April, 2020 Mum & Dad’s place, Qld

1^st – April Fools Day – didn’t catch anyone out. Walked down to the newsagent to buy a paper for Mum and Dad as it wasn’t delivered. Nice walk, shall try and do this regularly now I am not working. I took Mum and Dad to their doctor’s surgery for their flu injections. Because of CoVid19 the nurses came out to the car and gave them their injections through the window so they didn’t have to go inside. Great service.

Rose of Sharon in the morning then after lunch when it starts to close up. Each flower only last for 12 hours or so.

Mum and Dad Sunbird have started on a nest in the carport.

2^nd – 57 today – which is good as I was thinking I was turning 58!! Steve bought me the best card yet and some scratchies which I won $30 from – shame I can’t go shopping at this weird house bound time of CoVid19. Mum and Dad gave me a beautiful card and money.

I received lots of lovely messages via text and Facebook and some lovely phone calls as well. Steve took a photo of me with my namesake – The Rose of Sharon. Aah the wrinkles – I don’t think I will update my Facebook photo with this one. I like the 40 year old look better!

Kerri sent me photos of our 1982 trip to New Zealand where we met on a Newman’s bus tour that I did as my Miss Cairns prize. It was a wonderful gift and brought back lots of memories.

3^rd – I managed to buy some toilet paper today from the Chemist, the first lot I have been able to get since the crazy bulk buyers bought up all the toilet paper.

4^th – So lovely watching all the butterflies flittering about from flower to flower around the house. There are so many different ones but the green Cairns Birdwing and Ulysses (Blue Mountain) are the best. The black cockatoos are squawking a lot high above us whereas the white cockatoos are on the ground eating the nuts off the almond tree by the road. Mum and Dad Sunbird have started a new nest near Mum’s car so will be fun watching them create it. The obviously weren’t happy with their first attempt.

Steve moved the truck to Jon’s as Rick is having problems with his tenant and we don’t want to be the cause of them leaving especially in this economic climate created by the CoVid Pandemic.

Jon has met a lovely lady, Annalise, who is a nurse at the Fertility Clinic. Dan and Fran are still going ok.

8^th – I got $750 stimulus payment (due to the CoVid Pandemic) because I am on the Carer Pension. We will use it for the bits and pieces Steve needs for the new truck.

Steve got the plates to down the side of the truck for the tray to go on. After he got them in place Pete came over and welded them on. 

I am having an interesting time looking up more family history on the Geck side as David has access to Ancestry.com for a while.

9^th – Steve painted the chassis rails ready to put the tray on.

10^th – Steve put the tray on – looking good.

 

11^th – The sunbirds nest is coming along. 

Dad’s orchid is putting on a lovely display.

13^th - Sent off photos of ‘Smokey’s latest developments to the certifier in Townsville after he put on the side tie down rails – still needs to bend them around the fuel filler.

Met Kaylene for a walk again at Rock Pool and along Freshwater Creek. Remembered to take some photos this time.

15^th – Started the jigsaw Kaylene gave me – looks challenging with some many colour changes.

17^th – Met the girls at Tuckshop to discuss whether we open up next week when ‘limited’ schooling starts on Monday. As they didn’t get too many students at the end of last term it was decided to see how the first week went. All the girls will get the payment from the government from the JobKeeper program created to keep people employed till we can all resume normal work once this virus settles down. I don’t qualify as a casual has to have worked for 12 months with that employer to get paid.

Jenny told me that my high school friend, Bronwyn, suddenly passed away yesterday. She worked with Valerie too. Such sad news for her mother and her family.

Valerie back in quarantine as one of the Pathology staff she works with has tested positive to CoVid19 so they are testing everyone and sent them all home to wait to see if they develop anything.

18^th - Daniel folded up the mudguards and brackets for the tail lights then he and Steve made the head frame. Steve brought ‘Smokey’ home as it is all done for now until he can get it to Townsville to be certified.

I rang the Police to see if we can get a permit to drive down but they said it would have to come from Qld Health Dept as they are calling the shots due to the CoVid Pandemic. After chatting with a lovely health dept lady we worked out it wouldn’t be worth the risk as the ‘law’ states that all travel to be only for ‘essential’ reasons, like shopping, exercise or visiting vulnerable family so the truck doesn’t come under that and I am not willing to risk a $1300 fine to try. We will go down when they open the roads again – one day.

19^th – Steve went fishing with Pete and Smurf after lunch into the night.

I noticed a Facebook page about school photos where people were asking if anyone had class photos from Trinity Bay. As I have all the ones I scanned and the yearbooks from when I helped organised the 50^th Anniversary for Trinity Bay High School I posted up a comment. Immediately I got a heap of requests for photos – that will keep me busy for a while.

20^th – Steve got home at 2am and they had an ok time. About 15 good fish which is nice but not for the hours they were out there. Mum is very happy to have fresh fish of course.

21^st – The last blooms have fallen off the Rose of Sharon. Time to cut it back ready for next year – or October if it does the same as last year when I was home.

This jigsaw has certainly been challenging. I am mainly doing it be the piece size rather than colours. Amazingly the black and white areas have been easy – the red rocks and horses will be ‘fun’.

23^rd – Susan’s 60^th birthday. As we can’t get together to celebrate Steve and I drove over to drop off her present and card. The law says people can have two visitors per household so we went in for a while – keeping our social 1.5m distance of course. No hugging now-a-days. They had picked up their new van which is now a garden ornament out the front of the house since no one can travel at the moment. They are very happy with it which is great. We drove out to Kaylene and Rick’s for a cuppa as they are the only ones we have actually spent time with since the socialising rules came in.

24^th – A huge spider has decided to make himself at home by the van. I had just cleared off all the little spiders making use of the dry areas under the windows but this guy was too big for me so I left Stephen to deal with his relocation.

Russell sent me the link to watch Bronwyn’s funeral service. My internet wasn’t too good but what I saw as lovely. Feeling for her family as she hadn’t quite reached her 57^th birthday. I had run Debbie to let her know too.

Valerie is fine – no CoVid19 which is great. She can go back to work next Tuesday.

Fran sent a photo of the sanded and varnished timber floor in the spare bedroom. Daniel has been hard at work painting the room and sanding the floor to make a gym room for Fran.

25^th – Anzac Day. No public services etc but there is heaps of things on the TV to watch.

Mummy Sunbird is trying out her new nest. Not a good spot as we walk past it all the time and she flies out.

26^th – My jigsaw is coming along.

Greg cooked us spaghetti bol for dinner then we played cards. They all won a couple of games except me!

Fran sent photos of the completed ‘gym’ room Daniel has created at his place for her. He did a wonderful job on striping and sanding the floor – lovely timber.

27^th – Took Mum and Dad for a drive to Holloways Beach picking up some Maccas on the way (remembered why we don’t buy Maccas). Very windy so we stayed in the car and watched the waves roll in and a big ship out to sea.

28^th – Jonathon’s 27^th birthday. Rang him to wish him a lovely birthday, he was hard at work.  Annalise is cooking him dinner tonight which is lovely. We will have his birthday celebration tomorrow night here.

I finished my 1000 piece jigsaw.

Dan is finishing work at 1pm now due to decline in business from Covid19 Pandemic so he and Steve can work on building the base for the camper.

29^th – Jon and Annalise joined us for dinner to celebrate his birthday. Had a great time chatting and getting to know Annalise. Daniel and Fran couldn't join us due to the Covid 19 restrictions. 

March, 2020 Mum & Dad’s place, Qld

1^st – visited Maralyn at Marijke’s as Greg was in hospital having a knee replacement which went well. Great to catch up with them all again.

2^nd – Steve took out the back seats and to put down a timber floor for the fridge etc.

6^th – Visited Kaylene and Rick. Jakob up from Townsville so it was great to see him. Busy getting ready for his wedding to Anna in July.

7^th – Ordered a new 60L fridge for the Smokey. Steve’s very good at finding the specials online now with the tablet. Steve wants a different name for the truck as he thinks people will think it is smokey, smelly truck not a smokey colour!

Visited Glen and Shelley has they have bought a new van but need a gas inspection on it so Steve checked it out for them.

Dinner at Pete and Marree, first a drink and dip in the pool as it is still very hot and humid. Lovely dinner with a variety of meats and spuds cooked in his smoker.

8^th – Hard to believe that it has been a year since our Val passed on to a better place.

Caught up with Alexander at Kayleigh and Mark’s for a hello/goodbye late lunch. Dan joined us too as well as Suzanne, Denise and Mary. We had a great afternoon chatting. He is heading back to Hawaii to join the ‘big boat’ and take it across to London for the owner’s daughter’s graduation party. He is now Chief Engineer – so glad he had achieved his goals.

10^th – Heavy rain – the monsoon is over us. Texted Margaret and Bob as we saw it was 35 degrees in Perth, a bit hot for them.

Corona virus is certainly taking over the world. A lot of big events being cancelled and it is having a big impact on the economy with loss of income for tourism companies and then all the flow off from that etc.

12^th – more rain.

13^th – more sad news as 5 men lost their lives in a light plane crash at Lockhardt River. One of them I went to school with, Wayne Brischke, he lived in the next street from us when we were growing up.

The new fridge arrived so Steve put it in place on his painted floor in the truck. Room for the washing machine and a box of stuff too with a box at the back for the detectors. 

He took out the diff from the lazy axle and removed the crown wheel and pinion gears so it will roll freely. Our friend, Dave, machined up a plug to go over the hole where the pinion drive was.

15^th – perfect day for a beach drive. Headed out to Ellis Beach and bought some coffees and muffins and enjoyed the calm sea view. Looking across to Double Island.

Stopped for another photo along the way – so calm and beautiful today.

Drove back to Palm Cove and parked near the jetty. Dad and I had a short wander on the jetty with the binoculars checking out Scout Hat and Double Island.

Mum and Steve chatted in the car drinking their coffees. Mum’s mobility isn’t good so no walking for her. Dad is a bit wobbly but ok for a little walk. Called in on their friends at Kewarra Beach for a quick chat. Corona Virus has everyone worried and not doing unnecessary visiting of course.

Home for lunch. Greg brought over dinner.

17^th - CV19 has impacted shopping. Crazy people are bulk buying of toilet paper and sanitiser etc. Why the toilet paper we can’t work out as it is a respiratory problem not bowel.

18^th – Maybe the crazy people thought the t/paper was made in China – we have companies making it in Australia and they have ramped up their machines to try and catch up to the panic buying – at least they are making money. Now the rice, pasta, flour are going off the shelves at alarming rates that they have put restrictions on the purchase – 2 per person.

22^nd – Things are getting worse with CV19 down south – Sydney being the worst hit. Some twit allowed a few thousand people to just wander off cruise ships with a few of them being infected with the disease – oops. At least in Cairns we are doing ok. One lady just back from overseas felt ill on the plane and took herself to the hospital where she was quarantined straight away so she didn’t spread it in Cairns.

26^th – Rebecca’s birthday. She, Jeremy, the boys and Jeremy’s parents flew to Adelaide for a 90^th birthday celebration but the CV19 restrictions are getting worse so they flights home were cancelled. They ended up hiring a motorhome and drove all the way back.

The Rose of Sharon has started blooming in time for my birthday next week.

We are having rain on and off with sun in between for the last week. School and Tuckshop are still open but the kids are disappearing as parents keep them home in case of the CV19. We have 9 confirmed cases in Cairns – not sure if mild or critical. We are washing hands and I have antibacterial stuff (ready for the normal flu season any case). Limiting our outings though I still go to work and do the shopping but I have wipes to clean my hands etc.

28^th – Dan & Jon collected the pool table today from downstairs with the help of a couple of strong mates as it is a slate topped table. That will keep them amused for a while since going to the gym and golf is out for Jon now with the CV19 pandemic. They both still have work so they aren’t like all the other tourist, food and retail employees that have been sacked due to the downturn because of the virus. Fran is a nurse in aged care so she will keep her job too which is good. Just hope we can keep the virus from spreading further in Cairns as it is now up to 21 people infected in the Far North, so that would include Townsville too.

30^th – Back to Tuckshop, only 22 students out of 2000 at school. Cleaned freezers etc and packed away things which we would normally have done ready for school holidays. But this time we are not sure when we will be back depending on what happens with the CV19 pandemic. Teachers came in looking for food – we had a limited menu of course. Only about 8 students came in and they just got drinks or an ice-cream. 

As we won't be able to visit over the school holidays we celebrated with some nibbles.

I said farewell to the girls. Feels like I am leaving all over again but we will be back together again one day. Rochelle brought in a heap of books and a few jigsaws so we all have something to keep us busy for a while. I have lots to do, cross-stitch, family history, cleaning of course just will have to chat on the phone rather than catch up with everyone in person till this virus disappears.

31^st – Rang Anita for her birthday and we had a lovely chat as we can’t get together for a cuppa for a long while now. More rules in place by the government to stop people gathering to try and stop of flow of the virus. At least we are here with Mum and Dad to care for them.