The whole day has been a loom of clouds threatening (but failing to deliver) rain. very annoying - the more so as I have yet to track down the man who delivers water for me. Tomorrow I will take a load of washing into the laundromat so I have something to wear ...

Today was polytunnel building day so we set off early to do that. The tunnel now has its shadecloth and plastic in place, and the windows and doors, but I forgot to take the camera so I can't show it to you. I actually forgot to take anything - phones, tissues, camera, you name it, as I was having a vague day presumably. We fed ourselves this time - bread rolls with some cold cuts and salad that we bought at the local supermarket. There was going to be cucumber, but we decided we were not paying $2.60 for cucumbers that were half decayed... It was a nice sunny day which means we will have a frost again tonight, and tomorrow I really should get my act together and organise for some water to be delivered. Running out of clean clothes and dishes is not a good look!! For reasons best known to my metabolism I have been so sleepy all day I was nearly falling asleep every time I stopped, so hopefully I will get that out of my system tonight and be a little more energetic in the morning... But an early night seems likely as it stands.

Well the good news is that the money actually arrived in my account last night!! yay!!! and most of it is now en route to the UK (I hope, there was the small difficulty that my address of record at Barclays is in Australia and I had to give an English address - so I opted for my old address in the hope someone will check that far back in their records - failing that I will have to send a cheque to the bank for them to deposit in the account). I tried to send the money through last night, but electronic transfers on my account were capped at $2000 and I felt I preferred to avoid two sets of fees. Bad decision as apparently the Australian dollar has taken a nose dive as a result of the international community's response to the Rudd usurpation. For the sake of $20 fees the funds are now worth 100 pounds less ... Oh well - live and learn. Of course if they had arrived last week as promised, this would not have been an issue - I should sue the little Kretins at the investment fund for the difference!! Today was the Craft Fair and I had planned to car pool with a friend, but the need to sort out matters at the bank meant I travelled solo. Finally found a parking spot (amazing how many people go there) and staggered the full length of the car park to the venue. As you can see I exercised great restraint (I had prepared a shopping list before going, to avoid spontaneous purchases) and so came home with some sewing cotton (egyptian cotton, with a lovely lustre to it), rotary cutter blades (five generic ones for the price of one brand name one), two packs of mixed needles for the Bernina (surely I have hit the bobbin case far too often for the current one to be sharp!), and a pack of embroidery needles from England which are apparently the ants pants in needles (or so she said - time will tell). The bright pink bag was our 'free carry bag worth $7.00 offered for pre-purchase of our tickets - not impressed with that one let me tell you. Oh, and a pack of soluble foundation paper piecing paper that I can print on the printer, and send to various people to try out my newly invented method of paper piecing six-pointed stars. Outrageously expensive stuff I have to say - $20 for 10 sheets!! - There must be a source of wholesale supplies for this stuff!!

And so home to a lovely sunny afternoon and a horse in the neighbours paddock (again) with still no attempt to do anything about the fences - no prizes for guessing how long it will be in the long, rank grass when there is nicely trimmed grass the other side of the boundary. Last night's pea and ham soup was rather disastrously salt with the result i spent much of the night wrestling with the consequences. I have bunged some potatoes in tonight which will be thrown away once cooked in the hope of removing sufficient salt to make it edible. Meanwhile I am drinking litres of water and tea in the hope of flushing it out of my system!! lol Now to book the ute in for a service and the dog and cat to the vet for early next week...

Today has been a day of waiting in the hope that someone somewhere might actually do the job they are paid to do. Apparently that is too much to ask. Makes you wonder why it is so hard to get a job when clearly most of the people presently in employment can't be bothered to do what they are paid to do. Employers must be so tied up in politically correct red tape that underperformance can be overlooked in favour of the horrors of sacking the lazy little ... people Enough moaning - at least the chainsaw works again and I was able to cut some wood. It should not have been necessary today except that it was once again overcast, so despite temps in two figures it feels damp and cold and 'orrible. Tomorrow, on a high note, is the Craft Fair, and annual event that we attend en masse and which should provide some visual treats and possibly some sewing cottons. Oh, and my stick mixer seems to have gone to the same place as my slow cooker and is nowhere to be seen. Normally this would not be a problem as I have a spare one, with an English power plug. But the spare converter also seems to have gone walkabout ... makes you wonder which chinaman I killed at times like this. Seems the money may come through tonight. All my fingers and toes crossed.

It may be (marginally) warmer, but it is grey and overcast (no rain) and so the whole place is dank and miserable and generally horrid. This is not helped by the fact that Aurora wrote to me and told me they were cancelling my payment agreement with them as I have not made payments. Erm, they were deducting it automatically from my account. needless to say, on checking the statement, they forgot to do that - but apparently this is my fault. The debate continues Quilting today and I spent a lot of time reverse sewing as I kept sewing the wrong bits on the wrong sides and generally getting myself in a muddle in between running from one end of town to the other finding a Commissioner for Declarations to sign a copy of my drivers licence so I can get some money (which was promised to me two weeks ago, but they keep coming up with reasons for not paying me) so I can sort out the situation in England. Once the money finally arrives (if they do not think of more excuses for withholding it) I will still take another 10 days to get there, by which time my new tenants will undoubtedly be miffed as I have not immediately authorised work that I know needs to be done ... grrrrrr Chocolate for me tonight

Minus four last night, and tonight the temp will be rocketting up a bit to zero. Today's 6.9 reflects the solid overcast (with no rain), and the dampness has exacerbated the cold quite a bit. Brrr. A quick trip into Oatlands to collect some groceries and fuel was about the extent of it today. But part of the grocery buying included a ham hock so there will be pea and ham soup for dinner tomorrow night. Yum!

Apparently I am doomed to continue in unemployment. Youth and enthusiasm has outweighed qualifications and experience sadly. Back to the scrap heap where I belong one assumes. Cut some firewood and did some more of the blocks for the sampler quilt I am working on and a quick run into town for the library were the extent of my activities (well, apart from cutting firewood). The skies were overcast from lunchtime on, presumably in anticipation of tomorrow's forecast late showers. Fingers crossed it rains tonight!

The cold (but sunny) spell continues with minus four last night. Today we managed to get up to two figures (just) and it was a lovely still day to boot. The ice finally disappeared around noon, just in time to start forming once more as the sun headed downhill in the afternoon. Cut a barrow-load of smaller wood since the chainsaw seems to have decided it has had enough (it will go in for a service tomorrow I think) and will not respond to my attempts to persuade it to start. Probably long overdue for a service anyway, so no harm done. May be forced to break out the electric blanket for duty tonight as minus five is predicted and judging from the chill already settling, will be achieved with no effort at all.

Bounced out of bed at five this morning in the vain hope of beating the frost to the pipes. Turned on a few hot taps in the hopes they would produce water, but apparently forgot to turn one off before heading out for the day. Fortunately the plug was not in, but sadly the newly harvested water is all down the drain (and I have about 18 inches left in the bottom of the tank....) No hot water here today, sadly. Showers forecast for Wednesday and if they don't eventuate I guess I will have to buy in some water... bother - I hate town water. Luckily the chap up the road will deliver 4000 liters for $50 so it should not be too costly. But it was a good day = full sunshine and a hard frost (but not quite so hard as yesterday, it only being minus 3 overnight) and a very chilly start to the day. We continued to build the polytunnel which seems to suffer from a lack of organisational skills on the part of the organisers, so today all we managed was laying the sleepers for the path (but only fixing two in position) and building the framing for the door and window. We did get the door hung, and the more energetic volunteers turned over a few of the beds and carted weeds from the rest of the garden area. Pictures, they say, paint a thousand words, and since I have now found the cable for the camera, I will let them tell the story:

The closeups show the spot welding at the joins between the sheets, and the polypipe that has been added on the ends to protect the plastic. More polypipe will be arched over the joins as well. We are re-convening next Saturday to (hopefully) finish the job. We need another frame midway down the tunnel to brace it yet, and then there is the shadecloth and plastic sheeting to go. The local Rotary was to supply lunch for us today (last week it was the community medical centre that did the job). By 12 we were wondering where they had got to so phoned someone in Rotary. Apparently the decided not to do it, but did not feel it necessary to let us know. So at noon we had frozen meat in an eski, the makings of lunch but no plates, cutlery, means of defrosting or serving. Good old country ingenuity saved the day and one of us even had barbecue tongs, sauce and oil in the boot of her car (forgotten to take them out after Wednesday footy) so we were set and ate well and long. Irish Stew for dinner tonight!

We achieved 9 degrees today!! Bright sunshine - lovely stuff. Mind you, it was compensating for minus five overnight which resulted in a trip to the linen closet for more blankets around 11 pm. Still, it was nice, though the frost on the shady side of things did not melt all day. Irish stew bubbling away in the electric frypan, due to me not being able to find the slow-cooker that I apparently tidied away all too efficiently during my clearout. No idea where it is hiding, but will doubtless find it in due course. Meanwhile it may take a while for the spuds to soften...

If we'd had any precipitation today there is no doubt it would have been snow, but instead it was a chilly semi-sunny sort of day. Far too chilly for outdoor activities so I confined myself to a couple of loads of washing that are presently drying on the airer in front of the fire. Lamb chops for dinner, and tomorrow the large bag of chops I am defrosting will become an irish stew on a grand scale.

Today is normally our quilting day, but today we went to Pontville for lunch instead. I had a large pile of lamb cutlets (crumbed, of course) with broccoli, jacket potato, carrots and savoury cabbage (whatever that is), followed by a nice big mug of hot chocolate. We were all so full that we passed on dessert, though the pineapple and ginger pudding did look rather tempting... Home to a chilly house (and pets) to light the fire as the mizzle resumed fairly solidly outdoors. They say it will go away tomorrow (having changed their minds about the threat of snow) and provide fog followed by sunshine. Personally I think the sun has emigrated and won't be back for a bit longer. Minus 1 tonight, so time to stoke up that fire and settle down to finish my book.

Today started early with the painter arriving from the insurance company to do the ceiling for me. I had chosen warm white or ivory as my preferred colour, but the paint he brought was more a clotted cream - quite yellow really. So we mixed it up with the left over antique white i had in the spare room and toned it down a bit. I have to say it looks wonderful! He brought it down about 30 cm since I had water stains coming down the wall as well. So now all I need is a picture rail and it will look great!! I would love to show you a photo but i have temporarily mislaid the bit o cable that downloads photos from the camera... While that was going on I dodged out between mizzle and cut a bit more wood to dry out in front of the fire, and so the house is now stocked for tonight and also tomorrow night. I will be out much of the day tomorrow so won't be needing the fire. Also boiled up some bacon bones to make some soup and that stock is now sitting cooling so I can skim it tomorrow before stage two. Shadow has won a dog blanket in a competition so we will love to see it when it arrives, even it is only briefly before the cats take it over. A period of sunshine this afternoon lasted for a good couple of hours, but the air has a distinct feeling of ice in it this afternoon, presaging the 2 degrees forecast for tonight.

More of the same weatherwise. I had a lie-in this morning as there seemed little point in bounding out of bed earlier. The temp has sat between 5 and 7 degrees over the last 24 hours (again) and just to prove it, here is the graph to show you the lack of enthusiasm:

So apart from cutting a bit more wood to bring it in to dry out before use, not much has happened around here today but reading. The insurance rang and the man is coming tomorrow morning to paint the ceiling in the hall (which will be nice as it is bare plaster at present) and there is a slow-cooked pork belly on a bed of apples in the oven - to be accompanied by mini-roast potatoes out of the freezer) and that's your bloomin lot for the day ...

Dodged out between showers to cut some more wood. The good thing about drizzle is that while it wets the surface wood, the stuff inside the heap is still nice and dry, so a goodly pile was added before I had to dive for cover from one of the damper bits of mist. Retired indoors and got out the sewing machine to do two more blocks of this Block of the month class I am enrolled in. So I now have completed an 'economy block' and a circle in a circle in a square. The middle circle being made out of wedges. A bit warped, but seems to be able to hold its head up in public. I will take some photos when I clear a spot to lay them out. Tomorrow's challenge - should I allocate the time to deal with it - is cotton reel blocks. Could be interesting.

You know you are in Tasmania when you turn up to learn how to build a polytunnel on a day where the maximum was six, the drizzle continued all day and yet a dozen people are there to join you. It was an interesting approach and one that may just work in this environment. Basically, we set treated pine sleepers half-depth into the soil, then raised sheets of reinforcing mesh over them to form an arch. Each end is also reo, with a door cut in one end with a timber frame and a window in the other end to create ventilation to avoid mildew. The whole to be clad first in 70% shadecloth (which has the added benefit off protecting the plastic from any sharp ends that form on the surface of the reo), then plastic over that. Of course we didn't get that far today, but the framework is up and all the bits of reo in one sheet are welded to the bits in the next sheet (it's a long one for the school garden) and next week we will frame up the door and window and insert them, before wrapping it up. Might remember to take my camera with me next time... It's a lot more rigid than the ones bent over polypipe so should be better able to withstand the winds around here. I am thinking my own will be about 3 metres to a side. I laid the fire before setting off which meant the wood had dried to fire-readiness using the last of the residual heat from last night, so the animals are all safely tucked up in front of it. I will be joining them shortly.

The grey misery continues. I checked the gauge and it said 17 mm but I suspect I forgot to empty it last time, so not terribly confident about that figure (since Tunnack only had 6mm). Still, if we get some heavy rain after this lot at least it will soak in well. Firewood is in a dripping heap beside the fire drying out while awaiting its turn. The dog and cats have been incommoded by this arrangement but seem to be philosophical about it. I picked up the machine this morning and had a good chat to Caroline - apparently mine was full of fluff ... hardly surprising really when I consider the number of knit-your-own-dogs that accumulate in this place on a weekly basis. I tried piecing together five one and a half inch strips which should have left me with a 5 and half inch strip. Well, it turned out to be 5 inches, so clearly I need to adjust my marker a wee bit more to achieve a scant quarter inch seam... Celebrated the rain by doing a couple of loads of washing, and dodged showers to cut wood. Rather chilly here with a maximum of 6.7, but not as cold as it could be I guess.

Interview today and the weather was grey and miserable with a constant mizzle on the way down to town (and home) and grey overcast while in town. Managed to complete all my errands - quelle surprise - as well as arriving in a timely manner for the interview. The good news is that my favourite kindling supplier seems to be back in business so was able to pick up a bag of that on the way home as well. For the interview I wore sensible black loafers, charcoal grey winter tights, black pencil skirt, a blouse other than the one i bought yesterday (no surprises there ...), my new charcoal winter overcoat from the Bargain Centre, and a saffron silk scarf. Hair up in a clip, minimal makeup, but enough to show I had made an effort. No idea how it went. The chair did comment on the distances involved which I was mildly alarmed at, but the questions were easy and provided an opportunity to expand on a wide range of experience. So fingers crossed, but not holding my breath. If I get it I would be working Mon Tues Thurs and my anticipated difficulty with evening meetings has now been addressed as Council meets in the afternoons, as do the relevant committees. No flex time, but TOIL instead which is much of a muchness really. Other errands were minor, apart from stopping in Pontville to take some photos of a friend's house which is for sale privately. Apparently the prospective purchaser wants to knock down two sheds and wanted her to tell her if it was OK. Since the place is heritage listed I suggested this course, and I will send the photos into HT with my recommendations as well, so the buyer can ring the directly for advice. Picked up the grafting tape necessary before I can progress any further pruning (I have one tree that reverted to rootstock which I intend to try grafting onto to see if it works) and minor household stuff. So a full day, but hopefully productive.

Sewing group today was noticeable for the lack of sewing machines present. Our arrangement is that a chap from Devonport comes down for the day, services all our machines and then goes home, leaving us with sparkly new machines. I collect mine Friday as tomorrow, of course, is interview day. In preparation for this I went to Mancey's and bought a new blouse in teals on black to suit the black pencil skirt I will be wearing for the interview. Granted I can't afford it, but it is nice and should do the trick. I will doubtless apply a few additional layers en route, but should be comfy in that, with the new woollen overcoat from the Bargain Centre. It finally started raining around 2ish with a good drop falling (for all of five minutes) following by persistent showers. Hopefully they will hang around for a day or two and get things nice and wet. Today was lovely at sewing due to the absence of the toxic one at a meeting. Unfortunately she felt we could not survive without her so joined us after lunch. Never mind, I was planning on leaving early anyway. I have finally finished the hexagon cushion top I was making. Still wondering if I should subject myself to the horror of doing the back in hexagons also. If I do, they will be rather larger ones I feel...

Took the sewing machine up to Caroline's today so it can be picked up to be serviced. Poor thing has not seen a technician since it left the factory and has been running a bit rough for some time (mainly due to me using the wrong thread which has clogged up the works). The man charges $100 so it seemed a good way to spend a recent gift from a very good friend. Also spent some time cutting out templates for this block of the month class i am doing. Not much point really as I can not progress on that one till the machine comes back. Still, at least I will be ready to rock and roll when it does. The weather today was simply glorious - still temperate and blue. Made a nice change from the last few days and lifts the spirits no end. Fired off a few emails and letters to sort out the mess in the UK and am now settling in for the evening to watch the fire and eat some more oxtail stew.

More of that manky weather with clouds but no rain. As a consequence Telstra decided my internet signal was an optional extra for most of the day. Never mind, plenty to get on with, so I boiled all the old teabags I have been stockpiling and added fabric. So now the rather bright poppy reds and the rather bright blue that came with the Civil War fabrics are toned down a bit and the calico is a more interesting shade of beige than it was before. I also read my unabridged Alice in Wonderland which I have not read for some many years. There were entire bits that i had forgotten. Finished today was a rather great story 'The Stolen Child' in which alternating chapters tell of the experiences of both children on the side of a Changeling - the Faery who was substituted and the child who was stolen. Very interesting indeed - kept me awake last night as well. As a consequence of the lack of signal I have, of course, not printed out the emails, but hey, you can't have everything. I have however managed to fire off an email to address the most urgent issues, so all is good and I refuse to feel stressed any more!!

So it was only six last night after all. Briefly. Then up to 10 and back down to six and every stop in between. Makes it hard to work out what bedding best suits. Especially when the cat refuses to cooperate over changes, and the dog leaps to his feet in anticipation of going out when you throw off some covers. But we got through and today was a lovely sunny day. Until lunchtime when the clouds closed in (but still no rain) and the day became grey and dank once more. Dank is an irritating phenomenon as one feels cold, when the temp is quite moderate (like right now it is 10 degrees) but the amount of moisture in the air makes it feel a heck of a lot chillier than that... SO the fire was lit shortly after my friend arrived for lunch and we at in the loungeroom. A lovely visit with conversations that ranged from the new pastor, to goings on at the school, to catching up on family gossips (her family, not mine) and eating ourselves to overflowing on hot chicken coleslaw and teacake (though not all at once). I made the mistake of joining her for coffee (I have not had coffee for months now) and so am a bit jittery right now ... How do we become addicted to the stuff do you think? She brought me a ream of coloured paper so tomorrow I can start the marathon task of printing all out-going emails to the letting agents on that, and all incoming emails on white to be filed into a folder in chronological order for ease of reference while compiling my complaint. Thank heaven for the cheap printer ink I bought a few months back as i suspect most will be gone by the time i am done. Still it will be worth it, and will provide a framework for keeping records on the place in hard copy rather than simply on the hotmail account, so future exchanges can reference back more readily to previous instructions. The oxtail stew was smelling might fine by the time i turned off the hotplate last night, but I added some thyme and salt today and am presently re-heating it with the new potato wedges on top to cook through as it goes through the final cooking process. Should be very tasty what with the half a cup of port in the mix ...

It's only supposed to go down to six tonight. So how come my frost alerts are all going off? Feeling a bit chilly. Spent another day filing (amazing how much loose paperwork can accumulate in a house in four years!!) and have most of it wrestled back under control. The remaining pile is now only about two inches high, and seems to comprise stuff that does not fit into any intuitive label but which should be kept nevertheless. I think I will sleep on it. Today was rather lovely outdoors, pity I could not get out there to enjoy it, except for a short burst of activity with the chainsaw. That newly sharpened chain is a bonus and cuts through things very rapidly. There is an oxtail simmering in the oven at present, but tonight's dinner is more likely to be oven-baked fish and chips as the oxtail needs to be chilled, deprived of fat, reheated, have stuff added, thickened and then served for dinner tomorrow night instead. I have a friend coming for lunch which will be very nice (though have a frenzied morning of cleaning to do before she gets here, lol) and she will hopefully come bearing a ream of coloured A4 for printing out the emails (sent) so I can organise my thoughts about the UK situation and my formal complaint. Yesterday's computations at least provided some short-term solutions, so I live in hope I can organise something else before things get messy. There's always that lotto ticket sitting in my wallet waiting for me to check it when I hit Glenorchy for the interview come thursday!! (I wish!!)

Thought it was a bit chilly today - maximum of 8.1 could explain it. Still at least the sun was out and about and I have managed to cut a bit more wood. With a few mm of rain overnight things were a bit damp, but the new wood will have ample time to dry out before it goes in to the fire. The Agents failed to provide the complaints procedure, but have at least given me firm numbers so I can work on these to establish a timetable of works. Hopefully progress will be made, but I have celebrated prematurely before now and am exercising my cynicism muscles at present. I will be off into town tonight to call those chartered surveyors so I can gain some insight into the role they offer. I doubt they will collect rent for me, but would probably provide a better property management solution if they are affordable. Will wait and see. Oops, kettle has just come up to the boil and a hot drink will go down very well right now!

Well eureka! I have the names and contact details of two RICS members in the area so will call them (probably tomorrow night as tonight the weather is a bit too wild to be driving into town to find a signal...). I have also tracked down the relevant organisations that govern letting agents in the UK (when I say 'govern', I mean voluntary membership and code of practice, not regulate). The first step, which I have initiated, is to contact the letting agent and request a copy of their complaints procedure. They are obliged to make this freely available to owners - as in on their front counter etc. So I have asked it be sent before Close of Business today. I have also spent some time today compiling a list of exchanges to demonstrate my complaint. So while this does not address the problem in an urgent manner, I do feel I am heading in the right direction. It is moments like these it would be nice to live closer to town. I have been trying to find a ream of coloured A4 to print off my 'sent' emails so they are easier to distinguish from the 'received' emails in my records. No such luck apparently. A bit extreme to take a run down to Bridgewater to get some. I wonder if they might have some in Campbell Town? I will phone the IGA there tomorrow and find out. Cut some firewood today as the forecast said rain, and we have certainly had wild winds, but no rain so far (though apparently surrounding districts have, judging by the circling clouds). Oh well, I had hoped for some water, but you can't have everything. Perhaps it will arrive later tonight. Surprisingly dark for the time of day today - more like five than four, but I guess that's the clouds overhead that fail to produce rain.

More mayhem in England, but least said soonest mended. The contractor is proving a mine of useful information and has been sending me emails with suggestions of useful people to contact to sort things out. Members of two internet forums over there (of which I have been a member of longstanding) have also provided very helpful advice and links to such sites as RICS (chartered surveyors apparently manage property for owners over there!!) and the Ombudsman (with a copy of their code of practice and a setting out of the complaints procedures. Meanwhile my contact at the agents has decided it is all too hard and referred me to her colleague who is the one I spoke to on the phone. Hopefully she will continue to show the creative and helpful approach she showed during our phone call. I will fully brief her on questions to which I continue to await answers and see how I go. Tomorrow may be spent drafting a formal complaint. Needless to say this has done nothing for my sleep patterns so I have been awake since four this morning after an even earlier start yesterday. I almost decided not to go to quilting as I felt I was hardly in the frame of mind to deal with Little Miss neighbour's spy. Glad I did though as some people were there I had not seen for some time and we had a number of lovely chats (all carefully and overtly eavesdropped by the pest, but at least she limited her interjections and tendency to turn the conversation round to herself... So = fire is lit, the animals are fed. No idea what i am having for dinner but no doubt the freezer hides some gourmet delight. I will be off to bed early tonight methinks...

The last two days have been spent in battle with my property manager in the UK who apparently believes that if she ignores all my relevant questions and simply repeats information that should be bleeding obvious, she will win. Well no. Despite their efforts to disguise the contact details of the tradie engaged to carry out the works urgently needed before the tenant moves in, I have been able to contact him directly and make my own arrangements with him so the new tenants can move in in a timely manner. Thank you Mr Google. There remains, of course, the issue of other outstanding works that will need to be addressed, but hopefully these can be sorted out over the next two months that I have just bought for myself as a result of that call. Needless to say, another advantage of making arrangements direct with the tradie is that once the new tenants are in, and the rent is paid for the first month (which should cover the property agents fees), I will be able to sack them (the property agents), which I could not do if they had dealt with the tradie on my behalf. Hah, to them!! I will of course need to wait till the matter of the outstanding bond is resolved, but will be asking to play a direct role in the evidence giving, so if the mediator rules in favour of the tenant they will also rule against the property agent - not me. Otherwise I have been continuing the clearing up of the study, with a major focus on filing today. Once everything is in its correct suspension file, I will still need to go through each file to provide some semblance of order, but at least this years tax return should be a bit more straightforward and involve less stress arising from rummaging through the piles of paper that slip slide all over the place. One disappointment in the exercise was that I had hoped it would uncover the missing external hard drive required for computer backups. But that remains missing in action ... I wonder if I can back up the laptop onto the desktop? I guess I would require a double ended USB cable to do that - must look for one when down in Hobart on the 13th (I know ...) for the interview which has finally been rescheduled.

A moderately unproductive day. Spent the morning drafting a response to my property manager in England about the (continuing) drama over the vacating tenant who is disputing the bill we presented to her for the filthy state she left the property in. Then into town to the Market where I bought a savoury strudel which should do me for three meals, and a tea cake which is in the freezer for unexpected guests. Then home to cut some wood with the chainsaw (which decided to work today) and then back into town to make some calls. But my mentor (who is in WA) had the appointment for 2 her time, not 2 my time, so sent her a couple of texts and phone messages before deciding to give up (after 40 minutes) and just getting the car into gear as the phone rang as she had finally received my efforts to communicate (her phone was on silent tone...). Made four calls, two of which sound possibles and arranged to call them back at a more convenient time, then home once more. Fed the dog, and now I plan to read until dinner time I think...

First day of winter today. The time I spent sitting beside the lake waiting for my training call was spent realising next Monday is, of course, Queen's Birthday Holiday. I will ring GCC and check they really do mean to interview me then, or whether that was a mistake on their part.... So after the training call I went to visit someone i have not seen for ages as she goes to the Tuesday quilting group I have stopped going to in the vain hope of avoiding the toxic one. Had a nice long chat and catchup and met their new dog (the other one having finally died) and then home to light the fire. I had planned to cut some wood up with the newly sharpened chainsaw but it decided it did not want to start, so I gave that a miss. Spent time printing out the new training call scripts and generally sorting things out about the place, and am now settling down to a night in front of the fire with a good book.