Everything has changed yet everything is the same. It is a really weird feeling.
Shops (not just supermarkets) are being swamped as people
scramble to prepare themselves before going into lock-down for at least the
next four weeks. A lot of older folk are
already isolating, so a lot of the shoppers now are ones who generally expected
their work and lives to go on pretty much as it has always done.
Very few are prepared to be spending time at home,
especially when they now have children home from school as well. There are tips all over the place on how to
work from home with children present, how to school your children from home,
and what sort of activities you can do to stop you getting cabin fever. Social media pages are crammed with memes
(many humourous), and messages to each other.
 |
| The farmer still needs to take care of his stock, whatever is happening around him |
On the other side of all this preparation is life as it
normally is. Things go on as usual. We eat, we do housework, we cook meals and do
laundry. The clock chimes, the cats need
feeding, the lawns get mowed, the neighbour is using his chainsaw to cut down a
tree.
This morning I planted bulbs in the garden. Bulbs for some spring colour. I planted hyacinths, ranunculus, anemones,
and blue Dutch iris. I never got to buy
any daffodils or jonquils, which is a shame but too late now.
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| The bulbs I have now planted |
However I am glad I have planted a vegetable garden, small
though it is. And I also bought
vegetable seeds online a few weeks ago, of which I am now also very glad. Our food stores are classed as essential
businesses so will remain open, but who knows what the future will bring?
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| No separation rules in place here! (Mittens on top, Millie below) |
One thing is for sure, our world will never be quite the
same again. We must learn to live new
lives, as we do when we have had a serious life-threatening disease, or have
lost someone we truly love. It is not
easy, and it takes time, but it is possible.
We can all do this together. One
day we will look back on these days and say “I remember ….”
Unfortunately, this time of global
crisis has also brought out some very spiteful comments being made on different
blogs. I am tired to deleting them into my spam folder, so have now
(hopefully only temporarily) enabled comment moderation. I hope this does not put off anyone from
making a comment, as I appreciate the genuine comments that you make.
Sending virtual hugz to everyone J
Margaret.
It is weird isn't it. Doug's daughter went to the three supermarkets this morning and all had long queues so she left.
ReplyDeleteI believe a lot of shops were extremely busy today. Even the liquor stores!
DeleteI'm troubled by the fact that some leave spiteful comments. Some seem to have lost any common sense and manners that they ever had. We're still getting things done here when the sun comes out. Tomorrow will be a long day because it is going to rain. I must set some small goals for the day or I'll be reading ( that part is okay) and munching on cookies ( not such a great idea).
ReplyDeleteMunching on cookies sounds like an awesome activity to me! Especially with a good book and a nice cup of tea, but I guess it is not a great idea (how sad LOL)
DeleteHi Margaret, stay safe and take care, here the govt will prolonged till beginning of April, classworks are via internet for my daughter. Thanks for your update..life will not be as easy..Regards Neermala
ReplyDeleteOur schools have gone on early holidays. If the lock-down continues on longer, then our children will also be given internet classes. Take care, Mxx
DeleteYou'll have some lovely blooms in springtime. I love hyacinths, but can't seem to grown them.
ReplyDeleteMy kids are now staying at home (NSW - Australia). They were all set-up first thing in the morning with their devices ready to receive their school work from teachers. By lunch time, they'd figured they'd had enough and it was time to have a break. I'm still waiting for them to come back from their lunch breaks :-)
I, too, love hyacinths and their gorgeous scent. I've not had much success with ones that I plant, but I have had them pop up in established gardens that we have moved to. Sometimes I wonder if the trouble is me, or is actually the quality of the bulbs. Fingers crossed these ones will grow.
DeleteGood luck with your home schooling but don't be too hard on the kids :)
Thank goodness for your gardens. As I noted on another blog, NZers used to be known for their 1/4 acre block and their vegetable plots when I was growing up but all my family, and most kiwi blog writers, also seem to be keen gardeners. At least you have a place to get out into and something to occupy hands and mind.
ReplyDeleteThose supermarket panics do calm down. I dont think there was such a rush in greece, certainly not on our island. Loo paper was never in short supply. In a week everyone will have so much in their pantries they wont need to shop till next year lol
I am so thankful to have garden and lawn around us, as I love to spend time outside. I would hate to be cooped up in an apartment somewhere, yet I know some people are going to have to do this and I don't know how they will cope. I think some people's pantries must be bursting!
DeleteWe are advised to buy only what we need for the week. I am a bit scared what happens if we get a lock down. "Advised" is the wrong word, too, security "helps" in this.
ReplyDeleteI hope we can try and get through this without any lock downs. Masks or tests are not available anymore... Let´s "stay" (still coughing my head off, but hope it´s just a flu) healthy, Ixx
Try not to be scared Iris. Fear can be the worst enemy in all of this, making people feel miserable and worried. Testing is rationed here to those who are obviously ill, and masks only available to essential services people. I hope your cough gets better soon - stay warm, rest lots, drink plenty of water. All the old advice, but it often seems to work as our bodies take time to fight infection. Take care, Mxx
DeleteIt is a difficult time for all of us, Margaret. We will get through it, no doubt, but I suspect that life will never be quite the same again. In couples where both have careers, business travel, and social lives, I suspect that some barely know each other, and to be thrown together in close quarters 24/7 is going to be a challenge that some relationships may not survive. People who live in apartments don't even have a garden for fresh air and diversion, and how you maintain social distancing in the elevator is a bit of a mystery to me. Stay well!
ReplyDeleteI believe you are right - some couples will not survive this challenge to their relationships, but hopefully for some others it will be the means of drawing them closer together again. The Police have already said they expect an increase in domestic violence issues. Son and I have also noted that there has been a spike in the sales of sex toys and Viagra, so I guess we might be in for another round of baby-boomers (wouldn't that upset the anonymous idiot who is currently bombarding us about boomers LOL). Wishing you and Miriam well, Mxx
DeleteOh yes, and we must remember to use the stairs and not the elevator! :))
I love to plant anything, there is a promise in the soil, something wonderful to come, and we all need that hope. We are in lock down, our supply chain for food is holding up, it's a case of ensuring we waste no food, and sitting it out.
ReplyDeleteLove that expression, 'promise in the soil' - Gardens are so therapeutic and can be the source of endless joy. Enjoy watching your garden burst into spring :) and stay safe both of you, Mxx
DeleteI put in comment moderation for the same purpose.
ReplyDeleteTake care, Margaret.
It is annoying isn't it? I hope Google cotton on to it soon and deal with it. Take care, Marie :)
DeleteOh Margaret I am very much excited for your flowers, I hope the y bloom soon and I'll be on the lookout. Being in the tropics, beautiful flowers like those will never grow here so it's always a delight for me. Please stay safe out there, it's Day 11 of the lockdown here but the numbers are just going higher. Never stop praying for better days for all of us though. sending you hugs from the Philippines!
ReplyDeleteStevenson
Cavite Daily Photo
Stevenson Que Blog
It will probably be six months before the bulbs flower, but they will be a welcome sight when we go into the spring season. Thank-you for your hugs, I hope you stay safe where you are :) xx
DeleteI wonder if you got the same very nasty comments I got? - Anonymous of course. Seems some have nothing better to do, you can only feel sorry for them as they must have very shallow unsatisfactory unhappy lives.
ReplyDeleteThey will be lovely bulbs.
I wish I'd got more seeds the other week, but oh well I am sure what I have will do. We went into Lockdown last night (23rd March)
I heard on the news you had locked-down. Stay safe during this time.
DeleteIt is probably the same nasty comments. I have been getting one each day, each one different but along the same lines. Today has been no exception.
Enjoy your garden - it will give you plenty to do in the next few weeks. Mxx
While you are planting hyacinths, round the other side of the world mine are all in flower - some are ones I've planted out after having them as indoor winter ones and some here when we moved in - the odd thing is they are nearly all blue.
ReplyDeleteI actually prefer the blue ones, especially the deep blues although the purples are nice too. Not so keen on the pink and white ones, but they still smell delicious. Pity it isn't possible to send some of their scent around the world to me! Stay safe, Sue. Mxx
DeleteYour flowers will be so pretty. These are scary times. You're right about how life must go on. I get up every morning to the bellowing of two pet goats wanting their feed and a duck standing at the bottom of the steps waiting for me to come out. I am thankful to be here in the country. It is so beautiful there where you live. Well take care and stay safe.
ReplyDeleteOh, isn't it great to feel needed LOL. Animals and small children bring us back to earth all the time. Life goes on as normal for them and it brings some normality back into our daily lives when we tend to their needs. You be safe as well, Mxx
DeleteMy blog is already on comment moderation on posts over two or three days long...I almost went and put it on complete moderation...well, I did for about ten minutes but then changed it. I may give notice that I am doing that if I keep getting them. I had another one this morn, only a short paragraph.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I have to get out tomorrow and pick up a prescription and hope to pick up a few things then. So far there have only been a few things I could not get. I am hoping they have bread tomorrow...we are getting low.
Sounds like the same comment I received this morning, it was only short but still nasty.
DeleteHope you get to buy your bread and other bits and pieces. Keep smiling :)
Stay safe and take it one day at a time:)
ReplyDeleteThe same to you, Connie :)
Delete