More dull weather, but temperatures to match it today so the fire was a welcome addition (rather than a guest I forgot I had invited and had forgotten to cater for ...). So I spent a while downloading useful apps onto the new smart phone (banking, skype etc) and then googled around for shed designs and found one I fancy. I have been struggling with the need to have a pitched roof and trying to work out how to do it when it is me doing the building. This one gives me the result I was looking for and should be possible to argue past Council. It is basically a skillion with a fairly steep pitch, similar to the small chicken shed I built before. The high wall will face the neighbour (SE) and have the windows in it up high - so I get what is effectively south-facing light into the shed. Since there are sheds between her place and this proposed shed there is little risk a complaint of light pollution would be upheld. This also frees up the roof of the shed for possible future use for solar panels instead of having them on the house roof (there is underground electrical cabling to within four metres of the proposed shed footprint). The back wall, for reasons of economy and vernacular impact would be recycled galvanised iron I suspect. Likewise the two side walls which have no openings. The front wall, facing into the yard and with the two doorways, will probably be easier to do in cladding of some sort (vertical board and cover-strip perhaps, oiled black). The lower wall would, obviously, face into the yard. There would be two doorways - one of which lacks a door as that section (3x3m) will be for firewood storage. The other opening would have two doors of unequal width (800 and 400). The narrower one will be more frequently fixed in position but available for wider stuff. If I pour a slab for the main shed (4x3m), and have a gravel floor in the other - use recycled materials all round (bar the roof) then I should get out of it fairly cheaply I hope (apart from labour to help with erection). So that is now drawn onto the plans for the yard (which so far only get half way down the yard - I need another A3 sheet of graph paper). Elevations and specs are also on the drawing. That vast blank wall some of you will be envisaging between the two doors will possibly become the home of one of those lean-to greenhouses (with ample shadecloth) for winter seedling propagation. Or for the barbecue. Or for an outdoor sink ... or a solar wax melter and dehydrator ... who knows. I have downloaded the plans to help me draw up plans for building approval at the same time. This can be achieved if I get that part time work I mentioned yesterday, but otherwise may have to wait for the Herbalife to start generating a realistic income. The 'shed' part would be lined with ply and insulated throughout. Once I have the rest of the yard mapped out, I will see if I can photograph it with sufficient detail so you can see the overall plan ... There is a lot of truth in the thought that you have to live in a place for a while before you can work out what will work best where ...

well that was fairly randon - I just fielded a call from my former employers about a grant program I started roughing out while working there. Seem they may run with it so wanted to know if I will work for them if it gets off the ground. I feel some negotiation will be in order before I accept but it is good to know they feel they can pick me up and dump me with gay abandon as it suits their needs. Fortunately the new business is one that can be fitted around part time work at least, and if this gets of the ground (it is to do with rural buildings) hopefully there will not be a requirement for too much office time. Fingers crossed. I am sure the dog will be happy anyway as he does love his daycare! The rain continued in fits and starts today but only a total of about 12 mm so far over both days so nothing to write home about. The neighbour's funeral was today so the street is stuffed with cars presumably all attending the wake. I sent a letter of condolence (as opposed to a shop-bought card) so hopefully that will count as my duty done. The kids talk to me about it from time to time which I presume is therapeutic for them, so I just listen to what they have to say, bite my tongue and fume out of sight. Delivered advertising flyers to the hair dresser and the local supermarket - will see what, if any interest this draws, as well as local newsletter which, by all appearances, should be in circulation tomorrow or early next week (our quilting group meets in the same building it is published from). Now to move onto flyers to recruit people who may be interested in working from home ... it never ends really.

When your tanks are as close to dry as mine are, it is not necessarily a disappointment when your forecast 27 degrees becomes 16 degrees with a radar reading like this: At least I was not disappointed at any rate. The dog and cats were initially put out, but then smidgen found a new form of entertainment which has kept him amused and me annoyed all day. It involves sitting in the hall staring at the wall and making loud complaints of frustration - something like this: and giving the evil eye, like this: until eventually my frustrated curiosity cause me to find this: at the top of the curtain. Unfortunately for the mouse, he found my attention a little more un-nerving than that of the cat, so leapt to his doom on the floor. Since all three animals were, by this stage, intrigued, it really didn't stand a chance! Just listening to the rain .... ahhhhhhhhhhh

Having gone to enormous lengths to perfect the wording on the fliers I went into the Post Office today to find out how many people there are in our mail district. 850+ households... So I guess I won't be bothering with fliers after all. They can save a gum tree or six and I will run off some tear-strip sheets to distribute in appropriate locations. Sigh. There are up and down sides to living in the country - this appears to be a down-side. Of course the other down-side is that the cost of distribution is prohibitive - they charge the same per flyer as they would for a letter - $0.60 each. So it would technically be cheaper for me to deliver them myself - all the way to Tunbridge and Levendale and Swanston ... Silliness. And no. I am not that dedicated. I was wandering by the kitchen table this morning when I heard this little chirruping sound like a cricket - turns out this is the Smart-phones way of letting me know I have messages. Despite upgrading the technology, this phone does not appear to receive a sufficient signal to work around here. Good thing I designated it the work phone. So it will be a daily trip to Oatlands for sufficient signal to communicate from now on. The good news is that I have to do that anyway to listen to the daily training session. And by Wednesday I will have someone to teach me how to program it to receive my emails while I am out and about. The messages themselves were a surprise. It turns out that either my google-maps entry or my free listing with a (who is where type of thing) directory has resulted in dozens of people wanting me to advertise with them too. Two of the calls were Search Engine Optimisation offers (asked to send an email and told I would get back to them when I had an income) and one was a chap canvassing to advertised in the Australasian Police Magazine which comes out in June and goes to all police stations, state and federal as well as to the NZ Feds. Since I can service all of this area, I have suggested he make me his sole Herbalife advertiser lol. It would be a great market to crack as we all know how many fat police men there are. The main attraction of this option is that this quarter's magazine will focus on health and fitness, so the ad fits perfectly. I have no idea how he got my name, given all the Herbalife distributors that swarm around the place, but there you go!! I am happy. Now just waiting for it to cool down a bit to more moderate climes.

Ooo, how naughty am I? I have just created a Facebook Page!! For the Herbalife business. Get in there and 'like' it for me to raise my profile, please ... Search Herbalife Tasmania and you will find me if you are not already on my 'friends' list. It's all been business today - sorting through templates for flyers (and re-wording them so they are not so 'cheap and nasty' sounding - 'Lose Weight Safely and quickly' instead of 'lose up to 15 kg FAST' - you get the idea. That would be about my only complaint about the program to date -I feel it undervalues what is a good quality product - may be I am just a snob ...? The neighbours almost got a horse today, but fortunately it went back to where it came from. So relieved! They had been planning to bring it into the yard over the lowest, most collapsed bit of fence!! (here horsey - you want to get in and out easily? Well this is where to do it). Sigh. Still unclear when the funeral is, though Wednesday still seems firm - just have to get the time established. Never mind - the Catholic network is alive and well and despite not belonging, I get to hear the news. So that will be severe black to Quilting on Wednesday then... Tonight will be marinara mix done in a tomato-based pasta sauce served on pre-cooked rice noodles which apparently are made of air for all their content ... With a green salad on the side. They actually have advertising options on Facebook- who knew?! I can access over 1 million people in Oz, NZ and the UK just by clicking a button. Every time my ad is seen my budget is diminished accordingly - you get to allocate how much you are willing to spend. Details on how much each individual sighting costs are, of course, obscure, but it will be good to do this later when I actually have a few sales under my belt and some money in the bank to pay for this option. Interesting to see if it works...

I trotted down to Hobart today to an all-day training session for Herbalife which involved vast quantities of food (which I am assured will not adversely impact my diet) and a lot of talking. This was also an ideal opportunity to look into smart phones and get a new battery for my wristwatch which died yesterday. SO I am now the proud owner of a Samsung Galaxy smartphone that I have no idea how to drive, but it looks smart. It is also a separate phone number to my home number so I can keep the two things separate for both tax-tracking reasons and also for voicemail messages - once i work out how to do that on this thing. It has apps and widgets and all manner of scary doo-daddies on it. This may take a while. It was good timing though as I was about to get business cards printed and place ads and get flyers made up and such like and being able to use a separate number will be most helpful in that regard. Shadow spent the day in day-care and had such a good time he has yet to wake up. The cats are rather less rested and demanding immediate attention. They can wait till I have had dinner thanks. The girl at the Kennels is using a bog-standard diet shake so I have sent her info on Herbalife and will also send her some samples to try. She is presently working two jobs so may also be interested in the work-from-home option which would kill two birds with one stone for me and get me started in business - fingers crossed. Off to surf the net, and work out how come the phone is smarter than me. ETA - forgot to mention - the neighbour has finally died. Naturally he had not invested in funeral insurance, so his widow (mother of 7 kids still at home) is left carrying the bill. Feeling very angry right now as that is the least of his offences in the last few days.

Yes, I know. I've been fiddling again. A lean start to the day with fasting bloods to be taken early, then home as it was short and sweet, then back into town once again to have the hair shaved (well all those split ends trimmed off to the tune of about 2 inches of hair). Then I sauntered around town with the camera and undertook a small photographic essay of some of the newer businesses so that I could post it on Facebook. Once that was done, of course, I had to find the websites for the businesses so they too could be posted on Facebook (I wonder if I get commission on this ... lol). The hairdresser seemed keen to have business cards, flyers and info on the Herbalife stuff, so I have arranged to drop some in next Wednesday once I check out what I can and can not use (company rules to be obeyed) and she is also willing to consider stocking the shampoo for clients - wow! So I have told her I will order a couple of bottles for us each to try and she can decide then. Obviously she would be a wholesale client, but hey - its all business really and spreads the word around the district in a favourable manner. The official weigh-in was a day early as tomorrow I am heading down to town early, but it was encouraging once more. Another kilo I don't have to carry around with me!! And while taking the pix I of course, succumbed to some of the products so am now the proud owner of a bottle of tasmanian-grown olive oil. Mild and subtle - ideal for dukkah, bread dunking and pouring over a salad.