Blue Springs - Te Waihou Walkway

Walked in the short end from Leslie Road. I suspect there are more than one spring along this waterway.

 Reminds me of the stream in Haumarana, and the water is so clear.

 Loving the blues and greens.

 The patterns the water grass makes are therapeutic, and I could just keep watching them forever.

 Since swimming has been banned for the past year, the stream has recovered, and look at all the water grass. The ducks were enjoying it, and I also saw some shags looking for fish.

 Grabbed a quick bite at the "Wooden Farmer" in Putaruru. A pork slider for me...,

 and a Moroccan chicken salad for him.

 Popped into "Over the Moon" cheese factory, and left with a kilo of triple cream brie. Now to find some Bread Asylum sour dough to spread it on. Devine.

Ice Skating - Taupo

 It's been a few years since we have been ice skating. Taupo had a rink, so we made the most of it for the school holidays.

 I fell over twice, and managed to get an awesome bruise on my buttocks.  The urchins can now skate faster than me.

 There were some spectacular falls by Tighe, and a crash involving a dad and a small girl.  Everyone survived.

 Anneke practised going backwards. Fortunately there weren't too many small children about.

After a lunch of burgers and chips, we soaked at Waikite hot Pools for the rest of the day.

Off the map (again)

With the border controls in place, New Zealand has had no new cases for 23 days. We are doing so well, that the New York Times left us off the map.

At least a cryptocurrency has New Zealand on the edge. The urchins pointed that out.

Perhaps New Zealand is a mystery island, and the Pacific is a mystery ocean.

 At least the "West Island" (Australia) features on the maps.

I like playing Risk, just disappointed I cannot conquer New Zealand.

Well Done the Team of 5 Million.

17 days since the last active Covid-19 case in New Zealand.

I remember my anxiety back at the start of lockdown, on 23 March 2020, when we had 103 cases. "So did Italy once".

At that time, Italy was the virus epicenter of Europe, with 6,600 deaths and 700 new deaths a day. New Zealand could have been like Italy. To date, NZ has had 1154 cases, and sadly 22 deaths. Now the United States shows that by not taking the virus seriously, community transmission affects the whole nation and the economy. So many preventable deaths. The world will be grieving for a long time.

17 May - Last Day of Lockdown

 Last day before the urchins go back to school after about 7 weeks of electronic classroom and isolation.  Time to celebrate!

 To celebrate, we are having Mexican for dinner, with a Jamaican Rum Punch.

 Spiced pulled chicken with tortilla bowls, with heaps of guacamole.

Erik made the tortilla bowls. They were crunchy and an nice compliment to the spicy hot dinner.

50th Year Project - Finished!

Finished! on the last day of lockdown. It's only taken 20 months. A huge thank you to everyone who made me a heart for my 50th year. While stitching this in the past few weeks, I thought about each heart, and who made it. You felt close, even though we are apart.

Perfect day to finish the quilt.

Detail of some of the hearts.

I just love everyones interpretation of a yellow, orange, or green heart.

So many family members and friends contributed towards this creation.

 I took the quilt for a walk, and got some photos of this lovely creation in the wild.

 I put dandelion fleece on the back.

Feeling the Love.

 All folded up and waiting for winter for me to snuggle under.

Covid-19 Pandemic

At midnight on 25 March 2020, New Zealand households entered a period of quarantine in a national effort to fight the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

From our privileged life in New Zealand, we have isolated ourselves from the rest of the community. We shelter in place. The government is paying a wage subsidy so I don't have to go to work. We stay in our own bubble, and don't burst anyone else's bubble.  It's a scary time, and the number of cases keep climbing.

 I go for walks in the tree trust, and found a chestnut tree.  The walks provide a balm for my soul, and the fresh air helps my mental state.

 Some of the children in the street fly their kites, and I can see the fluttering from the deck. It makes me smile.

 This tree has red berries, and in the late afternoon sun, they are vivid against the green of the leaves.

 I have been watching chrysalis and wait for butterflies to hatch. This one will probably hatch tomorrow. The colour changed to black yesterday.

I spend most of my days stitching on my various projects. This keeps me busy, and stops me thinking about the craziness in the world, and all the deaths.  The situation in the USA concerns me, and I expect that 100,000 Americans will be dead by July, and 1 million by Christmas.

Shopping for supplies is the only time I go into town.  I try to get to the supermarket between 745 and 8am, as we have to distance 2 metres apart.  This way, the first shoppers of the day have entered and there is no queue.  Flour, yeast, chocolate chips, and cinnamon are absent from the shelves. There is plenty of toilet paper (there was a mad rush on that in Australia and panic buying). I wear disposable gloves, but no mask. At this stage, there are clusters of cover-19 identified to overseas travel, and not community spread.

I have been following Sam Neill on Twitter, and he has provided light relief during this surreal time.  He has conversations with gnomes (Sir Gerald), plays the ukulele badly, and makes short films (2mins or less) with other actors in lockdown around the world.  Cinema Quarantine is the highlight of my week.

A family in Wellington created an original song and dance routine dedicated to being 'locked down' with his nearest and dearest.

https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/family-lockdown-boogie-2020