#2018 Saturday 16th May 2020

The looping control strategy is still working but Kaylia is working hard..... she's had 5 'fails' this week and will only be able to have 5 Dvds when we go to the op shops this afternoon.  She has also developed some sneaky ways round the restrictions...... such as a low voice mumble...... or a high pitched squealing.  The latter is a problem!

Naomi is thoroughly enjoying the vegie gardening that began due to covid.  We now have 8 raised beds.... 5 in the flat area on the kitchen side.  I've begun making beds using the discarded roofing iron.  We get lots of ideas from YouTube videos. 

If you look carefully you can see our 3 hens.  They're real characters..... each one has deformed feet so they are unique and special. 

The building project is going well. I'm finding lots of cheap or free steel..... the end result will be really strong.... much stronger than needed.  Once the post I'm working on at the moment is erected I'll build a steel framework between the four posts to support a floor area between the two buildings. 

#2017 Wednesday 13th May

Kaylia is in the middle of a therapy session at the moment..... she loves these sessions.  We have put in place a strategy to control her "looping"...... this is part of her autism which has been driving us to distraction!  Fortunately she is really keen on collecting DVDs..... so she starts the week with a possible 10 DVDs from an op shop on Saturday..... and everytime she does the looping, she has a DVD taken off.  It works!  She is down to 7 today.  We can see her struggling to control the urge.

This weird machine is my latest acquisition to help with the house renovation...... I'm doing a lot of cutting of steel and this bandsaw does the cutting while I get on with something else..... and the cut is perfectly square!  I then weld short lengths of steel into the 6 metre lengths that are needed for the 9 posts...... and the umpteen 4 metre lengths needed for floor and wall supports. 

#2016 Tuesday 5th May

A very happy Kaylia at breakfast

#2015 Sunday 3rd May

Kaylia is loving being back at school...... and it's very good for us too!  We are so appreciative of the staff at school.... the way they encourage the potential of the class members is really good.

At home Kaylia is still a self contained person..... she spends most of the time entertaining herself in her room. ..... and the bath is a big thing for her. 

The weather forecast is for a big storm tonight.  So it's good that we finished the roof this morning. I had to remove about a quarter of the bungalow roof so that the new roof frame could be built.... so it would not have been good if the new roof was not in place! 

#2014 Wednesday 29th April

It's a big day.....   Kaylia started back at school and she's very happy!  She accepted the "home school" without complaints...... and when she was given the choice of continuing to work at home or to go to school, she seriously thought about it but decided to go to school.

This morning Alby and I fixed roof sheets for the first stage of the project.  The area between the house and the bungalow is now covered.

The next stage is to extend this roof over the bungalow.  Two tall posts have to be constructed to support the roof. 

#2013 Thursday 23rd April

Life is certainly different at the moment.  Kaylia is home and being "home schooled"..... Naomi is working at home doing video consultations...... and I'm doing the same as I always do.

Kaylia goes back to school next week.  We had a serious talk with her and she chose to resume school. 

The roof project is progressing well..... I've been constructing the frame today... rafters and purlins.  I've ordered the Custom orb sheets and they arrive next week. 

#2012 Sunday 19th April 2020

Kaylia loves going for a drive! ..... and she loves going for a drive to Joondalup.  I think that place holds good memories for her from school trips.  Today I wanted to go that way to pick up a load of timber that I'd bought.  While in Joondalup she always wants to go "round the block"....... but we did something wrong today and she became terribly upset. .......  and when Kaylia gets upset Naomi gets upset in sympathy.  It was a bad bad day.

The timber is good though. 😀

The current project is to change the roof so that the house has one roof instead of several disjointed roofs. 

This is the main truss in place that will support the roofing timbers.