Lockdown Days 19-21

13 April: Easter Monday. Not a lot to report. Temperatures are dropping, rain has arrived and so the day was spent indoors cleaning and sewing. Started to make Eric's long sleeved shirts into short sleeved ones. Started watching The Capture. Gripping with so many twists. Makes you wonder what is really real in these days of CCTV.

Tuesday 14 April: Back to work for some. The University of Auckland has a holiday on Easter Tuesday so I don't start work until tomorrow. Intermittent rain and sunshine and much cooler today so I lit the Rayburn for the first time this year! Attacked the living room for a massive 'autumn' clean. Had to pop into town to pick up a script and get it dispensed. I'm putting off the weekly shop until Thursday when I have to take Otto in for his second toxo blood test.





Otto used to run off a lot. About a year ago I got a GPS tracker for him and although it was not terribly successful it did help a bit. Recently he lost his collar, luckily he was not wearing the tracer at the time, just the unit to hold it. When he got sick with Addison's Disease his roaming stopped but he has recently taken to an evening sojourn! Probably heads over the road to see his mate Jet on the stud, which is about .7km door-to-door. I duct-taped the tracker to him (not literally to him, I meant to his collar!) and we started closing the gate at the drive entrance again. He has been pretty good at coming back when called, particularly if I can track/catch him just before he leaves the property but often have to go out looking for him on the quad bike, especially if the signal drops. How he gets out has always been a mystery. He is no jumper and I could never see marks indicating he had slid under the gate. However, tonight when I went looking for him he was lying patiently on the wrong side of the gate. Here he is clearly waiting for me to open it! It took some persuading before he slid under to come back. At least now I know his escape route. Unfortunately the drive is slightly sloped so I can't attach anything to the bottom of the gate to stop this. I am at a loss as to what I can do.

Wednesday 15 April: End of third week of lockdown and around the world countries are talking about, or actually beginning, a reversal of the process. Denmark opened kindies (pre-schools) and Italy opened some shops. While it is fantastic that NZ has so few cases and deaths I do wonder about how we will cope with a return to normal. Almost no-one has any immunity and we know that people can be infectious while not symptomatic therefore can spread disease without knowing it.

Worked for a couple on the 0800 immune helpline today. I actually really enjoyed it!


As of 9am today: New cases 18 (our lowest daily increase in ages but less testing). Recovered 471. Total 1,330. Deaths 4. Matamata cluster total 70 cases (first day with no increase).
Current testing: yesterday 2,421 (less because of Easter). Total tests: 61,167.

Lockdown Day 18: Easter Sunday

Doesn't look much but this is hours of work!

12 April: That word again. House-painting. So much loose paint on this section I had to dig out the electric belt sander after using the scraper. I was determined to get the undercoat on before tonights predicted rain. I am working my way round the house in manageable chunks then will do the second coat in one hit for each side of the house. As rain is predicted for most of the next 10 days this is going to be a long job. In addition, the flowerbed around the house is going to need some serious additions/work once all this is finished!

I'm listening to Jane Eyre as I go, which I thought I had read but apparently I have not. The Jane Eyre audiobook was prompted by the NT Live showing of the same story which I started watching tonight. I think this is the first NT Live performance that I have not enjoyed. In fact I gave up on it half-way through. I can't really be sure why that was. It was a minimalist production, which I usually enjoy and the acting was fine. It just did not do it for me so I'll stick with the book.

Feeding out hay at the moment (as opposed to silage) and because of Eric's incapacity it's down to me. Climbing up a hay stack in the barn is a bigger challenge than usual and the wood splitter sitting in the path of where I would park the quad bike does to help. On one of these rainy days I may spend some in the barn rearranging things. The main problem is the rolls of wool carpet I retrieved to cover my (veg) beds with takes up so much room on the floor. Actually a rainy day is probably not a good idea as I'll need to put stuff out on the grass to make room to work.

This must be the first Easter in decades that I have not made a simnel cake. Well with us doing keto, no-one else at home and no visitors, there did not seem to be any point. Our one concession to Easter was a Cadbury's caramello egg each, and an extra evening GnT. Actually the chocolate was a disappointment. I would rather have had a piece of cheesecake I think, though not very Easter-y. We did have roast leg of lamb though which in hindsight was a lot of lamb to cook for just two people. Normally the girls would be here for Easter Sunday!


As of 9am today: New cases 18 (our lowest daily increase in ages but less testing). Recovered 471. Total 1,330. Deaths 4. Matamata cluster total 70 cases (first day with no increase).
Current testing: yesterday 2,421 (less because of Easter). Total tests: 61,167.

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.

Lockdown Day 16: Good Friday

From our bedroom window looking SSE

Friday 10th April: Two days ago we had a supermoon but it was so cloudy I could not even see we had any moon. Today however it was breathtaking. You need to imagine the sounds of the crickets and cicadas that accompanied the moon. It really was one of those 'God, Mother Nature is amazing' moments. I forgot the feed the cows after lunch and so they didn't get fed until about 5pm which is when the daytime photo was taken, leaning on our boundary gate looking across the Hinuera valley. Eric had wanted to empty and refill the spa which I did not get round to doing but seeing this wish I had!

Looking west from our boundary

While I was busy Oscar kept Eric company!

I had quite a productive day today. I undercoated the sanded down patches on part of the house. I was going to start painting later but a big afternoon sleep meant that got put off to tomorrow! Instead I spent the last few hours of daylight making a base for a second chook tractor then in the poly tunnel. I staked up and fed my six capsicum plants. They had been under adjoining tomato plants that had been left to roam. Removed the last few weeds and cleared potting tables of clutter and tools. At one point I was lured outside by a chick chirping three times louder than usual. She had escaped and was distraught at not being able to get back to mum.   I was amazed at how such a little thing make so much noise? The silky chook in the house came off her nest and got into trouble with the PB asserting her authority. Watching chooks you can see where the term 'pecking order' comes from. Managed to get some food and water before she retreated back to her nest. I am thinking I might put the second chook tractor on the other side of the house which has doors on both sides. I am going to start watering the poly tunnel again to see if any couch grass survived the herbicide before planting anything in there. I just need to find some way to fix the hoops to stop them leaning over every time the wind blows (they cannot fall down as they are linked by nylon wire).


The evening was occupied with a live streaming of the NZ Ballet's Midsummer Night's Dream. I love NZ Ballet and, before Founder's Theatre in Hamilton was closed because it does not comply with earthquake building standards, subscribed to and watched most of their performances. Casting was a problem so could not watch the start well but settled in to a most enjoyable performance. Thanks to Harriette for the heads up. I also let my ballet-mad friend in South Africa know and was pleased she was able to watch. I had wondered if, like the BBC, it was limited to a region and she would not be able to access it without a VPN, which would have been way beyond her tech levels!!

As of 9am today: New cases 44. Recovered 373. Total 1,283. Deaths Our second death, a women in her 90's. Matamata cluster total 69 cases.
Currently testing 3,700/day (7-day av). Total tests: 55,685.

Lockdown Day 15: Don't try this at home

Before: the least grisly photo!

Thursday 9 April: Today Eric went to some extreme to escape lockdown. He had an altercation with the (corrugated iron) barn door. The wind blew it closed on him and he nearly lost the top of his right middle finger as a result through the middle of the nail down to the bone. At the local medical centre we were greeted by a staff member in PPE, booked in by a receptionist behind a perspex screen, triaged by a nurse with a surgical facemark on and treated by a doctor who wore nothing (not literally, you know what I mean!). I sat bravely through the grisly procedure where Eric's nail was removed and the nail bed and finger was stitched. So, as well as restricted by lockdown he now can't even work around the place. Crap timing as well, the start of a 5-day weekend!! I was hoping we would make great progress on the house painting but obviously not!

And so, as the third week of lockdown starts so does the Easter weekend. As with the UK we have gorgeous weather. The tradition in NZ is that this weekend is the last at the bach (holiday home) for the summer. Obviously this should not happen this year and the police have started setting up roadblocks to check on the reason for peoples movements. In Murchison camper vans were turned round and sent home to Christchurch, nearly 300km away. Why do these people think that the rules don't apply to them?, do they think that they are immune to coronavirus, that they cannot spread this virus?? Perhaps they could volunteer their bodies to medical science so we can all learn their secrets.

As of 9am today: New cases 29 (lowest since the rise began). Recovered 317. Total 1,239. Deaths 1.
Matamata cluster 64 total cases.

Lockdown Day 14: Halfway there??

Wednesday 8 April: Week two just about done. Hopefully we are halfway through our lockdown. On reflection this is the most bizarre time any of us has lived through but life for us in our bubble is not too different. It's just when we step off the property that you realise that this is a real world at the moment. The contrast is quite surreal.

Lockdown Day 12: PB chick number three!

Plymouth barred in her re-purposed 'nuc'

Monday 6 April: OK Richard I was wrong! I said that once a chicken left her nest with her hatchlings then the remaining unhatched eggs would not (hatch that is). I was wrong. Went to feed the 'maternity coop' occupants and found a third chick. Apparently the mom must have continued to sit on the eggs even though they seem to be spread out somewhat. Anyway, I'm happy. Hopefully with being confined, as opposed to the normal free range wanderings of the rest of our chooks, the babies will be safe from hawks and Otto who has taken to running into the chooks and guinea fowl, but catching and killing a chick occasionally. As he doesn't do anything with them once they are dead I assume he is doing it for the fun of watching them scatter!!

Monday is shopping day and I was trying to find excuses not to go but decided I should stick to the routine. I probably could have got away with going but Mom and Daddy had a long list so... Despite being mid-afternoon the queue was the usual 10-15 minutes but the shopping was hard work. I had two lists as photos on my phone. I will get better organised next week and write them out as one before I go. I also tend to write my list in the same order as I find the products in the store (well as best I can, New World Matamata changed its layout during my broken leg 'isolation' and I still have yet to get to grips with it fully). Is that really anal??? I needed two trolleys to get said shopping to the car which I got help with. The assistant was relieved for an excuse to get out of the store, it was after all a beautiful day. Then everything had to be packed into bags as you can no longer take bags into the store. A further effort to reduce cross infection.

I drove home with Eric offering tea when I texted. My preference was for gin but being still afternoon as opposed to evening thought we had better go for our daily walk first - then a gin. This evenings walk (maybe I could have had the gin first. No. No. I was afternoon when we left) was extended beyond the usual 'one more lamppost' and I managed almost 2km. The last few hundred metres was bit of a struggle though with pain through the middle of the knee joint. We stopped for a long chat with Pam, a neighbour I haven't seen in many months, so the sun was setting by the time we were heading back. The sky was stunning and I have never seen its colours change so rapidly. This pink had virtually disappeared by the time we had taken another 20 paces.

A late supper of pork chops. God I love pork! Can't wait for the time we get pigs again and we started watching Deadwater Fells on TV1 On Demand, a real 'did he, didn't he'

As of 9am today: New cases 67. Recovered 176. Total 1,106. Deaths 1.
Matamata cluster total 58 cases.
Currently testing 2,846/day (7-day av). Total tests: 39,918.

Lockdown Day 11: Second weekend

Sunday 5 April: House painting. Tackling the one side of the house that got missed last time we painted and is seriously long overdue. I somehow thought we could have got this job done in a weekend. Well that was a delusion. In fairness I had planned to water blast it during the week but that did not happen. As it was I spent much of the weekend soaked. The press washer hose has a leak near the handle and the angle at which it sprays out hits me right at my waist line. It was too hot to wear wet-weather gear so I just stayed wet. Eric is adamant that we have a second hose but a Sunday morning search of could not track it down. I'm not convinced we have one! I had to clear all the garden foliage to make a 'path' in front of the woodwork and ended up taking there small trailer loads of rubbish to the bonfire, which remember we cannot light. Once I get a water blaster in my hand I just cannot stop and ended up water blasting the front of the cottage and under the covered deck. It looks sooo much better. Needless to say not a bit of paint made it's way to the boards this weekend and next have to sand everything down. I don't mind painting but I hate the prep which seems to be 80% of the job.

This is the time of year when Oscar and Otto put on weight. The walnuts are falling off the tree that dominates our little lawn and the sound of walnut crunching as they feast on them feels almost constant, like the cicadas of a few weeks ago. This rooster is smart. He follows, particularly Otto, around feasting on the scraps.

On Saturday Eric went down to the barn, which sits next to my veg plot and came back reporting that we had two chicks. News of a birth on the block is always a great highlight for me. OK so I know chicks are not birthed but you know what I mean! Two chicks is a 100% improvement on the Plymouth barrels last hatching of one.

To protect the chicks I decided to commission the new chook tractor. Not quite finished but I decided it was usable. Problem was the silky sitting on the clutch in the chook house had gone walkabout so I had to separate the house from run/chook tractor blocking off the end of the run with mom and chicks in so the silky could find her way back to her eggs in the nesting box. Once achieved I put the two together. Viola. One maternity coop up and running.

Except.... on Sunday the silky was out again but I found a gap where some unwired netting had fallen away. Silky retrieved and patch repaired all good now. I was thinking of making some changed to the run but difficult while trying to house occupants so I am not thinking of it as a prototype and will make a second one with improved spec.

A snapshot of lockdown activities this week:

As of 9am Sunday: New cases 89. Recovered 156. Total 1,039. Deaths 1.

Lockdown Day Eight: One week down, three (at least) to go.

Thursday 2 April: So Otto is sick. When we let him out from his pen this morning he collapsed with splayed legs and could not get up to walk. I rushed in to get my phone to video him for the vet and he got up and walked normally! He had another few attacks and on auscultating his heart it was irregular and dropping beats. After several chats with the vet during the day we took him in. Luckily he had another attack there so they witnessed it. His bloods weren't too bad but he is dehydrated so staying overnight for IV fluids (again). He is proving challenging to the vet and our next step is a toxoplasmosis check.



We ordered avos and topped up our gin supplies online for the first time. Both arrived today - Hurray!

Did a few hours work in the morning and when I dropped Otto off at the vet this afternoon I dropped off a few supplies to Mom and Daddy. Took them from here rather than go to the supermarket. I am really trying to keep the supermarket shopping to a minimum. Also dropped in the meals I cooked and froze yesterday.

The NZ news today has been focused on those arseholes that are ignoring the lockdown, particularly in the far north. Idiots saying on camera "Yeah we have a party every night here" or "Yeah I come into town every day to see my mates". Honestly, the intelligence of some people!! In Australia they are being very strict with fines and even jail time but here I think they are just ramping up the response.

As of 9am today: New cases 89. Recovered 92. Total 797. Deaths 1. Matamata cluster total 45 cases.

Currently testing 1,835/day. Total tests: 26,015.

Lockdown Day Seven: April Fools Day

Wednesday 1 April: Bit concerned about Otto today who seems to be listless this evening. The dogs did have a big feed on some rabbits that Eric shot at lunchtime so we did not expect him to eat dinner but he even refused his tablets which we tuck into a piece of meat roll, and he loves. I had to stick them in the back of his throat to get them down him.

I had a really long chat with friend Nicky in the UK on her 60th birthday and Helen and Paul who visited as last year. As a result I did not get up until about 10am which put my whole day out. Spent the morning making shepherds pies and bolognese sauce to freeze for Mom and Daddy. I did a few hours work and generally pottered in the afternoon. At 5pm we had a Rotary committee meeting by Zoom, as a result we took a rain check on our evening walk.

Started watching Thirteen which we are thoroughly enjoying.

As of 9am today: New cases 61. Recovered 82. Total 708. Deaths 1.