Once again I’m being offered some dosh, time to get a spendin’

Sunday 30^th

Just when I thought winter was going to be cold the temperatures rise dramatically. It’s been as high as 14C overnight and today has got up to 27C. It’s mental and scary at the same time, what is summer going to be like?

I went out on the bike this morn, third day in a row, but todays plan was to go for a longer jaunt. I did a circuit that I haven’t done for many months. The good thing about this “winter” is that the UV is low and that you don’t have to rush out at crack of dawn to miss the heat. At 9am it was around 18C and very calm and the roads were still quiet, although I gave the royal salute to one P plater that came a bit too close. Fuckin’ Numpty!

I’ve wanted to get out for a longer run for some time but just ain’t had the energy or stamina; it seems that if I can continue a few runs over winter I can maybe break the 30KM mark again. Mind you I find that two hours perched on a small bicycle saddle is just about as much as my arse can cope with.

I didn’t see many Lycra clad “professionals” out and about this morning, usually in the lead up to the Tour De France they come out in droves. I on the other hand don’t wear Lycra and don’t feel guilty if I ride on the pavement if the road is narrow or even staying well within a bike lane, the Lycra numpties prefer to stay out in the line of sight of the traffic and dance with death.

This set me up for lunch, I salvaged the Fray Bentos from the bottom of the cupboard and did not look at the used by date, it’s been in there for a while’ and then popped into the oven where after half an hour it was ready for a scoffin’ It tasted grand and washed it all down with strong black coffee.

The daybed was calling me after lunch and so how could I refuse. The wind began to pick up and the wind chimes did their thing. I bought them in Maleny many years ago and they sound and look great. There is no way I could sleep with the noise from them and the chaotic bird life in the garden but lying outside in the sun was definitely the best place to be for an hour. Batteries recharged I headed in for a bit of blogging.

28^th

Caught up with Wayne, Nicole, John and Ann on Friday for lunch at the Saigon restaurant in Calamvale, haven’t see them since November last year and a lot has happened since then for everyone. Hopefully it won’t be as long before we catch up again . The food was delicious and I was able to show off my amazing chopstick skills.

25^th

Went to the Optician for the first time in over two years, couldn’t believe it’s been that long but it took quite the time to discover that chocolate is the enemy. When I returned from China many moons ago I began to get eye infections on a regular basis, I went to a specialist that put me through a gruelling painful experience when he cleaned the inside of my eye lids. Not something that I wish to do again. Through trial and error I discovered that chocolate sets the whole thing off and causes my eyes to become covered with an oily film that won’t go until after a few days when things slowly return to normal. However if I have something else sweet such as sweet and sour sauce it will happen again but not as bad and so I have not had a bite of chocolate for nearly three weeks but I still haven’t thrown the chocolate in the fridge out yet but I will do that today because it is way too tempting to have that sitting in there. This is my kryptonite.

I felt like a weak fat slob when I returned from China, I could hardly do one open hand pull up which I found fairly easy before I headed off.

I’ve changed my diet cutting out mainly rice and eating more fresh fruit and vegetables coupled with exercise which included walking, cycling and even doing a bit of heavy work around the house and garden. I’ve still got a few niggling injuries but they are healing slowly.

The changes I’ve made seem to allow me to fit into a few pairs of trousers that were a little bit tight a few months ago. All I have to do now is to maintain whatever it is I’m doing and get rid of the last few fatty bits.

The older I become the more I realise that peace of mind is very important, to live in the moment but don’t feel too guilty if you just want to sit in front of the TV for a day. Don’t feel guilty about your comfortable life because as we know the here and now is never constant and so this is reason enough to enjoy the moment. Take the time to stop and watch the world around you. For example watching the bird life coming to the garden to feed or to have a bath in the afternoon after the sun has warmed up the water to just the right temperature and then they still give me a dirty look if there is no food to be had after they have finished.

Yesterday I drove to Wonglepong to catch up with Ann and Trevor, it’s been a very long time since I went down that way to see them, it was good to catch up and it was also very enjoyable taking the old Ford along the country roads although there was a scary moment when a very large Kangaroo jumped out in front of me.

Now this set me up very nicely to enjoy my Drunken Pad Thai which I got from “Rin’s Chinese and Thai” takeaway. The cash flow is not great at the moment and I have only visited here once this year and so I thought it was time to put that to rights. Best decision I’ve made in a long time. It was absolutely delicious and not too spicy although there was a bit of snot beginning to form by the last mouthful. A great way to keep the winter chill at bay and make my stomach happy too.

Sunday morning I set the alarm for 6:30 so that I could get up and get out on the bike for a wee run. The park out the back was white in places and so I guess there was a light frost, the thermometer said 5C when I checked it. It was closer to 8:30 by the time I got on me bike. Three layers on. T-shirt, Bike shirt and my light UV jacket on and as I reached the top of the hill and the shade the wind chill was kicking in. After about an hour it was warm enough to remove the UV jacket, it’s always quiet on a Sunday morning and it is by far the best time to venture out. Mind you I do try to stick to the side roads and ones that are fairly wide these days, I have no desire to go at the clappers and to try and beat previous times or distances for the matter. It’s good to just have the road to myself and to wander along at a pace that is comfortable and of course it’s an excuse to eat a bit of junk food after.

Toast and Cheese with Pineapple, a blast from the past indeed. In my early 20’s I went out with Lynn and most nights when I went back to her place her Mum would often make us something to eat and this was one delicacy that I really looked forward to. Haven’t eaten this for years and it took me back to another moment in time when life was good.

After a short siesta on the day bed, so much warmer out on the deck than in the house today, I headed to the shed to look for my Chinese tea cups. These are the special cups that have the tea strainer on the top, I’ve  got so much Chinese tea that it’s about time that I began to enjoy some of it. Not only did I find the cups but I also found my two dragons which will hopefully look after everything.

I was really hungry last weekend “Saturday” and so I decided to have pizza, I would normally go for the spicy vegetarian……….very adventurous I know but this time I opted for Domino’s Philly cheese steak pizza and it was shit!!

I can not believe that I ate half of it, I was absolutely Hank Marvin and so I just shovelled it in. Thankfully I regained control of my senses and hunger and binned the rest of it over the balcony into the garden where I shared it with the beasties.

A week later that same pizza is still lying in the garden, although it has been nibbled a wee bit, but it is mostly intact. Through blazing sun, ants, other insects, birds and maybe even the odd possum being in the vicinity they have all turned their noses up at the Domino’s Philly cheese steak pizza. Even the Kookaburra’s refused to eat it and they will usually scoff anything that you put in front of them.

I’m not sure what this Domino’s Philly cheese steak pizza could be used for but eating it is not an option.

It’s been a good start to winter, it’s mostly been dry with crisp mornings and blue skies for most of the day. When I first moved to Queensland over twenty years ago this is what it was like, although it was much colder at night. But I’m enjoying these days and long may it continue.

I’m still working part time driving the bus and when I cycle to work in the morn it’s not long before the snot wants to exit the nasal passage, it’s usually as I ride along the side of the creek because this is where it’s the coldest. So some mornings I sound like and old engine that’s been sat for years and trying to fire for the first time. Never leave home without a supply of heavy duty tissues at the ready. And I’ve also noticed that some poor homeless lass has set up camp on the other side of the creek, can’t imagine how she can sleep at night.

At this time of the year the weather is perfect for getting work and chores done and one job that I have put off for many years is taking off the front door, sanding it back and then treating it to two coats of natural oil stain. I also took off a few mm from the bottom to try and stop it from sticking on the bottom kick plate. The weather had been so humid and the doors swell and stick and so I’m hoping that by shaving a bit off the bottom and applying the oil it will prevent this from happening any more.

The treads on the back stairs are finished and look good. I’m going to start on the short flight that goes down to have to lower level, there’s only three steps and they are hardwood so it would not be right to paint them so I’ll sand them and then use this oil. I also want to do all the new fence posts on the retaining wall.

I have one internal door downstairs to do and I really need to finish off the underside of the entrance in front of the garage. I put insulation in the cavity and I have one more sheet of fibro to attach and then all should be well. I have many many other such tasks to finish, however when the weather is so good it’s always more appealing to go for a stroll or just potter in the garden.

Where does the time go? It’s June, which means I have been back a month already and I have no idea where the time has gone to. I don’t feel I have achieved very much since returning from China.

Last week I did a bit of work doing the old bus driving, quite enjoyed it. It was a local run and very relaxed and very easy. I did it for four days and by the time Thursday morning arrives I am regretting telling them I would work the four days. I hate the split shifts, but it will get me some extra cash which is what I am chasing. Got many expenses this month; Car registration, car insurance, road side assist and there is something else which I can’t remember and so it will be costly and I might just make enough to cover said expenses.

I removed a few more treads from the back stairs, sanded them back and put one coat of oil on both sides. I managed to do this before the rain arrived yesterday. The humidity is very high and so I will wait until next week before I finish with the other two coats of oil, not sure if that affects it much but I want each coat to dry before applying the next.

I then turned my attention to the driveway; I noticed the other day that there was a tinge of green coming through the dirt. After the rain the drive looked so filthy, time to give it a clean. Dragged out the high pressure washer and connected it up to the water tank, however the tank was not filled to capacity and so on Friday I started the cleaning but had to stop after an hour or so due to lack of water. It rained shortly afterwards and I collected about 500 litres which I ended up using today and I still have a bit more left to do. It’s raining tonight so I hope I collect enough water to finish the drive tomorrow.

Come to think of it I went to the doctors the week before for an MOT and service. My oil pressure was a wee bit high but all the fluids and other bits and pieces were hunky dory. Feeling lucky I headed off to the dentist and to my surprise I only needed to have clean, no nasty fillings and the like. At the doctors the consultation is free but at the dentist a check-up and clean was $204 and so I didn’t eat much for the rest of that week. Mind you happy that all is well.

And it was Happy Birthday for the Bremer Forum which is the public speaking group that I have been a member of since 2008 and if it were not for some of these wonderful folk I would never had taken the plunge to work overseas trying my hand at teaching. These days standing up in front of a crowd is not as daunting as before and so if you have any fears in this regard I recommend that you seek out this organisation or similar and allay your fears once and for all.

Time to begin the winter chores. The temperature has fallen dramatically, especially in the evenings; I’ve even got a thermal on tonight. The mornings are in single figures and it has been difficult to get out of bed in the morning.

With no work on the horizon I’ve decided to begin the long task of covering the deck with oil, only this time I will use a natural coating instead of a stain and so this means that I will have to sand everything back to clean timber. I won’t have to remove too much just the surface “oxidation”

One coat below

I began with the treads on the stairs that lead up to the deck. I removed every second step and will sand them first and then refit them back in the same position before removing the rest of them. There will be two steps that I will have to leave in place do to the railings being connected to them and I really don’t want to tamper with them as they are integral to the structure. That’s the reason why I have only removed every second stair tread, just in case there is any movement as they haven’t been removed in over 15 years and they have survived major flooding along with numerous subtle house movements over the years due to the expansion and contractions attributed to droughts and rains.

I’m using Intergrain Natural Timber Oil and I’ll put at least three coats onto the treads and I might even put four because they are in the sun all the time and they do soak up quite a bit of abuse and of course I need to use them to climb up to the deck. After a light sanding the colour of the timber made its presence known and after just one coat of the timber oil they looked great. A couple of the treads were looking a wee bit rough, looks like someone has been nibbling along one of the edges but the oil will seal it all up and breathe new life into them all.

Two coats

So after I do all the treads, there are fourteen of them, I will move onto the balustrades and hand rails which are all also hardwood. Not all of them are in sunlight all of the time and so they are in better condition, however keeping the birds off them while I process them will be the challenge. There is not a day goes by where at least one birds will happily land and then shit all over the place.

The deck, which is 48 m² needs to be done also but I will do that last. The timber oil is rather expensive and this 4 Lt tin is only enough to do all the other bits and pieces including the steps of the retaining wall, posts and then the front door. I’ve also got to sand these as well and that is fairly time consuming. So the goal is to get the deck done before the summer heat or the spring heat for that matter.

A few trees and bushes in the garden are getting a bit out of control and I will be tackling them too. I dragged one of the 4 metre trestles out today and began pruning the large bottle brush tree because it has had a major growth spurt and is now nearly 8 metres tall which is way too much and it’s not letting too much sun reach the plants on the floor, plus it’s heading for next doors garden. So tomorrow morning I’ll start with the tree and then when the temperature rises a bit I’ll put another coat on the treads. I’ll refit them and then remove the rest of them and sand and stain them too. Oh, I have also painted all the coach bolts black so that should look rather nice beside the freshly oiled treads.

And so I have many jobs around the place. I have plenty to keep me going for the next few months, in fact but I would like to pick up a wee bit of work along the way to pay for all of this. Mind you as I have said before my retirement plans are to win the lottery………..

Is the time that I have been back in the hoose. I must say that it was at least a week before I felt like doing anything of note. I started with my pictures. Sissi had given me an etching in 2020 and I didn’t bring it home with me at the time, I’d left it in my silver case that I had to leave behind, well as you know I now have it back home.

I bought a timber frame for it and spent an hour or so making it slightly smaller so that it would fit the frame. The timber etching was just slightly bigger than A4 and so finding an off the shelf frame was becoming too difficult so I decided to remodel the etching.

2020 was of course the year of the Rat and I too am a Rat in more ways than one, some may say. Sissi made me this wonderful Rat and I finally got to hang it on my wall at the front door to keep an eye on things. I think it’s absolutely marvellous!

For nearly two years now I have had several other paintings lying in the computer room floor still wrapped in bubble wrap and at the ready to be returned to storage at any moment. They were put into the bubble wrap in June 2016. There are still things in the shed that I have not unpacked since I came back to the house in 2020. I’ve not been ready to settle, to move on I guess. My recent trip to China has made me realise that I will not be heading off as before, well I say that now but maybe I’ll pick another country when the time is right but I thought I would once more enjoy the many pictures and prints that I have collected over the years. I still have a few more to put up but at least I have made a start and unpacked them.

The next day I began to sort out the many clothes that I have, I’m running out of places to keep them and I haven’t worn many of them for years and so a trip to the charity shop is on the cards. many of the clothes I brought back from China will be recycled and there are a few more that are looking a bit threadbare and some are just too small…..I guess they must have shrunk 😁

And I got some good news from Sissi also. The flat that we moved into was for sale and the plan was that we would move into it and with any luck would be sold within three months and then Sissi could break the 12 month lease and that is exactly what has happened. I was a bit concerned when I left that the Sissi might have issues breaking the lease if she could not get anyone else to move in but now all is well, great news!

The flight from Guangzhou was delayed due to the weather, Guangdong had been hit by severe weather and looking at the news the other day I think that the hour delay we had was fortunate.

I had bought a window seat and as luck would have it I had three seats to myself and so I was able to stretch out shortly after take-off and claim my prize. After dinner I settled down to the horizontal and I did get a sleep, however the turbulence was a reminder that we were flying high.

As we came over Darwin there was an announcement asking for a doctor as there was a medical emergency, this continued for a bit of time and I thought that we might be diverted to Cairns and I know it may sound dreadful but I just wanted to get home. The plane stayed on course to Brisbane but when we landed the paramedics boarded the aircraft to assess the passenger, still no idea what the medical emergency was, but the paramedics didn’t seem to be too agitated so I guess all was going to be OK or they had already snuffed it…………

Passport control was very quiet and my bags appeared fairly quickly so I loaded up my trolley with my two large case and headed for the bio-security guys. The big fella looked at my trolley and asked what’s the story and I told him that all I was declaring was some loose tea , however it was sealed. He thought for a few seconds and then said that I was fine to continue to the exit, I really feel that he just didn’t want to go through the vast amount of luggage that I had, and I was also very happy with the outcome. I really didn’t have anything else apart from tea this time.

I got an Uber. The roads were quiet, still cost over $100 to get back home. The house is in one piece thankfully and my garden is actually looking rather good. The grass is looking great, Rebecca across the road has done a great job looking after it for me and the rest of the plants seem to have grown quite a bit in my absence along with the weeds!

I’ve been home 5 days now and I am still feeling weary. Glad to be home, maybe need to feed myself some protein. No Covid this time but my body is relaxed as I ease myself into my simple life here. I’m so happy to be out of China, funny how things change. When I lived there before I obviously ignored many of the things that really got on my tits this time. The noise, the amount of people, the pollution, the driving to name but a few.

I’ve changed I guess, I’m more of a grumpier old man now with little patience for what I encountered in China. From now on China will be for holidays only. I’ll travel before I settle for a few weeks to visit Sissi and others. I don’t think going for two months is a good idea, I feel that 6 weeks is sufficient time to live out of a suitcase.

Give me a few months to recover from this and I’ll no doubt be heading to an airport for another jaunt. In the meantime I have plenty to be getting on with here. I need to find some work to get some cash. I need to get back into my calisthenics to toughen up once more, two months without doing any exercise apart from walking is not good for the body. The list has begun and I will work my way through it over the cooler months. So glad to be heading into winter, just hope it is a dry winter for a change.