Back home 
Bronwyn's parents have returned from their grand tour of England, and managed to meet up with quite a few people on the way. Claire is organising an afternoon tea, in the longstanding Kerr-Taylor tradition, to welcome everyone back.

The church youth group has also returned from a missions trip to Vanuatu, and a number appeared in church this morning carrying sleeping bags. Not sure how that was related.

I had a busy week at work trying to finish the latest build of the software. We provide an Online Learning Environment for schools, i.e. a website, where students and teachers can log in, search for information, and do homework. After a packed week trying to finish everything, we managed to get it up and working on Friday. My boss is planning to buy us lunch at some point.

Spent all of yesterday afternoon tidying the art cupboard. I found a number of ice cream tubs, and spent hours picking through the stuff, sorting paints, glue, fabric, paper, glitter, small furry things and all sorts of stuff. Bronwyn is a magnet for art materials. Now we have space for more...

It's been raining again. Bronwyn was going to help with the sheep this morning, but the ground is like mush. At least it's not freezing this week.

[ add comment ] ( 1920 views )   |  permalink  |  $star_image$star_image$star_image$star_image$star_image ( 3.1 / 1994 )
Wet and windy 
Quite a storm last night. There are still large puddles on the drive, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to start the car tomorrow.

The car still moves, but the engine is wearing out, and the outer CV joints rattle whenever you turn a corner. I've been watching the fuel consumption carefully, and the water level doesn't seem to be moving much. But it's probably time to change the CV joints. And the tyres won't survive the next warrant test. Other than that, there's not a lot wrong with it.

Spent an hour or two clearing out Bronwyn's car. I think her model comes with a black hole as standard, because it rapidly fills with rubbish of every description. Filled half a rubbish sack with lollypop sticks, receipts, bits of paper, bottle tops, crisp packets and all sorts of other things. Put quite a few bottles in the recycling bin. Then we went inside with buckets of soapy water and cleaned a lot of sedimentary dust, sticky lollipops and un-nameable debris. Bronwyn's parents are coming home on Tuesday after three months away, and Bronwyn is going to pick them up.

Bronwyn's still suffering from the after effects of the flu. Her legs are aching quite a bit, and she finds it difficult walking. The nurse said it was because she'd gone straight back to work after getting the flu. Hopefully she'll be better by next week.

The children are fine. Doesn't seem to have affected them!

[ 3 comments ] ( 4628 views )   |  permalink  |  $star_image$star_image$star_image$star_image$star_image ( 3.1 / 2001 )
Back to normal 
There seem to be three different reactions when I mention swine flu. All are quite distinct, quite polarised and largely wrong.

Some people panic. They've heard stories of someone on the other side of the planet who had similar situations, and run a mile every time you cough. Others are in denial. It won't affect them because, it won't, will it? The third set seem quite blase. "Ooo - can you give it to me? I want a few days off!". "So what? It's just the flu!"

The truth is that this particular flu isn't much worse than the normal variety, although it certainly seems a lot more sudden and takes a while to shake off. It does endanger certain people, but only if they're endangered already. I'm just glad we're all back at work / school / kindy and normality has returned. Bronwyn is still aching in one leg, but largely back to normal. She went back on Friday afternoon for a leaving party. This afternoon, we're going to her work to decorate it for the boss's birthday. Now that's dedication.

I'm told it's hot in England. It's cold here, but not as cold as a few weeks ago. And it's wet. The grass is growing again. Planted a few more trees yesterday. Yes, life is back to normal...

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Influenza 
We've all had it this week. Sarah had swollen tonsils on Monday, Rachael's had a nasty cough, I was off sick for three days, and Bronwyn's had a temperature up to 40. She's still very tired and full of aches. So we've spent the weekend in. Well, technically I shouldn't have been off to the solo competition yesterday, but it largely involved four hours sitting down waiting, and ten minutes playing. I did my best, but it's not easy when you're low on blood sugar and feeling in need of a chimney sweep down your lungs.

We're not on the official statistics, but the symptoms are so close to swine flu that I'd be suprised if it wasn't. Basically, they're only bothering to test you if you've been in direct contact with a known case, or have serious symptoms. So it could easily be all over the country by now.

It's warmer now, but damp. Very damp, and more rain to come. I'm glad I cleared the driveway of mud, otherwise I'd have difficulty crossing it in a wheelbarrow, let alone a car.

Hopefully we'll get well soon. Pity the children don't get the "loss of energy" symptoms, just the adults. They're currently chasing each other round the lounge on an old tricycle...

[ add comment ] ( 1638 views )   |  permalink  |  $star_image$star_image$star_image$star_image$star_image ( 3 / 2006 )
Chilly 
Cold this week. Bronwyn's cut up some more firewood, and we've got enough to last for a while. It's heavy old stuff, however, and takes a while to burn. But we still have a little of the light dry wood to start the fire with. I haven't had to drive across the paddock to get more for a while.

My symptoms last week were almost identical to swine flu. I just missed the cough and sore throat. I'm thinking that it could actually be right across the country by now, and we wouldn't know because they're only testing people with serious symptoms. Meanwhile, a few school have shut down, and the shopping malls have apparently been crowded. Not sure if that was the desired object.

I now have a cleanish driveway, which will help since I have to park the car backwards in order to get a nice run down the hill. I need the downhill run in order to start the engine, and I need a clean driveway because otherwise I can't back the car up the final slope into the garage!

Mended my trousers yesterday. Managed to find a zip that was the same size as the old one. Indeed, it was the only zip that fitted, and it looked almost identical, so I guess styles haven't changed much. Unfortunately I'll probably have to take it out again. I put it in back to front...

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