We had several days of storms and rain earlier in this week. The building site next door is slowly removing the scaffolding from the top down. The removal had almost reached the level of my balcony at the back when the first storm hit. The cloth surrounding the scaffold spent the night flapping around before the workers secured it in the morning. 
At the front a good part of the scaffold cover disappeared altogether - don't know where it ended up. The rain drove in from the West, unusually wetting the front balcony. Everything seems to have survived - and got a decent watering.
There was much more damage in the Barossa Valley and the north and east agricultural areas where crops and structures were badly damaged.
Much of my week was spent reorganising files and storage - an activity triggered by the need to empty and dispose of the storage cupboard in my car parking area. I have accepted the quote from Nordic Furniture for two pieces of storage furniture for the apartment. One is a narrow 2.7 metre long bookcase with a cupboard at each end to go in the living area - along the wall from the door, below the paintings, replacing the trunk.
The other is a 2.3 metre unit with cupboard, filing drawers and shelves to go in my sewing room/study. It will run along the wall under the paintings replacing the cupboard, filing cabinet and desk.
I admit I agonised about spending the (not insubstantial) money. They will, however, make a big difference to my storage and organisation- and look good. I was struggling with the notion of 'sufficiency' as well as a seeming conflict between downsizing and adding furniture. I am a 'mend and make do' person, but also a 'find the solution' person. The 2 pieces will be custom made and take 18-22 weeks.
I also followed up a suggestion that the plastic storage boxes I had piled in a cupboard in the sewing room/study could be replaced with plastic storage drawers. I investigated at Officeworks, bought a set of four white drawers, constructed them and found it worked very well. I went back to get a further set of five drawers, but found they only make those in black. I wanted the extra drawer, so settled for black. It's a good solution. the drawers hold one of the storage boxes I had stacked in the same cupboard. Now I don't need to unpack the whole pile every time I wanted to access something.
I got rid of a few things in the transfer, then set about cleaning out the files and piles in the other cupboard and desk. There was mess everywhere. By the end of Saturday I had half the number of horizontal files, a box of old cords and equipment to go into the hard rubbish collection, a box to take to the Salvos, a pile for recycling and 2 reams of paper to take to Officeworks for shredding.
I need to add labels to the drawers and clean out the vertical files but I can see what it will look like.
While I was buying the stacking drawers at Officeworks I came across a set of shelves on wheels. 1.8 metres high, 90 cm long and 40cm wide. I came home and measured. It will fit in my storage cage in the carpark. Unfortunately, I can't buy it ready made and have it delivered. It certainly wouldn't fit in my car. So I bought the flat pack.
Hopefully this will make my storage locker contents accessible - but it is a big job to assemble, clean and repack the storage cage. There is no point in assembling it until I have the time and space to empty my storage cage, sort and repack. I'll need help with the assembly - which I was told is a two person job.
On Saturday, before I got stuck into sorting, I went to the Markets and prepared the food for Sunday's lunch and Monday dinner. Two parcels arrived, two cotton tops from the Bendigo Woollen Mill and the two Taking Shape tops that went back to Melbourne because my apartment number was not on the parcel. Great to get them. Saturday deliveries are a return to my childhood courtesy of Covid.
Di, my neighbour, met the postman at the door and collected them before I got there. We had a long talk about fairly ordinary things. At the end of it we realised that we have both decided to make our homes here for the foreseeable future. Ordering the furniture is a step in my recognising that.
Di and Theo also insisted they would move my cupboard to the curbside for me on Tuesday. They have a trolley and were firm in saying I should not bother Anthony. Nice neighbours.
By Saturday evening I was exhausted. Late in the afternoon I noticed tiny flowers on eutaxia parvifolia , the bacon and egg plant on my front balcony I got the macro lens and took some photos as the light failed. The flowers are about 2cm across.
I was up early (for me) on Sunday to prepare for friends coming to lunch. I had done much of the chopping the day before so put together the vegetable bake and added the chipolata sausages. I was preparing one for Sunday lunch and a larger one for Monday dinner.
We had a truly lovely Sunday afternoon. By the time I served lunch it was somewhat overcooked, but not entirely spoiled. We kept eating and talking anyway. We relaxed and talked all afternoon, only a small part of it on the implications for us of our State borders opening up on 23 November if our vaccination numbers are sufficient. When they left just after 6 my soul was at peace and I felt renewed. WOW! They are my longest friends in South Australia and are coming back next Sunday morning to help me assemble the storage trolley and repack my storage locker. Now that's friendship.
It was an appropriately spectacular sunset to celebrate. I deliberately captured it with the scaffolding intact in the hope it won't be there much longer to photograph.
Monday's dinner went well, in spite of there being about twice as much food as we needed. Such interesting company. I also forgot to serve the leftover cherry almond pie for desert. Can't eat it myself.
Today was Melbourne Cup Day, and, more importantly, putting-out-the-hard rubbish day. I put out the smaller items using the folding wheels we used to carry overseas with us before suitcases had wheels. Theo moved the cupboard, shelves and half-pallet on which it stood on his furniture trolley. There was a growing pile by 4.15pm ready for collection tomorrow. I missed the running of the Cup, but tuned in to see who won.
St Peter's Cathedral choristers were performing Faure's Requiem at a 6pm Eucharist tonight and I had hoped to go. It was a 34C this afternoon and after I had showering away the dust from the moving I was suddenly very tired. So I forsook Faure for left-over vegetable bake, knitting, Lewis and an early night. It's been quite a week.
