We say bonghjornu (hello) in Corsican, from the amazing island city of Corsica, in France this week. Husband and I have been watching the Amazing Race (season thirty-three- so great!) these past weeks. We have loved watching the race unfold, with the great teams and viewing the wonderful countries visited and fun tasks undertaken throughout the series. I have to add, the beautiful island of Corsica in France, was particularly memorable and I wanted to acknowledge this island and country in the blog this week (if only we could go visit?!). According to the internet, Corsica is a great holiday travel destination (as seen on the Amazing Race), the top things to do in this city island in the Mediterranean, is yachting, sailing, cycling, hiking, wine and food tasting, visiting and meeting locals (sounds like fun, huh?). https://www.google.com/searchq=top+things+to+do+in+corsica+france
We hope everyone is staying safe and well, lots more rain is expected through the week and there are many flood alerts for Northern NSW and Southern Queensland at present- stay safe everyone! I have been diligently cleaning out our roof gutters and road drains every few weeks, to ensure no blockages, so that the rain and water runoff can flow away from our house (heaven forbid if we were to flood again!). I listened to our builder’s advice to block up the two (very old styled) down pipes that had two open vents (don’t ask me why), potentially allowing flowing water to come out and flow against the front-side of the house (like what happened previously). I managed to use an old plastic (pliable) bucket and cut it down to size and used ‘Liquid nails’ (and trusty ‘No gaps’) to secure both makeshift covers of the open vents. I can happily report, no further water has leaked out near the front of the house, and I’m proud to say the job worked (and doesn’t look too bad), once I painted it to match the other downpipes.
I’m also relieved to report, we had the carpet layer come back to the house on Tuesday and installed the correct underlay, while also re-laid the carpet back down (phew! – thank-you!). The carpet now feels like the other bedrooms and is once again soft to walk on (yay!). We also had our ‘Ikea’ flat pack furniture delivery arrive end of last week (lots of furniture building- here we go!). The only downside was, husband instructed the delivery guys to put all twenty-six boxes in our bedroom! – you could hardly move in there. Anyhow, still many hours of work to do to make the rooms liveable again, but I think we have now turned a corner to start living again (yippy!). I made an executive decision (while Husband was away) and moved our king mattress onto the new carpet, in our bedroom and slept there on Wednesday night (trying to forget about the once wet and mouldy concrete floor that used to be there after the flood). It was so wonderful to rest my tired body on a supportive mattress again (small things mean the most really at present); my sore right heel (pressure area) and body did get a rest and a break from the (horrid) camp bed, of which I have quickly folded away (now a distant memory!).
A small win for the house, but unfortunately not for poor Flossy, who is unwell and resting at home at present. I asked Flossy if I could write a little about her experiences this week and she called back from her room, “Why not, Mum! All my friends are in the same boat as me now too…” So just to recap, Flossy had three of her friends around for afternoon tea after school last week (she was so looking forward to it- as it had been many months since she has had anyone around since the flood). Flossy was then informed on ‘Snap Chat’ from one friend later that night, that the friend had symptoms of the dreaded bugs that have been going around lately (if you know what I mean?). No use complaining about the situation (people are far worse off than us- I know), Flossy came and told me the next morning (she did text me first) and I went into action mode (short for- moderately stressed mode). I asked Flossy to take another RAT test (it was negative) and stay in her room until any other symptoms developed. I kept all the kids home on Friday (to be safe) and made contact with both schools to let know of our situation. At that moment, Mister C called out, “Do I have to do home school work, Mummy? Please, NO!”….
Husband was not home the same time when the girls came over on Thursday and had work to go to on Friday (all out tests were negative to note too). Widy had made plans with her close friend, to go up to Nowra for the weekend, to attend her friend’s cousin’s birthday party; both Husband and Widy left the house having no symptoms at all (which was a relief). Unfortunately since then, Flossy’s symptoms worsened and one (RAT) test was positive and the other was negative later that afternoon (so random right?!); we had to wait until Sunday morning to drive through the pathology testing station for a definitive PCR test- of which came back positive Monday morning (oh no! – what were we going to do?!). Since then, poor Flossy has been unwell (but manageable at home) and has been so diligently staying in her room and wearing a mask when going out for toilet breaks- well done my beautiful girl, we are so very proud of you! I have been taking trays of yummy food and treats (along with some sticky notes of affection) every few hours or so and leaving the tray near Flossy’s door, for her to stay nourished and hydrated. So far, everyone else has been negative (even Mister C!); however, Husband and Widy are not able to return home, due to our ongoing seven-day isolation, but we will all keep in regular contact via messaging and “face time” (more on that situation next week…).
Due to our isolation (no use ending on a miserable note as well), what better way to end a blog with another word from Mister C…
Mister C (as a precaution) was sleeping downstairs with me, while Flossy was isolating in her room (Mister C’s room was right next door). Tucking Mister C into bed with all of his soft toys and pillows for comfort (there are many); after he had a milky drink and brushed his teeth, in my bathroom downstairs, Mister C said, “Gee, I love this mattress on the floor with the new carpet, Mummy. It looks funny with the mattress only on the floor, but wow, it’s super soft and comfy. I think I’ll sleep here every night, forever and ever!” Giggling, I replied, “Well at least we had the new carpet and good underlay installed, before we went into isolation, my son!” Mister C nodded and replied, “Yes, Mummy, I thank the Maker every day for our new carpet; we have each other too- that’s all we need right now, isn’t it?!” …
March 2022
A Word from Mister C…
Dad and Mister C were in the kitchen and Dad was making his morning coffee. Mister C looked deep in thought and then said, “You know, Dad, when I’m old like you, I will not have your dark orange hair. I’m going to dye my hair bright orange every week, until I turn into a salty codger- then my hair will be silver orange!” Dad laughed and replied, “Oh, wow, my son! That would be a lot of orange dye packets until you’re a salty codger; remember people with orange hair don’t turn grey, they just go white!” Mister C nodded, “Yes, Dad, I know and I’m going to look very cool too!” Both laughed… 🍊
Stay tuned…
Well, thankfully I finished our fifth book before going into isolation; the book is now at the printers and hopefully we will have our books ready in time for our next event in April, for the Book Fest event and Author Alley coming up soon in our local town. Stay tuned for more silly and heartfelt stories from Me and Mister C soon- hugs from us… 🙌
