GROOMS AND DINNER

 The girls get groomed again today.  That's late morning, which gives me the opportunity to pop into the supermarket next door and get.... a BIRTHDAY CAKE.

Cos it's Bex's birthday today.  She's 30+, not sure if it's 34 or 35!

One of them numbers anyway.

We will be having them over for dinner this evening, plus the usual family who like to be here.  Just an 'open door' type thing.

I've not even decided what we are having yet!  Something easy for sure.  I'm not up for massive effort.  lol

So made up my mind... we are having Chinese Takeaways for dinner.

I'm not up for cooking much.

Or baking a cake obviously.

Woke up feeling almost normal!  Then made the bed, showered etc and ... exhausted.

ABOVE:  Think I might have a nap. lol  Nah, I'll probably fold that washing.

12 noon:  The girls are at the groomers.  I cleaned out my car... far too much shit in it.  Folded all the washing and put it away. 

Got a cake at the supermarket.  There was NO choice, it was a Chocolate Cake, or NOTHING.

The meat department was woefully empty too.  But, I did manage to buy two of those lovely Citrus Crunch Salads. 

The neighbours had scaffolders in, looks like they are replacing their roof.

Lacy is enjoying eyeing up the men.  

And I'm just sitting here, feeling like my head is full of cotton wool.  Friggin sick to death of this.

4.25 pm:  Coco, sit still for a photo would ya?

NO.

What about you Marley?

Will this do?

I tried.

ABOVE:   Bex has had a lovely birthday, and we all enjoyed her birthday dinner.

The above video is her opening her birthday card... I put a wind up butterfly in it.

I will add a few photos tomorrow.

For now... it's the end of the day.

Time to sign off.

Catch ya tomorrow.

THAT'S SO WEIRD

 I've been 'sick' for two weeks now.

It didn't affect my appetite at all, in fact I felt quite hungry the whole time.

And I craved sweet stuff more than usual.

I ate HEAPS.

I was a bit scared to get on the scales, but did so yesterday morning.

LOST 2.6 kilos!

Like how the hell does that happen when all you do is eat and lie around acting like ya dying?

I don't suppose I should complain.  It could have easily gone the other way!

ABOVE:  So how do I feel two weeks down the track from contracting Covid?

Still very easily tired.

Mild headache, non stop.

Still got the cough.

Still a bit snotty.

Still got sore eyes.

But all are LESS than they were.

I had thought of going on an FBG 20/20 walk tomorrow morning.  But maybe not.  Something tells me it's still too early to be thinking along those lines.  Bugger.

So.  Stew is working from home this week, even though we are not in Isolation anymore.

He's still well.  That is beyond amazing to me.

My plan for today is to potter in the sewing room.  I've got 8 runners to make.

Catch ya later.

I just made Stew take another RAT.  Cos you know, someone can be asymptomatic and still have it right?

He's NEGATIVE!

So, here's hoping he stays that way.

It's another glorious early Autumn day... still hot as hell out there.

Any thoughts of chipping asphalt are gone.

Any thoughts of sewing right now are gone too.

I got bugger all sleep last night and feel like shit.

Talk about a friggin boring blog lately!  Sorry for moaning so much.  Sorry it's not full of sunshine and roses.  

12.10 am:  And I've finally DONE something today.  I hung out two loads of washing, and have two more to go.

I also tidied up the back door area, it was looking decidedly shabby.  More like the 'dumping ground' than anything else.

I might get some pots around there to make it look nicer eventually.

Stew is busy working away in the dining area.  And I'm now eating chocolate mousse and fruit.

Cos it does down easily.  Still got a sore throat!

ABOVE:  Something I live by.  Also add Your political views.  Your religious views. 

Though I do have a few things to say on our politics.  

But not here.

ABOVE:  I Soooooo want to make this.

But (😦😣😟)   ... I have so much else to finish first.  

I tried to have a nap this afternoon.  Ha ha ha!  Fat chance.  But I felt like lying there was better than nothing.

Just taking it one day at a time, hoping that every day I feel a bit better.

I think I'm in for a longer recovery than some.  

Lacy is doing well.

Mike and Joyce are too... thank goodness.  Joyce is almost back to 'normal', and Mike isn't too bad.  Sounds like he will be all good by the end of the week!

Tonight I am going to drag Stew out for a 10/10 with me... as soon as it's cooled down a bit.  Right now it's bloody diabolical out there.  NO wind to speak of, and stinking hot.

I have to start somewhere.  This lying around doing nothing is doing my head in.  Small steps must help eh?

*snort*.  We didn't go for a walk.  We ate puddings instead. We are such a worry!

Now... watching some telly before bed.

Fingers crossed for a decent night's sleep tonight!

STILL NOPE

 Still a nope day.

Battling exhaustion.

6.47 pm:  We went out for a walk.  Around the shops at The Base.  We didn't go into the mall though.

ABOVE:  It wasn't busy there.  Saw this 'Dukes of Hazzard' car.  I wasn't a fan of the TV programme.

ABOVE:  We went back to Founders Theatre and picked up more FREE RATs.

Mike and Joyce down in Palmerston North both have Covid now.  Both seem to be getting off lightly, though Mike just tested Positive today, so it's still early days for him.

ABOVE:  Majority of my day was either here, or lying on me bed.  If I do ANYTHING at all I break out in a sweat, go all tingly and feel sick.

Still exhausted.  Very, very frustrating.

ABOVE:  Stew suggested we visit the supermarket at 6 pm, we had FOUR things on the list.

$350 bucks later.

At least there was some BALANCE ... as shown above!

ABOVE: We are cooking dinner now, which is Pork Belly Burnt Ends, with salads.  The Pork came in a pre-packaged box.  Not got them before.  

And that's me for the day.

Catch ya tomorrow.

NOPE

 I'm taking a break from blogging today.  

Maybe tomorrow as well.

It's always quiet over the weekends anyway, people have things to do, places to go and so on.

So.  Might come back later... or not.

ABOVE:  Today's efforts involved buying timber to edge the new lawn, gravel and a pot.

ABOVE:  Stew did all the physical work while I supplied 'support'.    Here he is making a drainage line at the lowest point of the new lawn.

ABOVE:  'All' there is to do now is lay down topsoil and then grass seed!

There is a new pot in the far corner with an existing plant from a smaller pot in it.

Oh yeah, we need to re-do the weed killer on the lawn too... it's still got shit growing on it.

That is all for today.

A PROMISE

 Today I have promised myself two things.

1.  NO chocolate or lollies!

2.  NO chipping up asphalt.

I totally overdid BOTH things yesterday, and by 8 pm I was completely DONE IN.

I was exhausted, and my stomach was churning from having chocolate after dinner... and lollies for lunch!

Yep, seriously stuffed up my day eating shit, and doing too much.

So today I'm going to do things differently.

No sweets.  No physical exercise.

Just chill out, be a lazy tart.  Watch Netflix.

ABOVE:  I took this photo of Coco for Mike yesterday.  She's so cute.

I can't believe she's now 12.  Such a sweetie, and doing so well.

ABOVE: This is the salad I bought for our dinner last night.  I don't buy pre-packaged salads too often. I had not bought this one before.  I can highly recommend it though.  It was just lovely.

You could easily add more ingredients to it, to make it go further too.   I didn't bother, it was just enough for Stew and I, with a bit left over for my lunch today.

Right, time to get a move on... and do nothing! lol

12.55 pm:  And I am doing NOTHING!

Seriously, all I've done today is water the gardens.

And that was not strenuous at all.

ABOVE: The back lawn is taking it's sweet time dying off, but it is slowly dying.

Once it's totally dead we can rake all the dead stuff off and re-sow with GOOD grass seed.

Bex just visited.  She's getting Lacy some groceries.

ABOVE: The dogs went nuts when she came inside. Rather sweet.

ABOVE:  Steve has today off work and is out fishing off Kawhia, lucky bugger.  He said he's caught quite a few fish too.

Suemn has left a new comment on your post "BACK TO NORMAL":

I am so glad that the asphalt company is paying you to replace the driveway. They really did a horrible job.

Ahhh Suemn, I don't know where you read that.

The Asphalt Company did NOT pay for us to get a new driveway at all.

They refunded our deposit and gave us a goodwill payment towards the removal of their defective asphalt, which in no way covers all of the removal, at all.

The new concrete driveway is being paid for entirely by us.

5.30 pm:  And as you can see, I've been very quiet on here today.  That is because I slept all afternoon.

Yep.  Did NOTHING at all.  I can do it!

I can't say I feel better for it either.  Still tired.

The Covid fatigue is lingering around it would appear.

Tonight Stew and I are gunna have some sort of takeaways for dinner.

Talking of Stew, he should be home from work in the next half an hour or so.

8.48 pm:  Dinner was fish 'n' chips.  Very average.

Stew is now watching rugby and I'm watching a movie on Netflix.  It's boring.  I will be switching to something else.

Catch ya tomorrow.

BACK TO NORMAL

 Well.... I'm done being in Isolation.

It's 11 days since I tested Positive, so well and truly no longer infectious apparently.

So what shall I do today?

Go out and about, celebrate being FREE?

Stew has gone back to work in the office, he's FREE too.

I dunno.  If I can think of a valid reason to go out, I will.  Otherwise I'm happy to stay at home.

ABOVE:  Recognise the gate?  It used to hang in our Cambridge house, before we got our gorgeous Barn Door.  

Now, it's the perfect size for here.

Oh how I miss our amazing Barn Door!  And I wish there was somewhere here to put one.  But no.  There isn't anywhere to put one, and it wouldn't be in keeping with this homes style.

ABOVE:  I'm rather happy that I can now get my laundry trolley in and out of the laundry area.

The other day I had to lift the trolley over the other gate, and all the damn pegs fell out all over the floor.  That's when my thinking cap went on... and I decided to put the bigger gate on.

I shall probably work on the runners I have managed to eeek out of that quilt top today.

And that's me for now.

Catch ya later.

9.15 am:  And I did it!   I got up at my 'normal time', had a shower etc, made the bed for the first time on 11 days, did the pool maintenance, watered the back garden, opened all the windows and did other little odd jobs.  And while I had to push myself towards the end, I did it all!

So happy I'm pretty much back to normal.

Sure, my fitness levels are at an all time low, but small steps.  I might try for a 10/10 this evening, once it's cooled down.

10/10 means walk 10 minutes from home, then turn around and come back.  I will slowly build up the time until I can rejoin my FBG friends in Cambridge for some 20/20's.

And, because I feel quite good today, I might go out looking for a pot to grow a passionfruit vine in.  

12:10 pm:  And I spent 2 hours out looking at pots.  Nothing said 'buy me'.

So then I turned my attention to finding more Dog Flea Shampoo.

Two Pet shops and two supermarkets later... NO ONE has any.

So I grabbed a few groceries and came home.

And then I rang Mike.

Cos Mike works in a big distribution centre in Palmerston North, that supplies ANIMAL and PET supplies to all the retailers in New Zealand.

And he's gunna get me Dog Shampoos for the girls.  

So far him and Joyce have not caught Covid, but it's only a matter of time, as they live with someone who now has it.

I'm feeling pretty good after being out and about, forgot how awful it is to wear a mask.  Particularly when it's so hot outside.  I was bloody relieved to get home and throw the mask off.

I won't be doing much else for the day.  I'm a bit tired, but I wouldn't say exhausted.  Must be getting better eh?

ABOVE:  So after lunch, I did some of that.

ABOVE:  I was really happy to get the asphalt removed from around the air conditioning unit today.  It came up VERY easily in fact.  In some places I use a chisel and hammer to prise it up of course, but that area?  Nah, it was just a hand job.  😖😂😅

I just put dinner in the oven.  We are having Butterflied Chicken with Red Onions/Sultanas and a Hoisin sauce, potatoes and salad.

Should be good.

Dinner was amazing.  

Steve, Bex and the boys visited us!  That was lovely.  Nice to get hugs again.

I overdid it today.  The idea of going for a walk after dinner was a laugh! 

Catch ya tomorrow.

COVID ISO DAY 10

TESTING DAY 10.

We are both doing a RAT test today, to see where we are at.

I SHOULD test negative today, if all the information is correct.  It's 10 days since my first positive test, and I no doubt had the damn Covid a couple of days prior to that.  So, let's cross our fingers for a NEGATIVE today!

As for Stew, if he tests Negative today, he might have totally dodged the bullet.  But we can't breath easy on him yet, you can test Positive up to 2, 2 and a half weeks after contact with a positive person.

So... that's ALL I am planning on doing this morning.  

I'm guilty of forgetting to mention this, it was COCO'S birthday yesterday.  She turned 12.  She's doing well, she's not slowed down that much yet.  Just the occasional hick up when she gets stressed or over tired.

Oh, it was also my Dad's Birthday yesterday.  Dad would have been 88, but died aged 66.  Time sure in hell flies!  

Do you have any idea how HARD it is to blog when all you do all day is REST?  Pfffff.

AND... the results are in:

ABOVE:  WE are both NEGATIVE!

I am FREE!

Even though I still have all the symptoms, I no longer have Covid.  That's a bit weird, but never mind.

We are cautiously optimistic that Stew will continue to test Negative.  He's still sticking to his theory that taking Berocca every day has kept him from catching it.  Well, that and being vaccinated and being 'THE MAN'.  Yeah right.

Stew is already saying he's going back into the office tomorrow.  He'll have two days in the office, then next week, working from home again.

Me?  I will stay home today and probably tomorrow too.  Just to be safe.  I shall do very little, and hopefully in a couple more days I will actually start to FEEL better?  For now though, I'm going back to bed to REST.

ANON:  NO you are incorrect.  Lacy has been using a separate bathroom from Stew and I.   She is totally separate from us in every way.

We have closed off 'our' end of the house from her, we are NOT mixing and mingling at all.  

I have talked to her on the driveway, keeping a safe distance from her.

If she walks through the garage to use her bathroom, she spays air sanitiser all around her 'pathway'.  

We have taken EVERY precaution known to man in fact.

Now that I am NEGATIVE, I do not have to backtrack and start again because someone else has it in the house (Lacy).   Read up on it please, so you are better informed.  Thanks.

ABOVE:  My source of information.

LINE EYES???   I was like.... is there a faint line on my test?  I was a little bit like maybe?

So I took another test using Lacy's test kits, a different brand.

And YEAH.... there's a faint line still.  So, almost out of the woods, but not quite.  Home for a couple more days.

I am literally gobsmacked!

Our Government has just announced that Covid Positive people can leave isolation after only 7 days, effective midnight Friday.

Like WTF?  You are still POSITIVE on Day 7. 

So right, lets all go willy nilly out into the general population and spread COVID everywhere!

That is CRAZY.

Lacy is on Day 5 and her RAT test this morning was HUGELY POSITIVE!  Like a huge FAT RED LINE.

Why am I bothering to stay home now?  

SIMPLE.  I do not plan on giving this shit virus to ANYONE if I can help it.

This morning I did some more unpicking, and rearranged a few of those runners.

Then I got sick of doing that, so I went outside and chipped up more asphalt:

ABOVE:  This was the VERY tricky area... power and internet wires, water connection and a downpipe to work around.

ABOVE:  But I did it, and a bit more from around the bricks too.  The sun started killing me, so I stopped after that.

ABOVE:  The pile of chipped up asphalt grows bigger!  

I feel like the more I can remove from the 'tricky' places, the easier the job will be for the concrete company.

That is why I'm doing it.

I tried really hard to rest this afternoon, but my mind was ticking over with another job I wanted to do.

So I did it.  Not a biggie, just changing the gate in the dogs garage pen, so it now has a bigger gate that I can get the laundry trolley through now.

Photos tomorrow.

For now, I'm thinking of what to do for dinner. 

And.... tonight we are having some Spaghetti Bolognese mix that I made and froze earlier this year, with noodles.  Easy peasy.

I am so happy with how much I got done today... more than I've done in over a week that's for sure.  I love it when I am productive. 

Near catastrophe! We were down to ONE bottle of Diet Coke in the fridge.  So, because he's symptom free and has done 10 days in Isolation, Stew went to the supermarket this evening.

We are now stocked up with Diet Coke and a few treats to last us a week or longer!

Stew said the supermarket shelves were quite empty!  Oh well... I'm sure we will survive.

You just have to adjust to what's available eh?

Signing off for the day .... looking forward to tomorrow, when life kinda gets back to normal for us.

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.