#2204 Saturday 15th July

Kaylia is still not well..... she was sent home from work yesterday because she was too sick.  I'm encouraging her to sleep when possible.  Today we stayed in bed late. 

My shed project..... the "vampire box"..... is going well. The lid is finished and hinged with a catch.  No metal anywhere. Constructing with this limitation makes me stop and think. .... you would usually put some screws in.... but not for this.

The outside has a couple of coats of varnish and I'll line the inside next. 

#2204 Friday 14th July

 Kaylia is growing into being a self-assured person ...... she knows what she wants and what she doesn't want ...... and she's not afraid to say "NO" ... usually in 'capital letter tone'.  Her biggest problem is still communication.  She can't express abstract ideas .... I'm not sure that she can actually THINK abstract thoughts.  .... and she doesn't communicate whether or not she understands something said to her.  If she is given an instruction for an action then her doing (or not doing) the action shows her understanding. ..... but feelings?  .... or what she is thinking?

#2203 Tuesday 11th July

Kaylia is sick..... she has a blocked up nose and a bad cough.  Today has been spent in bed.  Fortunately she loves cuddle time in bed so it's fairly easy to get her to have extra rest time.

#2202 Monday 10th July

Wow... what a good afternoon.  As usual Kaylia and I went exploring.  We went east on the GEHwy  to a track that went south.

The track (a thin blue line on the map above) eventually meandered along the northern side of the Mundaring Weir...... beautiful country.  I feel privileged to live with such beauty just a short distance away. 

The bare ground is Land that has been cleared ready for reforestation.  Much of the drive was through areas of regrowth. 

At one place I spotted what appeared to be a moving ball..... it was an echidna!

He wasn't upset by me and eventually wandered off.  It's the first time I've seen one in the wild. 

We finished the drive after 3 hours of chugging along at about 20kmph.  It was very peaceful. 

#2201 Sunday 9th July

 The "box" project is going along slowly.  Since it cannot have any metal, all the parts must be glued and pinned with a dowel.  So each phase has to be completed and the glue set before the next part can be started.  I'm making the box to be used as a cupboard (with shelves) till the day .... many years hence .... when it becomes my final ..... mmm .... what shall I call it?

It's school holiday time and even though Kaylia isn't going to school, life is still disrupted by carers not being available because of their own family needs.  So this coming week will again be one where I'm in the hot seat.

I've just watched a video of the Mercedes Benz factory ....it shows the whole process of building a car.  It is only at the very last processes that a human is visible!  Amazing.

#2200 Friday 7th July

I'm listening to Kaylia in her room..... she's listening to her music.....  the same 2 or 3 bars of a song over and over.  I remember when I used to be able to listen to music in the house..... but now if Kaylia is around she stops anything else.  Maybe it's time to train her to allow other people to enjoy their music.

Shortly after writing that I came across an FB music clip  ..... and I thought WOW!

It was a group called Otyken .... from Siberia .... using many traditional instruments.  I located an album and downloaded it.  It's very different.

#2199 Thursday 5th July

It's been another day with no carer assistance..... it's school holidays.  So today we went for a long drive.... 5 hours!  We drove east to York and then east again on the Goldfields road till we reached the Quarading to Cunderdin road. We turned north to Cunderdin and crossed the Great Eastern Highway and headed north to Dowerin. This took us past the Cunderdin airfield where I learned to fly gliders so I had a look around to relive the memories.

At Dowerin we turned west through Gomalling and Toodyay back to home.  The trip was 350 kms. Mostly through country that I'd never seen before.  The fields of lupins are beginning to flower so the views are special.