Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Buffy v Jerome

It's hard to find things to update when you think you spend most of your time at home. Or do you? It feels like nothing ever happens but if I strain the grey cells a little I might think of something.

I have my payout from work. Not a lot but I hope enough to get me through. I've been to Centrelink for income support but I need to serve an income preclusion period. It means that you don't get any welfare payments for a certain period of time after you have received a termination payout from your employer. For me, that ends on 15 March 2014. The only problem is the way the tax rules are applied means they make the calculation based on the gross amount you receive. And my actual net amount was about $4000 less than that. I'm thinking I might have to pimp out MOTH for the last couple of weeks to pay the rent. Not sure how much I'll get for him though. Unless I can pass him off as an antique.... Hmmmm.

Things are slowly falling into place for the arrival of Niece. The room is ready but we are still working out how to get her gear here. And more importantly, a bookcase that Ma has given me. Wooden. Three doors, mostly glass. It's kinda big. A previously worked out plan has changed because two of the people involved have changed their minds and will no longer be making up the convoy, and likely not helping load/unload either. Elder is hoping to take as much of their gear back home as they can manage on this run. We're working on alternative plans.

A new boarder moves in. MOTH has volunteered to provide temporary accommodation for one of Teen's friends dog. Her name is Buffy. She's kinda large and boofy looking, but a pleasant enough girl. At this point *she's been here about four days* she hasn't barked much which is a definite bonus. I so do not like dogs barking!

Jerome was not impressed at first and refused to go down the back end of the house where he might have to walk past the door. That's changed and now he spends a bit of time down that way. Buffy is excited to see him and desperately wants to play. That's when she barks the most. Jerome is having none of it.

MOTH and I were having a bit of a chuckle as we realised that she's somehow, in the mess that is our garden, managed to find or dig up an old moose leg that belonged to one of Fred's toys.

At the moment, Buffy's ribs are showing. Her 'mum' can't understand why. Could be anything really. However, seeing as we seem to be able to fatten animals up *without trying* we'll see how she goes over the course of her stay.

While discussing the blood test results as mentioned last time, I find I'm also vitamin D deficient. Sigh. That means a supplement. Or maybe more time outdoors? Neither appeals but at least with Buffy here I can take a bit of outdoor time if I go pet her. Maybe?

I've purchased some hair colour. A toner actually. It's supposed to be so good it turns your hair white. It's vegan so you can leave it in for ages without damaging your hair. I decide to run a test piece behind my ear. This area has dark roots and blonde ends ranging from light to dark. I washed my hair first. Only to discover that someone had upended the shampoo bottle and I had actually washed my hair with conditioner and conditioned with shampoo. Oh dear. I added the toner and left it to dry till that afternoon. Thankfully I had to wash it out so I managed to shampoo and condition properly this time. Annnnnd result? Zip, zilch, nada. Not a skerrick of difference. Ah well. Maybe I can find something to do with it. Maybe I and put a bit of it into Niece's hair. She's blonde already so it won't be too drastic. If she's good.

Monday, February 03, 2014

Iron. Ferrous Fumarate. There's a mouthful. Or not.

A slow week again. Or maybe it's not. The thing I missed most about driving to work was ... no crazy bus stunts. I think I still miss that.

It's some ungodly hour and I can't sleep. I can hear something in the trees. I peek out and I can see shapes of bush rats chasing each other through the trees. And on to the roof. Great. Will have to trim those trees. I doze off, and later I am up to feed Jerome. The rats are still playing but this time it's daylight and I can see them better. Oh. Not rats at all. But some type of possum I've only seen in our suburb deceased at the side of the road. They put themselves to bed, one shimmying up a nearby gum tree, the other travels along the fence top and out of sight. These are smaller that the brush tailed I've seen and a different colour. Maybe they are even small enough to have lived in the walls? Hmmmm.

MOTH drags me off to Bunnings hardware. To buy some stuff or another. And while my skin is drying and cracking *i'm allergic to hardware stores don't you know* I notice some Clever Cube furniture. Which might make a good addition to the spare room where Niece will be sleeping. Hmmm. The price is a little expensive. Well, compared to the Kmart items of a similar nature which adorn the wall in the kitchen. Maybe I can get them.

I've been web surfing looking for bed specials. Snooze seems to have mattresses on special. Worth a look. We find the nearest store and wander in. They have a king single at a reduced price. And it seems we get an extra discount for being RACQ members. We have been for years but it's the first time we've ever used the membership for discount. MOTH is happy with this. We walk out of there having purchased the bed, sheets, a pillow, and a doona. They did very well by us!

MOTH drags me off to Bunnings. Again. And this time I buy the furniture. I am looking forward to adding the finishing touches and setting it all up properly. I hope she likes it!

We unpack the box for the bedside and begin to assemble. We've done a few 'some assembly required' items before but this takes the cake for simplicity. I think we've assembled it in about ten minutes. So easy! The larger cupboard takes a little longer but once we get started it also is a breeze to put together.

Disposing of the rubbish and I hear MOTH call. Hon! Can you please switch the light on? I think I see a possum? I comply and yes, there it is. In the garden. It walks up to MOTH as bold as brass and sits at his feet for a second. I pass him some of the cat kibble and he sits on a chair. The possum has fled to the shadows and sit there, watching. Eventually MOTH puts it in the bird feeder and the possum climbs and begins its feast. It might be a ringtail. But definitely one of the more common type and not the ones I had seen that early morning.

I've had the dvd sitting here for a while. Maybe I should watch it. The Conjouring. I've been told it's spooky. And the rumpus room lights are out. But I'm also playing Black Flag so I should be alright. And I am. Until out of nowhere this high pitched child's voice calls. BOO MUMMY! I almost jump off my chair. And then I realise it's just the movie and the rear speaker. Bloody heck. But that was the only start I had during that screening. So there you go. Want to cut down on the spook impact? Do something else while you're watching.

Off to the doctor today to check the results of my blood work. It seems I am low in iron. Again. I have to do the injection cycle. Again. I'm sure they didn't cost that much last time. But it means that I can't get the finishing touches for the bedroom just yet. Ah well. So here I am, feeling that pincushion thing again... Hopefully the dye doesn't tattoo me this round. It didn't last time so it shouldn't this time, right??