COVID ISO DAY 9

 I don't think much is gunna be happening today.

I MIGHT get out and chip away more of the asphalt from in front of the garage, or failing that, do some sewing.

Either way, it is bound to be quiet.

I saw this on Facebook yesterday, sums me up pretty well.

A bit later on, when I know she will be awake, I'll check on her in the studio.  Stew still seems to be OK.

I don't know how he's managed to dodge the bullet so far! 

Right, catch ya later.

Today I slept until 9.45 am!  Yes, I was awake earlier of course, but managed to go back to sleep when Stew left for work (in the dining room).

Once up, I sat and watched the dogs frolick.

Then scratch.  And gnaw.  And OMG they have FLEAS!!!

All along I thought their intermittent scratching was from summer allergies, mostly grass seeds.

But NO. Friggin fleas.   So I filled the paddle pool and got out the Flea Shampoo and I bathed them.

They are now drying off in the garage before I apply FRONTLINE.

Luckily I actually have some Frontline.  This is probably the first time Marley has had fleas, and about the 2nd time for Coco.

I'm about to cook some Kumera Poppas for my lunch.  Weird lunch I know, but it's probably better for me than ice cream.

I'm over sandwiches.   

2.45 pm:  Well it's not been a great day today. All my good intentions went out the window with the  return of the really bad headache.  And fatigue.  Christ I'm so over this!  Bathing the dogs probably didn't help the headache.  

Talking of dogs, I better go and let them back in.  They should be dry by now, so I can apply Frontline to them now.

Because I struggle to swallow pills, I've been taking Panadol Mini Caps.  They go down really well.  But I ran out.

So Bex went looking for more just now, and there's none to be had anywhere.

So she got me some Pana Care liquid instead to try.

OMG that shit is YUM!  No wonder kids like to swallow it.

I've taken an adult dose, so let's wait and see if it knocks the headache on it's head.  Well... my head really!  lol

6.20 pm:  I couldn't let the day go without doing SOMETHING... so as the sun had gone away from the very front of the house, I got out there and...

ABOVE:  I chipped the 'new' asphalt away from the garage door.

All going well, tomorrow I will get it away from the rest of the house.

Then I will continue getting the asphalt off the concrete edging.  I want that uncovered too, so the concrete company don't rip it up by mistake at the end of the month.

TRACY:   I rested ALL DAY!  I only did a little bit of the driveway... maybe an hour at the most.

It's the end of the day.  Time to sign off for the day.  Catch ya tomorrow, where I will do NOTHING.

COVID ISO DAY 8

 Right.  The start of a new week.

Stew would usually be heading back into the office today, but as he's stuck here with me, he's still working in the dining area.

I asked him to bring in the screen, so when I'm moving about the house, his co-workers can't see me on their ZOOM meetings in the background.

ABOVE:  That should work.  I can stay in me nightie now if I want to. 😋😊😉

ABOVE: Does anyone remember this quilt top?

It's been 'on the go' for about 5 years now.  I simply can't get it's dimensions right.  It keeps coming out far too long for any bed.

So.  While I'm restricted in what I can do physically due to exhaustion, I'm gunna sit and unpick most of it and start again.

It actually started life meaning to be a table cloth!  But I got ambitious and made it bigger and bigger.  DOH.

Now I think it might end up as runners!  I do runners best.

So, let's see how much I can unpick today eh?

1 pm:  A pretty late update I'm afraid.

I stayed in bed until around 9.30 this morning.  I simply didn't have the energy to get up.

Then once I got up I headed straight into the sewing room and got to work on that quilt top.

ABOVE:  Here I have 7 runners ready to be put together with batting and backing fabric, and quilted.

ABOVE:  Another 3 ready for the same treatment.

ABOVE:  A small pile of 'scraps' that will probably become coasters?

ABOVE: And then there's this 'central' piece.  I'm not sure if I should cut it up into 5 runners, or leave it as is, and call it a small quilt or table cloth?

Ideas?

Right now though, I've run out of energy.  Actually feel shaky so will rest for the remainder of the afternoon.

Lunch next I reckon.

Well... lunch today was ice cream.  Cos that's all I felt like, and it slipped down me throat easily.

I just got an email from the Concrete Company, and they are coming to start working on the driveway in 3 weeks.  

I said to Stew last night, every job that has been done here over the past 6 months has gone wrong somehow.

The painters did a very average job, the Carpet Company dicked us around and then the driveway company from hell.

I told him I was really NERVOUS that something would go wrong with the concrete driveway too.

But he reminded me, things happen in THREE'S, and we've had our three already.

So... let's be totally confident that 'G' can and does do an amazing job on our driveway.

We have seen a driveway he did a couple of weeks ago, just down the road from here, and it's GORGEOUS!  Utterly faultless.  So, high hopes he does an amazing job here too.

4.35 pm: Starting to have an issue with a neighbour.  They are burning rubbish in their BBQ late in the afternoon, early evening.  Seems like 2-3 times a week at the moment.

They have started doing this in the past month or so, not before then though.

It is SO ANNOYING, as it invariably means it wafts all over our clean washing, and into the house via open windows and doors.

Stew and I just rushed outside to get the washing in, and close all the windows, AGAIN.

Might like to point out there is a TOTAL fire ban right now. Obviously that does not mean for BBQ's... for MEALS.   

I doubt you are supposed to be burning RUBBISH, even in your bloody BBQ!

So, I've sent her a text, just asking her to let us know before she burns rubbish, so we can get our washing in.  

I wonder if she will reply?

Yeah, the reply was he was doing a BBQ.  Yeah right.  Burn the rubbish FIRST, then cook a BBQ... cos we said something.

Not impressed.  But she did apologise and said she would give us warning next time so we could get our washing in.

I'm not in the mood to be dicked around with right now.

Stew and I had some lovely Chinese for dinner tonight.  Bex went and got it for us and delivered it to our door. 

She's done like 3? or 4? trips for us already since we had to isolate.  Now she's also fetching and carrying for Lacy!

I will owe her a huge hug as soon as I'm Covid free.  

8.49 pm:  And that's a wrap on the day.  We are doing good... thanks to good food, helpful family, Netflix and PANADOL.

Lots of Panadol.

COVID ISO DAY 7

Just 4 more days until I'm released from Covid House Arrest!

Well.... as long as I get a negative test result of course.

My biggest question now is, if Stew tests positive today, will that affect my ability to leave the house once I test negative?

Or do I have to then start on Day One again with Stew?   I suppose I will find out if Stew tests positive eh?

Stew won't be impressed if he does test positive, because that means he will have been in Covid Isolation for 7 days because of ME, PLUS THEN another 10 days for himself.

I will be testing him shortly...  I will post his result here.

I told you yesterday that I'd been chipping away at removing the asphalt from my house edges, this is how it's looking:

ABOVE:  I slid a small chisel under the edge then just pulled it up!  Seriously, I could have removed so much more, but I'll leave that to the Concrete company at the end of the month.

I'm still gobsmacked at the sheer bad quality of the asphalt, and the workmanship was abysmal.

ABOVE:  See how much of our concrete garden edging he just covered with asphalt?  It came off super easy too.  It was never going to stay there on it's own, that's for sure.

ABOVE:  I got to in front of the garage door yesterday.  Today I hope to pull it up all along the front of the garage door at least.
Once I've got it all cleared away from the edges, I can wash the tar off the bricks and door with petrol.

I was about to say Stew and I were gunna go looking for a lovely big pot for around the back... then remembered we are in friggin COVID ISOLATION.

Grrrrrr.  I'm totally over not being allowed off the property!

Lacy has been stuck here for a week already, and now has another 9 days to go!  

So.   I don't know what Stew will get up to today.  Maybe he can vacuum the house... if he's well!  lol

8.39 am;  First thing I did after getting outta bed.  Test the man.

ABOVE:  And.... a BIG FAT NEGATIVE!

Like how the F&#K is he staying negative????

He reckons it's down to him drinking Berocca every morning (tongue in cheek).  Maybe his immune system is just stronger?

There's still time is all I can say.

Me?  Feeling much the same as the past two days.  Still not 100%, but not as bad as those first few days.  I can function at this level.

3.31 pm:  Well maybe, just maybe, I did too much yesterday.  Cos I've had no energy today at all.

I went outside to start chipping away more asphalt but came in after only a few minutes!

What a pussy!

Stew made me lunch then I went to bed and dozed on and off for 3 hours.

Lacy is doing well.  No headache or much of anything.  Mild cold type symptoms.  Lucky bitch.

9.42 pm:  Well it's been another ruddy boring day!  The only positive thing to day was I didn't feel any worse.

I think Lacy is starting to feel pretty yuk now though. 

Stew?  Healthy as a horse.

Time to sign off, another riveting day to look forward to tomorrow.

COVID ISO DAY 6

 YEAH!

Two things to be happy about today.

I am feeling much better.  Obviously my throat dries out a lot overnight, so feels much worse in the morning.

That will ease up over the day all going well.

And... THE MONEY IS IN THE BANK.  So no more shielding the asphalt company's name.

SHAW ASPHALTERS 2006 Ltd, you suck.  You ruined our driveway.  

Today, if I continue to feel up to it, I'm going to start digging all the asphalt out of the drip lines between our house bricks, that should never have been filled with asphalt in the first place!

I will also clean the tar off our bricks and garage door.  AND I will sweep all the stones off the driveway, and around the edges that they just left.

In other words, I will start to clean up the bloody mess they should have fixed from the word go.

Well that's the plan!  Let's see how much I can get done before the batteries run down, and I have to go and have a Nana Nap!  COVID people!  COVID saps ya energy for sure.

..... And then she got outta bed, had breakfast, brushed her teeth, combed her hair.... and collapsed in a heap on her chair.  EXHAUSTED.

NO... you may not say 'I told you so' or laugh.  

I shall just sit here and gather some strength... for later.

11.43 am:  I'm outside hosing down the driveway.  Wearing my mask of course.  Lacy is over by her studio.  She has a little cough now and then.  So I tell her to go and take a RAT.

POSITIVE.

Did she catch it here, or at her last flat where her flatmate had it and took no precautions against spreading it?  We will never know.

But it means she has to now enter 10 MORE days of isolation!  

I wonder when Stew will test positive?

And I can't do NOTHING for days and days on end, it's doing my head in.

ABOVE:  That is all I did!  Just hosed down the driveway to again remove loose stones.  I KNOW it was a pointless exercise as it's all getting ripped up in a month, but I still wanted to do it.

I am now in me chair, feet up drinking diet coke.

Happy now?

ABOVE: Stew just sprayed weedkiller on our cute little lawn!

Yep.  We are killing it and starting again.  It had so many weeds it was more weeds than lawn.

ABOVE:  He's now working on filling in the holes and prepping this area for topsoil, then lawn.

We are taking the pavers back about 4 'sets'.  And of course, removing that black metal pole too.

Stew still feels well.  No, we will not be mixing and mingling with Lacy now that she has Covid too.  

ABOVE:  Stew worked for a few hours this morning and got the back yard ready for new topsoil.

He laid some pavers in that corner so we can put a BIG pot there, and grow a passionfruit vine in it.  Well that's the plan.

ABOVE:  Now all ready for new topsoil, then grass.

I spent about 2 hours this afternoon chipping back the asphalt from our house bricks.  I used a small chisel and my hands.  It wasn't hard to pull the bloody asphalt up!

I'll show you what I got done tomorrow.  For now... I'm done.

Stew and I had our lunch very late in the afternoon, so are going to wait until late this evening for dinner.

I think we are having ice cream.  Judge not.  We are grown ups and can eat ice cream for dinner if we want!

Well, we didn't have ice cream after all.  I cooked up some chips and fish cakes!  Super fast and easy.  

Now, it's getting late and I'm off to bed.

Stew has a headache.   Testing him again in the morning!

COVID ISO DAY 5

 Steve, Bex and the boys came over for a swim last night.  They didn't enter our house at all, just snuck down the side of the house to the pool.

ABOVE:  We got to watch them swim, and yak to them from the safety of the sunroom.  Masks on too, of course.

ABOVE:  I made a concentrated effort to NOT touch or rub my eyes yesterday, and it has helped them tremendously!

I still feel like shit, but maybe a smaller pile of shit!  💩💩 lol

My eyes are certainly much better.  

Bex is doing a grocery shop for us today... she's getting me ice cream, custard and mousse.  Cos the throat is still awful.

I might ring the Dr and ask for a prescription for something that will actually help my throat.  

Right, that's me for now.  Catch ya later.

11.30 am:  Ahhh tis a good day!

On a scale of 1 to 10, my headache is now only a 5.

The throat is still a problem, but I will try and get something better for it today.

Bex did our shopping, I now have lots of yummy stuff to eat that won't hurt me throat.

The Asphalt Company has agreed to our final terms to settle the driveway issue!!!

I am shocked to be honest.

I was sure that bastard would dig his heels in and refuse to do anything except return our deposit!

Now we are getting our deposit back, PLUS a fair amount to remove their fucking defective asphalt!

I bitterly regret not going down the 'concrete' path from the word go!  But I thought it would be way, way too expensive.  And it's not!  Yes, it's double what the asphalt cost, but now in hindsight, a much better option.

So, I'm having a happy day.  About bloody time.

Why is it when you are struggling to keep your eyes open and feel DOG TIRED, ya go to bed ...  and you can't sleep?  Sooooo frustrating.

And the fucking Asphalt Company are being utter pricks and have pointed out that at NO TIME have they said their asphalt was defective (he DID SAY THAT, and we have it on tape), and they will not admit to poor workmanship either.

Well I'm sorry, but the damn driveway speaks for itself, as does the tar on me house, tiles, garage door, jagged and crumbling edges and so on.  FFS, I'm totally over this shit.  As soon as they have paid us back I am going to do my very best to forget they ever stepped foot on my property.

Yes Tracy, I will be letting it go.  Sorta.

I just watched The Weekend Away on Netflix. Not a bad 'who done it'.

Throat is now a 4/10.  Headache 4/10, so we are on the improve!

Minimal coughing and certainly less sneezing.  That's a bloody relief cos OMG those sneezes were something else.  My best was 6 humongous ones in a row!

Easy to see how the virus spreads when you are sneezing those bugs for miles!  lol

I might just cook dinner this evening.

Sausages, smashed potatoes and veges.

With gravy.  Gotta have gravy.  And if that doesn't wanna go down too well... there's always pudding, ice cream and custard!

Dinner went well... but it took all my energy to cook and serve it!

I don't think I've felt this fatigued in ... EVER.

Looking forward to tomorrow, cos I reckon I will be feeling even better than today.

Catch ya then.

COVID ISO DAY 4

 

ABOVE:  All together now  ...

"You look dreadful!"

And I feel dreadful.

I really hope today I take a turn for the better cos I'm kinda over this now.

My chest feels tight and heavy now.  Not too bad, but worth noting I suppose.  Just shit changing and evolving.

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you will know that when I get a cough, I end up vomiting as well.

YEAH.  That's started as well.  Kill me now.

I got a phone call from our Medical Centre yesterday afternoon.  I forgot to mention it then.

They had been notified by MOH that I was a positive case. So they rang to check up on me.  They asked how I was feeling, if I needed any help with anything, did I need any medications and so on,  and gave me a direct line to a Doctor 24/7.

That impressed me.  

Griffin rang me last night, he's now been classed as a 'close contact' of someone (not us), so he's off this morning to get a RAT too.

Gosh is sure seems to be going around rapidly.

I hope he tests negative of course.

Right, I'm gunna roll over and try to get some more rest.  I have not slept well and feel like shit.

10.30 am:  I'm finally out of bed.  It was a rough night.  My throat was on fire, razor blades when I coughed.  Just generally horrible.

But 'JULIE', I'm sure I deserve it right?

Bex called in and is getting us (and Lacy) some supplies.  I threw cash out the window... covered in Sanitiser!  Lucky our notes are made of plastic 😂😅😆.

ABOVE:  This came in the mail yesterday.  I can clearly remember the man taking photos of our letterbox, we were outside talking to people under our tree at the time.  

Now I know why he was taking the photos.

I wasn't going to buy one of the books, but Stew wants to.  So looks like we are getting one.

3.30 pm:  And our Covid numbers keep rising alarmingly.  And the number of people in hospital and ICU is climbing rapidly too.

Such a worry.  I hope we reach the peak and start to drop numbers soon.

As for me?  Much the same as previous days, maybe slightly worse.  But I'm not alarmed at all.  The nurse who rang me yesterday said I had about 3 days more of escalating symptoms before they started to ease up, I just didn't want to believe her!

ABOVE:  The girls were very excited to see Bex this morning... lucky they don't have the nerve to jump out the window.  Shih Tzus don't jump too well!

ABOVE:  Something 'new' in the rockery.  It's Lacy's junk.  Looks nice there though.

ABOVE:  And there's the tart herself, stuck in her Studio.  She can only walk through the garage and use the family bathroom now... we have closed off the rest of the house for just Stew and I.  No mixing and mingling going on here.

I can't go into the garage unless I spay the whole room with OUST, which is a 99.9% anti viral/bacterial spray.  Anything I touch I wipe down with sanitiser too.

We are being super careful we don't give it to Lacy or anyone else.

So far so good.  Stew is still symptom free.  If he gets it after a week or so, that means we are locked down for even longer.  Such a pain.

I remember 30+ years ago, one of our kids got Chicken Pox.  Because it was highly infectious, we couldn't go near Stew's Mum as she was going through Chemotherapy.

We had 5 kids at that time ... and they got Chicken Pox one after the other... so we had Chicken Pox for around 4 months.  It was a nightmare!

I hope we don't end up with a similar scenario with Covid and the rest of our family!

DANG!  I was just reading some info on Covid and Isolation rules.

Seems the day I tested positive was DAY 0.  So I am now technically on Day 3, not 4.  Bloody hell.

A whole day more to add to the isolation.

edit: And, as Marlene said, I had symptoms before I took the test.... so I'm gunna say I'm on Day 4 today.  so there.

Tonight we had a beef stew that Stew put in the crock pot this morning.  I was very nice, but hurt my throat something rotten.

I might switch to ice cream, custard and mousse!

That will be 'difficult'.... 😂😅😋.

Right, that's about it for today.

Fingers crossed for a better day tomorrow.

COVID ISO DAY 3

 

ABOVE:  Well, I don't think I'm gunna be winning any prizes for 'healthiest looking female' any time soon!

I still look and feel bloody horrible.

I think I almost got on top of the headache last night, for a little while at least.

The eyes?  Not at all.  They are so sore.

Stew is still hanging in there, feeling 'normal'.

Lucky bugger.   Long may it last.

Today's plans?

Well... I do believe it will be exactly the same as yesterday!

Stay home.  Drink as much fluid as possible.  Take plenty of Panadol.  Rest.

I might seek out another movie to watch on Netflix later on.

Do me WORDEL.  Might do a few archival ones too if I am feeling up to it.

Anything to pass the time without taxing myself physically.  Cos that just ain't happening!

I have NO ENERGY at all.  None. Zip. Nada. Zilch. Zero. 😂😅😆

I've got some bloke coming tonight at 6.30 pm to pick up the Baby Change Table... SOMEONE remind me please!

I'm bound to forget.

 How rude can you be 'P'?  To send me a blog comment (not published), and then a Facebook Message at 3 am?

Knowing I'm sick and probably don't need to be reading your shit in the middle of the night!

You are a fucking crazy woman, who had a Covid Party after your flatmate tested positive!  Pot calling the kettle black there ya stupid bitch.

I have blocked you.  Now crawl back into your hole and leave me AND my family alone.

You can be reported to the police for cyber harassment/bullying by the way, and we will do that if you don't stop.

10.32 am:  Still not heard from the asphalt Company ... bet they wait the full week to reply.

IN the meantime, we have seen a couple of Concrete Companies, and have signed up to have our driveway ripped up and laid with coloured concrete.

The tentative date for commencement of that is at the end of March!!!  

In the meantime, once I'm up to it, I'm going to manually dig out all the asphalt from between our house bricks, and try and clean off all the tar from the bricks, garage door and concrete edging.

I am beyond LIVID that the Asphalt Company didn't even do that.

6.37 pm:  Well it's been very quiet here as you can imagine.

I did go outside this afternoon (fully masked up) to water the pots and gardens.

The bloke came and picked up the change table, he had to dismantle it to get it in his car.

So pleased the protest down in Wellington has been ended.  Not peacefully, but done for now by the look of it.  I hope they go home now.

Stew is cooking dinner, I have no idea what we are having?  Smells nice whatever it is.

I just asked him what it is, and he said 'Stew's Surprise'.   So, it's a wait and see scenario obviously.  😅😃😂

Dinner was sausages and mock whitebait fritters.  Very nice.  He made the fritters for me cos he knows I love them.  Awwwww.  Thanks Darling.

I'm feeling bloody awful this evening!  Fingers crossed I am almost on the downward side and feel better tomorrow.

COVID ISO DAY 2.

 Yeah.

Not feeling too flash.

Didn't sleep well.

ABOVE:  My 'Covid' face.  😋😆

I think the worst symptoms are the headache and one I've not heard of before, sore eyes?

The rest is just like having a cold.

ABOVE:  Stew doing his self test yesterday!  A bit funny.  I told him he didn't need to shove it up into his brain... but looks like he tried anyway.  

Stew is working from home this week as scheduled, and half of next week now due to having to self isolate.

I don't know what I'll get up to today.  It will depend on how I feel once I get out of bed.

Until then... catch ya later.

12.50 pm:  Steadily feeling worse.  It's like a really bad cold.  Except for the headache and eyes.

Nothing is fixing the headache, and my eyes are still sore and running.

Sneezes like .... almost blow my head off!

But breathing is still fine, no respiratory problems at all.  That's a relief.

I firmly believe having been vaccinated and Boosted has helped lessen the symptoms.

Stew is still feeling OK.  He's working from home this week anyway, so that's kinda fortuitous. 

2.25 pm:  Brylee just dropped off some potato chips for us.  I felt like chips.

Weirdly, I am not thirsty, not at all.  I'm forcing myself to drink.  It's WEIRD, cos usually I'm drinking all the time.

MICHELLE:  Stew and I are living 'normally' within the house.  He is bound to get it, we were not keeping apart immediately before I tested POSITIVE, so yeah.  He's got a 99.9% chance of having caught it from me.

Brylee was in the house up until the weekend, but we didn't actually get in each other's faces (as such), so hopefully she will be fine.

Lacy is keeping her distance, she's wearing a mask while talking to me, with her way over the other side of the driveway, and me inside the house.

I feel very 'contaminated'.... it's a horrible feeling knowing I'm infectious right now.

GODDAM!  These sneezes are something else!!!

ABOVE:  I just watched this movie.  I give it a 7/10.    A bit slow in places, a thin story line, but enjoyable.

The best part for me was when Melissa McCarthy did her 'bit'.   I love her!  One of my MOST FAVOURITE actress.  If you watch it, make sure you watch the bit AFTER the ending credits as well !!!

I feel like utter shit, and am going back to bed.

9.03 pm:  Well it's been a long, boring day.

Being sick is not fun, entertaining or well... ANYTHING positive.

I'm hoping that tomorrow I feel a bit better.

Stew cooked us a lovely dinner of chicken steaks, kumera rosti and poppas and veges.

Time to just kill time till bedtime now... not that I'm looking forward bedtime.  You always feel worse during the night with nothing to distract you from how ya feel.  😕😒