Forever House #33

Sunday 27th October - morning (Ali's birthday x)

The lantana I pulled out on the afternoon I arrived

Hope my Toyota starts today. It started first time yesterday when I arrived, and then again and again as I pulled six lantana bushes out in the afternoon. But at dark, she decided to play her dodgy starter motor card. I was forced to stop and come inside. Instead of my usual regime of dinner and writing my blog - it was dinner and reading some of the first draft of my sister Peita's novel. I printed off three chapters thinking that's all I'd get to during the weekend - but I've devoured those and am disappointed I don't have heaps more printed to go on with. I'm up to Chapter eight of twenty and it's a rollicking read for sure. I'm really enjoying it.


Sunday 27th October - afternoon

I swim from the right of this picture up to the little grass island far left

Kettle's on - sun is soon to drop below the western hill - Mt Currawinya. I'm fresh from my afternoon dunk in the river - swimming various strokes up to my little grass island and back twice. It's easy entering the water at the moment - perfect temperature. Blissful. If the river was not here I'm pretty sure neither would I be. It's such a treasure. All that beautiful fresh water gurgling endlessly past my Forever House.

Before mudding selfie

I'm in mudding mode, which means gathering all the materials first. It takes a bit of self talk making myself shovel and sift the rocks of five or six barrows of dirt. That done, I chop a bucket full of straw and cover it with water to soak. I took the old girl down to the river this morning after she started no worries. I prayed she would start again to bring the sand and me back up the hill. Nah. She was playing still buggers again. I sat there trying and trying - and heard a car coming along the track from further down river. I was a little hopeful it would be Dave - he's a mechanic among his other skills. But it was a couple of women and kids in a white dual-cab ute.

The crossing down at my swimming hole

They stopped behind me and it turned out to be another share-holder Karen who got out to say hello. We have only met once before so it took us a minute to work out who the other was. Karen was very kind, saying she'd just been talking about my blog and that she loves it. Made me happy. Karen and friends were looking for a swimming hole that Gav and Dave had described to her. I gave her the directions that I could remember, and then she realised I was having car trouble. Next thing four of us girls had the bonnet up trying to work out which chunk of metal was the starter motor so we could give it a knock with something. We all stood peering into the depths of the motor, and finding implements for knocking things. I'm not sure that we found the starter motor but we knocked this and that and tried to turn her over a few more times without joy. I released Karen, Kath and the girls for their swim and got the two green Coles bags of sand and the shovel out of the back of the ute, to walk back up the hill and get on with some mudding. I couldn't resist turning the key one more time and bless her she started. This also made me happy. I left the motor running, stowed the sand and shovel and drove home.

The final bit of external wall up to ceiling

Five containers of sand lugged into the house. Next was water. I was delighted during the week to read on facebook that Daphne was mentioning lush rain falling. I knew my recently moved tank would have water in it. Dave very kindly attached a tap to the tank outlet on Saturday afternoon. But I couldn't fine any tap fittings that would allow me to attach a piece of hose. Therefore I lugged water, hopefully for the last time, up and around the house from the other full tank. I'll be sure to return with tap/house fittings next time I come out.