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Saturday 4th June 2005

Nights have been very cold recently, and because Thomas wakes just before dawn, it takes a while before the sun warms the house enough to make it comfortable.

Once the sun was out and it warmed up enough, I went out to start on completing the paving along the side of the house. When I started to install the drainage at the lower end of the path, I realised very quickly that the two weekends of digging and preparation that I had done were a little over-zealous. I had dug down too far, and so I needed to back-fill with soil, under the gravel that I had laid.
After plenty of shovelling and stamping the earth down, I laid a layer of sand, pounded it down with a sledgehammer and then started to lay the pavers that we had found behind the garage.
It took a long time to get each paver level and leaning slightly away from the house and towards the drainage, and the amount of sand I ended up using for just the soldier course totalled 320Kg! I have not yet finished, as I wanted to do another row and then edge it with concrete to stop the last row from breaking off, but maybe I will just use some of the excess gravel.

It took nearly all day to do the paving, and Ann was keeping Thomas amused and doing housework. Ann then went off to have another pampering session at Jurlique.

Then this evening Ann is out at the movies and having a coffee with Heather.

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Sunday 5th June 2005

This morning we all went in to Campbelltown to go to a new Italian supermarket on Lower North East Road. At Imma and Mario's Merchato, they do coffees and they have a huge area for food. It's a massive area which is full of delicatessen style food and ingredients - more of a european style deli than a South Australian deli (an SA deli is more like a corner shop than a deli). Anyway, at the Italian supermarket, they have every concievable cheese and meat and antipasto, and a large area of 'equipment' - wine making equipment and coffee machines and pasta equipment. It's a great place and I think that we will be regularly visiting.
Thomas loved running around and looking at all the bright colours and shiny packets and jars of pickled delights - and he was good enough to not be grabbing at anything, he kept well away. Ann followed him around the store, avoiding the other children who were not being as well behaved.
Thomas was also very good when it came time to have the coffee. He sat in a normal seat, and when his babycino was delivered, the waitress showed him where the teaspoon was, and he started to spoon the foamed milk into his mouth himself.

On the way home, we noticed that the house that has been sold two doors down from us was having a garage sale. There were cars everywhere, and we decided that we would go and have a look in case there were some books that Thomas would enjoy. We had a little look around, and Thomas immediately leapt onto a ride-on car, and started going up and down the driveway. We paid the $2 asking price and Thomas rode it all the way home.
When we got home, we had a platter of antipasto for lunch, and then I got on with the rest of the paving, whilst Ann chopped up some prunings and gathered some autumn leaves for the growing compost heap. Thomas also helped by pushing the wheelbarrow and moving the leaves around - not always in the right direction...
Liam and Shirley dropped in to visit, and Thomas showed off his new toy car and how he likes to use his sand pit. Liam was impressed by some of my recent handywork, which made me feel quite proud.

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Monday 6th June 2005

Thomas had a bad night last night. He has a bit of a cough and a running nose, and feels generally miserable. He woke at 3 this morning, coughing and moaning, and so I got up to see to him. Thomas asked to be lifted out of his cot, then walked through to the kitchen, pointed up at his bottle of baby paracetamol, I handed him his dose, he drunk it down in one go, then he walked back to bed.
Thomas did not really settle for the rest of the night, and we tried to take him into our bed at about 5, but by 6:30 he just wanted to jump up and down and dig through the covers and kick them off. As we were not sleeping either, we both decided to get up too.

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Tuesday 7th June 2005

Ann asked me to have a look at the tyre on her car this morning - and it was a good thing that she did, because it was completely flat. I quickly put on the spare before going to work, but it was good that Ann had not driven on the flat tyre, as when she took it in to be looked at, they were able to replace it instead of having to buy a new one. It only came to $25, including the labour to put it back on. I remember in England when I had a flat, it cost me over £90 ($210) just to have it looked at.

Thomas has still got a cold, he woke up with dried snot all over his face - and I remember waking up with Thomas trying to get into bed with me, and Ann chasing after him with a facecloth, and Thomas burying his face into a pillow to get away from the wet cloth. That pillow is now on Ann's side of the bed...

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Thursday 9th June 2005

I woke up feeling like I had a cold. I then went to work, and started to feel worse. I came home before lunch, slept for 4 hours and realised that I really was ill and it was not just 'yuppie flu'. I have had days off work here and there for the last two weeks for various complaints, and I was concerned that maybe I was too quick to take time off (and too quick to return to work) and maybe people would think I was a hypocondriac - or maybe I actually am a hypocondriac!

It finally started to rain properly. Adelaide has been without rain for months, and apart from a few sprinkles here and there, it has been the driest Autumn in 166 years. The farmers have been very worried - not just for the crops that are due to be harvested soon, but for next year's crops and the sowing of the winter crops. Yesterday there were dust storms coming down from the north, and so when it rained, it cleared the air and settled some of the dust.
Interestingly, there were some bush fires around Adelaide, which were stretching the emergency services to the limit, but then when the rain came, it helped put them out.

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Friday 10th June 2005

We all had a bad night last night. Thomas was coughing most of the night, and I was feeling terrible and up and down all night. Ann had great difficulty in sleeping with her two boys being ill.

I spent most of the day sleeping, and Ann could not get an appointment at the doctors for Thomas until 5pm. So Ann was looking after us for most of the day - and only managed to get away for long enough to do the weekly shopping.

We had a thunderstorm today. When Ann brought Thomas back from the doctors, both of them were soaked - and they had only walked a little way from the car to the surgery and back. When Liam telephoned a little later in the afternoon, he had not experienced a thunderstorm - and they are only 8 Kms away.
Thomas was not bothered by the noise, but he loves to watch the rain, but it was too dark for him to enjoy his usual fun of standing against the window to watch the puddles. The new house has a cement tile roof which is quieter than the metal roof of the rented house.

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