Tuesday 31 March: I was allowed out again today and the weather was gorgeous! I had to drive to Pirongia to collect my laptop. Jane left it on the doorstep so I didn't speak to anyone. It was a delightful cross-country 50 minute drive. So nice to see so many people out and about exercising, all apparently keeping to social distancing rules. I have never seen so many people, walking, cycling or running in one day! Not too much traffic but actually more than I expected, and I think more than last week. On the way home I was pleased to see a trailer of native plants for sale on the road side so stopped and bought some. Money is paid into an honesty box but I never use cash now, haven't done since Christmas, so I dropped a note in with my phone number asking for a bank account number! Another guy stopped but we kept away from each other. I wondered if the plant sale was allowed but police drove past when we were talking and did not stop so I guess it was OK. Actually there were a lot of police around come to think of it.
Eric had to take Otto to the vet. He (Otto not Eric) has a recurrent ear infection and they wanted to do some more investigations before treating him this time. Otto is a cash cow for our vets! He was diagnosed with Addison's disease a few months ago after nearly dying from an electrolyte imbalance. His pituitary gland does not stimulate the body's natural steroid production so his life now depends on twice daily replacements. Diagnosis, several nights in, IV fluids etc and a damaged nail requiring surgery notched up a bill of several thousand dollars and now he seems to continue to feed the vets coffers! No-one is allowed in the vets so he was deposited and collected later. Eric got two trips out today :-)
The new Covid-19 testing station in Matamata is right near the vets and Eric said there was quite a queue of cars waiting. Needless to say the local Facebook chat is filled with concerns and people demanding we all be tested. Makes me cross really. It should not make any difference to the way we behave. Aren't we supposed to stay at home and if out, treat everyone as if they were infectious? I guess if you know you are infected you would not come out - I hope.
Once I got home, I spent some time getting orientated to the new computer software I will need to use then finished work and headed outside. I planted my mornings purchases on the berm we created two years ago. Last years plantings of around 100 trees and plants are looking strong and healthy, despite the drought. I was then off to the potting shed to sow rocket and lettuce. It was bl**dy hot!
When we went for our 5pm walk my crutch was missing from the back of the Jeep. Eric had removed it when he transported Otto in the morning. I had to use a walking stick which was quite a struggle but I soldiered on bravely!!
As of 9am today: New cases 58. Recovered 74. Total 647. Deaths 1. Total tests: 21,384
Matamata cluster 11 new cases, total 28.
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Monday, March 30, 2020
Lockdown Day Five: The start of the first working week
Monday 30 March 2018: Shopping day! I knew I had to get the the pharmacy today for rash cream and New World to shop for groceries (ours, parents and their neighbour). Also had to consult our vet over Otto's recurrent ear infection. In addition I thought I would have to go and collect my new work laptop but a manger needed to go through it to check everything was working and I was waiting on her so all in all the day was up in the air. As it was I spent the morning doing housework and ventured into Matamata after lunch. Laptop to be collected tomorrow.
On going to the pharmacy there is a barrier at the entrance. A staff member asks you what you want and if you are sick/been overseas/been with someone who has been overseas. If responses are acceptable you are allowed in, after using hand sanitiser, but cannot take things off the shelves. My pharmacy assistant collected them for me. I had a conversation with a pharmacist and got the cream advised, among other things. The staff are hugely over-worked but remain cheerful and helpful.
Next the supermarket. Same routine as before, security allowing one person in as another leaves. People were good at keeping the required 2m spacing and all was very ordered. I could get everything I wanted, if not the exact brand but some shelves were low on stock. Many staples had stock limits on. I wonder if that is a psychological ploy? I picked up two of something but realising the stock was limited put one back. I'm glad milk did not as I was buying 10 litres! The tills now have perspex screens up.
With the queue time and then shopping my knew was really aching when I got home. Thunder was rolling in the skies above but we managed our 5pm walk with no rain. Just started spitting as we got back to the Jeep. Had a good yarn from the road, which meant we kept a distance well in excess of 2m, with a neighbour who said he lost two hives last winter (we lost one of two).
I have a concern about ventilators! UK news today (I listen to the BBC for most of the day) was dominated by talk of various companies coming on board with ventilator and CPAP device production (amusing listening to presenters getting their heads around something they clearly think of as new but has actually be used for decades in hospital ICUs and high dependancy units). My assumption is that the ventilators planned for mass production will be computerised, all bells and whistles versions of what we currently use. If so I think it would be a mistake. They are complicated beyond belief and require highly specialised operators and repairs. They also will be redundant in 10-15 years time. What happens to them all post-pandemic? No one will have a clue about them when they are pulled out of storage for the next pandemic in God-knows what year. Would it not be better to make lots of really basic, non-computerised ventilators of the type we used when I started my life as an ICU nurse back in the late 1970's? If these went wrong you could usually take the back off and go to work with a few basic tools to repair them. All ventilators after the iron lung use the same principles of ventilation so any ICU nurse worth their salt could operate them with a basic manual. That way, come the next pandemic they could be dusted off and operated again. I also wonder of they would be of use to developing countries when no longer needed by the NHS? Better lots of desperate patients having access to basic ventilators than a few accessing the top-of-the-range types that populate our ICUs currently. I pity the healthcare workers whose job it is to choose who they are.
On going to the pharmacy there is a barrier at the entrance. A staff member asks you what you want and if you are sick/been overseas/been with someone who has been overseas. If responses are acceptable you are allowed in, after using hand sanitiser, but cannot take things off the shelves. My pharmacy assistant collected them for me. I had a conversation with a pharmacist and got the cream advised, among other things. The staff are hugely over-worked but remain cheerful and helpful.
Next the supermarket. Same routine as before, security allowing one person in as another leaves. People were good at keeping the required 2m spacing and all was very ordered. I could get everything I wanted, if not the exact brand but some shelves were low on stock. Many staples had stock limits on. I wonder if that is a psychological ploy? I picked up two of something but realising the stock was limited put one back. I'm glad milk did not as I was buying 10 litres! The tills now have perspex screens up.
With the queue time and then shopping my knew was really aching when I got home. Thunder was rolling in the skies above but we managed our 5pm walk with no rain. Just started spitting as we got back to the Jeep. Had a good yarn from the road, which meant we kept a distance well in excess of 2m, with a neighbour who said he lost two hives last winter (we lost one of two).
I have a concern about ventilators! UK news today (I listen to the BBC for most of the day) was dominated by talk of various companies coming on board with ventilator and CPAP device production (amusing listening to presenters getting their heads around something they clearly think of as new but has actually be used for decades in hospital ICUs and high dependancy units). My assumption is that the ventilators planned for mass production will be computerised, all bells and whistles versions of what we currently use. If so I think it would be a mistake. They are complicated beyond belief and require highly specialised operators and repairs. They also will be redundant in 10-15 years time. What happens to them all post-pandemic? No one will have a clue about them when they are pulled out of storage for the next pandemic in God-knows what year. Would it not be better to make lots of really basic, non-computerised ventilators of the type we used when I started my life as an ICU nurse back in the late 1970's? If these went wrong you could usually take the back off and go to work with a few basic tools to repair them. All ventilators after the iron lung use the same principles of ventilation so any ICU nurse worth their salt could operate them with a basic manual. That way, come the next pandemic they could be dusted off and operated again. I also wonder of they would be of use to developing countries when no longer needed by the NHS? Better lots of desperate patients having access to basic ventilators than a few accessing the top-of-the-range types that populate our ICUs currently. I pity the healthcare workers whose job it is to choose who they are.
Lockdown Day Four: the first weekend
Sunday 29 March 2018: not a lot of difference this weekend apart from the, usually we have to go to Bunnings [DIY store] for something, trip. And, we stayed in bed much longer both mornings. Eric slept until nearly 9am on Saturday which is almost unheard of! Mind you he has slept badly this week, unsurprisingly. Saturday was my most productive day in AGES. The weather was beautiful and as well as washing and general busi-ness I spent hours in my potting shed.
When I broke my leg in August 2019 it obviously put a total hold on everything gardening. I did start to grow some microgreens indoors a month or two into my rehab but for weeks and weeks I could not even get to my veg plot. It was 6 months before I could actually think about doing anything down there by which time the place was chest high in grass and weeds. Even today I am limited by mobility, what I can manage and how long I can work for. The winter garden will be different though! Over the weekend I took cuttings from gooseberry and red currant bushes. I still have not acquired a white currant bush and I have black currant bushes for Africa! The fact that I did not pick any currants this summer does not matter as I still have tonnes from the previous year in the freezer. I sowed, in trays; cabbages, broccolis, cauliflowers, poppies, spinach, lettuces and parsley. I also planted into larger pots some pan choy and cauliflower seedlings I bought at the garden centre before the lockdown. I planted up a container of zinnia and gazinia I grew from seed. Zinnias are frost sensitive so I will pop the container into the poly tunnel over winter.
My Plymouth barred chicken has been sitting on a precarious nest in grass on a slope just above the veg plot but during the recent winds and rain the eggs rolled down the hill coming to rest in the path in the veg plot. Totally exposed and easy for Oscar to help himself to the eggs if she left the nest. So, I re-purposed a bee nuc box that Eric had made awhile ago but we could not use for bees as he used treated wood. I put some hay and grass from where she originally nested in, slid the eggs in and put her on. She promptly walked off a sat a few feet away!! So, I put her back on the nest and blocked the entrance. She kicked up a huge din but finally settled so a cracked the 'door' so she could get out and, on checking on Sunday, she seemed fine. I hope the few remaining eggs hatch as she is a good layer. I also have another chook sitting on a small clutch in the little chook house. I was thinking of culling the remaining chickens who don't lay and eat anything I plant but who know's how the pandemic is going to pan out. I may need the chickens for food in a few months!!
Saturday evening I made keto fathead pizzas which I think are nicer than the usual ones I make using the bread maker to maker the pizza dough. Certainly a lot quicker! Sunday's roast was a cheat. I reheated some left-over roast pork from earlier in the week!
Sunday was less productive, kept flitting from job-to-job. I planted some strawberry runners. I don't think I got one strawberry this year but the chickens would have had a feast! I also sorted out the stuff in my poly tunnel. I have resorted to herbicide use as I have a worsening couch grass problem, to add to that of the oxalis. I am clearing the whole think out, spraying then will start afresh.
Had a long chat with my sister in the UK. She works in the judiciary and so working as normal. All fine there except for my niece who has a sick baby and invalid husband at home so I worry for her mental health over the coming few weeks.
Touched base with a fellow NZSL course student who is over from the USA and living alone with her rescued severely injured cat. As a vet she is working a few days a week at the practice but I think is going to find this lockdown very hard. Trying to speak a bestie in South Africa but she's not great at answering her calls!! She writes heaps though which is a huge improvement.
Sunday afternoon we had 'booked' a video call with our friends whom we usually catch up with most weekends. We settled on the sofa with coffee in hand and the four of us chatted for over an hour. I guess this is the new norm! Was told that Matamata has a crop of cases and on checking the MoH website find that our little town is officially a cluster. Not good. I almost feel I'd like to get Covid-19 and get it over and done with but of course, the big unknown is will I, or somebody I inadvertently infect, be one of the serious casualties of the virus! I guess that's the reason we all do our bit and stay home.
I do have to venture out tomorrow though. I start work and have to collect my laptop and get some training on the software and I need pharmacy supplies. Crap timing to get a dermatitis-type rash that is driving me mad with itching a spreading by the day!
As of 9am today: New cases 63. Recovered 56. Total 516. Deaths 1.
When I broke my leg in August 2019 it obviously put a total hold on everything gardening. I did start to grow some microgreens indoors a month or two into my rehab but for weeks and weeks I could not even get to my veg plot. It was 6 months before I could actually think about doing anything down there by which time the place was chest high in grass and weeds. Even today I am limited by mobility, what I can manage and how long I can work for. The winter garden will be different though! Over the weekend I took cuttings from gooseberry and red currant bushes. I still have not acquired a white currant bush and I have black currant bushes for Africa! The fact that I did not pick any currants this summer does not matter as I still have tonnes from the previous year in the freezer. I sowed, in trays; cabbages, broccolis, cauliflowers, poppies, spinach, lettuces and parsley. I also planted into larger pots some pan choy and cauliflower seedlings I bought at the garden centre before the lockdown. I planted up a container of zinnia and gazinia I grew from seed. Zinnias are frost sensitive so I will pop the container into the poly tunnel over winter. |
| Oscar did not share in the busi-ness of the day! |
Saturday evening I made keto fathead pizzas which I think are nicer than the usual ones I make using the bread maker to maker the pizza dough. Certainly a lot quicker! Sunday's roast was a cheat. I reheated some left-over roast pork from earlier in the week!
Sunday was less productive, kept flitting from job-to-job. I planted some strawberry runners. I don't think I got one strawberry this year but the chickens would have had a feast! I also sorted out the stuff in my poly tunnel. I have resorted to herbicide use as I have a worsening couch grass problem, to add to that of the oxalis. I am clearing the whole think out, spraying then will start afresh.
Had a long chat with my sister in the UK. She works in the judiciary and so working as normal. All fine there except for my niece who has a sick baby and invalid husband at home so I worry for her mental health over the coming few weeks.
Touched base with a fellow NZSL course student who is over from the USA and living alone with her rescued severely injured cat. As a vet she is working a few days a week at the practice but I think is going to find this lockdown very hard. Trying to speak a bestie in South Africa but she's not great at answering her calls!! She writes heaps though which is a huge improvement.
Sunday afternoon we had 'booked' a video call with our friends whom we usually catch up with most weekends. We settled on the sofa with coffee in hand and the four of us chatted for over an hour. I guess this is the new norm! Was told that Matamata has a crop of cases and on checking the MoH website find that our little town is officially a cluster. Not good. I almost feel I'd like to get Covid-19 and get it over and done with but of course, the big unknown is will I, or somebody I inadvertently infect, be one of the serious casualties of the virus! I guess that's the reason we all do our bit and stay home.
I do have to venture out tomorrow though. I start work and have to collect my laptop and get some training on the software and I need pharmacy supplies. Crap timing to get a dermatitis-type rash that is driving me mad with itching a spreading by the day!As of 9am today: New cases 63. Recovered 56. Total 516. Deaths 1.
Friday, March 27, 2020
Lockdown Day Two: still settling in
Friday 27 March: Managed to complete the assessment for the online vaccinator update and I have re-applied for my practicing certificate. Strictly I do not meet the required educational hours criteria but they give you a year to catch up not hat. The ironic thing is that most of the work I have done in the last five years has been writing online educational material for other vaccinators but that does not count towards my hours! I did have the option of applying for a Covid-related practising certificate which they are providing free of charge to nurses returning specifically for Covid-related work but I decided to go for full registration. I have to wait for them to get back to me to discuss the education hours bit.
The day was bright sunshine interspersed with heavy downpours. Luckily at 5pm it was gorgeous so we had our first walk. I struggle to walk down slopes and our 350m loose gravel drive has a big hill. So, we plan to drive the Jeep down to the road then walk on the road. Eric on a walking stick and me on a crutch. I managed 1km but that took me to my limit. If I can increase the outward journey by one lamp post each day I'll be doing 5km/day by the end of lockdown. Now there's a goal!
The surrealism of the whole situation hit me as we walked. It is sooooo quite. Yea there are cars travelling along SHW29 but so few that that low, distant traffic hum, that I actually hardly ever notice is absent. Feels like there's no one else in the world but us!!
Watched The Falls on TV. I tried watching it before but could not get into it. Better this time.
Didn't catch the case count in time and can't find the days figures retrospectively.
The day was bright sunshine interspersed with heavy downpours. Luckily at 5pm it was gorgeous so we had our first walk. I struggle to walk down slopes and our 350m loose gravel drive has a big hill. So, we plan to drive the Jeep down to the road then walk on the road. Eric on a walking stick and me on a crutch. I managed 1km but that took me to my limit. If I can increase the outward journey by one lamp post each day I'll be doing 5km/day by the end of lockdown. Now there's a goal!
The surrealism of the whole situation hit me as we walked. It is sooooo quite. Yea there are cars travelling along SHW29 but so few that that low, distant traffic hum, that I actually hardly ever notice is absent. Feels like there's no one else in the world but us!!
Watched The Falls on TV. I tried watching it before but could not get into it. Better this time.
Didn't catch the case count in time and can't find the days figures retrospectively.
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Lockdown Day One: getting organised
Thursday 26th March: Today was still about getting organised. I completed the online vaccinator update just to get myself up to speed with the world of immunisation before starting work. Quite weird as I actually write most of the content!! I hit a problem when I went to do the assessment with an IT glitch so hope that will get sorted tomorrow.
Eric worked from about 3am! Probably couldn't sleep as he had so much in his head! He was pretty flat out all day. Having IT issues as he cannot connect a new bluetooth keyboard to his iPad. Same thing yesterday when his bad temper stopped me working so I made a bolt for my potting shed for a couple of hours!! Today however, he let me take a look at it (I am generally the more IT savvy of us two - aren't most women??) and after an hour with Apple support the conclusion was that it is not compatible. Eric actually had a iPad cover/keypad en route from Australia and has managed to get that redirected here instead of his office. In the meantime he has my ancient keypad from an old iPad 2 but it seems to do the job.
At dinner time neither of us were particularly hungry (I haven't mentioned that we are doing the keto diet). Decided to have tuna mayonnaise in avo. Eric asked if he could use a flavoured tuna. I said check the carb counts. Now, in fairness had been having trouble with a film over his eye and blurred vision and he was reading the tin in low light but said "Well this one's useless, it's in Russian!" Being fairly sure I had not recently purchased any Russian goods (!!) I checked, only to find he was reading the tin up-side-down!! Again, we dissolved into hysterics.
One major advantage of keto is that our go-to alcoholic beverage, and something of a staple of the wider Tanner family, GnT is not restricted. Now I love this drink but am averse to flat tonic so my rationale has been two drinks each at a time to use up the litre bottle of tonic. This was just a weekend treat until recently, well the weekend does consist of three evenings, and then one on Wednesday to break up the week. However, to sustain us through the lockdown we have gone to a 7 nights a week regime. However, Eric calculated that our 4 litres of gin (I confess to panic buying only because our usual prolific supply was dangerously low and gin is not sold in supermarkets in NZ!!) won't last the lockdown so rationed us to one drink each night. The dilemma now is, one drink each night or spread the gin across two drinks???
I firmly believe that an important part of getting through this four weeks with some degree of sanity and hopefully achievement, is to have some sort of routine, and plan. To that end I think we will treat weekends as we always do; get up when we want, two meals instead of three, roast on Sunday (we are English after all!) etc. During the week we'll aim to wake at 7 instead of 6 (Eric usually manages that. I do not). I love retirement and am conscious of doing all I can to support Eric who works so hard still for us. I therefore have fallen into the role of homemaker (having had a 40 year professional career I never thought I'd say that!), as opposed to the fairly 50:50 spread of household tasks we undertook when I worked full-time. I chose to get up to make Eric breakfast and pack a lunch but would much rather he started work at 9 not 8!! Anyway, back to routine. I do not yet know how many hours I will be working, or when. I will be answering calls to NZ's dedicated immunisation helpline so will be fitted into a rota. Eric will work until he needs to and then revert to farm work. A few weeks ago we physically drove round the block and did a reccie of jobs that needed doing. It is VERY long. We did prioritise the cattle grid/stop and concreting the stock yard but as that relies on contractors who cannot work that will have to wait. He does have heaps of jobs that he can do so there is no danger of him being at a loose end. If the weather is too bad then he always has his boat (that's another story). In addition to the bicycling we both do for knee rehab (yes both of us) we will go for a 5pm walk each weekday just to get out.
Lots of heavy showers today. I did not mention that we are currently in the midst of a drought so bad that a total fire ban is in place. (Rubbish management is yet another story). The last few days has seen a little respite on the drought front.
Day one survived. All feels quite weird.
New cases 78. Recovered 27. Total 283 . Deaths 0.
Eric worked from about 3am! Probably couldn't sleep as he had so much in his head! He was pretty flat out all day. Having IT issues as he cannot connect a new bluetooth keyboard to his iPad. Same thing yesterday when his bad temper stopped me working so I made a bolt for my potting shed for a couple of hours!! Today however, he let me take a look at it (I am generally the more IT savvy of us two - aren't most women??) and after an hour with Apple support the conclusion was that it is not compatible. Eric actually had a iPad cover/keypad en route from Australia and has managed to get that redirected here instead of his office. In the meantime he has my ancient keypad from an old iPad 2 but it seems to do the job.
At dinner time neither of us were particularly hungry (I haven't mentioned that we are doing the keto diet). Decided to have tuna mayonnaise in avo. Eric asked if he could use a flavoured tuna. I said check the carb counts. Now, in fairness had been having trouble with a film over his eye and blurred vision and he was reading the tin in low light but said "Well this one's useless, it's in Russian!" Being fairly sure I had not recently purchased any Russian goods (!!) I checked, only to find he was reading the tin up-side-down!! Again, we dissolved into hysterics.
One major advantage of keto is that our go-to alcoholic beverage, and something of a staple of the wider Tanner family, GnT is not restricted. Now I love this drink but am averse to flat tonic so my rationale has been two drinks each at a time to use up the litre bottle of tonic. This was just a weekend treat until recently, well the weekend does consist of three evenings, and then one on Wednesday to break up the week. However, to sustain us through the lockdown we have gone to a 7 nights a week regime. However, Eric calculated that our 4 litres of gin (I confess to panic buying only because our usual prolific supply was dangerously low and gin is not sold in supermarkets in NZ!!) won't last the lockdown so rationed us to one drink each night. The dilemma now is, one drink each night or spread the gin across two drinks???
I firmly believe that an important part of getting through this four weeks with some degree of sanity and hopefully achievement, is to have some sort of routine, and plan. To that end I think we will treat weekends as we always do; get up when we want, two meals instead of three, roast on Sunday (we are English after all!) etc. During the week we'll aim to wake at 7 instead of 6 (Eric usually manages that. I do not). I love retirement and am conscious of doing all I can to support Eric who works so hard still for us. I therefore have fallen into the role of homemaker (having had a 40 year professional career I never thought I'd say that!), as opposed to the fairly 50:50 spread of household tasks we undertook when I worked full-time. I chose to get up to make Eric breakfast and pack a lunch but would much rather he started work at 9 not 8!! Anyway, back to routine. I do not yet know how many hours I will be working, or when. I will be answering calls to NZ's dedicated immunisation helpline so will be fitted into a rota. Eric will work until he needs to and then revert to farm work. A few weeks ago we physically drove round the block and did a reccie of jobs that needed doing. It is VERY long. We did prioritise the cattle grid/stop and concreting the stock yard but as that relies on contractors who cannot work that will have to wait. He does have heaps of jobs that he can do so there is no danger of him being at a loose end. If the weather is too bad then he always has his boat (that's another story). In addition to the bicycling we both do for knee rehab (yes both of us) we will go for a 5pm walk each weekday just to get out.
Lots of heavy showers today. I did not mention that we are currently in the midst of a drought so bad that a total fire ban is in place. (Rubbish management is yet another story). The last few days has seen a little respite on the drought front.
Day one survived. All feels quite weird.
New cases 78. Recovered 27. Total 283 . Deaths 0.
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
New (blog) beginnings and Coronavirus Lockdown: Catch up
I have decided to revive this blog because a) locked down for four weeks, we are all living through the most momentous period of all our lives and b), in theory, I should have more time on my hands. Both seem like good reasons to spend a little time writing each day, at least for the next four weeks.
But first, family life here at Cedar Lodge, a 12 acre lifestyle block (small holding) on Taotaoroa Road in the heart of New Zealand's North Island, just over the hill from the usually bustling but now silent Hobbiton Movie Set tourist attraction. Most of our changes have been reflected in 10 years of Facebook entries.
To sum up the last 9 years... daughter number one completed uni with a bachelors degree (rather than as a doctor which was plan A) and headed overseas for nearly three years. Came back and took up residence in the cottage here with plans to become a midwife. Work in Hamilton as a barista was the first stage to 'save'!! The position of barista turned to cafe manager while the owner travelled overseas for a year and she is still there working partly managing, partly barista-ing. Midwifery has changed to law and delays too many to mention means starting uni 'next year' has been the plan for four years now. I'm not worried. I'm totally confident she will get there and be a great lawyer one day🙂.
Daughter number two works (worked? I'll come back to that) at Hobbiton as a tour guide/driver and now works mainly on the operations side. Under normal circumstances she appears at home on a regular basis usually for the traditional Sunday roast. Alice was the first of us to be directly hit by the Covid-19 crisis when Hobbiton closed it's doors on Saturday 21st March giving staff two weeks notice. We are still unclear if employments will be terminated at this stage as the government is stepping in and paying the wages of employees if employers keep them on so watch this space. Personally I think this is great opportunity for her to do something else and move on from Hobbiton.
Husband number one is a partner in a local law firm however, he would consider the biggest changes in his life to be the acquisition of first a tractor then and digger. "What I can do with...". Both items were probably the proud purchase new of some farmer circa 1920 but, fair dues, they do both do the job. Eric's eye is now on replacing the tractor with a four wheel version which, after I had a frightening experience of starting to slide down a hill in said 2-wheel version, I am inclined to agree with.
And me? I worked in various roles for the Immunisation Advisory Centre based at The University of Auckland and over recent years scaled down my hours moving to a casual contract. In May 2018 the work dried up and I was just thinking of myself as retired when the Covid-19 or coronavirus pandemic hit us on 11 March 2020 and last week I was asked to return to work! That's why I said 'in theory' I should have more time on my hands!
The biggest event in my life was that on 4 August 2019 I came off the quad bike and broke my leg. And to quote almost every orthopaedic surgeon who looked at the X-Ray I "did a really good job there". Almost 8 months later my mobility is still crap. On the plus side I am now the proud owner of a beautiful potting shed. We bought it in the UK when we were shipping some other stuff over following my father-in-law's death. For a lots of different reasons it remained flat-packed until January when Eric finished the base, I was prepping in the days before my accident, and he and Richard erected it in late January.
On Monday this week the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that NZ would go into a four week lockdown on Wednesday 25th March in response to the novel coronavirus that emerged in Wuhan province, China in December. Unlike many countries, we have gone early and we had 48 hours notice, time to get our lives in order first. The girls both came home for final hugs in four weeks, although strictly that was not allowed as we were supposed to be keeping 2m distancing. Daughter number 1, who had only recently moved out, went through the kitchen claiming all her utensils! I'll now have to dig out my Kenwood Chef etc that went into semi-retirement when she purchased a new one. In my heart I wanted both daughters at home for this but my head tells me it is probably a good thing that they are not. I doubt it would have made for a peaceful lockdown if they were! We did have a 'laughed til I cried' moment when they were here though. You probably need to have been there for it to be funny but Eric and I got into a shouting match over a box of legal files tipped up on the dining table that I wanted moving and Eric did not. Alice started laughing about how we weren't even in lockdown and already we were shouting at each other and it just went from there. Four of us hysterical with laughter. And so, our new life begins....
But first, family life here at Cedar Lodge, a 12 acre lifestyle block (small holding) on Taotaoroa Road in the heart of New Zealand's North Island, just over the hill from the usually bustling but now silent Hobbiton Movie Set tourist attraction. Most of our changes have been reflected in 10 years of Facebook entries.
To sum up the last 9 years... daughter number one completed uni with a bachelors degree (rather than as a doctor which was plan A) and headed overseas for nearly three years. Came back and took up residence in the cottage here with plans to become a midwife. Work in Hamilton as a barista was the first stage to 'save'!! The position of barista turned to cafe manager while the owner travelled overseas for a year and she is still there working partly managing, partly barista-ing. Midwifery has changed to law and delays too many to mention means starting uni 'next year' has been the plan for four years now. I'm not worried. I'm totally confident she will get there and be a great lawyer one day🙂.
Daughter number two works (worked? I'll come back to that) at Hobbiton as a tour guide/driver and now works mainly on the operations side. Under normal circumstances she appears at home on a regular basis usually for the traditional Sunday roast. Alice was the first of us to be directly hit by the Covid-19 crisis when Hobbiton closed it's doors on Saturday 21st March giving staff two weeks notice. We are still unclear if employments will be terminated at this stage as the government is stepping in and paying the wages of employees if employers keep them on so watch this space. Personally I think this is great opportunity for her to do something else and move on from Hobbiton.
Husband number one is a partner in a local law firm however, he would consider the biggest changes in his life to be the acquisition of first a tractor then and digger. "What I can do with...". Both items were probably the proud purchase new of some farmer circa 1920 but, fair dues, they do both do the job. Eric's eye is now on replacing the tractor with a four wheel version which, after I had a frightening experience of starting to slide down a hill in said 2-wheel version, I am inclined to agree with.
And me? I worked in various roles for the Immunisation Advisory Centre based at The University of Auckland and over recent years scaled down my hours moving to a casual contract. In May 2018 the work dried up and I was just thinking of myself as retired when the Covid-19 or coronavirus pandemic hit us on 11 March 2020 and last week I was asked to return to work! That's why I said 'in theory' I should have more time on my hands!
The biggest event in my life was that on 4 August 2019 I came off the quad bike and broke my leg. And to quote almost every orthopaedic surgeon who looked at the X-Ray I "did a really good job there". Almost 8 months later my mobility is still crap. On the plus side I am now the proud owner of a beautiful potting shed. We bought it in the UK when we were shipping some other stuff over following my father-in-law's death. For a lots of different reasons it remained flat-packed until January when Eric finished the base, I was prepping in the days before my accident, and he and Richard erected it in late January.
On Monday this week the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that NZ would go into a four week lockdown on Wednesday 25th March in response to the novel coronavirus that emerged in Wuhan province, China in December. Unlike many countries, we have gone early and we had 48 hours notice, time to get our lives in order first. The girls both came home for final hugs in four weeks, although strictly that was not allowed as we were supposed to be keeping 2m distancing. Daughter number 1, who had only recently moved out, went through the kitchen claiming all her utensils! I'll now have to dig out my Kenwood Chef etc that went into semi-retirement when she purchased a new one. In my heart I wanted both daughters at home for this but my head tells me it is probably a good thing that they are not. I doubt it would have made for a peaceful lockdown if they were! We did have a 'laughed til I cried' moment when they were here though. You probably need to have been there for it to be funny but Eric and I got into a shouting match over a box of legal files tipped up on the dining table that I wanted moving and Eric did not. Alice started laughing about how we weren't even in lockdown and already we were shouting at each other and it just went from there. Four of us hysterical with laughter. And so, our new life begins....
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