Mould.........the bane of my existence at the moment. I'm sure it's not as bad as it could be if we were situated a bit further north but I am still finding it difficult to ignore the pesky little fungus that has become ingrained in our life. Oh how I have wished, just a little bit, for a day in the high 30's or low 40's to dry our soggy home and surroundings. All hail a good, dry, hot Adelaide summer. I can't remember when the rain actually started up here.......it feels like it has continued for that long (probably only a week knowing my exaggeration). Days have been spent trying to carry on as normal with an umbrella and a tube of cream for foot rot. Everyone just walks around in thongs splashing their way from one place to another while wearing shorts, t-shirts and thin dresses. I associate dark skies and rain with winter woollies, boots and scarves so in the morning when I look outside, I have to stop myself putting on long sleeves and cargo pants and rushing for the closed in shoes which would be ruined up here in no time.
I might be more content if there was a worthwhile storm or two but I've hardly seen any thunder or lightning since lobbing here. I love a good thunderstorm. Steve used to be quite happy to go in the bunk of the truck while I drove through some awesome storms across the west and up Darwin way. I am getting sidetracked here........but all this talk of wet weather brings me back to .......mould! With the ongoing wet weather has come dampness. Even where our possessions have remained out of the rain, the atmosphere has enveloped everything. I think if I sat around for long enough, the stuff would start growing on me. That's what seems to happen. If you continue to use things, shift them or wear them, the mould seems to take hold more slowly. However, leave something laying around for a few days and speckles of black and green start to appear.
I had been driving Erin to school all week and transferring her from car to classroom using the umbrella. Naturally after getting back in the car, water drips off everywhere. No-one had been in the passenger seat for a few days until over the weekend when we drove somewhere as a family. I opened the passenger door to find a nice, tall, white crop of fungus on the foot mat. Woohoo! Becca's nappy bag, which sits under her feet, has a nice green tinge to it as well.
I have, for the first time ever, done my entire weeks washing in the driers of the caravan park laundry. One dollar coins are precious to me at the moment to the point where I get excited if one is handed to me in change at the supermarket. Two dollars for 40 minutes is a lot though especially when doing six or more loads.
Anything in the annex has had to be washed, dried and put away until the weather improves. If things feel even slightly damp, they go back into the drier for another round of cooking which inevidably leads to shrinking. That includes our beach towels which we were leaving (after drying of course) for the next swimming pool visit. Our sun hats are be-speckled as is any paper lying around. A picture by Erin and our ambulance cover bill have lovely black spots on them. Books need to be cared for, especially Erin and Becca's little collection. This afternoon, Erin wanted to watch a dvd in the annex and her headphones were mouldy.......I couldn't believe it. So far everything inside the van has remained relatively mould free (where is some wood for me to touch).......oh except for the satin curtains on the windows. Obviously where the damp air has contacted, as well as Becca's grubby dinner hands, our nice white, sheer curtains are speckly. I pulled out Erin's little reader bag from Largs Bay School to use here and.....you guessed it........mouldy. I couldn't be touching real wood here. I am dreading pulling everything out of the bottom bunk when we eventually head off because not much has been moved under there for months. Out of sight, out of mind......as long as I can ignore the potential culture that lurks down there.
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