High hopes

I have been totally flattened by a combination of being unwell and having work crews here all week. I’ll wake up feeling terrible, get a spurt of energy and then collapse around 1pm. Unfortunately, that is my main writing/thinking time and I have spent most of it napping.

I’ve realised this week how much I value my privacy. It may sound weird for a blogger, but the energy to write and think about my life and research comes at least partly from the serenity and quietness of where I live. And serenity has been in short supply this week. Blithe Boy has been bothered by the chaos too and spends much of each day asking me what the various noises are. He is our Marburg baby and didn’t have the experiences of university co-op housing with fire engines screaming by at regular intervals or our later surburban bus route existence. We will occasionally hear the Rural Fire Service klaxon or sirens on the highway, but the wind and birds are the only constant background sounds of our lives.

This week has been a dissonance of jack hammer, dingo, drills, hammers, thumps, crashes, grunts and yells. There has been a plethora of decisions to be made on many issues, quotes to be chased up, and one day, a work crew to track down. I’ve had to work out where to park every time I come home and there have been some interesting driveway interactions. Our property is not really designed for more than single vehicle traffic flow. On the plus side, we have a new roof with only about half a day’s work left to complete gutters and final tying down. And after today, it looks as if the stumps will be installed and certified on Monday. After that it’s our responsibility to get the rest of the work done.

We believe there is still a builder for us on the horizon. Other options have either fallen through or not even emerged. Builder #6 is coming to inspect tomorrow. We have high hopes, but then we always do.