Turning

The weather  is turning a bit.  We have had sunshine  and mild sunny days of 15 degC.  But, when  the sun goes down the temperature  drops by half, and mum is turning  the heaters on and she is glad to get into a warm bed at night with a chubby cat who needs a night time cuddle.

She made it to the supermarket  today. 5/5 of no waiting in the 5 times she has been.  She got lots if vege today as she is feeling  that she has eaten too many carbs in the past 5 weeks.  Time to ease back before she can't  squeeze  her pants on.  She figures she has had 7 servings of fruit  and vegetables  today  - a good start.

Wordless Wednesday

Sunshine

Today was lovely with lots of sunshine  - I even went and had a nap on the painters sheet  that they left outside.  The builders did come round this morning,  but only for an hour, so mum  still got a sleep in. She was glad that their visit was short as she didn't  get up until after 10am.

Today  our lockdown  was relaxed a bit .  Ours has been set at 4 levels.  We had 5 weeks at level 4 - staying home.  The supermarkets and pharmacies  were open for essential visits, nothing else.  No restaurants,  takeaways, post offices or shops.  No travel allowed.

Today is our first at level 3 - now we can do online shopping  and get home delivered  or take away  food.  We are not allowed into shops yet, but can click and collect items.  Businesses can open if they can work without face to face customers.  Our airports are shut and we still can't travel between cities.

Mum is going to go get some groceries  tomorrow and have a look around.  It will be strange  to see more people  out and about.

She heard on the news that our restrictions  were almost the tightest  in the world, that Italy had the most.  I guess only time will tell and the world leaders and scientists will learn lessons from this crisis.

Mum is looking forward  to seeing her friends  again and sharing a meal out with them.

Lockdown Down

Our lockdown  is easing up as if 11.59pm tonight.   As if midnight more businesses  can open, and we can order food to be delivered.  It has only  been essential  workers like mum who can go to work for the past month.  We still have to stay close to home and no social life yet.  We have 2 weeks like that and then the government  will reassess more returns  to normal if our virus numbers stay low.

Best of all - mum has a day off tomorrow.   She is going to sleep in and put her feet up.  She is wondering  if the builders and painters will be back.  She might have to put her headphones  in if they are. 

Sunday

Doesn't  every day feel like Sunday  at the moment?   Mum was taking  photos  of some of the plants  on her way home and took this one.  Somehow  she changed the background  to black  and white with a filter - and doesn't  know how she did it.  Some technology  is tricky  for her now and it makes her feel old.

ANZAC Day

Today is ANZAC day here, a remberance day  for our kiwi soldiers and Australian  allies.  Normally  there is a dawn parade at 6am, but due  to still being locked down people were going to stand at their driveways with candles.  Mum would have liked to get up but her sleeping  has been terrible  and she  only fell asleep at 3am.

This was a little cottage  down the road from our place with their flag up and ready.  When mum grew up you seldom saw flags at people's  homes, but it has got more and more common as the years have gone by.

Thank you to the great uncles that fought for our freedoms and the great aunts  and grand parents who did their part in the communities at home.

And for something a bit cheery.  The New Zealand Army Band  - Signed, Sealed, Delivered.

You Nana

Mum had her dinner at 5pm of chicken  schnitzel  with coleslaw, watched half the news and then fell asleep  on the couch  like a real nana.

When she was a little  girl, she would sometimes  stay with her nana who lived round the corner from her house, to make sure she didn't nod off on a Saturday  night.  Her nana was sweet and would let her sleep  in in the morning  and let her have chocolate  cereal  in the morning.   Her nana would have only been in her fifties when this happened, not old at all. So mum doesn't  feel too bad at her own snooze behavior  as it runs in the family.   Also she did night  shifts this week and it takes  her body a lot longer to recover now.

Extra Quilt

When mum got her new duvet cover, she got the matching  quilt with it.  Because it was half price and looked good  in the photo.  It looked  a bit much on the bed, so mum folded it up and put it on my chair.  I loved it so much that I am going to cover it with my furs as quickly  as possible.   Then it will be mine - all mine.

Approval

Mum got this new duvet on special before  the lockdown  started.  She wasn't  sure if I would like it, but within  10 seconds  of it being on the bed I had jumped  on it and was nodding  off.   I then slept on it for 2 hours, even though  there was no comfy feather duvet inside.

We both slept well last night.

Waiting for Treats

This is the place I sit and wait at night to get treats.  It is usually  between  8-9.30pm.  I then come out to meow at mum telling her to come to bed.  Simple.

Yawn

Mum felt this way all day.  She could  not sleep last night after her weekend  night shifts, she  only nodded  off at 5am.  So today was a wipeout.   Hopefully  she will do better tonight  and get back into a normal  pattern.

Quiet

The streets  were quiet as mum left work this morning at 7am.  All good kiwis were staying  home doing what they are told.  Mum went to the supermarket  closer to the hospital  and got most  of  the things she needed.   There was flour  and yeast there - but only about 10 packets. Mum left it there though, ither peoples needs are greater than hers.   Lots of shelves were only half full, and looked different  to they usually  do. 

There were some nice big posters  up thanking the supermarket  workers for working  hard during lockdown .  We hope  people  are being  nice to them.  Mum is grateful  that she can get in and out quickly  with 95% of the  items she wanted.  If course she forgot to get some things  off her list , because  she forgot  her list.  Thank you night shift brain.

Caturday - Couch Choir - Heroes

Mum has been trying to watch some things to make her smile today like this video.  Last night was a night shift for her, and she found some Live at Apollo comedy skits that her two colleagues hadn't seen, so they all had a laugh together in the quiet moments.  They snacked on popcorn and biscuits and the time went fast.  When the shift finished mum headed home and I was happy to see her!!   Mum toasted some pre made waffles and had bacon for her breakfast today, and gave me some treats  and then  had a good sleep.  I only tried to wake her up once to tell her she was sleeping in my spot.

Tonight is her last night shift, so she has the same breakfast planned for tomorrow morning.  The supermarket has changed its hours to let essential workers like mum shop between 7-8am and mum is going to do that in the morning.  She hasn't used gone before at that time, and has gone after work when a lot of the supplies are gone, so hopefully she can get a couple more items that she has been missing.  Maybe there will be some flour?

She has put some fruit juice in the fridge and plans a big fruity cocktail tomorrow night with her dinner.  There are leftover thai chicken and rice all ready, so it will be a big Sunday night on the couch for her.  Chores can wait until the days off next week.

We hope that you have got some fun things planned for your weekend too.  Enjoy your Caturday!!

Unmade Bed

Sometimes mum leaves the bed unmade when she climbs  out of bed as I like to  snuggle  up in the covers.  It is raining and cool here which  mum doesn't  mind as she is on the night  shift tonight, and it is the best weather  for sleeping  in during  the day. Dark and cool are much easier for snuggling in and trying to snooze.

 She hasn't  done much today  it has been quite the lazy week this week.  We guess that everyone  has little  motivation  at the moment for doing a lot .  How about you all?  Just taking it easy.

Last Night

Last night I was very vocal when mum got home after her late shift.  I was hungry , cold and lonely and I meowed  at her for 15 minutes.  I was very  happy when she came to bed to keep  me warm and have a snuggle.  My tummy  was  full of fancy feast and I slept all night.

Wordless Wednesday

Blueberry Danish

Years ago mum got off the plane to visit  her parents.  She stopped  off at  the supermarket  and mum got a roast  chicken  and some salads for their  dinner.   Mum also  picked up one if these blueberry  Danish frozen  desserts  and some custard.  Mums mum was horrified,  and said Gdad wouldn't  eat it as he hated blueberries.   When mum dished it up, he asked what it was and mum told him it was boysenberries  and he ate it all up and even had seconds.

So when mum was at the supermarket  this afternoon  after work   there was  a danish sitting  in the freezer section, that needed to come home with her.  Mum enjoyed  it after her dinner and thought  of  her parents and the family  dinner they shared years ago.  It may have been simple food, but remains memorable.

Worker

Mum struggled  with the 5.40am alarm this morning.   The wind was relentless  last night but mum was  glad to find it had died away this morning.   It was nice that mums whole team were there at work and to start the day having a laugh with them.

After work mum only had a little  energy to vacuum  the carpets and make a grocery list.  Oh and to brush my furs and talk  to me cos that's important.

Is it sad to say that she is excited that Greys Anatomy  is restarting  again tonight?

Happy Easter Everyone

We want to say happy Easter to all of our friends.  Mum was looking at old photos and found this one of me that she liked from several years ago.  Today was quiet like other days, they all seem to blend into one.  Of course mum has to work tomorrow, and this evening it is windy and wet outside making it difficult for her to get to sleep early.

Mum didn't have any Easter eggs today.  She still has a choc bunny left over from last year and did not feel the need to purchase any more chocolate as she has a large stash put away in the cupboard anyway.  I got a few more temptations tonight, but that may have been because I have been very loud and pestering mum.  She did give in and let me have my fancy feast dinner at 3.30pm which is very early, but as the evenings are getting darker earlier and earlier I am just resetting my internal clock.

We hope you all got some treats today.

Caturday

Mum made a mess dragging out piles of  summer clothes and replacing  them with long pants, merino knitwear and boots ready for winter.   The bed was covered  with only a little  space for me.  She washed  all the towels and did a pile of dishes.  Now she has made another  pile of clothes  that need washing.  For one person she  makes a lot of mess. She listened to a couple of podcasts while she sorted  stuff out - Table Manners with Jessie Ware kept her laughing.

She was tempted  to go to  the  supermarket,  but more out of boredom then anything.  She does have enough  supplies  to get her through until Monday  or  Tuesday  after work.  She is doing her best to just  stay home on her days off. 

Instead she mooched about with me, and we had  a little  walk around  the garden.  Aren't  we lucky to have some outdoor  space to relax in?

Good Friday

Mum celebrated  Good Friday by eating 10 chocolate  biscuits, 2 oranges, mince on toast for lunch and apricot chicken  for dinner.  She did two loads of washing  and 3 laps of the garden.  She watched 5 tv shows and read 10 pages of her book.

I matched her 3 laps of the garden and slept 23 hours .  Life is good.  What have you been up to?

Home

Mum got home this afternoon  and is happy as she has three days off now.  Let the relaxing begin. 

Wordless Wednesday - Found on the Internets

Family Lockdown Boogie

This is a local family that made this video :  Family Lockdown Boogie.  They were interviewed on the news tonight and did agree that dad was the worst dancer, but good on him for getting his groove on.   Oh and by the way, our government has told us to stay in our bubble.  That means that you can do things with the people you live with, you can exercise with them, eat dinner together, but can't mix with anyone else.  So we hope you are all safe in your bubble and finding things to smile about.

Snoozer

Mum is jealous that she could leave me snoozing  while she had to go off to work.  Luckily  there have been some lovely  days and mum has got to relax before her afternoon shift.

Work was ok but it is a short change tonight.  Mum finished at 11pm and has to be back at 08.30am.  She was lucky today and did some internet shopping today.  We can now buy some winter clothes and household  items - and cat food!!

Ok

Ok mum I am nice and comfy here.  You go off to  work.  I'll  keep the bed warm for when you get home.

Actually  I usually  hear mum coming  down the steps and am at the door waiting  for her when she gets home, ready for my dinner.

Caturday Night at the Movies

Mum is going to put her feet up and watch a movie tonight.  She gets a sleep in tomorrow which is nice as she is tired.  She let me pick a movie too and I chose this one.  Please enjoy!

Bears

It made mum a bit teary on her walk home from work  today, to see all the bears at windows and some like this one , sitting on porches.   To make things more fun for kids lots of home owners are putting  bears out, so  that when children  walk round their neighborhoods for fresh air and exercise they can go on a bear hunt.  It made my middle aged mum emotional  too.

Day Off

Mum enjoyed  another  day  off  home with me.  She washed the towels and was so proud of herself getting  out and washing the windows.  I stayed in my bed most of the day as it was cold.

Soup for lunch and leftovers for dinner.  Mum had roasted some Kumar's (sweet potato) and carrots which might become  her new favorite  side dish .  Me I had biscuits  and feast like every other day.

Mum is excited it is Friday tomorrow.   Movie night on the couch   Friday night drinks and a bag of chips for a good night in.  Are your folks planning a fun Friday  night?

Wordless Wednesday - Washing Day