Shed and dog sitting

The past 10 days we have been house sitting in a wonderful place just outside Broome town. It is a shed of a friendly friend of a friend in the country transformed into a spacious house, pretty zen and gives a bit the feel of a farm by all the animals living here. In the morning we first walk the dogs, Lucy (steffy x) and Foo (terrier). On our way we greet two horses that always love a bit of grass and we see the occasional passing wallaby. When back home we feed the three chooks and collect eggs, two a day. Then we feed the fish and do necessary house work. The dogs help whilst feeding the other animals; they are very friendly and playful. Lucy is very lovable, patient, clever and affectionate; she has a Buddha quality about her and teaches me about patience. Foo can’t stop teasing and playing unless you rub his tummy which freezes him in a state of total bliss. Except for Foo’s barking in the evenings they are really good.
Though I love to walk the dogs, especially the afternoon beach walk and play, I will be happy to be ‘dog less’ again. Never thought I’d mind the obligation of the walks, but I do here a bit because the runtimes often interfere with plans made and Joy’s rhythm for evening meal, shower and bedtime. Thing is mainly that it takes time to get to the beach and back and the amount and number of commuting trips is sometimes unhandy. Besides that I miss Niki and walking and playing with other dogs gives a bit of an ambivalent feel. I know she has a very good life but I do wish her here sometimes.
Having said that, we had a really nice walk to the beach today. We took a dune path that runs from this street to Cable Beach. One way it took us 45 min. with the stroller for Joy and our gear. She walked all the hills up and just about the whole way in. On the back route she jumped in the stroller when going downhill. The beach and view were worthwhile the effort, though it took me all day to recover from this work out. We were gone for 2,5 hours all in.
Live is abundant here, at the moment I listen to the ongoing cicadas’ song of the early night. Every visit to the bathrooms means an encounter with tree frogs. There is a large lizard living on top of the outside area of the shed, which has walls of fly wire so plenty of insects to feed on at night. Gekko’s are just about everywhere you look at night and every now and again you can hear their call. During the day I hear so many birds I don’t know the name of, but I did recognize a whip bird. And when cruising to town and back we often run into the camel train, walking to the beach to do their tours. Scary thought are the dangers that come with mosquitoes; apparently next to Ross River virus, malaria and dengue they can cause encephalitis. I will have to seriously look into ways to prevent Joy and myself for getting stung as it does happen occasionally. The natural repellent that I use, because DEET can be so damaging in the long run, is not as effective. What to do? You can’t possibly cover yourself in repellent all day and night. I’ll find out...
It is comfortable to have a whole house to move about in, for Joy and for myself. So I am not very much looking forward to move back to the room at Zoo’s but have no alternative for the moment. There are some possible places to stay for a short while, and there might be a granny flat available in a month or so, but there is nothing sure or settled. I do wish for us to find a suitable place to live now so we can really settle and stop moving about. Notices on the town boards and an ad in the paper did not work. We will just have to hope for the better.
Work wise there is some movement; Friday next I will meet the traditional elders from the tribes that I will be working for and go through the job interview. Unless they find me unsuitable I have got the job of Minyirr Park project officer at least for a certain time. I will job share with another lady whom I will meet Friday as well. I love this opportunity as it links to so many aspects of live that are important to me. I am looking forward facilitating the people whom are trying to make use of this sacred land in the best interested of their people. Also I like having a break of social work until I am totally settled.
Besides this job there are many possibilities for social workers in Broome and the coming weeks I will find out more as there is a monthly social worker meeting planned that I will attend. Good to get into the network here also because there will be supervision available soon. Interesting now but mainly if and when I will continue my studies.
Joy is still doing really well at day care. Today I playfully mentioned many things in English and asked her what I said; she understood nearly everything which was quite a lot by the end of this game. She loves the contact with all the animals and is only positive on Broome and its people. I wish I can give her her own space soon and enable her to settle totally. She now sleeps from 18.00-6.00 h and I also go to bed early these days. At 18.00 h it is dark and we tend to wake up with the sun at 6.00 in the morning. Because of the heat it is nice to be active in the earlier and cooler hours of the day.
Socially not much happens. Kerry is still here and we picked our friendship up where we left it years ago. We’ve seen a lot of her and besides her pleasant company she is supportive. I am very happy with her presence. It is good to see Alison moving about with now a successful camel business. She has a co-worker that tries to get in touch with us and we will follow up on that as she seems very nice. Too bad that she’ll leave Broome soon. Hopefully through work, day care or otherwise I will get in touch with some likeminded people as I do miss my friends and friendship. For Joy as well it would be good to be able to build on a friendship besides day care. Who knows what tomorrow will bring...
As far as accommodation goes we have now a few options for a short while. Either at Kerry’s house in her spare room, with a mum from day care and her three kids in a spare room or caretaking a huge beautiful house in the middle of Broome until it is sold. For the longer run I really hope the granny flat of Kerry’s friend will become available for us. Small but self contained and in the area where I would like to live, fingers crossed 