It is a warm, balmy night as I write this from the tropical north of Queensland !! We have now been living in Gordonvale, just south of Cairns, for just over a week. I am loving it here !!!
Finally, we don’t have to worry about running into Jack’s deranged mother when we go down the street, which is still sinking in for me, as are the realities that we are now living in such a magnificent part of Australia. Jack was conceived only 40 minutes down the road from where we now live, we passed through there last Tuesday, just before we set eyes on our new home, which, is just fantastic.
Dad has his own little granny flat, which since about 2pm today, is all renovated to the point of satisfaction, I helped him fit his new shower curtain rail and put up the last of his curtain rods. The electricians were in there yesterday, as the oven and stove weren’t wired, and a light needed to be shifted, the bill hasn’t come yet for that, so that should be fun to see !!!
We’ve replaced door locks, hung curtains, fitted doors to the linen closet, acquired furniture, some of which was flat pack stuff, which took hours to assemble due to the quantity we bought, unpacked a tonne of boxes, flattened the boxes and taken them to the recycling centre, done about half a dozen trips to Bunnings for supplies to renovate, and it’s just been go, go, go. At 6am tomorrow, the solar panel installers are coming to start that off, we will have the last of our things from the last house delivered on Friday, as they were delayed by the fires and heat wave Queensland has been experiencing, on Tuesday next week we have air-conditioning being fitted to 3 bedrooms along with Window Tint on all the front windows, and then on Wednesday, the built in wardrobes will arrive and be installed in both Jack and my rooms.
It feels like we are getting back to some semblance of normality, although there is a heap more to do, both Mum and myself have done the bulk of what has been needed to be done, and hopefully by the end of next week, we will have most of the urgent tasks done. We are taking a day off on Saturday to go up the Atherton Tablelands to go to some markets, and to just have a break from it all.
The fibromyalgia has been a bit crazy, it’s been kicking in with pain for weeks, and the last few days both Mum and myself have been battling a huge amount of fatigue. We are pushing ourselves beyond our limits to get things sorted out, so we can just fall in a heap as soon as possible once it is all done.
I finally got out and mowed the grass today, this place has been neglected both inside and out for a long time, luckily it’s dry right now, so everything is not growing, but it still needed a tidy. We have 2 compost bins, both have a lot of grass clippings in them after today’s effort, but they should start to rot down pretty quickly in this climate. There is also a lot of other junk that needs to be sorted out, like a pile of rotten timber, steel stakes and bricks that need sorting through to see what is of use and what needs to go to the dump. Down beside the shed are some dilapidated shade cloth screens that have usable stuff in them, but are no longer good for their original purpose, so when I get a chance, I will go out, pull them apart, and reuse what can be reused. There is also an old chicken run and coop, which need to be pulled down, the fence will be reused for another project, the coop itself has a concrete floor, and the roof needs repair, but we are thinking of using it as an undercover storage space once it is repaired.
So as you can see, there is a lot to do, but we are getting it done. Jack won’t be back to school this year, there is only just over 2 weeks of the school year left, so we will enroll him for next year, and he gets an extended Christmas break. He will be repeating grade 2 next year anyhow, as his literacy isn’t up to scratch, which is letting him down when it is required in other learning areas. He seems to be relishing the nice warm climate, and is really enjoying himself. Because we are so busy, he is not getting as much attention from us as we would like, but he understands, and when he sees things getting better in the house every day, he knows that it won’t be long before we will be able to give him as much attention as he desires.
It’s very pleasant with the new living arrangements, Jack, Mum and myself having our own lives in the big house, and Dad doing his own thing in his own space. The house is so much more settled without the constant bickering and rude behaviour from him. It’s like we are all free.
Anyhow, I am rambling away, there is so much to tell, but for now, I must retire to my bed, I am barely awake, and it is now nearly 10pm, with 6am not too far away. Goodight all.
