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. Part four. Part five.)

Morning

I surprised myself by not waking up until 9am. This is unheard of for me.

I had a friend come around and hang peaches on my gate. I came out and we had a shouted conversation across the drive-way. This is the first new food in the house for a week and it’s pretty exciting. Plus it’s a sweet food. This is almost like getting lollies.

I cleaned the kennels – again, the thorough version of cleaning when I do jobs that I’ve been putting off. Today I hosed out the corridor and kitchen of the kennels, as well as any dirty kennels. I discovered the water went a different direction than I thought.. I’ll know for next time.

Afternoon

I made nachos for lunch because the avocado was too green yesterday but almost rotten today.

My husband and I spent a huge part of the day cleaning the shed. This was immensely satisfying. We threw out moving boxes (which we’ve been offering for adoption since we moved in a year ago), we moved some things out in the kennels (which had been waiting for the kennel storeroom to be built), I found dog training equipment I forgot I had. There is now room to park a car in the shed!

The other day, I posted a picture of what I believe is Ruby Saltbush on my Facebook page, asking if it was edible. I ate a few berries today, and I haven’t died, but I can’t say they were particularly tasty. Apocalypse food only, I think.

After the shed, I fixed up my orchard (the soil had moved a bit once it dried out yesterday), and I went to plant a tree in the backyard, but the soil was too hard. I gave it a soak and I’ll try again tomorrow.

Back inside, I baked a cake. It’s my lemon and blueberry cake which I’ve been trying to perfect before putting up the recipe. The particular variation I tried today was in the top 3, so in a few more repeats, I should be able to share it with you all.

Evening

I spent my evening trying to understand the boardgame Agricola. I was mentally tantruming when I decided to look at online videos instead of reading the rules, and that helped a lot. I then played a game with myself to solidify my understanding. I’ve told my husband we have to play it together tomorrow.

As I was getting ready for bed, I came across a live stream of the prime minister shutting down more services and gatherings. It’s odd – we know that each time we get an announcement, there is going to be more and more restrictions, and we have some idea what they are, because we’ve seen them happen around the world. I expect that gatherings of more than two people will be banned by the end of the week, as we’ve seen happen in the UK and Germany.

While I’m sitting here in self isolation, I do feel incredibly safe. I wasn’t particularly worried about coronavirus (being not-old and not-sick), but I’m definitely not going to pick it up while I’m sitting at home. I am also so lucky that I have a job to go to at the end, and so does my husband.

Before bed, my husband and I shared memes on the prime minister’s speech. There’s a lot to say about going to a hairdresser and attending barre.