Hello everyone and sorry I have not been in here for a considerable time but things got a bit hectic with organising things here, trying to get maintenance done on the home since April and to get a tradie that actually turns up, nesting ie buying furniture and other things we need and dealing with fatigue and memory issues with DH which are thankfully getting better.
Firstly good news that we have just had DH's yearly review for his brain aneurysm surgery and we have got the all clear that there is no more aneurysms that have appeared
. I have also been told that there is a strong possibility I have recovered from Graves disease and hyperthyroidism and have been off all medication now for 5 weeks and am feeling pretty good. Awaiting the results from a blood test to see that things haven't gone the other way with hypothyroidism so keep your fingers crossed for me as I really want to be off medications.
I am reading a lot about the shortages of groceries there in the States and the problems with unloading of ship cargo which is not good and as we are all interconnected even here in Australia things are getting hairy to say the least.
We are also experiencing high inflation on goods like sugar up in prices by 27 - 33% in costs for both raw and white sugar, powdered milk has gone up 33% , meat has gone up considerably in costs although I get a lot on specials and markdowns, things like ride on lawn mower blades have gone up 25% in cost if we can source them at all, our solar feed in tariff has gone down by 17% making it less coming off our power bill for energy we produce, clothing has also risen dramatically in costs.
In the supermarkets here in rural Qld we are seeing what I call fronting up with it looking like the shelves are full but there is only say two tins fronted up and nothing behind them so yes many businesses are having trouble getting stock from what I am seeing. We have increased our grocery stockpile considerably with half price specials since I have found as well as markdowns and good prices on meat and have been shopping different places to get good prices. I also found a good wholesale fruit and veg shop in our travels and we have purchased lots of veg and blanched and frozen it.
As we are also seeing a lot of shortages on appliances and the like with backlogs on ordering we have also purchased what we needed in the way of those with spares.
With things like mower blades we have stocked up when we found them to make sure we have supplies of them and filters as well and with laptop batteries and cords we also stocked up a spare each as they seem hard to find also. With DH doing the occasional paid mowing job we need mower blades for mowing our property and others as well.
Clothing was a boon as with lock downs in other states in Australia one store had an excess of clothing they couldn't sell so they sent their stock to Qld to liquidate at ridiculously low prices. I got a heap of really good quality cotton and linen long sleeved shirts and cotton long pants for DH for $3.60 ea, got some tops for myself also $3.60 ea and from another store a lot of cotton linen shorts for $4 ea. Usually these all retail for $49.99 for the shirts, likewise for the pants and about $25 - $30 for the tops and up to $39.95 for the linen shorts. We are happy and won't need clothing for some time as we heard there will be a cotton shortage with rolling blackouts in China due to a lack of coal and flooding so their mines cannot mine their coal.
In the gardens we have been trench composting the gardens and creating compost piles in them to build up the levels of the soil and added a lot of well composted grass clippings to them as we have acreage and a mound of grass clippings. Also planted turnips, capsicums and carrot seeds in the gardens which are now sprouting and looking good.
Nesting in the home we have purchased 2 x 3 dr and 2 x 2 dr sliding door wardrobes for the bedroom, built them from flat packs and now have heaps of room for all our clothing. Much better than hanging portable garment racks
. We also found an extendable antique replica 2.4 x 1 metre dining table for the grand total of $60 and restored the top with varnish and it looks brand new. It is currently sitting in our combined lounge room dining room and we are so happy to get a table at such as low price since new they are anywhere from $2500 - $10 000 for a solid wood extendable dining table.
We also purchased a carpet shampooer and shampooed all the carpets and rugs in our home so we will no longer have to pay for this service either. Both of us are all for reducing our dependence on any paid services that we can as they are going up in price all the time.
I have been looking for a tradie to replace two stumps under our home and level it, to do some structural work on the tank stand sheds that were sagging with posts collapsing, fix some cupboard doors and do a wetback system to divert water from half way down our home to the back rain water tanks as the gutters do not have enough fall and the water is lying. Pleased to say after hunting since April for someone to do all these jobs I have got a fantastic quote from a local tradie who can come out to do them all without a 6 month waiting list and who will actually turn up. Just emailed him to start work for which we will pay cash for.
We are looking into off grid battery backup systems for our solar system at the moment as word has it that our feed in tariffs may disappear altogether so we want to be more energy independent in the home.
Dh had also been feeling exhausted as they were adjusting his medication for PTSD and he was rather not with it and was suffering memory loss and not taking in much at all. As his carer I pared back to basics to look after him and as a result not had much time to go online. Pleased to say now his medication level is at the right levels he is far more with it and more logical.
Thanks
@LadyLocust for emailing to check up on us.
). It's a beautiful morning so I spent a half hour going out to the lake to take pictures. I normally wouldn't do that, but the Good Lord outdid Himself today...
