1st – Back to work for me – the antibiotics seem to be doing the trick, thank goodness. We have ladies for the next four days coming in to see how our Tuckshop works hoping one of them will be interested in working with us as we need to grow our staff ready for when things pick up and when Bay 4 is built and to replace me next year when we head off again on our travels.
Steve continued with the drawers in between caring for Mum and Dad. The video cameras are fabulous as he can keep an eye on them using the tablet so he doesn’t have to come down to the house every half hour to see what they are up to.
Bit of blood involved in making one of the drawers in the kitchen though – Steve drilled his thumb!! Ouch. He is using aluminium composite board which is thinner and stronger for the drawer carcass then he will use the purelite board with aluminium u-section for the front of the drawers.
Another drama – as he was lowering the roof the right front actuator wouldn’t come down. Luckily he was able to disconnect it and then lower the roof using the two remaining actuators on the right side and the three on the left so that was fine. Now to find out why it decided to stop working.
2nd – Carolyn is training me in Bay 1 so I can cover Jenny’s shifts while she is incapacitated. I used to do this 10 years ago when I worked there but I am older and slower now but I managed with great help from Carolyn.
3rd – Another day in Bay 1 – I wrote lots of notes so trying to do it myself but I have my trusty friend to call on to answer questions.
Steve couldn’t get the faulty actuator to work so we contacted the company and they are happy to replace it – great service.
4th – Last day of Bay 1 training – should be ok as I know I can always ask for help if I forget something. I only have to do it every 3 weeks.
The baby curlews are growing up fast.
Jon called in after work for a chat and drink. One month till settlement on their dream home.
5th – Dark clouds hanging around but no rain today.
Busy day at work. Jenny called in at lunch time which was lovely to see her up and about.
Dinner with Kaylene, Rick, Andrea, Alan, Dave and Wendy for Andrea’s birthday at Splash on the Esplanade. Greg came over to grannysit. We had a great time chatting and eating.
6th – Drizzle rain to start but then it cleared and I got most of the washing dry but another session of drizzle rain settled in after lunch.
Rang Maralyn to see how the house selling was going – slow. They are planning to move closer to Yungaburra on a flatter block with a big shed for Greg’s car restoration etc.
Steve continued with the clothes drawers.
I dug out a box of Steve’s trophies from downstairs and photographed them all as we need to cull our storage items and they are all looking a bit worse for wear now.
He used the winnings from the 1982 NQ Formula 500 Championship win to buy my engagement win, and a new pair of sandshoes!
I also found the certificate for when he was in the 1983 World Water Ski Record in the Cairns Inlet. Someone had just posted up some photos on Facebook of the next attempt in 1986 – Tasmania had taken it off Cairns so we had to do it again, and did of course.
7th – Steve continued with the clothes drawers while I finished off my photo albums. Brought back lots of memories.
Hot and humid today so Mum has the air con on which is nice in the lounge for them while they enjoy watching the tennis on TV. My bedroom has big windows so the fan is enough for me and Steve has a fan inside and outside up at the camper to keep him cooler too. The outside one is also helpful in keeping the mosquitoes at bay as they have come out with all the rain.
Still very hot when we went to bed, 30 degrees and we only have our fan!
8th – Very hot and sticky night. A bit of thunder rumbled and a few drops of rain but nothing to break the heat.
Glad to go to work in air conditioning today. At least I know Mum and Dad are comfortable with the air conditioning in the lounge and Steve is just tough but he has two fans to move the air up in the camper.
Dropped Steve off at Pete’s to go for a night fish near Tedford Reef between Green Island and Fitzroy Island.
Still hot and sweaty with no storm in sight.
9th – Steve came home about 12.30 – very calm but with a wobbly swell and not enough good fish. They caught a few Nannygai and then tuna and bludger trevally – what a shame.
Another hot day – glad to be going to work in air conditioning.
As I left at 2.30pm there was a huge black nasty storm coming and very grey everywhere else. Made a cuppa and we settled down outside in the carport with Dad (Mum was asleep) then the storm arrived about 3.10pm. What a beauty with fabulous claps of thunder and lightning then down came the rain. 40 minutes later we had 2 inches (50mm) in the rain gauge. Mum came out as the big claps of thunder overhead woke her up. We sat in the carport listening to the distant rumbles of thunder and the pitter patter of rain as the storm moved on. I emptied the gauge at 4.30pm and we had had another 6mm of rain. The light rain continued so will check the gauge in the morning.
Inside for drinks and more tennis watching on the TV – Mum’s favourite.
Cross-stitch at Susan and Ross’ for the last time as they have sold their house and are packing up.
Storm still flashing out at sea but the rain has stopped here. Power off when I got home at 11pm.
10th – 15mm in rain gauge after the drizzle rain last night.
Sun out so it is hot and humid again. Day off work so continued with my family tree stuff after doing ‘the chores’.
Steve replaced the broken actuator that the company replaced for us free of charge – Firgelli Automations – great service. He pulled the old one apart and found water in the bottom – they were meant to be dust proof and water resistant so we sent of another email to the company. Steve checked the others and they had water in them too so he drilled a couple of holes in the bottom so the water can get out.
We looked up latches for the drawers etc and Steve started on making the drawer fronts.
The air conditioner has been great the last few days.
Greg came over for dinner so we moved the table closer to the lounge and the air conditioner for when we played cards.
11th – Just after midnight the heavens opened with very heavy rain and wind.
When I got up I checked the rain gauge, 34mm. Still overcast and light rain.
Tracy’s birthday today – sent her a message in case she is working at the hospital.
Firgelli’s came back to us and said we should put the actuators upside down but that would mean the cable would then have to go up and down which would cause more problems. Steve will have a better look at them and maybe put some silicon where he thinks water might have been able to seep in! Oh well – everything can’t go smoothly I suppose!
While I was at work Steve took photos of a visiting pheasant. He was flitting between bushes and trees, Steve thinks chasing grasshoppers etc.
He was still there when I got home from work.
Another 19mm in gauge as rain has been falling on and off all day.
12th – more rain started about 1am.
Checked the gauge at 7am and we had had 70mm overnight. There is a lake around the camper again and the water is flowing from it down the street like a little creek! The monsoon has moved further north so hopefully that will be the end of the rain for a while as it is making it difficult for Steve to do too much on the camper with the muddy ground etc.
Work for me. Steve looked after Mum and Dad as more drizzle rain fell today.
3pm checked the gauge when I got home – another 17mm.
No more rain this evening.
13th – A bit more rain over night – 7mm.
Sun out so put on the washing then some dark clouds arrived from the north!!
Cleaning out Dad’s office as he doesn’t recognise it anymore so I can go in without upsetting him now. Lots of old history letters etc to read and plenty of old ledgers etc from Grandad’s veneer mill in Millaa Millaa.
I was taking the clothes off the line – under the carport as drops of rain kept misting on the clothes – when the curlews came down the driveway and wanted to get through to the backyard. Steve was working up the back so I had to move out of their way so they could get through – who rules the roost around here – the Birds!! The babies are growing up quickly – still white with black stripes but getting bigger.
Kaylene and Rick visited with plum pudding and custard – cleaning out the pantry from Christmas – yum. We sat outside with Mum and Dad and chatted the afternoon away.
Steve looked at other actuators on the Firgelli’s website and noted another type which had a dust/water resistant rating of IP54 has now got a rubber sock to go over the motor area as they realised there was too much dust and water going in. As ours are supposed to be IP66 – waterproof being 68 – we sent off another email to the company to see if we can get the rubber sock for ours.
Cooked Tiki Marsala as Mum had wanted Indian food so I found an Indian section at Woolies – very tasty and Mum said it was just as good as what she used to buy from the curry place in town.
14th – Sun out between the clouds. I did some more washing then started the baking after getting breakfast for Mum and Dad. Mum very breathless lately and uncomfortable, Dad floats along in his world.
Steve had rung the other company that was supposed to be getting the 9mm Purelite board but they ended up with 10mm too. He has decided to use the 10mm and put the fibreglass on it that he used for the shower door and then use the 12mm aluminium angle or u-section to make the doors for the cupboards and drawers. He still has to make the overhead cupboard above the dining table to that will have to be the 10mm now too. He rang Sam at Styromax yesterday to order some more fibreglass sheeting after he had worked out all his measurements. He forgot to ask if she found out why the company changed from 9mm to 10mm without letting anyone know!!
Steve fibreglass attaching factory – glad we had lots of bricks etc to weigh in down so the fibreglass adheres evenly.
Sticky hot day after all the rain and with the sun out but the air conditioner is nice when we relax for lunch.
And the air conditioner went all afternoon and into the night for dinner and cards with Greg.
15th – Back to work for me – covering Jenny’s Bay 1 position so working 8 to 3 – brings back memories of doing all that before we headed off travelling.
17th – Steve started putting the edging on the drawer fronts. Very frustrating as he measures it all but when the glue goes on there is a slight gap and he likes things to be straight and well done. I think it looks good and with the black door latches we just ordered it should be great.
18th – BOM predicting very heavy rain for up north but so far nothing.
It got darker in the afternoon and the rain started – not very heavy but consistent.
19th – Rain over night – tipped out 30mm in the rain gauge.
Bradley turns 21 today. Sent off a message and then commented on all the lovely photos Amanda posted up on Facebook.
20th – Dark and dreary this morning.
Steve hung the kitchen doors and the pantry door. The door handles should arrive soon.
He put the door on the cupboard above the toilet. It swings down and rests on the toilet roll holder which is handy. Still running wires hence the mess at the back. That will be hidden by a plastic covering.
Waiting on more fibreglass to do the other doors but the cost to freight it up from Stryomax is so dear. Investigating other freight ideas.
Mum was cold today as it is still drizzly rain and dark so closed the doors and put on soup for lunch.
I took all the washing down to the Laundromat nearby to dry as more rain is predicted.
21st – Go figure – the sun is out today so I could have got the washing dried outside. Oh well it only cost $6 to put three loads of washing in the dryer.
Tracy joined Greg for dinner and cards tonight which was lovely.
22nd – The drawer/cupboard latches arrived along with the rubber boots we bought to try and waterproof the actuators more. Steve has also bought sway bars for the truck too so he has plenty to keep himself busy now. Steve trying to work out how to get the fibreglass sheeting up from Brisbane without costing a fortune.
4pm a storm broke with thunder and heavy rain which has cooled things off – Mum had the air con on again which says it was a hot and humid day.
Not sure if I have said this but when Mum used to go home to visit her parents in Sydney they would wrap themselves up in front of the TV and nod off. Her mum (my Nana) would wake and shake her husband whose name was Sydney and say “Syd, Syd, you are missing the news”, as if she had been awake the whole time. Mum told us this story years ago and now when she is watching TV then nods off, especially when the weather is on (which she always wants to watch on various channels) Steve calls out “Syd, Syd, you are missing the weather” and we all have a great laugh. We will have lots of funny memories of our time here with Mum and Dad when we head off again next year.
24th – David’s birthday. I sent him a text and Steve gave him a quick call since he was working.
Steve got started on doing the door handles since I had the day off work so he was free to get straight to work since I could look after Mum and Dad’s needs.
25th – Steve finished the drawers handles and the one cupboard above the toilet. Looking good.
26th – Swimming Carnival for school today so we don’t have to go to work. Steve continued in the camper doing the handles for the two doors under the sink. He put in a water filter and 240v power point and tidied up a few other jobs.
Drizzly rain on and off all day.
27th – Steve put in shelves under the sink for my pots and pans.
Greg came over at 3pm to granny sit so we could have a night out.
We met Kaylene and Rick at Splash Restaurant for a cuppa and a snack then went two doors up and had sorbet. So nice to be able to sit and chat with friends. We left them and headed to Trinity Wharf for Deanne’s 60th birthday party.
It was in a café that is on the wharf so a lovely setting by the water with scuds of misty rain passing over occasionally, so those on the wharf moved undercover for a bit till it passed. Steve caught up with a lot of old school friends from Cairns High so he had a great night chatting. I was saying to Deanne about sorting out the photos and seeing the one of us all in the Anything Goes competition at the Showgrounds back in 1982. Steve was in a pool with Deanne’s cousin, Sheona, doing a clothing change in a rubber boat when she accidently pulled her bikini top across with the shirt she was taking off. Steve swiftly pulled it back over to save her dignity. Just then Sheona walked in and that was the first thing she said to Steve – that he saved her dignity. Fancy her remembering that too. Yanneke and Terry were there too so I had a lovely time chatting with them. I worked with Yanneke at BSES in early 1980s. Chatted with some other people who are all looking towards retirement and travelling. It was a great night.
28th – First race of the Supercar season yesterday so I put the tape on in the van as we were going out. Unfortunately we only got the first bit and not the race as the USB stick died – drats. Luckily there is another race today. It is at Bathurst but only 500km not the 100km in October and it is over two sprint races. Usually they hold the 12 hour race now but with Covid none of the overseas racers can attend hence they change. A lot of changes in the drivers and crews too.
Steve went over to Pete’s for the morning to help him out and have him look at some welding Steve needs doing on the truck.
After lunch we settled in to watch the second race at Bathurst 500. Great race though will miss not having Scott McLaughlin to follow as he has gone to America to race Indy cars with Mr Penske (who was the other owner of Dick Johnson Racing for the last few years).
Steve was about to go outside to put the sway bars under the truck up the back when he saw a big carpet snake slither across the concrete at the back of Mum’s car. I grabbed the camera but he had already headed through the breeze brick and under the house where there is an area of dirt.
Steve went down with his torch and watched him moved along a narrow waterpipe to the other side - amazed at how they can keep themselves up on that pipe. I went down looking for Steve (who does not like snakes) to have a laugh at the thought of what would have happened if it had slithered over Steve when he was under the truck!!
Steve shone the torch so I could take photos. Will leave him be unless he makes a nuisance of himself. Will just have to walk with a torch when we go up to the van at night now - just in case.
As I walked back into the carport I spotted this lizard - I think he has had a big fright!
Steve did put the sway bars on the truck.
Greg cooked dinner again and we played cards.
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