Hot Days

I am back at Hungry Jacks again for a coffee and a bit of internet. Telstra has now confirmed, once and for all, that ADSL is a no-go so we're waiting for the paperwork to get satellite services connected. 

Dan has gone back to work, so work around the house has slowed a little. Lucinda and I spend our days looking for the best ways to beat the heat. The house is completely uninsulated and has been pretty unbearable during the day, so we've been escaping to the front lawn, shops or to visit friends where necessary.

Later in the day, the front veranda - which faces East - is the best place to be, when all the windows are open, anyway.

Yesterday, this pine tree came down. I am sure I don't need to explain why we felt the need to get rid of it! It was half eaten out by borers around the base and leaning precariously over our roof. Every time a storm came in, Dan and I would cross our fingers and hope for the best.

I feel a lot safer now it's gone.

Lucinda and I found this little cabinet in an op shop for $5. She was very helpful in getting it cleaned up.

It fits perfectly in our shabby bathroom.

In other news around the place, I've got an envelope in my bag containing what I think may be a fire ant. These ants are incredibly dangerous and the Queensland Government is working hard to eradicate them. We're in a  'high risk' area and have seen crews working to find nests on nearby properties in recent weeks. Today, I was at the compost bin and spotted what looked suspiciously like one.  I caught it and popped it in the sample bag provided by Biosecurity Queensland. Fingers crossed that it turns out to be a harmless native ant instead.

This weekend, we're working on getting moved into the master bedroom as we're still sleeping in the sitting room.

We're also planning to sit down, look hard at our budget and work out what jobs to prioritise. There is literally so much to do around the place, it's hard to know where to start.  Roof repairs are top of the list, and insulation, and getting either the future ensuite or family bathroom done.

In the meantime, we're set up and reasonably comfortable (albeit in a rustic kind of way) in the house now.

Here's a few glimpses from around the property. You can see we have a slight problem with weeds currently (!) but at least we get some friendly visitors.

Here's a look from the veranda at the horses in the paddock opposite us.

For all the challenges the house is already throwing at us, knowing that we'll eventually have a wrap-around veranda looking out at this makes it all worthwhile.

A functional bathroom would be damn nice, though.