Strange New World

We live in interesting times.  It's hard to know what to expect from one day to the next.  Here in South Australia there are 50 confirmed COVID-19 cases, all of them related to travel, or contact with an overseas traveller.  And no cases in regional SA, which is good for those of us who live outside the city.

I feel like I've been in isolation anyway, looking after the baby, and Thomas, and helping Shonny's family any way I can.  I left the house 3 times in 3 weeks, so my contact with others has been minimal.  I've been home for a few days now, and have only gone out to have coffee with a friend and to collect the mail. In one way it's a very limiting lifestyle, but in other ways it's a bonus.  I can get very distracted from things I should be doing, and now those distractions can't happen.  So I can just stay at home and work on things that need to be done.

Alas, that means my taxes, but I've almost finished, and they'll be done before the last minute for a change.  Once the paperwork is finished, I want to move into the workroom and really start quilting.  There is a backlog of customer quilts, so I'll tackle that as soon as I can, and then get back to prepping the stack of donation tops so they can be done quickly. We could do with another roll of batting, so that might get ordered next week.  It would be terrible to have all this time at home and run out of quilting supplies!

I've had a chest and head cold for 2 weeks, brought home and shared by Hayden.  He's convinced it's The Corona Virus, but he's just being alarmist.  I'm in 2 high risk groups, I'm over 60 and I have chronic lung disease, so if I had COVID-19 I think I'd be pretty well incapacitated, and I'm not. It's a sobering thought though, that there is no safe time for me until they develop a vaccine, or a drug to mitigate the symptoms.  As much as I love solitude, I would find it difficult to self-isolate for 18 months!

I'm still sewing on the Japanese Cross blocks, I'm up to 24. I've added a lot more lighter greys to the mix ,and it's looking better. I have no idea how I'm going to put them together, the seams won't nest nicely, and I'm not looking forward to mashing all those seam allowances flat.  I really should have thought the pressing sequence through before I made so many.  There's always a tiny sashing as an option, so that will be in the back of my mind as I complete the rest of the blocks.

It's my favourite time of the year, waiting for the cool weather to become the norm, and autumn flowers to appear, and getting out my winter clothing that I absolutely love.  I'm never sorry to say goodbye to summer; I just hope that the cool weather doesn't mean more colds and flu for me. I need to stay healthy so I can keep visiting those grandkids.