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.

Tuesday 20th January 2026

Tuesday 20^th January

SHE SAID:

Summer is back. 39c today; we stayed inside. Despite it being hot the AC was cold, so as is usual for me, I was in a cardigan & Ugg boots for most of the day. We have the AC on 25C, but I still find it chilly sitting around on the computer with a vague breeze around me!

Crazy!

I did sit outside for a while but that got too hot…!

I had a leftover shortbread base in the freezer, so put 
a toffee & macadamia topping on it. Yummo!

HE SAID:

Our quiet time of year continued, with another day at the house. Varena often finds it cool, even when I am warm. Today was no exception, but with the bonus that after sitting outside in the shade reading her book for a short while she got very hot, and came inside with a bright red face.

Monday 19th January 2026

Monday 19^th January

SHE SAID:

We had an outing… to Aldi! We needed a few things & it got us out of the house. The weather is heating up today & the next few days; at one stage the BOM was predicting 42C here on Tuesday. It is now supposed to be 38C. We will be hibernating for the next 2 days!

The Australian Orchid file is well under way. I tallied the new finds for WA; a further 9 new orchids, & including new hybrids that goes up to 23 in total.

I also decided to sort out the orchids from the UK & NZ today. I was surprised to tally my finds in the UK at 21 different types; 14 new ones for 2025. And we found 11 in NZ, my first time looking for them there.

HE SAID:

With no plans and the warm weather we only made it as far as the supermarket for a few supplies. There is no cricket today as the BBL finals commence tomorrow, and this is the last week of cricket for a while. I reckon the lounge chair will be breathing a sigh of relief!

Sunday 18th January 2026

Sunday 18^th January

SHE SAID:

Light at the end of the tunnel with the orchids for 2025. I got the first file for the Australian Orchids finalised… Still more to go, but happy that is DONE!

More Cottesloe art

HE SAID:

I successfully avoided straining myself at the house as I awaited the last BBL match of the season to commence at 4:15. It was an interesting match, with the loser missing the finals, but if Sydney Sixers won they could leap up to 2^nd place. I guess it shows that the competition was very even this year. Sydney ended up beating Brisbane, leaving my sister Kathy, who was at the match at the Gabba, a bit disappointed. She seems to have adopted Brisbane Heat as her team now that she is living there.

Saturday 17th January 2026

Saturday 17^th January

SHE SAID:

A few chores: washing, baked a cake, & sorted another 9 days of orchids. It’s getting to the end… slowly.

I even started the slow pack up from here. We still have 11 days to go, but I have plenty of things in the house I don’t need now!

Art around Cottesloe & strangely in a house!!!

HE SAID:

With 2 BBL matches today I completed my short list of chores well before lunch. The mowing (with the crappy corded electric mower), whipper snipping, weed spraying, and bin emptying all got done. And I got cake!

Friday 16th January 2026

 Friday 16^th January

SHE SAID:

We haven’t done anything much for a couple of weeks so I dragged Geoff out for the morning.

About 50km south is the area of Cottesloe, which has quite a few sculptures around the suburb. They have been acquired over the years by the council, from the annual Sculpture by the Sea event held in the area.

We managed to see maybe 80% of them & had morning tea too.

Back at Quinns Rocks we also had lunch out, a rare experience for us! We were both keen to have a Doner Kebab; it has been ages. The cafe was open, so Doner Kebabs were bought & consumed!

The Ministering Children’s League Convalescent Home was established at Cottesloe Beach in 1897 for adults.
A few children were admitted as paying inpatients during the early years of the Home.

HE SAID:

We made the most of our trip to Perth’s beach-side, with sculptures for Varena, and yummies for me. Our elevenses, a Biscoff cup-cake that we shared, was rather plain. But our lunch at the shops near the Quinns Rocks house was very tasty, and broke our seemingly long kebab drought.

The BBL in the arvo was great to watch, with both David Warner and Steve Smith, on opposing teams, scoring centuries. Though, Smith’s was off just 42 deliveries!

Thursday 15th January 2026

Thursday 15^th January

SHE SAID:

Another day of orchid file sorting.

Geoff headed out for beer.

Dinner was beef curry, so, easy!

Fur kids, happy!

HE SAID:

Our usual quiet days at this time of the year continued, with just a brief outing on a beer run during the morning. I grabbed a couple of English ales while I was there, just for some variety, and yummy curry for dinner!

Wednesday 14th January 2026

Wednesday 14^th January

SHE SAID:

Two weeks left here at Quinns Rocks!

We achieved heaps today!...

A short walk.

Sandwich lunch.

Square-eyes on the PC.

Leftover dinner.

Shows in the evening.

More murals

HE SAID:

We have the best leftovers. So tasty!

Of course, there was also BBL on TV.

Tuesday 13th January 2026

Tuesday 13^th January

SHE SAID:

A day glued to the computer, it took me most of the day to get ¾ of the August orchid photos sorted! My eyes were going crook & tired, so I gave up!

Random Artwork

HE SAID:

It was a very quiet day at the house. There were no plans for the day, so… success!

Monday 12th January 2026

Monday 12^th January

SHE SAID:

We headed to the mall at Joondalup for a few things but were back for morning tea.

I started on my next “BIG” task, copying all the orchid photos & notes from the Blog to the orchid file. I managed to get to the end of July!

After dinner we watched an amusing comedy series from the UK, The Change! Quite amusing.

More murals from my Subiaco wanderings

HE SAID:

I had three things to do while were out this morning. I needed some new shorts, as my hobo look was not being appreciated by my wife. Also, it was time for a new computer mouse. My old one used a USB radio dongle, and as my computer only has one USB port it was a pain to keep swapping things in and out. I found one on special for $10, so if it works, it stays! The other task was to get some more cat food. I was very surprised at the price. Wow! These cats are pampered. As My purchases were all at the first shop of each type my tasks were completed very quickly. We finished off in Aldi and were back at the house for a cuppa just after 11am.