Still showering

I would just like post an update - I am still showering in the garden of the Gods.  Yep, come around at the right time, and you'll see me starkers under the outside shower.  (This almost happened to one workman!  He should be so lucky ...)

The thing is, I keep trying to find weather situations that will make me hate the outdoor shower for ever.  But I can't.  So far I have showered in rain, wind, cold weather and warm weather, and I've always walked away feeling fantastic, and loving the experience.  Which might just say something about how indulgent the simple shower really is.

I have actually found that showering on a warm, but windy, day to be the worst.  Cold and windy was fine.  But warm and windy ... I don't know.  Not my cup of tea I guess.

Famous Five

When I was young, about 10 or 11, I read the Famous Five series by Enid Blyton.  I loved it.  I loved the books so much, that I spent my own hard earned pocket money on the books.  Then I kept the books, hoping one day to read them to my children.  That time has arrived!

After reading two of the Harry Potter books to Sabina, I decided she was a bit too young to continue with the rest, and we needed to veer off at a tangent.  I reached for the first Famous Five book, and coaxed Sabina through the first chapter.  "Mama, it's boring!".

I must admit, after Harry Potter, the first chapter of the series left a lot to be desired.  In fact the first entire book was littered with the overuse of certain words, as well as some strange sentence grammar.  Not incorrect, per se.  We just don't seem to "talk" or write like that these days.

By the second chapter she was hooked.

We finished the first book, and there were squeals of delight when Sabina discovered that we also own the second book in the series.

By the end of the second book, she had managed to defiantly hide her cousin in a "secret passage" to stop her from going home.  She was hoping that the grandparents and other cousin would happily leave without the hidden girl, and they would be able to continue playing together.

New pergola

And ... did I say "pergola"? (see last entry)  Oh, my goodness, I have totally forgotten to write that we have finally torn down the old eye sore of a pergola,

and put up a new one.  Outdoor entertaining, here we come!

Garden tidy up

For 2 years I pretty much haven't touched the garden.  Before I found out I had cancer, a lot of things already weren't right, and I just didn't have the energy to jump in with the shearers and clippers.

Then last year I was all chemo.  Then this year has been all recovery from chemo.  And in the meantime we've had two bumper seasons of rain.  The garden grew, and grew and grew.

Today I finally decided to curb this growth.  To control it.  To bend it my way.  I jumped in among the shrubs with the shearers and went mad.  Wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow, full of clippings, departed the garden.

Finally, I straightened up and surveyed my work.  The wild jungle of shrubs now showed some semblance of order and manicure.  The pom pom trees were no longer submerged in shrubs.  There was a visible path between the bamboo shrubs and the ground covers.  The rock garden was no longer encroaching on the rose garden.

Neatness reigned again.  I put down my tools, took off my gloves, sat under the pergola, watched and appreciated.

The last treatment

Finally the day of the last treatment has arrived.  I rock up to Day Oncology armed with the usual survival kit - mobile phone and book.  In addition, I also carry a thank you card.  A thank you card for all the nurses and other staff who have looked after me, and treated me like royalty for over a year.  In a funny kind of way I know I will miss them.

The nurse asks her usual set of questions, then proceeds to find the vein.  I feel the little sting, and I know she's got it.  But then, she loses it.  Nope.  Second try.  All good this time.  Just a sufficient reminder why I don't want to come back.

Other than that, the treatment is as uneventful as ever.  Towards the end I get a funny feeling, as though my body has just had enough of the drug.  Before I know it, the drip has finished, and I'm checking out ... for good.  Yay!

I wish I could jump up, click my heels and depart in a whirlwind of celebration.  But I can't.  I feel tired and hungry.  I just want to go back to my mum's house, eat a nice lunch, and then flop into bed and fall asleep.

The celebrations will just have to wait till I have recovered from treatment.

In the meantime, I would just like to extend a huge thank you to my parents, my parents in-law, my husband, my daughter, and all my friends who have been extremely supportive, understanding, and helpful throughout this time.  You've all made the journey truly worthwhile.

The shower, the man on the moon, and me

As I have previously mentioned due to current bathroom rennovations, we are using a temporary outdoor shower.  The shower possesses a light, and tonight was my very first nighttime shower experience.

My expectations of this shower are now so high, that when I saw the slugs on the shower base I almost ran the other way.  Nothing a quick brush with a shoe can't fix.

So, I turned on the shower after all, and jumped under the hot water.  Remember?  The hotter the better.  Then I slowly looked around.

The garden of the Gods was consumed by darkness, and the shower light cast a strange, yellow glow.  The hot water, turned into steam, which rose mystically around me.  My gazed followed it up.  That's when I spotted the moon.  Half of it.  Pale.  Cold.  Gazing at me without a single blink.

I brought my gaze back down to earth, staring at the steam making strange shapes in the darkness.  It was a very peaceful, healing experience, full of meditation and contemplation.  Who knows, maybe a thousand creatures were watching me, but as far as I was concerned it was just the shower, the man on the moon, and me.

Go West ... ern

Our pony club declared that they were having a "Western Day".  The kids were going to experience everything Western - Western riding, videos of Western horses, etc.  Of course, we were encouraged to dress up too.

I have no idea what possessed me.  A Western shirt and a bandana would have done just fine.  But no.  For some reason, I, not my lovely daughter attending Pony Club, but I ... I got all carried away and decided that I had to make some chaps for Sabina.  Initially I had visions of brown leathery chaps, but imagination very quickly took me towards pink chaps with tassles.  (I LOVE tassles.)  For two days I was like a whirlwind possessed (or should that be tornado possessed?).

Two days - that's how long it took to buy the material (and tassles), surf the internet only to find that free patterns for chaps are hard to come by (but x-rated sites are not!  sheesh!), create a pattern out of paper ("Mama, I'm not going to wear those, they will rip"), cut the material (oh, do be careful, there's no going back), and then stitch it all together (they fit, yay!).

The final product was a hit, but it took me a week to recover from my whirlwind effort.

Showering in the garden of the Gods

This entry was supposed to read something like this:

"Husband has organised bathroom rennovations, which means that all showers in the house have been decomissioned. So he fixed a temporary shower outside. Then, as the weather got colder and wetter, he organised a business trip to Canberra, where he can sit in a hotel shower to his heart's content, leaving us to tremble in the elements."

That's how it was supposed to sound. However, before I had time to air my honest views, I have managed to shower under the above mentioned outdoor shower three times. Twice was enough to change my view forever.

You stand, at the back of the house, under the spray of hot water. Make it as hot as you like. The hotter the better. Right in front of you is the veggie garden, getting soaked in the grey water. At your eye level is the blooming rose garden - lucious green, with splashes of colour. Beyond the rose garden, there is more rich greenery. And if you're really lucky, the face of a cow or a horse peers at you across the fence.

The key is to make the shower as hot as you can possibly stand it, just towards the end. Get your body really, really hot. Then turn the water off. Your body is so hot, that even a light drizzle at 12 deg C feels pleasant, and you can afford to slowly amble towards your towel.

Some might call it "toughing it". I call it "showering in the garden of the Gods".

One more point. So far, I have only showered during the day. But, my husband has installed a light in the outdoor shower. (As you do.) I am yet to try the night time experience.