Survived

I managed to survive yesterday's attempt to set up the new laptop. It was 4 hours at the Senior Citizens Club, just watching the upload go slowly through its instructions, and then the firmware to upload as well. The person helping me let me go home for awhile while he sat and kept an eye on things. Once I got home with it at about 2.00pm,I got connectivity to our modem done, then the virus protection installed, and finished the firmware upload. Then I switched it off. I haven't got back to it. I've given myself a firm talking to - to not switch it on and have a play, until everything else for the day is done. 

So, I'm sat here at the old laptop, writing this post, and finishing off the roster template for church helpers.  Maybe do a purchase, and then I'll have a look at what's what with the new laptop...

Layering On and Off, my Goodness

What a time we've had of it the last few days, as the weather has come in warm, after coldness. Winter polo shirt to summer polo shirt and back again... Long pants to shorts to long pants as the days and hours progressed.. Socks off, socks on, socks off... 

Last night in the cool of a sunny evening we repotted these two Bambolina Olive trees. They aren't destined for the yard, and we're not interested in olives, but hopefully they'll survive quite well here on the deck.... They're at the end of a long line of trial plants for the deck; I think if these go downhill, I'll just give up trying to grow anything else here. 

This afternoon has been spent at the laptop working on church templates and forms. I've had 3 or 4 different tubs of church stuff on the go, and as we're getting closer to the end of the year, and people have become available to do stuff, I can finally finish off some things. 

I'm spending Tuesday morning with a helper at the Senior Citizen's club getting my new laptop set up; I'm feeling daunted just thinking about it. I've plugged it in to charge it up, answered a couple of the first questions , and then couldn't go any further as it wouldn't connect to the WiFi. Brian can look after all that. Phew! 

 

Buoyant 

We attended the travel agent this afternoon, and all the major items for our upcoming trip to Europe in 2026 are set in place. I've just paid the travel insurance, so if the Russians invade Poland or Finland, and the trip gets cancelled we should be okay! But that is not going to happen. All shall be well. 

 

The Day 

The day has got away from me, somewhat, in a good way. Church duties for both of us this morning - Jim was communion assistant; I was greeting and counting, then getting the sanctuary ready for All Saints next Sunday. White flowers instead of the red (Reformation Sunday) we had today. A spot fire from one parishioner, but I hope I've sorted it out. 

This afternoon we were off to Bunnings for large pots and potting mix, and then a Sunday Drive to the Hopkins River Falls. We decided to call in on friends on the way home - had a good chat about getting old, getting services, and arranging finances for the long haul...

Then it was home for a cold drink and to give the car a dust and vac, and have a quick nana nap.  Hopefully, I'll get a walk in after tea.

So, I 've just tried uploading a couple of photos from icloud but this laptop is almost frozen it's so slow. Setting up a new laptop with windows eleven in a couple weeks can't come soon enough. 

Atrocious

We've had atrocious winds blustering and swirling around for the last 18 hours, with bits of stinging rain coming through horizontally. Just catching up with the Adelaide crew who would have endured the winds 12 hours before us...  So, I only ventured out for school crossing duty; made do with a walking workout inside at home.

  

A Mixed up Kind of Day

Yes, mixed up with the tasks done, and the weather, of course.

Church was short, as the Pastor wasn't leading; followed by scones, jam and cream, and friendly discussion. Still, we were home in good time to get the regular morning house jobs done.  It was quite warm but not sunny, so I pulled out the furniture, carpet and stuff from under the laserlite, and got the window and decking washed.  

In between times I had church computer forms to fill in, scan and send off to head office.  Also, parish minutes to review and an order at Koorong online to make. It took forever; their online ordering is nowhere near as good as it should be. By now, we'd had lunch and the decking was dry, so dragged everything back in under cover, as it was threatening rain, and then it did rain... 

My other ordered items all turned up during the week. The first item - a bag- has already gone to the op shop, as not fit for purpose - was just a cheap buy. Another item was a DVD set of British murder mysteries I'd heard about.  The episodes are only available on one of the streaming platforms, and I refuse to subscribe to any of them.  It's been a while since I've used the DVD player operation - hopefully it'll work - the set is a christmas present for myself, so a few more weeks yet before I can watch. The other item was a set of two books in a series by a SA author, the first published in 2024, and the second a week or so ago. They'll be given to my Kris Kringle giftee, so absolutely no hints or pictures. I've just started reading last year's book again, then the second book to follow. Jim plans to read both, too, before they get wrapped up in christmas paper. 

Sunshine

Yes, we're having some proper sunshine now, for a couple of days. I washed some deck windows today - across the front of the house where the lounge and dining area are - no furniture to move.  Tomorrow, all being well, I'll get the window section by the front door done - move the furniture items out of the way; the decking should dry off with the hot sunshine. Hopefully, I'll get the last section in front of the bedroom done on the weekend - lots of furniture and carpet to move around there. 

Halfway through October - church matters are either moving fast, or dragging along; I'm expecting some christmas bits and pieces to arrive in the mail in the next few days, so a bit of planning is starting to happen in that respect, as well.

 

Given Over

The weather has been atrocious today so I've given the  afternoon over to church computer work. The parish is working on some matters for 2026 so there are emails to write and answer. Then it was on to the agenda for tomorrow's congregation council meeting, and sending that out to council members.  

After that it was creating some new forms for members records, as I didn't think the ones I inherited from the previous office person were fit for purpose, or at least fit for my purpose. We'll see how they go over time. Will probably need some more adjustments, as we enter data - may still not be quite right. 

And so, we're onto a new working week - I hope the weather is better tomorrow at 3.00pm...   

Pressure

It's been a pressurised start to the term. If I'd had any sense I would have deferred a couple of matters until next week. Apart from a tiny hissy fit at an appointment this afternoon, I've got through. 

There was an extremely tense parish council meeting on Monday night, with big changes coming ahead, and we're trying to steer the parish through the changes. 

Yesterday morning I had a first tech support session with an older volunteer at the local senior citizens club. He walked me through some of the processes of files and folders and computer housekeeping which I'd found out I'd been doing incorrectly. He was brilliant - I learnt so much. I've a double session booked in November for him to help set up a new laptop - I'm still using windows 8.1 So, I have all the fun of buying a new one - he's given me all the specs to look out for.

This morning, the city council carried out its annual inspection of the church kitchen. All good there, thank heavens. He did get his torch out and peer into the back of the dry goods pantry, to see if anything was lurking there, out of date. Only a jar of chicken salt, 5 years out of date, so that went straight in the bin. I can't imagine why we even needed a jar of chicken salt, anyway.

I've had a couple of appointments as well, and Jim's brain hasn't been in its best place for a couple of days - I'm putting it down to daylight saving and the parish council meeting.  

Witton Bluff Walk

On Monday we were out with children and family adults for a walk along the Witton Bluff Promenade. We started at Pt Noarlunga, walked to Christies Beach, had lunch and a play on the playground, then walked back and finished up with an icecream. I think we had the best of the days for the week, as a couple of days later I heard on the radio that Toxic Algae Bloom foam was up to the car park at Pt Noarlunga. 

The beach is nice and clean here.  Then it's not!

Now it's back to school crossing for term 4.  The gear is in the car and the alarm is set! Christmas will be here before we know it....