Yesterday's rain arrived overnight and it was a wet and miserable day to start with. So washing was deferred and I washed down the window sills instead and applied a layer of undercoat to the laundry window. Then, since the weather was still dull, I headed into town as they were advertising a new market - two stalls made the sum total, so it was hardly worth my while. As a result I also called in to visit a friend. We sat and chatted for a bit and then I headed home once again, feeling heartened that the water was no longer falling from the sky.

It was about lunchtime, but still I perservered with a couple of loads of washing, the subsequent sunshine and breeze managed to get most of it dry. Hopefully the rest can be dealt with tomorrow. They seem to have changed their minds about the forecast snow (almost feeling disappointed about that), so hopefully I can have all clean clothes for the beginning of the week.

Since it was sunny, and I was in the mood i did a bit more tinkering with locks, with the result I now have two back doors that don't lock. Nothing alarming, it is simply that the kitchen door has always rattled when it is not swollen shut, so I moved the 'throat' that the lock goes into which has solved the rattle but left the lock nowhere to go (only by a mm or so). Nothing a rasp won't fix, I just didn't feel like doing it.

Jean called in to collect the parsley plants I had promised her, and I showed her my new window. I can not believe the difference it seems to make to the internal temperatures around here. Despite having had most doors and windows open today, and a maximum temperature of 12, it is still snug a a bug indoors!

So tomorrow it will be fixing both the locks, applying a top coat to the laundry window and a bit more washing I think.

Lots done today, but not much achieved for all that. It was supposed to be dumping down with rain, so I started indoors, but since, by 10 no rain had put in any appearance I headed out and cut the grass - at least back to the pile of spare wood and the firewood heap. At that point I ran out of cord loaded into the machine (I still have more, but that was a hint that I took), so the whipper snipper was retired and I turned my attention to the door locks.

Of course, having removed the face plates (losing two screws in the process) I discovered that the two holes for the current lock are not the same size as those required for the new lock. Cutting a hole in a door that already has a hole in it is no doubt something some people can do but it is beyond my skill, so I had a problem. The first potential solution I thought of was to buy two new back doors. The pros of this idea are that the current doors are actually internal doors and the windows encourage Seb to leap up with the result the sill of the windows is being eroded by enthusiastic claws. They could be re-used internally in the two openings between the front and back doors with good effect. The down side, of course would be expense and also having to find someone to fit them for me (and the locks, which the painter tells me are beyond his skill).

Since I had opened one of the new locks, returning it was not an option, so the next solution was to use the parts of it to replace the missing bits in the laundry latch, so that is what I did. When I removed that latch I discovered a colony of ants, which probably explains why the key will not go into the key hole on one side. Unfortunately no amount of jiggling will fix that, and now the new internal bits are in (not at all the same shape as the ones that should be there) the snib does not work. So at present I can't lock it at all.

The solution that occurred to me as I cleaned the bank is that I can replace the lock mechanism with the one from the new handles. That, at least, is the same size and shape as the original handles and fits the existing hole. I will turn my attention to that tomorrow.

To vent my frustration I drove a star picket into the ground in line with the side of the wall, and dug out a short trench to start building the drystone retaining wall for the patio. Two rather large stones are in position (though will probably get rearranged tomorrow), and I am encouraged that I have more than enough stone for the purpose (and lots of smaller stones for packing gaps etc). It also gives me a rather better idea of how the patio will look once it is completed, and how wide 3 metres actually is.

So I am weary, frustrated, but at least am making some sort of progress. Though the weather gods clearly got wind of my painting and roofing plans as rain is forecast for the next week (with talk of snow on Tuesday!).

Due to a forecast of rain and then more rain, the painter has checked out till next Wednesday. Nevertheless we had huge progress today so I am not at all alarmed. The window is in and the difference it makes in terms of stillness inside is astounding. I had not realised just how much impact it would have, or I would have done it years ago! (well maybe not as I didn't have the money, but you understand I am sure).

As you can see, my measuring skills once again let me down and while the width was right, the height was not. Fortunately a few spare weatherboards and off cut from some framing under the black plastic along the other side of the house. Since the interior wall leaves a lot to be desired, the gap is not a crisis as it will be addressed when sorting out the lining in that room.

The down side, of course, is that her next door now has an unobstructed view of the room, which will be resolved with a blind in the not too distant future. Architraves will be going on once the painter returns.

Both sides of the house and the back are nearly completely primed now, so colour will be going on from Wednesday next week. Meanwhile the neighbours can all speculate as to why I have chosen white with a grey trim, lol.

So since I am still animal-free I will get stuck in inside and do a fair bit of re-arranging internally, while it is raining, and get stuck into the yard if the sun peeks out. The painter is bringing his gardener with him on Wednesday to give a quote on installing the paving out the back which will get rid of the piles of rock and bricks at the back and also, hopefully dispose of the various piles of builders sand as well.

Late last night it occurred to me that all that sanding and banging on the sides of the house would give the animals a nervous breakdown, so decided they should go into kennels for the duration. Fortunately I was able to get them in this morning as I was right - they were all aquiver at the sound effects and activity. Of course this freed me up to get the lock on the back door fixed and the side window replaced as the main obstacle to that has been animals making their escape if I was distracted for any period of time (which seems to happen with monotonous regularity.

So having dropped them off at Mangalore I continued into town and went to Uptons at Mornington. I have to say that store is becoming rather less useful, but they redirected me to their North Hobart store which stocks timber-framed windows (unlike them), and I found one exactly the right size for the opening available (900x1200, give or take a centimetre). So that is now leaning against the pile of useful timber and the painter is installing it tomorrow while I am at the History Room. Turns out he is very versatile so I will definitely be getting him back for a few other jobs - what he can't do he has a sidekick who can do it. And fast! The entire house has been scraped back and the front wall (and bargeboard) has been primed already. He even used grey primer on the bargeboard to give a deeper base for the oxblood.

This is the hole the window will be going into. It is  to the spare room (otherwise known as the toolshed). As you can see, the opening is currently blocked by one over-sized sash and a sheet of plywood - with polystyrene foam and garbage bag packed around the edges. I will be more than a little pleased to have a window there!

It is rather odd about the house with the animals missing. I have had a nervous twitch all evening wanting to take the dog for a walk, and have found leftover food something of a problem while eating dinner. But I expect I will adjust. At least it is only for a week. Tomorrow I will be presenting the painter with the various things he asked me to find (packing, disposable chisel, flashing etc) before heading off to clean a cottage then staff the History Room for the day - which will give me a chance to have a nap and catch up on my energy levels.

The day started in much excitement when a painter turned up to give a quote, impressing with his punctuality, insights and approach. So he starts tomorrow. He has links to a number of other trades and may be able to help me sort out the paving for the rear patio which would be excellent, and he does rendering also, so may be able to sort out the chimney in the loungeroom (though I have not discussed that with him). Then into the History Room where I had a busy schedule as i had to finish off my 'art work' for domestic violence (focussed on emotional abuse) which is shown above. I used the 'dying swan' image as a watermark on the explanatory note which forms part of the display. I am pleased with the concept, though the execution is less than perfect! lol

Then I put all the relevant parts onto the HR spinning wheel and it now works as well as it will ever work (which is not very well). The wheel wobbles wildly as it goes around, so definitely display only, but worth getting it together nevertheless.

I have the mounts for the flyer back to front at present, but suspect no-one will notice. I will sort that out on Thursday.

Got home to find the new modem for my NBN connection has been delivered. Unfortunately the antenna installation has been delayed. With their usual fine lack of concern for customer service, someone from NBN called last night to let me know they will not be here tomorrow as promised, and when I attempted to reschedule, told me I had to call my service provider to re-order on my behalf. I pointed out that while he was there, and talking to me, it seemed pretty straight forward to do it now. He assured me it was not permitted due to 'privacy considerations'. I pointed out he had my name, address and phone number as well as the order from Dodo so privacy was hardly likely to be compromised, but he was adamant. So I called Dodo who explained he was talking rubbish, sorted it out for me in 15 minutes, and we are now rescheduled for the 19th. Sigh. I will not open the package till the connection is installed as it will be pointless to do so (well, I will open the packaging to ensure it is sound, but otherwise will not bother.

 So this is yesterday's spinning. The lumpy bits on the left were my efforts until someone intervened and pointed out I was drafting too thick a chunk of wool. Once that was sorted out, the effort on the right is the result. I am pretty pleased with it, though clearly it will need to slim down a bit more so as to allow me to ply it and not end up with seriously chunky wool. Not that that is a bad thing in some applications, but more versatile wool would be more useful.

This for example - 8 ply is only marginally thicker than the wool I am spinning at present. As you can see I am now tracking fairly well with the jumper though it is a lot slower than the plain knitting of fair isle as you do have to pay attention and watch what you are doing so you don't end up with a knit where you need a purl.

There was a dog show down the back today so I ignored Seb when he became a little over-excited. But then there was a knock at the door which was him next door come to get his chooks back, again. Apparently the bit of wire they had propped over the pophole that used to lead to the chooks run till they demolished the run for reasons best known to themselves had fallen over (with a little help from either the kids or the dogs).

We had a nice long chat about his future plans - apparently he proposes to build a fence parallel to the boundary fence.................... I suggested demolishing the boundary fence and building the fence there might be a bit more helpful all round. Also offered to give him a hand lifting the fencing material I am giving him over to his side of the fence to avoid it disappearing. All agreed. I will not hold my breath.

I did ask him how he would feel if I trimmed the pines back to his boundary (something I am not entitled to do, but which would give a better long-term results) and he agreed to that, so at least I am making some progress, even if they aren't. It will free up air space to get large tanks etc into my place, as well as stopping the trees dropping things into my gutters.

The rest of the day has been spent messing around with glue and fabric to make tutus for my ballerinas. I cut up a pair of white knickers for the tights on the legs of the ballet shoes centrepiece, and some soft tulle for the skirts. Have found some gold satin for bodices and shoes, and ribbon for the ankles of the legs in 'tights'. Tomorrow I am off to the Mens Shed to drill holes to fit the tap and will then come home to do some more gluing and cutting out. I will also dig out the rest of my coloured pencils as the colours I am presently using are rather pallid and do not have sufficient variety for shading limbs and facial features/hair. Playing dressings up seems to add to the images, so I am happy I will get something not too embarrassing to go on public display. Just not quite on schedule as I will be finishing off in the History Room on Tuesday and the venue closes before the History Room.....

Painters seem to be a squirrelly lot - the first one asked for my phone number and address and four days later has not used it, the second one demanded to know how I got his contact details and, once satisfied I was not a representative of ASIO, then asked for my contact details but has not used them, and the third asked me to phone him. I did try, putting his info in the phone to use on Thursday during my time in the History Room, but forgot to include his number, so will call him on Monday. Meanwhile I have put the job on the same on-line notice board that produced a roofer.

He may not have good communication skills but he does seem to turn up, even if he forgets to let me know and does so when I am out. Fortunately I arrived while he was here, so the additional measurements he needed were achieved (he needed to borrow my ladder, hence the need for my presence). The reason he needed to borrow my ladder was that he was up this way delivering a load of firewood (talk about coals to Newcastle) and did not have space for his own ladder.

The reason I was out was because I was at the spinning group, working out if it was me or the wheel causing problems. It was me. Problem sorted now and getting a reasonable even thinnish yarn, so a happy woman. It's a nice small group of women who are all trying to learn to spin together, so it is sort of the blind leading the blind, but we each have our own pocket of knowledge based on the inquiries we have made - so I was able to reassure someone that plying would take some of the over-spinning out of her thread, she was able to show me how to draft etc. Nice. Far less competitive/attention-sheeking than the quilting group, and it only meets once a month, so no pressure to be there every week.

 The neighbours' chooks, which had resumed residence in my yard are once again penned. It only too five requests and a threat to have Council once again involved to get it done, so I wrote them a thank you knote and reminded them of my offer of fencing materials (they seem to come in, help themselves to anything but the fencing materials in the heap, and disappear when I am out and there is some stuff there that I want for my own uses).

Meanwhile the blog site does not seem to want to load photos, so you will just have to take my word for it on the progress on spinning and knitting.