I will be driving and kinda looking forward to it.  I'm getting sick of being such a SookyLaLa that I don't do anything.  Having to do this will be good for me.  Yes, yes it will!  I *think* I know the way but if we get lost there will be people to ask for directions.  No good looking at a roadmap as they all seem to be printed upside down and this daughter is worse than me with directions but  do hope she has some idea.  Should be fun!  I am going to try and not think about it though until I am nearly there.

We had our annual agricultural show in town yesterday.  I don't usually go but this year I volunteered me and the daughter to help out on the gates.  We used to do this every year when the kids were at school, it is a fund-raiser for them, and it was always fun.  This year was fun too and my maths got a workout so bonus.  How much change do you need to pay $8 and you give me $50...In the end I was just counting money but had no idea of amounts.  You know $8, ok grab a $2 coin that's 10, and 2 x $20's.  Oops, no $20's left how many 10's do I need...all good and no-one was short changed.  I went into the show afterwards as grandaughter had entered some things and I wanted to see them.  I used to be a steward at this show, many years ago and found it interesting listening the judges make comments on why some things won and what was wrong with others.  Yesterday though, some of the winning entrants did not look, to me, up to first place standards and I did wonder why they won and not the better looking item.   In one catagory there was 1 cake.  That's it.  It came second.  I think I remember hearing, years ago,  that if an item wasn't up to standard then they couldn't give it first prize but how can the only thing entered not get first?  Seemed strange and unfair.

I used to enter things too, many years ago...it seems I did a lot, many years ago...I need to get into it all again.  Next year the 3 of us are going to enter a few things each.  For instance, my Oranges looked as good as the winners there, better than one lot. I have Lemons and garden produce, I can make things...daughter can bake better looking stuff than a lot there and grandaughter had fun seeing her things on display.  Next year, all the stress and cruddy stuff happening this year will be over and done with and we will all have fun, making, baking, and showing.

Roosters crowing, telling me I need to get off this thing and make a start on things.  I don't like being told what to do but this time I think I should listen to him...Breakfast first though.

Was Happy About Donating...Now Not So.

I've been working on these jumpers and things all week, move them around on the bed while I try and decide what to go and what to keep.They are still all over the bed, mostly his side as I slept on my side last night but going through them again this morning they are spread out a bit more.    I moved them from the bed to the table when the grandkid stayed here Wednesday night but back to the bed Thursday morning so the table was kinda clear...It is now Friday so they have been on the bed since Monday.

I have Vinnies today and thought that would be a good way of getting some out of the house.  But which ones...The first couple didn't come up to our Vinnies standards but they were comfortable, warm and I like them.  But I do have better ones.  But they can't be binned because they are still good enough to wear and I don't bin stuff.  I kept them but put 3 that I like into the Vinnies bag, I sometimes wear these but Vinnies will be able to sell them.  You can see from this that my local Vinnies sells clothing that is in better condition than I wear.  There are a few things I don't wear very often, I have others that I like better so I am not sure what to do with these...And 4 cardigans...too many when I have 6 jackets?  Six jackets for my lifestyle is probably too many.  I know I hardly wear a couple of them but I like them...There is one jumper that is about 20 years old, it has Space Invaders all over it.  You know, the things from that video game so many years ago...I love this jumper even though it is overstretched and has a hole or two.  It is not going but I should sew up the hole before next Winter.  Everything in my cupboard fits and it is all stuff that I like, that is what makes it so hard to get rid of.

Do I need 3 red jumpers?  There are 4 others nearly all the same colour but different styles...Lets just do this!!

OK...One red one is in the bag as is a black one that I like but didn't wear at all this year. A purple skivvy type one is in the bag and another long sleeved shirt that I don't wear.  I really like the colour of this but it is a tad too long for me and I know Vinnies will get a few dollars for it. A pair of jeans, some slacks...A couple of tops...All bagged up and ready to leave with me this morning.
A jacket with a hood  will go out the caravan.
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I'm home from Vinnies and reconsidering the clothes culling.  I have worked at this Vinnies for quite awhile now, I know what they like, I know the prices they put on things, I know what happens to the clothing that doesn't make the grade.  This is why the 1 bag of stuff that I took down there this morning was all suitable, all very good condition, all saleable.  But there is a young woman there today, she comes in during school holidays.  She was sorting through the donations while I was in and out of the shop but one time when I went out the back I saw that a couple of the things that I had donated were in the reject bag that gets sent away to be recycled or shredded.  I pulled 2 of them out and asked why they were in that bag and she said of one top that the colour made her eyes funny.  I loved that top!   I brought it home again.   Two other tops, the black one that I really liked and the red one...they are being sent away...wrong season and we have too much Winter stuff already.   I'm sad about that.  They are good tops so hopefully wont be shredded.    Also the volunteer manager today pulled off a couple of dozen dresses and some kids clothing, we have a small shop and there does end up being a lot of stuff in the shop, it gets crammed onto the rails and makes it hard for customers to sort through.  We have a shed but this manager doesn't like storing surplus stock there...OK there are mice but still...Anyway, all this stock usually gets sent up to Perth to be recycled. This manager knows that I collect unwanted stuff for the FreeMarkets so all that was offered to me for there but I see all too often good clothing that people have donated in good faith being sent away.  I'm thinking that I might not donate to this Vinnies anymore.  We have another op-shop in town, they are not as picky as us and I wont see what happens to my donations so I think I will take more to there from now on.  Other stuff will go to the FreeMarkets.  It's making me want to keep everything here even though I don't wear it all and it doesn't fit in the cupboard.

For someone like me that has trouble getting rid of stuff, this is no good.  If it's not easyish for me then it's not gunna happen.   And now!!  I need to find somewhere to put the 2 bags of stuff that I brought home for the FreeMarkets...Hubby will be cranky, and rightly so, we don't need more stuff here...but I can't let it be wasted.  What is wrong with me!!  

Cold Weather Gear Must Go.

How many jumpers, long sleeved shirts, cold weather tops does one person need?  One for each day of the week in case they get wet and you need another one?  So 7?   Fourteen if you're like me and don't want to wash weekly...Though a different top every day doesn't happen here during the cold.  If it's wet it gets hung in front of the fire to dry so not 7.  Home tops, work tops, going out tops, tops for when it's really really cold and different tops for when it's only cool.  So many tops.  Too many tops.

I do think that  ?? is too many.  In anyones book that is too many.  What sort of person would need that many?  Not me so why is there that many in my cupboard?  Well all over the bed and floor now because I had to pull a lot out to find the one that I wanted and then that wasn't suitable so pulled out some more to find one that would be...HoHum...Like I said, too many.  Then!  I tried to put them away and they wouldn't fit!  But they were all in there to start with...OK the door never did shut properly but we wont go there...Anyway, they are now all over the bed, well his side now because I had to get in there to sleep last night.  And as he might want to get in his side to sleep sometime when he gets home I really need to get these back onto their shelf.  But They Wont Fit!!!

Plant Seeds or Eat Pig Food.

It looks like it is going to be a lovely day here today so I might be able to get some outside jobs finished...That does mean that the inside jobs probably wont get started though.  I am out tomorrow but choosing to be so maybe I should stay home instead and get some things finished...Nah, not gunna happen.

Every time the sun shines I think that I haven't got enough planted yet, I go outside and look at the weed filled garden beds and know that I have a big job to do before I can plant anything and not enough gets done with either. 

This week I must plant some more Tomatoes, Watermelon seeds, ummmm..other food stuff so we don't starve over the coming months.   But if son keeps bringing out crates of stuff from where he works and I get to them before the daughter we could eat well forever.   He has been bringing home lots of crates and we give them to the chooks or cows but a lot were mainly potatos so I stopped looking.  The last lot he had on the back of his ute ready for the cows, I wasn't fussed about them as I still had a crate of manky stuff left out there.  Daughter has a look and gets excited so I too have a look at what he has.  Wow, Cool, get out of my way Daughter that's mine.  Give me back those bananas. Push, shove, push harder.  We decide to share...but I know she took more bananas than me...I got more grapes though and heaps of onions and tomatoes too.   This was good stuff.  It always kinda makes me sad knowing that this good food is being thrown away because the shop thinks it can't be sold.  Or as son says, it's easier to throw out the lot than pick out the manky ones and sell the better ones.  Easier to just put all the fresh stuff out when it comes in than to sell off the older stuff cheaper.  Easier for the shop to waste it all.  It does benifit us but if son didn't know that we are more than happy to eat *pig food* then it would all be binned.  There used to be another bloke that picked it up but he hasn't done so for a few weeks so we will get it until the other bloke is well enough to start again.

Knowing that this is not a forever thing should get me out planting.  The sun shining brightly should get me out planting.  Being too tight to buy food will get me out planting.  Today.  Soon.  Right now...after breakfast.