TWO SLEEPLESS NIGHTS

NIGHT ONE:  can't sleep so i get up and pad through to the kitchen, step on a wet patch of rug and realise that it's been damp two days in a row.  not a spillage - i then see water trickling down the wall and drips all along the cornice - the new cornice and wall that replaced the damaged soaked wall 6 months ago.   the leak in the ceiling has returned.   my fault - i should've been nagging steve the plumber to come back and do the proper job we'd agreed to.
so i went up the ladder at 2a.m. to shine the torch around, and threw a stack of towels under the leak.  i could've climbed right into the roof cavity but had visions of not being able to drop back down onto the ladder - headlines  'senior trapped in ceiling for five days!'  hmmm.  i decided to leave it and ring the plumber in the morning.
steve arrived, got up and had a look and said  'looks like i'm gonna get wet' and went out to change his shoes.   and this is what he was wearing when he returned

NIGHT TWO

Steve did a temporary fix (sunday and he had a family do) and for some reason i had another completely sleepless night last night.  partly due to the fact that i'm having airbnb problems and their 'help' people insist on texting in the middle of the night. now i'm on the couch feeling like a zombie but long story short - the plumber's been, fixed the problem and also fixed my broken aircon ducting in the ceiling at the same time.  :0)   i'm taking it easy today.

it's been pretty warm, in the 30's, but still and calm. but yesterday evening a wild duststorm swept up the river, i ended up with a branch in the front yard and dust everywhere, but a light rain came and settled everything and cooled down the house.  it's a lovely

cool breezy morning, i might just go back to sleep 

this is the downside of life in the mallee - dust storms.  luckily they don't happen often and are usually brief, heralding the arrival of a cool change