End of another week at the salt mines. great fun I have to say, I am really enjoying it. The dog is also enjoying doggy day care. However the concept of companion animal seems to be going out the window as he is too knackered at the end of the day to do anything other than curl up on the back seat of the ute, and sleep all the way home. Then sleep once more when he is indoors. They feed him as well which is great. Smidgen decided the dog was getting far too much attention so came down with crystals in the urine with a resultant emergency trip to the vet and all that entails. So poor old Esther spent a day all by herself and was deeply upset. The things we do ...

So getting back to the back door, I was originally considering some alsinite on the back pergola that has not yet been built and which is a fair way down the list of 'things to do' but that rather defeats the purpose of the structure which is essentially to grow edible stuff on. I may yet have to do that, since the proposed solution is not perfect by any means. It will, however go a long way toward preventing rain from driving in onto the doors and making them swell. Here it is, and any suggestions are welcomed.

The existing internal wall affected has no wiring in it that I know of - the switches are on the other side of the internal door. The external wall between to the two doors has the exterior light and the 15 amp exterior switch in it, but since there is no modification intended to it, that should be OK as well. I will have to buy another sliding window for the laundry, and the kitchen will suffer a short-term plaster deficit, but apart from that it should be sweet.

I thought that i could cut out the bottom sill of the existing door and tile the entrance porch, then hang exterior doors on the two openings, one into the laundry, the other into the kitchen. The entryway that is presently occupied by the back door to receive a screen door with a solid bottom, and the other to be backfilled and a new sliding window inserted. The window that is presently there can be re-used elsewhere. What do you think? I still have a problem with the front door sticking, but that is less critical, and perhaps can be resolved once I find photos of similar houses to mine and see what they have done to deal with the situation.

The hinges on both doors are on suitable parts of the doors to enable their relocation to the new positions without having to muck around changing locks around as well.

What else? Nothing much. Apparently my culinary skills are appreciated at work as they have scoffed all my muffins I baked last week and i have to cook something for tomorrow now. And it is apparently planning to snow tomorrow morning which will make an interesting change from the sunshine of the last week. Will throw some straw onto the newly planted seedlings I guess.

The end of my first week back at work! I have to say I have been pleasantly surprised by how painless the commute is, and how un-exhausted I am. I had really expected to be completely comatose for much of the weekend. Instead I have achieved great things. This was, of course, the week whenI have a day off on Thursday so I was able to have a bit of a break during the week which was spent down in Bridgewater sorting out groceries and such like. Rain has been hosing down all week and the midlands (and occasionally the highway have been awash. The dog and I prowl around parattah in the dead of night after we have had our dinner and the fire is chugging away to keep things cosy. But the weather has been mild so the morning fire is no longer a priority.

Over the weekend I have been cooking up a storm. There is now a large irish stew portioned out for the freezer, and a huge meat dish about to go into the freezer. A chicken noodle soup for lunches, and to accompany it, some savoury muffins with ham, capsicum and chives and cheese on top. A prune and hazelnut wholemeal loaf is in the oven to go with morning teas and I have a saucepan boiling for noodles to go into the containers with the rest of the irish stew and some of the meat dish. The rest of the meat dish will be frozen with mash and green peas.

So I shouldn't starve over the next week or two, and the rest of the chicken will be made up into croquettes to be frozen and cooked at a later date when I have some means of frying them.

The gardener came and turned over the front yard. I was disappointed when i got home to see he had not mown the entire yard, just the front bit. Then I realised he had dug up the rose bush from the front yard (a huge job I have been ignoring in the hope it might miraculously turn into a worthwhile rose) and back filled hole and laid turf over it so you can not see where it came out. I was stunned!!!

The shed is still elsewhere and may remain so. It is four by four metres which is pushing my luck planning wise but that is not the reason. The owner has already been approached by her over-the-back-fence neighbours about it. And of course, they get first priority. If they decide the don't want it, it is mine and i can probably work out how to modify it to make a shed acceptable to council.

I have also been scheming about ways to modify the back of the house so the doors are not permanently changing shape and size depending on how much rain has arrived and will develop those thoughts a little further before sharing them. Besides, unless this job keeps up for a full 12 months, I won't be able to do it anyway. It does, however, resolve the internal door issue as well, so worth exploring.

Well the saucepan is boiling and the noodles need to go on now, so will catch up with you all next Sunday (I hope).

Finished up my collections today. Got around about 80% of the returns sorted, so my replacement should be fine with the balance of the workload. It has been great fun and i have really enjoyed the work, and having the excuse to go to such lovely places. Will have to do it again next time around i think.

The neighbours dogs have taken to wandering up into the paddock behind the recreation grounds now. I pointed out to them that there will be two dead dogs if the farmer finds them there. Especially if, as is his usual practice, his lambing ewes go in there soon.

Then this afternoon was all paperwork and calling into Oatlands to get supplies for the week and leaving a note regarding the shed. The good news is it is a metal shed so should be well within my abilities to dismantle with just one other. So hopefully they will call me to organise something.

Tomorrow is work, of course, so unless there is something of great interest to report on, I will probably skip daily records for a while.

More census deliveries today, but this afternoon my gardener called in to be briefed on his duties. He will be in twice a month for a couple of hours, so his primary task will be mowing, but he will also be doing things like resurrecting the hawthorn hedge, sorting out those front beds that have not been finished as the soil is too sodden to dig, and planting out the various seedlings when they emerge. He will also construct and fill a few more raised vege beds for filling up with more seedlings. And remove that tank donated by the railway society that is too big for the garden (for re-use at his place). We were chatting about my other ambitions and I mentioned a desire for a greenhouse. Voila! He has a client who is giving hers away (literally)so that will be coming to my place in the near future. I also mentioned a desire for a sturdy shed, and voila! He knows someone in Oatlands who has one I can probably get for $100.00 if I demolish it myself. So if anyone has some time to spare over next weekend then please let me know so we can go get it (assuming she has not already found a buyer).

We also discussed irrigation systems (which will be essential over summer as I will not be wanting to cart water to orchard trees every evening), and he will put his thinking cap on about those. So all terribly exciting. If the job does last for 12 months then I should be coming home to a yard that is ready to really get stuck in.

His sidekick will also take on the chooks, so they will be going to their new home on Friday when they come to do some work. That means I will get home to a tidy, but empty yard. Yay!

So, all organised and ready to rock and roll.

More photos for you. Not much to report other than a day out collecting census papers. The doggy day care has fallen through for next week but hopefully can be organised for the following week and thenceforward. In the mean time, Shadow and I will have to work something out between us. Today he has been escorting me on my rounds and is consequently tired out with all the excitement of meeting other dogs.

First some shots around Battery Point. Nothing to do with the place i was visiting, just some nice views:

And today, I took more photos of empty houses in various states of dereliction, to show my supervisor what I am considering as 'habitable' vs 'derelict'

Well that was the end of my first 'week' on the job. Most of my time has been spent sorting out HR requirements and so forth, and I have actually managed to complete my first assessment which I have sent to the boss for review. Have also wandered over to Battery Point to take photos of the subject site and work area.

The dog situation will require further thought. I have organised doggy day care at Mangalore kennels, but they have rules about delivery and pickup that will be difficult to meet satisfactorily unless i have set working hours agreed. I think I can manage that but it remains to be seen.

They have also asked me to apply for another post (12 months work) that they have had to advertise internally and so have had no response, so hopefully I also get that. It pays even more than the one I am doing at present, so would allow me to save a substantial amount (or rather, have work done progressively over the employment period as funds are saved to the required amount). So I popped an expression of interest into the HR letterbox and will await results. Not sure a temporary short-term employee is entitled to apply for internal vacancies, lol

I was disconcerted to hear a neigh from next door a short while ago. I do hope they have not got their horse back. It was doing so well at the place that had stolen it ... There is no justice in a legal system that allows animals to be returned to irresponsible owners ...

Training last night dragged on a bit so I did not get home till around 8:45 with the result i was too wound up to get to sleep. That combined with the warm night meant I had little rest before heading off down the road this morning.

I left home at 7 thinking I would be in the City in ample time to get some earlybird parking. No such luck I am afraid, though at least I don't live in Sydney. At $14.00 per day, however it will soon add up, even if it is tax deductible which I have yet to find out. So I will be enquiring about a monthly ticket tomorrow.

Day one was very relaxed. First of all it is important to recognise that my boss is in Launceston for most of the week, so is supervising by remote control. Add to that the serious staff shortages and the upper level of Heritage Tasmania is practically echoing. The morning was spent on induction stuff and the afternoon a combination of my first assessment (very simple, but tricky as the architect has done lots of lovely drawings, but has not provided any information as to how he plans to attach the thing to the building (a fairly critical bit of information when you are attempting to assess impacts). So I phoned to leave a message telling him I would call back in the morning. Was planning to give him my phone number but realised I had no idea what it was... No IT connections of course, so that may take a couple of days, and until then I will be fairly hamstrung as to what I can be getting on with. Still, lots of reading material and people to get to know, so all will not be lost. I will phone IT tomorrow if I have not heard by lunchtime.

Got home at 6:30 which makes for a long day for the dog. We have had a bit of a drag around parattah, but he is still full of beans poor boy. I am chasing up with the Mangalore Kennels to see if I can organise doggy day care for him for at least a couple of days a week.

D-Day is rapidly approaching sadly. Today I have to finish up my UK tax paperwork, then off to training at Angies at 6:30 (how to collect census documents) then home for an early night in anticipation of starting work tomorrow (sigh). I have worked out an outfit for tomorrow so that should not take up too much time, and set the alarm for six as a backup in case I don't wake in time. That will still give me an hour to get sorted before I have to be out the door. Unfortunately with all the rain, the chances of getting down the back roads are fairly minimal so will stick to the sealed roads instead. And hopefully find an early-bird spot to park in. Wonder if parking is tax deductible, since public transport is not available?

I have a fair bit of cooking to finish off too with couscous to cook and dole out into containers for the beef stew I finished off today.

Don't be surprised if updates become a little sparse over the next couple of months. I will be reporting only if there is something interesting happening (well, interesting to me at least). Meanwhile I am eternally grateful I am not presently working in London any more since the whole world appears to have gone mad.

It has been a bit damp today. With 23 mm overnight and another 8 or so today. It has, despite that poor score, been raining pretty consistently all day with periods of heavy rain, broken up by mizzle and rare periods of occasional spots. The recreation ground is a lake and the road to Oatlands is awash with water gushing across it at one point (not disturbingly so, but still a bit of a danger if you don't notice it before you hit it).

So today has been cooking. A minestrone from the pork hock I cooked yesterday and a tagine kefta - that is meatballs in a tomato sauce, with a moroccan slant to it. Next on the list is a moroccan beef stew which will be going in the slow-cooker once I have browned the meat and coated it in the special sauce.

The roof leaks are distinctly smaller, but sadly still present, so will have to go to plan B and see what the plumber thinks about it.That will involve using the remaining new iron on the inner side of the gable that has already been fixed; replacing the central gutter, and re-using iron removed from the roof to re-clad the inner slope of the other side. Hopefully between the sheets off three sides of the roof we can salvage enough iron to do it that way. It will, of course, mean buying extra insulation and foil but that can't be helped if I want a dry house I guess ...

Had a nasty fright this morning thinking I had been locked out of the forum where I have been stirring up trouble, but further enquiry reassured me that so too is everyone else. Seems their webteam tried to fix something. Pity they have no clue what they are doing.

The engagement party was fun. The two had failed to take into consideration the possibility that guests might bring presents and so were totally unprepared to deal with them. So by the end of the evening the edge of the stage was piled with pressies. I say the end of the evening. What i mean is by the time i left which was quite early given the mizzly rain and mist on the highway. So I hope they liked their pressie. I printed out some background info on the manufacturer and the history of the firm so that they have a rough idea of what it is.

I hope they like it.

I had a day of catching up with census stuff that was no longer going to work the way I had planned. So delivered an envelope to the family who were planning to drop their form off to me on Wednesday morning, and dropped some ecensus forms into a friend's place where I stopped for a cuppa, admired her latest hand work, and the cute calf that had arrived this morning, then home. Then later in the day off to Carolines to collect the quilt (now all I have to do is attach the binding and it is ready to use) and to catch up with gossip since i have not been around much lately. And then home once more, via the tip. Tonight's dinner is a moisture-infused pork roast with baked potatoes and the works. Hope it tastes as good as it looks. May have to whip up some apple puree before it is done I think.

A bit more garden dug over and more seeds sown in containers in the new mini-cold frames made from plastic storage boxes. Then a mild panic in reponse to an email from the area coordinator about the census, but that is all sorted in a manner suited to our circumstances. And now I am off to Hobart for an engagement party. Fortunately a relatively dry one if I am lucky. I will hope to be there only a couple of hours and then get home as I don't really fancy driving the highway after midnight ...

Long day today. Was up much of the night unable to sleep because of the warm weather. Had used lighter weight PJs but this was apparently not enough to get me through, so was wide awake at 4:30 when I gave up all hope of sleep.

The plus side of this was that the jeans i washed yesterday were dry enough to wear today when I went up to Launceston. The mission today was to get to Your Habitat early enough to get what I assumed was a 'loss leader' in their sale - kitchen trolleys that were $399 marked down to $99. Unfortunately, on examination, I concluded that even $99 was too much to ask for them so they stayed in the shop. There were two other missions (plus calling in at Heritage Tas to check out this job opportunity). They were to buy an engagement present for my friend's son's engagement, and to call into BUnnings to get the mini polytunnels, a plunger and the baskets that Jonno keeps banging on about.

The intention engagement present-wise, was to get something for the house - preferably for the kitchen. But then I realised i have no idea what Beth's taste is like, or what her house looks like. So that was not a good idea really. So I wandered around vacantly, but then happened upon an antique shop. Now Lucas is rather fond of matters historical so this seemed a possibility. But again, how excited can you get about glass or crockery. Then. Just as I was about to leave, I raised my eyes and spotted the perfect gift. So it came home with me and will be wrapped tonight, for presentation tomorrow. Sorry, I will post a photo (probably on Sunday) but I don't know if one or other of them might be following this blog, so can not reveal all until they have seen it in the flesh. If they hate it, it will always be welcome at my place, lol.

Bunnings proved interesting. Those nice green baskets were stacked neatly at the end of every aisle in the shop. No idea how jonno gets them to sell them to him as they are provided as carry baskets for shoppers, not for sale... So that was no good. The mini-polytunnels? They had three, which was exactly how many I wanted. I then spotted some plastic storage boxes - three for $20.00 so they came home and will serve, in the short term, as mini-greenhouses for raising seedlings for the vege patch. Once they are in the ground, they can revert to the design intent and be used to store stuff around the house.

The good news is that I don't start work till Wednesday so will have time to catch up with myself and to sort out the plantings as well. So that will be great. They will also give me a couple of days off to sort out the census stuff. Angie, my supervisor is aware of the development and we have agreed a mutually satisfactory strategy. So it's all good.

Well I got nothing done that was on the list today at all. The plan was i would spend the day doing paperwork as it was going to be raining and horrid. Instead it was sunny and breezy and the rain arrived in isolated splodges so was not a problem at all.

I had recently rediscovered a plastic bag containing three unidentified large bulbs and some roots of ornamental ginger that my sister had given me ages ago and which I had put in a cool dark spot and completely forgotten about. The bulbs have all sent up large groups of leaves (still unidentifiable) and the ginger had started to look a little wizened. So I plonked the bulbs into pots to await an identification before deciding on a permanent home. The ginger I have cut up into smaller pieces, all of which are quite juicy inside still, and also put into pots as flower gardening is still fairly low on the priority list (though I will be trying for a spring display this year).

So having sorted through the plant pots to identify suitable ones for the bulbs, I then started filling some with soil for other purposes. First a whole bunch has been planted up with seeds of clove pinks. Then the ones that had the basil in them (now long defunct) are filled with cornflower seeds (that may change if I manage to get the other side of the path dug tomorrow, as I can then plant some of them in situ so to speak, which is apparently their preferred option). Then I ran out of potting soil which was the perfect excuse to go into town and get some more (and some chocolate to maintain my strength). And of course while i was getting that I found some packets of seed for holly hocks, sweet peas and foxgloves so they came home too.

Then I cut up some of the billions of milk bottles i have lying around in case they come in handy and so made more seedling trays which are planted up with stocks.

All that made me realise I would need a bed to plant all this out in. So I went round the front where the beds either side of the path had reverted to lawn, and carefully dug over one of them, and widened it to about 500mm to provide a bit of extra planting room once the seedlings are ready for transplanting. Will dig over the other side tomorrow, if my muscles agree to that approach. The second bed has a few random iris corms in it, so I can redistribute these and the gladdies across both sides of the path now. Then dig an enlargement to the bed to encompass the crab apple trees. Then I can erect a trellis for the sweet peas behind the crabs, which will work with the crabs to provide some minor wind protection for the taller plants (though I expect I will have to stake them as well).

Then Jean popped in with an armload of Avocados that she swears she purchased for three for a dollar. Not sure I believe her, but am about to embark on an avocado feast in a couple of days. Then Jane (a fellow census person) called in for a chat as well. So it has been a fairly social day today.

Then to top it all off, I have had an email inviting me to start work with the heritage office ASAP. That will have to be from Monday week as I have census-type stuff to deal with next week. How nice though. I should now be able to pay for the other outside side of the roof now which will give me guttering all round. Yay. Maybe even an extra tank ....

Slight change of pace today with me up a ladder passing tools to the plumber. Still no guttering (who knew one bit of roof could take so looooong!!) but the chimney has preliminary flashing in place (the rest to go on once he has the materials) and a bit of lead whacked along the back where the chimney meets the ridge so as to ensure that there are no leaks there. We also have a roof ladder now - decided I was terrified watching Johnathan scrambling around with out a harness so a roof ladder became essential. It even had a space to hold one of those green shopping baskets you get at Bunnings for holding your tools as you wander around the yard.

Apart from that, the dishwasher is now finally fully installed. Yes, it leaks slightly but i think I know where from and can fix that. But it is in, works and has now done its first load of dishes (albeit badly - which is probably my fault as I stopped it half-way through and then changed the cycle as well ...) Hence it did not do a rinse cycle. But hey, it beats doing it myself.

Another early night for this little black duck as I am quite weary after today's exertions. And since it will be raining for the rest of the week, I guess not much more will be done for a while ...

Some more eye candy for you from my trip today. Whatever was wrong with me yesterday seems to have sorted itself out by me sleeping most of the day and drinking lots of chicken broth.

Today was the last day of deliveries, though I have to check and see if there is anything I have missed on google earth, as I am supposed to have 118 dwellings and have found only 114 (of course, I have also found a lot of empty houses, so that may account for the missing numbers as some of those houses are habitable dwellings).

Also ran into the owner of the rather large Greyhound i met yesterday (easily recognisable as she was being taken for a walk by four more greyhounds). She runs a greyhound rescue and trains them to be cat-friendly. Now the only possible reason for not having a greyhound is if you own a cat. They are the loveliest, most affectionate and gentle dogs you can imagine. So I have told her I will be in touch when Shadow's time comes. I would really like to own a greyhound and to give a retired one a home seems a good thing to do.

Found but ten houses today then gave up and came home to bed with a recurrence of my tummy wog (or something similar). Suspect I have a temp but since I have no thermometer that will have to remain a moot point. So once I have some chicken broth and dry crackers it will be back in front of the fire and an early night methinks. Still, apparently I am doing better than some collectors. Score so far is 4 dog bites, one emu assault, one house full of 'pet' snakes on the loose and one resignation (unsure on that one).