The new kitchen is taking shape: we have filled the shelves with all our sauces, tins, salts and peppers, oils, spirits and vinegars. The Moroccan tiles are laid, the blackbut benchtops are installed, and the drawers are all in and filled with cutlery, crockery, Tupperware, saucepans, baking containers, gladwrap rolls, bread and potatoes, and plastic bags. It’s just the pantry, pocket doors, shelving and painting left to do now.
We have also been industrious. I ride, run, catch the bus, do my arm strengthening exercises, balance on one leg while brushing my teeth, work, handwash the polyester clothing, damp-dust the window sills, do a load of washing, pick Lara up from school and drop her at aerial sport on Tuesdays, offer to help Rhea with her homework, encourage her to do some flute practice, do my own piano practice, think about ordering myself more sheet music (perhaps Chopin etudes? I’m playing one, I heard a couple of others I’d like to play on the plane back from Japan), make enquiries about Lara doing a French lesson after school, arrange for her to do the placement test, enrol her in the class, email the centre to change the class, ring a parent to ask if Lara could join her daughter’s private lesson, discuss that with Lara, tell the parent we’ve had second thoughts, ring to enrol her in a harder class, watch TV, and read in bed.
In the garden I pull out weeds, pull out and lay out pieces of slate stored beside the deck, contact five landscapers, show one around, text him twice chasing up the quote without success, exchange messages with another one, show him around, exchange more messages then show him around again with my more refined ideas, contact the concreter he suggested, ask him for a breakdown of his quote, and think about whether it’s worth following him up when one is not forthcoming. In the house I vacuum the floor (including along the cracks in the floor which aren’t sealed), clean the bathroom (including scrubbing the tiles), mop the floor, clean out the vacuum cleaner and dry the filter in the sun, dry the load of washing on the inside clotheshorse in the sun, let in the tradespeople, ripen the cherry tomatoes inside, keep an eye on my finances, shops for groceries, feed the cat, clean out her kitty litter, let her out into the garden, let her inside and close the door, let her out again, and close the door after she has come in.
Rhea and Lara rise, tired, at 6.45am. Rhea is unhappy about getting up early, makes their lunches – different every day (pasta with sauce, home-made savoury rolls baked with salami or cheese filling, grapes in a container, oreo biscuits in a container, Sakata biscuits in a container), the girls get dressed and ready for school, one forgets her bus ticket, another forgets her drink bottle, I give them a bus card each that I label with Rhea’s name and my phone number, and a spare bus card, and we walk down the road to the bus stop. We put our sunburn cream on at the bus stop, the girls catch the bus at 7.32am, two bus cards are lost during the course of the day, I ring the bus office and notify them of the lost cards, I ring them again and arrange an automatic debit, I receive a call from someone who has picked up one of the lost cards, I ring Steve and ask him if he can pick it up from this person near where he works, I let her know, he picks it up.
Steve books in tradespeople, fixes the computer, works, pays for excursions, attends appointments, drives the girls to after school activities, mows the lawn, vacuums the floor, cleans the bathroom, mops the floor, does the books as Treasurer of the Gliding club, prepares end-of-financial year statements as Treasurer of the Gliding club, tracks the renovation expenses, shops for groceries, shops for items of school clothing, shops for birthday presents for the girls to take to a birthday party, shops for winter clothes for the girls, buys himself some winter pyjamas and torch batteries, goes gliding for the day in a nearby town, and plays squash with Mark most Thursday nights.
Lara works on her history assignment about Ancient Rome, does her maths homework, revises Japanese, goes to swimming lessons, spends time at a friend’s house who lives down the road, has a sleepover with that friend, has a sleepover with another friend, catches the local bus to the city, catches the express bus to school, has seven school subjects, catches two buses home after school, keeps up with her homework, reads, watches Gray’s Anatomy on her phone, plays computer games on her phone, talks to or messages friends on her phone, and meets her new cello teacher via Zoom.
Rhea goes to swimming lessons, works on her French homework, works on her English homework, revises for her Science test, revises for her presentation, revises for her History test, watches Gray’s Anatomy on her phone, plays computer games, complains about all the homework, catches the local bus to the city, waits half an hour in the city for her connecting bus (sometimes she buys a hot chocolate), has seven school subjects, attends band practice commencing at school at 7.45am on Wednesdays, catches two buses home after school, pats the cat, messages friends on her phone, has a sleepover with a friend, fights with Lara, complains that the dinner isn’t tasty, plays the card game 500 with Lara, Steve and I, and goes to bed at 10pm. She participates in Netball training on Wednesday nights and Netball games on Saturday mornings.
Tomorrow we’re having a night in a sweet, character-filled house in Kangaroo Valley and will visit Arthur Boyd’s gallery. I am looking forward to it.
