Urban sketchers again

Last Sunday's urban sketchers was in Queanbeyan - twenty minutes closer to me than most of Canberra - so only an hour drive and one I was very happy to do. My husband came too, with the trailer, and he cleaned the house ready for the open while I was at sketchers, then we had lunch and went to Ikea for various bits of furniture that I didn't think we'd need ... more bookshelves for one. I caved. 

Sketchers was lovely - we went to the Auto Italia which is a national Italian car show and meet - lots and lots  of beautiful cars, and gelato, and cannoli, and Italian music over the speakers. I have no idea about cars but it was in a leafy park and there were lots of very happy car lovers about. 

I chose these two because of the wonderful colours. So did a few of the others, and we all got lots of questions, and people taking photos of us as we sketch, including the owners of the cars of course. People are all very friendly and kind about odd-looking drawings. 

There was a long red line of Ferraris. I have very little interest but they did all look lovely, shined up for showing. A few of the sketchers took on the challenge, but mostly the ones with marker pens. It was too red for watercolours. There were Vespas too - super cute - and even a few from the 1920s and 30s. I had a great time and must make sure to keep going, even when there isn't a house to clean. Which will be never judging by the market at the moment, it's not just us, it's completely flat. There is a federal election in early May so we're hoping that might be what people are waiting for (a few people in Canberra always lose their jobs when the government changes) but who would know....

Every day's an adventure

After so many years when the same thing happened every day, we are having different days all the time. Nothing exciting by any objective measure, but always something I personally haven't done before. We finally got out into the garden which was super exciting. And overwhelming. The weeding alone is going to be months of work, let alone anything more adventurous. 

We took to a banksia rose that was blocking the line of sight as we turned out onto the back access road. A full trailer load to the tip of prunings! It was well out of control. The new reciprocating saw is great, as are the hedge trimmers. Battery operated, but by the time they run out of power so have we. I can't do hours of hedge trimming with my weak little arms.

It was a beautiful morning and a lovely outlook onto the frosty cows. Sunday we went back into Canberra to clean for another open home - a few more people through but none of them bought it - and to look at the new carpet we had put in. It's a terrible colour (we didn't see it in person, just a photo) and they did a bad job so we've given them a rousing and they've apparently come back in and fixed it up a bit. Very disappointing ... but the carpet we had was seriously gross so at least it's not that. Then we had lunch with friends and picked number one up from the girlfriend's flat - dropped home via the grocery store - such unusual parental concern was because of a back strain! Fell over while skateboarding home from uni! This is a new pastime and I'm not sure it is an entirely good idea. But I'm glad we were in town and able to help.

And we are a big step closer to proper unpacking with the completion of the kitchen bench. We had to get the cupboard guy around to cut the wooden benchtop - we don't have the proper tools - and he did that, and attached it properly, and then suggested he could finish it off if we wanted him to ... which we absolutely did. And it took him and his offsider most of the morning - he said we would have found it a bit tricky - and because he is a perfectionist it looks amazing, and he put a lip on the back to try and compensate for the fact that the floor is completely not level in every direction, and the wall is also not level but in a different way. 

Cupboard guy's supervision dog was helping as well - she wasn't allowed inside because of the cat so followed my husband down to the shed to make sure he got the right size drill bit. So helpful. Anyway we are delighted with the unit and consider the cost of outsourcing the tricky bits an investment in our marriage, because there would have been bickering. We put three coats of varnish on the top and the knobs, then put everything in, moved the kitchen stuff out of the bookcases and moved the books in. Or at least some of them ... despite our very best culling efforts we do not have enough shelving and now have to either buy more shelves or lose some books. We can't decide.

Little things

We've unpacked and sorted most of the big things (except those kitchen cabinets, that could be a loooong process) so now it's just the endless little things to try and figure out.

This is the wi-fi extender - our house is kind of a capital-T shape, with the modem at one end of the top bar, and the bedrooms on the long upright - so the bedrooms didn't get any wi-fi at all. The extender has fixed that, and wasn't too painful to install, but the sewing room is right at the bottom of the T and still doesn't get any signal. I won't worry about it for a while, it might not be a problem! Depends what I do with my time perhaps.

I'm not sure if this photo shows it but the sunniest spot at the moment is mid-afternoon on number one's bed. The house itself is mostly quite dark with small windows but the two kids' bedrooms are west facing and get this wonderful sun patch in the afternoons. I have been having a coffee and a little lie down there ... often with the cat. Magnet for any sort of comfort.

The shadows are a bit longer and the nights are getting a bit colder but the fire is good. The washing line isn't in a very sensible place for drying clothes, but we did finally figure out the hallway light. It's a motion sensor! This is the hallway all the bedrooms come off, and they thought it was a good idea to have a sensor light that automatically goes off after a couple of minutes, and which doesn't come on at all if you approach it from the bedrooms. It turns out the oven is electric even though the hobs are gas, which we think is a true marvel of modern engineering. It's still turning out fabulous loaves of sourdough.

I went to quilters again on Tuesday, which was lovely - ten ladies this time. And cake for Carol's 80th, so double winning. I had lunch with my old work team in Canberra on Wednesday where I heard about all their adventures leading up to the end of the parliament. I feel a bit bad about leaving them to deal with it without me ... but also felt quite good about not being there. It sounds like chaos, but it was lovely to see them and catch up on the goss. 

We also took the opportunity to re-paint one of the rooms in the Canberra house and we are getting it re-carpeted. It looked very grotty with no furniture, so we're hoping fresh new carpet will tip the balance. Someone must want it, surely.

Such rain

We have had a very soggy couple of days - and it is a different experience when you're living in the middle of a lot of grass, without paths or a carport! We both have rain boots and a spot to put them - although the main door we use opens directly onto the kitchen ... which is friendly but does involve lots of mud where you don't really want it. I am not sure whether it will be one of those things that you get used to, or whether a long term solution is needed. There are a few things like that - can we live with this? Can we buy something at the hardware shop to fix it? Does it need an army of tradies and a five figure sum? Not that we have a five figure sum at the moment ... there was one person to the Canberra open house yesterday and it was a neighbour ...

We had our first visitors for lunch yesterday! It was so lovely to see them and show them our house, and they are old enough friends to forgive the chaos. I picked some of the late roses in their honour.

And it was cold enough to need a fire for the first time; well perhaps not NEED but we wanted to do it so we did. And it was lovely - the tenant had left a bit of firewood which we are using but we'll have to get organized and get some more in soon. This is the end of the living room that we have a bit more under control - the cat has claimed that chair near the fire, unsurprisingly. The proteas on the sideboard were from the local farmers' market on Saturday - small but entertaining - and the only thing we have put up on any wall is the clock that Dad gave us many years ago and suits the house beautifully! Thanks Dad .. and yes, we need a brick pad under the clothesline, but we won't hold you to it.

I wouldn't have said we own any trinkets or ornaments but look at the mantelpiece. Definitely temporary! We will find proper homes for things (before Christmas, my expectations are low). 

I have got my sewing / art room unpacked and kind of under control. Everything is put in a place but probably not the right place. I have room for two desks which is nice - I can quilt on one and paint on the other! It might drive me mad but I'll give it a go. I have a good view down to the garage and the old stable thing so I can keep an eye on whatever project my husband is cooking up.

This is the back wall of the sewing room - peg board is up and I put a new cover on the ironing board after I took this photo - it is fresh and green and fits in the garden theme! It was not at all the highest priority task but I did it anyway. Today we went to the dump; because we don't get any garbage collection it will be at least a weekly task. It's all so strange ...

Getting used to it

Still a very long way from settled in, but we are getting used to the changes and the constraints. There will be a slow process of finding homes for things and we are COMMITTED to continuing to downsize our stuff. Nothing comes in, just leaves! Except for the essentials of course (rubbish bins, shelves, we also need more lamps so that will be a fun hunt through antique stores) ... other than the things we have to have it will be minimalism all the way! Hah.

Some things are much easier to get used to than others. I am very fond of the walk to the washing line ... I may be cursing it before too long but right now I love the novelty, and the outlook. The walls are some leftover outbuilding or pig pen or something ... we have grand plans for a garden bed. And a path. I'm not sure if the photo shows it but the fence is our property line and we have cows on the other side. Very rural, although sometimes they do sound quite cross.

We already knew the kitchen would be a nightmare with limited storage, so we are storing everything temporarily in the bookcase in the hallway while we build more cabinets. We are building them in the shed so we can still use the kitchen. This means that 30 boxes of books are still in the lounge room and we can't park our cars in the shed ... but we weren't going to anyway, not for a while! It took us two years in the house before last before we got a car in the garage. You have to have somewhere to poke your bits and bobs ...

The cat has settled down amazingly well. She had a good explore of everything then ate some food and used the litter tray, so two thumbs up for her. There are a few good spots to watch the birds and some screen doors she can see lizards through so everything is OK in her world. When we were having dinner yesterday she jumped up on a chair next to us and gave herself a thorough bath which is the sign of a comfortable cat. My husband's sign is sourdough and he made a delicious loaf the day before yesterday - the oven gets his tick of approval. We haven't had gas since 1999 and it's taking a little bit of getting used to but the oven is definitely an improvement on the weird Italian thing. The cooktop's not as good as induction but it is still light years ahead of the awful ceramic disasters we put up with for 20 years before that. I think my comfort sign will be picking up a paintbrush and I unpacked everything today so possibly tomorrow! 

I also went to the local quilters group on Tuesday which was very nice - just four ladies there (they meet every week for a sew and chat) -  they have a designated space next to the scout hall and were very welcoming. I would like to get into quilting again now I (allegedly) have more time... In a month or two. When the house sells and the boxes are empty.

Unpacking is worse

Nightmare of boxes at the moment - it is all well and good to accept the idea of downsizing but the reality is  endlessly depressing. And I’ve gotten rid of so much stuff! Unpacking is so lovely when everything already has a place … we are not doing that. We are doing the opposite of that. 

The actual move went smoothly and only took two days rather than three … two very long days but we got through it. Today we went to the beach and fetched the cat who had been residing in solitary splendour  fed by the neighbour. She seems to be ok with the new place after a good explore. I am not so sure! Why does getting out of your comfort zone have to be so very uncomfortable??

Urgh packing is awful

This is the very dull world I am living in at the moment.

Things take up SO MUCH more space in boxes than stuffed into cupboards. I thought we had done a lot of decluttering, but there is so much stuff, and we are still finding things we can live without. Amazing how easy it is to get rid of something when it's actually in your hand and it's just a choice between two boxes.

Yes, I know, we should have paid the money to get them to pack it. But it wasn't just a few hundred more, or even a couple of thousand, it was nearly ten thousand dollars more and I can sling a few things in boxes for that kind of money. We are still getting them to do all the kitchen, glassware, paintings and anything fragile so it's kind of a compromise.

I packed my sketchbooks before I had a chance to take a photo of my urban sketchers painting, but here is a panorama I took of the temple we were trying to draw. There was much cursing! It is enormous, brand new, a very very odd shade of apricot and covered in tiny detail. I went very literal with mine, and it's not good, but some of the other sketchers did amazingly impressionistic paintings that really captured it. Despite the grumbling it was a good meet-up and everyone found something different in it. 

The weather is slightly turning and I had a foggy walk this morning. This is the Saudi embassy which hasn't been occupied for at least five years and is starting to look a bit sad. Then the fog burnt off, it was 31 degrees and scorching, and then a thunderstorm rolled through with heavy rain, and now it's steaming again. Not good weather to wrestle things into boxes. Why do I have so many clothes? I don't need to buy another thing until I'm 95. 

Made another shirt

 There's not much painting or anything interesting going on at the moment in Canberra - although I did go to Urban Sketchers yesterday, I'll have to take a photo of what I did - so the sole light of creativity is shining at the coast, where I made another cotton top. Nothing very exciting, and I've made the pattern before, but I thought it was pretty.

This is the outfit for someone about to go and spend two thousand dollars at Bunnings on a kitchen bench type thing. That we have to put together ourselves. I nearly cried at the moving guy when we realised that the quote was for us packing most of our stuff into boxes and that if we wanted them to pack it would cost double. I HATE packing but also LOVE money. It's a conundrum.

The cutest thing about this shirt is that I had some fabric left over so made a pair of matching shorts. I could wear them together, but I will not. It would look silly, but inside my soul I like the idea of rampaging around town in a cotton checkered set. 

Number two has gone back to Melbourne so a fleeting but very welcome visit .. including the new house finally! I don't know if it made a positive impression but that's where all their stuff is going so I'm sure we'll get a visit or two...

Took a break from all the house things

I went down the beach for a couple of days - so sick of everything to do with house stuff! So me and the cat headed off ... Saturday was an absolutely beautiful summer's day.

Then it took a slightly autumnal turn.

I did some sewing, went for swims and walks, ignored the cat mostly. Sometimes she found me.

We have number two staying for a few days, which is delightful! This was on the back of a weekend trip up to Sydney for Mardi Gras - the minibus made a drop off on the way back to Melbourne so happiness all round. The weekend sounded like an exhausting amount of fun ....

Made a shirt

I finally wore the shirt I made last time I was at the beach - nothing terribly exciting but should come in useful. The fabric is a fairly heavy viscose twill, so I originally thought it would be too dense for a shirt, but it has a lovely soft drape ... and there wasn't enough for a dress so shirt it was! A nice oversize shirt that's easy to wear with anything.

I didn't wear it anywhere exciting, just to the shops. Which is the most exciting place I go these days, except for my farewell drinks on Thursday, which was a lovely catch up with my colleagues. It has been such a nice group - we used to have regular drinks around covid time (whenever it was possible) because so many of us were working from home but it's faded off a bit since. 

Another shirt shot. It's been super hot here the last few days - more typical February weather than what we've been having. I've been doing some early morning nostalgia walks around the trails by my house - reminds me of lock down because these are the walks I used to do then. A two hour walk without a mask even though we were only supposed to exercise for an hour at a time with a mask ... how naughty and rebellious of me. I figured that the three people on average I saw on those walks who I avoided by at least ten metres did not pose a substantial risk to my health (or me to theirs).

Good cupboards, shit cupboards

Yesterday we horrified the cupboard guy - who has spent two weeks building the most beautiful built-in, solid-as-a-rock, painted and corniced and varnished cupboards you've ever seen - by building an entire wall of IKEA cupboards in the hallway/linkway. They are very awful, but we don't know what we're going to do with that space yet - there might be some knocking down of walls in the future - so cheap it is. 

The cupboards will be useful, although definitely not straight, despite our best efforts. That set up there took us ALL DAY from 8.30 to 5.30, which is more sustained effort than I've shown for anything in a while. We had to be out there first thing for the screen door guy and the mattress delivery guy (cupboard guy has a key) so we decided just to churn out the cupboards as well. 

This is what my rural idyll looks like at the moment. Absolute freaking chaos but I'm trying not to let me get me down. It will go, and then we can give it all a decent clean and put some curtains up. 

Cupboard guy has a very adorable old dog who supervises everyone quite closely. If asked, would I allow random dogs on my new expensive carpet? I would not, but given the state of the world, it is probably a good time to not sweat any of the small stuff. And this dog liked to come and give little nose rubs if she thought you were doing a good job, which was needed yesterday as we wrestled chipboard pieces together.

I did manage to connect the internet with hardly any fuss which is a major win. And the new screen doors look amazing -  will keep out bugs and snakes, which the old ones would not - so that's good. We got the indestructible security mesh but not for burglars - for the kookaburra who absolutely destroyed the old screens. Ripped the mesh out of the frame, twice.

On we go

 As expected, the house didn't sell at auction - although we did get to meet some of the neighbours we didn't know, house auctions are apparently a community event - so we've just whacked a price on it and put it on the market ... which is perhaps what we should have done at the beginning but it's so hard to know. And it probably doesn't make that much difference. This means more open homes, which is a pain, but our house has never been so clean and organised, so that's nice.

I am taking my walks around the lake as a 'farewell to Canberra' nostalgia event. It is a lovely walk, and the weather's been sunny but not crazy hot. 

Today we went out to the new house to pick up the trailer (remembering where the trailer is is an unexpectedly large part of retirement) and admire the new carpet that I hadn't seen yet. It is lovely! Not too dark and looks nice with the blue. We splurged on a very thick and bouncy NZ wool carpet that feels sooooo pleasant underfoot. Given the dodgy floors we thought a good carpet could hide a multitude of sins and so far so good. 

Cupboard guy still hasn't quite finished but we were able to put a few bits of furniture in the right rooms and it's made a big difference (psychologically if not physically) and feels a bit less chaotic. My husband vacuumed too - to get rid of the new carpet fluff and assorted mess - and that made it much better. We'll have to do a proper clean before we move in but it feels more under control now. On we go!

Week One

I'm typing this into my new laptop that I had to go and buy - as well as a new iPad - to replace the tech that my work took off me! I'm quite enjoying only having one phone but doing all the set-up work yourself is a lot of faffing about ... although our IT support at work was legendarily hopeless, so I have to remember all the eye-rolling I used to do about them and be happy I get to set things up the way I want for once. I got a gaming laptop because I wanted a proper graphics card (that's pretty much the only difference) - it's fine but I didn't realise it has a multicolour light-up keyboard that changes colour all the time! I'm sure I can turn it off somehow ... it's really not my vibe. 

I went in today for my farewell morning tea and lunch -  last week was too busy so we put it all off until this week. It was lovely, but feels like I've been gone for a lot longer than six days :) I heard all the goss and of course I'm still interested in everything, so it was nice to catch up. Such a lovely bunch of people I worked with, I am missing the chatting about gardening and baking already. Speaking of baking, a co-worker made a cake of me painting in retirement! Isn't it amazing? She thought I need stars on my pants, and I could not agree more.

Other than that it's been a lot of life admin this week - and admiring the flowers my husband gave me for retirement / valentine's day. Setting up the tech, putting the internet on at the new house, another trip out to fill more holes in the floor. Which was worth it because the carpet went in on Wednesday and they had no trouble - I haven't seen it yet (my husband went out for that one) so next trip. Cupboard guy didn't finish before the carpet which is a bit of a pain but he's promised to be careful with the painting and cornicing! Once he's done we will go out and do some serious cleaning - everything is filthy - then it's just external doors and we can finally move in.  And build the IKEA cupboards in the hallway; there's a bit we're not sure what we're going to do with yet so we're going the cheap option for storage until we figure it out. Yes, they will still be there in fifteen years when we move out, you heard it here first. So we also spent four hours in IKEA on Monday.

We've had a couple more open homes, including on Wednesday, to which one person came. The auction is on Saturday but we're not optimistic, after the initial flurry there hasn't been much serious interest. So we're thinking about our Plan B (and C and D). Luckily we don't have to sell in a hurry so we'll probably just wait for someone who wants to buy it! Highly sophisticated plan, as you can tell. We are both a bit discombobulated with the uncertainty and with everything that's going on ... but we knew this would be the shit stage, and it is... but the cat is super happy with us home, and especially when I have a little lie down after lunch. 

Retired!!!

Can you believe it, yesterday was my last day at work after nearly thirty years in the public service (or adjacent). I had a lovely week - busy, because parliament was sitting - but I made to sure to enjoy my last shifts, and my last meetings, and everyone wished me well and made a point of saying hello as I wandered about (getting my exit form signed off!) and it was generally a very nice vibe. I am so lucky to be able to leave on a relative high - without being sick of my job or hating it or being too old or unwell to continue - it is a rare privilege. Definitely bittersweet.

I wrote my retirement into some meeting papers and one parliamentary speech to make sure I got acknowledged (yes, I know, but if you want something done do it yourself) - and the member in question went beyond the bland sentence I'd written for some more heartfelt thanks, which was lovely and will now live in Hansard forever :) My other committee gave me a present (silk scarf, indigenous print, very pretty) and we had a cheesey photo in front of the flags.

My job is often on camera, which is normally not good, but it means there is a visual record of some of the past years! For your last shift they send in the official photographer with the telephoto lens ... the prime minister was giving a speech at the time so I did not realise it was me being snapped - and would also explain the smiling. We usually do the poker face but if the PM cracks a dad joke you're allowed to smile (photo credit Auspic, thank you for getting ALL my chins).

I also often pop up on the background of the news, which is a bit disconcerting.

Most famously, when one of the opposition front benchers dressed up as Tina Turner. I am very proud of my poker face in this shot because I was internally giving Much Sideye.

So there you have it, on to the new adventure!!!!! It feels so strange to be done with this stage of life but I am ready for the next one.

More house things

We had another open home on the weekend - not as many people showed up, which you'd expect, but it is a bit worrying. Hopefully someone will buy it ... we took the cat up to the lookout at the top of the arboretum this time. I don't think she appreciated it. Pam, I cannot imagine showing your own house! Or, even worse, being shown around a house by the person who lived there. Awkward! how do you peer into all the cupboards? I don't think I could contain my comments (in either role).

On Sunday we went out to the new house - I hadn't seen the finished paint job so that was very exciting. The dark blue in the hallway was a bit of a departure but I love how it turned out. I had originally thought a gold or mustard (because that is the colour I always want to paint everything) and I still think that would have been good, but the blue picks up on the blue tones in the stained glass above the end door. And it's nice and dramatic! There's light coming from all four directions, and as it moves about it changes tone, which is exactly what I wanted.

We spent the time cementing over the cracks and gaps in the floor tiles to make them a bit more even. The cupboard guy suggested cornice cement which was very easy to apply and is apparently nice and flexible and stronger than plaster or spakfilla. It will all have carpet over it so we're not too bothered but this should make for a better finish ... who would know. We got a sense of achievement.

The cupboard guy is building cupboards into the void between the kitchen and the bedrooms that we didn't know about ... when they dropped the bedroom wing in (old schoolhouse from a neighbouring small town) they left about a metre wide gap and closed it in. We didn't realise until the carpet guy was measuring up and the hallway didn't match the bedrooms. 

There was a HEAP of builder's rubbish (and general rubbish) in there, but cupboard guy has cleaned it out and put some more concrete down around the footings which were looking a bit trashed. So that's good. He also got a good look into the roof (very solid, they did a nice job adding it on apparently) and the sub-floor for the older part, which is apparently resting on boulders and bricks. Very normal for a mid-Victorian house and it's been standing this long so we're not too bothered. 

And it means our new cupboards don't extend so far into the room, so that's good. But he had to completely re-frame them so it will be wildly expensive but honestly? what isn't wildly expensive at this stage. We are spending money like you would not believe. On a more cheerful note, these completely neglected roses by the front door are stunningly lovely.