Foggy and I'm still in bed

I think my enthusiasm for projects might have worn off already - it's 9 am and cold and foggy so I'm still in bed. Number one son is still asleep and number two is on a birthday sleepover so there's no need to get up.... maybe for coffee. Maybe. I had a couple of days down the beach last week just on my own, and I am fully in the holiday swing now.

So, at the beach, we have new neighbours over the back. The house fronts on to the beach road, so has lovely views over the dunes to the sea from the front deck. But the back yard has been extremely neglected for a very long time, and there are some old and rickety gums that would easily crush our house if they fell, and lots of weeds and overgrown shrubs. So when the new owners said they would be clearing all the back yard, and putting a shed up, we were quite happy with that, even though it means we would lose our green and leafy outlook.

But the shed turned out to be 7 x 10 metres square, five metres high (to fit the boat in) and two metres from the fence line, which we thought was a bit over the top. So we put a submission in to the development approval people, and let the owner know, and we will see. Because of this, when I arrived at the beach, I decided to drive in around the block to have a look at their place and see if the renovations had started yet (they are doing the house too, but we have no problems with that, it's much needed!) .... I didn't see any renovations, just smoke and a fire engine with flashing lights and people arriving. I drove to my house in about two seconds flat and went into my own back yard to find the firies hosing down the large gum tree and I got to meet the neighbour - a very frazzled and highly apologetic neighbour. They had started clearing the back yard, and decided to have a small (and completely illegal) fire, which had then got into the ivy and gone right up the gums.



The photo is from the street in front of our house - the black stuff is all burnt - apparently it was quite spectacular ("just went whoosh! in seconds!") and they honestly thought they'd burnt down the neighbourhood. So I got to say hello, and then her husband (retired couple) came down later to rake up the soot, which was very kind of him, and have a chat. There was a frost that night which would have put anything out, and the sooner they get those trees down the better - I don't think a sound burning would have helped the stability. I told them burning our house down was a reasonable revenge for us objecting to their shed, and they laughed and laughed ... which is good.



So that was the excitement for the two days - otherwise I just went for walks, admired the odd sunset, and did some sewing. The usual! And bought a heater, it was quite cold. I am still not achieving very much.

Wednesday - school prize giving, drove to the coast (via Spotlight), long walk.
Thursday - 4 km run, made a baby quilt top, knitted a dishcloth.
Friday - drove back to Canberra, had lunch with a friend.
Saturday - 4 km run, voted, washed the walls to prep for painting, went to book club cocktails and out for dinner.
Sunday - made a baby quilt top, walked the dog.