Friday 20th February 2026

Friday 20^th February

SHE SAID:

We had a jaunt west to Denmark today, checking out a couple of beaches, Crusoe & Springdale, & then stopping at the Denmark River mouth for a walk.

It was an overcast day; the sun & heat from yesterday has disappeared again, but pleasant for a walk, a little humid even.

The Denmark River

HE SAID:

A short outing and leg stretch around Denmark were the interesting things this morning. I even said no to Varena’s suggestion of buying elevenses. We had elevenses out a couple of days ago, so I was happy to go back to the house for a cuppa.

There was just the one match of the T20 World Cup on today, and it was Australia v Oman. I managed to watch some of it before needing to sleep. I couldn't manage to stay awake until 1am.

Thursday 19th February 2026

Thursday 19^th February

SHE SAID:

It was a quick trip into Albany to collect the paperwork from Moss Conveyancers & submit our ID’s. We didn’t linger this time as it was already over 30C, not walking around weather for these “old chooks”!

We read through the mountain of paperwork that we have been given. It is seemingly way over the top for the purchase of a block of land! Plus, everyone has their hand out with a fee of some sort!!! We return to Albany on Monday to finalise it all, with settlement due on the 12th March.

A picture in the house of Le Mont Saint-Michel in France.
A place forever seared in my brother's brain when he charged
into quicksand there when we were on holiday in the 1970's!

Another random photo from somewhen, we found amusing!

HE SAID:

I had assumed that we would be signing forms at the conveyancers, but it was really just to collect a small mountain of paperwork and to prove our identities. No big deal, as we’d be going in to Albany at some stage, probably, anyway. We also managed a quick visit to Woolies for a few things, and quickly noticed, yet again, that they are always jacking up the prices, and then they mark them as on special later, with the price seemingly too high even with the “Special”. Coles is currently in court for this practice, which may be illegal, and is seemingly immoral, and unethical too. Maybe Woolies will get a day in court, too?

Wednesday 18th February 2026

Wednesday 18^th February

SHE SAID:

My final BIG cleaning spree today, the inside of Bluee; it hasn’t been done for 6 months or more. I took nearly everything out, & it took me a good 2 hours to do it well. I was happy with the results.

I had a quiet rest of the day, finishing off with making Honey Sriracha Chicken & rice for dinner; a quick & easy & tasty meal.

Scaredy-cat hiding from the vacuum cleaner

HE SAID:

Varena slaved away cleaning the car’s interior this morning. I stayed clear, mostly, lest I be Armouralled.

As usual, dinner was very tasty.

Tuesday 17th February 2026

Tuesday 17^th February

SHE SAID:

Sad & worrying news greeted me today; my friend Tina in South Africa had a large cancerous growth removed from her sternum, lung, & heart. She is still in hospital, & the doctors are hopeful it can be treated. Not good.

We headed for Albany for a list of things to get done. We had morning tea down at a little cafe at Emu Point, which has a lovely view over the turquoise water.

Bluee got a wash, NOT a clean, at the “Car Wash”. I hope to clean inside tomorrow.

Emu Point views

HE SAID:

Tina’s news wasn’t good. We hope she recovers quickly.

We popped into a couple of places for some minor things, unsuccessfully. But at least the car was washed, and we shared a large scone with jam and cream for elevenses, but only after I had to explain to the girl at the cafe what a Devonshire Tea was!

Monday 16th February 2026

Monday 16^th February

SHE SAID:

Geoff & I got the caravan washed on the outside today; it took about an hour. I’m very glad that is done. It’s taken a couple of weeks to get the inside & outside completed. I rehung the net curtains & he is done. Well, 98%; the floor needs wiping over & the bed remaking but that will wait till just before the end of the sit.

Next job is the car!!! But not today.

I got the HD’s updated, which was a slow process with the Orchid file alone having 201,390 files!

Rocks on Lowlands Beach

Shelley Beach, West Cape Howe NP

HE SAID:

We were being very careful with our water usage this morning while we cleaned the van, and I think we used just the minimum amount to get the job done. A big surprise mid van-wash was when a car turned up. In nearly 3 weeks at this sit we have only had the owner’s son pop in for 30 seconds, and caught some religious nuts on the way out just as we returned to the house. So, this bloke gets out of his car says that he thinks the van will buff up well. OK. Nice of him to appreciate our efforts. But then Varena asked him how can help him, and he said he is really there to buff the van! That’s when I piped up with “I don’t know what you are talking about”, and he says “Is this number 89? I saw your van and assumed it was the right place.” So, we laughed and gave him directions to the proper address where is actually supposed to be working on a van. But quite a coincidence!

I gave the dash cam another workout this morning. It seems fine. Though why at least 2 previous cameras wouldn't perform anywhere near this well (normal), I don't know. So now I can post the old camera back to Fortron to do with what they will.

Sunday 15th February 2026

Sunday 15^th February

SHE SAID:

The minor storm around last night gave us around 8mm of rain, for the district; hopefully we got close to that. It was cloudy & muggy this morning.

My cleaning of Bertie continued. The inside & outside of the main door & screen door was on the ‘hit list’. I also got a small section of the outside done too. It does make a difference. It has been a good few years since the outside was done, other than with rain!

We caught up with Mum on Teams at 7pm then my brother & Kiyoka at 8pm.

Lowlands Beach

HE SAID:

With no simple way to check the house water tank level I hope that the overnight rain was a helpful amount. I helped Varena with the cleaning of the van door, pulling the vent and mesh out, and replacing the high-tech light blocking device, which is a bit of an old cardboard beer box cut to size. Without my little addition there would be a lot more light and breeze inside, which we don’t want.

Saturday 14th February 2026

Saturday 14^th February

SHE SAID:

Our hottest day for a while, 32C, but before it got too hot we had a scenic sightseeing drive around. We have pretty much been everywhere around here over the years, but it has been a while. We found some back roads to go down instead of the direct routes, finding our way to Lowlands Beach. It’s a lovely view from the 2 lookouts, & a nice, secluded beach with rocks & sand, & of course blue, blue waters.

We had morning tea at the Shelley Beach lookout in the West Cape Howe NP. The view from above the beach is where “mad” people go paragliding from; it is quite a cliff jump. No “nuts” doing it today though.

The sheet lightning & rumbling thunder in the late evening were a nice change. There was some rain, but it was light, mostly missing us.

Lowlands Beach

HE SAID:

We had a short tour around this morning, going to some very nice beaches. The rest of the day was spent mostly indoors avoiding the hot sun. The weather is very changeable around here, with a mixture of rather hot and rather cool days. Today was hot.

The evening storm lingered around for quite a while, but mostly at a distance. Barney the cat didn't seem too put out.

Friday 13th February 2026

Friday 13^th February

SHE SAID:

We headed to Albany for the post office; Geoff has a parcel waiting. We did a few other minor things.

It was nice to see the sun out after 3 or 4 days of clouds & cool weather. There is a prediction of rain at the weekend though it doesn’t look like we will get much.

There was a bit of colour in the sky, pinky & golden on the clouds

HE SAID:

The dash cam providers could not work out why I was having so many problems connecting the camera to my phone. Everything is app based, so it is essential. They decided that swapping cameras should help, so we went in to Albany to collect the new one. It only took a couple of minutes to replace both the front and the rear cameras. Getting it all working on the phone via the app took a lot longer, but I think the situation has improved somewhat. It is still a pain in the bum to connect, but it seems more reliable than previously. I will test it a few times and see what happens.

The cricket threw up a big surprise for me today. Australia lost to Zimbabwe. It is not the first time they have beaten Australia, but it is very uncommon. Bugger!

Thursday 12th February 2026

Thursday 12^th February

SHE SAID:

Yayee! I have finished the Bertie clean, happy about that.

We had another walk to the letterbox & back after lunch.

I booked a holiday house, well, a converted barn really, near Bideford in North Devon, for Geoff, myself & Mum when we are over there in May.

And Cat Day...3. They always look so relaxed!

HE SAID:

Of course there was T20 World Cup cricket to watch, but I managed a few other minor things too.

Wednesday 11th February 2026

Wednesday 11^th February

SHE SAID:

We had a short walk to the letterbox; only just over 1km return, but it was a leg stretch, which we haven’t had much of recently.

I continued with the Bertie cleaning, getting to the end for the inside; hopefully tomorrow.

The most exciting news of the day was that we put an offer in to buy a block of land in Williams, a small place about 2 hours south of Perth & a 1h 45mins from Bunbury. We were very surprised that the owner got back later in the afternoon accepting the offer! We expected it would take a few days!

We are very excited now!

Cat Days... 2

HE SAID:

Little things around the house and the van kept me going until the cricket came on after lunch. I wouldn't have minded cleaning up some of the leaves that are blowing around near the house, but as Gary took the batteries for all the tools I will have to do it manually. Therefore, it can wait!

We decided to make an offer on a quarter acre block of land on the outskirts of Williams that we saw last weekend, and it was accepted! I would usually try a bit of haggling, but this time we just went with the listed price, even though it was advertised as "From $xxxx", which is realestate agent crap for "Please offer more than the listed price". Having the offer accepted so rapidly was a surprise. So, now I guess we have process to go through, which I am sure will be a pain, but hopefully worth it.

Tuesday 10th February 2026

Tuesday 10^th February

SHE SAID:

We had a ½ hour drive into Albany today, with a few things needed; it got us out for a couple of hours.

I sorted out flights to the UK for when we leave here in early May. Mum is keen for us to return, though it will be a shorter than normal visit this time as we have house-sits lined up till December.

Then I did the ironing, lunch, & finally finished uploading the 2025 photos onto Facebook, for my emergency back-up.

Cat days...1

HE SAID:

Varena and I headed in to Albany for a beer resupply, and we got other things while we there, too. We are now confirmed to be going to the UK again, this time in May. Jan was so happy when Varena told her that the flights were booked.

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.

I managed, eventually, after a few IT issues that always seem to occur, to join a video session with Eileen, Meg, Carmel, and Steph just before lunch. They were at Woden Cemetery to commemorate Bernie's death, 22 years ago. Not forgotten. Still missed.

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.