working through the winter of lock downs

4 generations

Josh and Stevo working on the car port roof

22.7. 2021

 

3.17pm and the light is fading as the clouds obscure the sun. Luckily, even though we have icy winds, it has staid dry all day and Stevo, Josh and Edd have been able to continue the work on the car port roof that they started yesterday.  The beams are up and finally we can see how it fits into the landscape. Building it into the hill has been a difficult and expensive task but I can see that aesthetically it hits all the marks.

 

We are now in our fifth lockdown and it is hard to keep feeling positive. I go through the motions. Today I planted out cauliflower seedlings, washed clothes, milked the goats and cooked a hearty soup for the men’s lunch. The house is warm too. It was still at 22 C when we woke up and was still warm in the late afternoon when I lit a fire. Mostly, I admit, to try and make the place look more cheerful as the light faded.

 

We have been fighting this virus for over a year now and I am grieving for the lifestyle we have lost. Usually when the work with the animals is at its lowest in the mid-winter, we have a holiday and head north to warmer areas. Border closures between the states have made this impossible for the second year running. There have been gaps when we could have left but there was always the threat that we could be caught interstate and unable to return so it did not feel worth the risk.

 

I phoned a friend yesterday and then realised that I had nothing to say!  Nothing cheerful, anyway.  Yesterday there was the funeral for Edd’s brother- in law in the UK and I have a goat that got injured possibly chased by a neighbour’s dogs.  

 

It is freezing cold outside now and apparently even Queensland has really cold weather. The news is all about covid and lockdowns across most of the states so weather news was welcome in that it was about a different topic. Seems like the rest of the world also has floods, fires and the virus so not much joy from looking further afield. I have to keep telling myself that things will improve.  The wattle trees and native wisteria are in flower. Daffodils and the camelia are also in bloom and the first of the cauliflowers is nearly ready to eat. Things will get better.

 

 

Ini moves house

The start of winter knitting

 10.7. 2021

 

Sunday today, and the sun is shining. It is warm enough to be outdoors without a coat.  There have been a couple of frosty mornings this week, but we always expect July to be the coldest month here.  I have seedlings to plant into the vegetable beds but the slugs are very active so I am waiting for the seedlings to grow more first.  We have broccoli, snow peas, silver beet, celery and lettuce available from the garden and pumpkins, round beans and runner beans stored from last summer.

 

The virus is now a problem in NSW.  They delayed calling a lockdown until too late and even after two weeks of partial lockdown the case numbers are still rising. It is the more infectious, Delta strain, so I suppose it will be a miracle if we manage to stop it spreading into Victoria.  There are still some restrictions here but none affect us too much. Long may this last. 

 

We were very busy last week helping Indi move house.  She has found a companion with a child Alice’s age and they plan to share the rental of a huge mud brick house with enough land that Indi can get her horse back from the lady who had her on free lease for the last few years.  On Friday Edd, Indi and I loaded her stuff and furniture onto Edd’s ute and trailer and moved things to the new place.  We were all totally exhausted when Bo arrived after work to help unload the last trailer full.

 

The house is built like an 80’s muddy, with a split level and high ceilings. There did not seem to be a good heating system but when we got there a man was installing a new dish washer.  There is a pool at the back but luckily the maintenance is included in the rent.  We just hope it all works out for them. On Saturday, josh and other relatives moved the heavy stuff like Alice’s cubby. I think Indi’s mother has offered to organise cleaners for the old house. It is so difficult for Indi to do much with Alice into everything.

 

I did manage to get my own house thoroughly cleaned because some clients that Al is designing a house for wanted to look at our set up.  I needed something to get me motivated on deep cleaning. I usually do it before we have the midwinter feast but of course covid has stopped us doing all our usual events