A Parlour for a Plague

Obviously, you should know where he is before covering it.

I’m glad the chickens got fed! And you got ice cream. We have a week of rain this week. Hoping I can dodge out between showers to exercise...no flooding!

How’s covid in your neck of the woods?

Thank heavens you didn’t lose him!

Silly cats. They love to explore and explore, then panic when they can’t immediately get to where they want to be now.

I wonder how he’s climbing back up? It’d be great to know what he’s found.

Are you recovering from the move?

I’ve been enthralled by a book and a TV series...adapted from a book.

The book is The Sympathiser, about a man who acts as a mole in the South Vietnamese Special Forces and then continues that role as the losing side refugees to the US. I love the tone of the writing, the history and the characters. I also feel quite close to him as he very much reminds me of communist Asian friends here and their close relationships, their reminiscences of home and the political discussions. The protagonist is very cynical about politics and finds humour in it all.

The Tv series is Little Fires Everywhere

Anyone else found really engrossing stuff to read or watch?

Lncaster County has one of the highr covid death rates among adults. The county has several very large Adult communities nd old age facilities (Im talking thousands of guests in about 6 major facilities)
Lancaster County is quite rural but the high density populations occur in th city and in these old age and adult communities.
Its come down ever since the gov had initiated several close inspection teams bcause it appeared that the deaths were from ewxternal transmission from staff who are apparently not concerned or poorly trained.
However, one of the very largest (maybe the largest) adult and old age care and residential community <Called Willow Valley, has thousands of guests and has had less than 10 deaths by covid), and many of those were the result of self checking out without notifications of the staffers so the guests could be watched carefully or quarantined.

The daffodils are out, the wattles are flowering and it's a week until spring, and it's absolutely freezing. We've been hit with a blast from the Antarctic for the last couple of days with snowfalls yesterday. It's sleeting again now and I think it will probably snow again tonight.

This has felt like a very long winter and while I'm looking forward to it warming up a bit I'm also dreading it a bit. It's a lot easier to stay home and isolate when it's like this. Once the temperatures go up people will want to get out and about more. And masks will be more uncomfortable to wear in the heat.

Where are you Cherrie? I know I have asked before! Sorry.

I’m near Adelaide. Been cold and wet here...but almonds always blossom in August, no matter what.

Looking forward to first warm weather, but horrified to hear Northern New South Wales already has fires!

We have the odd covid case appearing here and there, mainly in people in quarantine who have come in from overseas or interstate, so we are on stage 2 restrictions

Let’s hope one of the vaccines comes through

I'm in Gippsland about 200 km east of Melbourne in the foothills.

I hadn't heard about fires in NSW. That is worrying, the season seems to be starting earlier every year.

Checking in re house.

Been here 2 weeks.
In some ways I feel so much has been done, in other ways it feels like I've done practically nothing.

On the "got it done" side.
Got my bed in the master, frame and mattress. Have the mattress for 2nd bedroom, apparantly frame is on backorder.

I've discovered the joy of having a garage. No more getting into a broiling hot car. Able to leave items in my car because I can come out later and get them.

I absolutely Love my master bath. Huge walk in shower, garden tub (which I haven't used, but have sat in. 2 separate vanties plus a, I don't know what you'd call it, grooming area. The size of the walk in closet is obscene. It's way to big I think, and would promote shoving "stuff" into it if one isn't careful.

Meeting some neighbors, so far so good.

My back yard measures in a just 1000 square feet. It has grass, which the HOA fee doesn't cover as far as mowing.
So, as I speak I've got God knows how many tons over river rock sitting in my driveway, and a crew of 4 men taking up the grass, capping off all the sprinklers except for one in the corner by a Live Oak, and making it zeroscaping. There's going to be 3 boulders installed in the middle. They'll be mulch around the tree. The entire yard is fenced in.

Here's a snapshot of a typical conversation I've had with I think about 4 people I know about this. Keep in mind these people know I plan to spend from May through September (hot here) out of the country.

Rock? Just rock?
Yes.

No grass?
No.

You could put a strip of grass/plants along the back, or by the patio.
Yes, I could. They'd die because I won't be here.

You could get someone to take care of them.
Yes I could. Why though I won't be here.

It'll be so hot back there.
I'm sure it will be. I won't be here.

What about when you're here in the Winter?
What about it?



True fact. In the 00 plus years I lived/owned in my old house, I sat out in the backyard exactly 2 times.
Once with my ex husband. Once with my forever husband.

This house has a small covered patio, so maybe I'll sit out there in the Winter a little bit. But then I'd have to buy a comfortable chair, and a footstool. Or drag one out from inside the house for the 1/2 hour I'll sit out there. Staring at 1000 square feet.

Good landscaping decisions.

Thanks.
Also, I like the clean look of rocks and stone.

It looks, complete, self sufficient, satisfied with what it is.

Sure I like beautiful gardens. But they speak of dependency, needing constant nurturing.

Feh on that.

One thing I Do Not like about this house.

The placement of the air conditioning filter. It's way up in the attic. I asked one of the movers to climb up the attic ladder to tell me where it is. He said you'd actually have to get off the ladder and into the attic to change it.

How stupid is that?
I'm certainly not going to climb up there and break my neck. Not even when I was in my 20's would I do that.

My realtor bff said he would see that in homes, and it would really piss him off. He said it would have taken 5 minutes of planning to put it in a more accessible place.

There's a few other small items I'll need attending to, so when I have them all lined up, I'll go onto Task Rabbit. I can find someone who will take a general small, get some stuff done gig that isn't skilled for $30 to $35 an hour. What I have shouldn't take but an hour.

Glad you’re reasonably settled. Are you enjoying just being there so far? Great that the neighbours seem good so far.

What a year you have had!

The first neighbor I met I saw even before I moved here. He is a good person, but his personality, once I met him, really made me silently laugh and wanted to go text my bff as soon as I could about him.

First off he's I guess in his late 30's early 40's. Good looking man. Don't know what he does for work.I have since met his wife and found out they have 12 year old twins.

But. Did you ever watch/see the old sitcom Bewitched with Eliz Montgomery?

He is the Gladys Kravitz of the neighborhood.

I'm actually calling him Mr Kravitz with my friend.

I mean, this guy is Everywhere. I would leave the house at the most random times, and there he is. Fiddling on the front lawn, walking down to the mailboxes, watching a car drive down the street (that's how I first saw him when I was just looking around the neighborhood. He watched as I passed, and when I looked in the rear view mirror, he was watching me proceed at 25mph down the street )
One morning I had to go to the old house to meet the junkmen at 7:30, so I left the new house at 7am. I left the neighborhood, and drove up the road about a mile. There he Was! Walking the dog. This guy is EVERYwhere.

I mean, people should look out for each other in their hood, it's just really funny. Maybe he's former military or something. He's pretty by the book during our conversations.

Oh. Another thing that I realized about this place, and had to live with for a few days, but have now realized I like.

This place when you're inside is SO private. You've got the garage which takes up half the front of your house. If it wasn't there, I guess there would be windows to the street.
The front door has a Nest doorbell, but that's on my "to do" list to figure out how that works, so I can see people that come to the door.
The room next to the front door, which I'm sitting in now, was converted into an office. The window with blinds doesn't face the front of the house. It face outside the front door. The wall that faces the front of the house has has a really high window just for light, and next to that is the door to a closet with lots of shelves. I'll use that for inventory. That closet has a window that faces the front of the house. So if I want to see the street, I would have to open the closet door.
Typing that, I know it sounds weird, but it isn't awkward at all.
What that means though is that when you're in the house, you're in the house. I know that would make a lot of people over time feel shut off.
But I decided I like it. It's like I have my own little kingdom.

Kravitz, eh.

Hmmmmmm.....well, I guess you don’t need neighbourhood watch!

He sounds hyper vigilant. Wonder if he’s experienced trauma?

I dunno. Maybe.

He's pleasant and polite to me, which is all I can wish for.

Finally applied for a job!

20 hours a week, phone work, work from home, responding to people wanting to become foster carers. Contract until June.

Best of luck! I bet you would be good at that.