#909 Saturday 31 May

Kat has gone south for the long weekend so I'm looking after Kaylia today.  We're at Bunnings .... Kaylia is in the playground .... she is still bothered by wa-wahs (loud babies) and she had to get out a short while ago.  After a break, the little kids had gone and Kaylia was back into it!

Of course I always like coming here .... to drool over the tools .... to compare prices .... to dream of projects.

2pm Home again .... after Bunnings we went to Whiteman Park .... we stopped in at the tractor museum ....


the tractor that Kaylia is sitting on is a 1953 Allis Chalmers model B .... a 20hp single plough tractor.  I had one of these from 1984 to 1994 .... I restored it and I used to display it at shows along with my other restored stationary engines.

After the museum, we went to the train and went for a ride ..... and another ..... and another!  She loved it.

We spent some time in an open wagon and she loved leaning over the end to watch the tracks as the train rolled along.

#908 Friday 30 May

It's 6:15am and Kaylia and I are both up ...... she's "dingling" and I'm sitting up .... I cough too much if I lie down.  Kaylia is in her room and each time I cough, I can hear her "coughing" too .... copying me!!
It's funny .... I haven't had a cold or flu for years .... but the last time I went to the doctor, she says "You need an anti-flu shot."  .... and now I have the flu!  I'm reminded of ..."If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

#907 Thursday 29 May

Naomi was working late last night and at bedtime Kaylia was doing her usual thing ... she arranges the pillows and the curtains so she can lie on the bed and look out the window.... she watches for the car .... and every now and then I hear a little voice saying "Mummy".

Today Kaylia has been struck by her old enemy .... constipation.  Poor thing.  Back on the water wagon it is. 

This afternoon I spent some quality time in the shed .... I'm building a hoist that can lift firewood ( and other stuff) up onto the balcony.  I'd been waiting till I'd sold a computer to give me funds to buy a new welder .... and I remembered that I still have the old old welder that I learned to weld with .... 50 years ago.  I'll have to find out just how old it is .... from a bit of searching on Ebay, I found an advert for it from a magazine in 1965 ..... the machine on the right selling for 29 pounds.  


So it would only been a year old when Dad bought it.  That 29 pounds is about $500 in today's values ..... and the new welder that I'm buying is a much more powerful and sophisticated machine .... for half the price!

I never cease to be astounded at how cheap tools have become over the years.



Despite the age of the welder I was able to complete 'stage two' of the project.  It's very satisfying to be able to do this sort of work again.  It's the first time that I've done metalwork since I had all the wrist problems 4 years ago.

In fact .... considering the "wrist fusion" I have, it's amazing that I have so little disability from it.

#906 Wednesday 28 May

Chris says ....."Now we are around Townsville and we want to travel tomorrow to Cairns and after that, further up to Cape Tribulation."

Gee .... they're having a good trip! That's a long way.

#905 Tuesday 27 May

She's doing well.   She does her post-breakfast / pre-car thing of pacing back and forward in the lounge room.  This morning as I watched her I wondered "What would she do if she had a broken leg and couldn't pace?"  How would she cope with that?

Afternoon:  Therapy time .... Once again I am being impressed/ depressed / saddened  .... by the difficulty she has in grasping simple language concepts .... "If today is Tuesday, what day was it yesterday?"   She can eventually get it but it's hard work.  I think the stimming is still like a fog in her brain .... she struggles to perceive that she is even being asked a question.

#904 Monday 26 May

A gem from therapy .... in imaginary play she was asked "Teddy is hungry .... what shall we do?"  .... The answer.... Nandos!

..... and then after tea, we were sitting on the couch. Kaylia had her bowl of marbles .... and tipped it over.  OH NO! she says.  It was a precious moment.

#903 Sunday 25 May

It was a good night.  In her usual way, Kaylia opened the curtains in the bedroom so she could watch for our return home ..... but fell asleep watching.

Today it will be the Sunday routine ... pancakes .... then Aunty Moo's .... but not Aunty Maxine's as I have a cough.

Afternoon .... I've actually had some shed time!  I'm winding back at the office and doing more at home lately.  This afternoon I've made a work bench.  Yesterday I picked up an old engineers offset 150mm vice on Gumtree ... that's now bolted to the new workbench..