Monday 9th February 2026

Monday 9^th February

SHE SAID:

I spent the morning in the van again, sorting & cleaning kitchen cupboards & the stove/oven. I stopped around 11am, in time for a cuppa, of course.

No more action for the rest of the day, other than washing, computing, & reading till dinner time. Beef Stroganoff, Broccolini, & rice was on tonight’s menu.

Beach 'art'

HE SAID:

A few things got done while Varena was in the van this morning, but nothing exciting, unless you call standing on a ladder next to the van and cleaning the hatch over the shower to be exciting. It was quite a warm day so taking it easy was the plan.

Sunday 8th February 2026

Sunday 8^th February

SHE SAID:

Cleaning morning; firstly through the house, then I continued with the van. I am making slow progress as it is a “Spring” clean.

Geoff was also doing stuff on the outside of the van today.

It was a double Teams session in the late afternoon with me chatting with Mum at 6pm, then later with Julian & Kiyoka.

In the garden

HE SAID:

With a cool morning, the van in a flat position, and plenty of room to open up the van’s awning I finally got around to installing the new anti-flap kit and roof rafters. These are meant to drastically reduce the awning flapping in the wind, but in big winds it is still best to put the awning away. We shall see how it goes, I guess.

With Varena having a busy day, both in the van and then with her mum and brother online, I made my simple spaghetti pesto for dinner. It is always good.

Saturday 7th February 2026

Saturday 7^th February

SHE SAID:

We had a country drive today, visiting several of the wheatbelt towns for a look around. We took morning tea with us but got a pie at a “Deli”/ takeaway in Wagin, which was only just average; the pastry was nice!

Back at the house in the late afternoon Geoff had cricket to watch; he was happy.

The clouds in the Wheatbelt

HE SAID:

Our Wheatbelt tour ended up being about 600km. We covered a lot of ground, looking around some of the towns, just to see what’s what.

Friday 6th February 2026

Friday 6^th February

SHE SAID:

Geoff wanted the van re-positioned so he can work on the awning, so that was the first task of the day. Next, I got some more of the cupboards cleaned inside the van; I’m slowly getting it done.

I finished uploading my October Orchid photos onto Facebook as my emergency back-up.

We had a chicken & sweet potato Biryani, with Dahl & yoghurt Raita from the little General Store at Young’s Siding, for dinner. It was OK without being awesome. Good to support the local businesses, we feel.

Young Lake

Anvil Beach

HE SAID:

Where we had initially parked the van did not allow the awning to be fully opened. I hadn’t thought of that until a couple of days ago. And, as I wanted to work on the awning we had to move the van. It wasn’t a big deal, just a bit of a pain. Now I don’t have an excuse to avoid my jobs.

I collected the Biryani around 6:30 and zoomed back to the house. It made a nice change, in an amateur way, rather than being restaurant standard. But that was all we needed, so we scoffed it pronto, surprised that the theoretical meal for one did us both.

Thursday 5th February 2026

Thursday 5^th February

SHE SAID:

An exciting trip to Albany this morning; we went to the dump, oops, sorry the Transfer Station, then the OP Shop, got fuel, & the post office for the wine Geoff had ordered, & finally to Aldi. As you can read, not really an exciting outing.

I made some cauliflower & bacon soup for lunch too, it’s all go here!!!

Our current 'home' for the next 3 months

HE SAID:

Our morning outing was about 2 hours or so. It is 30km to Albany so some of that was travelling time. A lot of our drive was very familiar to us as we’ve been here plenty of times, but we managed to take a new road back to the house. Before getting to the house we called in at the Young’s Siding General Store. Varena had found out that they were having a take away special tomorrow night; Biriyani. So we placed our order and will see how it goes. I’m happy to support local business as long as it is good. Strangely, as we returned to the house a car was just pulling out of our driveway. We hadn't even seen or heard a car near the house for the last week so we were very surprised. It turns out that they were Jehova's Witnesses, coming along to pester people. I had told them that we were house-sitting, as I initially thought that they may be friends of the house owners, and that seemed to be enough for them as they made no attempt to return to the house and try to badger us for money, or whatever they think they are doing.

After our tasty lunch I happened to spot a bird coming in to land on a tree near the house. My eyes told me that it wasn’t one of the usual varieties, and our guess is that it was a Boobook.

Wednesday 4th February 2026

Wednesday 4^th February

SHE SAID:

The random shaking of the house that Geoff commented on whilst we were having breakfast in bed turned out to be the washing machine, NOT mini earthquakes! LOL!

I got the “under bed” cupboard in the van emptied, cleaned & repacked. I also asked Geoff to help me move the 15 Blog Books to the house so I could get a group photo.

Years 1 to 15 

HE SAID:

The day was rather cool, and cloudy for most of it. I managed several minor tasks while Varena was blitzing the van. I still have not worked out how to check the water level in the concrete house tank, with no hatches visible on top. It may just be a case of poking around the inlet pipes; I’ll work it out eventually.

As it our friend Evan's 67th birthday I had an hour and a bit on Teams with him, chatting away. He is now entitled to an aged pension, but as a bit of a conspiracy theorist he doesn't want to provide all the required information, despite me telling him many times that the government already has all the relevant information about him - he just needs to fill in the form, then he will get a regular payment. We'll see...

Tuesday 3rd February 2026

Tuesday 3^rd February

SHE SAID:

From 37C yesterday to 21C today; brrr! And the power went out; not us tripping it, a power company issue. It was off for around 50 minutes.

I did warm up once I started back in the van cleaning through. It is surprising how much you can cull from a caravan!

We got an unwelcome “gift” from Barney the cat around 10pm, he brought in a semi-dead mouse! Not good, cat!

Our latest 'charge' - Barney

Pinky glow after a light rain shower at sunset

HE SAID:

It was a good day for uggs and trackies. Quite a change from yesterday. The power cut occurred when I was boiling the kettle for breakfast, so I wondered whether something in the house had tripped. But nothing had, and we found online later that the whole area was out. So, I grabbed our generator and got the WiFi and kettle back on. I was going to hook up the water pump but the mains power came back on in under an hour. All good. Varena's tasty kedgeree went down very well, as it always does.

We were in bed late in the evening when we heard Barney come in through the cat door yowling his head off. As this was an unusual sound I dashed out to the lounge only to find Barney standing over a partly chewed, but still alive, small furry creature. Whether native or not it was near death, so I finished it off. Unpleasant. But as he has always been permitted outside it is not up to us to retrain the cat, despite preferring that all cats remain inside at all times. Hmmm.

Monday 2nd February 2026

Monday 2^nd February

SHE SAID:

Time to start the sort out, cull, & clean of Bertie Caravan. I usually do an annual clean & cull in January, but the previous house-sit had the van on too much of a slope for my liking, so I decided to wait till we arrived here.

I did a couple of hours before the temperature rose too much. It is going to be our warmest day here, with 36C predicted, though back down to the low 20C’s tomorrow!

After lunch we headed for Denmark for beer & supplies. The rest of the day was quiet.

Young's Siding & the whale shark letterbox with regular letterboxes!

HE SAID:

The un-insulated house got to 35C inside in the afternoon. Having lived here for over 30 years I’d have though that the owners may have found the time to get it installed, but apparently not.

I left Varena in peace as she did her thing in the van, just doing some to-ing and fro-ing as needed. In the afternoon we had a short trip to Denmark for supplies. Apart from beer we managed to get some fruit and veg from a farm gate stall, meats from the butcher, and had a little look around, though not much had changed that we could see. Varena made yummy homemade burgers for dinner. Always good!

Sunday 1st February 2026

Sunday 1^st February

SHE SAID:

February begins… The year is already zooming by.

My day was not arduous; ha ha, is it ever now? 

We had a morning drive to the Young’s Siding ‘Shop’, then Young Lake & Anvil Beach. 

We realised as we got to the gated entry to the beach that we had been here before. I looked it up in the Blog, it was June 2011 we brought Lucy the Labrador here for a walk when we were doing a house sit in Denmark. The beach looked quite different this time in the sun & much lower tide!

HE SAID:

A short outing was called for so we had a bit of a drive around. It took us a while but eventually we realised that we had been to Anvil Beach before. It is a very nice area, and there were just a few other people spread out over the whole expanse, so definitely not crowded! I even got a toe wet in the ocean.

Saturday 31st January 2026

Saturday 31^st January

SHE SAID:

A relaxed day, adjusting to our new 3-month home.

I woke around 7am; we didn’t hear Barney meowing at the door or trying to come in through the night. He is a big, gentle, chilled out “bear” of a cat; gorgeous & so unlike the last 2 at Quinn’s Rocks, who were into everything & charged around ½ the day. Chalk & cheese.

It is a surprisingly cool day, with a high of 22c, so I dressed in jumper & trackies first up, hoping to stay warm!!!

 More of the old Kojonup railway siding

HE SAID:

This our first full day solo at the 25 acre property in Young’s Siding. There was no hurry to get up, so after a cuppa in bed I emerged a little after 9 to tackle the day. My jobs list was very short, and nothing strenuous, so I did my few little tasks and spent most of the day in front of a screen. It was also the first time that I had worn a jumper of any sort for a few months!

Friday 30th January 2026

Friday 30^th January

SHE SAID:

A very excited Tracey & a relaxed Gary hit the road around 9.30am. They are driving to Victoria for 3 months.

We did our “grand move” from Bertie to the house, which took about 90 minutes, then the sort out in the house, where everything is to go. We haven’t sighted Barney the huge cat for a while, but he has free reign inside & out, so could be anywhere. He’ll no doubt turn up when he is hungry.

Yep, he came to say hello after our lunch.

The rest of the day was quiet, ending with a 2-hour Teams session with my brother in Japan.

HE SAID:

For some reason the moving of our things from the van to the house seemed quicker than usual today. No idea why. Anyway, we are mostly sorted and took it easy around the house as we got a little bit used to it.

We had a brief afternoon chat with Jacqui, in The Blue Mountains, as we set up a proper meeting, including Mick, for Sunday, and a 2 hour gab-fest with Julian, in Japan, after our tasty Bolognese dinner.

Thursday 29th January 2026

Thursday 29^th January

SHE SAID:

Geoff said he had no clue about the banging on the door of the van; he sleeps like the dead!!!

I messaged Tracey with an ETA of 12-noon, & we headed south for the final 175km to Young’s Siding. We got there a bit later than I expected as we had a 15 minute stop chatting with a friend over a drama they are having.

Tracey was super excited at our arrival. She is very friendly & chatty & put on a huge feed for dinner. Her husband Gary, & Barney the cat, are way more chilled out!

Kojonup sculpture

The remains of the old railway & station

HE SAID:

Our drive south was fairly short, even including our stop for elevenses. We refreshed our memories of what the house-sit entails, enjoyed a huge chicken dinner, and had a couple of adult beverages to wash it all down.

Wednesday 28th January 2026

Wednesday 28^th January

SHE SAID:

With the house, cats, & guinea pig sorted out we waved them goodbye just before 10am.

It was about 350km drive to Kojonup & the free camp in town. I took us the back roads, less busy & avoided the closed section of the Albany Highway, due to a fire.

We had a morning tea & fuel stop along the way arriving around 3pm. The free camp was empty! Though it turned out not to be free; you need a permit from the visitor centre & it is $5 P/N.

I jumped out of my skin around 11.15pm. I was playing on my phone when there was a loud rap on the door then nothing. Geoff was already asleep & heard nothing. I peered out the window but couldn’t see anyone. I decided it was some random idiot! I didn’t sleep well, worrying if something else would happen!

Kojonup wool wagon (full-size replica) at the free camp

HE SAID:

There were only a few minor things to do before we rolled out from Quinn’s Rocks, so there was no rush. We left everything clean and the animals in good condition, taking a few photos before we left. Unusually for us, we are leaving before the owners return, as it will be about 2am when they arrive, but hopefully all is well when they get in.

Tuesday 27th January 2026

Tuesday 27^th January

SHE SAID:

The BIG clean through today. We started around 9am & were done for the day around 1.30pm, with some washing left to do & the last-minute things to pack tomorrow.

Geoff zoomed up to Butler when I was vacuuming & mopping to get the car washed; he is sparkling shiny blue again now; Bluee NOT Geoff! The first outside clean for 2026.

We headed to the Cornerstone Tavern for dinner, it was good food, huge portions, but we could have done without the kids Karaoke around the corner, followed by a Disney themed trivia night! I did ask whether this was the place to eat & the bar staff didn't bother to say, oh there is a restaurant area next door!!! THANKS!

From these photos it looks like the place was empty...it wasn't!

HE SAID:

We were fairly well organised for our last day at the Quinns Rocks House-sit. There was no need to get up early or race around, and we still got the job done in good time. The carwash place had a long queue for the touchless automated wash so I did it by hand with the sprayers and brush. It takes longer, and is more effort, but I didn't mind. Getting the months of dust and crud off the ute was the main priority. I even managed an hour’s chat with Dan in the arvo before heading out for dinner. He seems to be enjoying his new life in Brisbane; living near the CBD, trips to North Stradbroke Island, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast etc, doing lots of new things. The cats, however, seem to sense the coming change and played up a bit, but nothing too major.

Monday 26th January 2026

Monday 26^th January

SHE SAID:

We headed 9km north for lunch with Scott & Andrea at the Ocean 27 Restaurant, at Alkimos Beach for lunch. This time they had the 2 youngest boys in tow, Oliver & Jasper, who have both grown heaps since we last saw them, maybe 2 years? Ago!

It was a 3-hour lunch.

Alkimos Beach

Raspberry & Chocolate Sandwich, which we all tucked into;
it was a huge portion

HE SAID:

Our lunch with Scott and Andrea, and the two boys was the usual chat-fest. They have such busy lives compared to us. So many stories, often involving one of their four boys needing to go to a hospital emergency room for the usual boy things: stitches, x-rays, casts, scans, blood noses, head knocks etc. It reminds me of my own childhood!

Sunday 25th January 2026

 Sunday 25^th January

SHE SAID:

More moving of stuff & bits of cleaning today.

I got the August photos up on FB too.

Caught up with Mum on Teams & Geoff was glued to the BBL Final.

Random photos

HE SAID:

Having invested many hours watching BBL over the summer the Final was, of course, essential viewing. My prediction for the winner was correct, Perth Scorchers, but their opponent, Sydney Sixers, I got wrong. I expected Hobart Hurricanes to make it. Oh well. Unusually for Perth at this time of year there were some rainy squalls around during the match. Being a T20 match the umpires remained on the field for longer than they usually would have for a normal game. And I was surprised, as it looked to be raining quite hard, and players were slipping a bit in the field, but the result was probably not effected too much by doing this. I reckon Perth were looking the goods most of the match, rain or no rain.

Saturday 24th January 2026

Saturday 24^th January

SHE SAID:

More packing up & cleaning done this morning, nothing exciting.

I got my July photos backed up onto Face Book. They aren’t great quality, but it’s a way to have an emergency store of them.

Our meet up with Scott & Andrea didn’t happen as ‘kid’ dramas with them had them bailing. Hopefully we can see them on Monday instead.

HE SAID:

It ended up being another quiet day at the house, with a few things making their way back to the van, and a little sorting out occurring.

Friday 23rd January 2026

Friday 23^rd January

SHE SAID:

I started doing some tidying up & cleaning through the house today. Piecemeal is easier than a mad rush at the end. I also got several more bag loads of our stuff back into the van.

In the afternoon I started reading through the latest Blog Book, & surprisingly I have yet to find an error. Whether I’m skimming over the mistakes, or there aren’t any I’m not sure!

More Cottesloe Art

HE SAID:

There were two short outings today. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. Both were to the pet shop for cat food. The cats at the Quinns Rocks house-sit are given a small amount of dry biscuits that are meant to be good for their dental hygiene. But, as we’d run out I zoomed 5 minutes up the road and bought some more. The problem was that the cats wouldn’t touch it, even the gutsy Jaz, who turned her nose up and wandered off insulted! So, I took it back, and the shop swapped it for a different brand. Lucky for all of us this one was acceptable to the furry queens, and all was good again.

BBL semi-final, in which Sydney Sixers beat Hobart Hurricanes was in the late arvo.

Thursday 22nd January 2026

Thursday 22^nd January

SHE SAID:

A cooler change came through today, after a warm 24C overnight.

Notable things to say today: I finished updating the 2025 orchid file! My Australia tally is now an amazing 877 different orchids seen; that does include hybrids, & ones I can’t ID, or aren’t officially named yet. In WA I’m up to 610! WOW!

Second notable item is the fact we did a load of washing & for the first time EVER (lol! or that I can remember), there were NO Geoff socks to wash!

Out & about in Cottesloe

HE SAID:

Well I like socks. And I wear clean ones every day that I wear shoes. I just mustn’t have worn shoes for a while. Apparently that is a remarkable event.

Wednesday 21st January 2026

Wednesday 21^st January

SHE SAID:

A 41C day today, we did as little as possible! A short drive to Coles then hibernating with the fur-family in the house!

Our 15th Blog Book arrived today, though the stupid courier didn’t knock, just left it by the front door. Thankfully Geoff went outside for something else & found it there! It looks good, though we haven’t read through, just had a flick through, so far.

Crumbed fish & rice for dinner; different!

Wildflowers to brighten up the post

HE SAID:

The hot weather was another reason not to do much today. I still managed a couple of short trips to the van, and the occasional other minor task. One of these tasks was to hand water the poor, possibly root-bound, potted frangipani at the front of the house. Luckily I hadn’t spilt any water before noticing the brown package stuffed behind the pot. As it was cardboard, and contained a book, getting it wet would not be good.