Charlie's Bird
living the dream with Charlie and Thandi and chirping all the way back to the nest.Archive for March, 2020
Lockdown Diary Day 5
…ok, is it me, or are we all starting to get a bit bored and frustrated? I am not designed to sit still….
Exercise, cook, bake, eat and repeat…
- Lockdown menu – Toast, Boerie rolls (left over sausage from last night’s braai), Carrot cake, Roast chicken and veggies
- Lockdown photo challenge – my favourite time of the day – an enormous thunder storm struck…
- Lockdown art challenge – the view from my window – the skyline over the city (today) And fruit and flower arrangement (yesterday)
Lockdown Diary Day 4
…and he’s out! Back with us, where he is supposed to be. My heart is happy! (my brain is still stressed out of my skull, but my heart is happy!) Thandi is beyond thrilled, she has chirped up and is as cheery as can be, and she is talking and talking and talking! Flip! Exhausting, but so good to hear. This time apart has really had a big toll on her. But, as I have learnt, she is amazing! Resilience is a good characteristic to develop.
Today saw my first trip out of the front door, as I mentioned bread and milk are going much quicker now the there are 5 of us needing 3 meals a day! I arrived at the local mall, and found myself in a 45 minute queue to enter woolies. I nearly left, but just decided that I had to suck it up, and since I didn’t have much else to do, I stuck it out. Groceries done!
After an afternoon nap, I got the whole family to join me in my exercise program, y coach emailed me a lockdown program, which includes lots of running on the spot and then some other exercises, like burpies – man, we worked hard! And then I finished off with more time on the elliptical. After a family swim, with the dogs, Charlie lit the braai for us and we enjoyed some delicious South African treats.
3 Cheers for a family reunited!
- Lockdown menu day 4 – muesli and yoghurt, hot dogs, braai – lamb chops, beef rib, sausage, corn, pasta salad and tomato salad. Dessert of homemade chocolate ice cream(YUM!), home-made chocolate macarons and a store bought brownie. Delicious!
- Photo challenge day 4 – a taste of autumn
(art challenge still in progress)
Lockdown Diary Day 3
…and there we were again… Woke up, exercised, fed my family over and over again, finished a puzzle… Oh, and Thandi and I painted! There is an art lockdown challenge and today prompt was something from the kitchen, I painted the aubergine and T the sugar bowl.
We also finished our second puzzle since school ended, It was super challenging, but we are both very pleased with it!
- Lockdown Menu #3 – Egg and mince breakfast, Ham and salad sarmies, Chicken schnitzel with baby potatoes, roasted pumpkin and cauliflower cheese. Chocolate ice cream made, but its for tomorrow’s feast.
- Lockdown Photo Challenge – Good together
Tomorrow I get to lay hands on my Charlie, I cannot wait! The last 3 days have been torture.
Lockdown Diary Day 2
..so here we are. Another day in lock down. I am realising I am going to run out of milk and bread sooner than I thought, and I may have to do a run to the shop tomorrow. I guess I am not used to a family of 5!
Today has been very quiet, I got my 5km #yardrun in, in lieu of parkrun, and am really happy that I managed to organise that elliptical. Just before when went to bed on Wednesday evening, someone posted on Facebook that she had one to sell, so seeing that she had posted 5 minutes earlier, I messaged and so it was that I managed to secure it for myself. So, at least I can try to maintain some kind of exercise regime. I think it’s going to be important. Tomorrow I may do some hill repeats up and down our driveway and I’ll try to get a bit of a longer exercise session in.
I am starting to feel that sense of isolation rather intensely. I always thought I would cope well with solitude, turns out maybe not so much. Maybe it’s just the restrictions of movement that is getting to me. It’s also driving me crazy That Charlie is right here, but not here at all. I am actually trying to ignore the fact that he is here, but he keeps staring at me through the glass sliding doors and trying to talk to me… Poor guy, I get that if I am going crazy, he must be almost completely moggy.
On another note, I am loving the interconnectedness that we are all discovering – house party is a pretty cool app – and I was able to chat and mess around with some mates on that this morning. And the what’s app groups have all exploded, group chats are busy! Especially since today was #yardrun, previously #parkrun.
- Day 2 menu – boiled egg on home made rolls left over from burger dinner last night, matzos with bovril and cheese (completely unkosher, I know) and spaghetti bolognaise to come. Thandi and I have started preparing chocolate ice cream – the custard base is prepared, tomorrow it churns.
- Photo challenge day 2 – shapes
Lockdown Diary Day 1
..so, after a windy quite miserable day yesterday today has dawned calm and clear. It really does feel like our world is holding it’s breath. Everything is quite surreal. The numbers, however are not surreal, we have now hit over 1000 cases and have recorded our first 2 deaths – apparently a 28year old woman and a 48year old woman. And so it has begun… From a medical point of view, I am already feeling helpless. Please, please, please stay home and stay safe! Don’t look for loopholes, don’t look for reasons to leave home.
so, what are we all getting up to?
- Charlie is safely ensconced in the spare room. We are practicing extreme social distancing, and literally calling each other on What’s App because talking through the door or the window is more challenging the we thought. He had a walk through the garden earlier, we watched each other through the doors, waved and smiled and my heart ached. So close, but not yet…
- Thandi has watched YouTube like she does most mornings, got herself breakfast for the first time in ages, and helped work on a puzzle. sShe is now on the couch, next to me, with a bowl of popcorn, watching Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince.
- I have also worked on the puzzle – we have started our second one since school ended. I am pleased to report that it is a very challenging one, and will keep us busy for a while. I hope that it’s not so difficult that someone looses interest in it. Yesterday I managed to get my hands on an elliptical trainer, so I have also spent some time getting it set up outside and am looking forward to my first session on it this afternoon. I have set it up in our little under cover outside area. At least I can look at the garden and imagine that I am running trails.
On another note, since January I have had a blue swimming pool, but since Charlie arrived home it has turned green – less than 24 hours and the pool is green! Seriously! What does he do to it! It’s not like I did anything either, but it stayed blue. These, my friends, are the days of my life…
- Day 1 menu – Muesli and yoghurt, Tuna Salad, home made burgers and buns, corn on the cob. Chocolate Macarons
- Photo challenge day 1 – in my hands
- Lockdown Diary Day 1 – wine for isolation
I have added some new links to sites to get more information regarding Covid-19. Hope they are helpful.
Lock down
…and tonight I am so very proud of my country and impressed with the plans that are in place. This is carefully thought out plan and for that wisdom, I am incredible grateful. But I am also beside myself with anxiety.
I am essential services. I have to work. I will, no doubt be exposed.
My husband is still in quarantine, and will now most likely be unable to return home, for another 3 weeks, unless we make some sort of a plan with our spare room., which will be a massive challenge. Our home is very open planned.
My father has dementia and cannot live alone. His carer has indicated she is prepared to stay with him for the duration of a lockdown. But I feel incredibly bad to leave the 2 of them alone.
My au pair/assistant will not be able to help me for the coming 3 weeks.
I am caught between the devil and the deep blue sea… I will cope with all of this though, without complaint, if this #flattensthecurve. Please God, let this flatten the curve. Save my family.
Task team
..so guys, I have been coopted onto the hospital task team to deal with Covid-19 – what that means is that I am the OBGYN who will deal with any pregnant women who are infected. Which means that once that happens, I will indefinitely be isolated from my friends and family. The tsunami is coming – you guys get to prepare, I get to brace myself…
And so
…in a world gone mad, we are trying to find our way. I trust that we as humankind will emerge on the other side of this and that when they teach children about Covid-19 and 2020 in the future we will not be judged harshly.
Medical risks and medical management aside, we are constrained by our resources and can only do so much. As members of a cooperative society we have a responsibility to not expose ourselves or put ourselves in any dangerous situations. If more of us self isolate and practice social distancing we limit the spread. And while it may be futile, it is still worth a try.
As a people, we really have to stop being selfish and stop being ridiculous. Stop with the stock piling, stop with the hysterical buying. Be decent humans – safe guard your employees, and be reasonable. And if you are not sure what to do, do some homework, make sure you are not the one spreading fake news, causing panic or spreading the disease.
The dust will settle, the world will continue to turn and we will emerge.
(Yes, Charlie is back home and in self isolation. No, I have not seen him, touched him or interacted with him on any level other than the phone. It is hard)
changing on a dime
…crikey, well, this has escalated quickly and things have changed radically!
After our president’s speech instituting a travel ban my trip to London is called off, but we have managed to get Charlie on a plane home tonight. He will land mid morning tomorrow and will proceed to testing and self isolation for 2 weeks before we actually get to welcome him back into our home. I am so very very relieved to know he is returning home, I just need us to be together to weather this crisis. I am infinitely grateful to his employers who have encouraged him to get on that plane tonight. And my broken hearted little girl is going to be thrilled beyond measure to know her Daddy is coming home.
Obviously I am now going to move into a high risk category, in terms of my potential level of exposure at work; all of us health professionals are high risk, so I definitely need someone around for Thandi if I get roped into high risk work and am forced to self isolate too.
Please be sensible, my friends, and stay as safe as you can. There is going to be drama and chaos in the next few weeks, hold onto your hats.
Castle light
…instead of Corona, I reckon maybe I have Castle light (a local SA beer) here. Flip, it’s been a while since I felt so rotten. Ugh. Charlie reckons I may have Shebola, it’s like Hebola, which is something that only affects men, and is related to Ebola. (insert eye roll here…) But the show must go on – get out of bed, get dressed and head to work, certainly my patients don’t understand sick days, and neither does the bank manager… Oh well.
In other news, 6 more sleeps until we head to JHB and 7 more sleeps until we head to London and probably 7 and 1/8 sleeps until we land in LONDON!
Charlie's Bird 