THE PAST SIX MONTHS: MARCH TO AUGUST DIARY

Every month or at least every couple of months I write up my Round Up or my diary of the month, I have not being doing that since Covid as - like most of us - I simply have not been doing much. But six months in, I figured I must have enough to share. So this is what I have been up to during Covid!

First up, I wrote this thing about Covid, how I coped or not, and you can read that here.

March started with me in Adelaide and Melbourne briefly. This was meant to be my treat - finally - for surviving cancer and a whole lot of trauma with the work restructure. Well, I got 2 weeks in. But I'm gonna need a whole do-over when this fiasco is done!!! My leave got extended so I did have a month at home. But I didn't really do much. I floundered on the couch, napped and watch tele, and ate too much.

Once I got back to work I mostly had a lot of quiet times, reading, watching tele, listening to podcasts and music, cataloguing my vinyl, writing, zooming, and doing my usual online stuff.

In fact, at times I got quite overwhelmed by how much extra online content there was. I just couldn't take it all in. I did love posts from Richard E. Grant, Judi Dench, Annie Lennox, Jack Black, Robbie Williams, Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, and many others, distracting me from it all. Also my podcast list doubled, Sydney Opera House had a lot of amazing streaming, and a lot of online literary events too. It might have been the worst of times, but it sure was the best of times online.

The markets still happened every fortnight, so I got my breakfast Gozlemes and a walk in, and maintained a small sense of normality there.

My health has been pretty good. Like everyone, I have had the odd mental health moment. Covid is a wild ride, and I think we are all rolling on the waves of it emotionally. I had been meaning to get a few good massages on my legs after all the issues over the past few years, and my Osteo people put me onto an amazing guy. His process is a mix of massage, osteo, soft tissue therapy and a few other technique pulled together, so I spent a couple of months back and forth getting them back on track. I succumbed to a throat infection (from a sinus infection) later in the piece. I was off work longer than you would usually be because of Covid. I was worried my legs would play up again, so fingers crossed, all a-ok there.

We celebrated all the usual celebrations. Mother's Day, Easter, Birthdays. With my sister stuck in Melbourne, she usually appeared via video on an ipad at the head of table which is not the same, but better than not there at all.

I am missing a lot of things. No choir, no singing, no One Song Sing, no Wuthering Heights Day, no concerts, no theatre, no film society, no soccer, no Newcastle Writers Festival. Worst of all, no hugs! I'm a hugger, oh boy, I'll be going mad when we can touch people again...if we ever can...

There was a NWF online weekend, and it was fantastic. I even featured in their promos, lol! You can read about Day 1 here and Day 2 here.

I did manage a few events out over the past 6 months.

A lovely brunch on Darby and day of shopping with C.

Gin High Tea at Babylon with my gals. We dressed up and ate yummy delicacies,and tasted gin cocktails. It was a great escape earlier on during Covid.

I met J for brunch at Welsh Blacks in Cooks Hill.

A and I had a wander at the beach, and then afternoon tea at Son of a Gun on Beaumont.

A had her 50th, and we had a lovely soiree one evening for her.

I popped into the beach and King Edward park a few times for a walk, see pics below.

And drove up to Morpeth for a little escape.

I had my old air con replaced with a much better, new model. Better environmentally and economically!

I did a fair bit of online shopping, and when heading out was more desirable, I got back into my vinyl collecting!

My Bookclub thrived via Zoom so that was a bonus! And my reading mojo went off the charts. I was also asked to fill in for the amazing Rosemarie Milsom on 1233 ABC radio doing book reviews. It is an occasional gig, filling in when she is unwell or cannot make the spot. I chat with Craig Hamilton for about 10mins and it is sheer joy. I get a bit nervous prior, but once we are chatting, I feel fine and the time flies. It is mostly live via phone (due to Covid) and Craig makes me feel comfortable and we have a nice banter.

My reviews for this period can be read here: March, April, May, June, July, August.

I have also been dating through this time. I had a first date with a lovely guy just before I went away pre-Covid, and we continued to stay in touch and 'date' during Covid. It was a challenging time to date but he was lovely company, mostly online, phone, messages, videos, but in time in person distancing. Strange Times. Whilst we got on well, and he was a nice person, there were a few things that just did not align with my philosophies and would not make a good long term partner for me, so I had to let him go. We still chat, he is not a bad person, just not right for me. There was someone else recently who looked like a much much better match. I was really excited, it is rare to meet interesting, cerebral, creative, cultural men and he was one. But just as we were organising to meet, he misconstrued something simple I said and called the date off. I was quite shocked and upset over this. I did try to explain my intent, but he wouldn't have a bar of it. As a few people said to me, if he is triggered over something so insignificant, imagine how unsupportive he would be during actual serious problems. Who knows, possible I guess, maybe another bullet dodged. I'm just really sad it happened. I refuse to give up, but I am taking a break. Online dating is freaking exhausting, especially during these times.  

So, like everyone, it has been a roller coaster of a ride, these past 6 months. But there was some beauty within. I have had some really low moments for sure, but I always managed to pick myself up and look towards the positives

Here are some extra pics: