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Yard work
We’ve had a week with no rain so I decided to pull out our electric mower and cut some of the tall grass and weeds that have collected in our backyard. It’s an endless sort of task. I managed to finish most of one section but I need an edger tool to get the grass along the fences and walls. It looks somewhat better there and I got rid of most of the really tall, weedy grass. There were a few bits that had grown nearly to my shoulder, much higher than the rest of the grass there. The weather has been slightly warmer lately so I am a bit more motivated to get outside and do some gardening again. I really want to get a no-dig garden up and running this spring but I am unsure of the size I want and the place to put it. I’m thinking about a narrow garden bed along the back wall of the house. I used that area a few years ago for tomatoes and basil but haven’t tried to plant anything in a while.
I’ve noticed quite a few caterpillars in the garden this late winter so I’m hoping to see some butterflies in the spring. Unfortunately, I discovered I’d mowed down three of them (although I did manage to relocate several others).
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Stuff
I didn’t end up doing quite the things I intended to do today. But I did managed to accomplish a little anyway. I made up for two days of no exercise by doing two hours of exercise on the Wii Fit. I worked myself harder than usual and tried the more difficult levels of some of the exercises, especially within the aerobics category. I found I did far better than expected on a couple activities so feel a bit more confident to continue at the harder levels.
Game Fanatic saw the doctor and all is fine. We may need to see a physiotherapist at some point to strengthen his ankles. Previously she called it a strain but today she was saying it was a sprain. Not sure which it is but I suppose they both take some time to heal.
I received a jury summons a while back for later this month. Because I have full time care of children fourteen years of age or younger, I am eligible to be excused. I finally had that witnessed this week and mailed it off today. If I could be sure it would only be for one or two days, I would go ahead with it because they will keep sending one every two years until I serve. This was my second summons and I’d guess I will get two or three more before I am in a position to take it on.
We spent most of the evening watching the opening ceremony for the Olympics tonight. We’re in the same time zone as Beijing which is rather convenient for us. I couldn’t help wondering at the further pollution caused by all the fireworks but they were quite a sight. The ceremony was good overall but I don’t think it was as good as the one in Sydney in 2000. Strange to think how long ago that is now. Lego Lover likes to watch the parade of nations with all the different flags but he got bored after a while. When I found a list of the countries’ order online, he went off to play and we called out to him when a country of interest was coming up. Game Fanatic did stick around the entire program although he was reading the Scientist’s Far Side comic books at the same time.
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Appointments
It’s been a week of running to various appointments, most requiring significant driving time. The boys both had dental appointments with a pediatric dentist on Tuesday. This was their first visits to a private dental service and I think it was so worth the extra expense. I won’t say it went completely smoothly though. The anxiety and selective mutism of both boys did cause some bumps along the way. But both cooperated in the end and I think they are less worried about returning, even though Lego Lover claims his dental phobia is worse. I think the worst that happened for him was having to taste the latex gloves used by the dentist. Apparently they try to keep the staff the same at each visit so that children build up trust and confidence in the professionals. I suppose this mostly works until they have staff turnover, of course.
Anyway, both boys got good dental reports with regard to brushing and don’t have to return for another nine months. The dentist was actually gushing about Game Fanatic’s almost model mouth. His teeth have come in beautifully and there hasn’t been any staining or early signs of plaque as he usually see at this age in his patients. So braces will play no part in his future, which is great. Neither the Scientist nor I have had them either so I guess that’s genetics at work.
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Holiday, part 2
To continue the story of our holiday…Wednesday was a fairly wet and chilly day but we made the best of it. Our journey took us into Denmark, about fifteen minutes away from our cottage. Our first stop there was the visitor centre, which seems quite big for such a small town. It also houses a collection of barometers, including the largest in the world. One of the volunteers provided a map with some local attractions. We chose to visit just a few attractions due to the rain and the limited walking we could do with Game Fanatic’s sore foot.
We spent most of our time in the town centre and visited a few shops. I went into a craft shop that also sold ice cream, a rather bizaar combination. They had a lot of really nice yarns there but I opted not to buy anything since I’ve still got projects to complete. Lego Lover was hungry, of course, so the Scientist and Game Fanatic took him down to the the award-winning bakery for a sausage roll. It was much bigger than what he usually gets and he really liked it. With his lunch taken care of, the rest of us ate lunch at the Fig Tree Cafe. I had a veggie patty on a roll with chips (thick french fries). The rolls was huge, with a thin patty, lots of salad and sauce. It was very messy, but it was good. After we had lunch, Lego Lover was taken to the craft shop to buy an ice cream and they even had his favorite, cookies and cream. It should also be noted that all of us got something to eat at the bakery during our brief time there. The Scientist bought a vanilla slice when he got the sausage roll. I bought a hedgehog slice for dessert (best I’ve tasted and I’m not that keen on them). Then just as we were leaving, we got Game Fanatic a curry pie, which he said was very nice.
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Holiday, part one (long)
So we left on Monday for the six hour drive down to Cape Howe Cottages where we were staying at the Snug. It was cold and rainy as we left the city, with forecasts for the same over the week. The drive down was mostly uneventful, aside from a bit of a mechanical scare with the car where it was refusing to change certain gears just as we were leaving the city. It was okay after awhile and all was fine the rest of the journey. We stopped for lunch in Kojonup, a small town about two hours aways from our destination. Lego Lover refused to eat there or even to stay inside so waited in the car while we ate. He ate some of the snacks in the car instead and I guess was just fine with that.
We arrived at the cottage around 3pm, I think. It was late afternoon and the owner happened to come out to the gate just as we arrived, which was very timely. The rains had stopped at this point so we were able to take all our belongings inside in our own time. The kids were over the moon to be there and Lego Lover quickly unpacked his little bag and put everything in its place. He and Game Fanatic settled in quite quickly to just hanging out.
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Vacation
We went away on a holiday this week and I’m still catching up from my internet withdrawal. We had a great time and I will post more this weekend when my brain is working more effectively. Of greater importance to me at the moment is why so many of the l’s and i’s appear to be green rather than black right now. Perhaps my eyes are playing tricks and I should just go to sleep.
Also of interest to me is why Livejournal have yet to update the url of the syndicate I created for this blog, even though I requested it to be updated over a week ago. I discovered more recent requests that have already been answered…curious.
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Left-handed guitar
We finally were notified that the guitar ordered last Saturday had come in today. The Scientist took Game Fanatic to pick it up this afternoon. About an hour later I got a call from Game Fanatic, an extremely rare occurrence. He wasn’t terribly coherent and kept saying something about a left-handed guitar. The Scientist got on the phone and said the one that had come in turned out to be a left-handed guitar. They had been given the option of ordering again or of taking the floor model with a whopping $20 off. We decided it was time to request a refund and said goodbye.
About an hour and a half later, they walked in, Game Fanatic carrying a guitar case. It turns out when the Scientist requested a refund, the sales assistant spoke to the manager, who took the guy upstairs and showed him a stack of guitars. The sales assistant apologised and so Game Fanatic did get his guitar after all.
I’m glad it all worked out but we won’t be going back to this shop again.
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Another appointment
Seems we’ve been on the run most of the week and possibly will be out on another long journey tomorrow. Part of me hopes we can stay home until Saturday since we’re leaving on our short holiday early Monday morning.
Today’s outing involved Lego Lover’s latest appointment with his pediatrician to review medication issues. The previous medication didn’t have any visible effect so we stopped that one and started on the one he is currently taking. At the time, we had to stop another medication that he takes to help him sleep because the current one is supposed to make him very sleepy. That hasn’t been the case at all and he is often awake well into the morning hours. The good news is that he hasn’t had the typical appetite increase and weight gain that is common with this medication.
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Late night ramble
After a chilly morning, it turned into a nice day although not very warm. Game Fanatic had his D&D this morning and even he didn’t want to get out of a warm bed. I dragged him out anyway and once there, he was fine for the most part. I spent my morning crocheting blocks for Lego Lover’s Mario afghan and I think I managed about eight of them. Not very many considered we were there for three hours. I guess I spent too much time chatting with the other mums while there.
I noticed yesterday that a tree that had been uprooted in the storm was simply taken away yesterday. I don’t know much about these things so perhaps it was too damaged to try to put it right. But it’s a shame the tree is gone, probably to the shredder.
I’ve been listening to a marathon of Beatles albums tonight. I’m currently on The White Album and it’s almost finished but I may have to stop since my eyes are burning and I don’t have eye drops. I was hoping to read a bit before bed but that’s not going to happen now. Oh well.
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Quiet day
Today was rather quiet compared to yesterday. The storms have moved out and we cleaned up some of the mess from the broken fence. We also cleared out some mess from what originally was the no-dig garden (that never got going). The Scientist cleared out a bunch of rubbish in the area so it looks less ugly than it did. Without the cloud and rain, it’s now been quite chilly and will drop to nearly freezing tonight. Brrrr..
Earlier in the afternoon, we went to a music shop to take a look at guitars. Game Fanatic has wanted to try playing for a while. He really wants to learn to play bass but decided he would learn the acoustic guitar first. With the help of the Scientist’s younger brother who met us at the shop, we found one that was suitable with a reasonable price so we decided to go ahead and get it. The salesman tried to give us the floor model because they were out of new ones but we declined and had him order another one in.