men in my house and many lists

Well, right now I have many men in my house fiddling about in my bathroom.  To my untrained eye, they do not appear to be achieving much.  Apparently my shower will be usable "by the end of the week" and my toilet will be "in and out on Wednesday."  Fingers crossed.

It's funny to have them here, and to see how they interact with me.  I work from home, on my laptop which is on my knee in the lounge.  The bathroom is off the lounge, and so I'm in close proximity to them all day.  I think it disturbs them that I'm here, obviously they're used to working in empty homes where the owner's out all day!  Perhaps that's why they're attempting to look busy all the time.  Who knows.

It does mean that they get to have lots of cups of tea though, because every time I make one for me I feel guilty and offer them one.  Tea lady extraordinaire.  I make the best tea, you've got to use tealeaves or else it just isn't right.

As predicted, I spent the weekend shopping for bathroom things and shovelling dirt.  I have shovelled so much dirt that I have now decided bugger it, I'll just spread the dirt around thinly and try to grow grass on it instead of getting rid of it to cover with stones / pavers. It's cheaper, easier, and puts me in less of a grumpy monkey place.  The benefits are endless. 

So, this weekend I have:

• moved the bath planter
• dug out a whole lot of tightly packed dirt  
• got some adhesive to attach some old brushsticks to the manky back wall to disguise it's mankiness (brushsticks have been hiding in my garage for ages, also means I can declutter, excellent)
• collected a shallow planter for my winter greens out the front,
• planted heaps of lettuce seeds in said planter
• cut trellis to section off the two gardening plots in the backyard so the dogs don't sit on them.  They lurve to sit in the dirt, it is crazy. 
• worked out where I'm going to put my mint plants I propogated from Mum's cuttings at Xmas
• Dug around the lemon tree out the back and sectioned it off with some old pavers that were lying around

By next weekend I will :

• put sheep pellets around the lemon tree
• get some potting mix for the mint plants
• plant out a heap of basil seeds
• transplant peas, beans, lettuces and silverbeet in the two plots - we've germinated them from seed at Mrs Possum's house.
• attempt to glue on the brushsticks to the concrete wall.  Wish me luck and give me strength that i don't get angry and throw a tantrum because it is more difficult that I envisaged
• go to the Martinborouh Fair with Mrs Possum because it is a good monkey thing to do.
• pick up bricks from my friends on the way out to Martinborough
• use said bricks to wall in the bath planter

In other exciting news, half the sage and marjoram seeds I was given for free because the packet said "use by 2006" have started to sprout!  I have learnt a valuable lesson about the amazing power of seeds. 

So, my frugal savings since last time I posted are:

• two packets of free seeds @ $3 each = $6
• no longer getting rid of the dirt = $12 (plus an unquantifiable saving on my sanity)
• using old brushsticks on hand to make my backyard look better so I can rent it out = $70 for new ones
• free marrow from my neighbours = $1

Whoa, I just thought I'd lost this post and was about to get pissy.  I'm posting it now quickly before I lose it again!