Farwell 2020

 

What a year it has been. And that really is an understatement.

It is easy to focus on the negatives - there have been so many of them.

But on the positive side:

• We got Jinx
• My mother in law is in the best possible place for her
• Himself and I have grown closer
• The boys are happy and healthy and all employed
• We have a roof over our heads and are debt free
• We might be getting older and creakier but we are still in good health.

We will be seeing the year out very quietly. We don't want it slipping back in!!

The Grinch or Scrooge

 

I have long been turned off by the commercial side of Christmas. But another aspect that really, really pisses me off is the lack of consideration of the most important people at Christmas. The kids. Especially those old enough to get excited but young enough to still believe in the magic of it all.

I guess I was lucky when my kids were little that Himself's family celebrated Christmas Eve (European) and my family celebrated Boxing Day (after my parents moved too far from Melbourne for Other Brother and his wife to be able to see both sets of parents on Christmas Day - although mother always blamed me for losing Christmas Day!) This meant that our little family of 5 had the day to ourselves. The kids could play all day with the toys and just be .... kids at Christmas. I was chatting to Three before and it was only when he started going out with his now wife and spending time with her family on Christmas Day that he realised that we weren't the norm! He couldn't work out where everyone was going on Christmas Day for the roads to be so busy. This year Sally (4) is so excited about Christmas. She will be over the moon when she sees her new trampoline but will then be dragged away to spend the rest of the day with extended family (not ours). Cruel. And Three is not happy. One and Ebs cracked it this year and basically told everyone they were staying at home with their kids. We will all catch up the day after Boxing Day. I hope that next year Three will do the same. Kids are young for such a short time.

But what really gets me is those extended family members that insist on the kids being dragged from pillar to post on the most exciting day of the year. Have your adult family for lunch and dinner and everything in between but let those who have littlies have their day at home. Pop in and wish them a Merry Christmas. Meet them at Church if that is your thing. But stop pretending it's all about the kids when it's obviously all about the adults.

Me? I just want the shit show that was 2020 to be over.

I can't believe a week has gone by.

 I don't know where the days are going.

Three and Amy are so looking forward to hosting Christmas for us and One and his lot. I really hope One and Ebs don't stuff it up as they can be very selfish. Life is more about her side of the family and her friends whereas Three is trying to make this about our side of the family. Back away, Sparkling, back away. You can do nothing.

Himself is regularly asked if we are doing anything with MIL for Christmas. The answer basically is no. I think the best think would be to take some good Polish bread and cheese and cold meats in on Christmas Eve and spend some time with her.  There is no point taking her out anywhere as she can't see and nothing is familiar. 

I finished the paintings for the grandkids and framed them. Sally's Frozen painting is on stretched canvas so not framed and I haven't a photo yet to show but I will get one. But these are the framed ones...

I must say I am rather pleased with how they've turned out.

This time in 3 weeks we will be halfway through the first week of 2021. All the silliness of Christmas will be behind us. I would like to think it will be the beginning of a much better year and here, in Australia and New Zealand, it might be but I feel so much for the poor buggers in Europe, Asia and the Americas. Does anyone remember a book by John Wyndham called The Chrysalids? It was written in the 1950s and is about a post apocalyptic world where the safest place to be is New Zealand. Or something. It's been 50 years since I read it but it really struck a chord with me and at the moment the Antipodes really do seem to be the best place in the world.

It's been one of the first really warm summer days today. Jinx had her run at the dog park but has spent the rest of the day inside keeping cool. I have been painting and am about to go and have another G&T!

Goundhog Day

 

Even though our restrictions are being lifted and we can, in theory, do more I find that every day is pretty much the same.

Get up, feed dog, have breakfast, go to dog park, come home, have lunch, faff around in the afternoon, walk dog, dinner, tv, bed. Repeat.

Because my anxiety levels went through the roof during the lockdown months it's taking me a while to get back to any sense of normal if that normal means leaving the house. So a couple of outings a week is about it for me (dog park doesn't count as I talk to the dogs!). Last week I went with my student (have I mentioned I'm a volunteer English tutor for the Adult Migrant English Program?) to an employment provider appointment, gave plasma and caught up with a friend for a lovely afternoon of chat and crochet. That was it for me for the week.

This week I have my own appointment with my employment provider and I'm catching up for lunch with a friend I haven't seen for at least 18 months. 

Christmas shopping? Maybe next week.

On the plus side I have finished all the paintings for the grandkidlets - just need to double check and then try and frame them. And I rediscovered my crojo last Friday when I had lunch with Chris. It made me realise that I haven't crocheted for ages when I sat down in front of the telly with my yarn and hook and Jinx decided that she would "help". 

Speaking of Jinx. There has been an awful smell in the house for a few days. I thought it might be her carrying too much dog gloop from the dogs in the park but she didn't really smell bad. Then I thought it was a dried pig's ear that she had been chewing on for too long. Last night I came into my study and the smell was terrible. I found a piece of pig's ear on the carpet, picked it up, smelled it and yup. I'd found the culprit. Except when I took it into the light in the kitchen it turned out to be the very flat remains of a very baby bird. Like freshly hatched baby bird. God only knows where she got it from (although yesterday morning  she did have an egg in her bed with a bit more than yolk in it - if you get my drift). I'm guessing the bloody minahs are attacking nests and kicking out eggs or hatchlings.

Today we had our first overseas travellers arrive in Melbourne for months. They are being sent to 2 weeks of strict hotel quarantine. Here's hoping all the strategies in place work and we don't get new outbreaks. 38 consecutive days without a new case.

Where has the year gone?

I can't believe it's the last day of November and the last day of Spring.

It seems forever ago that the country was dealing with horrendous bush fires and I was getting ready for my knee replacement but it was only 12 months ago. So much has happened this year and yet so little got done because we spent so much time in lockdown. I feel so sorry for the northern hemisphere as it heads into winter and more and more cases of Covid. Hopefully we won't get another wave before a vaccine is available.

As I have said before (many many times and will no doubt again) this is not a good time of year for me. I stress over Christmas; about what to buy, how much to spend, keeping everyone happy, who to see, who not to see. I really don't like it. I am not religious (I'm a very happy atheist) but do have happy memories of Christmas and church as a kid (Christmas and Easter were the only time we went to church!) and back in those days Christmas was when you got the big things like bikes. Nowadays kids seem to get whatever they want whenever they want and everything is so much cheaper by comparison. I am looking forward to seeing the wee girls open pressies but really cannot understand the adult hype over this time of year. Apart from the retailers. And the supermarkets. I hope they have a good season as they have struggled this year. Just call me Grinch.

I took Jinx to the local off lead park this morning. It's only just been fenced off and people are still discovering it. There is a large table and benches that have been there forever and they are on a base of sand. It is obvious that several dogs (including mine) have had a wonderful time digging in this sand and there is a bit of a hole. It's not dangerous as it's under the table and I dare say that in time council will pave the area or remove the table. This morning she was having a sniff and a dig and, thank god, I was right there and noticed some broken glass. Closer examination showed that some arsehole had deliberately broken a beer bottle (the neck was on the table) and buried shards of glass in the sandy hole. I cleared as much as I could but it was hard on my own with a dog who wanted to help! Hopefully someone else can get rid of the rest. 

And on that note I shall leave you with my favourite photo of Three and wee Sally the day after she was born. I can't believe she's 4 now.

I've lost my crojo.

 One of the things I have learned to do over the past 2 years is crochet.

When we lived in Bonbeach I used to go to a craft afternoon at the local community centre where I cross-stitched, knitted, learned how to make stuffed animals (made 2, a cat and a polar bear, that's enough) and tried so hard to learn to crochet but decided in the end I was never going to be a hooker.

Fast forward to the end of 2018. I had stopped work and was still knitting and cross stitching. I joined a local craft group on facebook and half-heartedly read the posts. By February 2019 I was desperately lonely - I had hobbies but none of them involved socialising and I realised how hard it is to move into a new area at this stage of life. Himself encouraged me to go to one of the get togethers of the craft group in a local cafe and with my anxiety through the roof, I did. What a lovely bunch of women. I said I would never be able to crochet but they assured me I could. One of them lent me a hook and I was directed to a couple of you-tube channels and that was it. I was hooked.

This was the first thing I ever made. It sits on MILs bed.

I made beanies for the grandkids.

 I made ponchos for them as well.

Even after carpel tunnel surgery I kept at it

I learned amigurumi

I learned to make bags

I learned to read patterns and made blankets. Lots of blankets

I made shawls

I made a poncho for myself and cowls, berets and a couple of jumpers. 

I learned filet work and made a baby blanket for our niece.

Crocheting helped keep me sane during the first lockdown. Halfway through second lockdown I lost my crojo. I have 4 projects on the go and yarn and patterns for another 7 projects as well as sundry yarn that will make a nice shawl or blanket or something. AND I have become a yarn snob so none of this yarn is particularly inexpensive. I can't work with acrylic (hurts my fingers) and prefer pure cotton or merino blends. A friend gave me a pattern for my birthday which is another skill to learn and I bought the yarn for it but just can't. get. going.

Once I have finished the paintings for the grandkids for Christmas and things settle down I shall take some time to just sit quietly and crochet again.

I miss it.

Finally there is a light at the end of our Covid tunnel

 

Our premier announced this morning further easing of our restrictions. The border between NSW and Victoria will be opened. As of midnight we no longer have to wear masks outdoors as long as we are socially distanced. We can have more people to our homes. We can visit cafes (as long as they observe certain conditions) and hopefully by Christmas we can have 30 people a day in our homes. Not that that is an issue for us - we don't know 30 people to invite!

Speaking of Christmas, it's becoming more and more of a hassle each year trying to get the boys and their families together. Because One and Three married into divorced families their Christmas gatherings have been spread out over days (and One and Ebs go to Bendigo because that's where her extended family is). I understand this but have got so pissed of that no one seems to take into consideration that THIS side of the family would like to spend time with their kids, wives and children on a day close to actual Christmas Day. I know I will never have them for Christmas Day but Boxing Day would have been nice. 

This year we are celebrating on the day AFTER Boxing Day - the challenge will now be for One and Three to work out who will host it as they both want to. 

This time last year I threw my hands up and said I would go on a cruise for Christmas from 2020 on. Well I guess that will never happen! You would have to pay me an enormous amount of money to even consider setting foot on a cruise liner. Ditto overseas flights at the moment, too.

Because of the years of angst around this time of year and the fact that Himself has always hated it my stress levels are currently heading skywards. Add to the mix that I now have to start looking for work again to keep being eligible for the benefit I'm on which supplements Himself's aged pension and I am not in a pleasant place at the moment. I have another 2.5 years before I am eligible for the pension and am applying for jobs but dumbing myself right down. And that really feels weird.

And on that note I shall go and peruse the job sites.