two and a half months of moving
So, update on life, the universe, and everything.
Took possession on the 1st of September. Spent 6 weeks renovating, then moved. Spent another month clearing out the old house.
Ebay, garage sales, FB sales, freecycle groups...the whole hog. There was sorting and throwing out and deciding we were going to keep, and on the new house front, unpacking and sorting and throwing and putting away.
The people at the local Bunnings (hardware chain) know me by sight. I've been to IKEA so many times I know all the shortcuts through the labyrinthine showrooms out to market hall and from there to the warehouse.
Finally handed over the keys to the old house (well, the parentals did) just over a week ago.
The last two weeks were the most stressful with the deadline looming and the whole 'waiting for people to turn up when they said they would to pick things up and pay me'.
But it's done. Finally. I only have one house to worry about, and while there's still the porch to clear and sort and work out what we're going to put where, I've got time to sort it out.
I'm doing most of it, because B1 has health issues which means she gets exhausted easily, and she's not as good at sorting/organising as I am. (She is, on the other hand, better at washing/washing up/cleaning. So it works out.)
Anyway, we got screens installed over the windows just in time for heatwave week. We have a/c in one room, but we prefer not to use it - besides which, the evening breeze tends to cool down nicely so better to go with that.
Amidst all the cons of moving house, one of the benefits is having a garden. A NEW GARDEN.
I have a blog over at Suburban Permaculture Garden. It's not very permaculture right now - I've pretty much had to buy everything rather than using the waste systems recommended by the permaculture ethos. I'm going to work my way into using waste systems, though. I just wanted a start before summer.
Right now, I'm on compost pile #3. #1 has corn happily growing in it (and tomatoes, and lemongrass, a cucumber, spring onions/shallots, and some carrots. Also: mushrooms, although not the edible kind. The slugs seem to like them, though - to the point where there's slug/snail trails all over my garden in the morning, and no mushrooms. Oddly, the seedlings are all untouched. o.O
I have planted seeds - SO MANY SEEDS - but they're not all germinating. I seem to have hard luck with eggplants, capsicum (bell peppers), and tomatoes-that-aren't-cherry when it comes to germinating. Or maybe I have the seedling mix all wrong? Possible.
Anyway, I still need to get hold of some potatoes (regular and sweet), strawberries (I don't have very many places to put them right now), and the fruit trees need transplanting. Or will, come autumn. Which means prepping the ground NOW.
Still, it's all my own garden, and it's PRODUCING! Although It will probably be rather later in summer before the mixed leaf lettuce is ready to go. That's okay.
I have also started getting my writing brain back.
Fanfic. Yuletide, the Pacific Rim Secret Santa, which I'm running again this year...I was going to run a prompt-a-thon for the Marvel Women, but I don't think I have the spoons.
But I re-read 25K of YA novel I started a few years back and I think it's pretty decent. I was hoping to work on another YA novel this year, but I think that this one needs to be finished and off my plate before I can address the issues in the other one. (Bullying and the question of dealing with it will always be a problem to address.)
The question is whether I can get past the little voice telling me that it's not a good enough story to sell, and there's thousands of others like it, and all those people who like my fanfic are just being nice (and are desperate, because there aren't usually many good writers for my pairings) and...
I am my own worst enemy.
Oh, and also: seasonal card post. Want a Christmas/Seasonal card from me? All comments screened.
Took possession on the 1st of September. Spent 6 weeks renovating, then moved. Spent another month clearing out the old house.
Ebay, garage sales, FB sales, freecycle groups...the whole hog. There was sorting and throwing out and deciding we were going to keep, and on the new house front, unpacking and sorting and throwing and putting away.
The people at the local Bunnings (hardware chain) know me by sight. I've been to IKEA so many times I know all the shortcuts through the labyrinthine showrooms out to market hall and from there to the warehouse.
Finally handed over the keys to the old house (well, the parentals did) just over a week ago.
The last two weeks were the most stressful with the deadline looming and the whole 'waiting for people to turn up when they said they would to pick things up and pay me'.
But it's done. Finally. I only have one house to worry about, and while there's still the porch to clear and sort and work out what we're going to put where, I've got time to sort it out.
I'm doing most of it, because B1 has health issues which means she gets exhausted easily, and she's not as good at sorting/organising as I am. (She is, on the other hand, better at washing/washing up/cleaning. So it works out.)
Anyway, we got screens installed over the windows just in time for heatwave week. We have a/c in one room, but we prefer not to use it - besides which, the evening breeze tends to cool down nicely so better to go with that.
Amidst all the cons of moving house, one of the benefits is having a garden. A NEW GARDEN.
I have a blog over at Suburban Permaculture Garden. It's not very permaculture right now - I've pretty much had to buy everything rather than using the waste systems recommended by the permaculture ethos. I'm going to work my way into using waste systems, though. I just wanted a start before summer.
Right now, I'm on compost pile #3. #1 has corn happily growing in it (and tomatoes, and lemongrass, a cucumber, spring onions/shallots, and some carrots. Also: mushrooms, although not the edible kind. The slugs seem to like them, though - to the point where there's slug/snail trails all over my garden in the morning, and no mushrooms. Oddly, the seedlings are all untouched. o.O
I have planted seeds - SO MANY SEEDS - but they're not all germinating. I seem to have hard luck with eggplants, capsicum (bell peppers), and tomatoes-that-aren't-cherry when it comes to germinating. Or maybe I have the seedling mix all wrong? Possible.
Anyway, I still need to get hold of some potatoes (regular and sweet), strawberries (I don't have very many places to put them right now), and the fruit trees need transplanting. Or will, come autumn. Which means prepping the ground NOW.
Still, it's all my own garden, and it's PRODUCING! Although It will probably be rather later in summer before the mixed leaf lettuce is ready to go. That's okay.
I have also started getting my writing brain back.
Fanfic. Yuletide, the Pacific Rim Secret Santa, which I'm running again this year...I was going to run a prompt-a-thon for the Marvel Women, but I don't think I have the spoons.
But I re-read 25K of YA novel I started a few years back and I think it's pretty decent. I was hoping to work on another YA novel this year, but I think that this one needs to be finished and off my plate before I can address the issues in the other one. (Bullying and the question of dealing with it will always be a problem to address.)
The question is whether I can get past the little voice telling me that it's not a good enough story to sell, and there's thousands of others like it, and all those people who like my fanfic are just being nice (and are desperate, because there aren't usually many good writers for my pairings) and...
I am my own worst enemy.
Oh, and also: seasonal card post. Want a Christmas/Seasonal card from me? All comments screened.