Lockdown 2.0, Day 41

 Today was quite a busy day, which is a bit (a lot) of a novelty these days. Although really exhausting - I'm not used to having more than one thing happen in a day, now I'll need several quiet days to recover.

I woke early (5.30) and I love being up at that time of day so I had a cup of tea and did some writing and checked my email and so on. I remembered at some point that I'd thought about doing another Strength Training Class with The Compound this morning - I ummed and ahhed for a while then figured I could put it off forever so I'd be better off just doing it. I booked in and spent the next couple of hours worrying about how hard it was going to be.

It was very hard. I've lost a lot of condition over the past few weeks with the bleeding (which did eventually stop, after 3 weeks) and my sore back. I got quite light headed about 3/4 of the way through the session and had to stop for a while - I need to remember next time to work at my own pace and not try to keep up with everyone else. It was cool at the end to have a quick chat with Clem and let him know how excited we were to watch him on Ninja Warrior.

Caitlin and I watched a movie (Its Kind of a Funny Story) while she crocheted, then a friend popped past to pick up some hot chocolates from the Chocolate Factory - Liam and his friends are going to celebrate the Hot Chocolate Festival via video call seeing as we can't all go together like we usually do. I went to Healesville to pick up my milk, and while I was there I dropped off some more hot chocs to another friend, then did our weekly shop at Aldi. I thought it might be busy at 4.30 in the afternoon but it was reassuringly quiet.

I got home and took Luna for a walk - just a short one, around the dam, because I was pretty tired after my class and the shopping trip. Social interactions are also more tiring than they used to be - even though they are great, even brief, socially distanced interactions. The house smelt great when I got home as I'd put soup on to cook in the morning. Tony brought home some gnocchi he'd ordered from the restaurant at work so we had that with it's accompanying mushroom sauce - delicious! The soup will keep for another day. I was suddenly extremely tired and everything seemed very difficult, so I was very happy to relax on the couch and watch Ninja Warrior - we Facetimed with friends to watch together and it was a fun evening. I went to bed as quickly as I could afterwards and read my book - it was great to leave the evening housework and just rest, I can catch up with all of that tomorrow.

The number of new cases is trending nicely down, although deaths are still fairly steady. The kids (the girls in particular) are getting more and more restless - it's hard to not even be able to take Caitlin with me when we go shopping, she really needs to get out of the house - although this is the first time it's really been bothering her, which is quite impressive. 

Lockdown 2.0, Day 32

I was enjoying being in a little news bubble (or maybe it's a no news bubble) - happily existing in our little family group and not being impacted by what was going on in the world beyond our driveway. I did see the numbers today when I was looking for something else (always dangerous to go near a news site if I don't want to see the news) - new cases below 400, but 17 deaths, so not good overall - but with no idea what the case numbers have been over the past few days, I was pleased to see that bit a tad lower. I'll keep up my news hiatus for a few more days and see how I'm feeling.

I slept really badly last night, so woke later than I'd planned. I'd wanted to go to Aldi at 8.30 and do an early morning shop - I left here after 9 and popped into Coles first, then the bakery, then did my main grocery shop at Aldi. It was pretty quiet and an enjoyable shop. Everyone was wearing masks, even the walkers I saw as I drove in and out of town. I was amazed at how much better I'm feeling this week than last - then I needed the girls to push the trolley and load and unload the groceries and I was still exhausted, today I was fine doing it all by myself. Back at home I worked in the yard for a while, chatted to Tony while I sorted our large pile of socks, then Amelie and I did some baking - she made snickerdoodles and I made waffles. I had a shower then a nap, then worked on my Facebook page for a while https://www.facebook.com/AnnieLouCreative/

I chatted to Tony's family on their Zoom call before going for a walk - I deliberately did not take my camera because I wanted to focus on walking and looking at the late afternoon sun - it was SO beautiful, the light was incredible - golden light with dark clouds to the north and east which created an amazing mood. (And I did wish I had my camera with me. I walked to the other side of the creek, I haven't done that for a few weeks and the trees over there have all grown a heap, the gap between trees and fence is much narrower than last time I was there. Luna loved all the smells, looks like there's been lots of animal activity over that side of the property (and we saw a fox).

Tone cooked a lamb roast for dinner - so delicious! We spent a bit of time trying to get my car started - I've been having battery problems and I ended up taking Tony's car to the shops this morning - it seems to be working ok now. We all watched Ninja Warrior together - 1st part of the Grand Final and a very exciting night to watch.

Lockdown 2.0, Day 27

Not much to say in regards to COVID information. Numbers in the 400s again, more information on workplace lockdowns, looks like Tony's work comes under food and beverage manufacture so he will still be going to work. Watched the press conference and felt so frustrated at the way the journalists keep asking the same questions, even in the same press conference, like they think the answers are going to change. 

I woke up feeling pretty woozy,  went for a morning walk as it was still sunny and the forecast was for lots of rain and maybe hail and a very cold day. It was certainly chilly on my walk around the dam - the longest walk I've done in a week and a half and it was good to be out there again. A beautiful morning. I had a shower and still felt pretty dodgy, so lay down for a while and tried to have a nap. Liam and I went out to patch a bit of the driveway I wanted to fix up before the rain (he did the work for me) and after that I felt pretty good. I was able to do a bit of tidying up, played the piano, did some computer stuff. I talked to the dr again and decided we'll try a few other things before going to the gynae clinic because I don't want to go out if I don't have to. We had hail and rain on and off throughout the day, and lots of our friends had snow. The clouds lifted a couple of times and we could see the snow on the fields up around Toolangi - that's the first time in the 9 years we've lived here that we've been able to see the snow - there's been other years it snowed but the cloud cover stayed low. Liam and Amelie jumped on the trampoline in the hail, and we spent a lot of the day going out and looking at the clouds, the rain, the hail, the sunlight - the late afternoon light was spectacular, sunlight from the horizon with very dark clouds above us. And an icy wind the whole time.

The kids and I played Forbidden Island in the afternoon (and we very nearly won but not quite). Caitlin cooked waffles on the waffle maker we borrowed - they were delicious!  I cooked pumpkin soup for dinner (it was definitely a soup kind of day) then we all watched Ninja Warrior, with our usual Facetime call to some friends to watch for a while with them. A good day overall. 

Lockdown 2.0, Day 25

Cases in the 600s again, Stage 4 lockdown announced. It won't impact the kids and I much, although I think I'll have to give up getting my milk from the dairy for the time being. We've mainly been staying local for everything so most of our shopping will be exactly the same, and we don't really go out for anything else. We're not sure if or how Tony's work will be affected, we'll find that out tomorrow. 

I felt pretty good today, had bursts of energy and then rests. The girls and I went to Healesville to do a grocery shop at the new Aldi, which was pretty exciting. I grabbed some Vitamin D because apparently I am low in that area, and I got some local Watts River Brewery Stout. We also called past a friend's house to pick up their waffle maker so that Amelie can have waffles whenever she likes. We watched some TV in the afternoon -Gilmore Girls and Umbrella Academy (I'm rewatching Season 1, with Caitlin who hasn't seen it yet, before we start on Season 2. Liam is already watching the 2nd season), and I did some puzzles. I worked with my photos a bit, spent some time outside on a beautiful afternoon, then we all watched Ninja Warrior - very very exciting tonight as the the owner of the gym we go to was on, it was like watching a friend compete. 

Lockdown 2.0, Day 18

Another not so great day. Can’t remember the exact number of cases but it was bad and there were 10 deaths. It feels like it’s never going to improve. So glad we are living out here where we do but I know that doesn’t make us immune. I’m in awe of the way Dan Andrews and Brett Sutton keeO turning up every day, answering questions and trying tondo the best thing.

I really wasn’t well today. I’m having a severely heavy period and spent today on the couch - walking around too much gave me head spins. I browsed the internet and worked on my photos and had a pretty relaxing day. In the afternoon we had a Zoom catch up with some of Tony's cousins which was fun. Tonight we watched the the first heat of this year’s Australian Ninja Warrior. So good! And exciting to know several of the competitors.