Gday, we must have posted about the same time because I didn’t look back and see your post after I hit the submit button. It’s good to see you back here again. I’m sorry to hear about your job and health problems. I hope you can get some of that resolved soon. Glad to hear that you can pay off your mortgage. I’m sure that will be a relief. We did that several years ago and it was nice not having that payment each month.

Betsy, the numbers coming out of New York are horrifying. At some point they just have to level off. But the cities are high density and many people ride the subways each day and before all of this started, the streets were always busy. Arizona is a lot lower density and not much in the way of public transportation. Most people use their cars. They have a lot fewer cases.

Lindsay good luck with all the new features needed to do that editing. I bet you have them all sorted before you know it. I do hope it is an interesting thesis and a joy to edit.
Fascinating to see you on that side of it, and Betsy on the other.

So glad the bees are well and happy. I hope it is a wonderful harvest that you can enjoy from afar and have no stings!

Such exciting news re the advertisement. Congratulations all round. Those of us who aren’t in Queensland will have to work out a way of seeing it!

It is so satisfying to fix little things. ie my glasses. Luckily I have three pairs on the go so I could wear my best subscription ones to fix my computer glasses (third oldest pair). And yes, I must have seen this handy little set (in Aldi maybe?) and bought it on impulse.

Anzac, ooh is anything better than a lasagne made from scratch? And so satisfying to make it perfectly cheesy and then balance it out with a beautiful salad.

But did you? 😉 😉 😉

I bet you are enjoying your new towels, and the extra ones for Maxx, the towel king.

So true, about making the right decision, and feeling the burden fall away. I love it when that happens.

Gday, so glad to hear from you. So sorry to hear that your health issues are still impacting life so badly, and that you are having to deal with unemployment on top of it, not to mention all the Covid19 restrictions.

Hooray that you are concentrating on looking after your health. It is so hard to make a stand when everything is difficult and you are exhausted and despondent. But looking after your health, as much as you can, will surely make the biggest difference.

I can really relate to the frustration and depression and powerlessness that comes from chronic ill health when you don’t know what it is, what you can do about it, and nothing you try works.
You are not worthless, you are a hero in the terrible part of the journey, when all hope seems lost. You are also the wise woman the hero meets in the treacherous mountains who gives shelter and care when all seems lost. (Can you tell I read a lot of fantasy tales in my youth 😉 ).

I am glad there will be a doctors appt (eventually) that may explain what is happening and what you can do, but in the meantime the important things you can do are the very basic healthy eating, drinking plenty of water, trying to rest and sleep well, and quieten the judgemental voice in your head. Don’t forget that your brain, especially, needs you to eat carbs, just try to make them healthy ones.

Having constant exhaustion is the hardest thing. Rest as much as you can. It can be so hard to let yourself do this when there is so much to do, but you are worth it.

Hi all, also posting early. Church online finished a little while ago, and I’ve decided for today not to watch any news till later in the day. Did check on my phone app, but that’s just headlines.

Amazing news from me (well, I’m amazed, anyway) – had a TDEE day yesterday, and weighed in this morning 400 gms lighter than yesterday. I’ll take it. That means 800gms off in the past 8 days, so good progress, plus some movement on the inches, too. By the time this crisis ends, I could be “slim, trim and terrific” – well, slimmer, at least.

CalifDreamer, thanks for the reassurance re Arizona. I should have thought of the density of population. That’s one thing which has been helping here, I think – a lot of Australian cities are fairly sprawled out.

Cinque, lovely to read your 3 posts, and not frustrating at all. Good to be encouraged with your communication.

Hi to all who haven’t posted yet today. I’ll catch up with you tomorrow. Stay well 🙂

Afternoon all, daylight savings here so it’s getting a bit dark in the evening.

Lindsay, I’m up in Brockville which is one of the hill suburbs, I’ve been doing laps down to the valley, up to the top of the suburb on the neighbouring hill and then across the ridge to home. It’s an 8 kilometre loop with about 250 vertical meters of climbing. I managed 4 loops today since it was a nice sunny day.

Today I washed the windows and started to clear out the garage. I wasn’t going to do any work yesterday but our neighbour told my wife that she was worried about her job and the lockdown and she only had enough firewood for s couple of days if the weather turned bad. So I chopped up a whole lot of wood I had in the garage and sent my boys to deliver 4 or 5 wheelbarrow loads to her.

Tomorrow is back to our new routine after a more relaxed weekend, and a fast day. Have a good week everyone.

A cold morning with some clear sun, and hoping to do gardening today.

It is lovely ‘morning after fast day’ for me. I was very hungry yesterday afternoon, even my generous miso soup didn’t allay it for long, but when I first woke up (5:30ish) I was so full I thought I wouldn’t breakfast for hours, but an hour later I was starving again. How does that happen? Anyway I am looking forward to brekky in half an hour or so.

Betsy, woot! What a fab week you’ve had! And that lovely feeling of being slenderer and checking out the wardrobe for things to wear.

Thin, it will be end of your fast day, and I bet the Mexican Chicken Soup went down a treat. (I did get to step 2 nicely.)
It is good that many people are finding life less frenetic at the moment. The number of people making sourdough has become a joke here. But several contacts have talked about the pleasure of cooking without the rush of normal workdays.

Oh dear, good luck finding the batteries! And I hope you have a good gardening day too.

Haha that’s the best toilet roll cake. Sending out cheers to you Intesha, we have missed you.

Neil, so glad you could help your neighbour out, she would have been so heartened to see the wood rolling in. Here is the fast day baton for you (two metres long, just to be safe 😉 )

Brrr Cali, so cold, but I am glad Spring is showing you that warmer weather is on the way. Yes, it was time to pull out the basil, it was starting to get black spot, and with heavy rain coming I knew I needed to get on to it.

Wow, I am amazed you found our Covid19 data, we are often left off world comparisons. But you are right, it has been a huge relief to see the curve flattening so decisively. If we were lucky enough to crackdown before local transmissions started, it should stay flat, fingers crossed, the next couple of weeks will show.

And what a relief for California that you are one of the few places in the US where the curve is also showing signs of flattening, this was on the news as I have been writing.

Well, I am off to make breakfast and then see how much manure and compost I can spread on my garden today.

Sending best wishes

Good morning everyone

A lovely sunny day here but the air is starting to get the first chill of autumn and we had to don jackets for our walk this morning for the first time. I’m sitting in the dining room working with the balcony door open but also long trackie pants and a fleece. Maxx is curled up on his blanket on the couch.

Hi G’day, I was so sad to read your post. I can’t imagine how frustrating it must be to be so willing and able to work but not able to find a job. All on top of health issues too; I’m so very sorry. Glad you are back with us and I hope we can all help.

Cali, I do think Maxx in enjoying have me home every day – but not as much as OH is! He gets his lunch made every day, we share the cooking and I am here to keep an eye on Maxx and play games with him when he needs entertaining. Thankfully he sleeps a lot as I am quite busy at work. The numbers are horrifying over there but I was pleased to read that the number of new cases in NY today went down for the first time. I’m glad you are ok but sorry to hear your anxiety is still causing issues including loss of appetite. This will pass.

I’ve taken my eye off the ball the past few days and lapsed back into snacking. It all got a bit overwhelming and I realised I was reading / watching the news too much. Back on the straight and narrow today. I saw a picture from when we were in Portugal – so right at the beginning of the trip – and my face was so much thinner than it is now. That depressed me and sent me into a snacking frenzy I’m ashamed to say. It’s pretty stupid as surely the better thing to do is to try and get back there? Ugh

LJ, what a lovely idea to visit your aunt that way. I’m sure it made her feel so much better. 5 B2B FD’s made my eyes widen! That is wonderful and what an immediate result.

Neil, it seems a few of us are starting to linger back to old unhealthy habits so you are not alone. Your bike riding should negate any extras. Glad you got to see your parents – albeit at a distance. What a fantastic neighbour you are re the firewood.

My Sister and BIL are free from their 14 day isolation today too Lindsay. You must have flown back the same day as them. Your DD’s MIL’s action made me shake my head in disbelief. Honestly, some people are so blooming selfish and arrogant. And stupid (sorry)

Oops…..it is b.a.t.h. day for Maxx and he just heard OH getting the shampoo out of the cupboard. For a large, clumsy dog he certainly can turn into a ninja phantom pretty darn quick. He is smelly and itchy so I’m sorry my friend – bath time it is. We use a medicated shampoo to help with his itchy skin.

Cinque, you have been very busy indeed! Our basil failed largely this year, probably because we weren’t here to take care of it. The only things that really survived well are the mint, sage, rosemary and thyme.

I am proud to announce that I cut a small wedge of lasagne and gobbled it down with a big salad. I am very NOT PROUD to say I went back for the other half  of which I ate half of the half and gave the other half to my other half. Ha ha.

Wow Betsy, you really are doing so well. I am so happy for you – 800g in two days is fantastic

Hi Quacka, I’m sorry this flu is hanging around – 4 weeks is too long. I do hope you feel better very soon

Thin – 19 degrees! Lovely. My poor nephew and girlfriend posted a video from their tiny 3 room flat of them sitting in front of a big window with the sun streaming singing ‘I got sunshine…..’. They said it is finally getting a bit warmer in London too.

We did a whole tandoori chicken in the bbq last night (the Tandoor is broken – long story) and we just had chicken salad sandwiches with some of the leftover. Yum! Steak and salad for dinner with a huge pile of chips for OH and about 6 for me.

Take care all

CalifD, good news from California, hope you’re doing alright. We don’t have the batteries yet, thanks for asking, but a nearby marina offered to source them for us and we hope to hear from them today.

Cinque, sorry you had a tough FD. As it’s harder to plan because I can’t necessarily source the food I need, I just eat one meal on FDs, foregoing the 2pm feeding. It was warm yesterday, although the wind was strong so we kept procrastinating going for a walk. We went at 4pm by which time I was hungry and looking forward to the 5pm meal – which I didn’t get until after 7pm. The long walk distracted me though. Good results on the scales, 57.9kg.

Lovely photo Anzac, your outdoor area looks beautiful. I think that seeing / hearing too much of this covid-19 news can become overwhelming. Too many numbers, too much gloom. The reason I’m determined to keep my FDs going no matter what is that I couldn’t trust myself if I let them slide. I remember how miserable being overweight made me feel and I never want to be that unhealthy again.

Neil, loved your story of sending your boys over to the neighbour with barrow loads of wood.

Best wishes to all who aren’t feeling their best right now. We still have much to be thankful for in the scheme of things.

Hello all. Having rejoined the posting community I have been lax in my contribution. The symptoms for which I was self isolating are not coronavirus, I have a Gall Bladder problem. Our health service is going through an interesting time. I spent today in hospital moving between departments and being stopped as they locked down corridors to move the Covid cases. I have to go back, I need more scans and then a solution, so it may be some time before I post again. Weirdly, apart from being bright yellow I actually feel quite fit.
Stay safe.

Here’s the pic of the cat getting towel time

https://www.flickr.com/photos/43493775@N06/49744288397/in/album-72157709225372313/

Ooh don’t your son and cat look cosy Neil. Nice, chopping wood for your neighbour and having your boys deliver it. A kind gesture.

Betsy I always do more than 3,000 steps, but that day was an aberration because I was siting at the computer editing the thesis, and then gardening, which doesn’t register steps. I almost always hit 10000, but if I am gardening I look how much time I spend too, trying for an hour of strenuous activity. It is challenging in these times, but you are right – we can do it. That said, it was so so lovely to have a whole huge park to ourselves yesterday. Rosy ran and ran, and then went running up the creek which runs down the side of the fields. It’s a huge space – to give you some idea, a chap was going around on a rider mower on one of the fields when we arrived – and was still doing the same field when we left an hour later.
I’m posting a picture of the blue banded native – I could hear it buzzing when I was pruning the allamanda yesterday and it was getting nectar from the dracaena flowers.
https://imgur.com/a/8LuCXJ4
Cinque how lovely to have 3 posts in one sitting …..always love reading your posts and your take on the world.
Cinque, Anzac …re the other grandma ….here’s another situation. Phoned my dear friend yesterday …who told me her daughter (8 months pregnant, two small children) and husband had taken a run to the coast to get them out of the house. I was actually speechless but she didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong with it. Seems the ‘stay home’ message hasn’t stuck at all. Then last night the Mayor of the Gold Coast announced that the beaches were being closed, because of ‘out of towners’ (ie Brisbaneites) who think it is okay to go to the beach for the day. I hope they watched the news!

That’s an interesting cake Thin. Clearly made by someone with a sense of humour. Good luck with the batteries.

Neil, when we were in Dunedin we drove out to Portobello, and had the most marvellous walk around the water followed by a picnic on a bench looking at the sparkle. We then drove up up up into the hills for the most beautiful views ,and cows and sheep happily munching. You live in paradise. And now I have been there, I can imagine how challenging that cycling is.

Quacka good you have a job still, and you can fill your hours productively. How do you manage stairs with your chest still not 100%?

Anzac Maxx has such a sweet face. And a lovely outdoor area.

Ooh Penguin, good news about the CV, but awful about the gall bladder. Painful too. Hope you can get treatment quickly.

Hello to all I’ve missed. Here is my NBN man (I hope). Will be good to get internet issue resolved, finally.

Good evening everyone.

Just finished a bowl of orange and apple slices for dessert. A healthy way to end a NFD – especially as I had to talk myself out of having an easter bun instead.

Penguin, I hope they are able to sort out that gall bladder quickly. I had mine removed many years ago and can attest that you can get along very without it. Hoping you have a speedy recovery.

Cinque, I thought of you tonight when I counted the 7 different veggies on my plate – I will admit, I felt smug! I shouldn’t though as there are plenty of meals that contain few or nil veggies.

Quacka, I think the constantly changing government measures have it made it confusing for both business owners and employees. It not surprising that you have been getting mixed messages. Something that I think you could find reassurance with, is that the business owners preferred to keep you with their business once there was enough government funding available to support that option. It does mean they value you as an employee.

Neil, now that’s a cat that knows what it wants – and knows it’s family will provide a good rub down. I passed a couple walking a little dog on the weekend and I saw it jump of the kerb and right into a puddle. They hear me giggling and commented that it was worse than a toddler who has to jump in every puddle. I expect it needed to be towelled down when it got home too.

Lindsay, yes time at the computer definitely puts the brakes on steps. It’s so easy to get absorbed in what you are doing. The only thing I can suggest is a timer that get you out of your chair for a few minutes every hour. The gardening is a good alternative though. I always work on the guide that active gardening (raking, digging etc) equates to about 1000 steps per 10 minutes. https://www.10000steps.org.au/articles/extra-activities/
I hope your NBN is fixed now.

Thin, the antics of the local wildlife that you can see from the boat sounds very cute. The news about you PM is alarming.

I bought a few essentials from the supermarket today and couldn’t resist this treat: https://imgur.com/a/qAcChqt It was so cheerful and just what I needed in the house and most of my orchids have finished flowering now.

Take care.

Betsy, I couldn’t see Lindsay’s bee photo either. Forgot to say earlier. I believe I look older since losing the weight but, at this point, who cares really? CalifD, disagrees with me. She thinks people look younger with a thinner face. What is LFD?

Today, I thought of those of you who go by clothing to assess their weight loss; having taken my thermals off for the first time in months this week (by that I mean not worn them, not that I’ve had them on without removing day or night), my jeans feel very loose.

At least the PM hasn’t needed a ventilator if reports can be believed. Apart from the personal tragedy, it feels like being on a kayak without a paddle when you lose a strong leader. You need to know that someone’s making decisions and taking direction.

It’s looking increasingly like return to school for children is the science-based model. In the absence of a vaccine, we must attain herd immunity so it does seem to make sense to let it run rampant amongst the population largely unaffected by it. What effect that would have on their work-force parents wasn’t addressed in articles I read.

Anyone else still have a gall bladder? I’m feeling in the minority.

Morning all
Sorry about the bee photo Betsy – it is refusing to upload so I’ll try again later.

We have been NBNed….but I did something so silly. I had to phone our provider to get the go-ahead to connect, after waiting hours and not getting a connection notice. In the meantime, I cleaned up all the packaging and dumped it. I was able to get my home computer going with a cable, but not my laptop, our ipads, phones. Then just before I went to bed I got an email to say the wireless password was in the packaging! I can’t find it, so another 40 minute call to the provider to reset it, I guess.

We were really careful to keep physical distance from the technician and gave him access from an exterior door to the office. …..all good….until he asked to use the toilet. Sigh. On the bright side, the bathroom hasn’t looked as clean in ages, after a big scrub with soap and disinfectant.

OH and I had a telephone appointment with our GP yesterday. He was hugely optimistic about Australia’s control measures and the outcomes. Testing is being ramped up because there are just 32 cases in Queensland which can’t be tracked back to source. He also organised a home delivery of prescriptions. He dropped them to the local pharmacy (both doctor and chemist are in a shopping centre which we are avoiding), who rang half an hour later and organised delivery, by a pharmacist, within the hour. OH has glaucoma drops that need to be kept cool – we were the first stop on the delivery route, so they wouldn’t deteriorate. And our GP is going to drop in to home to do our flu shots. I just don’t think the health service could be any better than that.

Thin it’s dreadful about Boris Johnson…..if he is in intensive care, surely he’s on a respirator? Is the UK still going down the ‘herd immunity’ path? How does that work though, if as we are seeing at the moment, younger people are contracting the illness, with serious outcomes?

I love the rural picture you paint Thin ….sunshine and wildlife – a peaceful combination.

LJ thank you for the link.

Little Miss nearly 7 has decided to keep a Covid-19 diary. Her entries so far? ‘grandma and grandpa went to new seal and and are now in isolaytin’, and ‘as I mentioned yesterday was my sisters birthday. The best thing about coid-19 is that we got to eat more cake’ (because there weren’t guests at the party, presumably.

Hello to all I’ve missed – have a good, safe day.

Good morning, just back from getting my flu shot.

A bit more complicated than other people have described. Half a dozen patients milling about at the front. Receptionist at the door. Sent around the back to a little plastic gazebo. Nurse appeared to say I wasn’t meant to be in the gazebo but at the door right at the back. Got my jab but then was told to wait 15 minutes to go home. When I looked askance at the suggestion of sitting in the waiting room, she put a chair for me out the back by the bins (with apologies) but then came out after 5 minutes and let me come home. Haha what a relief.
I was surprised by how many people and cars were out and about, but then I was one of them.

Penguin, what an awful time to be having gall bladder problems, and eep for being jaundiced. Do you look like Donald Trump? Sending all my best wishes that everything goes easily and smoothly with scans and solutions and not too much pain. We will all be hanging out to hear from you again.

Quacka, any chance of talking that boss of yours into a couple of WFH days? I hope your fast day was a good one. I know that love-hate relationship with fast days! It is another thing that seems to come in waves, but whenever I have times of thinking that I hate them, I start remembering how I love them!

So interesting to hear what you said about your chest, and LJoyce’s response to it. It is exactly what a friend of mine described, and she even went to a specialist who assured her the infection had gone, and yet she was still having trouble breathing and bringing up mucus. I passed on that info and she was so relieved to hear that other people have a similar experience and to hear of a possible therapy, even if she can’t access it (she has neck problems from a car accident, that makes massage problematic) (not to mention the pandemic).

Haha, those squats, so good for you.

Anzac, I hope you got your snacking out of the way and figured out some nice regime that will allow you to stay healthy while you are working from home.
It must be hard to see you are not quite as taut and terrific as you were at the start of your holidays. Hopefully now you have had a deep breath and taken the long view and looked at the opportunity ahead for sustainable healthy eating and some lovely fasty fast days.

Oh the lasagne, such a temptation.

Thin, hope you have those batteries now!
Thanks for the sympathy. I have a feeling that the worse my CFS symptoms are, the harder a fast day is. Merry, if you are reading, have you found this?

LJoyce, good luck with your pistou. I saw a stray basil plant I had forgotten
and pulled it out, and then remembered I had decided to let it go to seed, and collect the seeds. Oops. But there is yet another plant among the things I have planted near the letterboxes (taking over every spare piece of ground), so I will let that one go to seed. (hopefully)

(I had forgotten it when I picked all my basil 😉 )

Ooh those 7 vegetables! I bet that plate looked beautiful!
And what a lovely orchid to bring home.

Neil how could you do all that wood chopping and then lose inches off your chest? Fascinating. Good luck finding some really wonderful things to do over the next couple of weeks.
Love the pic! Lucky cat.
Have a good shop and a good weigh in.

Ooh Thin, hello to the ducks, the swans and the hares. What lovely scenes.
Hoping your PM manages to avoid ventilation.
Haha yes, I am another one with a gall bladder, although several of my family have lost theirs.

Betsy it sounds like you are on an impressive downward trajectory, at the moment, not a plateau!
You might like this site for excellent, up to date, graphs for Australia: https://www.covid19data.com.au/

Lindsay, the nbn seems to always be harder to get onto than expected, and it always seems to do with that little number on the box! Mine was on the bottom of the nbn modem. In such tiny writing I needed my best glasses AND a magnifying glass.

Miss Nearly 7 is doing a great job with her diary. It might be an important social document in years to come.

Well hopefully my life can quieten down now to my optimum pottering around slowly. Hooray.

Sending best wishes to everyone. Bye for now.

PS Fast day tomorrow!

The quickest of posts, before I take Rosy for her run at the aptly named Rainbow Forest Park. I’ll get some pics today – it’s heart achingly beautiful by the creek that runs through the fields.
Cinque, funny you say that. Miss nearly 7 told her mother than perhaps one day her diary will be in a museum. It is good for my daughter to be able to read what the little one writes. She told DD a week or so ago that ‘Mum, I feel like I have 100 tears in my throat that I can’t cry’. She is much happier at home than at school, and has taken to sleeping with her mum again, which all in all, is fine in these times (or other times too I think).
What a palaver to get your ‘flu shot. Everyone is learning how to come to terms with the new normal, aren’t they? My doctor yesterday said the ‘flu cases this year were very low so far – another benefit of physical isolation, maybe.
OK, off to the park.

Hi all, hope you are enjoying rain-free days and sunshine.

LindsayL, amazing pictures of the blue-banded bee – are you in NSW or Qld? I don’t think the bee is as far south as Melbourne. Hope you had a lovely walk today with Rosy. I chuckled over miss 7’s writing about the virus, but sad that she has been so upset about it.
By the way, great that you can get your meds delivered by your pharmacy. The pharmacy I use is a bit too far from home for them to do that for me. I looked at the free delivery being offered by Australia Post, and decided it wasn’t possible, due to the same reason as your OH – my glaucoma drops have to be kept below 25 degrees, and there’s no way that could be guaranteed by post.

Cinque, you certainly went through a more difficult process to get your flu shot than I did. Glad you were allowed to sit outside. I chuckled about penguin ?looking like Donald Trump; guess I’m not the only one who thinks Trump overuses the tanning bed.

Thanks so much for putting up the connection to the stats site. Very interesting to look at the data, to the extent that it exists. As has been said (by Scott Morrison?), it’s important to only look at Australia’s data, as the testing, and the way Covid-19 cases and deaths are counted differs from place to place around the world, plus some data has to be considered questionable due to low testing rates.

Having said that – I am quite concerned about China trying to re-start everything so quickly. I know they’ve taken a major blow to their economy, but so has everyone else, and I’m concerned, from the pictures I’ve seen of total lack of social distancing over their current holiday, that they may be in for another wave of infection. Well, time will tell. The U.S. wants to get things moving again as soon as possible, for the same reason. CalifDreamer, how are you feeling about the developments over your way?

Thin, great that your jeans feel looser. Interesting about school in the U.K. The States here seem to be making their own decisions about what is best; the advice from the powers-that-be has continued to be that children are better attending school, but Victoria has decided that most children should receive distance learning, and the only kids attending school should be those of essential workers, or if they have no internet devices.
Oh, LFD means liquid fast day – as I wrote, once I start to eat, I just don’t manage to keep to 500 cals, so I have 800 cal days, but if I stick to liquids only, I seem to manage to stay under 500 cals. It suits me, might not work for others.

Neilithicman, chuckled over your younger son’s efforts to reduce his exercise load. Not surprising they’re eating more, with the exercise they’re doing. You’re also doing well with your cycling. At least N.Z. hasn’t introduced the restriction of not going further than 2 kms from home. 🙂

Hi everyone else who may be lurking. Keep smiling! The muscles it uses have been shown to promote the release of endophins, so the more you smile, the better you will feel. True – scientific fact.

Lindsay, the bee is spectacular. I had to be patient for it to come up so perhaps your first attempt was there after all. Gorgeous diary entry from the grandie. Future blogger!

Lindsay, about children returning to school vs. young people dying with the illness, as I understand it, that’s just noise in the statistics. I do know the reason that seemingly young, fit, healthy NHS workers are dying from Covid-19 though. It’s because of the heavy viral load. If your body receives one virus (say, because you didn’t wash your hands after you touched something that someone coughed on), it has time to think about what it is and how it’s going to respond. That’s why most young people will not get very sick and/or not know they’ve even had it.

But, if you’re a frontline health worker, coming face to face with many sufferers throughout the course of a shift, intubating them, fitting their oxygen masks, handling their sputum and so on, your body will receive a heavy viral load that it doesn’t know how to deal with. I probably haven’t explained that scientifically but that’s the simplistic version of what our doctor friends told us.

Yes, herd immunity is the only hope in the absence of a vaccine; it’s a question of slowing down the 2.5x rate of infection so that healthcare systems can cope.

Betsy, LFD – thanks! I wouldn’t have worked that out on my own. Same here regarding schools at this point but it will be reviewed after Easter.

CalifD, what amazing service to get your deliveries so quickly. I believe much of how business was carried out before could change after this. One thing I’d like to see is more local manufacturing of good quality products that last. I’m thinking of when my parents bought items like a washing machine or fridge when they married and it would last decades. We’re going to paying a very high price for all this anyway, so why not pay that high price to have our own citizens in meaningful employment making high quality products?

Hi back LJ. My jeans are only looser because I removed the underlying thermals I’m afraid!

*going to be paying, sorry

Cinque, pleased you got your ‘flu jab. I was going to make a joke about Penguin now being King Penguin. Did Penguin say he had died his hair yellow?

Betsy, thanks for explaining that, I didn’t know what LFD meant either.

Thin & Penguin, thank you for lifting my mood – I’m still chuckling at the humorous inventiveness of some people.

Cali, that’s excellent that you finally found someone to deliver groceries. Also glad to hear you have video conferencing for GP appointments, I have a phone appointment with my GP next week too.

I’m off to bed for a early night after a relaxing bath.
Take care all.

Thin, not particularly. It had just been mailed to me.

I just spent my third morning in a row in hospital. More blood tests on Friday and I am going in for a minor procedure next week which will get my Gall Bladder working again.

Penguin, can’t they do those tests any faster? I hope your procedure next week is early in the week so you can get back home again. I imagine hospitals are pretty busy now. I still have my gallbladder. The only parts I’m missing are tonsils and a chunk of my thyroid.

Loved the video links from thin and penguin. Here’s one for you, not a video but some pics of Australians dressing up to take out the garbage. 😁 I just want to know what costumes all of you are wearing?
https://www.sadanduseless.com/bin-isolation-outing/?fbclid=IwAR2YzFayZkfJNkDpthVc07Ozd7q1H7ElkoFaWcNen-LvUDmDIB5JoNOhC60

Thin, hope you figure out a place to easily dispose of the old batteries.

CalifD, thanks for that link! I’d seen the headline just before our signal was lost the other week and then totally forgot to look for it again. Our former neighbours told us that they had ‘driveway drinks’ last weekend and sent photos. Each photos contained a person or couple sitting alone in their own drive. Our old house would have been too far down the road to join in. I suggested they, too, arrange ‘dress up bin night’ which I assumed meant spending the week working on a costume and everyone taking out the trash at the same time of day. Those are so funny! I like the gangster one.

Penguin, hoping it’s nothing serious.

Good morning,
Just a quick catch up from me on a slow day. Fast day!
I’m going to make some soup to see me through. So it will be a LFD (I was another one who couldn’t remember what it stood for, even though I think I have used that term in the past!).

Yay for wrinkles.
Aren’t they surprising though.

Betsy, I’ve seen a blue banded bee in my garden. Hoping they might come and visit you. Local community groups have done a lot of work along Merri creek to make a good habitat for them.

Cali, how nice to get a quick, good delivery. Sleep well.

Penguin, so glad that a minor procedure should get your gall bladder working again, hoping all goes beautifully. I guess it is good news that they spotted the other problem, fingers crossed it is also easily sorted.

Off to have a slow pottering around day and venturing into zoom again to talk to my sisters.

Best wishes all.

Test because I have been locked out since yesterday

Penguin, did that comprise mealy worms, a 50lb sack of potatoes, peanuts in a bird feeder and some dried hedgehog food?