COVID-19 clusterf%*k part three, level three

Here’s my personal recount of my experience during COVID-19. I write this so I can look back on it in the future and think wow, that sh*t was cray. I am so, so pleased it never happened again.

Hola! Comin’ at ya from day-two of Level-3 in New Zealand!

What’s it mean? Sweet f*&k all, really.

Well, it means a few things but unfortunately (and fortunately), we aren’t participating in most due to protecting our bubble with a vulnerable person in our household.

It means*…

  • You still shouldn’t leave home wherever possible
  • Contactless food takeaway and delivery is available
  • People who can safely return to work can… but if you can work from home, you should
  • You can exercise further from the home, but not far
  • You can slightly extend your bubble, but not much

* Please note, I am by no means an expert. Check out the yellow NZ COVID-19 guide below.

We are still keeping our bubble fairly locked down for the next little while. There hasn’t been any cases in our area and cases are declining in NZ but it’s much better to be safe than sorry. One exciting thing is that my brother, Daniel, will be joining us until he goes back to work. He had a COVID-19 test and isolated until his results were returned which were thankfully negative. I am excited to see him tomorrow!

I am also hoping we can get some food delivered, even though we are keeping to our 3-day no touching rule with deliveries, so they will go in the fridge until they pass our imposed quarantine. Maybe some baby pies from the bakery or 3-day old KFC? I am excited regardless. I am dreaming of the day when I get to eat restaurant-fresh, quality dumplings!! It’s coming closer, I can feel it in my bones.

Importantly, with contactless food takeaway and delivery open, please remember to support your local businesses! The cafe around the corner or the Thai shop in town needs your business.

It’s been mushroom season on the farm, and boy have we been mushrooming. I’ve been making mushrooms on toast (just add garlic, butter, and parmesan), mushroom soup (thanks to a recipe shared on this blog’s FB page – thanks Katie!), stroganoff and adding them to every dish that we can think of. Delicious!

Regular life continues, I work a lot more than I should, I have launched my business in NZ and read a couple of books. Oh, and I started a TV show, Californication. I’ve attempted to keep up my exercise and this week I cut alcohol for Sun-Fri. I’m looking forward to my Friday wine with the ladies from work.

We’ve been lighting the outside fireplace and spending sunsets next to it. I steal precious moments there with the fam in between working.

Oh yeah, and I succumbed to an ill-fated beer-skulling competition with my brother, Luke. He’s a machine and I’ve watched him have competitions over the years with his friends. Something (God only knows what), enticed me to get involved and I lost.. three times. I even tried using a straw in my bottle – it completely screwed me! Felt like I swallowed a bottle of air.

I’m enjoying my time here and have started planning where I will travel when we reach Level 2. Queenstown is on the cards if I can get there for sure and I have my eyes on a few walks around here.

Send me suggestions for mushrooms and feijoa recipes please!! Beer skulling tips are also welcome.

Please note; I am incredibly grateful to the essential workers and front-liners who keep our nations going. This is a tough time for so many people and I aim to cause no offense, this is a personal recount to look back on when COVID-19 is something kids learn about in history.