More settled

The last fortnight has been quite stressful for many of us, and for me too. 

My son, daughter in law and three grandchildren were in the process of moving from country Victoria to Perth, when all of the pandemic started to unfold! DH went by plane to meet DS and help him drive the family car all the way back to Perth - a distance of 3334 km which took them 5 days. They travelled through the desert but only one day was a bit too hot-nearly 43C, and the rest was quite cool. I was quite stressed by the fact that on two days they found themselves driving into the evening to find a motel with a bed on the way. Thankfully, they did not have any incidents with the wildlife (hitting a kangaroo is not recommended!) and arrived safely.

But then the travel arrangements which had been made for DDIL and our three grandchildren started to look very impractical! The airline industry was in sharp decline and state borders were starting to close. We all were worried about the family being stuck on the wrong side of the WA border! Again, as a result of some good work by some good people, they got a flight into Perth just after the government required all visitors to go into self-quarantine for 14 days. 

A very good friend was able to put the family up for a week-this was a lifesaver because of a third problem.

The house that the family was buying had been discovered to have had a pipe burst and flood the ceiling of a bedroom. Trying to get a set of builders to come and do this insurance work has been an absolute nightmare. The 'settlement date" of the house loomed and my family were anxious -how could they settle a house in such a state? Would the looming 'lockdown" stop work for six months?

One hour before 'settlement" DH and I drove out to the house to check if the fabled builder was actually on site and were delighted to see the van out the back, with his business name on it! YAY! He was there doing the technical fixes for the ceiling and we were confident that, if the worst came to pass and the builder could not return, we were capable of finishing the room with a bit of paint and new carpet.

Here is the moment my grandchildren went through the front door for the first time! 

A really joyful moment!

Today the family has been moving some basics into the house -some beds and a fridge in particular. We were anxious that they should be IN the house in case a total lockdown was called. Also, the household goods that left the country town in Victoria a week ago are due to be delivered Wednesday this week. The carrier company was afraid that government regulations might prevent them moving this way soon, so we needed to have the house available for delivery. 

I was feeling very frustrated that the Covid19 pandemic has meant that we have not been as helpful to the family as we want to be. DH is 67 and I am 65 and we are advised 'not to have any contact with young children'. He has a history of lung problems so we are taking the advice seriously. This means we can't babysit, as much as we wish we could. 

My DDIL and DS agreed that it might be helpful as they move today if we could send them some basic foods for a day or so. I made up some bags of food from my larder, and made sausage rolls and coleslaw for dinner tonight. This little task made me very happy! We sent them some of our home grown produce and the chutneys and jams DH makes. This is the first time we have been able to share in this way and it feels so good. 

After all this , it is great to turn my attention to my latest quilt and feel settled enough to settle down to it.

 I feel as though, now the family is more settled, even though there is a long way to go to be without some worries and a lot of work to come, we should be able to recover and rest a bit, just like Dora here.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you are all safe and well.