Houdini and Orazio.

So...Will was off at 4.30 am as usual and I was awake too. After he had gone I heard a scratching and gnawing sound and got up to investigate and found a rat on the bookshelf in the corner. It was trying to hide behind the books. Surprisingly, for someone who has been fastidiously releasing his captives into the wild, I shocked myself when I rammed some books against the wall trying to squash it. I failed and went back to bed after it disappeared. I checked the rat trap was still set and noticed that the bait had all gone. Pesky Mice!I went back to bed and at 5.15 the rat trap clattered. We had another trapped rat. I took it outside and left it and went back to bed. I could hear its distant rattle before I finally dropped off to sleep.At 9.00 ish I got up and discovered that the cheeky thing had escaped. The trap was completely empty! How had it done it? It must have squeezed out under the door pushing hard against the spring.Damn! It will probably tell all its friends now to avoid it or how to escape!We had Roxy booked in to the Car Doctor today. Her clutch has been very loose. I was going to head into town to do some washing this morning, (Yes, I know that you thought we had solved that problem with Jaxy's charger cable and we did but now said cable is no longer working due to overuse.)I couldn't get Roxy in gear at all and was wondering how I was going to get her to the mechanic later when I remembered something about pumping the clutch pedal to build up pressure and it worked and I got her in gear. I started off for town and then came to my senses and thought 'Heck! What if I can't get her going in town?' so I reversed back to the house.At the appointed time 2.00 pm, I headed down to Glen Aplin and to Orazio, the mechanic to get the clutch sorted. He was running late and had not had any lunch so I asked how long it would take to get it sorted after his lunch. He didn't seem to know but his wife butted in and said "Come back at 4.45." We know who wears the overalls in that relationship!I had to walk home and had not brought a hat because it was only a 30 minute job apparently and I was expecting to wait. To say we live in Glen Aplin and the garage is in Glen Aplin it just goes to show how distances here in Australia are inflated compared to the UK because it took me over an hour to walk home. There were a few clouds to give some respite from the burning sun but all I had was a hanky which I knotted at the four corners and wore like some be-vested chap on Blackpool Beach. I whipped it off every time a car approached or I passed a house in case I was spotted looking so very British and like a Gumby.Luckily Will was back just as the time arrived for me to set off back on the hours walk to collect Roxy and he took me on Jaxy.It turned out that Orazio didn't do it in the end but the other mechanic, Nick did."I fixed your loose belt too, " he said.No more squeals from Roxy. Yay!We have booked her back in next Wednesday to get the radiator and water pump looked at. She needs to be shipshape for when the boys arrive next month as we are going on another road trip.

We were Lumberjacks...and we're OK!

So...over where we are hoping to build the new Roxy shed there looms a large dead tree. It suddenly died about two or three years ago. It is in such a position that should it fall it would either crush the loo, the chook shed, the garden or the house and so it had to go.Having cleared the VW and the trailer out it opened up a whole new felling zone behind the house but there were some smaller trees in the way and we were worried about the bottle wall.I have never felled such a big tree before but Will had. He climbed a ladder and tied a rope around it about a third of the way up which I was to pull on when he gave me the signal.He then set about cutting out a wedge on the side of the tree facing the direction which we wanted it to fall, then I took up the slack on the rope and he started to cut in on the opposite side of the trunk towards the cut out wedge."We have to call out 'Timber!' " I said, but as it started to topple that went out of my head.It looked like it was falling more towards the house than we expected and I shifted right a bit to try and pull it over but it was a huge tree and it was going where it wanted so I got out of the way sharpish.It came down with such a crash! It fell slightly nearer to the house than we had hoped, it's top most branches breaking on the guttering and one lower branch snapped two of the bottlenecks on the bottle wall but that was the only damage.It was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time as it came down and then I suddenly felt very sad...that all those years of its growth had come down to this moment ...but it had to be felled, it was too much of a hazard.

I Believe in Miracles!

So...after languishing, open to the elements for 20 years....yes, that's right... 20 years today Will drove Raphael, the VW Beetle round the dam and to the front of the house after getting the engine started. It beggars belief but I saw it with my own eyes...

We also had some decent rain today....7.5 mm in about 10 minutes as a storm built up nearby and passed over us on it's way to Brisbane.

Changed plans and new plans.

So...the choir reunion weekend was cancelled at the last minute due to unforeseen circumstances and will be rescheduled at a later date....the silver lining being, I suppose, they will now have more time to practise their ukelele playing.Will and I have been busy the last two days. The 'chook' shed is pretty much ready so we have made a start on clearing an area at the back of the house behind the 'chook' shed for another shed to house Roxy and Jaxy and a whole host of stuff that is presently under the verandah at the back. This large shed's roof area will collect water for the garden and hens.Will pumped up the tyres on the old VW which had not perished and the tyres on the trailer. Clearing out the trailer we discovered it was home to about 6 bush rats which scurried off in various directions when we disturbed them.(Thankfully none appeared to come into the house and last night the traps remained empty.)Today we did a dump run and a guy at the dump asked Will what he was doing with 'Beige Beauty' that we have got parked down the hill by Garth Lane. He is interested in a 'bush basher' so we came back and emptied that out of all the rubbish of that car and went back to the dump to dump that.We also drew up plans for our new laundry, shower, loo and bath turret and measured out in the garden where it will actually be. It will mirror the two existing circular garden beds and will house a shower downstairs, a mid level composting toilet area and steps around the outside will lead up to an open-air bathroom on the top level. The water from the washer, shower and bath will feed into 'soaker hose' spread around the vegetable gagardenWill has already been promised 5 chickens, 2 silkies, 2 wyandotte hens and a wyandotte cockerel which we will collect after the Easter weekend. 

 

Still no Hope!

So...I actually had a good night's sleep last night, perhaps the best night I have had since we moved up to Frogknot.We were in bed before 9.00 pm but were both woken at about 1.00 am by a rhythmic tapping sound. It was a 'morse code' mouse caught in the big mouse trap. Will got up and moved it outside and we went back to sleep, he quite quickly, me within an hour. I woke when he got up at 4.00 and heard him go and then went back to sleep until the rat trap clattered at 5.15 with another intruder. I put it outside next to 'morse code' mouse and got back in bed.I didn't go into school as early as I did yesterday. I am only paid from 8.45 until 3.00 so what's the point of getting there at 7.45? I was there for 8.00 though. Heck! That's even earlier than I ever used to get to school.I had learned a lesson about the key so didn't make that mistake again. I got stuff ready and familiarised myself with the day's planning, then went off to get some paper to mount some pictures for a display I wanted to put up.The Business Services Manager is always the friendliest face I see so I went and asked her."Where can I get some black sugar paper to mount some pictures?"She looked blank."Any black paper will do," I said thinking perhaps sugar paper was just British.She directed me to the Teacher Aides room and there I found two in mid gossip."I'm looking for some black paper to mount some pictures for a display."I felt a bit like I was speaking a foreign language. One of the ladies led me to another room where she pulled out some sheets of black paper that were rolled up."Will this do?"It wasn't what I wanted but I said "Yes, that will do.""How much do you want?" She asked."Oh, enough to back 22 A4 size pictures," I said.She actually went pale and clutched the paper closer to herself as if it were the One Ring to bind them all."Could you cut strips of it ?" She asked."Look, it doesn't matter. I will just edge the papers in black like I did the labels last night. I couldn't find any coloured pencils either. Where are the pencils?"" Oh, the teachers buy them themselves.""The teachers have to buy their own colouring pencils? " I said, incredulously. "Do you know at the last school I worked in in the UK I had everything I needed and wanted?""It used to be like that here...but not any more," she said.I did find some pencils secreted away in one of the teachers draws so got them out to use. The teacher had written her name on each one of the pencils.I had been told to keep the door closed until the bell went otherwise the children will be in far too early, so I did but this morning there was a knock at the door.It was Fidget's mum.'Oh, heck!' I thought 'perhaps he had gone home and said how I made him cry.'I opened the door."Can we put his glasses on his desk?""Of course you can, " I said perhaps a little too effusively.I closed the door after them and there was another knock. This time it was A, the one with separation anxiety. He was the one the teacher was most worried about, not Toerag and Fidget. A came in perfectly yesterday and was clever, polite and well behaved and now here he was wanting to show me his puppy, a Jack Russell called Charlie. I was very pleased to meet him and was especially pleased that A liked me enough after one day to want to show him to me.The bell went and the rabble came in....except Toerag. For a few brief moments I was filled with hope that he might not be in today....but on calling the 'roll' there still was no Hope...and Toerag appeared at the end of it.The day on the whole was much better than yesterday. Toerag and Fidget played up a bit in the second hour...but let's face it they are six and have to sit on chairs at desks working for hours....It's not what I would make them do...but it is what I had yo make them do.I had taken all manner of plastic animals that adorn the 'Frogknot' pole from home and handed them out to those people who were being sensible. Toerag got to hold Fred the fly and Fidget held Lizzie the Lizard and it worked beautifully for an hour or so.At morning tea I didn't know I was to send someone to the Tuck Shop to collect the things that some of the children had brought in money for until a child came and said  "Where's my Tuck Shop snack?" so I rushed off to the only friendly face I knew, the Business Services Manager to ask what to do. She was taking me to the Tuck Shop when we met a woman who had just delivered all the stuff I was looking for to the correct children. I apologised and thanked her.We were walking back when the Business Services Manager said,"Do you want to work full time?""What do you mean?" I asked."Well, next year we might lose some graduates and would you be interested in a full time job?""Nah!" I said after a quick think, "I am happy doing supply. We need time to build a house. I would do a week or so if someone was sick but am not interested in working full time.""Oh well, that's OK," she said.She left me to go back to the classroom and I couldn't quite believe what had just happened. I'd only been there two and bit days.After break the reading session was better than yesterday as all the helpers turned up and I was able to give Toerag and Fidget to someone else....well, for about 10 minutes before they were sent away from their group and made to sit apart on the floor by the teacher aide.I collected them and set my two groups off on an independent task and worked with Toerag and Fidget again!For Science we went out for a walk looking at habitats....The grounds were dull, grass and more grass but we found some trees and I told them the amusing tale of when a squirrel ran up my leg looking for nuts in a London park. We saw three birds, plovers and a Willie Wagtail and then I spotted a lovely stand of trees in the distance so headed towards them Toerag was holding my hand and Fred the fly and Fidget was behind with Lizzie the Lizard. It turned out that the trees were out of the school grounds so we couldn't get to hem so we headed back. A woman was coming towards us and asked if she could take M...she could have been anybody but she was holding a clipboard so I gave her M.We just had time for another game of hangman before lunch...they beat me this time.I was sending them out for lunch when someone said "What about Tuck hop?"'Doh!' I sent two boys quickly to collect the box and they came back and I gave the things out....but E hadn't got her ice cream just a bag on which I had written in the morning that she had wanted an ice cream and I had sent it with her money in and here it was back empty and someone had written on it,'For lunch!'I took her to the Tuck Shop to sort it out and was told that ice creams were given out ;ater when they rang a bell."Oh, I'm sorry" I said, "I am just new here and I am learning so much.""It's OK" said the Tuck Shop ladies.On my way back I had the feeling I was being followed and I was, by a big burly man who looked like a wrestler. He actually said, as I turned round to look,"Yes, I am following you."He pushed past and showed me how to lock one of the doors that I'd had trouble with the day before. It was so simple that I felt quite a fool."I'm sorry," I said. "I'm new to all this.""It's OK." he said.I spent lunchtime sticking work in books and then the bell went.The last hour or so had been left up to me to do my own thing. I had bought them all a little fluffy easter chick and as I handed them out they had to name them then we went out and spent a good 45 minutes making homes for them in a small garden area. They absolutely loved it and I never once had to speak to Toerag or Fidget other than to say "That looks great, Well done".As we were walking back in little, bespectacled E looked at me and said"You're the best teacher.""I know." I said.They beat me again at hangman before hometime and I booed and hissed at them as they cheered."Listen" I said, "if you know your teacher is ever going to be away again say to her 'please can we have Mr Allen again?'""We might want Miss Schnitzel" said a cocky B.I can be cocky too..."You might but she won't be as good as me," I smiled.I actually got a hug from one of the boys on the way out...but it wasn't Toerag or Fidget.I was on Bus duty again."You shouldn't be doing this," said the teacher who also came to do it. "You only get paid until 3.00""Well, I haven't done any other duties," I said."Well, you're good," she said.After bus duty I put up the first display of children's work for  8 weeks in the class and left at 4.30.I like doing displays. I didn't do it for me....to look good. I did it for them. It wasn't one of my best but under the circumstances with no backing paper of decent pencils it will do.And now the weekend is here.....peace and quiet?.......No!........six ladies from the choir Will used to run in Brisbane are coming to camp for the weekend....with ukuleles!!!!!