And so it begins.  The things we are changing around the place that is.
Today is the start of the granny flat we are putting in what was our garage.  The reason we are doing it is to provide accommodation to either relatives of others who visit that may require accommodation for a night or two.
It has very much involved our needing to strip the place of everything in it.  Then cementing happens and installing a shower and toilet etc.
It was going to start last week but was delayed till today.  We heard from the builder last night that he will be here just before 7am today.
We have a tight schedule as we have three major things happening this month.  The next is getting a new kitchen.  This should provide us with more needed room.  That starts next week and will involve demolishing then installing.  A skip arrives this Friday as do the cabinets for the job.  
We are trying to avoid making a mess of our place.  We know it is only going to be for a short while, but for sanity purposes we are trying to keep access to areas.
Later we are going on a cruise to a couple of Pacific Islands.  I have never been on a cruise before, but Merril has.  She is definitely looking forward to not feeling she needs to cook.  I can see us doing exploring of the ship and a lot of reading.  Then exploring the Islands.
Anyway that is coming up.  This week is full on.  We are having people come over this evening.  Tomorrow we have a market (collecting some stuff for it before it) and I meet with someone.  In the arvo Merril is going out.  At night we are both going out.  Friday the skip and cabinets arrive, and I prepare for a men’s breakfast on the Saturday.
That is just this week.  Next week is the kitchen but we will cross that bridge when we come to it (having emptied the current kitchen this week.)
I do not mind activity.  It will be interesting to see how close to our dreams the place is.  Of course after that is more clearing to set up areas with flooring we are clearing out now.  I think we will be gainfully employed for a while. 

Watching tv is a bit of a gamble at the moment.  Especially right now I guess with Melbourne Cup day tomorrow.  That sort of thing is not what I am thinking of.
So often Merril and I will be watching a show on tv.  It may be a renovation show or nature thing.  Right in the middle of it is an ad for some other station that might be horror.  If we had been interested in that, we would have been watching it.  The fact we are where we are is because we did not want to watch that sort of thing.  Yet it is thrust on us.
One thing has been really noticeable to me recently and that is how negative and shocking most of the new series are.
It is not like I am a “bury my head in the sand” person and pretend something does not exist, but I choose to avoid some things.  If I wanted to take a deep dive into it, there are plenty of places I could go.
But what I want is to think about things that inspire and lift up and show the best in people.  Certain things I may know about or have experienced, but my aim is to assist out of, not to participate.
It is amazing but I found that so much that entraps or pulls down appears attractive initially.  I enter things like “I’ve got this.”  But I soon find “it’s got me” instead.  I do not want to go there.  Once bitten twice shy I guess.
I want to promote the best self in myself and others.  I will not enable entrapment but attempt to enable freedom for anyone who chooses such a thing.  I am a great believer in choice.  I will not attempt to force my will on another but will, if given opportunity, tell of what I have found to be the case, or tell of what another has found to be the case.
I guess for me it all comes back to choice.  I will choose what builds up every time and assist anyone who pursues the same.

What I am talking about today is like a gratitude part two.
Yesterday Merril and I knew was going to be a big day.  We had set up Friday afternoon for having a thank you lunch for a number of volunteers.  It’s funny, but just as an aside, helping out is just their nature.  We had set it so that volunteers would not need to do anything.  We figured they do heaps throughout the year, and we would try to make it so they did not need to do anything.
That did not work when it came to finishing up.  They were washing up and repositioning chairs for the next event and putting away tables.  Oh well, we tried.
We had ordered Subway for 40.  I was actually so impressed with what was provided.  It was delicious.  Not everyone who said they could make it did.  The reason I was least expecting was Covid.  One person who was keen to be there had tested positive for covid so could not make it.  Others were on holidays or celebrating birthdays.
It was probably just as well not everyone could be there as we did not end up with much left over.  We topped it off with ice cream and fruit salad.  Thankfully one of the volunteers helped with serving that.
Merril and I had run a market in the morning and the N3C food pantry was in operation.  We were pretty cactus.  I would not swap anything but must admit I was happy when we were heading home.
It really was a good time.  Except maybe the trivia questions.  I got them from the web and it said they were the easy ones.  If that was the case, I would not like to see the hard ones.  We had prizes of 1st, 2nd and 3rd.  The winner got six right.  Third was three.
One question everyone would have got.  I accidently read out the answer before asking the question.  I told them that, then read the question.  Everyone seemed to know the answer.
Anyway the point was a thank you.  I felt that was conveyed.  To me so often the volunteers are the unsung heroes.  Volunteers are often the hands and feet of great ideas.