“Well Mama, it’s not all about you !”

07.22.2021 by Trish // 1 Comment

It’s 6 weeks since we left quarantine and I never did get around to finishing off Quarantine 2021. We just sort of got on our with our lives. I don’t like to leave things unfinished and I’d hate to think that in 200 years time someone reading this might wonder if I hadn’t made it through the quarantine! I did make a start, so I’ll just continue on.

The weather has been miserable and it’s all been very much same old, same old. I made bread, pretty happy with this one

I chatted with friends

drank coffee (thanks D1)

and home made beer, a delicious porter made and delivered by a friend

practiced my Spanish

spent a lot of time looking out of the windows at the rain

and checked out some camping gear.

Father Bear went for a walk to the end of the driveway. I thought he was making a run for it but he was only getting the rubbish bin

The garden is very confused by the bouts of rain interchanged with hot weather. The fig tree produced a fig

and the grape vine decided to to start fruiting. Climate change!

I Face Timed with D2. Victoria has now emerged from the lockdown which put us into quarantine and I had a bit of a moan about how unfair it seemed that over there they were able to get out and about, while we were still here locked in our house. “Well mama,” she chided gently, “It’s not all about you.” And of course she’s right. I’m lucky to have such a wise daughter!

Day 14 came and went

and finally freedom

We celebrated with coffee and a bratwurst at AJ’s. So good to be part of the world again!

IT was lovely to have D1 in our house again. Steak for dinner!

Update: 22nd July 2021

I have been thinking about D2’s words “Well Mama, it’s not all about you.” By and large Covid 19 has not made a great deal of difference to my life. I had to spend 14 days at home, not a great deal when we are blessed with such a beautiful home.

Our children are healthy and they have not lost their jobs. I get to see them regularly. Our son and daughter-in-law were supposed to be going to Sydney to see Hamilton next week. I am sad they wont be having that wonderful experience and that we wont be looking after the grandkids. Memories pop up in my Facebook feed of previous caminos and I so want to pick up my backpack and head off. But hey, first world problems and all that!

For me, I would be happy to see our borders stay closed and for life to continue on in our safe little bubble.I wish that every would “Arm up!” as the Government ad urges us to do! But I know there are people out there who are really hurting, who need our wonderful country to open up so they can earn a living and see their families.

So I know its not all about me. Our lives have changed forever. But we have to find a new normal, where people go about their lives, working, going out for coffee and to the footy, celebrating weddings and funerals and maybe we will have to give up parts of our old lives to make way for the new. Maybe the Covid will become like the flu, we will have our jab and stay at home during Covid season. Maybe I will never again hug and kiss my friends when I see them. Who knows what the future will bring!

In the meantime everyone, keep safe

What can I say about quarantine?

06.11.2021 by Trish // Leave a Comment

In 2020 when Father Bear and I decided, with a nudge from from our baby bears, that we should self-isolate we were all so scared about this covid-19. That it was going to overload our hospitals, cause the collapse of our health system, and decimate our population, particularly the elderly. I remember lying in bed unable to sleep, worried about what was going to happen to us all. But for us being confined to our house was not really a hardship, it was all a bit of adventure once we settled into it.

This enforced quarantine has felt different. I am more than happy to do my bit to keep the community safe, and as I have said quite often, if you have to quarantine somewhere you can’t do better than our our beautiful house with our gorgeous view

But it has been tedious I must admit. Followers of my blog will have read last year of my struggle with my inner self, otherwise know as my boss, to keep some sort of routine in my life. With Quarantine 2021 I have felt differently. Perhaps because I knew there was an end to it. The Boss tried to have a chat over the first weekend but I told her quite firmly that it was the weekend and maybe we could talk at the beginning of the week. I did make a half-hearted attempt to make a To Do list in the Bullet Journal, that took me three or four days, and another few days to create the Habit Tracker. By this time it was the weekend again. The Boss and I had our regular Friday afternoon review of what had been achieved during the week but I lost interest and the Boss left in exasperation.

So what did I achieve? Doesn’t it say so much about our Anglo- Saxon work ethic upbringing that I used that term so easily, without thought. What did I achieve ? As if our life is measured in achievements. That it should be noted in a To do list and ticked off on a Habit Tracker.

Maybe I should say, what excitement did the week bring? Of course I cooked. Eggs, baked beans and fried cornbread

Bacon and eggs

Salmon patties with roast potato and red cabbage

Not everything was successful. Not sure what happened to the yoghurt but it isn’t supposed to look like this!

The charcoal bay buns were a bit hit and miss. The front one was ok but the rest a bit lumpy.

A friend visited bearing gifts and we had a balcony to driveway chat. I enjoyed her wine later that evening

Our app check in was a daily reminder of how many does we had done!

We had some miserable days when all we wanted to do was lie in bed and read

Which I did! This by the way, is a great book, very intriguing. It is about a pandemic sweeping Australia which results in humans being able to communicate with animals and understand their true feelings. I’m loving it.

I planted a celery stalk

The Victorian Covid outbreak that led to our quarantine also meant that the Dreamtime AFL game between Essendon and Richmond was held at Optus Oval in Perth instead of the MCG. Being an avid Bombers supporter Father Bear would dearly love to have been there, but we had to make do with the TV. At that’s all I’ve got to say about that!!

I spent a lot of time looking out my office window

That’s it from quarantine for now folks. Keep safe!

It’s deja vu really

06.08.2021 by Trish // 1 Comment

So here we are settled into our quarantine routine. We have an app that doesn’t pretend to do anything other than track our location. When the “Please register” msg pops in we have 5 minutes to take a selfie that proves we are where we are supposed to be. I don’t know what happens if you don’t take the selfie…perhaps the police arrive with sirens blaring!

It’s just the same as our self-isolation last year really. Except we’ve got D1 here to do our shopping and don’t have to wipe everything down with disinfectant! Bless her, its as close as we get to another human being!

I broke out the sourdough starter

made a fruit cake

and did some gardening. Our tomatilloes fretted so badly in our absence they turned brown, or maybe that was the wind.

Neverthe less we managed to harvest enough to make a pot full of salsa verde

I have cooked nourishing food to keep us healthy in quarantine

Friends have come bearing gifts, yummy sausage rolls for afternoon tea

and we have a regular coffee delivery

I read a new story for our beautiful granddaughter

and of course there is always our beautiful view to remind us how lucky we are. Hopefully the dark clouds on the horizon are not a portent of times to come!

Keep safe everyone!

What can I say about Melbourne?

06.05.2021 by Trish // 1 Comment

Not much really. It was lovely to surprise Father Bear’s sister for her birthday. She was so happy and surprised to see us so it was worth it for that. It was cold and rainy (really? in Melbourne?) but we braved the weather to have a birthday lunch at Chew Chew’s in Moonee Ponds. Nothing like a toastie when you are cold! Confession….that’s not my photo, its from their Facebook page, but ours looked every bit as delicious as this!

By the time we got home news was breaking of more Covid cases and we started getting emails from the WA Police and the G2G Pass team about our approved pass. The information was quite confusing, we had emails to say our pass was approved, then it had been rejected, so I was quite worried as to whether we were going to be able to get home.

The next day was the same, we couldn’t seem to find any clear direction from WA agencies. Usually I go to the bulk food and spice places in Melbourne, I was keen to get some different flours for making bread, but we decided that it was best to just stay put in case somewhere we visited appeared on the hot-spot list.

By the time we got on the plane we were reasonably sure that we had an approved pass and would be able to travel home where we would isolate until we could provide a negative test. Of course the rules changed mid-flight so by the time we got to Perth we were told we could get in the car, which thankfully we had at the airport, drive home and stay there for 14 days, Covid test at Day 11.

We had a test at the airport which was relatively painless and were on the road with our bottles of water and bag of chips. It was lovely to get home to spaghetti made by our wonderful D1. I would have loved that served with a hug, but that will have to wait.

I didn’t even remember to take a photo of Father Bear and the birthday girl, but here’s one from S1’s wedding in 2012!