10.11.2010. Great news. We now have a building permit and we may even have someone here to mark out the building as soon as Friday! At this stage it looks as if Larry’s workers are going to do the concrete work as their quote and timing was best. Also Al has worked with them a lot and they come with a recommendation. I have been dissociating myself from even the concept of having a house so that I can continue to live happily in the donga but I now feel an irrepressible spurt of excitement.
It was 33 degrees inside again at dinnertime yesterday and the cooking area is so cramped that making meals is an every day effort. There are so many things that we just do not do because we have so little space. Life goes on and in many ways I am totally content as we are. I miss things like having a proper bathroom and lots of stuff we have not replaced because there is just no more space to put anything.
Today we are selling the young male goats. Edd is fixing the fences so that the girls can then have outdoor pens to run in. Yesterday David H cleaned off the front patio of the ruin and re-laid bricks after the stubs of the old table and benches had been dug out. This has made a huge difference because it was a mess of burnt wood and debris piles before. I felt strange weeding the patio because it is exactly the same job as I have done this season for years and years.
7.11.2010 We have had a great day. The sailing club on Sugar Loaf dam had an open day where they offered a free day of sailing for anyone interested. Bo brought up Morren and Ollie and two of their friends, Max and Lilly and Al came with India, Arden and Ti. It was quite a windy day, but warm and sunny so we made a camp beside the ramp the boats used on the reservoir and all brought food for a picnic lunch. Everyone lined up, was given a life jacket and then taken out in various craft. They had little dinghies that the kids could sail on their own, a big sailing boat that went quite fast and medium sized boats that went very fast.
Morren and Max got rides in the various rescue boats. They went extremely fast and bounced out of the water. There was a bit of excitement when a catamaran capsized and a few people had to be towed back to the jetty, but generally everyone managed fine. The kids went back again and again for more rides, even Morren who is usually the one to hang back from getting involved.
1.11.2010. Last week was lovely. Warm to hot sunny days enabled us to get heaps done. Edd completed his fence project so the sheep and lambs are now enjoying fresh grass in the big paddock around the dams. On our side of the fence we have cleaned up our designated living space. We have also mowed all the grass and weeded the garden. The appearance of a tiger snake prompted this flurry of cleaning up activity, as it is nice to see what is lurking in the grass before it bites you!
In a storm of inspiration I even washed down our donga and got most of it painted in a dull, light, cement colour to tone into the surroundings. On a more practical level Edd got a ladder up to the roof and sealed up the spot over my bed with bitumen.
This was very fortuitous because yesterday and again today the rain has deluged down. Roads became fast running rivers and we were lucky to get back home before the bridge was flooded. At one point we saw what looked like a giant caterpillar crossing in front of the car. As it swam past I saw it was quite a large eel!
Today we drove out to check the damage. The water must have risen a meter over the bridge at some time in the night and Yarra Glen racecourse had become a lake. This is most unfortunate and does not look good for the big race meeting on Tuesday. The road to Healesville was closed and all the low areas of Dixon’s Creek were under water. It was rather fun looking at it all once we confirmed that our own home was leak proof again.
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