Lockdown Day 17:

Saturday 11 April: A sad day in our family's calendar. 46 years ago today when I was 13, my brother Edwin drowned aged eight years. Inevitably I reflect on how life would have been different for us all. The brother/son we missed growing up with, the sister/daughter-in-law and nieces/nephews/ grandchildren we did not have. The life Edwin was deprived of, the pleasure he would have given, and the times I am sure he would have been a pain in the arse! What I would not give to have them all. Of course every day during this pandemic, so many more families are losing loved one prematurely. Sad reflections.

Here we woke to another beautiful day! The day can be summed up in the word 'house-painting' - is that one word?? I cannot believe that in two weeks all I have done is paint the side of the bedroom extension and, our conclusion is it needs another coat! How tedious is this. (Do rhetorical questions warrant a question mark?)

The silky was wedged between the nuc box and wire in hiding from the PB when I checked them today. I got her back to her nest but when I lifted the lid (she's in the laying box) she made a run for it. I had to block off the run and open the other door for her to return. But, I noticed the eggs were crawling with mites - Ewwwww. I inspected further and found the hay, box etc were teaming with them. In addition I got them on my hands and for the rest of the afternoon had tactile hallucinations of tiny things crawling on me. At the first opportunity I got in the bath (showering remains a struggle for me) and immersed myself totally until I was convinced any remaining (there probably were none), had drowned! God I hate mites, and rats come to that. (Note to self, I must fill the bait stations now the weather is cooling). My quandary now is what to do? Normally I would water blast the chook house, pour boiling water over affected areas and treat the chooks but that will probably cause the mom to abandon the eggs. I'll have to do some research.

Pizza in front of the TV (Outlander) tonight. When the children were young, in the winter we used to get the TV and video player out the cottage and we would watch a movie while eating pizzas. A huge treat for us all as it was the only meal not eaten at the table in that era. Sunday morning the TV would be returned.

I thought series on Netflix and Neon were always complete. I did not realise that they add episodes in real time. I could not believe it when it ended with Roger hanging from a tree and the next episode was not there. OK so I know what happens next but the series diverts from the book so one can't be sure.


As of 9am today: New cases 29. Recovered 422. Total 1,312. Deaths 4 (that's doubled, two both over 70 years. Matamata cluster total 70 cases.
Currently testing 3,061 today. Total tests: 58,749.