chocolate cake needed

3.3.2012

The only cure I know for dealing with this level of problems is chocolate cake. I have started to bake one. The rain pours down and the mud level builds exponentially. The good news is that on Friday the plumbers put the toilets and gas stove into place in the new house. There are no drains connected up for the toilets, and no gas for the stove but at least I can dream more clearly of having a toilet where the rain does not drip in, and having a place to cook meals where you can put something down without knocking something else onto the floor!
We got up around 5am on Friday and had a cup of tea with Josh before he set off for Perth. By last night he had passed Port

Augusta and was on the straight road west across the Nullarbor. He will now be out of mobile range for a couple of days so we just have to wait and hope he is OK. He had his little white car (called Buddha) serviced just before he left and has taken an extra can of fuel to try and save money.

This year he has almost no funds to complete his studies so we hope he can find some part time work in Perth. A bit ago he thought he had found a job but disappointingly it fell through. I have offered to loan him some of our insurance money we are building the house with but he will not take it unless all else fails.

Edd has been to the market today and exchanged cheese, milk eggs and tomatoes for potatoes, greens and grapes and he is now back in his shed sanding down the vanity top he has built for the bathroom. I am painting lampshades silver to match the other stuff in the kitchen along with making cheese and the necessary chocolate cake.

Bo came over with Ollie and Sylkie this morning and had a tour of the new building. We discovered that more water had got down the second chimney and wet the walls so Edd and I have been on the roof putting up a tarp over the top to try and stop this happening. At least it is easy to get on the roof by just walking up there.

Also on Friday a lady came to Steels Creek to talk about the bush fire money. We have worked out that because no one has put in any submissions all the money that was donated to help us is going on schemes for other towns where no houses were burnt and no one died. The big problem is that the people who live in Steels Creek are a fairly independent, self reliant, mob who rarely agree on anything. The powers that be want everyone behind large community projects but in general this is just not working.

On our little side road there are at least 8 households still in temporary accommodation and this weather is making all our lives pretty grim. After three years our resilience is wearing out a bit and hearing about everyone else empire building from money that was meant to help us is rather irritating. I think I will get back to my chocolate cake baking!