Day 3278 Phew! What a day.

7th August 2026

There was a smell lingering over the driveway, Kelli could smell it, even I could, slightly. My first thoughts were the rubbish bin, I had forgotten to put it at the roadside to be emptied this week.

Not that it was full, but with the heat anything in it would honk a bit.

Kelli was concerned because we had a customer coming round to collect the carpet that we found by the side of the road.

My first job was to empty the contents of the bin into a large black bag and tie it tightly. I then washed out the bin with bleach. I thought that was an end to it, but no. Kelli’s sensitive nostrils could still smell something bad, and as I moved around the bamboos I could smell it too.

It seemed to be coming from a clump of bushes next door next to a shed. I ventured closer, and then I saw it. Lying around the base of the bush was the decomposing body of a possum.

I had to remove it, but that meant cutting through the bush stalks.

Once I had clipped those I was able to rake the remains out into the open. I chose to wear a mask for this operation, but it made no difference, the stench still reached my nose, almost making me puke. Kelli held the bag open as I lifted it in using a shovel. For a moment I apologised to the poor creature for being so rough. I must have got hit by a car and found its way under the bush to die, scared and alone. It made me sad, its death so undignified.

Once the body was sealed in the black bag, I had to cleanse the area. I used up all the remaining bleach and soaked the area with water, hopefully putting an end to the smell.

Earlier in the day we did our Saturday shopping a day earlier because we had run out of things.

Then we drove to Jenison to collect a large dresser. That. Had been badly hand painted, but all the drawers were good, and there was  nothing for me to do to them.

Then it was back to Holland to collect our truck.

Now, I didn’t want to spend a fortune on it, so the body shop did a good job of fitting the replacement doors and front wing. There were a few dents on the sill, but the doors work and they even repaired the rear door window. 

When they refitted the door panel on to the replacement door they found there was no motor in the old one. That is why that window never worked. As the replacement came with all its bits   It could be connected up and now it works, a bonus. Now we have it back I can do a bit of cosmetic work, and try to get the glove box door to latch. A busy day was had by all, including Winnie who destroyed a box of tissues earning her a spell in the cage.