3 realities. The everyday consensual. The Eleven Islands. The future.
Author: Rita de Heer
Writing is what I do. What I think about. What I meditate on. What I dream up. Listen to. Imagine. Sometimes I sleep. Sometimes I eat. And I walk. Pull out environmental weeds. There are a thousand more things I do, though writing comes into a fair few of those things too.
I’m laying here impatiently waiting for the next thing.
These are the cross roads, you understand? The place where I’ll be ready for anything. A couple of cat-lengths southwards of my tail the old woman is having her breakfast.
Behind my back is the kitchen where food is stored. In front is the primary space for playing and hunting. Northward is my den, where I have my water well, my bed and my wood for scratching.
Sniff. Sniff. Oh, I’ll just take another turn through the woodland. I believe I may have missed a cache or two of kibbles. The old woman keeps finding new places.
Kibbles both inside and on the top? I made short work of them!
Then it’s time for her to clean the den.
I’m looking forward to an uninterrupted day. Both Friday and Saturday we had far too many visitors for my comfort. I spent most of Friday under the couch, and a good half of Saturday under the big bed.
See what I did there? It’s the fifth post about The Build, and the post covers 13th-26th September, 2024. Any other way of counting will drive me crazy and probably you too.
In case you’re not convinced? Day 13 is four days after the events on Days 11 and 12. It’s tricky to decide how to count the days for this project. 1) Count only the days stuff is visibly happening? That made it Day 13 on Tuesday 17 September 2024. Or 2) Count calendar days, the easier option. I had to start numbering the posts to be able to keep track of the images as they’re being used.
The day after the first excavator went to another job, I walked to the main gate in Surbiton Court to see what I could see, and discovered the architectural company’s name and details posted at the entry. Note that the that little wall backing the sign was still there that day.
And that afternoon, Tuesday 17 September, a representative of that business (logo on their vehicle) parked in the middle of the great big empty place.
But, let me tell you, just because we in Vista couldn’t see anything happening in the big empty place in front of us, that doesn’t mean nothing was happening.
Another day and another walk, I discovered there was plenty of action down at the front gate.
The new boundary corner peg … between the subdivision and Aveo, I assume …
NBN’s Comm cables have been gathered up into their own ‘banks’ and showing above ground to prevent them being massacred accidentally …
New sewage pipes and other fixtures …
I don’t know what these shade-cloth fences are actually called. I’ve heard them referred to as ‘sediment containment barriers’, a fancy way of saying they’re to stop mud going where it shouldn’t.
Within the green and teal fence, there’s this red and yellow safety fence outlining a deep trench. The trench presumably to house the new sewage plumbing.
One thing that amazed me about the site from this angle, is the amount of vegetation still going strong. There is a flowering azalea in the back corner, and various other shrubs, and even the Grevillea at the front entrance was still there … being outlined by pegs which made me wonder if it was being invited to stay …
Big try out this … it’s a bit rough, but at least we’re back in the game … forgot the title I see. It’s part 16 … OK, no I see it in the header. And sorry, forgot to take my notes for the template from the end. I said it’s rough.
We definitely have not yet hit our goldilocks moment with cat litter!
Who knew there would be so many brands and types available. I started with my usual arrogant save-the-world attitude and bought a large 10kg bag of recycled newspaper pellets. This being possible because someone else was carrying it to the car and from the car to my apartment. Newspaper pellets go sludgy.
Second was hemp pellets, left overs from the process of producing hemp for rope, hemp-crete and other products, this was another product that was going to save the environment. Hemp pellets disintegrate into a fine dust difficult to clean up and very bad for my allergies.
Third was a gravelly product made of tofu and pea flour. It is meant to ‘clump’ and so be easier to keep the litter box clean. It does clump but is also easily transported into the rest of the house by sticking between the poor cat’s toes, and is nearly as bad as the proverbial Lego block to stand on when walking around on bare feet. And why wouldn’t I?
Fourth is a tiny vermicelli-like extruded pellet made of coconut fiber and charcoal. This was probably the worst purchase yet. Very sharp, and I soon picked up a piece in the sole of my foot. Have been wearing a big band aid for a week. Apart from that, the stuff ‘clumps’ only reluctantly. The one thing going for it, it does work wonders on odors.
Above, a mix of fresh litter containing all four of the recalcitrant litter types. As by then I’d been buying a new sort every time I went shopping, and since I can carry home only the stuff I can fit on my walker, the average bag of litter weighs 5 kg.
At the present we’re trying out the mix of sawdust and wood-splinters. And when I go shopping in a few minutes I will probably–out of sheer pernickety recalcitrance–buy yet another of the still untried possibilities.
Having to send untold bags of used cat litter to land-fill is also not ideal. Before, when I lived in freestanding houses, the used cat litter went into the compost bin, or was buried in the garden and helped to build up my low-lying yard. I’ll be asking Brisbane City Council why apartement blocks don’t get green bins. It’s not as if we don’t produce any organic waste!
Rita de Heer 