Monday, April 13, 2020

Easter in Isolation

Hello everyone!

I hope you have had a lovely Easter. DH and I walked on the beach this morning, and look who I found! Yes, the Easter Bunny on Easter Tuesday, taking a break after a busy weekend.



It was a bit different this time, wasn't it? DH and I watched the Perth Anglican Cathedral services on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, from his study. The Cathedral was empty except for a few essential people -but they did a good job at helping us all have a meaningful expression of the faith, despite the difficulties associated with the Covid19 pandemic and required social distancing measures. 


The weather was very hot indeed last week -but thankfully the autumn feel is back again now. As so many of us are now at home and trying to keep busy with growing some of our own food -and it is winter vegetable sowing and planting time now-so we need a bit cooler weather to help them along.

We are finding it so helpful to try to get outside in nature each day -my garden will be looking fantastic because it is getting so much attention! The pumpkin below was the first one I picked this year. It is a bit small, but I have great hopes for a very large one now growing under the grapefruit tree. My grand children took home a large basket of produce from the garden this week -herbs and fruit and flowers. My grand-daughter commented:  "your house is a garden wonderland!'


My improvisational quilt was finally finished this week and it is now hanging up in the hallway. I am pleased with the way it turned out. I call it 'Summer Ices" because I was thinking of gelati all the while I was working on  it. I am looking forward to being able to go back to the gelati shops at Hillarys Boat Harbor when all this is over, and enjoying a meal in a restaurant with other people in tow! 


I took my 'nanna trolley" out to the shops to get some milk from the local shop. I pick a good quiet time, and use a local grocer where there are fewer people. I like supporting the local businesses. I like the walk through the quiet streets. 


On the way I saw some chalk drawing on a fence: a palm leaf, a crown of thorns, a cross and an empty tomb.



DH has completed a project in his workshop. He found a broken small table at the Tip Shop, and thought he could repair it and make it useful again. He was able to use a new tool to make the top with a nice edge, and spent some time sanding back and refinishing the legs and repairing the frame. 



I have some lovely fabric on the design wall and am now considering a new quilt, using the new fabric and some scraps. I am missing my regular visits to the local library but DH got some new books for his birthday -and I will get to share the joy of those too. DH and DS both had birthdays this weekend. We celebrated in a bit of an understated way.

So we are keeping busy enough, with all of these projects.

I hope you are the same but if not, here are some inspirational sites for you, in case you need a few ideas to be going on with:

The Radical Homemaker :

http://theradicalhomemaker.net/farm-views-and-politics/lessons-from-the-not-so-happy-homemakers/

Lucy on how to get by in these crazy times
https://www.frugalwoods.com/2020/04/09/uber-frugal-week-day-1-know-what-you-spend-and-where-you-can-save/

Important information from David Holmgren, co-founder of Permaculture and writer of Retrosuburbia -now you can 'pay what you feel for the book! “Pay what you feel” asks you to respond from the heart as you choose what to pay for what I hope will be life changing content. Retrosuburbia now on download- pay what you can! 
See the launch here https://youtu.be/ly4k_Wg9YAs

Get active in the workshop
My good friend Greg has had to take his woodworking classes online -check out his videos here
https://youtu.be/_10R8uezg6M

How to grow seedlings from scratch from Pip Magazine
https://www.pipmagazine.com.au/news/raising-seeds/?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=self-reliance-blog-posts&utm_term=raising-seeds-video&utm_content=lookalike-website-visitors&fbclid=IwAR1cWo-3E36kauGA9z0H2ST49ymtKzsRcvT5dr_XMB6ULFdFpTMssi-dQbY

Thanks so much for reading this far. I love to read your comments!

3 comments:

sustainablemum said...

I love your quilt, it is so bright and colourful. I love your silhouette photo too! Glad to hear that you are finding projects to keep you busy I think that is what we need right now isn't it.

Meg said...

I was lucky enough to borrow Retrosuburbia, for a second time, before all libraries closed. It is a book that is so worthwhile reading as I think it covers a multitude of ways that could increase resilience for everyone in a community. I have been rereading it, different sections at a time, then thinking about what things we could still do here that are not radical by any means but that would lead to greater self and community
resilience. Looking forward to exploring these links. Thanks!
Meg:)

TheAwakenedSoul said...

I love that photo of your shadow with the nanny trolley. Your granddaughter sounds so sweet and perceptive. Children really appreciate gardens. I think pumpkins are magical; they grow so quickly.