The road base has now been laid on the driveway and it is definitely taking shape. Last night on his way to our house to babysit, Dad nearly fell over a large hill of gravel that was lying in wait for him just beyond the street lights. Luckily he had thought to bring a torch along for the trek.
When I went out to put the hens away I had a look around and found a few thoughtful (!) mementos left by the builders - a chocolate wrapper and two soft drink bottles strewn on the ground...

Our telephone lines though connected (according to Telstra) are not communicating, so we have fallen back on our mobile phones for the moment. As I greeted the Telstra man on Tuesday morning he looked a bit puzzled and said 'We were supposed to put in a telephone line, but there is no house!' I put him straight and told him we needed a new connection for the existing house not the yet-to-be-built house. Relieved he declared - 'We'll see what we can do for you...' That was the last I heard from him and I didn't see what happened after that as I was ensconsed in the house with L. for most of the morning. When the time came for the 12.30pm appointment with the photographer and then went and I still hadn't heard from her by 12.45, I thought to check the telephone and sure enough there was no signal. So I quickly grabbed the sling and L. and strode up the driveway to see if I could find her. Luckily she was still waiting in her car around the corner. So we had an impromptu viewing of the photos over the boot of her car. I fear we may have gone overboard in the ordering - 13 photos in all - but it was so hard to choose! I really fell for the collage compositions and we ended up with 3 of these at $50 each!

I have been staying awake at night worrying about the dog next door jumping over the fence. Mum told me that she and S had seen it standing on top of a section of fence that is covered with ivy, ready to jump down into the front yard until they scared it away. It is a young border collie and while I usually like these dogs - this one strikes me as wild and dangerous. When I first saw it the other day and went up to the fence to say hello, it cringed and moved away from me, as if in fear. Then as I ignored it and continued on my way, it stalked along behind the fence. I saw it bark and run at the hens (the wire fence between them) who squawked and fluttered in fright. When I looked at it from a distance it just stood there staring and then started to bark and growl. I am worried about the hens but I am also worried about the babies. L is now afraid of the dog - having seen me give a start when it barked at us - I can just imagine it terrorising him and the hens. Even if we fill in the gaps above the fence where the ivy is (this section is quite low) it could still come around from the street and down our driveway. Will have to be careful about not leaving the babies and chickens on their own for too long.