So, I thought I might write a blog. Just a private one, for friends and family. And for myself. These last few weeks have been so strange and stressful and different from my life before... it’s made me desperate to write about it. At first I thought I’d just get back into writing a journal (it’s been years) but then realised doing it this way is a bit more fun (who remembers how to write with a pen?) and the grandparents will be able to see lots of photos of the kids, and it will be a good way to keep a record of how we get through these really weird times...

Yes, thanks a lot Covid19. Because of you the world has been turned upside down. People are sick and dying, jobs have been lost, shops and cafes are closed, crazy people are panic buying bizarre things like toilet paper and beer... as for our little family, I probably won’t have any cello work for quite a while, we can’t really leave the house, I am homeschooling the girls, our bedroom is now Scott’s office, and every little cough or sore throat (things that kids have often) is sending me into a wild panic as my imagination runs away with me and I can see Scott getting sick and me as a Covid19 widow (Covidow?) unable to pay the mortgage and struggling to bring up 3 girls all by myself... Yikes.

But... some good things: we are spending a lot more time together, sleeping in a bit, eating lunch AND dinner together with Scott every day, playing a lot more games and going on a lot more walks and bike rides. And things are a bit less rushed without the usual outside commitments. Which is kinda nice.

It’s only been a bit over a week so we’re still working the whole homeschooling thing out, but so far there’s been a fair bit of art, craft, gardening, cooking, music and watching BTN (which is definitely the best way to watch the news, by the way). My brother Dave has been giving his girls some awesome homeschooling with history lessons and science experiments... puts me to shame. Oh well. Whatevs. We’ll catch up next term.

Lucy is working hard at her computer, keeping up with her assessments that are mostly online anyway. It’s a real shame she’s missing out on all the German Immersion she was getting in the class. Not quite the same at home. And we can’t even invite our freund Christoph over for a German fix.

Have been staying away from social media because it’s all a bit overwhelming. But I realise I’m missing some pretty great stuff eg. #kindness pandemic etc.  I feel like the number of emails I get every day from the schools and all my activist groups is taking up too much of my time already. (And now I’ve decided to spend more time on a device every night writing on this blog. Oopsy.)

Scotty has been letting me know what’s happening in the world. And we have been listening to the lovely Dr Norman Swan on the Coronacast. Scott just now informed me that the Covid19 worldwide count is over half a million cases and around 24 thousand dead. Jesus.

Kids are finally asleep. Gotta watch a little bit of tv before collapsing into bed.

‘Night x