Some luck and some problems

 

We started stage 4 lock downs this week. Almost everything is shut down and there is a night-time curfew after 8pm.  This is aimed at the young adult group who tend to ignore all the directives and rules designed to curb this virus.  We have a new case rate of 400 to over 700 new cases a day and the chance of overwhelming our hospital system was getting very real.  We all hope that if we do the right actions this will start to change in a week’s time.

 

We are allowed out for one hour a day to exercise and to buy food.  The supermarkets have been stripped again and the slaughterhouses are going slow with fewer staff which is not helping.  Mostly we have enough to manage here.  Today I am making feta cheese and sourdough bread.  Edd managed to get our eggs and grapefruit to the local organic market, and our biggest worry is over the supply of food for our stock.  The guy we buy bulk oats from is stuck in Queensland and Simon has a problem with the bottling plant in the brewery which could affect our supplies of brewer’s grain.

 

The weather has not improved much.  We actually had a snowstorm this week though it did not settle on the ground here.  We have been very lucky. Last week we had several dry days and PW was able to come with his machinery and prepare a site for the new shed.  This involved putting in new drains and laying crushed rocks as a base for the floor. Then, luckier still the kit for the new shed was delivered the day before things shut down.  All we need now is Andrew to come and do the cement work. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

 

I have not been off our land for weeks, but I have plenty to keep me busy. Last week I harvested the potatoes when it was fine and when it is not, I am studying regenerative agriculture on-line.  We obviously have to use our land to help fight climate-change, so I need to learn the best way to do this.  

 

Spring is not so far off. The wattles and Lucerne trees are blooming and buzzing with bees, and some trees are breaking bud.  The daffodils are in flower as is the quince tree. We are getting a good harvest of citrus fruit, but I have not eaten all last year's marmalade, so we are selling the grapefruit.  Everything will be better when the weather improves.  If the lock down lifts, I can get my granddaughter over and she can help me improve my sour dough bread.  She is a much better baker than I am!