Thursday 23 April 2020 – Day 29
A quiet day as I carried on sorting out our bedroom, and got through a few more pages of Option B. Did day 10 of 30 days of Yoga with Adriene – have dropped off but, still at least that is 10 sessions out of 29 days. Better than my non lockdown efforts.
Friday 24 April 2020 – Day 30
Up at 4 am this morning to relieve Phil from the night shift. And then back to bed for a couple of hours once Georgia arrived. I have noticed I am not focusing on the news as much as I was at the beginning of the lockdown, but tonight on the news they were making comparisons between the mortality rates in USA, Australia and NZ. Interestingly, even though Australia has been a lot less stringent, they seem to very similar to our level of deaths by number of population. New Zealand’s death toll is now 17, but it is hard to reconcile this with the precautions we are all taking.
Lockdown fashion leaves a lot to be desired! Mitchell and I were getting ready to go for a wee walk and decided we were not going to get any awards for our dress sense. Getting out the door is more important than how we look for our daily walk. It’s definitely feeling like autumn now, so needing to add a few layers. Think Mitch needs some new jackets, that one is getting right up his arms.
Saturday 25 April 2020 – ANZAC DAY – Day 31
Today is ANZAC day here in New Zealand, it is so that we can remember those who have served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations from New Zealand and Australia. The day observed is because of its significance in the Gallipoli campaign of World War I and the way it is usually memorialised is with Dawn Services throughout the country. With lockdown restrictions the Dawn services were not able to go ahead, so many New Zealanders participated in a “Stand at Dawn Ceremony”, whereby at 6 am they stood in silence at the end of their driveways. Mum’s lockdown flatmate Cyrilla, made these poppies out of New World bags. I thought they were quite a treat.
I have to admit to not getting up at 6 am, and there is no really good reason, except that I am endeavouring to make the most of the sleep we can have at the moment. So, yet again I did not make Dawn Service this year. In 1988, while on my Overseas Experience (O.E.), I travelled to Turkey, and visited the Gallipoli site, Chunuk Bair and the Lone Pine Cemetery. . At 21 years of age, I was not that interested in history, visiting Turkey was more about seeing Pammukale and shopping at the Grand Bazaar. But, enroute while on a ferry from the Island of Rhodes, Greece to Marmaris, Turkey I met an Australian girl, Barbara Krenz. We were both traveling solo, and decided to team up, traveling by ourselves we had discovered that we were a bit of a target for the local men, we gelled and a traveling friendship was formed. Barbara was from Melbourne and was in the armed forces, so she had a vested interest in seeing Gallipoli firsthand. I knew of the battle, had made poppies at school each year, and understood it was a significant tragedy for both our countries. Barbara and I did many of the usual touristy things once we reached Istanbul, visiting the Blue Mosque, the Grand Bazaar and then we took the day trip to Gallipoli. I did not expect to feel moved by visiting a cemetry for ‘people’ I didn’t know, but it was overwhelming, in the sense that alongside the loss of life of Kiwis (2,779) and Australians (8,709), the deaths for the Ottoman Empire totaled 86,692. It was a staggering set of statistics and for a young girl who had not experienced any real ‘crisis’ in life first hand, it was a poignant day for me.
This afternoon, Mitchell and I went out for a walk using his wheelchair. But each day, I try to get him to walk some of the journey on his own and I just walk alongside or behind with the chair. Our little neighbourhood is quite pleasant for walking and the tress are just starting their autumnal changeover. It was a sunny autumn day, and I managed to get Mitchell and I in action.
Sunday 26 April 2020 – Day 32
Spent most of the day working on this art journal spread which was from the Wanderlust 2019 course. The artist lesson was from Week 27 with Tanyalee Kahler and her inspiration for her page was from the artists Roxanne Coble and Laura Horn. I too, am a fan of Roxanne Coble, who goes by the name of Bo bun. I merged my own page into a page about my One Little Word (RECORD), using the April prompt to write I am … statements.
The page is a bit shiny and busy for me – but I used tracing paper for collage in place of deli paper and found it wrinkled when I glued it with mod podge, instead of matte medium. It was all a little tricky to work with as I didn’t have the exact tools and equipment. But, it is was fun to make and I used lots of bits and pieces from my stash, and that’s what you have to do in lockdown. I also made up lots of lovely collage papers to use in the future, and am finding I enjoy collage as a style.
Angela worked tonight and Mitchell’s behaviour was a little off, both last night, today, and tonight, so lets hope for a better day tomorrow. He just gave us a little reminder of why we do need help, as it is hard to know when he is going to pull one of those days out of the hat.
And, that’s all folks.
Cherie
Yellow Azalea 