G'Day.
           I hope if anyone reads this post they are well and happy in their lives. 

Floriade is on the tele (Better Homes and Garden's show) at the moment as I write. I hope to go there for a look tomorrow. It is spring time here.
Oh I so love spring, don't you? It is my favorite season.
 Since I have been in here writing my story, there have been changes happening in my life.
 I thought I would record them here.
 I am being positive at moving forwards towards our future.
We are in the process of purchasing a house in my old home town of Wagga,  New South Wales.
The house is an old double red brick place probably built in the late 1940's or early 50's going by my knowledge of the housing styles in the area. It is solid as the proverbial brick s**t house.
In fact the building report has stated that the timbers in it are much harder and stronger than the recommended building standards require. No movement in the building and the pest report that is required of such purchases states that there are no problems as well.
All is go!
 I am pleased to have found a house that is also out of the residential areas of Wagga that I suspect will become lower class (rough) in the near future. It is however on the brink of a semi industrial area, I don't see that as a problem, but more of an asset if we need to sell for what ever reason in the future.
The house is in reasonable walking and close driving distance to the main CBD of Wagga. Tick.
Otherwise it seems to tick the boxes of what we are looking for to settle and retire. It has nice big rooms.
A good size yard, even though it may take a bit of work to make it what we want. But that should be totally enjoyable for me.
Just under the 900 square meter block. So, room to build a studio and work shed for us and have a chook yard and garden. Albeit there will be some work to remove old cement cracked pathways that radiate throughout the back yard. there is a humongous old  hills type rotary clothes line that will have to go.
I have been looking at chicken suppliers today. At the different breeds and how to get them.
Oh this is going to be so much fun!
 We are in the process of prioritizing the things that we need first to make this home into ours.
We have finance approved. Tick.
One thing though. The contract arrived by mail today. It was drenched and dripping from the horrid weather we are having, but also our names were spelled wrong. So it will have to be returned and rectified. Minor setback.
Then we need a fence to keep beloved little doggie Rufus safe. To be achieved.
Then next; a tin prefab shed to store all our jumk in and later to store gardening gear in as there is no storage in the yard..
The house does not have built in wardrobes but there is plenty of room in each of the 3 bedrooms to have them added. There are 3 joinery type businesses just near the house.
Minor repairs to one tile on the roof, and a drawer front in the kitchen is missing, yep easy!
 I said minor repairs, as the interior of the house is in very good order, the kitchen and bathroom have been modernized.
 The advert said it was a 4 bedroom home but as one of the (so called) bedrooms is adjoining the dining room and we will use it as a computer room / office area.
 The home is in a safe, flood free area. Tick!
 Strange. The building report man said that the heater in the lounge room is of a style that he had never seen before. It has a copper pipe running from under the house and the building inspector said he couldn't ascertain if it was for oil of gas heating?   Maybe we could go to a metal working place and have an insert made to convert it to a wood heater as it looks like one of those old fashioned enamelled yellow looking wood heaters from the outside. I think they were called warmray. Chimney looks like it is still intact. Pest report, likewise, passed inspection, so no termites to eat the house away. They are a problem in Australia.
 Also has 2x air conditioners and an evaporative air conditioner, which will not be used as I don't like them.
Other than that; I want to have solar power installed. I am not interested in having the amount of solar power that will require selling our power back to the grid, but rather supplementing the amount of power we consume and therefore reducing our exponentially growing power bills in the future.
AND a studio to play in. Yes, I know I have mentioned this subject before but....I am enjoying the possibilities! And the planning that goes with it. I have an area envisioned that would  be suitable.
Oh I have plans!
 Although the plans for a studio are not a first priority. They do include an additional toilet as there is not a second one inside the house. Which is run from, as required of newer council requirements, water collected in a rainwater tank, as will likewise be the water supply to my studio/work area.
It will be interesting to see the advancement and achievement of my dreams for that in a few years won't it? What has been achieved and afforded financially, as opposed to what is the dream?
But......for now, I will plan and dream and, and, and, sign papers and commit my next few years to paying back the loan that will  make it all a reality.
 Anyone who knows me will know that over the last 4 and and half years that I have lived in Canberra I have desperately missed having the security of actually belonging somewhere on my own little patch of earth and doing what I wanted on said block.  You just cannot do that when you are renting someone else's property.
Once you have your own place you have difficulty with the restrictions placed upon a rented property owned by someone else. And! the inconvenience of having to leave a property owned by some one else who decides to sell and move on to their next project, and finding another place to live. As has happened to us for the third time since being here.
I do recognize that it is their property , but it is so difficult to keep moving after having your own place and doing it every year or so as we have had to do since moving to Canberra.
I have loved living in Canberra, it is a great place to live and I have enjoyed living here. If I could change things and stay I would. But the fact is we can not afford to live here with the high costs of accommodation and housing in general.
 Work here is good, and I have always had the type of  work here that I am able to do, be in high demand. To the point of being offered more work than I am physically able to handle.
But that is not a future at my age, so I have to move onwards and hopefully upwards. I will have to look for work all over again in Wagga after not living there for 28 years.
There are of course reservations in moving back to Wagga . There is one person there that I do not want o ever be in my life again, if I was to see her on the street I don't know what I would do. But. Hopefully. Hopefully that stage in my life is finished with. As hopefully my association with her, and her catastrophic position in my family is likewise.
How do you trust again after such adversity caused by her idiocy?
Ah well. That is another story eh?


Anyway!
 Back to the beginning.
The first photo at the top of this post.
 It was taken right outside my back gate here in Canberra, a few weeks ago. Wattle at the height of it's flowering.. There is a walking track/ bicycle path that runs along the back yard of my fence. Spring is here! Flowering wattle trees are endemic at this time of year here. I think the one out the back is known as the black wattle.
 Lovely isn't it?

The second photo at the beginning of this post is also taken from the walkway at my back fence. It is my view of Mount Taylor. Canberra is surrounded by a ring of such hills and is in a hollow. Which explains why it is known as a cold arse hole of a place. It is lovely though. As these areas are preserved as nature reserves, it is a tribute to urban planning design, the bush and open areas are preserved for the future. Pretty special in my mind. We walked up to the top of Mount Taylor last year. When my old dodgy legs were feeling pretty good. I couldn't manage it at the moment though. It was a pretty steep hike. Well worth the trouble. Although along the cemented walking track lots of fit and healthy joggers do it all the time, it was a challenge for me. We walked up the other side, our side, and kept off the marked tracks. There are hundreds of Eastern grey kangaroos up there. Big and small. I enjoyed seeing the wildflowers that are endemic to this area. Some of them quite specialized and rare, considering we are living  just a few kilometers south of Australia's capital city.
O.K.
Change of subject.
  9 weeks ago I went on google and found a lady near me who does Hypnotherapy. I joined her program to lose weight. So far I have lost 9 and a half kilos. It hasn't been easy but I think I feel confident I have mastered it. Rather than a diet, it is more like a lifestyle change. Well, so far so good. I am doing ok. I have lost the cravings and compulsion to eat things that I know are not in my interest. There is accompanied with the program, a lifetime support via email, phone and requested visitation with this lady. So far so good.
Now I can look at something and say "Oh that looks Yum! But I don't want it and I am not going to have it." I haven't missed what I know is naughty food. I am resisting. I like it. The test will be when my Mother comes back to stay with us in a few weeks and pushes her habits onto me again. But...at the moment I am doing O.K. I will go back if the need arises to visit Ilona again for her help.
 Anyway, I guess that this post is pretty boring for others. Rather it is a log of my intentions and happenings at the present time. As the header said, What is in my heart and my head.
Good Night.
Love Linda.