Lori Knight. The Whole Shebang

PUSH FOR BETTER.

7 years ago I decided to do the “push for better” fundraiser challenge for mental health and su***de prevention.

It wasn’t a requirement but I decided to film every pushup I did to prove I was actually doing them.
Oh My Goodness I was so bad from the start, but I knew that.

One of the first videos I posted I thought I’d do beachside, trying to be all TikTok like 🤣
and instead of getting a comment such as, “well done you for trying “, I get berated for having a disposable coffee cup rather than a reusable cup 😳🙄😏 really?

What is wrong with people? I’m trying to raise funds and awareness for a cause I believe in and someone else wants to make it about them and throw away coffee cups, oh please. Seriously why don’t these types of people just make their own video or start their own campaign for their own cause and leave mine alone?
anyway it’s funny what you remember…

I’m glad I filmed every push-up, even if the first few hundred were s**t.
The improvement was obvious by the time I completed over 3,000 pushups (3,128) in 3 weeks and raised $500 towards the Push for Better campaign of 2019.

**A week before Christmas that same year in 2019 I was involved in a car smash and I have struggled with upper body issues since so unfortunately for all the pushup gains made back then vanished in 2020 but I continue improving gradually 😊

MY (BRIEF) LANDLORD DAYS.
If only we had a crystal ball hey?

Quick back story:
I had a house, but due to my personal circumstances I’m hardly there and decide to rent it out, as that income could create the freedom of choice to work less if I decided to.

My first tenant was a friend facing serious homelessness due to an insurance repair on her home taking longer than expected. Win win for both of us.
So after that positive experience I move back in and began preparing my house for a permanent tenant.

This was quite daunting looking through references at first and deciding on who to pick, knowing that someone will be happy and the others continue looking for a place to live. And I chose a great tenant(with a girlfriend). And for 12 months I did all that was expected of a landlord under the law and my tenants paid rent. Then my tenants as a couple split up and he couldn’t afford the rent on his own and was not going to renew the existing lease agreement.

This is where you need a crystal ball to make a different decision, but oh well, the story now changes to a great learning experience for me.

I move back in and prepare my house for a new tenant in the future and while living there I tidy up the garden, update to what’s required of me as a landlord providing a home under government regulations. And eventually contact my realtor to advertise my home for rent.

A New property manager at my realtor introduces herself with a bravado that was a big red flag I ignored.
She then decides to collect applications for two weeks of openings before sending me an email of her advice on who to choose. My biggest mistake right there!

In hindsight I should have insisted on choosing myself, seeing all the applicants myself but I put my trust in her and more so, I put my trust in the company that employed her after the previous property manager had moved into a different department.

So the tenant moves in and within the first week I’m getting phone calls and emails from my property manager about problems within my house. I’m dumbfounded and by the end of the second week of what seemed relentless stupid complaints I knew something was not right.

I then reminded the agent that I was in fact living there prior to the tenant moving in. That it is my own personal home that I have made compliant to lease. And as my property manager it’s her job to deal with the situation, that’s what I pay her to do. Seems the company hired a person not fit for the job and within a few months I received an email and a phone call from another new property manager taking over from the previous one. But for me the nightmare tenant continued complaining about problems with my house. And all the While being a complete nuisance to my neighbors.

16 months later I was able to move back into my own home and I will never be a landlord again.

After giving my required legal notice to the tenant to vacate, the tenant stopped paying rent completely (she was always in the rears the whole time) and then basically became a squatter in my house. It took appointments with VCAT and another few months before I had access to my own property.

It’s only a small expense and experience compared to other landlord stories I’ve heard, but from that lived experience I knew there would be a housing crisis as more landlords like myself stop providing affordable homes to rent.

I enjoyed living there again, after clearing out and cleaning up the mess.

I considered when replacing the kitchen stove, to change from gas to electric but I learned the house is not wired with enough ampage to accommodate an electric stove and I would need to have changes made from the curb side pole at a cost starting from $3000.
So a new gas cooker was installed.
With a fresh coat of paint inside and out and landscaping the garden I created (with some help) a beautiful home for the new owners

And I was able to shut the door literally on that chapter of my life. 😎

I’m thankful for the experience and I no longer feel those emotions that were around me back then.
It certainly helped me define a personal boundary in my existence now, which is I no longer tolerate anyone, be it friend, family or stranger to disrupt my personal peace at home.
Cheers Lori.

Matthew 6: 26-34
A passage I would read often, especially when I was overwhelmed with panic on how I was going to pay a bill as I was always down to my last 20 bucks. And then an unexpected job would show up and the bill got paid on time.
Now before you worry about me pushing religion onto you don’t. Belief is one thing and religious beliefs are personal and another thing altogether.

There were times in my life I was seriously down to my last $20 bucks. Mind you I always found money for (cheap) wine and ci******es and I also justified it to myself that the spending on those addictions were the reward for working hard and earning minimum wage while I rebuilt my existence after a 5 year episode that had destroyed it.

Before that episode, I was a single woman and divorced, I had budgeted well and organised myself a new existence within my financial means. I had the biggest mortgage in my life on a house with potential, but only half the value of the previous marital home. The reality of divorce and splitting assets in half but I accepted less than half for a quick and easy split. My son was going through enough and at the end the day he’s still going to inherit from his parents. And you’re not going to read here anything about my ex husband and father to my son that’s negative.

Fast forward 8 years later and I’m just hanging on financially after a 5 year episode allowing myself to be fooled.
I went from earning a weekly income to cover expenses with savings in the bank and also an option to extend the mortgage 10k for renovations to going from week to week just scraping by. I allowed myself to be fooled, I naively trusted the love bombing to be real and all the verbal promises that soon became verbal insults and threats. What a lived nightmare experience.

All I’ll say is I believe in something bigger than me, call it god or the universe and I like the bible. Sure it has some stuff in there that people make fun of and question but the bible has never been a book of science. In my personal life, when I talk to “god” my life works. And obviously praying isn’t going to pay your bills alone, have faith or trust in life and yourself that things will be okay and don’t be too proud to ask for help.

Oh and for the record I quit wine and ciggies just over 6 years ago. My life didn’t magically change overnight, I’ve been consistently doing the work to where I am now. And if you met me prior to January 2020 then I probably should reintroduce myself to you 😁

Cheers Lori 😎

THE WASHING UP.

I actually enjoy washing dishes by hand.
The new house has a dishwasher but it doesn’t seem to work and I’m happy to wash by hand regardless. I’ll get the machine fixed or replaced eventually.

I enjoy having time to think and reflect and organise my thoughts and ideas while washing my dishes.

If I’m washing up after having a gathering of friends or family at home I’ve always really enjoy reliving the occasion with each plate I wash, rinse and stack. To be honest, I much prefer that peaceful time of reflection on my own, than have my guests jump in and help before they leave. I know they think they’re doing the right thing, I get that, but It’s chaotic energy and I spend the next day or two trying to put my kitchen back in order.
Maybe I’m a control freak or just plain weird, each to their own but I love washing dishes by myself.

I have a small ceramic oven dish that was a little gift from my ex mother in-law Bev, back in the 1980s. God bless her. We really didn’t have anything in common until I gave birth to her first grandchild and I also then began to mature. I had just turned 27, Bev was only 49 when she became a grandmother, and it was her calling. She was a godsend for me. As a new mum, wondering how I could be allowed home from hospital with this new little baby, I truly benefited from her calm and caring nature towards motherhood and the little things that you just don’t get from a book (or the internet now) that she knew.

It’s been 8 years since Bev passed away, and she was only 73. She’s missed the marriage of her first grandchild and the birth of two great grandchildren after that.

As I stand at the sink washing my small ceramic oven dish from Bev, I find myself looking back and appreciating her simple approach to life even more now. Life, precious life. It comes and it goes and I think we really should stand still more often to appreciate it.
Cheers Lori.

Did you know a study was once done that showed there are more than 250 different ways to wash dishes, depending on who’s doing it and what equipment is used? I can think of a few different ways but 250?

McCrae Garden and the permaculture mess.

In 2007 I purchased a seaside cottage from people who loved gardening . The garden had good basic structure with an established lemon tree down the back with some sheds and the front garden was filled with native plants in the lawn. The first time I mowed the front lawn I knew I had to make a change there. But Over time a few plants just died and I created an off street parking bay and removed the front lawn altogether.

With every change to the cottage thanks to my dads building skills, I change the garden to suit. The back yard was overshadowed by the neighbors pine tree and when they eventually removed the pine tree it created yet another garden project for me but I am really proud of what I achieved from 2013 onwards. Cleaning houses by day and waitressing at night I had very little time at home, yet alone be able to enjoy that time due to the chaotic co-inhabitant that had moved in a few years prior.

Mr Malignant was influenced by permaculture principles after watching a video and reading a book or two. As I’m a qualified horticulturist it was easy for me to understand and support the changes made in the garden.

The one thing I never really like about permaculture is that the gardens always look like a junk yard. I believe, and at that time was developing a business plan that promotes permaculture and its principles within formal manicured gardens.
I’m surprised this hasn’t been done by someone already. (I might need to revisit that idea again) My business plan was not to sell permaculture to hippies but rather to those that wear suits and use some one such as Jim’s Mowing to take care of their yard. Or to People that want a garden but just don’t want to do it themselves.

With every free moment I had for the next couple of years, from 2013 onwards, I eventually tidied up the garden from the road at the front to the back fence. Creating 4 individual plots for growing food with existing fruit trees within manicured low maintenance (apart from winter pruning) gardens.

I took some green waste to the tip in the initial setup but eventually it was self contained without the need for artificial fertiliser or toxic chemicals. Keeping the garden neat and tidy was no more than a few hours a week maintenance, and as I had established a BnB business in the bungalow from 2015/16, it was important for me to have the garden looking as good as possible for my guests to enjoy.

If you have any gardening questions please feel free to ask and I will do my best to help.

Happy gardening 🪴
Cheers Lori.