3 months into Coronavirus

We are three months into this thing and the new normal is now almost normal for me.

For our family, the only changes (apart from the no travel anywhere restriction) seems to be good for the adults and pets in this house.
The girls seem to have mixed feelings and Lily spends way too much time in her room but at least shes talking to her friends even at a distance. Chloe is missing people although its nice to see so much of her. They are both having a harder time of it than I would like though.

Paul works a reduced shift and therefore has done a lot of things around the house including starting the closet in the master bedroom that's only waited about 7 years now.

I am continuing to work from home and spring has morphed into summer and I am still enjoying my breakfasts listening to Fishmonster live update (from Key West)and now I can work with the doors open and listen to the summer sounds of the pool pump and the breeze in the trees.

For the first time in my life I am making bread and have a garden growing, my sugar snap peas are a success and I can enjoy picking them daily to eat. Its wonderful.

Ducky and my progress together has been slow as we not been able to have lessons until very recently but from a relationship perspective its been perfect. We are well on the road to a great relationship and the bond is strong already. Now we are back to lessons I realize how unfit I have become and how hard we have to work to achieve our goals of us becoming a hunter success. Thankfully the shows are cancelled so the pressure is off.

I get to walk the dogs first thing in the warmth of a Nova Scotia summer morning and we return hot and sticky in time for a shower before I start my working day. In the aftermoons I get to eat my dinner by the pool and swim often, I have never swum this much in our pool in June before. Its been 85F for days now.

The negative sides are a concern that we wont be going anywhere for a very long time and when the border finally opens, the Florida we love will have changed greatly. Universal Studios has reopened but masks are compulsory and that doesn't sound like much fun in summer heat to me. Personally I cannot imagine such a visit.

The end of a Covid April

The new normal is weirdly ok in many respects, for us.
Every week day I come downstairs, if the weather is good, I walk the dogs and then start my work day, right here:

I am in reality living the working from home dream.
I have a lovely breakfast every day of homemade bread toasted with eggs and then a slice with jam. Lately due to my low iron levels I eat spinach too, I eat spinach in as many things as I can. Thankfully I rather like it.

I have discovered how to make greek yogurt, out of necessity as everyone was eating it and it was getting expensive. I also make cookies as Lily practically inhales them and bread as that too costs a lot for something thats not that good. We invested in a new breadmaker that makes bread and yogurt and I dont believe I will ever buy bread, cookies or greek yogurt again.

I go to the barn in my time slot where only three are allowed at any given time and hang out with Ducky, sometimes we ride, sometimes I loose school him to work out energy and to be able to watch him move. I try to keep it all low risk as I dont want to invite a trip to the ER.

Lately the weather has been gorgeous but the last couple of days its been snowing and cold.

I have also started growing my own food, I have sugar snap peas, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, celery, carrots and cucumber started, some more successful than others. Yesterday I ate my own lettuce for the first time ever.

Apart from worrying where this may take us financially, how it may end or what the new normal would look like, how Bahama Bay will fare among other things, I am just wondering onwards.

Paul is working one week on and two weeks off in a rotational shift, in his home weeks hes spring cleaning and making things with what we may already own as we hoard money every way possible.

The girls are learning in Google classrooms and missing their friends but keeping it positive and we have started takeout Friday to have something cool each week.
Lately a family trip to the local A&W has been a highlight.

The dogs and I are restricted to this neighbourhood as I dont wish to risk any fines and we are online grocery shopping including our meat from Snowy River Farms which has been a dream of mine for a while, eating healthy guilt-free meat is blissful. The idea of happy animals being the basis of my food makes such a difference.

Unfortunately a week and a half ago a man who I refuse to name took the lives of 22 people in  13.5 hour shooting and arson rampage. The whole province is reeling and the country feels it. For us it was half an hour of crazy and then it was over. It still doesnt feel real although for the families affected it is painfully real. For me, I no longer emotionally respond to police cars the same way.

The Coronavirus

Its three weeks into my working from home new life. Like the rest of the world I too am getting used to the Covid-19 threat and what it means to this home and our life.
For us, the lucky ones, it means me working from home, hubby working 7 day on, 14 days home shifts, the girls starting e-learning and massive restrictions to our outdoor life.
We have to go one at a time to the grocery stores where sometimes items are limited, tape is on the floor and staff are behind plexiglass.
I have a two hour slot at the barn most days where I ride Ducky. I can walk the dogs and as a family we can walk in our neighbourhood.
We cannot go to state parks, beaches or walk in new places as we risk a fine. We cannot see friends.

Companies around us are pulling back or shutting down as the world continues to change. Gas is at 64c a litre and I have no idea when I can get my glasses changed now I have broken the frames. I am waiting to see if new ones might arrive as the manufacturer has shut down.

For others they battle their very lives as we see daily on the news as globally this coronavirus takes hold. Frightening numbers of infections and death by country.  For some people, the homeless, the less fortunate countries this is very bad indeed. For our seniors, those with less than perfect health and even healthy people - this is dire and life threatening, and life ending.

Its all come to this in mere weeks.

I wonder where we go from here.

Meanwhile I have learnt to make bread and cookies to take care of our bank accounts, and am growing salad in the window sill of the spare room as its still cool outside. The pets are overjoyed at our continued presence at home and I check in with friends and family around the world as often as I can.
I wear PJs to keep clothes good and have a whole new routine including a morning workout every single day before working to try to address the newly painful pelvis I seem to have acquired.

This virus seems to be bringing out the empathy in the empaths and the jerk behaviour of the jerks. Many still dont believe its "a thing" which blows my mind.

Our December Florida trip photo post #2

We saw our first alligator ever at Bahama Bay. Its tiny but its a bonefida alligator

Whilst in the Keys we visited our beloved rental home on Summerland Key that had been all but destroyed by Irma.

The Marriot in Marathon had a pretty marina next door, Lily and I had a rather windy and wild walk around it one evening.

Lily chilling in Bahama Bay. This was our first condo there this time and a firm favourite.

I finally got a photo of Paul on the ride at Universal that none of us would join him on.

My most favourite lunch at Margaritaville.

Dinner at Bahama Breeze with their gorgeous cocktails

Our December Florida trip photo post #1

We Florida-ed. In December, returning home two days before Christmas. We loved it, despite a couple of cool days but I did say that I would never again go in the Holidays.
Now, with Covid-19 around, I am so glad we went then.

A photo memory blog:

The sun setting as we made our way down the East coast (it was an afternoon flight which was another unusual one for us, but hey you take what you can get right):

Beloved Bahama Bay. We walked, I had one morning run, I reset my brain and spent the week grateful.

Holiday Universal Studios. I got Chloe to come on the Harry Potter ride, I was right, she loved it.

We drove down to the Keys and went to Louis Back Yard where we pointed out to the girls all the spots from our twenties memories

I got to see a Fishmonster Boat, I love following Fishmonster every day on FB.

We had lunch at the Conch House

We pointed out the Mermaid and the Alligator

We stayed in the Marriot in Marathon which was really rather lovely although we kind of have outgrown sharing one hotel room for sure.

The view from our balcony.

News Years Ducky

Its been a while since I posted but heres a quick update. The New Year came with brand new day, year and decade and I (as usual) am massively affected by a new year.

By 7am I had agreed a purchase price with Duckys owner and a couple of days later he officially became mine. So now I am the very proud owner of D’Lucky Cat (known as Ducky to his friends and new family) who (I discovered when I followed back his heritage on Google one morning while I drank coffee) happens to be the great, great, great grandson of Secretariat.

THE Secretariat who won the triple crown and has a Disney movie made after him. Now I do of course realize that Ducky has many, many relations out of that magnificent and famous horse but I am jazzed that he is one of them. I have of course yet to personally see if Ducky possesses racehorse speed (although he did in fact win a race, which I have seen on a replay) but he definitely has the red coat and same love of posing for the camera of his predecessor.

Usually at this time of year I have reviewed last years New Years resolutions and made a whole list of ones for the current year but this time I just don’t feel like it. I am not sure if its due to the fact that Ace can no longer be a part of this or what it is, but I feel like I want to make another style of list and in fact already am.

~I have learnt, once again, to live in the moment with my family and when I am by myself.

~I have learnt to really enjoy my relationship with my horse and I am learning all about this new horse   who is so very different to my one before. In this learning I have reached out to all my contacts old and new to understand how to continue to grow.

~I now know more than I ever did and I am just at the start of this journey. Ducky and I are at the beginning of our relationship and I am excited for all that it will bring for him and I together and also just for me, as what I am learning is also growing me, as a person and the leader this horse needs me to be.

This change of view and this ability to live right now and be ever so present at any moment of my choosing has so far helped my sleep, my general well being and my way of viewing pretty much everything.

Part of my new found discovery is through a podcast I now listen to as soon as the next episode is out called Take The Reins which is by Nikki Porter.  This is tremendous and really speaks to me and I encourage anyone whether they have horses, or ride or do not even step foot near them. This podcast has episodes about tools in life and will speak to every person out there.