The Build, Day 7

The demolitions began with a weeks worth of fencing the whole site as is the normal procedure. So counting working days from then, it’s day 7. My son kindly let me know that the whole construction industry in this country (Australia) uses the same calendar where 9 day working weeks and flexi-days are concerned.

So when I said on Monday nothing is happening, where are they? He said, they’ll be doing something on another site.

Well, they’re back today. At 8.30 AM a huge semi dump truck backed into Carinya’s main street, looking bigger than normal due to the littleness of the houses. That starting time, by the way, is due to the work being in a residential area. Normal construction industry starting times are 6.30 AM, or even 6 AM. An early start makes sense in spring summer and autumn, when temperatures may be over 30 Celsius.

Yesterday, at 35 degrees C (95 Fahrenheit) from about 11 AM here, would’ve been unbearable, with the humidity quite high too. Today temperatures are back in the mid twenties.

A couple of men in orange hi vis shirts unloaded maybe two dozen tires. And it’s only because I saw a clip about an archeological site in the Orkneys being covered with black plastic, with ‘retired’ tires to weight it down, that I realized the tires in the present scene must be to prevent a load of dust and rubble being blown all over the highway.

Sometimes it boggles my mind that old tires are being used for that purpose all over the world. One of the joys of the internet: good ideas spread as fast as bad ones.

They dumped a pile of concrete rubble at the end of the street, next to the mysterious hedge that is still there. All the other vegetation were massacred except the hedge? I need a site informant.

A large front end loader is at work at the lower (eastern) edge of the site, In the elbow on the map, filling that same truck with rubble and broken cement it’s scraping up from–I suspect–the forecourt. I’m going by what I can hear, in this instance.

I need to try and retrieve the map of the area we were all sent a couple of weeks ago … got it!

Well, it’d be better upside down, because that’s the way I’m looking at it and taking photos. I shall endeavor to do magic with various software. I’d like to put on treasure-island-style crosses to indicate where the work is being done. Watch this space.

WP, where is the hang up?

I’ve probably spent about an hour trying to comment on people’s websites–my apologies to the people who missed out–and then, to top it all off, had half an hour trying to get back to my own blog!

I had three passwords turned down, one of them the one I just put in. Then I linked with a service I do have a strong connection with, and was turned down the minute I tried to input using them.

Of course it may not be the fault of the platform we all love, or why keep coming back?

I’ve written before about the immense chain of connections necessary to be able communicate in this manner. And that is not even considering things things like power supply, labor strikes and the weather.

Correct me anywhere where I go wrong listing the stages necessary to make blogging possible.

Me on my laptop or using my mobile > by way of Jetpack or WP classical > my internet link > signals to the nearest telecommunication tower > [I’m a bit hazy on the next step. Is it up to space to a communication satellite?] > to the next tower and hopping to where an undersea cable takes the signal to the next country?

Well, I can see I need to do a bit of research.

Cat Diary 8

I confess to being completely stressed for the two nights that we had a visitor staying.

First there was the getting the place ship-shape, with no peace to just lay up and relax while the old woman worked through her usual routines.

No. We had putting away. Dusting. Airing the pillows. Wrangling bedsheets onto the mattress. Finding linen in the linen cupboard by first reefing things out, then putting most of them back.

This is how I prefer at least some of my day

But there wasn’t anything like sleeping on the couch for three days! because after our visitor arrived, I had to be totally on my toes. Not that the two women ever sat on the couch, they lounged about at the dining table.

And they mainly ignored me. Even the old woman ignored me. I didn’t get even one game out of her, and the kibble game might as well not have been invented. Very exasperating!

The first night I was shut in my den by 8.30 p/m! In vain I tried to tell her that she was making a mistake. Bedtime is at 9.30 p/m! She ignored my entreating look, where I begged to stay up longer. I was so shocked I didn’t make any further attempts to communicate.

The following night I decided to get back at them. Our visitor slept next door in the guest room made over from the study. I set my internal alarm, and putting my face right by the crack left by the door not quite closing, miaouwed every hour.

She had hardly any sleep, she said. Unfortunately, the old woman had a great night, she said. That’s when I discovered that when she takes out her hearing aids, she can hear very little. Certainly not a few little miaouws.

All was good, though. The visitor left at 9.20 a/m and my routines have been restored.

New Growth

I’m just boasting here … not that I did any of the growing myself. These plants don’t seem to mind standing around on a south facing balcony …

Australian native fig (proper name later)

This is a rainforest species and starts in the undergrowth, so the conditions probably right up its alley.

Bolly gum … it’s reaching for the outdoor light I’ve been leaving on for the fishpond. It’s grown over 30 cm in 6 months. A sprig of its new growth.

This velvety kurrajong is also putting out new growth. I think I finally found the place it likes.

Isn’t that a lush and verdant growth of parsley and Chinese cabbage? I suspect that their success is more to do more with growing in thinly covered composting vegetables.

Most of the rest of the plants are struggling in various different ways. But never mind, I heard from my neighbours that we do get sun for a few weeks! Maybe then there will be various growth spurts. We’ll see.

My view

This morning’s fog to the east …

An hour or so later …

Similar angle as above …

I hope that I get to keep this bit of my view … yesterday we (residents) got an email with the map of the soon-to-be-begun demolitions in prep for the fourth building to be started.

I wondered where they (construction company) would get the fill to extend the flood bulwark. Last night had the thought that possibly the digging out of the basement carpark will give them enough. Time will tell.

The poor cat, she’ll have conniptions. She’s still very skittish.

Gydja, Cold Spring Dark Fold Mix …

I was astounded after five minutes watching and listening to discover this is out here … in the public domain … for free! Or more to the point, whatever you’d like to pay!

Both sound and visuals are impressive. I’ve enjoyed about twenty minutes of it, so far. While I’m listening to the gorgeous soundtrack interspersing the songs, I’m studying (enjoying!) the visuals.

An amazing amount of work has gone into them! It’s possible of course there some AI involved but so what? There’s such detail in each frame as to have required a great deal of work by the humans involved … cutting and pasting, detailed and intricate prompt engineering if any, hours upon hours in the workshop designing the different elements, composing the frames, researching the stories. And that’s just the visuals.

‘Page ends’ are a narrow strip between frames, and bear at least six little vignettes. The page ends do repeat every so often, but not frequently enough that I got bored seeing them again.

The ‘folk’ being extolled here is, I assume, the Old English/European Celtic culture. All the symbology points to it including Joan of Arc, The Green man, Wood Witches and stags. The European landscapes are varied with farm land, hills, forests, valleys and villages. The skies change from rain to stars to clouds and sunny gloamings. The ‘real’ rain drops that spill and spatter down the still frames slowly passing right to left are another creative strategy that help to tie everything together and set a bright tone.

With the pictures resembling high class black and white woodcuts, the ambience could be darker than it is. I think the gorgeous background soundtrack–of bird song, rain, and other natural sounds–does a lot to ameliorate the visual darkness. I can’t get over the bird song … seldom have I heard birdsong complementing vocals so well!

It’s obvious there is at least one very creative human being at the head of this production, though I would expect there to be more like a dozen creatives involved in this work of art. And my hat off to them! I’m a fan from this minute!

Thank you, Ogden Fahey for alerting me to this amazing production!

Knitting, a Tiger

Have just added in the left front leg. This knit has got to be one of the most challenging knits I’ve attempted so far … and I began knitting when I was nine.

Juffrouw Krauweel taught me and about twenty other 9 year olds when we were in Grade Three.

Juf stood in front of the class with her big knitting needles calling out the steps for each stitch … insteken, omslaan, doorhalen, af … (I can’t remember the last word in Dutch, maybe later)

I was an independent hussy where knitting was concerned and knitted without patterns most of my life.

This time however I’m following the directions stitch by stitch.