Around here

How is everyone going these days?  I feel like we are all holding our breath until the real start of the New Year and that January 2021 is just a practise run for the real thing.  Here in Brisbane the next 7 days is expected to be the peak of Omicron and the week after that is probably not much better.  As a result, the School Year in Queensland has been delayed by two weeks however Grade 11 [my daughter's grade] and Grade 12 will do one week of online remote learning and then all the schools go back on the 7th February, 2021.

I had my booster shot last week and the next day woke up with a runny nose and by 3pm needed to lie down as I was really tied and went to bed early.  The day after that I woke up, no runny nose and back to normal.  I didn't have any of that with my first two doses of AstraZeneca and I got Moderna as the booster.  I feel good to have had my booster shot and of course I'm not really going anywhere or socializing to stay safe.  We were going to have an Australian Day BBQ however I decided it wasn't wise to do that this year and will wait until next January, 2023 and hopefully things have settled down to somewhat normal lives.

My photography course has started and we have had two zoom meetings so far and there are 7 of us in the group.  I am also in another photography group which starts next Monday although the assignments are a little difficult because my kids aren't keen to be in any photos any more.  The assignment needs to be new work based on the topic for that week and will need to have people in them.  I did tell my kids I'm doing the course and will need them to be in my photos for my assignments so we will see how that goes.  I miss the days when I was taking photos of them everyday playing outside, drawing, painting, jumping on the trampoline with the hose or cooking.  It's been a huge adjustment as the parenting gig changes the older they get and my creative happy place is taking photos of them which is few and far between these days.  I hope you are all staying safe and you have a good week.

Here's a few photos from the weekly prompts from one group.

Week 1 - At the table

Week 2 - First Light

Week 3 - Flat Lay

Week 4 - Through the Window

Around here

Well what a start to 2022 it has been in Brisbane in the State of Queensland has been taken over with Covid - some Delta - mostly Omicron.  We opened our borders on the 13th December having zero cases and 30 days later we have had over 130,000 cases and that's probably understated given how difficult it is to get a PCR test and/or get your hands on a RAT test [Rapid Antigen Test].  It's hard to believe preparation for this stage of the Pandemic has been left to the last minute with RAT tests virtually unavailable and PCR clinics turning people away and closing at midday when they are supposed to be open to 8pm at night.  It's just crazy ridiculous.  So far my immediate family have been safe although I have been staying at home and not socializing with anyone.  We are waiting on PCR test results for my son as he came into contact with two confirmed cases.  This is day 6 and still no test results however luckily no symptoms so staying home for that time being well, whilst boring, is better than being sick.

It's interesting because for the past two years even in NSW & VIC even though they had lots of Covid infections lots of people didn't catch Covid where as now all those people are catching it due to Omicron.  I'm getting my booster shot this afternoon and will be happy when that's done for further protection.  My son is booked in for his booster shot in February and my daughter won't be able to get her booster as she is under 18 however she is double vaxed.

Next week is the start of my Photography Course which runs for 14 weeks which is the business side of things, social media, Customer Relationship Management [CRM] system, all the back end of stuff.  I'm very excited to be doing this and the last couple of weeks because of Covid I was worried that I wouldn't be able to take photos of people however I turned it into a positive spin knowing for the next 14 weeks I'm focusing on setting up my systems and hopefully Omicron would have gone through everyone by then and we may be out the other side.  Regardless I'm so excited for this course to start which is all online.

I also went back to WW [Weight Watchers] mid December after a 6 year break and the new Personal Points program is their best yet.  In the past food was given a points value and based on your height, age and weight you were given a number of points to spend in a given day.  The new program works a tailored program out for you based on foods you love or eat regularly.  You have "zero point" food so it encourages you to eat those healthier options first.  The app is so easy to use and has a bar code scanner on it so when I was at the supermarket you can scan a product to see how many points per serve an item is.  You can do the "digital version only" ie the app or you can do the app and a meeting which they now call a workshop or you can do personal one on one [I'm assuming this is online] with a consultant.  I'm doing the app and the meeting so I go once a week get weighed and listen to a 30 minute talk.  The meeting is a 5 min drive from home so really close.  My sister and I are doing it together and my friend just joined and her 2 friends as well.

I started off on the 1st December, 2021 doing a "21 day circuit breaker" for myself to not have any chocolate [I love chocolate], biscuits, cake, chips, lollies, ice cream from the 1st December to the 21st December so I could enjoy Christmas and also break that habit of enjoying those things.  That gave me a really good start and then joined WW on the 16th December, 2021.  I feel so good already and I'm in the right head space to do this.

I bought the cookbook and it has a QR code at the bottom of each recipe so when I scan the bar code it will give me the amount of points on my plan vs my friend who might have a different plan.  I think that is so clever and I'm loving being back on track eating healthy.  Our food is 90% healthy generally it was those bad habits of the treats that I relied on.  I can still have chocolate or an ice cream if I want, however I'm staying away from those things until I'm closer to my goal.  It will take many months however I have come a long way in the 6 weeks since I made a commitment to my health.

Our Christmas tree is still up and as you know it went up the week of Christmas however before I take it down today I did some very slow shutter movement pics which I saw someone else do so I gave it a shot.  Here's some of the Christmas Tree photos for 2021.  The light streaks are the Christmas Lights.  I hope you are all keeping safe and all we can do is take one day at a time and that time is today.

Around here - Big Patch Quilt

In August 2020 I started a "Big Patch Quilt" inspired by Hopewood Homes beautiful bespoke "Big Patch Quilts".  Susan's garden is also stunning and her IG feed is beautiful so I encourage you to check it out.  This week I finally got back to this quilt and it's been lovely to have the machine out and sewing again.  I decided to put on "Sea Change" on Netflix starting from the beginning on the TV in the background.  Back in the day when I was single and going out we used to stay home on a Saturday night to watch Sea Change at 7.30 pm and then go out afterwards.  It's such a lovely Australian Show, down to earth no frills.  I have a photo of the actual town this was filmed in however it was pouring rain and the photo was taken up on a hill inside our 4WD.  It's a photo of the bridge at Barwon Heads, Victoria and the bridge is a big part of the Sea Change story as the town is cut off with the bridge needing repairs [in the TV show].  

Back to my quilt, I've finally finished sewing my rows one way on the quilt and now I need to start sewing the other way to make squares then I'll need to bind it.  In these photos I've added another row of sewing in between the larger spaces.  In 2022 I want to do some more crafts and finish this quilt off and also a crochet knee blanket that needs to be finished as well.