I'm Still Here

 despite multiple frustrations.

For a start I'm still only able to access my Blogger Dashboard on Firefox and I can't comment on anyone else's blog  with any other browser if they use Google for their comment section. Weird and irritating if hardly earth shaking.

Much more concerning is that my eyesight is worsening. I've known this was coming eventually - I just hoped eventually would be a lot further off. This change means I'm having to take some practical steps to make life easier and safer. As I think I've mentioned before I've been seeing an occupational therapist who specialises with vision impairment as well as back problems and she has been helping me with the equipment I'll need to be able to stay in this house in the long term. 

This is not a cheap exercise. So far I've got a new bed - and very comfortable it is, too. Why I didn't realise just how much a sagging old bed was affecting my back I don't know. I guess I'd just kept compensating by adding pillows, none of which was actually doing the job. So now I'm sleeping better - and Puss and I still have room to share. In a side note which is probably of no interest to anyone but me  my old bed was taken away by the local council this morning to wherever old beds go and the space it was taking up is now free.

Then there's my office where my old chair had just become unusable when I started this process. Virgo had left an old one of hers when she moved out and although I'd made vague attempts at giving it away no-one had been interested. This was just as well as it turned out as it filled the gap while I was waiting for a better replacement. The new one finally arrived a few days ago - where it's been since it was ordered nearly five months ago I have no idea - we've been joking that it must have required someone to make each component by hand - and it is so, so much more comfortable.

The next step is to sort out the lighting. My artist niece introduced me to daylight lamps and -  now there's a floor lamp for the family room where I have a new armchair which offers back support - and before anyone asks, yes, I should have realised long ago that trying to use an armchair with no back support and designed for someone with much longer legs than me was making my bad back worse. I guess until now when my back injury is affecting my ability to walk, there hadn't seemed any necessity. Well, there is now if I want to stay here living a relatively normal life. There's also a daylight desk lamp for my office about to come into my life - and there is to be under the cupboard bench top lighting in the kitchen. Swoon - as my vision has declined that whole area has become impossible for me to use except in bright sunlight. Since the last item is quite  cheap we're also going to invest in cupboard lights that come on when you open the door. Who knew such things existed!

The next thing to deal with is the garden. With my mobility somewhat impaired and unlikely to improve we need steps and rails and raised beds so I can continue to move around safely and work in the garden - we're on the side of a hill so there is more than one level to the yard - and we're busy getting quotses for these items. We do already have new rails for the existing steps so I can get to one of the lower parts of the garden safely - and safety is a crucial factor in much of the outside area. Some of the rest will have to wait for a while as will updating the rest of my office at least until we save up a bit. In the meantime things are already looking better and I foresee a brighter future - pun definitely intended.

Password Woes

 Yesterday I had occasion to download something from the App store - I've been working with an OT to make things a little easier around here since my back problems have  left me with some mobility problems and she had suggested an app that could help. She found it on my phone and I put in my email address and then my password - and nothing happened. I tried again - and again.  Still nothing. Did I have the right password? Did I have the right case? she helpfully asked Well, yes to all her suggestions, but by now I had the distinct feeling that she was beginning to think I was some sort of idiot and had just stupidly forgotten it. 

We moved on to some other things and when she left I went back to trying to get it to work. Nope, not happening. I checked and everything else on the computer was working as it should. I even tried turning the whole thing off and on again. No change, nada, zilch. So I decided to click on the "Forgotten your password?" tab and change my password. Good idea you might think? Well, it would have been if I could get it to accept any of the passwords I tried. I'd enter them, click on continue - and nothing would happen. I tried multiple different variations and then things moved up a notch. I began getting a message which read "An unidentified error has occurred." This did not fill me with much hope but I pressed on trying one password after another. 

Then I got an email saying my password had been changed. Well, that wasn't much help, was it. Which of the twenty or more passwords I'd tried had it now decided to accept? I hadn't a clue. By now I had been trying to get this to work for close to four hours and my patience was wearing extremely thin so I muttered a few words my mother would definitely not have approved of, gritted my teeth and tried again - and it worked. I had to update my other devices - and it worked there, too.

I have no idea what caused the problem - I guess I never will - but this whole debacle proves what I've always said about computers - they're wonderful when they work.

Decluttering - Again - Or Should It Be Still

 I've been decluttering for  - well, it seems like forever. We have to move all the furniture soon to get our new flooring down so it seemed a good opportunity to get rid of all the surplus "stuff" that has wound its way into the house so when we move the furniture it won't be such hard work. Ive been working through the house and have established an area where things go until they finally make their way out the door.  There are designated boxes for various charities - these are all ready to be taken out now - and as well there items to be put up on the local Buy Nothing website. We've ordered a skip for the weekend to take a load of broken and and other useless junk so I am under  some pressure to get everything that needs to go in it sorted but I'm not panicking too much as I do see yet another skip in the not too distant future.

Today's decluttering area was my office/craft room. I've been working through the house and this is the last big area I have to get into. While the office part is relatively organised - I tidied the shelves and cupboards a while back and got rid of a lot of what I no longer needed - the craft section was not in the same pristine condition. I had got as far as sorting my sewing bits and pieces and I have to say the drawers of my sewing table and sewing machine equipment are looking pretty good. 

I can't say the same about the rest of the are, though. This is partly due to my having lost momentum after when I hurt my back and was incapacitated for several months but if I'm honest it's also because I knew it would be a big job so I've been working through the rest of the house while building up - how shall I describe it since enthusiasm is definitely not the right word - maybe sufficient incentive to tackle it is closer to correct. 

In the end it was all that was left to be sorted so that's where I've been today. I hardly knew where to begin because I've always been keen on making things with my hands so I've collected quite a lot of materials. In the end I decided to attack the knitting because I thought it would be the easiest. My wool stash is already safely stored in a cedar wood chest so it should have been only knitting needles and other tools - or so I thought. So you can imagine my surprise when I found a half finished Aran jumper. I do remember starting this some years ago but why I never finished it is a complete mystery. I've always loved knitting complex patterns especially Arans - as anyone looking in the drawers where I store my woollens would know - so that I started it is no surprise, it's just why it's still sitting there unfinished that's a puzzle. For now it's set aside until I can fix the line I know will be visible where I left off too long ago.

That aside I've now got all the knitting paraphernalia sorted - and there's a lot. Assorted needles of all different sizes and types, row counters, stitch holders, wool sewing needles, crochet hooks and these are just some of them. So the next time the urge to knit strikes - and it will now winter is here and it's chilly - I have all my knitting needs at hand. I'm just hoping I don't find anything else that has been sitting there out of sight, unloved and unfinished for a long time. Tomorrow I'm moving on to the patchwork section.Wish me luck.

Australia Has Voted

 On Saturday we as a nation girded our loins, stood in the queues for our ballot papers and pencil all in a COVID safe social distancing way, filled them in and posted them in the ballot boxes. Then we went out to enjoy our Democracy sausages. Then all that was left to do was to wait for the counting to start which it did as soon as the polls closed at 6:00 PM. 

If you haven't heard of a Democracy sausage you're obviously not from Australia. To bring you up date with this very Australian custom I should explain that polling places here are largely placed at schools and other community buildings. Because we have compulsory voting and there are consequently crowds the school P & C  (Parents & Citizens) associations and others have been taking the opportunity to fund raise with stalls selling baked goods and other things probably since Federation.

This all went up a notch in the mid 1980s. That's when we noticed our local primary school adding a sausage sizzle - a freshly cooked sausage wrapped in slice of buttered bread with tomato sauce. They weren't the only ones with that idea, of course, and soon the sausage sizzle had spread across the country and morphed to cater for just about everyone by adding vegetarian sausages, buns with a choice of condiments - and sometimes fried onion.  Yum.

Somewhere around 2010 we started to hear the term Democracy sausage being used and soon everyone was calling it that. Well, why wouldn't we. Australians take their voting seriously but we also like a bit of fun along the way. It wasn't long before there were websites showing just where you could get your Democracy sausage and which places had the best menu. From then pretty much everyone I know was saying they were going to get their Democracy sausage instead of saying they were going to vote. 

I missed out on mine this year. Due to my inability to stand for long periods - at the busiest part of the day the queues can mean you are standing for quite some time - I did a pre-poll vote. This is an early voting option - they are open for about a fortnight prior to election day and cater for those who are disabled or who for whatever reason will be unable to attend a polling place on polling day. Alternatively you can cast a postal vote and as well this year there was the additional option of phone voting for those forced into isolation by COVID. We do like to make sure everyone who is eligible is enrolled and can vote here. 

As Pisces took me to the pre-polling place he was able to vote there as well but there was a problem. He was so conflicted at missing out on his Democracy sausage he actually considered going to our local primary school and buying one. Commonsense prevailed sort of because while he stayed home he decided he'd cook sausages for lunch.

Ear Worm Songs

 After I found the clip for Right Said Fred a couple of weeks ago I seem to have unleashed a lot of memories of songs and other silliness that were mostly complete nonsense but which were very popular for a while and have stuck in my memory. Some were way before my time in their first iteration but would be replayed for a new audience when some DJ would take a trip down memory lane. Not all such trips were well advised but some were gems. Here are a couple you may have heard and enjoyed or which may be new to you. Enjoy.

The Thing sung by Phil Harris

Then there was The Ball Bearing Bird by Frankie Davidson

 

And how could I forget Star Trekkin' by The Firm

Update

 Did you miss me? I meant to be back much, much sooner but I still can't get to my Blogger Dashboard on any browser other than Firefox. This is annoying because I prefer to use another browser but, hey, I can work with this. So this is a catch up on what's been happening around here.

First of all there were the usual seasonal celebrations in our case mainly family oriented. The Thursday before the Easter break began we celebrated the Cambodian New Year with lots of yummy food and catching up with family. Then we had another family lunch on Easter Sunday - this is another tradition  for us all where we go to my artist niece's home. They live on a bush block about an hour from Perth and it's always fascinating to see what new and quirky and changes they have made. As well as this we have a bunch of family birthdays in this period so lots of family and fun.

While I seem to be the odd one out in my family having missed out on the visual art gene it is showing up in the next generation. Miss Nine and Miss Six visited during their school holidays and spent some of their time drawing - and produced some quite passable efforts. These now adorn our fridge. Master Two's drawings are a little more problematic although he insisted that his swirling green creation was a rainbow. We took the littlies to the park behind our house where a good time was had by all and they left with a promise of a baking session next holidays. When I suggested the girls think about what they'd like to make there was no waiting. "Cookies," they said.

We were lucky we could do that because then Perth was blanketed with thick smoke on and off for a number of  days. This means those who like me have a bad reaction to smoke can't get outside. It's a  pity because it's a real pleasure to be outside now the summer heat has eased. The smoke comes from preventative burning off in the bush and on country properties and is a frequent problem at this time of the year. I understand the necessity but hate the experience.

Oh, and I've been writing up a storm. With all my health problems I'd just about stopped doing anything creative - but here it is again with a succession of short stories ready to be edited and wrestled into something worth reading from their somewhat messy first draft shapes. It's been very satisfying I have to say and with luck some of them will end up going places.

Something to Amuse You Until I Get My Blogger Account Fixed