Engineer in the house

Finally, our heat pump was getting some attention, after six weeks or so with it not working.  Now that New Zealand has dropped down to Alert Level 3, some businesses can now operate as long as they adhere to the strict rules now in place.  In these Covid 19 days, having a tradesman in the house takes some planning.   While Jonathan of Levin Heat Pumps was working, for social distancing reasons, we were asked not to be in the same room as him.  I decided to distance myself in the caravan, taking Gemma with me, together with my library book and knitting.  With the kettle on the gas hob, a cup of coffee or two, I was quite happy.  It was a lovely day, the sunshine was streaming in the windows, and Gemma soon settled down for a snooze.

 

At home in the caravan parking area

We had decided to get a new replacement heat pump, rather than repair our existing unit.  Jonathan was busy outside at the back of the house replacing the outside unit, while Robin stayed inside.  These units have gas inside (I didn’t know that) which had to be sucked out and safely contained.

Removing the gas

The new unit was installed, and as the unit is complete with new refrigerant gas, when the system is sealed the  gas is released, and that part of the job was completed.

New Outside Unit being installed

After a socially distant lunch break (Jonathan solitary outside on the patio and us inside) the second phase was done, installing the interior unit.  Robin took himself off to the caravan, and I kept myself busy in the sewing room, giving Jonathan plenty of space to work.    Finally the job was complete after a satisfactory test run, and we were good to go again – ready and waiting for the next cold spell. 

New heat pump installed

Proving that advertising pays, with the marked van parked outside, two neighbours came knocking on the door wanting some work done on their heat pumps.  With two extra jobs to be logged, the company will be pleased with that.

Anzac Day 2020

Saturday 25th April is Anzac Day here in New Zealand, and also celebrated by our friends in Australia.  The word Anzac is part of the culture of New Zealanders and Australians.  ANZAC is an acronym for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, a grouping of several divisions created early in the Great War of 1914–18.  The Anzacs first saw action at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. The small cove where the Australian and New Zealand troops landed was quickly dubbed Anzac Cove. Soon the word was being used to describe all the Australian and New Zealand soldiers fighting on the Gallipoli Peninsula. Later it came to mean any Australian or New Zealand soldier.

This year, because of Covid 19 Lockdown, the first time in more than a century, there'll be no dawn services to commemorate ANZAC Day.  People are encouraged to mark it in their own way, perhaps placing poppies in their letter boxes, or in windows. We have our hand crafted ceramic poppy outside our kitchen window.  This was purchased three years ago when we visited the Great War Exhibition at the historic Dominion Museum in Wellington -   read about our visit here

Our ceramic Anzac poppy

And of course Robin had the New Zealand flag flying.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place, and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing fly
Scarcely heard amid the guns below.

Giving thanks to all our Anzac heroes, past and present. 

It’s been a Big Day

During our time of Lockdown all the days have started to merge into one another – no social outings, clubs, meetings, coffee dates, none of that for any of us.  We know today is  Sunday, and that’s the day we have our weekly bacon and egg breakfast treat.  But then we had some more excitement, the arrival of our very first grocery delivery.  This took a bit of doing, lots of time on the lap top getting organised, and we finally found a spare delivery spot, albeit a week later than when we placed the order. 

 

It was all very well done, we thought.  The delivery man dropped a carton at the door, then went back for the perishables, milk, cheese, fresh meat and frozen items.  These were transported in chilly bags and packed with ice bags, we were assured.  That’s good, I did wonder how these items would be dealt with.  Everything was soon unpacked and put away, and Gemma decided to check to make sure that we hadn't forgotten anything.

Any cat food in here?

It’s been a special day for Gemma as well, as she has just celebrated her second birthday.  She’s a big girl now.

Happy Birthday Gemma

Staycation Easter 2020

Sunday morning is generally a bacon and egg breakfast cooked by Robin, and Easter Sunday was no exception.  Once again, he did a great job.  It’s our very own family tradition.

The other day a rather heavy parcel was delivered by courier  from my daughter Nicky.  Was it an early delivery for Mother’s Day next month, I wondered?  No, I was told to open in now, so I did.  And what's this I found inside?  A bag of flour, about 3kg or so, I reckon!

The note read:  (abbreviated)

“Dear Nana, here’s some flour for you, we ended up getting a 20kg bag yesterday at the supermarket.  We hope you are doing well in Lockdown, and will enjoy doing baking with the flour.  Love from Emma and Nicky.”

Special delivery – flour!

So on Sunday afternoon I spent some time baking, and made a date loaf, and some shortbread.  The shortbread aren’t cut all nice and fancy, but they certainly taste good.  Half of them have been spirited away into the freezer for another time, maybe we will welcome visitors here for afternoon tea sometime in the future.    It’s certainly a strange new world when a gift of flour (or finding the supermarket shelves stocked with toilet paper) can bring such joy!

All in all we have managed our Easter Staycation quite well.  A few Easter buns, but there was a mild panic when I couldn’t find where I had put the peppermint marshmallow Easter Eggs.  After looking through the pantry a couple of times, they were finally tracked down.  What bliss, an Easter Egg to nibble on after dinner.  It doesn’t take much to make us happy these days, does it?

The weather has taken a cold and rather windy turn over the last day or two, but then, Easter weather here can always be rather changeable.  There’s a crockpot full of pumpkin and bacon soup with a hint of curry for lunch, so all’s well in our world.  Hope everyone is keeping warm and safe inside their home bubbles, and keeping in touch with friends and family by phone and internet.  Happy Easter to all.

A Different Easter in 2020

The the recent developments of the world wide Covid 19 pandemic, all our lives are so different these days.  Here in New Zealand we are in Level Four State of Emergency and halfway through a 4 week lockdown, with the message being “stay safe, stay home and save lives”.  Non essential travel is not permitted, and we must stay local.  So instead of packing the caravan and heading away for the Easter weekend, we are all listening to the rules, staying home and having a “Staycation”.  That doesn’t happen often – how long before we get “cabin fever” I wonder?  We have heard that some caravanners have been spending the night in their caravan without actually going away, safely on their property.  We might have to resort to that, if it all gets too much for us!

 

We are using different words and phrases too, and now know all about “staying in our bubble” with only with those in our household, and “social distancing”, staying at least 6 feet, 2 metres away from everyone else.  Add to that the fact that washing hands in soapy water should be taking 20 seconds – that’s two renditions of Happy Birthday to me as I’ve worked out, as I hum away to myself. On Good Friday a small group in our village practised social distancing as we met in the village green.  Taking our folding chairs along, and coffees or whatever else was fancied, we sat in the sunshine and chatted happily away, keeping our distance from each other.  Only those in couples sat closer together.

Employing social distancing

Easter Saturday was a different day, as we had to drive up to Palmerston North Hospital (50km each way so out of our local area)  for an MRI appointment.  I made sure I had my hospital documents tucked safely away, as we were sure we would be stopped at a police checkpoint, which didn’t happen, as it turned out.  The mist was hovering over the farm land as we drove along the empty road.

It was a beautiful calm morning

Getting into the hospital was a mission, but really, in this pandemic we don’t really mind all the extra precautions.  Robin had to remain in the car, and I answered health questions, sanitized my hands, and was sent on my way for my appointment.  Walking down the empty hospital corridors was a bit eerie, usually it is such a busy, bustling place.  Those who have had an MRI know what it’s all about – lie absolutely still  for half an hour, earmuffs on, face down and arms straight out over my head, in my case,  while the machine makes an absolute din, sounding rather like a jack hammer.

MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machine

On our way out of town we stopped at Davis Trading to get a few supplies.  Entry was very well organised, I thought.  Queued up outside on the marked lines, hand sanitizer, disposable gloves and fill  in the register as we get to the front of line, enter when another shopper exits to ensure only a few in the shop at any time.  I managed to get what I wanted, including a box of said gloves, they will be handy for any future trips out, I feel.  Sadly, there was an altercation outside when I was going though the checkout.  A rather large man tried to walk straight in, and refused to go to the end of the line and follow the safely procedures.  On being challenged he got rather aggressive and knocked over the table with sanitizer and gloves, abused the staff member seated outside manning the entry, and stormed off.  Why do some people think the rules don’t apply to them?

No sign of police road stops on the drive back home either, guess they are all busy at the popular holiday spots further north.  We had heard tales of people towing caravans (surely no one we know) and others  trying to get away to holiday homes – why oh why don’t these foolish people listen and do what they should. 

Time to turn the clocks back

It’s Day 11 on our Lockdown to beat the Corona Virus, the weather is warm and autumnal, and things are still ticking along.  Last night Day Light Saving ended for the season and we had to turn our clocks back an hour.  Only three needed changing, as due to the wonder of the internet, the laptops, tablets and cell phones magically change themselves.

So what have we been doing?  Not as many jobs are getting started as probably should be, but goodness me, the days are still busy.  For people who never usually watch daytime TV, things have certainly changed in that regard.  We now watch the Covid 19 Health Report each day at 1.00pm, then the Prime Minister’s follow up report at 3.00pm.  The media are given an opportunity to ask questions at both of these meetings.

After reading about Teddy Bears popping up in windows all around the country and overseas, Big Ted came out of hibernation to look out our front window.  The original idea was to keep children entertained as they go for a walk with their parents around their local streets.   There are no children here,  but many of our neighbours take a little walk around the village.  Our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern admitted she also has a teddy in her window, so Big Ted is in good company and is really pleased to be now doing his bit for the good of the  country.  We spotted a few other soft toys as we walked around so he is not the only one waiting to be discovered.

Hello from Big Ted

The weather has been nice enough to sit outside on the patio most days for coffee, reading, or in my case, a bit of hand stitching.  Gemma  enjoys  the fresh are too, particularly when she finds insects to pounce on.  We watched her closely follow a cricket, who then prudently jumped down into the drain to escape. 

It’s down here somewhere

Sadly the number of confirmed cases continues to rise, with over 1000 now, but only 1 death so far.  We have been told that the numbers will probably get worse until the peak, and staying inside will stop the spread.  Most of the population are happy to do their bit, obey the rules and stay inside, but regrettably, there are always idiots who flout the rules.