That’s all Folks! (for now)

Apologies for not finishing this series of posts on Wednesday – which for us was Day 14, the last day of compulsory self-isolation. Things got super busy at work, I got very tired, and just a little bit over everything… but now it’s the weekend, and I’m determined to close off this chapter by finalising this last blog post (of the series – not forever!)

I thought I’d finish the series by sharing a few random things we’ve achieved/learnt/discovered over the 14 days of compulsory isolation. My attempt to do that is to use the word ISOLATION. It has nine letters – surely I can come up with nine things!

I – ‘There’s no I in team’.

We have learned way more than we care to about how viruses work and how they are transmitted. We know the importance of correct hand washing and social distancing. We’ve learnt that isolate is not about ‘I’ its about ‘WE’ – we needed to keep our friends, family and community safe by staying at home for 14 days straight. FYI we plan to continue to do that as much as possible.

S is for SALT

Salt is one of my greatest weaknesses.  I nearly ran out of Murray River sea salt during isolation and it seriously stressed me. I had to drag out a container of Saxa table salt I had in the cupboard to use for cooking, just so I could stretch the good stuff a bit further. On my kitchen bench I always have two containers of salt flakes – one plain and one mixed with black pepper.  I re-discovered my love for braised cabbage over this fortnight – and there is no way I could enjoy it without a generous amount of salt and pepper!   

O is for Outside

Our house has an outside! So many of my friends live in apartments or in small houses. Even though we have been restricted to our homes for 14 days, our house has a large and lovely back yard. Last week we built and filled three raised vegetable gardens, we’ve added top soil where the grass was struggling and we have topped up the gravel garden beds.

Each day my team at work shares their WFH (working from home) tips in our 15 minute COVID-cuppa-catchup sessions. This week someone suggested that each time we speak on the phone, to talk outside. I’ve taken that tip on board and any call that’s on a phone (rather than Skype/Teams etc.) I always take outside. The back deck has also become our regular dining table, which is lucky because the dining table is the office desk now!

L is for Love

Darryl loves isolation. There’s isn’t a D in the word isolation, but I just had to mention him 😉 He has been close to either Dave or I constantly over the 14 days. The cat (Velcro) seems pretty damn pleased too, though not so keen to share his blanky with Darryl.

A is for apples

Three times over the past fortnight I’ve ordered a mixed box of fruit and vegetables from Arnolds in Wodonga. They use a lot of local produce so I really like to support them. Each box had a variety of apples, meaning we definitely had a surplus, so I made stewed apples with the extras. A splash of water, a tablespoon of sugar, some allspice and cinnamon were added to the peeled and sliced apples. Interestingly, the different varieties cooked at different rates meaning the result had a lovely  range of textures. My grandfather made stewed apples every weekend. He used to eat them every single night with baked custard, runny cream and ice-cream. The three flights of stairs to my grandparents apartment must have been what kept them fit and healthy, ’cause I’m not sure it was their diet! (I love food memories!)

T is for Thankfulness

I am more aware than ever that I have a lot to be thankful for. A happy and healthy family, good friends, a lovely house, a great job, a loving husband, two amazing children, and so, so, so much more. ‘Distance makes the heart grow fonder’ as they say, and doing without things or not seeing people certainly has done that for us this past fortnight.

I is for Isolation

Isolation, in its current sense, is certainly not fully that. We have the internet, phones, TV, and other ways to stay in touch and connected to others. I also have Dave here, plus two pets, so I certainly couldn’t say our 14 days was totally isolated. Imagine how terrible true full isolation would be!

We can do this peeps. It’s hard, it’s different and it’s not ideal, but we can do this and flatten the curve. Thinking of family, friends and others who are by themselves. Take special care of yourselves.

O – is for yeast (not)

Since there’s two ‘O’s in isolation, I think I’ll slip in a ‘Y’ here instead. I learned to make my own sourdough starter and have impressed myself by managing to keep it alive for more than two weeks. The second batch of Hot Cross Buns was better than the first. Yum, yum!

N – is for NOW

We need to live in the now. Today. Right here.

Not regret the past, nor fret about what tomorrow, next month or next year may bring.

Thanks everyone for following along what started as a group of posts about a trip to Thailand and Laos and ended in a 14-day series on living in isolation.  Who would have thought the world would look like it does, and we would all be in this situation even a few months ago.

So my final words are not my own, but that of Einstein:

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle”.