I was overseas with my mother from the 2nd of March 2020, to the 18th of March 2020. A lot happened with coronavirus in Australia during this time, and when we returned, we were legally required to enter self-isolation. This is my brief diary to document my experiences. (For other posts see: Prelude. Part one. Part two. Part three.)

Morning

I woke up at 8am. The day is half gone already!

I ate a banana for breakfast. It was more ripe than I generally like. I will have to do something about them now. I’ll freeze more and keep some out for that bloody banana cake.

I have a very large to-do list and I keep working from the bottom but this morning I looked at the top of the list and remembered some things I’ve been putting off. First job is to start listing some things for sale on Gumtree and Facebook marketplace. It would be convenient to make some sales at this time, seeing as I won’t have income for a couple of weeks. It took a long time to take all the photos and put them up.

The Outdoors

Got a phone call and one of the rescue dogs is coming back. I organised for the owner to come and drop the dog in our yard and then go… It seems very cold and impersonal but it’s how I guess I have to do it when I’m in self-isolation. Organising meets for this dog to find a new home might be logistically more difficult! 

I cleaned the kennels and did a lot of tidying up out there. Having my dogs is one thing, having a big rescue dog who is naughty is another. Lots of cleaning, tidying, sorting out the toys. I also finally treated the area where the flea-infested rescue dogs stayed. (It had been treated before, but I wanted to do another round because fleas are so much work.)

I did a training session with one dog and she did well – much better than I anticipated.

I also did a lot of gardening things and discussion about gardening with husband. I have a plan.

The surrender of the rescue dog went fine – we spoke by phone while the dog was left in the yard. I felt like a right bitch for not being there and offering kind words. But anyway, he’s here now. He gets along with one of our dogs, and he’s quiet in his kennel, which means that everything will be quite settled here in the scheme of things. (Aka: I will not be losing sleep.)

Afternoon

I gymmed in the afternoon. It’s fun to gym with my husband instead of doing it individually, like we normally do. 

We ate ‘out’ – dinner on the front porch with the sunset again. We had a pie from Cherry Darlings and it’s one of the best pre-iso preps investments from my husband. I wore leggings, following the gym, and I got mozzie bites through them.

I prepared the adoption profile and all the paperwork for the rescue dog, so he’s now ready to adopt, if I work out a way to do self-isolation meets.

The Future

In the coronavirus news today, the South Australian borders are closed. I might be more upset about this if I was able to use these borders instead of being in self-isolation. Further, the Australian government has shut down non-essential services, which is basically high-human-traffic venues. My job is not in the list of shut downs (yet?). I keep wondering if there might not be jobs to go to at the end of my self-isolation. My husband and I are lucky we are not casuals or in temporary work – we will have jobs at the end of this. I have had my share of job insecurity and I can see the fear on my Facebook feed. The affect of coronavirus on our economy is terrifying, now and in the future.

We moved a cupboard from the gym into the lounge and I’m super excited about rearranging the house into the cupboard. Unreasonably excited. I feel like isolation has compromised my perspective.