Lockdown 2.0, Day 102

 A big day today.

I slept in until after 8 - very unusual and a good way to pass a couple of hours before waiting for the press conference. Around 10 it was announced that the presser would be at 11, so we had breakfast (Tony cooked pancakes), Caitlin went for a run, and we were ready to watch at 11. I'm quite happy with the changes to restrictions, they are going to make life a bit easier and a bit more varied for us, and there's more changes coming in a week or two. From tomorrow we can travel up to 25km from home, and meet in groups of up to 10 people from 2 households. There's no time limit on how long we can exercise or socialise for. In a week or 2 we'll be able to see 10 people from any number of households, and have 1 family per day in our house. Retail and restaurants will open then too. It feels great to know that we are possibly on our way out of this - as long as numbers stay low (only 2 today). The press conference was stressful at times but I'm always impressed with the Premier and CHO and how well they handle the questions. I was also pleased to hear that Jacinda Adern has won the NZ election in a landslide - she's doing such a good job.

After the press conference I wasn't really sure what to do with myself. I'd been waiting for today for weeks and then felt a big anti-climax - none of the restrictions change today and I had no other real plans for today and not much motivation to do anything. We watched the falcons for a while and chatted. Caitlin and I did some yoga then jumped on the trampoline with Amelie and did some cartwheels. Tony fixed the fan belt in his car then went for a drive to make sure it was ok, the girls went with him and they went to the IGA and to Tony's work. I did the dishes and some work outside, then went for a walk with Luna. She had the lead on but I wasn't holding it, and she took off after some kangaroos - normally with the lead attached she doesn't run off. I finished my walk and didn't see her anywhere, and she wasn't home when I got back.

I suggested Caitlin have a driving lesson and we go and look for her - she normally comes running when she hears the car. WE drove around the property and still didn't see her, and up and down Houghton's Lane. I was really worried that she'd tried to cross the creek or gone into some blackberry bushes and got the lead caught on something (or, like she did last week, tried to go under a fence and got the clip of the lead attached to the wire). Tony was looking by this stage as well, and I suggested he get the Kabota so we could reach some of the off path areas - it was too wet for the car to go near the creek. Liam and Tony came down to look and went over the creek, Caitlin and I thought we heard her barking near the creek crossing, and she rang our neighbours and they went out to have a look as well - still no sign of her. I crossed the creek on foot and Caitlin and I hugged the banks on either side, Tony and Liam went up along the back of the property. I was getting really frantic, thinking she was stuck somewhere and it was getting dark, and I didn't know if we'd find her or if she'd be ok if we did - she's never been away from home that long any other time she's run after kangaroos, so I thought she had to be hurt or stuck. Just as I was getting really worked up, Amelie rang Caitlin to say that Luna had just appeared back at the house. Such a relief.

Back at home we call kind of collapsed into doing comfortable things - the girls watched Brooklyn 9-9, Liam played on the computer, Tony watched the Brownlow Medal and I listened to my audio book. The adrenalin in all of us is fading slowly and I think we'll all sleep well tonight.

Looking forward to seeing my parents this week, and some friends who I haven't been able to see in months - there's a few in my 25km radius, and others who's radius overlaps ours. The kids are figuring out who they can see and when - I think we'll take it pretty slowly, but we're definitely going to start to socialise a bit more over the course of the week.

Lockdown 2.0, Days 100 & 101

 Day 100 of lockdown!!! That feels pretty momentous. We talked about having a day 100 party but no one had any motivation to do anything about it. I celebrated by listening to a gorgeous song written about lockdown and shared on a friend's Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/thebengsons/videos/724609064791616.

I spent a good chunk of the day proofreading. I was thinking I should get the dishes done before I got started on the proofing, then realised I often put off the things I really want to do by saying 'I'll just do this first' and then run out of energy or get called to something else and miss out on what was important to me. So I proofed first and had a very enjoyable morning in my room reading. I had some lunch and did yoga outside with Caitlin and Amelie. We turned on our mats at one point and one of the chickens had nestled into the ground just behind us - cool to have a chicken join us for yoga. I did some more proofing in the afternoon but was a bit distracted and didn't enjoy it so much. I decided to go in to Healesville to get some more bread from the bakery (my favourite place to get bread) and maybe buy myself a hot drink and go on my Artist's Date for the week. I was delayed a bit by a few things and left much later than I'd planned. One of my delays was my phone slipping out of my hand as I tried to put it in my bag - it fell face down on our cork floor and the glass smashed - not the tempered glass screen protector, it's still fine, but the glass of the phone itself is cracked all over. I was pretty sad and just couldn't seem to pick up from there. The bakery was closed when I got there, so I went to Aldi, bought some cool things from the middle aisles and got some Aldi bread, and a peppermint chocolate milk drink and some chocolate croissants for myself. I drove to one of my walking spots within our 5km and took my food and drink and book and sat for a while. I got distracted easily (and there were lots of mozzies) and the croissants weren't really what I wanted... It was nice to be out by myself though and I stayed for about an hour, listening to my audio book and playing games on my phone for some of the time.

Back home I did the dishes and took Luna for a late walk around the dam. Liam cooked banana bread. Tony had had a huge day at work and had a long evening nap. It became an every man for himself dinner because I was exhausted - I had slept badly again. I watched some Umbrella Academy (I'm loving it more and more with every episode and love the quality of my computer screen) and chatted to the girls for a while before eventually going to sleep.

This morning I woke at 5am so had several hours to myself in the morning. When Amelie woke up she brushed and braided my hair (the first time she's braided). I chatted to the kids and Tony as they emerged, tidied up inside and outside. We spent a lot of time looking at a list of the 10 largest birds of prey, and researching the range of animals that they eat. Our favourite is the Eurasian Eagle Owl. We interspersed that with watching the Peregrine Falcon livestream. In the early afternoon we all played Cards Against Humanity (Family Edition). It was hilarious and very relaxing, and fun to have all 5 of us playing. Tony, Caitlin and Liam went for a run. I did some more tidying then sat and chatted with Caitlin while she crocheted, and we played Kiss, Marry, Kill. The others joined in for a while with that as well. I went for a long, slow walk and listened to my audio book, then did some work on the computer, and played the piano for the first time in ages.

I'm getting ready to head to bed for an early night, and eagerly looking forward to tomorrow - there will be announcements about what is happening with the restrictions. I'm swinging between thinking nothing much will change, and that heaps will be allowed. We had 2 cases yesterday and only 1 today - so things are certainly looking positive for some kind of easing. I'm less antsy about it than I though I would be, but I am very keen to hear what the plan will be going forward from tomorrow.

Lockdown 2.0, Days 96 and 97

 I feel the last couple of days have been quite productive, which is not really that usual at the moment. I am exhausted though, I think tomorrow will be a rest day. 

Getting some work done in my room on Sunday seems to have freed me up to do other things around the house, it had really been hanging over me. I did bits and pieces of tidying and cleaning and helping the kids with things in the morning, and knocked over a few more jobs that I'd been wanting to get done. Caitlin and I did yoga and I talked to a couple of friends on the phone (separately). Caitlin baked some banana bread - 1 loaf for us (which didn't last long, it was delicious!) and 1 loaf for our neighbour across the road (we met him a few weeks ago when he came to see if we had any idea where the dogs who were killing his sheep were coming from). I took Luna for a long walk so that she didn't want to go with the girls, who walked over to deliver the banana bread. He was thrilled with the gift and the thought, and the girls were thrilled when he let them go in to the a pen and help feed a week old lamb! He's promised Caitlin some wool when he shears in the summer, and said that we are welcome to walk on his land which backs on to our place - running along the creek. I'm pretty excited about that as it's always looked so enticing! I took the car to meet the girls on their way back and Caitlin had another driving lesson.

We spent a lot of time watching the Peregrine Falcon webcam, the kids played lots of video games and talked to some friends. I had a great phone call with one of my oldest friends (in NSW, whose birthday was last week - always so good to catch up). I went to bed early to do some work and the girls came in to chat after a while, a nice debrief for the end of the day.

Today involved more Falcon watching, some online shopping (new chargers and adapters for my new laptop), and a bit of tidying up and outdoor work. We all headed to Healesville in the afternoon, the kids met with their friend and went for a walk, bought some chais, did a bit of shopping. I had an enjoyable afternoon of shopping, I went to the bakery, the bulk food shop (so happy that we have that in Healesville now!), the greengrocer, Aldi, the library (just to pick up my books from the click and collect table), Coles and the chemist, then picked up my milk. I ran into the kids a few times as we were wandering around which was pretty cool. I also ran into one of the other mums from Guides and we had a quick catch up - very exciting to see anyone I know!

Back home Liam went back online to play games and chat to his friends, Amelie played some SIMS, and Caitlin and I went for our walk. We went down the back and crossed the fence to explore along the creek of our neighbour's land. It was so beautiful, lots of access to the creek, a range of foliage, lots of cool trees to look at (also lots of blackberry bushes to navigate around, Caitlin got scratched a few times). I'm looking forward to exploring there a lot more. I was so exhausted by the time we got home though. I cooked some soup (nice and easy) and watched The Block with Tony, and I'm heading to bed as soon as I can.

It's now mathematically impossible for us to hit our targets for Step 3 before Sunday. It's likely however that some restrictions will be eased - I think this week is going to feel more and more stressful as we wait to find out what will change next week. I just want to be able to see people more easily, and I think that's the direction the changes will take. I hope.

Lockdown 2.0, Day 82

We had a disrupted night as the helicopter was flying from 2.30 for an hour or so. I had forgotten how loud it is - it felt like it was coming through the bedroom window as it flew over the house block of vines, and the walls of the house were shaking. Somehow Amelie slept through it all, everyone else was awake for at least some of it.

So a cold start to the morning which turned into an absolutely gorgeous sunny day.I sat outside and did my writing in the morning, and it was beautiful.  Caitlin and I did our yoga in the yard and I felt really hot. I sweated a fair bit doing my yard work. I had several phone calls in the afternoon and sat in the yard while I chatted to a friend then to Mum, and to the car salesman and my mechanic. While I sat there I watched the Welcome Swallows feeding their babies in their nest above our back door, and the Willie Wagtails and Blue Fairy Wrens flit around in the trees, and even a couple of lorikeets made an appearance. I haven't seen a magpie in our yard for a couple of weeks - I think the wind may have destroyed their nests. There's still magpies around the property but none hanging out in our gum or oak trees like they normally do, which is a bit disappointing - for them I guess and also for us, I was looking forward to seeing the babies. I had another phone call with a friend while I had my walk in the later afternoon - it was warm enough to walk just in a t-shirt. Weird that that's going to be below zero again tonight after such a warm day - then we head into much warmer weather for the rest of the week.

Only 5 cases today - the lowest since June 12. Such a relief although numbers are usually lower early in the week because fewer tests are done on the weekend. Everyone - well, most people - seem to be feeling a bit cheered by the potential bringing forward of the next step out of restrictions, we can hang on for another 3 weeks.

Lockdown 2.0, Day 81

 An exciting day today as the next step of easing restrictions were announced. I spent the morning pottering around the house and yard, waiting for the press conference at 12.30, then watched that intently for the next hour and a half or so.

So the changes are - from tomorrow there will be no curfew. Groups of 5 people, from 2 households, can gather in public places. The restriction of only 1 person per household per day, in one outing, going shopping has been lifted. Childcare is open and schools will start to go back after the holidays. Those last 2 don't impact us so much (although the childcare changes might mean we can look after Liam's friend if necessary) and the curfew makes little difference, but the other 2 changes will give us a bit more flexibility, so that's good. We're also on track to have more restrictions lifted in 3 weeks rather than 4 - I feel like I can survive 3 more weeks.

I actually woke up looking forward to the day, it's been over a week since I felt like that. It was cold again but sunny for most of the day. After the press conference I did yoga with Caitlin - it was dry enough to do it outside again today, we had been doing it in the kitchen (the best place to fit both our mats). It's so beautiful sitting or lying and looking at the mountains and the trees and the vines, I love doing our practice in the yard. I attended an online tupperware party in the afternoon, we watched a cooking demonstration and then I had a browse of the catalogue, I'll probably buy a new things. There was still time afterwards to go for a long walk - Caitlin had already been, so I went alone and listened to my audio book. It was a gorgeous time to walk, the new vines look amazing, and I felt very peaceful and at ease. The yoga is making a difference too, my hips are much more flexible and walking feels easier. Luna walked off lead with me for most of the way, then was enticed by the rabbits and took off on her own. She didn't come back quickly so Caitlin had a driving lesson and we went to find her. While we were setting off the helicopter flew in - there's frost forecast for tomorrow morning. After a bit of searching and calling Luna came to us, wet and cold and probably terrified by the helicopter. She's currently curled up in front of the fire trying to dry off. 

I had a new beer tonight - a Bonehead Brewing Choc Vanilla Porter. It was delicious - kind of like drinking an iced chocolate, with a beery texture. Caitlin watched the Block, we ate a delicious roast beef dinner, then Caitlin and I went out to cover her tomato plants before the frost - it is SO cold out there already, a very crisp, clear night. 

Lockdown 2.0, Days 79 and 80

 I'm feeling much better tonight, the last 2 days have been a bit easier than most of the last week. I'm not even sure what's changed, just feeling less lethargic - although still happy spending lots of time taking it easy.

Yesterday I went into Yarra Glen to the post office and the IGA, got myself some fish and chips and sat in the car at the lookout and read my book for a while - it was great to have a bit of time to myself. It was cold and wet and it was really interesting to watch the clouds move in across the mountains.

Today we had a Zoom meeting with my brother, sister and parents to celebrate Dad finishing his chemo. He looked pretty well and it was a fun get together. The kids were all in and out and even though our internet was a bit dodgy it was great to see everyone. We also had a cake for Caitlin's birthday which is coming up - I bought a pavlova case and she decorated it this morning. 

Apart from that we've been for a few walks, done our yoga, tidied up the lounge room, had a few phone calls with friends and family, read books, tried to keep warm (there was snow on the mountains around us in the last day and a half), watched a bit of tv, worked on my photos a bit.

Tomorrow the government is announcing the next steps in the easing of restrictions - it's a bit exciting. I know there won't be much of a change, but even little bits will be a relief. And either way, it feels like it's just a bit closer to the end of restrictions, even if they are a fair way off.

Lockdown 2.0, Days 75. 76. 77 and 78

 I had a massive motivation slump on Monday this week and am still pretty much there - although today I feel better about it - I've been able to embrace the slump and not feel like I SHOULD be getting stuff done or feeling good or anything - I'm accepting of where I am. I have been feeling just generally bored. None of my usual interesting or relaxing activities are appealing much at all. Even going for our walk each day has become kind of dull - today Caitlin and I even ran out of things to say and the walk seemed to take forever. 

It's not all bad though. We're still laughing and chatting and having moments of fun. There's just a bit of a pall of lethargy hanging over us all. Maybe there's some light in sight though - we are supposed to move to Step 2 restrictions on Monday, (our 14 day average is in the 20s!!!) and the word is that maybe a few extra things will be eased. So who knows what next week will bring, it might be a lot brighter than we've been expected. Or even just a tiny bit brighter. Actually even the very slight changes that have been promised will be something - to be able to have 5 people from 2 families together outdoors, means Caitlin and Liam can meet with their friend in Healesville.

Lockdown 2.0, Days 69. 70 and 71

 The last few days have been quite busy for lockdown, and actually a little bit social! On Tuesday Liam and I went to Healesville for my to get the groceries and the milk, and met up with friends at Coles. I did my shopping with my friend, then we walked down the street to a couple of specialty stores, and the boys went for a walk down to the river. It was so great to see them and to chat while we shopped/walked. It was the first time Liam had seen his friend (or any of his friends in nearly 10 weeks, and only the 2nd time he's left the property in that time. 

Yesterday Amelie came with Caitlin and I to the post office - as usual Caitlin did the shopping, and Amelie and I went to the park. It was our first time there in over 6 months and it felt really strange. There were more people in Yarra Glen than I'd seen in a while, and there were a few people at the playground but it wasn't overly crowded and people were mainly keeping distance from each other (and all the adults were masked). Amelie's friend walked down and met us at the park - the girls were very happy to see each other again. I chatted to a friend on the phone then sat under a tree and read my book, it was a beautiful afternoon to be out. 

Today was quieter, just spent at home. I had a counselling appointment which was helpful as always. We played Among Us, I tidied quite a bit of the lounge room, Caitlin did a heap of cooking. We've done yoga every day this week, as well as our usual walks of various lengths. A few phone calls to friends, jumping on the trampoline, Caitlin and Liam practicing headstands, games on the computer. Liam and Amelie seem refreshed by their social catch ups, which hopefully will make the next few weeks easier.

Regional Victoria had many of their restrictions lifted today, so my friends outside of Melbourne are feeling pretty happy. They can eat at outdoor venues, go to people's houses, travel around a bit. The numbers in Melbourne are going down (only 28 today!) - and the 14 day average is currently under 50, which is good news.

Lockdown 2.0, Day 68

 A good day today. Numbers were low (only 35!) and I felt happy and relaxed most of the day. Beautiful weather again - and getting warmer. We had the fire on in the morning but let it die out, we did yoga outside in t-shirts and were plenty warm enough. I was a bit sore today from yesterday's yoga session, but today's theme was stretch and it was a much easier practice, I was worried about Amelie at the start of it because she was feeling anxious, by the end I was relaxed and able to be more present for her.

I mainly pottered around today, did some photo work and tidying, chatted with the kids. They watched YouTube and jumped on the trampoline and played Among Us. I had a nap when I felt sleepy - we stayed up late watching La Tour de France last night (until after midnight) because Caitlin and I wanted to watch a mountain descent - it was lovely lying in bed and chatting, looking at Instagram, watching the race - it did mean I was a bit tired today but that was fine, a nap caught me up nicely. Caitlin and I went for a late afternoon walk and explored a part of the property we haven't really been to before - there's always something new to see. Tonight the older kids are on a group call with their friends playing a new online game, Amelie is listening to her audio book, Tony is watching the Collingwood game and I'm about to head to bed to do some work on my course then read my book.

Today would have been the day we came out of Stage 4 if numbers had dropped quickly enough. There are a few concessions to our current Stage, as of today - curfew now starts at 9pm rather than 8, and we're able to have 2 hours of exercise or outdoor recreation, with 1 other person (rather than 1 hour of exercise only). So they are small changes but feel like a step towards opening up and it might make life a tiny bit easier.

Lockdown 2.0, Day 55

 A busy day today - Tuesday is my shopping day so I get to go out! I always feel pretty tired afterwards though, it's more of an effort than I think it's going to be.

I got a lot done at home this morning, tidying and a bit of cleaning, chatting with the kids. Liam and I talked for ages about some of his games (Fall Guys in particular, he's getting really good). Amelie played outside on the trampoline. I put some soup on to cook - it filled the house with the most delicious smell throughout the day. In the afternoon I sat on the couch in the carport and chatted to a friend on the phone - it's a great place to sit on a sunny afternoon like today. I did some more research on a new car, narrowing it down to a few options - although inspecting a car might be tricky at the moment, I'm not sure how this is going to work. 

I headed down to Healesville to get my milk, chatted to the milk guy about his car, went over to Coles to pick up a few things (which, as always, turned into several things). I did my big shop at Aldi - a few more people there this time, but still not crowded. I really enjoyed my shopping time, I came home feeling really good and really peaceful. 

The girls and I went for a quick walk around the dam - it was much colder than I expected it to be, with a really icy wind blowing. The moon is very close to full and was rising as we walked, it looked pretty spectacular above the dam. Back at home we did more car research, ate our soup and some of us watched the Block. I did some of my course while I watched, and everyone seems to be settling down for an early-ish night.

70 cases today and 4 deaths. A relief to see continuing low numbers.