DAY 13 LOCKDOWN - POEM

This popped up on my Facebook feed this morning:

History repeats itself. Came across this poem written in 1869, reprinted during 1919 Pandemic.

This is Timeless....

It was written in 1869 by Kathleen O’Mara:

And people stayed at home
And read books
And listened
And they rested
And did exercises
And made art and played
And learned new ways of being
And stopped and listened
More deeply
Someone meditated, someone prayed
Someone met their shadow
And people began to think differently
And people healed.
And in the absence of people who
Lived in ignorant ways
Dangerous, meaningless and heartless,
The earth also began to heal
And when the danger ended and
People found themselves
They grieved for the dead
And made new choices
And dreamed of new visions
And created new ways of living
And completely healed the earth
Just as they were healed.

Reprinted during Spanish flu
Pandemic, 1919
Photo taken during Spanish flu

DAY 12 LOCKDOWN

Another quiet but busy day today.  Doug cleared and prepared another garden bed ready for our vegetable seedlings when they arrive.  Managed to  grab a bundle online yesterday and they were dispatched today  so they will most likely arrive on Wednesday.  We won't know exactly what we have until they arrive.  Rain showers are forecast on Wednesday for a whole week except Saturday.  The soil is bone dry although I have kept up the watering of the beds ready for the seedlings.

Doug went out in the car - quite an adventure during Lockdown, he had to pick up a repeat prescription in the next suburb and, while he was out was able to get some wheat for the birds at the Farmlands shop.  We phoned to order it and he had to be there between 3pm and 4pm and said that only two cars were allowed into the car park at a time and everyone's goods were laid out in a tent with the purchaser's name.  He said it was very well organised to keep people apart.  At the pharmacy he went to the drive through window.  

I made a cake and a batch of tomato and capsicum sauce and we had some of the sauce with our lunch of sausages and mash.  While we had lunch we listened to Her Majesty the Queen.  What an amazing lady.  Her speeches are always excellent and to the point.  Well done Ma'am.

It is starting to get cooler now and may not be long before we start lighting the fire.  That is as interesting as our days are at present.  

The total number of covid 19 cases in New Zealand is 1106 and it appears to be levelling off.  Hopefully we started our Lockdown early enough.  We are very impressed with both our Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern and the Director General of Health, Dr. Ashley Bloomfield.

DAY 11 LOCKDOWN - RAYMOND CHING NEW ZEALAND BIRDS

After I showed Doug the lovely paintings of birds on David's post (Travel with Birds) he took some photos of paintings from our copy of Raymond Ching's New Zealand Birds.

                                                                         KIWI

                                                                    WEKA

                                                                                RAIL

                                                                     TAKAHE

                                                                            BELLBIRD

                                                                     BLACK SWAN

My first On-line supermarket order arrived as promised today and there was very little that was not available.  Unfortunately, one of the two cat foods I ordered was not available and the other was limited to two but  Kim is refusing all commercial cat food at present. She did seem to enjoy some of the mince we had for lunch.

DAY 10 LOCKDOWN - GIANT HAYBALE TEDDY BEARS

At Waipu, about 40 kms away a couple built two large bears out of hay bales  They are 4m tall.  Doug's youngest daughter takes the mail to Waipu every morning and sent us this photo.

The couple who built them had seen them in the States and decided that they now had time to build them.  They had not heard about the Bear Hunt at that time but they have been very popular.

DAY 9 LOCKDOWN - MEAT

We do not eat a lot of meat but it is nice to have some.  I ordered

2 -x bacon hocks,
1kg mince,
1kg blade steak for a casserole,
a 2kg piece of sirloin ( would have got Scotch Fillet but it was sold out)
1 kg bacon

Just as promised the order arrived this morning - all vacuum packed

Most of it was put in the spare fridge in the meantime and the sirloin was cut up giving us 12 slices.  One slice is plenty for the two of us so 11 slices were wrapped and frozen

The remaining piece was cut in half and was delicious for our lunch.  Apart from that it has been a fairly lazy day apart from walking Sophie.It is a lovely sunny day 26 degrees, quite hot for this time of year.

DAY 8 LOCKDOWN

Another perfect autumn day here - it will mean watering again tonight unless we happen to get a heat shower this afternoon.  

I heard of a company doing online fish orders so have put an order in for a couple of kilos of our favourite, gurnard.  I also had confirmation that our meat order is ready so, hopefully that will be delivered tomorrow.

On the supermarket front I managed to find a delivery slot but our needs had changed since we made the original list  and when I got around to sorting it I was told we had lost the slot as it had timed out.  I had not realised I had to put the order in straight away.  I spoke to a neighbour (on the phone) and she had also managed to get a slot so, hopefully, I will be able to get one tomorrow - delivery won't be for a week. 

We had a different walk today as I had a birthday card to post for a friend in Australia so we walked down to the nearest mail box.  

Missed out again on  vegetable seedlings so will try again on Sunday when they have the next lot.  I have sowed 6 seeds of each of pak choi, Swiss chard and spinach.

The little shopping centre just down the road - usually busy 

the same with the round-a-bout - usually lots of cars

then walking back home along an empty street.

DAY 7 LOCKDOWN - TEDDY BEARS

Yes, we have been in Lockdown for a week now.  Yesterday I heard about the Bear Hunt.  People put Teddy Bears (or other toys) in their windows for children to find. 

I promptly got out Teddy and Golly.  There is a story to both.  I went to the same school for 13 years and boarded in the last year as my parents moved away.  I discovered that most girls had a Teddy Bear and commented on this to my mother and the fact that I had never had one, so my 21st Birthday present was Teddy, he has been with me for quite a while now.

Golly was a different story.  Not long after Doug and I met we went on an Arts Trail and I spotted Golly and commented on that fact that I hadn't seen one for so long (remembering the ones that came with Robertson's marmalade).  The outcome was that Doug bought Golly for me.  He is knitted. 

Today's walk was a lot slower as we went Teddy Bear hunting. As I commented to another older couple doing the same thing it is great for children from 3 to 93 (or even older).

So here are some of the bears and toys we came across: