My plans for Wednesday went agley when I found that in addition to three cottages, I also had a load of clean linen to stack away, so by the time I got home at three in the afternoon, all thoughts of cutting grass had fled.

Thursday being rainy, I headed to Hobart and collected prescription cat food, catalogues from Bunnings and K&D on kitchen options and visited the pellet fire shop to check them out. You can get ones that fit into fireplaces and would look fairly appropriate in the house, so I am thinking (funds permitting) that i will get one put into the spare room/office space as a back up for those occasions when weather, funds or health limit my access to fire wood (and for chilly mornings leading to hot days, chilly evenings when it is too late to light the fire etc).

The kitchen catalogues provided hours of amusement redesigning the kitchen, then working out the most cost efficient solutions. Of the two suppliers, the Modina corner pantry from K&D is far superior to the Kaboodle one in terms of internal layout (and it does not come on legs, so you can actually step into it), so that will be the first purchase. The rest can be done incrementally if needs be, though of course, the blind corner unit is also an essential when I refit the kitchen, to avoid having to mess around once it is all in place.

Yesterday I discovered we have a new art gallery in town, landscapes and seascapes mainly, and some rather nice (though not all). I spent a happy two hours in there chatting to the owner and picking over the offerings.

Our spinning group has been asked to amuse the mob in the sheep pavilion at the Brighton Show, so I got the wheel out and had another go, producing two bobbins of marginally acceptable wool - overspun, thick and thin, but generally hanging together. I have skeined it and lightly felted it rather than plying it together, and will knit it up in to a beany once it is dry.

After two rather lovely days (if a little windy today), we are heading back to Antarctica tomorrow with snow forecast to 600 metres, and similar on Tuesday, then back to Spring for a few more days before another descent to the pit. I have the last of the firewood indoors now, and will get the docking saw onto some of the longer bits i have lying around the yard to supplement supplies before that second chilly spot.