Look at what she has me eating from … she said we have this already and it’s lying around unused … cheaper than buying a special cat mystery tray for $20 …

Look at what she has me eating from … she said we have this already and it’s lying around unused … cheaper than buying a special cat mystery tray for $20 …

I see it’s been over a month since my previous post about the build. On the 28th of October there was a day of excitement as topsoil from the Banchory-Court-side of the site was piled onto the Carindale-Street-side of the site. One of the large old excavators in charge of the spreading and piling, while the two dump trucks took turns dumping their loads, while perhaps the other old excavator worked the loading.

In that time the majority of the work was done in the section nearest the gate into Surbiton Court. Pipes of several sizes put into the ground … huge concrete pipes in the pic below

And much smaller diameter, some kind of plastic. These often used as guttering drainpipes, in my experience, but here with the red coloring I assume are to house communication and electrical ducting.

Every time it rained work had to stop every second day unless there was a storm as well. The back lot–the parts that I can see from my balcony–filled with puddles and finally a pond-like sheet of water. The pic below is a couple of days later, with grass now growing well.

Birds are starting to congregate though I think it’s more likely that they are snacking on worms rising up and drowning, than fish miraculously appearing in the ankle-deep water and mud. I saw an ibis arrive this morning as well as a stone curlew. The plovers never went away. The approximately forty strong murder of Torresian crows that live in the trees alongside Carindale Street don’t seem to care who visits their grounds, I guess they get enough food across the road. (Carindale Shopping Mall)
And finally, a mystery object pulled out of the ground?
Well, I know what it is. It surprised me to see one so near to a city center … Cattle grid? I wonder whether when the first village was built back in the 1980s, cattle roamed along the creek?

Best belly seam I’ve ever seen …

Best seam I’ve ever sewn in a knitted article … who says you can’t teach the old crew new tricks?
After the knitting comes the sewing and stuffing …

But, because of the intricacy of the knit, there can be no sewing the whole thing together and then stuffing it.
Here I’ve sewn the two body-sides together at the spine, sewn up the four legs and stuffed them, and was about to start on the tail when I discovered the underside must be done before the back and tail.
The written instructions?
The written instructions are terse. I’m having to guess and gamble in places. Such as, pay out a front paw so the underside will stretch far enough to take in the backleg on that side sufficiently.
Because of course no hand-knitter will ever achieve exactly the same tension as another hand-knitter.
I’m really enjoying them …
Holey moley I didn’t even see this develop

Only a couple of minutes later the outlook was this …

I head to retreat indoors, found the perfect viewing gallery with the windows in front and the dark curtains at my back …
Be warned, it’s a mite long but I dearly wanted to catch a lightning strike …
The sound is good too … and all this before sunset … The following clip after sunset. Even darker
And all this with just an old iPhone!
Tonight, the first time ever, I finally understood what the old woman wanted me to do when she said, “Come on! Come on!” in that high voice she uses to encourage me to do something good.
Just recently she started watching Jackson Jupiter, or some such name, to get a few clues about what we were trying to do.
Training she calls it. I don’t see the use yet. But as I said today I played along. I came. I walked beside her and every four or five human paces she gave me a kibble and patted and stroked my back and said, “Good girl! Good girl!”
Whatever, you know? Just keep the kibbles coming. We went twice up and down the house and then I swung into the den, stood waiting for my supper. The other half of the kibbles that means.
How many days has it been that she gave me a kibble just for looking at her? About a month worth of days.
Anyway, the training is worth it from my end. I just picked up 24 more kibbles than if I’d been stubborn and ignored her entreaties.
This is me on a day when it is sweltering outside and we have the aircon going inside.

Here’s where we switch back to Kestrel’s and Ahni’s stories. Ahni rides a camel, blind-folded in front of Lyris, who is getting paid to take Ahni through the Party Dome. This a short chapter … let me know if the switchover from Ahni’s POV to Kes’s POV makes sense and is not too disruptive?