Today has been all about filling in forms and visiting long neglected friends. My mind is bubbling over with ideas about ways to get the hall inter-related with the community once more.

So first thoughts are:

Life Memberships by nomination (with citation)

History Corner: Basically all our storage space is occupied by historical furniture we no longer use. So I am thinking of keeping one of each, creating a display of photos through the ages, and inviting contributions from the locals, especially of photos. We can also have competitions to name the subjects of the photos etc.

Sign on the outside door giving contact details, hours of meetings etc.

It's all great fun, and most of these options would require minimum effort from us. The big effort would be a garage sale getting rid of the accumulated detritus (eg timber benches etc) that take up room but serve no useful purpose. That way, the more recent and useful items, currently stored on the stage etc, can be hidden from site when not in use, and allow us to present the Hall as a functional unit, rather than a failed antique shop.

I'm also thinking of commencing a public consultation - Reimagining the Hall - inviting local groups to think of ways they can use the Hall.

All good fun

 Sorry for the long delay. I have been utterly consumed by Hall matters. First trying to work out where the President had got to as she had disappeared for rather longer than her usual overnight visits to various offspring. I finally tracked her down by asking someone else on the Committee to enquire. Turns out she had been in Hospital for rather a long time with seriously elevated blood pressure (she's not the only one, but I'm not over 80). So I organised a bunch of flowers from the Committee and went back to writing grant applications, liaising with sundry local organisations about the future of the Hall, delivering flyers to the populace, getting the radio to do a free ad, monitoring the rumour machine which holds me entirely responsible it seems, and generally trying to keep my chin up in between delivering patients to appointments.

The AGM was finally held yesterday. Not before the she-demon had talked numerous committee members out of attending in the hope of ensuring we did not achieve a quorum. I had organised for the Mayor to be our independent Chairperson but the weather conditions (galeforce winds) meant he was delayed at Colebrook where the roof was blowing off their Hall, then further along the back road a tree was down. He gave up trying at around 3, but which time we had finished the meeting. 

We elected four committee members - President, Treasurer, Public Officer (me) and Ordinary Member Representative and no objections were raised to the proposed changes to the Articles. So we are now a fully functional committee. I was a bit concerned about the absence of a Secretary, but a quick check with the Department of Justice this morning confirmed that we can declare the position a casual vacancy and proceed as planned.

It's a good group of new and old members so continuity but those with the regressive world views and ego trips are all gone as a result of their efforts to prevent progress. Karma.

We have our first Ordinary Meeting in two weeks as we were all a bit emotionally drained by the end of the meeting and while relieved, also mildly concerned about the absence of a Secretary. 

We agreed that each of us would be viewed as interchangeable in each others' jobs so as to ensure we are all up to speed with proper process and record keeping for each position. About the best possible result!

As a precautionary measure I have removed the trouble maker as Admin on the Facebook page, so that if she does post, it has to be under her own name.

Tomorrow is endless form completion for banks, Incorporation etc then feet up till Wednesday when I take one of my favourite patients for an early morning appointment.

Well the last meeting failed to proceed due to the lack of a quorum. The meeting was rescheduled for today and fortunately the required number was achieved. One of our new members commenced proceedings by expressing his concern about the fact we were going nowhere and that the communication during the shutdown was non-existent.  Basically he said pretty well all I have said in the past but it was taken at face value rather than being ascribed to my alleged antipathy to Patricia. Eventually everyone around the table, apart from our newest recruit, stated that they too were planning to resign. Strangely enough this introduced an environment where we all felt comfortable speaking freely about our frustrations and the way in which having a divided committee made progress a lot more work than was worthwhile.

After much discussion it was agreed to hold the AGM at the earliest possible date and that would be fixed in consultation with a chair from Council to oversee proceedings and introduce the relevant changes (as well as setting out what the alternative would be). After the meeting our Public Officer and I walked our newest member around the Hall (where she expressed interest in hiring the Smoke Room for a therapy studio), generally cheered her up about our prospects in the event of a change of approach and persuaded her to stand for a position on the Committee if required. The Public Officer admitted that he was more a practical person than a paperwork person so would be happy to stand down or otherwise do things as required, and assuming I can persuade Jose and Michael not to proceed with the considered resignation all should be well (barring intervention from the she-devil).

Lord but it's cold. I have spent the last three days at the Stables spinning or knintting but leaving early because it was too cold, even with the wood heater going. Getting home early enough to get my own fire producing heat before the frost settled has seemed a reasonable priority.

Tomorrow is the meeting of the Committee which should resolve once and for all whether it is worth continuing. I have printed out the relevant documentation, distributed it to the relevant parties and had a very dark look from the President when she noted that it included the Articles.

She had asked me to organise a meeting of the Committee to deal with Business as usual. To clarify I asked if that included the Articles, but she said no until I argued that I would have considered it to be part of the Committee's business, which she conceded. So I took that as agreement to put them on the Agenda.

I have also informed the Public Officer that if they are not passed I will be resigning.

It seems that The Boys are of a similar mind, being very miffed at the total absence of communication during lock down.

My other predictable fight will be my suggestion we cancel the November dance on the grounds that A) we have nothing planned and it's a bit late to start now, and B) raffles seem to achieve considerable greater financial return and can continue in the event we have a flare up of Covid in the next few months. Wish me luck.

Tonight's dinner was fried rice. I had planned it to be garnished with crumbed prawns from the Fish Man, but they mysteriously disappeared the night before without accompaniment, haha.

Yesterday's passenger was cancelled which was probably a good thing as all the rain has made the roads more like rivers. It seems to have eased now, but it was very wet yesterday. The gauge had over four inches in it, but I have not checked it for at least a week, so not all in one go.

Coming home from the Bank on Monday something largish hit the side of the car - not sure what it was because there was no body when I checked. Fortunately it did not dent the car, but has conspicuously removed quantities of dirt. I hope it only has a headache as it seems to have just slid along the side in a glancing blow.

I spent the day cooking and produced some osso bucco and a chicken and chorizo bake. Today's effort was steak and guinness (though it was really Cascade Stout). It's still simmering away so I had some pastici from the freezer for dinner.

I also received the wool combs I ordered. They are lovely and light, not like the clunky ones I borrowed, and come with a means of fastening one to the table so you can have a hand free. But I have so far been using them in each hand and loving them.

They have been having a bit of a tidy up at the bank which is nice - I have been able to access previously inaccessible areas and give them a bit of a wipe over.

It will be a fairly early night tonight as I have plans to get to the Studio tomorrow to do a bit more spinning.

The weather has been lunging around like a drunken sow for some weeks now. Minimums vary between minus three and plus ten, so deciding on bedding tends to be a last minute event here. And often gets revised several more times during the course of the night. This is aided and abetted by Billy who appears to be entering senility and thus gets up hourly, disturbs the entire bedfull of bodies, treads on my head yawping wildly then leaves for five minutes before returning, trying to get in the wrong side of the bed and then walking over my head once more to get into his side. So not much sleep is had till daylight when he seems happy to sleep as long as I will let him.

The Hall has stirred into life and I am advised the trouble maker has resigned (well, says she has a letter of resignation but has not handed it in). We will have our first meeting on Sunday 12 July to organise ourselves, work out what to do for a fund raising activity for the end of the year (so we can pay the Insurance in January) and sort out our Covid Safe plan. Apparently Council has done this for us and left quantities of antiseptic at the Hall for us.

The Pancake Parlour has resumed business on shorter hours four days a week and I am back in spinning again when I am able. I have acquired a new wheel which, having responded well to repairs is very good at spinning lace weight yarn (in case I ever get into knitting Shetland Lace), but meanwhile I am finding that the carded wool I made for the purpose of spinning woollen style, actually spins a lace weight on the Kiwi 2 when used Worsted style (I know, sorry, too technical for some). This is a mixed blessing as I actually want it sock weight so I can use it on the future vest, so I will have to chain ply it so it is thick enough to match the other yarns already spun for the purpose.

Not much progress on the kitchen, but at least I have a volunteer to put in the counter tops when I am ready to do so. Some time this week I will have to find time for another cookathon. I have gravy beef, osso bucco, mince, lamb shanks and a chunk of topside to play with (all frozen at present) so I am thinking (respectively) beef and Guinness pie (or casserole with dumplings), osso bucco Italian style, chow mein, something  truly decadent and slow cooked for the shanks and a beef and mushroom stew of some sort for the topside. But since I am knackered today my greatest exertion will be pouring a glass of red when I head out to get some more wood for the fire.

Minus three point one the morning before last, and not much warmer the last couple of days. Had to wait till 11:30 to get a shower this morning. Tomorrow will be tricky as it's going to be another frost but I have to be out and about by 9 to collect a patient. I will have to hope there's still water when I get up at 6:30 so I can leave the tap leaking.

Social life seems to be returning to normal at a rapid pace, what with the long weekend bringing out Hobartians and Northerners in force. I spent the Monday spinning at the Stables, and much of the previous week repairing the new spinning wheel (I know, that's five). It is a double drive wheel which makes spinning lace weight much easier, but the previous owner had done a really clumsy repair on a broken Flyer involving rectangles of rough ply. These are now more polygons fitting to the shape they were applied to and much smoother. But more work is required.

Driving passengers is also picking up once more and I am back to cleaning the bank as well. No rest for the wicked.

So what else? Well not much progress on the kitchen but I do have someone lined up to fit the counter tops when I am ready to get to that stage. He's the husband of a friend so it will probably just cost me dinner for two. He will also fit the big stumbling block (for me) which is the front panel of the corner cupboard which has to be 100% plumb for the door to work, but requires external fitting without pre-drilled guideholes and at awkward angles of approach too so much better dealt with by someone who knows what they are doing.

Haven't been involved in any of the protests but definitely there in spirit. Hope we manage to achieve real change.

Well no idea where all that time went. I reorganised the lounge, reorganised the rats nest of leads on the floor and lost the laptop in the process. Still, nothing is perfect.

Also took advantage of the fresh fish deliveries that have resumed in Oatlands and obtained some prawns, ling and trevalla - beautifully fresh. They now reside in the freezer in the form of fish pie and seafood chowder individual serves. And a cauliflower and cheese soup. This Friday I have to drive to Campbell Town to collect my grazing platter from Grazing Tasmania.

The kitchen remains a work in progress. I have the paint now, but the tiles are still missing in action. I begin to wonder if I would be saving that much since it remains unclear as to how many sheets are required for one square metre, so it's going to be tricky to work it all out. I might just go buy more of the glass mosaic tiles I already have. Though the prospect of installing proper tiles is a bit daunting.

I have had a couple of days of late returning driving trips which have worn me out as well as the clients. And the person filling in for me a the bank is stirring things up a bit. She worked out they were paying her the daytime rate not the night time rate and queried it. They have agreed to pay it for the first fortnight  but have indicated that I clean during day hours. I have now set them straight on that (ie I used to clean during sensible hours, but when they obtained the contract outright and it imposed the 6pm to 6am timetable I have been cleaning during those hours other than weekends when I do it in daylight). Maybe I too am owed money, who knows?

And I will be back on the job on 1 June, so they will no doubt be relieved, haha.

Hall wise, the President remains silent, so I have not mentioned that we are now permitted to have meetings. I am unable to resign quite yet though as we missed out on the Grant but have been invited to resubmit in July, which I guess I will have to stick around for. It seems it's a pretty sure thing if we address the points they have raised, and getting that damn kitchen done has been my goal for at least ten years, haha.

The Railway committee has also requested a letter (I am their Secretary but they rarely meet other than AGMs of which we have had none for the last five years).

So I guess I should get on with that one and print it out for them to submit to Council.

There's only two more kitchen cabinets left in the loungeroom (and some considerable impedimenta), but they are the biggest ones - the pantry cupboards. I removed the remaining upper cupboard which will go to the left of the range hood, and that cleared the way to the coffee table that supported various wifi stuff and was surrounded by a sea of tangled cables. The main reason for the tangle was the 15m cable that runs power to the television in lieu of a more moderate extension cord. I worked out that if I hooked together enough lengths of extension cord, and power boards (it's OK I have not loaded every plug on each of them), I could reach the television and get rid of that trip hazard.

That led to removing the coffee table, clearing the way to a set of drawers in the spare room and swapping those two out. So the wifi is now on top of the drawers, as is the Singer machine and that entire wall has been cleared of debris and swept and generally sorted out.

The drawers will be useful for sewing stuff as the treadle Singer will be placed under the window on that side also. But that's for another day as I am aching all over from the strenuous activites and have my feet up on the sofa (slightly angled to a more convenient position) and contemplating a bedtime panadol. I think I will apply the two missing architraves to the window while I have access to it, and possibly even paint it if I can find the colour in the collection of tins I have.

Last night was not quite as luxurious as the previous one as the local lads were out burning rubber until one in the morning, and him over the road seems to have been rowing with someone too. I gave up and stuck my head under the doona, but sadly did not get much sleep. Up at five thirty as I had had enough.

The cats are perfectly happy to sleep as long as I do, EMW - they have demand feeding and access to the loo etc, so if I am not restless, neither are they. Even Sebastian was quite happy to wait till I woke and never tried to urge me to get up.

Hey Deb, I noted that they were suggesting that those whose surgery was deferred start chasing their surgeon, so you might like to get onto that!

Bed time was so comfortable last night I didn't wake up until 11 am! I haven't done that since I was a teenager! Fortunately there was not much on the agenda so after restocking at Pancakes (which is only open for takeaway  on Friday and Saturday), I headed home, sorted out some more cupboards and generally reorganised stuff. The corner of the kitchen is coming together now and starting to look good. My next job will be the overhead cupboards which will the rearranged (ie the dishrack will be moved to sit between two upper cupboards instead of just being squeezed into the bit of wall that was available when I bought it, and those two cupboards reassigned (one will be glass wear, the other bowls and basins).

Once that meets requirements I will move in the two larger tall pantry cupboards to flank the fridge and provide accommodation for pantry goods and cleaning equipment (imagine not having the vacuum cleaner cluttering up the floor!). I will be modifying some of the shelving in these to make things more accessible (you know how the stuff on the top shelf it out of reach without a ladder - a narrower shelf should fix that). 

It was a true autumn day today with a foggy start (probably what made me sleep in) and glorious sunshine followed by a  nice crispy evening.

The Hall will be inheriting a collection of mugs which match but do not feel good to drink out of, and a few spare bowls. A tray of jam jars is being reassigned to a friend who does that sort of thing still, and the loungeroom is beginning to feel larger! It's quite remarkable! I will be able to regulate temperature by moving the sofa into the right position for the conditions!

Starting to feel like a home!

I agree EMW - the downturn will be with us a long time and it is great to have a bit of money available to allow me to replace missing items, and to build up some savings. I might have to keep them in the mattress because with CBA's 26% losses in the quarter I lack confidence in them to be here for the long haul either. Besides, spending it is going to support local businesses (OK, K Mart isn't a local business, but everything else I have spent lately has gone to one). I will however be setting aside a chunk every fortnight to pay for the fences, the installation of the awning and a few other matters like the countertops etc.

Today I got two loads of washing done so tomorrow it will be sheets and doona top and the brand new sheets going on the bed! I love the luxury of new good quality sheets. And since they last so long feel no compunction in buying them (on special). It does however remind me I should get a new doona cover too. I prefer to have three of each so I can have one on the bed, one in the cupboard and the other on the line.

Cooking was confined to two batches of pastici which is the Greek equivalent of lasagne. It involves layers of macaroni and meat sauce and the white sauce has an egg in it. The recipe I have did not mention any herbs but I added some origano as that is a familiar greek flavour (rigani equivalent).

And I applied the sample paint to two areas of wall to see what it looks like. I am liking it a lot actually, so will proceed with what remains of the pot tomorrow.

All this cooking has laid bare the deficiencies of the pantry which have accumulated over the years, so I am starting a list of herbs and spices, etc that require replacement which I can incrementally replace over the next few months. And with the new kitchen installed I will even have a place to put them, haha.

The vet gave me a sachet to be opened on arrival home, which was for worming Poppet. Opened it up today and it was a spot on treatment and the parcel referred me to instructions that were not there. So I googled for instructions and sure enough, spot on worm treatment! Who knew! Definitely saves stitches from trying to shove tablets down reluctant throats.

I had a bit of a cookathon today - basically using the new pressure cooker was a priority so I made hedgehogs. Amazing. All you do is push a button labelled meat, and twenty minutes later you have porcupines! I think I like this newfangled approach to pressure cooking. At present I am waiting for the alarm to go off to let me know to add cheese to the potatoes au gratin and return them to the oven. Not sure the potatoes I used are ideal for it as they are dutch creams, where sebagos would have been better, but I expect i will find out soon enough.

Much washing up and putting away ensued and the kitchen is once again tidy and clean (astonishing I know!).

It started raining this afternoon, after strong winds discouraged doing the laundry this morning, so I am still only part way part through that side of things. But as I am into week two from contact I am being conscientous about not going out, and will have to keep myself amused at home for another seven days. Sigh. I think I will resurrect the coffee maker tomorrow and see if it has stopped leaking when I turn it on.

Work is sorted out and apparently I will be getting the JobKeeper allowance from the next pay, so that will be exciting. I will have to get something on mail order so I can control the fire burning a hole in my pocket haha. I suspect that will be the tiles.

Long break - sorry. I have just got back after a big day out and eaten my dinner (a takeaway baked lamb dinner from one of the local eateries). Poppet is no longer entire (phew, perhaps the house can stop smelling like a litter tray every time she comes in season), has a microchip and is currently stalking around in the ceiling space (apparently introducing her to new people is not acceptable). She has bounced back from the operation so I am pretty sure she is safe up there unless she starts hurling herself after flying birds.

I have also sampled crepes from the Pancake and Crepe shop. It's a good idea, you get a pair of crepes which you zap for one minute before arranging to receiving the filling. The filling is cooked for 2 minutes and there is a generous side salad to arrange alongside. The sauce lets it down and I think he uses cornflour and it does not travel well. But a garlic prawn crepe and a chicken and mushroom one last night. Tonight's baked lamb was surprisingly succulent for all it was well done.

Filling in 8 hours while socially isolated can be tedious, so I just took extra care to remain a couple of aisles away from people when I went to Harris Scarfe and touched nothing till I found the cotton sateen sheets I wanted. I also wanted a cast iron casserole dish, but they had sold out. My kitchen knives spent that time with the nice Italian man, so they are now razor sharp once more. Then off to KMart to see if they had cast iron casseroles (no) but I found a pressure cooker/come slow cooker for sale which was only $59.00, so that came home with me. I accidently blew out the bottom of the last pressure cooker (not literally, but it developed an alarming dome on the base), so have been denied the joys of porcupines for some time. And with that in mind I had the butcher sell me a kilo of mince and a kilo of topside (all in one lump at present). So no prizes for guessing what I will be doing tomorrow.

Grabbed some lunch from a takeaway the parked down by the river at Bridgewater in an empty park. I did get a bit of a start when the police cruised past twice but I smiled nicely and they kept going.

Then off to collect the patient who was surprisingly perky for all that she had spent the day in the company of a room full of total strangers. She was pleased to get home, and has now polished off two dinners to compensate for the one she didn't get this morning. I have also been given a few devoted snuggles and now she has gone off to explore. Early night tonight as I was up late last night and early this morning.

You'll (hopefully) be pleased to know the results came back negative. I rang the local GP and pointed out that my potential contact had been only 2 days previously, and he agreed I should remain below the parapet for a fortnight monitoring symptoms. So I have two whole weeks off for uninterrupted fun!

I do have to drop the cat for her operation on Monday and then find ways to fill in my time, but I am used to spending endless time in Hobart not actually doing anything so that should be OK.

Having established I am certified covid-free I popped into the supermarket and replaced the empty weetbix box, bought some wine and a nice triple brie for when I get the munchies, and returned home to my cocoon and did nothing. The fire is nice at present and I am full of cassoulet and yoghurt so starting to feel a bit dozy.

Tomorrow I will be in for a meal from Pancakes (they are doing takeaway crepe kits which include a crepe, the fillings and a salad that you put together yourself when you are ready to eat) and Sunday will be a quick trip to pick up a roast dinner at another eatery. So not exactly in hibernation but close enough for the next few days. After that I will be rather more conscientious.

Hope you are all well and having fun

There's nothing like starting the day with a cotton bud on steroids shoved down your throat and up your nose, but it's done now, and I have to sit at home and wait for the results. I am not unduly concerned, just being overcautious due to the vulnerability of some of my patients (Friday's is recovering from a transplant so it now going with someone else).

It is many a long year since I had my nostrils cauterised to stop nosebleeds, but it feels just like I still have the cauterising agent up there - I expect it will be fine tomorrow.

The trip down and back was uneventful, quite a nice sunny day, then driving through the ghost-town that is Salamanca Place to a series of tents, barriers, guards, stop points, people in PPE like you see on telly and a line up of vehicles approaching each group of staff to be subjected to pain.

Then home. And frankly that was all I have done all day. Yesterday was not terribly much more productive but did at least involve getting a bit more progress in the kitchen.

EMW the fireplace in the front room will eventually be sorted out, probably best to do that before I invest in any heating options - no point having it disappear up the chimney. It's also not that noticeable as I had a heavy curtain over the doorway. The main problem is the spare room off the lounge as the cats can open the door to it, and that leaves drafts from an unsealed window and the other side of the same chimney - that can be a bit wearing. Being able to close the laundry door makes a huge difference, and having a heater also makes a difference I discovered last winter. Blinds over the kitchen windows would be helpful too along with some of those sealing strips you plan to use. It all takes time, and I am used to the peccadillos of the house and relieved to be making progress once more.

The whole question of heating supplements in mine are at issue too EMW. I have inadvertently created a spot where a wall heater can go in the kitchen and it backs onto a power point in the neighbouring room so that's OK. But the craft room is perpetually cold in winter (due to an open chimney) and the cast iron grate, even if installed, is unlikely to provide satisfactory warmth, so perhaps another panel heater? Hard to know. A new reverse cycle air conditioner would be nice, but that might have to wait a while.

It was a transportation day today which did not start till noon, so I did a bit of wall and window washing before heading into the fray. My passenger is a former councillor who stood down the election I ran for. She was definitely in the opposition camp at the time but we have become friends since then.

I asked her how she was getting on with isolation and she started the 'oh I wish it would end' but reduced me to tears of laughter when she continued. "It's been terrible, my huband has gone completely mad!" Me poised to offer the phone number for abused partners " He came in just yesterday and announced he's bought another farm!!!".

So that was all right then. Half way down she admitted to having seen the doctor the day before for a renewal of antibiotics. I expressed concern and she mentioned she had had a cold for some time. I was relatively unconcerned until she was refused treatment on arrival due to an elevated temperature. Sigh. So I will call the Public Health in the morning and see if I should be in serious isolation for a fortnight.

At least I have plenty to keep me busy.

And then the bank to clean tonight as they still don't seem to have made any progress regarding my replacement.

I will be quite pleased to get to bed tonight for all that it has not been a terribly arduous day.

It's hard to know. I know it doesn't live on one side of me, and it seems to run through the fence to the other side when frightened. So it could easily be living under one of the many outbuildings there, or being fed and called a 'pet' or just living wild. Only way to find out would be to trap it, keep it for a month in case someone came enquiring, or take it to the vet for a microchip check (not that any of the locals would bother with that anyway). On the plus side if it lived with me, its whereabouts would be unknown as it would be indoors at all times, haha. Fortunately the trap is at someone else's house at the moment so not much chance of trapping it. I will also have to wait till Poppet is fixed just in case it's a boy.

It's been raining most of today - breaks long enough to scuttle out and get firewood in, but otherwise quite damp. And cold. The fire is chugging away but seems to be less than enthusiastic about warming things up.

I hung the door to the laundry today and did a bit of wall washing, but have yet to break out the sugar soap which I will be needing as I get further up the wall. It's nice to be able to shut the door it, but it will have to come off it's hinges once more for a further trim on the bottom. I will leave it in place till it has a chance to get a little rub on the paint on the bottom to see what's happening. It will also need a cat flap installed so the door can be closed but they can reach their litter tray.

Then the sausages were turned into a made up cassoulet that involved beans, chicken and dried mushrooms as additions. I got a bit carried away with the stock so it is a bit soupy rather than gluggy, but still tasty. I will freeze the rest for 'ron.

I will try to wash some walls tomorrow. I really can't install the tall cupboards until that's done and I would really like to get them out of the loungeroom so I can start in here. Meanwhile I will just potter around I think.

Deep fog greeted the morning today - and lingered for some time. Fortunately it cleared by lunchtime so I got to the tip, got rid of more stuff, came home and played with the door. It is now trimmed (hopefully far enough to clear the floor) and primed and just needs to be hung. It would be nice to be able to paint it first, but since none of my paint seems to be where I thought I put it, that will not happen soon.

I also spotted the little cloudy tabby that I spot from time to time. I suspect it must be the same litter as Poppet as it is petite like here, has her eyes, body form and even hair distribution (she has little tuffets of hair in unexpected places like this one). It is very cautious so I have not ever been able to get outdoors to say hello. I did at least get a photo of her this time (I assume it's she - it could of course be he).

The door is occupying rather more of the floor space in the kitchen, but provided a useful table surface for me to sort through more of the impedimenta that seems to accumulate whenever I turn my back. And tonight it will be tortellini due to lack of culinary adventures on my part.

The last time I had an agapanthus to deal with I advertised it free - dig it yourself. Fortunately a young couple keen to line the very long drive came and took it all away. What a relief!

Today was a very slow one as I headed down to Hobart with one of my regular patients who has two appointments in one day - so home by 3:30 after an 8:30 start. I filled in time by reading, eating and generally doing nothing in particular, so I should be enlivened tomorrow.

What I did do was find a person to pump out the septic and find out how much it would cost as well as book Poppet in for vaccinations, spaying, microchipping etc. The two will not be happening in the same pay cycle. Depending on how much the spay costs I might be able to order the tiles for the kitchen which may take some time to be delivered the way Australia Post is going at the  moment.

That done I have eased into the warmth of the heater and am planning a relatively early night. The next three days will be rather chilly they say, so plenty of time to work out how to install the door between the kitchen and laundry, paint it, trim it and muck about on a grand scale.

That is indeed the risk of starting a project - I at least managed to decomplicate this today by identifying a solution that does not leave me having to find homes for endless books temporarily while I steal their shelving to house the recipe books. I dealt with the alcove today so I now have the 90m cabinet back in position and its doors rehung, topped with a temporary bit of packing that came with the original kits. The wall cabinet was supposed to come down to provide space for the bookshelves, but once I had the doors off I decided the best option will be to leave it there and  just add brackets to support it so it can carry the recipe books. The downstairs cabinet now houses all the larger appliances (slow cooker, electric fry pans etc) and the cupboard these came out of is now to house the toaster, kettle etc. On top will be the coffee machine and the wall cabinet can hold spare tea pots, coffee plungers, tea and coffee cannisters etc so as to declutter the bench top. That's just a single cabinet to the left of the oven, beside the freezer.

I have also finally settled on the colour scheme basically by looking for tiles I liked and then taking colours from them for the walls and edgings. So it will be mint green walls with milk coffee trims and the cream cabinets and varnished timber benchtops. I may get the person who installs the benchtops to also do the skirting and architraves as every time I look at it I decide it's all too hard.

I'm off to clean the bank sortly and have an early start for a long day tomorrow, so it's nice to have achieved one corner of the kitchen almost to completion.

It's certainly not a one-pot meal is it EMW! But very tasty so worth it. I have spent another day fiddling with the kitchen with the result I have now cleared all surplus items from the place apart from the folding table. Which is not exactly surplus as I will need to balance the door on it as I trim it's bottom off, balance the benchtops as I paint them and cut a hole for the sink etc. I emptied out the preserves cupboard (and not before time!), removed its doors and middle shelf, wiped that down and set it aside and now I have to work out whether I want  to wrestle the lids off the jam jars or just throw them out entirely. I think the latter will be the solution.

The floor has also been given a thorough mopping so looks as it should.

I also discovered my toaster - this has been missing in action since I pulled the kitchen apart three years ago so I have been enduring bread in soup and other such indignities, as well as having to keep bread in the fridge as frozen bread does not make good sandwiches. I had thought it was on the bottom shelf of the 90cm cupboard currently residing in the spare bedroom, but it turned out to be on the bottom shelf of the bookshelves (also in the spare bedroom) and hidden by the heavy shade cast by its housing. So I celebrated with toast and peanut butter for lunch (after checking for mouse corpses and other such nasty possibilities).

I hope to position the cupboad in the alcove I have just cleared out and replace the upper cupboard (where the preserves were) with a book shelf which can do a better job of housing the recipe books than my previous arrangement. I might even be able to find them!

Before I can move the 90cm cupboard into position I will need to clear a path so I can move it with minimum aggravation, and I also want to paint a swatch of the bright lime green I bought some time ago on a part of the wall that will be hidden by the cupboard. So it may not happen tomorrow.

Thursday I have another patient transport which will be a long one, but other than that my time is uncommitted (apart from Bank cleaning) till the following Monday.

A nice sleep in to wake to bright sunshine - lovely day, if a little chilly. Today's culinary venture was a lasagne. In a Le Creuset tray designed for a 90 cm oven. It fits in mine if I suspend it from the rails that the oven shelving sits on. It is huge, so another seven meals to be had from that effort. They are now portioned up and frozen for  future reference. Tomorrow I may challenge myself with sausages - what to do?

Apart from that I had a wee trip into town for more capsicums and other such luxuries. And a bottle of red to flavour the lasagne sauce and the balance dedicated to the hare in the freezer.

The last of the Rhubarb Crumble will be finished tonight - once I have sufficient space in my stomach - so I will have to give thought to future dessert options, haha. All this food and so little exercise is probably not the best, but at least it's healthy food from fresh ingredients - beats my frozen dinner of recent times.

You will have noted the lack of updates on the kitchen - that's because I have not made any progress and have been enjoying the newfound food prep surfaces. I expect I will get on with it again in the not too distant future, but for now it is at least workable. Getting the two tall cabinets in to flank the fridge will be good as that will permit me to unpack the larger items. I will wait till the bench top is in position before messing around with the upper cupboards which I want to rearrange into a more functional position.

Not a real fan of podcasts simply because I am not into extraneous noise (a nuisance when it helps block out the noise from outdoors). But the UBI is an excellent idea, though like every other one that comes along, is unlikely to be maintained at a reasonable rate by those in power. Having that set at current NewStart rates would be good however as it would allow me to earn additional income without the penalty that is presently imposed.

I hope your Anzac day was a bit more exciting than mine. I woke at 6:30 and the total absence of signs of life outside led me to conclude I was not the only laggardly one. So I went back to sleep and got up at 7:30 instead.

My only other excitement for the day was going to clean the bank and splitting a bit of firewood for use this evening. And having several pointless arguments on Facebook.

The missing ingredient from the Chicken and Potato casserole was the two capsicums i discovered in the fridge while looking for something else. These have now been added and cooked into the general stew and it has been portioned off for freezing, allowing a nice hot meal for lunch. Tonight I will be less adventurous and eat some Chow Mein. The large dish has been washed in preparation for tomorrow's lasagne cooking and the kitchen remains clean and tidy (if incomplete). I am trying to train myself to make a habit of sweeping the floor and putting stuff away - better late than never.

Couldn't agree more EMW - the present Jobseeker rate is actually higher than that received by pensioners! Go figure. Apparently the Deserving Poor concept has been reintroduced to our outlook. If Junior jobseekers went up to the present rate of Newstart, Adult newstart recipients went up to the current rate of the pension and pensioners were eligible to receive the equivalent of what is now on offer for Jobseekers (including the bonus), then a lot of the poorer Australians might have half a chance of bettering their lives.

Today I headed in to the doctor in the morning and had my jab as well as discussing the letter. He has provided one but has also advised it may take a bit of back and forth before I see action. I then rang my employers and discovered they have done nothing to progress the matter. So I have now sent a second email advising them of the recent developments and suggested they get their shit together.

Then home to put a Mediterranean Chicken and Potato casserole in the oven and back into town to convey my patient for her own shots. Home now, the casserole smells good and I am planning an early night, so no progress likely on the kitchen, masks or anything else I might have considered.

The trip to Centerlink was successful on a number of levels - first being that I got paid. My favourite man served me and I raised with him my concerns about working in the bank but what impact would leaving have. He said a letter from the Doctor excluding me from the work for the duration of the Covid restrictions would do the trick, so I have an appointment with the Doc on Friday.

This has a second benefit - that is, that I will no longer be losing the $20 from my payment that is punishment for daring to work. That, in its turn is particularly useful as I was listening closely to the words chosen by Scotty from Marketting which made it clear the $550 bonus payment will only go to those who are entitled to full Jobseeker payment and that $20 penalty would deny me access to that - so that was a happy ending.

Having arrived home I was busily adding bits to the kitchen when someone turned up at the back door offering me various bits and pieces of sewing and knitting paraphernalia. Most of it was useless to me but the Brother Super Pro II quilters edition will come very much in handy (once she finds the cable for it). So I have been gaily distributing knitting needles, crochet hooks and other such stuff around the neighbourhood and the overlocker (which duplicates the one I have) has gone to a good home also. Apparently there's at least round 2 of deliveries, but this one was very pleasing.

Yesterday I took one of my regular patients down for Radiation treatment and managed to collect my groceries at the same time (I even scored 24 toilet rolls, haha), but had to give back two of the four cans of tomatoes I have wanted as they had a quantity limit of 2.

Tonight's dinner is a bit of a cheat as it is pre-made tortellini with a jar of sauce. But very tasty for all that. Tomorrow I will be heading into Oatlands to see the doctor and have a flu shot, and collecting a local passenger for the same treatment in the afternoon.  Meanwhile i may have time to make the fabric I hunted out today into masks, but I doubt it. I feel it is a whole day's commitment once I find a pattern, work out how to cut the fabric, sort out the measurements in relation to the strips of fabric I have chosen etc. The majority of these are for a friend who has had a bilateral mastectomy who does not sew.

I did manage to get two loads of washing dry today which was nice, and all the contents of the laundry basket are back in their proper places.

It was raining this morning when I awoke - and rained on and off all day. A good day to light the fire and stay at home, but unfortunately I was transporting a patient this morning and had to gird up my loins and head out. I was supposed to have a phone interview with my Job Service Provider at 2:30 so had plenty of time to get home and be ready for that, but as it turns out they called me while I was sitting in the carpark waiting for my patient to get back. It was a fairly unsatisfactory call as I had had a message from Centrelink telling me they won't be paying me tomorrow and he knew nothing about it. A couple of attempts to call Centrelink resulted in them ending the conversation due to too many calls. So tomorrow I have to head down to Bridgewater and find out what their problem is. Very annoying. Lucky I get paid from the cleaning job so have sufficient funds for fuel to make the trip.

The last of the four drawers has been fitted. It has more holes than are entirely acceptable, but at least it runs properly and looks OK from normal head height (it's the bottom drawer).

Tomorrow I will have a think about what comes next - I suspect that will be the fitting of the fixed panel to attach the door of the corner cupboard which will involve me getting the table saw into action. So I might just think about it a  bit longer, haha. The trip to Bridgewater will certainly limit my options.

But now I have a belly full of roast pork with gravy, spuds and veges, the fire is lit, I have chocolate and I get to choose between listening to Malcolm Turnbull or Doc Martin.

The instructions will only become more user friendly when I use them to light the fire, haha.

Today was another quiet day at home, barring the trip to the tip necessitated by some food that had gone off. That sorted it was back to cabinet making. Not wishing to get a reputation for speed and efficiency I have raised the cabinet beside the stove to the same level as the cabinets along the outside wall, added a door and shelf and cleaned it out before returning some elements of its previous contents. And a third drawer has been added to the set beside the dishwasher. The fourth drawer has been pulled apart, marked up and the holes that are in just the wrong place have been filled with gluey matchsticks which will permit yet another attempt at getting the holes in the right place. I think that one, being near floor level, will hold small frypans of various purposes as well as the smaller wok that is loitering in the spare bedroom at present. I have to say the whole drawer situation looks ever so much more professional now they are all lined up with each other and have level fronts which clear the drawer above.

Tomorrow I have a patient to cart about so nothing will happen then. And apparently my JSP thinks I should be reminded about the appointment for a phone interview they have not informed me about. Fortunately it's mid-afternoon so I should be back in town by the time they call.

And then, of course, I have the bank to clean tomorrow also.

The weather was once again overcast alternating with sunshine, so the fire was lit once my nose started to report being cold.

Today was a bit grey and overcast for the morning, but that provided an opportunity for a tip run and a go at cleaning the bank. Then a quick call into the Roxy for yoghurt and bread and home once more.

Today's job was installing the new kitchen cabinet's innards - a metal frame which slides and magically produces baskets of contents when you pull it the right way. It took considerably longer to install than was feasible as the instructions and the illustrations were at odds with each other. But logic and patience won out eventually and I now have the innards to the corner cupboard operational. I have decided that the corner cupboard and one of the overhead cupboards in that corner will be the key pantry area and the two tall pantry cupboards will be reassigned as a broom cupboard and a pots and bowls space. And a grid on the wall near the freezer for saucepans and fry pans. Should work, but I will see how things pan out. The delight of this exercise is that I don''t have a time limit to force me into finishing things and thus making errors of judgement.

It should also be easier to keep organised as it will be logical rather than doing what the cupboards say I should. I do still need to resolve the kick plate issue but I expect I will be fine.

The splash back, which is the one barrier to me finally getting my certificate of occupancy will be stick on tiles - apparently Bunnings has a large selection. I will use real tiles around the oven as that will be heat sensitive, but the rest of the countertop really just needs a wipe down surface on the walls, and the stick on ones will be fine for that. A bit of beading along the top to finish them off should do the trick.

Meanwhile another chilly (if less windy) night here and it will be early to bed for me. More trips to the tip for me tomorrow and finding a piece of the cupboard I pulled apart that has holes in it for a door fitting (long story).

Yesterday I met the son of a former class mate who has borrowed my incubator in the hope of raising some chickens. I offered a rooster disposal service but apparently he works at Bonorong so any roosters will be food for the birds of prey. Bother. A couple of carcasses would be a useful addition to the kitchen.

The kitchen is slowly making progress - the corner cupboard is in its final position as I found the 200mm filler following a major search of the house. It was hiding in plain sight, naturally. Today I pulled out the door and searched for some undercoat. It seems I don't have any, or if I do it is not in anything resembling an accessible location, so I used the clear varnish I bought for the countertops to cover the door. It looks rather interesting as they have used two different colours of MDF to make the door, but I think that now it is sealed, I will cover it with some gloss paint that's a closer approximation of the rest of the kitchen. Besides natural timber tones would make the floor and cabinets run together.

I was sitting in the kitchen trying to decipher the instructions on the tin when a local knocked at the door. After much gesticulation I managed to persuade him to back away from the door to a safe distance before I emerged. He had been to the tip and ran into a man who was throwing out a bag of fleece. He thought I might like it.

Now anyone who spins knows that the results of this sort of offer can be highly variable! So I fixed a look of polite interest on my face and went to have a look. He's a good spotter - it is a rather nice merino with 7-8cm staples so eminently spinnable.

So that was set to one side in the kitchen after profuse thanks to encourage similar offers and I returned to the varnish tin. This being able to cook meals in your own kitchen is a rather novel experience after the last few years, but it is definitely encouraging. A second drawer now holds my kitchen knives and the larger of the two cutting boards is a temporary bench top so it's all making very encouraging progress. I anticipate installing a third drawer tomorrow in between tip runs and bank cleaning.

Meanwhile I am enjoying the warmth of the fire as a rather chilly wind whistles around the house - snow on the Mountain, but just the odd drop of rain here.

It is sort of a major revamp as I found the earlier layout not that useful and so have taken advantage to rearrange stuff instead of just putting things back where I found them. Today it was the brand new blind corner cupboard that I bought several years back which comes complete with a fancy metal pullout basket arrangement. It is marked up for me to start that tomorrow, but in the mean time it is constructed and loosely in position. I say loosely because there is supposed to be a 200mm filler somewhere around the place, but I have not found that yet. I expect I will if I have not pulled it apart in a fit of impatience.

It became necessary to clear off the work table (a folding laminex table showing serious signs of having been painted upon many times), so I can now bring in the door which will ultimately be fitted on the cupboard and paint that prior to installation. While I am about it I will probably paint the spice rack I have never installed, and the dish rack which I will be relocating once I have a benchtop I can lower it to as I rearrange the cupboards in that corner. So yes, a bit of a remake to ensure greater functionality and better flow as well.

So Hall materials have been dropped off at the Hall, a cheque posted for a bill and the letter box cleared. And I then took advantage of the greater accessibility of the kitchen to shred a red cabbage to boil to death to make a blue dye. I know, sounds weird, and sadly was unsuccessful. Having read widely I discovered that the blue relies on an alkaline base. But my copper mordant is made using vinegar. So I added some baking powder, and some more, and some more to achieve a pale mauve. After leaving it to cook for a while it was still a pale mauve, so I threw in quantities of washing soda and now I have green yarn. Oh well. I'm sure I can find a use for it.

Another happy productive day in Fortress Tasmania. Some wood was brought up to the house for evening fires, and a cupboard was returned to the kitchen. It even has stuff in it - like the long-lost slow-cooker and electric fry pan. Still looking for the toaster, but I dare say it will emerge eventually. And a counter top will have to wait a little longer as I pluck up the courage to start cutting the benchtops I have, and then have to varnish them before use.

Then the one drawer that I have been using has been supplemented with another. Not terribly successful as at least one of them doesn't belong in that cabinet. So the contents of the drawer that was in use have been transferred in a rather more orderly manner into the new clean drawer and the remains will have to wait till tomorrow when I find another drawer that fits that cabinet.

By the end of tomorrow I hope to have all the drawers in that cabinet returned to their place and filled with their proper contents. I may even unpack the parts for the corner cabinet and start putting that together so it can be positioned before I install the second set of drawers. But then again I may  not. Who knows?

Dismantling the drawers in the loungeroom means I will have to find somewhere else to mount my ball winder and skein winder, but I gave up before I reached that point because we don't want to rush things do we!

In the process I discovered my stash of teatowels - I was beginning to wonder whether I had thrown them all out! So they went into the washing machine and are now on the line on the off-chance of a frost overnight (unlikely).

The fridge is moved to its ultimate destination and I am beginning to get some elbow room to move around in. I can even open the chest freezer with minimal aggravation. And I sewed a peg bag too. I know! I had one, but it rotted out, then I bought a plastic one but that perished and so I took the frame of the original bag, sewed a calico bag to sort of fit it, and it is now on the line and in use (though the opening probably should have been larger).

Lovely sunny day too.

Happy Easter all

I have been having a fairly relaxed time if you count moving furniture around as relaxation. The rediscovery of the kitchen continues as does the rediscovery of the bottom of the Le Creuset I irretrievably burnt some months ago. It is now devoid of charred bits but I suspect the enamel is also not quite what it once was. I will find out tomorrow when I cook Easter Lunch - a rolled pork roast slow cooked with sage, apples and cider.
The Freezer is in its final resting place which is grounds for great excitement, and I will be doing more tomorrow. It is strange, but moving the freezer to the proper place should have made the kitchen seem bigger, and instead all it did was make me aware of how little space there is between the uninstalled dishwasher and the temporary folding table which will be used to prop the various bench tops as they are coated in varnish.

It is good to see the progress made though.

I have had one drive to Hobart with a patient. To save time they decided that I should also drop off the vehicle to be serviced. This left me in the rather tricky position of having to fill in time without spending time in the waiting room at the car servicing place while avoiding arrest for breaching shut down, haha. So I took a walk to Collins Street and explored Cracked and Spineless, bought a book, bought a slab of Coal River Farm Chocolate and headed back to collect the car - great timing as it was ready before I had time to find myself a seat. A trip up to the domain and I found myself chatting to a rosella through the window, before collecting the patient and taking her back to her home.

Apart from the lad up the road playing at being a rally driver, it has been remarkably quiet and restful. And I am really enjoying my solitude.

Today was pay day and I was rather excited at the prospect of having an additional $550 to spend. Unfortunately it turns out they aren't starting to pay that till the 20th of April, so the same usual minimal amount to eke out, sigh. But since I didn't find this out until I was already at Bridgewater, I spent a little time in Shiploads finding some pipe cleaners, a pack of paper masks, and a pack of baby easter eggs.
Then to the supermarket where I made sure I will never run out of coffee (at least for a couple of months) and bought some chicken legs, a lamb neck (for soup, most of the meat is cut off) and various other basics. It's nice to have the highway to yourself other than the road workers, but still quite busy at the supermarkets (they have railed queuing paths like at airports now, and insist you take a basket even if you don't want one, so you can fend off space invaders) so I used one of my new paper masks - I plan to actually just strip out the flat bendy metal bits of them to incorporate into proper cotton masks with replaceable filters.

Having sorted that lot out I broke social isolation and called in to a friend's place. We usually spend Easter together so I wanted to drop off an Easter Egg. We cut through the house and sat on the back verandah at appropriate distances, drank a cup of tea and reassured each other we were doing fine, exchanged gifts and gossip then I headed home to pack away my purchases.

Then down to the wood heap to pile up some logs to return the barrow load to my usual wood man, which I dropped back after a cup of tea.

I now have the fire lit (though not entirely necessary just yet), and am aiming for an early night because I am really tired.

EMW I too love having layers on the bed - I suspect I am borderline autistic or something, but the weight of proper bedding makes for a better night's sleep.

It was rather chilly overnight. So much so that the added quilt and autumn weight PJs were nearly insufficient to my needs. But we survived and it was at least 11am before I lit the fire, haha.

I had been informed, informally, by my JSP that I would be having a phone interview today but as I had no phone signal I rang him. Turns out he is no longer my JSP as the decision to make Sorell my reporting point has been revoked in the face of Covid19 and I now have no clue whatsoever who I am supposed to report to (or indeed contact in need). Never mind. He freely answered the questions I needed a response to so I am fairly happy all is well in paradise.

More clearance of surplus materials from the kitchen  - at this rate I should be able to reorganise some of the furnishings and (perhaps I err in the side of Optimism), tile the backsplash at last. And that, of course, provided an opportunity to play (albeit briefly) with the new machine. Two short seams, but beautifully neat and the problem I have had with both Berninas (the top fabric migrating as I sew so that that I end up with uneven seams) is now where in sight! I have also discovered the one flaw to the machine - you can not adjust stitch length. Otherwise it's perfect, and I can do that on the treadly so no problem really.

Mainly sunny today so I had one load of washing through the machine - planned to do more but noticed massing clouds (which produced nothing) on the southern horizon and decided against.

Tomorrow I will be heading into the wilds of the Northern Suburbs to get supplies as my one transport this week coincides with a service for the office car and I will therefore not have access to free transport for my own use. I will go to Office Works while I wait and take a bit of a wander around the streets.

I think I feel better knowing you are also having focusing difficulties. You always to seem to serenely pass through life doing lovely things and creating preposterous amounts of quilts. I actually did manage to remain focussed for much of the day - not doing what I had planned to do, but being productive for all of that. I am removing all the clutter in the kitchen that has accumulated and provided an excellent excuse not to progress the return of the cupboards to their proper places. But I am now only three major obstacles away from being able to do something productive in there which will be great, as i would quite like to do some advanced cooking amongst other things.

Apart from the kitchen I had the bank to clean, and only just remembered that in addition to the increased rate of sanitisation involved (which is giving me a cough as it's highly perfumed), I had to take the bin home to clean it thoroughly so my sanitisation of that is not simply smearing fingerprints. It is now back in its proper place and in the process I realised it had become so cold that snow seems imminent.

Nice to have ready access to firewood, and it seems to burn well (slow and hot), so lasts well. And it's nice and cosy in the house (yay).

The end of daylight savings has my body clock awry, so I am following it's promptings given that time is not really all that relevant at the moment and have already eaten dinner. Going to bed a bit 'earlier' that usual as I am rather tired from the unaccustomed exertions of housework, haha.

Shortly after I logged off yesterday the wood man arrived with five tonne of wood. The plan was I would start stacking it today and that sort of worked, but due to another 17.5mm arriving it was a fairly piecemeal and uncommitted effort. I did pop some in the trolley and take it up to the back door where it has a better chance of drying out.

It's a huge mound in the back yard. You might remember I once ordered a load from a chap who insisted on only doing 8 tonne loads - same bloke, but he has downsized. It's still an enormous and overwhelming pile to deal with, but if I do it a bit at a time it should be fine. He is not as good as my usual wood man in that he seems to lose interest half way through cutting the wood, so there's several rather long bits with a cut three quarters of the way through. Those and other odd lengths will be set aside for an afternoon playing with the chainsaw when I am in the mood.

I seem to be struggling to committing to doing anything, so the sewing machine has been admired and stroked again, the fabric stash inspected, the counter top cleared and the oven top cleaned, but nothing really effectual has happened. I did cook some chow mein from a rather sad half cabbage in the fridge so that is sitting aging overnight with a view to portioning up for freezing tomorrow.

And that's about the sum total of my day, haha. This isolation business is supposed to provide me with an opportunity to be productive. I wonder when that will start?

Yay - I have finally sorted out the raffle and funds for the Hall, and now my only job is to call one of the nine winners because no-one knows who they are. I suspect they may be the bikies who I browbeat into buying a ticket at the last market.

The down side of this is that the only current time-critical commitment I now have is cleaning the bank. The result is that I spent much of this afternoon convinced that Daylight savings had ended. Doh.

The raffle draw was supposed to be filmed, but my limited skills means that we have two still photos and a brief few minutes at the end when the General Manager and I are discussing my technical incompetence. Fortunately I took the time to pan over to my written record of the draw in that one bit of moving picture.

Results are now posted on the FB page, the Southern Midlands Regional News FB page, and will presumably get posted or reported on 97.1FM radio to ensure everyone knows.

My arch nemesis on the committee remains recalcitrant. I rather hope she will resign during the lockdown since she is unable to get down here, but given the tone of her recent communications I guess I am out of luck. The good news is that despite her consistent obstructive behaviour we are going into this crisis with sufficient funds for the bills over the next three quarters (which I suspect is perceived as showing her up and the cause of much angst.

Whatever, there is more to life that her pettiness.

I keep on playing with the edges of doing something with the Machine but having read the various instructions for face masks have concluded I will wait till I can order some Hepa vacuum cleaner bags.

Rain yesterday produced 30mm which was a nice change, but after all the running around about the raffle I am afraid gardening is not on the list of proposed activities.

Despite the fact it is grey and raining today it is not all that cold, so I have deferred lighting the fire till I need to. Wood is at a premium at present as the phone has been out of order for two days (and continuing) and my message to the wood man has not hit a window of vague signal to be transmitted.

The actual Treasurer of the Hall committee called around this morning to make plans for how we organise the raffle as the information has been being relayed to her via the President who tends to get things muddled. We sorted that out and agreed to catch up later this afternoon to finalise the bits we needed to.

On her way out I checked the letter box and found a parcel notification - astonishingly enough Spotlight, who I had phoned at lunch time yesterday re the machine, had managed to get it delivered today! Now all I need to do is find a flat surface so I can unpack it.

That's next on the list.

This afternoon the Treasurer turned up again and we counted money (which she is banking along with the contents of the Float Tin), screwed up raffle tickets for the draw, all at a suitable distance from each other and were spotted parting company outside the Hall by the local police, haha.

I am keen to get on and cook some chow mein now, so that I can freeze it too, and then I can sort through my fabric stash for the makings of masks.

My $750 economic booster arrived today. It didn't last long - $550 to the woodman, $99.00 to Spotlight for a sewing machine to make masks and toilet squares, and $100 at the supermarket (but I now own 24 new rolls of toilet paper!). The woodman has been advised I am solvent so I await his advice as to when he will be delivering.  The Sewing Machine is somewhere in transit with Australia Post, but should be here in a week or so. It will be good if I can find time to settle down and do some more precise quilting in the days to come.

It was a day of getting used to not being able to get in the car and set off into town as I willed, so the shopping was done on line or as part of my trip to clean the bank. I was going to do a bit more gardening but there was a chook roaming my yard, so I decided against it. It comes from across the road and there's no chance that bozo will keep it under control.

Ran into Josie who runs the post office and she has sold all the raffle tickets so I will collect them tomorrow.

So, some knitting done, some messing around arguing with people on FB and generally gathering my scattered thoughts as I adjust to this new and exciting world. Hope you are all well where you are.

Well extreme times call for extreme measures, so I am resuscitating this blog to see me through the rigours of social isolation. Actually I am rather enjoying it as I have the time to be at home long enough to get something done. I am the sort of person who takes time to disengage from whatever it was I was doing, before I can move on to the next thing I want to do, so rather than being bored, I am taking the time to increase my fibre skills, tidy up the house, whatever. Possibly even manage to finish off some of the work that remains undone, and generally regather my thoughts.

My voluntary driving is slowing down as patients' appointments are cancelled as non-critical, so I have put up my hand to continue driving by volunteering with CTST. This is going to increasingly be more a case of home deliveries rather than carting people around.

I hope some of you are still out there, but if not I will happily burble away to myself and keep you updated on progress here at the mad house.

Meanwhile a quick and sad update - Sebastian had to be euthanised on Christmas Eve due to a sudden onset paralysis which appears to have been the result of losing his footing as he leapt of the bed to bark at something. I have not replaced him, but am a bit torn at present as the presence of a dog in the house would be reassuring if things get a bit nastier. I have the offer of a greyhound, but need to take the time to work out what is happening first.

I did not plant a vege patch but have just turned over the garden and acquired some seeds for root veges and brassicas. I suspect that, like last  year, the winter will be relatively mild and I have a portable plastic tunnel that can go over things if it gets too chilly. At least I have plenty of water.