Conversations with a madwoman

Mm-mmm.


So yesterday morning torasin swung over to help his dad set up a tent for his triathlon, while I scooted up to southland for a badly needed haircut and some supplies. Treking back home, laden with meats, veggies and rat fuds, I sprawled a bit and repaired/fitted a bike computer to the exercise bike I snagged on hard rubbish collection while His Lordship bbq’d up a shitton of snags and onions. Mmm.

Post-prandial, we stained down that deck I built a couple months back. (which got moved back into place this morning - 16 hour drying time).

( is purrty )

That accomplished, torasin had a sprawl while I puttered about repotting some tomatos and eggplants.

( We werk hard, we play hard )


And then I got stuck back into my rug I’m latchooking for the hallway.

( Look ma! I’m makin’ a rug! )



And of course, ( you’re all wanting to see the new babies.... )

Been working on christmas presents. Since money is tight, making a lot of them. Including DRAGON EGGS! Painted a bunch of them today, will wash over them for aging and gold leaf them tomorrow *nods*

Although I need to find a way to wangle some silver paint for a presentation thingie.....

(I'm ok saying this here, because one recipient doesn't read this, and the other knows she's getting them - in fact, when I inquired as to present'ing due to possibly increased finances, she huffed and demanded her dragon eggs instead)

Mum and Dad taken care of, moonmip and Hosebeast in progress, moonmip's other half done, a collection for the lovely torasin....now I just gotta work out wtf to get for my nephew. Under 20, can't fobb him off with handmade, dammit :P


no pics until gifted, because surprises are required


Running out of places to put water. We're gonna get pissed on for the next week, too. Planning when finances are better to get another tank and complete the quartet for the veggie garden, and then another one for the other end of Hoptopia. So rather than fill them with washing machine water (which I try to keep to 10% or preferably lower of tank content anyway) I'm pressing every damn holder we have into service....

So one of the infections that landed me in ICU and then abscessed and burst and was all horrible and gacky with the barley-sugar sized piece of hard, purulent flesh coming out in a chunk and right now you're writhing and screaming "TMI!!!" but suckit because you're not the one who's had to deal with a suppurating HOLE in your body has had a bit of a silver lining. Two weeks no chemo, and at least another week and a half. The doc finally pushed me too far and got reamed and is taking the opportunity to do PET scans, check where we're at and oh, I don't know, actually do his fucking job and work out where we're at instead of poisoning me willy-nilly.

This is not dramatics btw. Chemo is quite literally them filling your system with as many vicious, cytotoxic cell-killing poisons as possible and then hoping the cancer dies before you do. How quaintly medieval.

But yes, I have been home and have been letting myself heal before they go fuck me up again. Been spending as much time as possible working outside and getting filthy and sun-warmed. My garden beds are all turned and mulched and redone and pretty and new planter boxes of peas and zucchini are settling in nicely. Found Coles flogging 25l bags of mulch that is pretty much wheat straw and shit for $6, so ordered a ton for my veggies - so far I've identified cow, sheep and chook manure in there, so win win! (and I swear to god there was some roo shit in there too). The ornamental beds got the plain, bog-standard bark-based mulch. Spinach is coming up, basil everywhere, chives, lemonbalm, lettuce, roquette, zucchini, cucumber, eggplant, onions, potatos, corn, leeks, peas, tomatos, rosemary, sage....you name it, we're growing it. I'm not fucking around any more, last year was a pretty much "lessee what grows" - now it's a full production garden.

And torasin is planning on growing his own hops, so the side of the house is being prepared and I've already snagged him an automated watering system, tank and trellis wire :) (He's been informed he needs to buy his own shit. Quite literally)

Built a pull out cupboard (example) for torasin's beermaking supplies yesterday. Although the one I built him is a fuckload taller (2m) and wider, and made of Tasmanian oak. With moveable shelves, and instead of guide rails, one side with an MDF backing so he can shove it back. Which means that we can now move the couch out of his office and into the garage (he had his beermaking supplies stored in boxes under the couch). Which then means we can move the old comfy couch from the loungeroom into his office. And then have room for me to build that friggin' credenza. When I get the wood. And table saw. And money. Argh.

Today was spent cleaning out the garage and mulching and watering and trimming back the grass and bamboo. And sanding down the table and chair I swiped from hard rubbish back in April. Mqhele wandered over as per usual to nick interesting looking plants and have a natter, and ended up trading some paving tiles for a succulent, and a barrow full of solar powered LED lights I need to repair for him. torasin happily swept out the garage, bottled his latest brewing venture, tooled up and hunted down fish and chips, stained our lovely new table and my new wooden chair and went crazy with the whipper-snipper. The garden is finally starting to look like it should, and it was a lovely day we spent lounging under our repaired sail in our swishy restored outdoor area. I even managed to find time to clean the toilet and do the washing.

It's nice being in charge of own destiny and household stuff and just doing things that have been put on screeching halts due to the screaming clusterfuck my life has become.

Kylie Minogue once described chemo as "Like being caught in a nuclear explosion". She's full of shit. It's like being slammed by a train, and then being dragged, screaming, bleeding and crying along the tracks. And the train never fucking stops.

So yes. Shitful work day. Arghh. And Tuesday I have to fix Brad's iPod. Oddly enough, this is the third one I'll've taken apart and repaired since I started there. Word gets out o.O

So I got home and worked it off :D Blacked the backrest of the garden bench, sanded the fuck out of the wooden portions of same, and started on first coat of stain (bumrest already done). Wired up the new surround sound speakers, and modified the TV's colour values to compensate for the....orange of the new AV switch. W00t. We now have a setup to terrify all and sundry. Bills paid, and picked up a vacuum food sealer dealy - so now when torasin leaves food in the fridge until it achieves sentience, we just have a little baggy to toss. *nods* But mostly for the garden because sweet jesus the weather has been kind to it of late. Corn's growing like buggery, Tomatos all over the place, thai chillis out the wazoo, strawberries starting to flower, and the spring onions. Dear god. If you want spring onions come. Take them. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, TAKE THEM. I had 0% propagation failure AND THEY'RE FUCKING EVERYWHERE.

Plans for the weekend: Mow the laws, cut back the trees, re-stake the tomatos, finish repairing the chook shed, mount the rain sensor, poke badgers with sticks. And harass the kmeme :D


....Or not. Enigma's starting the HD whine. *goes to hunt down the one responsible*

Welp. Credenza-ing hath not occurred. However I did managed to clear out that side of the house outside my office and finally pebble it down. You know, like I've been planning to since, uh, I was working at Dodo

It involved removing about a ton of dirt (by HAND, dammit) and then sifting. Oh the sifting. Rocks went into one tub, finings into another (to be mixed with potting mix and put into planters) and the third to Mqhele, who's always after soil to fill his soon-to-be garden beds.

Dig out, fill 60l tub. Sift. Sort as above. When finings tub gets full, empty into a clean bin for storage. When wheelbarrow gets full, truck next door and dump in Mqhele's bed. When 60l bin is empty: resume shovelling.

After that - theft of Mqhele's pile o' stones (relax, he said we could). About a ton. By hand. Again. Alternating between the wheelbarrow and bukkets. BUKKETS.

Yeah. I needed about four showers and half a box of baking soda just to get to the point where I'd be classified as filthy.

Also cleared out the bed along the side fence, trimmed back trees, took charge of my delivery and on-planted the Blueberry bush, spinach and rocket, planted out some more corn, topped up the herb garden, joined the new tanks and PUT TOGETHER MAH WATERING SYSTEM

oh I love it. I do. Even if I found out I'm short one fucking 90c elbow joint. As per fucking usual (the whole system doesn't have any end-stops - water cycles constantly through it much like radiator coils on the back of a fridge. Maintains much better pressure for a system feeding off a rainwater tank) But I fired her up with a couple of thumbs in the way and the automatic system set to manual and schwee!.

Unfortunately I had a mild mishap while placing the feeders for the corn and sat on a tomato bush, but these things happen.

Tomorrow: Finish securing the coke can guttering on the chook shed and place the downpipe to the tanks, probable trip up to Bunnings for 90 degree elbow joint, and some little clamping pins to hold it all in place. And price out some rain sensors (the automatic system I got comes with the capacity to plug into one) and probably pick up a dwarf citrus and another half-casket planter to plonk it in. And strawberries around the base :D

After that, the last things left (quite literally) on my "I keep meaning to..." list are digging over the pea half of the garden, giving it a crack at some more peas again, finish fixing the guttering over the courtyard and sand down the jarrah set and the garden bench for restaining. Not bad for about 12 hours work methinks :D

AND THE ENTIRE FUCKING TIME I HAD FUCKING ERIC FUCKING IDLE SINGING "FINLAND" IN MY HEAD.

Accomplishments and insanity. I HAS THEM.

Delicious, delicious evil.

Went over today, dragged a ton of stuff home, have more being delivered. Long story short, after this weekend I expect to have a fully automated watering system for the vegetable gardens (fed by two tanks that are in turn fed by a coke-can guttering collecting water off the chicken shed), a half-casket full of blueberry bush surrounded by my existing lettuce and new rocket and spinach plants, the table and chairs sanded down fully and hopefully re-stained by dear torasin and a great many biscuits glued to things.

So yeah. I picked up the blueberries and the half-casket planter, some Italian planter bowls, two new water tanks, an automated timer, 40m of 13mm piping and assorted drippers, almagam tape, two 750mm clamps, a bukket for torasin to store his beer things in, my biscuit joiner, biscuits and a shitload of sandpaper. Oh and potting mix. And probably a bunch of other stuff I've forgotten.

Pondering if Mqhele next door is going on a Bunnings run on sat - if I can cadge a ride, I can pick up another half planter and a dwarf citrus. Mmm. Lemony.

Kinkmemes are still eating my soul. Violin porn. woot. Although I have the feeling that one's a bit flat *pokes it with a broom*

Beans is doing well. Got a lot of her equilibrium back, but is still a decidedly grumpy rat. So situation normal, I suppose. She's being placated with a great deal of egg custard to make up for the huge course of antibiotics ahead. She's developed a fondness for eating her chocolate buds sideways - must take a video, it's frankly hilarious :D

Still not king. But I am Pharaoh, so I suppose I shall be content.

So after being told I can have it then I can't then threats of disembowelment, my holidays start COB TOMORROOOOOOOOW

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY

( This is what I'm planning on doing )

Well, not all of it obviously. Gonna cost a wee bit and I need to build back the rat savings after the latest adventure of Beans. But I am picking up a good chunk of the wood, and a biscuit joiner on Thursday (along with the bits to finally get those friggin' tanks in) and will be MERRILY PISSING ABOUT for the next six days

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

First time on a presentation piece this fancy, so wish me luck and expect picspam :D :D

Srsly. Just bought a nice little table router attachment from JustTools, and am eagerly anticipating it's arrival. (We have a plunge router, but I want a table one for finer work) This means I can finally, uh *wince* get off my arse and seriously start working on that vulcan harp.

And our new couches.

:D

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