FOR POSTERITY

COPIED AND PASTED FROM A FRIEND'S FACEBOOK:  (edited) :

Saving for my memories. ❣️

Bit of history for later. . .

Covid 19 started in Wuhan, China at a seafood market. Hundreds of thousands affected, dead, dying, critically ill although many have recovered. Most deaths are in the over 70 group or those with underlying health issue.

As of today, Saturday 4th April 2020, New Zealand has been in stage 4 lockdown for 10 days.

Government closes the border to every one but returning New Zealand nationals/residents and makes it mandatory to self isolate for 14 days for anyone entering the country. Those without an isolation plan are put into lockdown in hotels.

Panic buying set in during stage 2, 3 and at the start of stage 4 we had no toilet paper, no disinfecting supplies, no paper towels, no laundry soap, no hand sanitizer, no flour or yeast.

Self-distancing measures mean we must each stay in our "bubbles" consisting of households/people living together at 23.59 pm on Wednesday 26th March.  We were given 48 hrs notice.

Over 70's and those with underlying health issues or weakened immune systems told to self isolate for the duration of the lockdown where possible.

Tape on the floors at food supermarkets to help distance shoppers 2m (6ft) from each other.

Limited number of people inside stores, therefore lineups outside the store doors.

Non-essential stores and businesses, trades closed.

Supermarkets, pharmacies, dairies only shops allowed to open

Drs and Vets open but must phone ahead, many consultations via phone/skype etc.

Those who are lucky enough to have a job that is able to be done from home without the need to have physical contact are able to continue to work.

Children's playgrounds, bush trails, water activities, visits to the beach, swimming pools, gyms are off limits.

Entire sports seasons cancelled.

Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events - cancelled.

Weddings, family celebrations, holiday gatherings - cancelled.

Funerals limited to only those within the deceased's bubble.

No religious services, churches, mosques, temples are closed.

Schools/daycare/uni's are all closed.

No gatherings permitted.

Not allowed to physically socialize with anyone outside of your bubble.

When we are at supermarkets, we are to maintain a distance from each other minimum of 2 m. (impossible to police)

Allowed outside for walks/cycling but must stay within their neighborhood and observe the 2 m rule.

Shortage of masks, gowns, gloves for our front-line workers.

Around the World there is a shortage of respirators, hospitals, nursing staff and Dr's.

Wuhan, Italy, Spain, Iran, UK and USA are the worst hit so far with 1,014,673 infected Worldwide, 52,983 deaths with the youngest victim 6 weeks old.  210,335 recovered. The figures from around the World show a @10% mortality rate. China claimed only 3% mortality rate which is suspected to be incorrect possibly because many died before anyone knew what it was.

In NZ 868 infected and 1 death, 103 recovered ... so far.

Bubbles nominate someone as their designated shopper.

Supermarkets limit purchase of certain items to 2 per customer.

Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses around the World switching their lines to help make visors, masks, hand sanitizer and PPE.

Phone and email addresses are set up for the public to report anyone breaking isolation rules, not paying workers their government subsidized wage or for those price-gauging others.

Press conferences daily from the Prime Minister.

Barely anyone in the street or on the roads.

People wearing masks and gloves outside.

Essential service workers are terrified to go to work.

Medical workers are afraid to go home to their families.

Those unable to work have $580.80 for fulltime/over 20hrs and $350 for those under 20 paid to businesses by the government, with employers paying workers 80% of their wage.

This is the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic, which was declared March 11th, 2020.

We have so much!
Be thankful. Be grateful.

Be kind to each other - love one another - support everyone. ❤️

Well, wasn't that a long read?  *smiles*

ABOVE:  10 outta 10 to this bloke!  Snorkel, mask and a rag over the top of the snorkel too!  Can you imagine the looks you would get???  Hysterical.

Today we will be washing down the Studio external walls.  Stew will use the cleaning brush set and I will do some with a broom.

After it's dry we can paint the edges... which will be fun I'm sure.  NOT.

But, it is going to look amazing once it's done I'm sure.

I've got a bit of washing to get done too, and the odd job around the house.

I will leave you with another laugh or two:

yep...

yeah... hands up that's me.

LOL

ONWARD...

12 midday:  and we have had a very slow start to the day.  But now... we've got a few jobs done.

ABOVE:  Stew drilled out the rivets on two window security stays, so we can open the windows wider.  It gets so hot in the lounge, kitchen/dining/family rooms in the afternoon, so anything to get more air flow is good.

I then gave Stew a quick lesson on how to stitch knitted bits together, so he could add the next addition to the tree:


ABOVE:  And that was a FAIL.
I don't know how he did it, but he stuffed it up, so I ended up having to climb that bloody ladder and do it myself.

 ABOVE:  I ended up kneeling on the very top of the ladder with one leg and clinging for life from that branch!  But I'm proud to say I got that addition stitched on, even if I did feel a bit sick up there.

ABOVE:  So, while he failed to get the job done, he's very handy at other things! lol
I think I'll keep him.

He's now doing something with this thing:

ABOVE:  Any ideas people, what's he doing with it?

Lovely story from just now.
Stew was out the front, just about to come in the front door when a lady called out to him from the street.

She wanted to know if it was 'us' doing the tree decoration?
He said yes, it was his wife.

She said she goes by every day and snapchats a photo of it to share with her friends.  They all look forward to seeing what is new each day!

She said it was wonderful what I was doing.  Awwww.  

She asked if there was a new addition today and Stew said yes, and was going to show her, but NO!  She said she had to find it on her own.  *smiles*

Now, back to what Stew just did with that compass:

ABOVE:  He got our weather vane up!  And it looks awesome there.

Now?  LUNCHTIME.

4.34 pm:  After lunch I went out the back and started painting the edges and fiddly bits of the Studio walls.  I didn't get too far before stopping for the day.  I'm knackered.

And I have a pounding headache.  It's too damn hot for my liking.  

Stew made a start on the window cleaning, I think he got the gym and sunroom windows done.  He will probably do some more tomorrow.

9 pm:  Watching some weird movie, ready for bed more than anything else.  I made some tassels tonight, not sure if I've made them before.
Might be on the tree tomorrow.