This and That

This winter has, in my mind at least, been quite mild.  Some cold weather, but nothing much. Some rain, but not  a lot.  Rain storms, rather than ongoing rain.  Windy?  Yes!  We missed the weekend of proper winter weather. We were in Singpore when the snow came and  had to make do with a video from Lindsey.

So when the forecast for last weekend predicted mild temperatures, I wore spring like clothes for our visit to Mount Martha, sandals rather than shoes, a cardigan rather than a jumper.  I completely failed to take into account that the forecast for this week was for colder weather.  This wouldn't have mattered except that we were at Hill House on Sunday night and the weather changed mid-afternoon on Sunday to wet, windy and cold.  I had to borrow a pair of socks from Jim!  And went quite early on Monday down to Tani to get some proper clothes.  A nice winter jumper, rather than the light summery cardigan, for example. And shoes!

We had a good weekend. We headed down Mount Martha on Saturday. Stella, Jim and I drove across to Hastings, mainly for a look see.  I had noticed that there were some cabins for sale in the retirement villages there. It is a very long time since I was last in Hastings. Stella likewise.  Jim has never been.  It is much bigger than I remember it being.  It has a sizeable shopping centre, a pretty marina, lots of cafes and restaurants. It has a Bunnings and a Kmart.  It's less than a half hour drive from Mount Martha.

Both Jim and I thought that we could happily live there, in a cabin by the sea.  Except that we've been offered a 12 month extension to our lease, with no rent rise and we have accepted that. A holiday cabin wouldn't really be practical at this stage. (Tani pretty much is a holiday house :-D ) But I will keep Hastings on the list when we do go looking for a place of our own.  In the meantime, we are still enjoying living in Tani so are pleased to have another year guaranteed. And very pleased that there is no rent increase.

It was Freyja's birthday on Saturday and she and Simon came to Mount Martha to join us for a Sunday Birthday lunch. Fortunately, the weather held until after we got back from the pub.  It's a tight fit to squish five people into little Ziggy so she and Simon walked to and from the pub. The rain started when we were getting ready to head back to town and then (for Jim and me) to Ballarat.  The Pikes Creek reservoir, which had been quite low, is starting to look quite healthy again.  Even so, I think the rainfall averages so far this year are a bit low.  We have only just started using a rain gauge but Tony had been keeping records for many years.  Lindsey and I read his rain gauge when we are at Mount Martha and the total so far for this year is down on the August totals for previous years.

There's a new podiatrist at the surgery. Last week I took my feet for their first ever visit to a foot person.  I wanted to know if anything could be done about their misshapenness.  Alas, short of getting an orthopaedic surgeon to re-shape them (and I am not keen to do that) there isn't anything very much that can be done for them.  But they did enjoy having their toe nails properly cut, their callouses removed, their cracked heels oiled. I shall have to take them again. And wait patiently for warmer weather when I can  wear my sandals again.  Sandals don't make my feet hurt.  Proper shoes that are an appropriate length for my feet are never wide enough so I either wear shoes that are too long or too narrow.  Either way, they make my feet grumpy.