Day 32 and maybe tomorrow is the last at Level 4

Today was a beautiful sunny blue sky day. After a really good sleep it was good to wake up to such a lovely day. Yesterday I had a bit of scare after BP and pulse rate did a bit of a hike which resulted in me feeling dizzy every time I stood up. A trip in the afternoon to the afterhours clinic resulted in being told that just taking an extra one of my pills would probably assist and it seems it has. There were no other signs of anything, so other than wondering what was happening with my body, all is well. But perhaps there is a warning there - these are unusual times and perhaps there has been an underlying tension that manifested in my body. Probably also, a lot more exercise would be helpful!
Jonathan and Amy were quietly very supportive and I am glad I was  here.

I had such plans for the quiet weekend and how I was going to get all creative - but been taking it easy so didnt get as much done as I wanted - but hey - I am feeling good so what the heck.

We have had the children all the last week, and it was the beginning of online school - home schooling. Teachers have been posting a list of tasks and the children are pretty good at finding what they need to do. The girls are better are it than Callum - but Callum's teacher keeps saying - just do what you can or want to do...not sure that is a very useful approach with a 10 year old who quite regularly does the minimum as fast as he can. Annabelle and Cordelia are both great readers and Jonathan has had Annabelle using the big dictionary to find the words in her Narnia book that she doesnt know. The only real hiccups were Nana thinking they should pay attention better - but once Nana got her attitude sorted, the schoolwork flowed pretty well. Luckily  one or two of them have been able to go out to the farm and help with the animals. Jonathan calls it Outdoor education - they learn about parallel lines ( fencing), triangles and rectangles ( making duck pens) and the use of tools, and lots of fresh air.

Yes Annabelle is competently driving the gig

Ollie in harness with his driver Annabelle

New steps up the bank

The girls helping Daddy fence - apparently Annabelle knows how to use the fancy fencing tool now.

The girls riding round the roads in Mt Taylor - Annabelle up on Barney ( yippee - after a long absence at riding after the broken arm) and Cordelia on Winter

Jonathan has done online lectures and tutorials and been getting lots of online message from his students, and his Blind Citizens group, so he is playing many roles. At times it was a bit stressful - but on the whole I keep reminding myself "this too will pass" dont get too spaced out about whether they actually do every task the teacher wants them to do. Each of the children has had Google meets sessions with either their classmates or their teacher which is great.

Cooking has been a major distracter - with apple shortcake being made every second day - a well laden apple tree and 5 mass producing feijoa trees have been very useful. The girls continue to enjoy playing with Nana's sewing machine ( the dollies each have a couple of new dresses) and paints and crafts go down well.

Anzac biscuits with some imaginative ingredients due to minimal oats and no coconut. Yummy.

Omelette - using Grandad's technique - very fluffy!

I had a couple of great Zoom sessions - with my Philosophy group and also with the Sydney based Rainbow Connection quilting group.

Anzac Day was a bit different and in common with Australia  many people in NZ went to their letterboxes at 6am and listened to a live Anzac broadcast.  Kids were encouraged to make poppies to display in their windows and there were many home made wreaths and poppies. The kids and I made a wreath and Anzac biscuits. The supermarkets have sold out of coconut!

Well, kids back in the morning - no school work tomorrow as it is classed as a public holiday as Anzac Day came on a Saturday and then if all continues well, we go to Alert Level 3 tomorrow night at midnight. No school for our kids, and at Level 3 still not recommended that Seniors fraternise too much - so I am down here until at least 11 May when a decision will be made on what happens next.

All well with my friends and family - so hope everyone continues to realise we are not out of the woods yet.

Day 22 Lockdown Thursday

It is so lovely and quiet here at the moment I need to take advantage of this time. The children arrive tomorrow afternoon and they will bring energy and noise! and hugs and .....

I am very quiet and comfortable in the bubble this last week - pottering around seems to be the order of the day - no great projects, just nibbling away at a variety of projects.

Tui - typical pose wanting the ball thrown.

I have been preparing and doing some of the final blocks for the scrap quilt, done a bit more Sanskrit homework ( need to do more), playing with my drawings ( not for the last few days), making apple shortcake with the never ending supply of Braeburn apples on the tree, picking feijoas which are falling furiously, preparing meals, watching "how to" videos on Youtube, taking Jonathan's trousers in about 2" around the waistline ( all his hard work on the farm), and sleeping well. The last few days I decided to makje a few of the free motion quilted blocks using the Freebie pattern put out by an Australian quilt designer Helen Godden. This has required a bit of experimentation with Inktense pencils,m applique, acrylic paints, aloe vera gel and stuff called textile medium.. Quite fun but not all that intellectually demanding.

Easter was a bit of a non-event, but it was Callums 10th birthday, and he was at his mother's so after I had made him a bag with some boy fabric I had with me and gathered up a few goodies Jonathan and I went around and sang Happy Birthday on the footpath.

I made a bag for his birthday, made a card and apple shortcake and took around games and balloons - 10 years old - Wow the time has flown!

Some of the blocks for my scrap quilt that I have made in lockdown - whole lot more were previously pieced - not there yet a few more to come

The first two days of Helen Godden's Flower Power Quilt-along - experimenting with paints and applique and free motion quilting patterns

I have continued to do  some of the admin work for the School of Philosophy online classes that they are now offering free to the public - the software has been unstable occasionally causing a bit of frustration but it is good to make a useful contribution. And yesterday I put the video of The Art of Quilting exhibition up on You tube - it seemed a waste that it was not being seen - a gorgeous exhibition behind locked doors. Still we did get to put the exhibition on. A major textile art exhibition called Vision2020 never even got able to open in Sydney, and they are not putting the works they selected online and will do a print catalogue as well.

NZ is still doing well on the Covid19 front - 9 deaths and all elderly and frail, several from a dementia unit ( that must have been a nightmare ) and yesterday only 20 new cases. I am a bit apprehensive about all the calls to lift the lockdown  - not sure what that will mean  for me,and the family. Will schools go back? The govt have put a huge amount of effort into home learning - providing computers, public TV programs, and hard copy material. Businesses are crying out to get going again - I do hope reason prevails. But there will still be risks for us over-70s. It will be interesting to see what the kids have done when they arrive tomorrow. Hopefully they can get out to the farm and have a good run around with lots of fresh air.

One bonus has been the opportunity and time to touch base with people using technology and this means I dont feel so isolated. I got to talk to Brian in Canada, Karen in Colorado, Penny and Robin in Sydney, Debbie in Adelaide and we even got Randall on Whats App!  Lots of people are checking up on each other and that is a real benefit - a sense of community I hope will continue. Hopefully my neighbour will mow my lawn by the weekend. Windy and wet out there today.

9 April - Day 15 Lockdown - day 18 in Isolation

Time is actually racing past - there is a sense of each day being the same, but I am OK and all the family are OK. NZ is doing a good job ( with some exceptions) of basically pulling together on this one. We do need to give it at least one more 14 day cycle to start to break the spread but so far so good. I am so lucky - this is not a major tragedy for me. I have enough money to get buy, none of my family are currently threatened, mostly the weather has been good enough to enjoy time outside in the garden or on a walk, and I have lots to keep me busy.

I have been doing a lot of admin work for the School of Philosophy, as we have offered our Introductory course free as an online course over the lockdown period and all our classes will go online for the next term. There is a lot of setting up work to do. We do keep track of attendance and stats and that is my role.. the software Filemaker Pro has been a bit unstable, so there have been moments of frustration but it is good to be doing something worthwhile. All of us are volunteers int he organisation and there is no money involved. My own Philosophy group has now met twice using the Zoom online platform, and it was great to see close to 40 faces last night and be able to talk and interact. My Sanskrit class has also been online and Zoom seems to be the platform of choice for many. Jonathan has had Board meetings with the Blind Citizens Association and they managed the Zoom meeting well.

I havent been as creative as I would have liked, but several I have spoken to have found the same. There seems to have been a sort of "suspension", feeling as if life is "on hold" or atmosphere of "no hurry". Perhaps the idea of lots of time would be more positive is there wasnt this cloud of uncertainty hanging over us all.

This is a little video of Annabelle doing a science experiment for a Cub badge. The ping pong ball is held up b y the pressure of the air from  the hair dryer, rather than the force of gravity which would make it fall down.


The girls also put on a little play, dressed up in their princess dresses and Amy's boy did a hilarious one man impromptu show he called Lockdown Fever. He studies drama at school and he is a natural.
My April, Sketch a Day challenge got lost the last few days but here are a couple of the early ones. HAd to do my tea cup and a button. I didnt do the "false teeth" one, or my reading glasses but I did do the JAcinda Adern one. Today's one is meant to be a self portrait from our phone or the mirror - Hmm that is going to be fun!

This was a really fast one - topic a stain from a spill

Jacinda taken from TV.. well it was a first try!

This is not meant tobe an art gallery - just a record of what I did! So hopefully will gradually see some improvement.. failures are only lessons to be learned from!

Ooh, clouding over, hope that is not rain - not till the washing is dry!

Thursday 2 April - lockdown Day 9

In some ways the week has gone fast, a bit of anxiety is starting to creep in - I haven't been past the gate except to walk the dog but there is a lot of faith and trust needed, as the kids came back for two nights and will be back tomorrow for four nights. Jonathan and Amy need to feed the animals every day so they drive out to Feilding and are managing to get quite productive work done out there. JOnathan continues to spend considerable time liaising with everyone possible to ensure the Blind Citizens community is getting as much help as they need.

I dont lack for things to do - and try to stay connected with friends and family as often as possible. I had my first two Zoom meetings yesterday - a Sanskrit lesson and my Philosophy group. Both went well for a first go - gratitude for the use of technology is immense. Great sense of reconnecting with people who care about each other. Lots of activity back in the community where my house is - they always had a strong community spirit and it is really helping them, particularly those with young families and the older people.

The children were back for two nights and I tried to get them to do some schoolwork - we did get some done - the first day I just had the girls and we did sewing practice - they did a join the dots exercise and then a spiral using the fancy stitches on my machine - they liked that bit! Hopefully we will extend to making some doll clothes next weekend. We made a video of them doing the Crazy Santa dance and singing along to a Frozen video... Reading and spelling was also on the agenda. Callum was a bit harder to get going - but we did an experiment which demonstrated the water cycle and how to purify dirty water - and he made Cheese muffins as well as using Khan academy to practice some fractions. Oh, and Annabelle's ball handling skills and Callums flips on the trampoline also got lots of practice. Cordelia's reading is coming on well but they all rush their writing and their spelling goes haywire when they do creative writing although on the spelling lists it is good. Annabelle is

Annabelle testing her ability to sew straight and turn corners

Cordelia joining the dots to make a picture

Callum watching a sea water distillation camping set up

I am not having any difficulty filling the days, and I am also doing a lot of the database admin for the School of Philosophy as we move to an online platform for all classes. The Zoom software is being used all over the world and it is very well designed and robust. There were 34 of us in a meeting last night and there was discussion and it was great!

My Travel sketching class obviously couldnt go ahead, so the teacher has suggested we do a sketch a day forthe month of April - no masterpieces, just practice and dont fret. I brought my favourite  beautiful mug down with me. It was Karen's mothers and I always loved it when I was at their place. I tried to sketch it but since we are encouraged to go straight to ink pen, no rubbing out, I tried to cover up the bottom where I had made it too long, hence the brown mucky bit at the bottom --- but today is a button... so need to find one worth drawing....

I am also practicing drawing various bits of the back garden, hopefully I will get better!  I can always do still life - and draw bananas, feijoas and apples!

It is very quiet today and good washing drying weather, so soon will take Tui for a little walk - we are only supposed to go local - around the block. I might get out to the farm at the weekend ( the farm is part of our bubble as no one else is able to go there). Hopefully Jonathan will be working today on getting a little toilet house built to house his Christmas present - the composting toilet).

Lockdown Day 4

I thought of keeping a daily blog but decided I might do a hand written daily notes - somehow seems very personal. I will enter stuff on my blog as it will be a useful record and maybe some of my friends and family will want to keep track of things down here.

The kids went to their mothers place before we hit actual lockdown and I believe she has been trying to work with them on a schoolwork schedule. While the weather was fine that may well have been easier, the last couple of days we have finally had some rain - good for all the gardens and lawns but must be hard for families living in tight spaces.

Day 1 my van in position

I havent moved off the property except for a daily walk with the dog and yesterday int he rain I followed an exercise video instead. Today is a bit chillier and Jonathan has been on a video conference call with the Blind Citizens group all morning so I am tiptoeing round the house. While the kids arent here I have commandeered Callum's bedroom which is the biggest and faces the street. I have a teddy bear in the window and because the house is close to the PaknSave supermarket and a fairly main thoroughfare there has been a little traffic outside but not much.

It is now Saturday morning and I had several aims in lockdown including

1. Meditate twice daily
2. Sanskrit revision 
3. Do a drawing/sketch/painting each day
4. Sewing - I have three bags of fabric and all sorts of bits and pieces
5. Cook dinner for everyone each day ( J and A have usually been busy with jobs at the farm or round here)
6. Read some good spiritual material every day
7. Dont feel guilty if I dont do any or all of the above.....

So far I havent managed all my good resolutions but the last one makes me feel better about that..

Here are a few products of the last week

Jonathan designed steps to go up the retaining wall and Amy did the hammering.

The back porch - JOnathan's house

My first experimental mask - I have made 10 more including 6 for kids

Blocks for Green Tea scrap quilt - I will need to do the applique by hand with embroidery threads as I didnt bring all my coloured threads for sewing machine.

Oh, and I have also done sewing repairs and starting shifting Kea badges to Cub Scouts blanket. And I am reading some good books. Just finished the Monuments men  by Robert Edsel - the movie was good ( especially George Clooney) but this was the authentic researched book version - very interesting. Currently reading The GArden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng - ebook from the Auckland Library ( thank the universe for ebooks and audio books from the library!!!)

I am a little apprehensive about the next few weeks/months - pretty normal I suppose. Basically my concern is that I have chosen not to be entirely self isolated, and I am now part of a bubble which has several intersecting bubbles because children of separated parents can move between parents int he same town. For Covid19 this is not ideal, but I made the choice to take up Jonathan's offer and I think it was the right choice. I think the hardest thing about this time is the lack of control and certainty - one can only do one's best within the framework of one's own set up.Time will tell.

Sewed all morning so I think I am going to make a banana cake shortly and do more Sanskrit, and a bit of sketch and painting practice.- updating my blog today was one task on the to do list. Tick that one off.

What a difference a day and even an hour makes!

Update: In the last half our Jacinda took the coun try to Alert level 3 - which means non essential businesses must close, schools will close from tomorrow. And we go to level 4 in 48 Hours! Supermarkets, pharmacies and petrol stations as well as some banking services will stay open. The level had reached 102 cases with 36 new today and only 14 new yesterday but with all the NZ residents who have fled back here it was expected that the number of cases would rise, but the crunch was the two cases they can find no explanation for, so suspect community transference.

Amy is now worried as heck about her parents in Christchurch ... not sure if they can come even if they wanted to. Not sure what will happen with the kids - theyw ere due to go to Olivia tomorrow but her partner is immuno-compromised and she has a 11 month old baby.

The below was written only an hour ago...

AfterJacinda's announcement on Saturday that over 70s should basically self isolate I rang my son Jonathan and took him up on his offer to come to Palmerston North where the family consider I would be safer and they could watch out for me. After a bit of deliberation I  have come down here. It was interesting working what to bring with me, considering I didnt know when I would be back, but I didnt think I would need my party dress, I would want all my technology and hobby stuff. So the sewing machine and table, fabric, painting and drawing bits, activity stuff for the children I had been collecting, my Sanskrit books and my philosophy material plus all the food which might go off. The campervan fitted it all in and I consider I am very lucky.

J and A have been making good preparations for the kids being home from school, the only hitch is that the kids are going to continue to move between two households, but some things cant be changed, so we will work with what we can.

Jonathan and Amy have a 17 acre block of land on which I can be quarantined if there is a need. Their barn has a bed, water, big gas cooker, plenty of space to run around, nice patch of bush next door - and I have just found out they have a generator out there so that I can power up the sewing machine and charge the computer. Campervan has a toilet although it might need emptying. They havent installed the composting toilet that was their Christmas present yet! Currently I am at their place at 52 LInton St and social distancing is likely to work well here for the moment.  Wonderful to be surrounded by calm, intelligent people.

My "wee house" at Linton St

Covid project 1 - a bulletin board for the campervan.

Projects 2 and 3 - new curtains and a cushion for the campervan.

Jonathan's contact number is 029 538 9814 and mine is 021 2644429. I will try to update my blog as often as possible - might be like a diary, and my goal is to also do one drawing a day in my sketch book to provide a visual record also.

But - who would have thought? Very quiet down here ...

Another farm trip and some fun sewing

Hard to know where to start as I am a bit late starting on this one - - two weeks late actually...so this entry is going to be a bit abbreviated.
Anniversary weekend I drove down to Palmerston North as it promised to be one of the last weekends I was going to be able to get away before the work on the exhibition really kicked in.
Stopped at 5 mile Bay on the way down - VERY crowded - and then I remembered, it was the same last year - apparently a big concert on in Taupo at the weekend. But I was there early enough to find a reasonable spot - it had been a very hot day and everyone had been swimming I think.. lots of towels hanging out to dry!

Easy drive down the next day and went into the farm the back way on the Halcombe road - the Barn was looking great, and lots and lots of work had been done on the farm. J and A had been to the stock auctions at Feilding that morning and brought home some more lambs to fatten and eat lots of grass.

Still very hot when the kids arrived  that afternoon so I took them all to the Lido for a couple of hours before dinner.. Forgot that I couldnt leave them because two were under 8 years old so I didnt really get to swim myself. Saturday was the Small holdings auction day - and second hand goods for farmers were spread out on a huge paddock - Jonathan and Amy had a ball - and the kids and I tried out all the kid amusement things- bouncy castles etc.

Saturday night we all adjourned to the farm and stayed the night - great fun - the girls in a tent, cooked under cover of the barn, and as soon as it was dark the kids played Spotlight - they enjoyed that tremendously. Unfortunately too cloudy to use the new telescope. Damn - it was clear skies at about 1 am in the morning and then clouded over again!
The next morning after a few tasks were done, the kids and I went for a walk in the adjoining bush and discovered a great play area...hanging vines a la Tarzan!

Jonathan and Callum trying out the ride on mower

Me Tarzan - you Jane!

Annabelle's new ( very second hand) drum kit

Monday , the kids and I were mostly around home - drizzly rain so we played indoor games including Monopoly and in the afternoon the kids had their first swimming training in the outdoor pool - gosh they are getting good.

I travelled home via Taumaranui, and I went down the River Rd to Ohinepane on the Wanganui River. This was usually the first camping stop after leaving Taumaranui - brought back lots of memories, but it has been very significantly improved by DoC since the old days, when it was a disused quarry. This is where I would probably do the thing with Peter's ashes - more private than Cherry Grove and camping is allowed. I didnt stay the night but decided to drive on home and get tidied up ready for a busy time ahead.

Everywhere I went there were swathes of agapanthus lining the roadsides

Then we had our first sewing day, and started the giraffe project - nine of us had such a fun day - all different colourways  - mine is the one in the middle.

Since then i have been pretty busy, organising the quilts and their delivery and doing the accompanying paperwork for the exhibition.

The major fun thing for me was starting an 8 week course in travel sketching - had my first day today. Since it is definitely a beginners course all we did today was a quick exercise using our pens and aquarelle watercolour colour pencils.. it was a fun exercise - cant rub out the ink lines though so no second chances,  and we had less than 5 minutes to do the actual sketch. Nice group of people. I am going to enjoy the group and the class.