The Dreamwidth Account

1) I've moved house, which is why I've not been visible for the past couple of weeks. The new place is a bit more expensive than the previous one, but it comes with a lot more basic amenities, including things like a roof that doesn't leak, doors which fit their frames, decent insulation, air-conditioning and heating (both of which are relatively essential in an Australian context these days), and a dishwasher in the kitchen. We're currently in the unpackening stage, and probably will be for a few more weeks at least, if not months.

2) Subsequent to 1) above, may I actively dis-recommend iinet as an internet service provider to anyone living in Australia? They have been less than helpful and less than useful in the process of the move, and I suspect I'm going to have to argue things back and forth with them to get some billing issues sorted out (such as them charging me for another month of service at our previous address, even when I gave them two weeks notice of the move occurring during the previous billing period). They have not been helpful, they have not been friendly, they have not been particularly cooperative, and I'm just about done with them. 0 out of 10, would not recommend to anyone, not even my worst enemy.

3) Due to issues related with 2) above, we haven't had working internet for about a week and a half. I'm currently in catch-up mode, and I'll find out what's happened in the rest of the world as I go along. I'm reasonably certain the world hasn't ended (I'm sure I would have noticed if that had happened) but if people want to pass on bits of news to me, I'm not going to turn them down.

4) One of the things I'm attempting to do now we've moved to the new place is build a gardening habit. At the moment, it consists of five minutes work in the garden each day (timed on my phone), which at present is mostly about removing weeds from the front garden area. Which at least means the amount of weeds in the garden is going down slowly. I have Plans for one particular corner of the (minuscule) back garden area, but I'm going to wait until we have the house in vague order first, then hire it done, because these Plans involve a lot of set-up, and I know from extensive past experience I am not good at setting things up, although I am fairly good at maintaining them once I get the required habits built.

(I should note: the gardens, both front and back, are largely sand. Either black sand, because this is Perth and black sand is pretty much the default for most of the city, or yellow brickie's sand, because reasonably recent building site, and therefore covered in the stuff. Easy to dig, desperately hungry and thirsty).

5) As a result of extensive hand-washing and use of hand sanitiser, I'm now discovering I need to use hand cream more often. I would welcome recommendations from readers for a brand of hand cream which is a) not too expensive (I'm not paying more than about $10 at most for a 100mL tube, and probably lower than that would be preferable); b) not too heavy - I want something comparatively light and easily absorbed (for comparison - we have some sorbolene cream in the house which I don't use on my hands because it is too heavy, and leaves them feeling greasy; this is a sensory thing for me, so I'm likely to bounce off things good and hard if they're too heavy); and c) reasonably readily available in Australia?

Went off and bought some seedlings and seeds on Tuesday. This batch were all for the vegetable garden - tomatoes, capsicum, chilli, and cucumber, plus some corn seeds (the seedlings were all about $3 a pop, the seeds cost $6.20). Those have all been planted out, and I took some photos of everything yesterday. In happy news, the bush beans and climbing beans I thought weren't likely to sprout have decided to show me the error of my doubting ways, and have started poking their heads through the soil, so it looks like they're going to be an interesting mixture as well.

I'm in two minds as to where to head next when it comes to garden purchases. On the one hand, I need to get some hoses and sprinklers fairly quickly, since we're coming into the dry time of the year, and that means I'm going to be needing to water things. On the other hand, these are all things which will cost significant chunks of money, and I've just finished up the contract with the ABS, which means I'm back to subsisting on the dole. So I think the hoses and the sprinklers are next week's purchase (from Bunnings), done with some of my ABS money, with no seeds or seedlings added to the mix, and then I'll drop back to my intended habit of spending about $5 per week on putting new plants into the garden from there on in. Must remember to start a new page in the spreadsheet for "garden expenses", so I can keep track of what I'm doing.

(Just so everyone's aware, any photos of the garden are hosted at Instagram - the account is megpie71, same as usual).

Having had a couple of reasonably sunny days in a row, I got enough enthusiasm together this morning to head out and do some shopping for the house and the garden. For the house, or more particularly, for my bedroom, I went to Spotlight, and picked up a packet of that plastic-coated wire used for hanging curtains, and a sheer curtain to go on it (my bedroom window faces straight out into the street, and it's easy enough for anyone passing by to see straight in; I'd rather have the minor degree of privacy afforded by having a sheer curtain covering the window). For the garden, I headed down to Bunnings, and got a spade (or is it a shovel? Whichever of them has the square mouth, I got one of those), a swan-necked hoe, and a three-prong cultivator. I also bought a grafted black passionfruit vine, which I then planted out in the back garden.

I also planted out the three packets of bean seeds I'd brought with me from the last place. This comprised one unopened packet of "Purple King" climbing beans (which I planted out near the trellis) and a couple of half-used packets of green bush beans and yellow butter beans. They were all marked as "Use By AUG 2016", so we'll see whether or not they come up (I figure if they do, that's great; if they don't, well, no great loss).

There's photos on Instagram of the passionfruit vine, and the spots where I planted out the beans. Not much to look at for the moment, but I'm sure things will improve over time.

I also chucked another handful of snail bait into the mailbox, along with a fairly hefty scattering of the stuff on the ground below the mailbox. The aim being to eventually dissuade the snails from feasting on our letters, junk mail, and just about anything else which winds up being put in the mailbox. (Failing that, I shall settle for crushing up the snail shells and using them as a calcium supplement for the garden).

I've just been trying to cut the plastic covered wire (so I can put up the curtain) but ran into a minor snag... namely, that it's plastic covered wire, and I don't have any wire cutters to hand. So I shall have to wait for Steve to return home and beg the use of the ones on his Swiss Army Knife. First big setback of the day (*le sigh*).

Future plans include letting the plants be watered by the rain we're expecting tonight and tomorrow, and seeing if I can find me some information on how to do terraced garden beds for the long-term of the front garden (and the back, and probably the side alley as well). I also want to get my potted plants moved from the back paved space around to the front garden area, where I can keep a better eye on them. But that's going to be a gradual job (and may involve hiring or borrowing a hand-truck for the larger plants).

I went and visited my parents yesterday, and picked up a collection of plants for our garden.

( Long blatheration under fold )

(I'm considering the possibility of contemplating the idea of starting an Instagram account or something similar, so I can share pictures of this garden as I work on it. If only because I want to keep a record of what I've achieved).