out of the woods?

[tielan]

Who'd ever have thought I'd get this excited over poo?

Mal pooed this morning, the first time since Tuesday morning. It didn't look like very much considering it's Friday morning... But she was a lot more herself afterwards. I'll take it!

Vet just called, so long as Mal is acting more like herself and I'm okay with not taking her, she doesn't see the need to see Mal again, so that's one less vet consultation! Phew!

And it means I get tonight off!

--

In other news, I did nominate for Yuletide - some old book fandoms, which I'll ask for and offer. I might get lucky? (Or maybe not.)

--

Another couple of fics in the Steve/Maria 'Meeting Halfway' series:

Suited For Birthdays, The 'Star Spangled Man With A Plan' has intentions for his birthday.

A Ridiculous Jurisdiction, When the hell did her life become so damn complicated?

They can be considered my 'getting them back together again' fic and my 'taking on what's happened in canon' fics. Not quite a fixit, I'm afraid.

--

Show quilt got handed in after a song and dance. That was a lot. And next year the quilt must be complete before you enter it...

I keep thinking I should make another 'Swarm by Sel' quilt:


One that could go to people who actually want it?

(Incidentally: WOW, how clean is that house? How uncluttered is the front garden under the window? WHOA.)

--

Still, now that the quilt is in, I can focus on getting things ready for travelling:
1. luggage and packing
2. tidying the house for a housesitter (found one for at least one week, although it would be great if she could do two)
3. sorting out documents for the housesitter so they know what's available to them.
4. sorting out my clothing for the spring-and-summer
5. packing things up in prep for getting the windows replaced with double-glazing

--

There are quite a few knockdown-rebuilds happening around here right now: one in a street around the corner (already done), one in the next street down (done today), and one across the road and a little way up (due to go down in the next couple of months).

I can't remember if I've said here before, but I would love to do a bit of extension, but I don't trust tradies right now. Far too much money to be made from doing a job fast and shoddy, unless you know the builder and they're the kind to do thorough work. Fewer of those around anymore, though.

--

Ooh, it's the Sydney Night Noodle Markets next week! Must find a day to drag friends in and go eat noodley things! (If anyone's in town right now; it's school holidays so there may not be much.)

Comments

[lilysea]

A close friend of mine in Sydney started a major rebuilt/renovation before COVID hit

and has had so many issues

tradies getting COVID (including their project manager ending up in Intensive Care!)

but also

materials shortages due to international shipping being severely affected.

The project started in 2020 before Australia had COVID, and is STILL not complete.

They haven't had any shoddy-quality work,

but they have had a lot of tradies saying they'll turn up and do stuff and then... just never turning up and never being heard from again.

[tielan]

Curious question: is it in one of the new land releases in the south-west?

[lilysea]

No, it's a major remodel/rebuild of an existing house close to the inner city.

[tielan]

Interesting. I know people have had issues down in the southwest land releases, but most house builds up this way seem to be progressing steadily. That might just be because I'm not actually waiting to live in them, though...

[lilysea]

They've had a run of bad luck:

a) Had to do multiple materials substitution due to international shipping disruption, including using recycled materials which increased timeline

b) Project manager #1 quit to go finish his architecture degree

c) Project manager #2 caught COVID and was in Intensive Care, and then too sick to work for 6 weeks

d) Project manager #3 injured his hand (splinter), didn't take proper care of his injury, it got infected, and he needed three seperate surgeries on his hand...

[aome]

Quilt is gorgeous!

[tielan]

Thanks! That's an old one which I gifted to some friends a few years back. Unfortunately, I'm not sure they entirely enjoyed it, and we drifted apart shortly after. We're still friends, just a little distant, but it was accepted into the Houston Quilt Show, which is a big thing in quilting circles! So I'm a little disappointed that they didn't seem to like it much.

[wpadmirer]

First all, I really liked both stories. Whoo-hoo. Hot!

Secondly I'm glad your quilt is done and you can focus on your travels.

We had the same issues with builders here when the tree went through our roof during the whole Covid year. It was not fun. It took us 6 months to get the roof replaced. Six months with a tarp and no use of the room and paying for storage for all the furniture. SO not fun.

[tielan]

Hee! Glad you enjoyed - thank for reading!

And yes, it's a relief to have the quilt out of the way and handed in. Whew.

I think everything's having trouble right now - not enough resources, not enough production, production stoppages, shipping stoppages... I don't think it would be worth doing right now, unless you have sufficient building knowledge to be able to do it yourself - or a willingness to learn, as a couple of my friends have done with their house renos. (Granted, they've been doing their renos bit by bit for a couple of years now, but it's looking so good!)

[adafrog]

Quilt looks good.

Yum, noodles!

[tielan]

Thank you! It's an older one from around 2015, I think.

And 'yum, noodles' indeed! Except it's not just noodles but...a multitude of Asian and Asian-inspired foods.

[adafrog]

:)

Extra yum!

[timespirt]

Glad your kitty is doing better. That is a beautiful quilt, you do great work hon.