#1281 Tuesday 24 November

Once again the full moon approaches ..... and we have to adopt measures to counter the effect ...... this is the effect that doesn't exist!

In some ways I don't mind it ..... one of the main effects is that Kaylia can't get to sleep.   I try to get her to sleep in the usual ways but after twice the normal time, I resort to a dose of Melatonin.  Her normal pattern is a fairly quick descent into sleep .... about 30-45 minutes.   So after an hour of trying I give her Melatonin and she goes to sleep within 15 minutes.

I've found that during the settling phase, she likes to think about her future ..... so we will talk about the next few days and sometimes further ahead.  She whispers to herself and I can almost hear the cogs whirring as she works out a nice thought pattern that she can sleep to .... then she rolls over and settles to sleep.   It's a nice time.

#1280 Sunday 22 November

Oh the trials we endure ..... only partly joking!  Yesterday was a day of repetition!  She was latching onto the next event in her routine ..... and repeating it over and over .... and over ..... and over ..... 

None of the usual management techniques were working.   She wasn't showing any of the common anxiety signs ..... it had us puzzled.

#1279 Friday 20 November

Kaylia continues with her "I LOVE IT" cry .... it's usually in context so I think she is meaning it.  It's really loud ..... and really refreshing ..... I love it too!

Naomi spotted something in the op shop that she thought might interest me ..... a "Beer Machine"  ...... I went down this morning and checked it out ..... and it's a beaudy!   

It's a 10 liter brewer that uses gas for carbonating the drink instead of sugar ..... so the beer  if fully fermented, will be zero sugar!  Excellent for a diabetic.

We have a brew of apple cider that we can bottle tomorrow..... it's tasting good and the crew are all licking their lips!

#1278 Wednesday 18 November

Oh boy ..... Hannah and Callum both have the gastro bug now.  Poor things!  They've stayed in bed today .... so Camille had an early go at the school run!  She did well.

Oh .... Kaylia?   She's happy and cute.  After she's eaten her breakfast, she has to take her crusts out to the birds .... she won't eat the crusts ....  and she loves to tip them onto the ground 7 meters below rather than putting them on the tray ..... that means that we adults miss out on our breakfast entertainment of watching all the 28s and maggies compete for a bit!

I said a few days ago that I was going to tell you some more about Camille's partner Maicon ..... this is Maicon in the middle of doing some spade work .... tidying up after we finished the repairs to the plumbing.

Maicon is originally from Brazil and has lived in France for some years now.  He's fluent in Portuguese, French, Italian ..... and he's working hard to get there in English.  At present he goes into the city each night for language classes.

#1277 Tuesday 17 November

It's been a happy day again ..... it's therapy time and she will work hard.  She has 2 weeks of having 6 adults around her .... while we transition from Hannah to Camille, we have extra hands on deck.

It's going to be a sad time when Hannah and Callum leave ..... but we know that Kaylia will quickly attach to Camille and Maicon.

I finished Stage 1 of the "greywater project" today ..... this was to replace all the damaged drains and install a system that can be switched from normal to greywater and back.  This is it......

Kaylia's graduation to high school is coming up!

#1266 Monday 16 November

After finding the cause of Kaylia's pain, she has now had a very good day ...... she's very cheerful again. 

The 3 Musketeers (Callum, Maicon and me) have begun a home-brew!  Today we went down the hill and procured the essentials ..... and the fermenter is now bubbling away with an apple cider.  In 7-10 days we will be able to test it!

Work has begun on a grey-water system for the house.  Just in time too!  When we dug away the soil round the old drainage system, it was immediately clear that the old system is in a very sad state.  I shudder to think what professional repairs would cost.  The greywater system will replace all the damaged and broken parts and add dual functionality.  It will be able to function as a standard septic system .... or be easily diverted into the greywater processing tanks set up at a lower level.  It will include a holding tank for rainwater and excess spa water.  These tanks will flush the greywater filters on a periodic basis to make the system almost maintenance free.  The outflow from the greywater tanks will irrigate a garden bed at a lower level.  It will be totally gravity fed with no pumps.

#1265 Sunday 15 November

We had a mild thunderstorm last night at about 11:30pm ..... some spectacular lightning...... and Kaylia had not settled well so she was soon upstairs.   I took her back down and after lots of cuddles she was ok.  When I got up at 2:30am I had the idea that she might like a rolled up blanket to cuddle against.   'Sho nuff it seemed to work ..... and she's had a good sleep in.

11am We're at Auntie Mim's .... For the whole drive over Kaylia has listened to Dawin "Dessert" .... over and over ..... she loves it.

She's in her routine .....

Evening
We set out to see how long she would listen to the same song ..... she listened to it all the way over and all the way back ..... then changed song just before we got home!  Amazing.

At tea time we had another mystery ....... last night Kaylia had a bout of bad pain of some sort .... and she had the same again tonight.  We try the usual dose of one Panadol but it's not enough.  The second tablet does the trick and within minutes she is a normal "Hoomen been" again.  I wish she could tell us what is going on. 

On the home front ..... Callum and Maicon went out last night to procure a supply of beer!  ..... so we're now going to resume our home brew.  This time I'm working on a low-sugar, low-alcohol recipe. 

Later:  The mystery is solved!  She has an emerging molar tooth ..... as I was doing the nightly teeth cleaning routine, I did a close check and she has a new tooth coming out at the top left.  These always cause her a lot of pain ..... so now we know!