11. Weekend Coffee Catchup

We won’t waste time with why I’ve been MIA (Missing in Action) since June last year. I’ll say COVID and you’ll understand.

Colour on the Narrawallee Creak Reserve Track

No coffee, liquorice, chocolate, home baking or Monte Carlo biscuits today. It’s home made bone broth for me and you have a selection of coffee brewed whichever way, tea, or hot chocolate from the pantry; please help yourself.  How has your week been? I’m guessing so much of the same has happened for you as me but we are living in a different world than that we knew three years ago.

Before we continued I’d like to give a shout-out to Natalie who hosts us each week, her blog has a link to others who do catch ups.

Yep, We’re in Lockdown … Again

If we were having coffee I’d tell you, our state of NSW (Australia) is in lockdown again with overnight cases at 1, 485 and 3 deaths. The Delta strain has targeted those under 40 which is where we’re seeing most deaths. We get daily updates on the number of new cases in the community, tests carried out in the last 24-hours, deaths (broken down by age group and whether vaccinated or not), and how the hospital system is coping. They anticipate a peak in case n umbers for the next few weeks and a hospitalisation surge anticipated mid-October. The goal is 70 – 80% of the state double-dose-vaccinated at which time those fully vaccinated “can start to enjoy more freedoms” than we’re living with now.

Sobering statistics but a reminder that we can each do our bit. Stay home, use the QR codes if you must go out and practice social distancing while all the time wearing masks (even if you can’t see where you’re going, what you’re buying or who you’re speaking to, because your lenses are fogged up).

Cycling

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you we biked the Narrawallee Creek Reserve track and couldn’t believe the transformation. With rain the week before, there was a lot of water on the track that made for interesting, wet and wobbly crossings. The wildflowers, not evident previously, are now prolific and stunning. There were more people out yesterday enjoying the changed track conditions and the abundance of colour about.

Having completed the 9km track we continued to the lake entrance where it opens to the sea.  It’s beautiful, and today the tide was that far out the sand bars were evident.  For a reserve that is usually abuzz with walkers, fishermen, surfers and campers it was eerily still and peaceful.

Thong Tree

Reflected

Recent Reads

• Prime Suspect – Lynda la Plante
• A Face in the Crowd – Linda la Plante
• Silent Victims – Linda la Plante
• Clan of the Cave Bear – Jean Auel
• The Mammoth Hunters – Jean Auel
• The Midnight Library – Matt Haig
• The Clifton Chronicles – Jeffrey Archer

Over the coffee/bone broth cups I’d tell you there are a few books in my reading stack, but I’ve started on the first in a series by Ryan Holliday’s The Obstacle is the Way. Less heady reading includes The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray, I’ve continued with the Clifton Chronicles by Jeffrey Archer and recently started the fifth in the series Cometh the Hour, and the final item on the list is Your Own Kind of Girl by Clare Bowditch.

What’s your reading stack look like?

Ruminations

If we were having coffee, I’d ask how you felt about the 20 years two nations spent in Afghanistan only to release it to the Taliban. I’m still reeling from the loss of life on both sides of the fight. And we won’t talk about China because that too is everywhere you look, although there aren’t too many people offering a way forward. It seems our pollies are buried in COVID which at least, has given us a reprieve from the inane in-and-cross-party bickering – that has to be a good thing.

Track through Bush and Natural Coastal Forest

Advice from 1949

1949 Singer Sewing Machine
Manufacturer’s Manual

Gratitudes

• That we both have a good quality of life
• There is always something to do at home
• The garden
• Our local timber, hardware and gardening store
• TV shows
• Books
• Being able to get out in such a beautiful part of Australia
• Living in a Village surrounded by those who care for each other

The rest of my week went well. How are you doing?

Take care

Linda x