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Currawinya, Barraba, NSW

S 30°22'45" E 150°36'20"

Sun 31 Jul - Sat 6 Aug 2005


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Sunday 31st Jul

In the morning, we assembled the second wardrobe. It was much easier than the first as you would expect.

In the afternoon we were watching TV when the power failed. I checked that it wasn't a fault in the house and found that the outage was very extensive with Tamworth out too.

We took to the Motley where we had the benefit of our own power. After dinner, the power came back so we retired to the comfort of the house.

Monday 1st Aug

I had an appointment with the doctor. She was happy with my response to the Lipitor so she gave me a script for 6 months supply.

I asked about my knee which had got more painful recently. She said it was probably arthritis and she asked me to try regular doses of paracetamol before we get involved with x-rays and ultrasounds which would lead, perhaps, to knee reconstruction or replacement.

In the afternoon I dumped the black water. While I was doing this one of our neighbours asked if her son could have the old carpet which was on the front lawn waiting to be taken to the tip. I said "Of course". He came over later to pick it up and offered to take the remaining rubbish to the tip for me.

Because I got two free bottles of gas from Elgas when I bought each of the the appliances, I have to get my gas from Rural Traders, the local hardware store, who don't have a delivery service. We had used the first bottle so I had to get another. I took the empty cylinder to the Elgas agent on the trolley and dragged the full bottle which weighs about 65 kg back up the hill. While it's not easy, it is possible and I guess the exercise is good for me. One day I might have to find another solution!

Tuesday 2nd Aug

I planned to do more work on the kitchen but by the time I had done all the immediate chores, I needed a rest.

Wednesday 3rd Aug

I had booked the Terios in for service in Tamworth.

I dropped Jean in town, drove to the Toyota dealership, and walked back into town. I spent some time at The Homestead surfing the internet, drinking coffee and, when Jean had joined me there, having lunch.

Jean had gone off window shopping and when we met up again, she had walked all the way to Spotlight, which is about 2 km from the centre of town, and back.

When the car was ready, I walked back to pick it up and we went shopping for renovation supplies. I didn't get everything on the list because the time to go home came upon us.

Thursday 4th Aug

The day dawned overcast and raining. I put out the electric bucket to fill one of the Motley water tanks with rain water.

Jean had a a quiet day because she was still suffering from all the walking she did yesterday.

I did some more work around the house.

Friday 5th Aug

The rain had gone and the day was bright and clear if a bit frosty overnight.

I fitted two power points for the visiting motorhomers. I had a spare 30 A circuit which used to supply the electric stove and I was easily able to fit a dual 15 A outlet on the outside wall of the kitchen where it is convenient for visitors to plug in.

I noticed that the water tank had filled up again so I cleaned the pipe from the tank to the kitchen and resurrected the tank water supply to the kitchen. We now won't have to descale the kettles every week.

Saturday 6th Aug

John kindly collected the timber I had bought from Tamworth so I'm now ready to make the tank stand. I will employ the local garden handyman to do the heavy digging so it should now be a fairly easy job. John suggested that I use the gravel in one of the old tank supports which is a good idea if I can find an easy way of moving it . I will then only need a tonne or so of sand from the landscape supplies guy. There is a difficulty. I will have to remove the tank before I build the tank stand but I need to have the other tank still in place until after the new tank is installed so that I can transfer the water to the new tank. This will require two visits by the heavy machinery guy who hasn't been returning my phone calls.


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Created: 29/07/05 and last revised 7/08/05
Author: Robin Chalmers Copyright in all the material on this site is asserted by the author
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