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.