Just as things were all heading back towards normality with restrictions easing further and very few new cases of Covid in our State we have a resurgence of cases in Melbourne which is so disappointing for everyone, particularly them, as it seems even worse shutting back down after reopening so recently. The effort taken to get your business back up and runnning and getting all the staff back etc only to have it all whisked away from you must be heart breaking. Not as heart breaking as losing loved ones though so it just has to be done.

It is easy for us to become complacent as Covid hasn’t impacted us as much as other countries, although try saying that to a local hospitality business or retail shop. I guess it’s a bit like cancer, it is something to be respected and feared but not dreaded until it affects you personally. Somehow this spike in Melbourne has made me feel more anxious and disappointed than the original outbreak as we were feeling quite chuffed that our initial isolation tactics seemed to work and life could once again include dining out, going to the gym and the pub and booking weekends away within our State at least. This sharp reminder from Melbourne as well as the current estimation of overseas travel not to begin until July 2021 has made me realise that this is definitely not over and things can go backwards very quickly. I am grateful that all three of my children are currently within a 2 hour drive of me, a very different story from 2019 when 2/3 of them lived overseas. We just have to be patient and careful and hopefully we will be able to resume life as we know it in another 6 months or so. Fingers crossed…

In the meantime life continues here in The Meadow, I still love getting up in the morning as the sun rises over the paddocks and the cows amble into sight eating a line of grass from east to west and then back again, so silent and calm, just the sound of grass tearing as they chew their way through life. The chickens are all happy and laying their hearts out. We get a huge double yolker at least once a week, the creases at the end of the egg showing what an effort it was to lay it – poor little darling! The eggs are so yellow anything I make with them looks as if it’s been dipped in saffron and the 5 eggs a day are a good excuse to whip up a cake or a fluffy omelette.The trees are mostly bare, just the jacarandas are holding onto their lacey leaves as they don’t lose them until their huge purple flowers spike in October. I hope that this year we get some and they are not blown away in the dastardly westerlies, the trees have really grown this year but have a definite 30 degree lean to the East despite my attempts to stake them. The landscape is always a dead giveaway as to the prevalent winds of the area that’s for sure!

So after 6 months of teaching online, 3 of which were from here in The Meadow, the axe has finally fallen for our favourite expats. My son in law got out on one of the last few planes leaving Vietnam and kept his job, teaching online as all students in Vietnam have been home since Xmas, on the proviso he would be back on the ground within a month of students returning to face to face teaching at his International School. Sadly no planes are flying into Vietnam for non Vietnamese citizens thus rendering him unemployed as of June 18th. This means all of their belongings which are still in their apartment have to be sorted and packed up by friends and will take 3 months to get here at least. As Loz packed for a 2 week trip here back in March for the about to be cancelled wedding she doesn’t have many winter clothes for herself or Myla but at least they now have clarity and can start planning the next stage of their lives (and go shopping for some winter woollies too!) Myla seems to have an early love of shopping as seen here in the fabulous surf shop in Gerringong – Natural Necessity, well worth a visit if you are in the area.

They decided to make the most of their current suituation and go on a little road trip down the South Coast. As it is winter and wasn’t school holidys for another week or so they had no problems booking themselves a family cabin at various picturesque beachside parks. Wallabies at their door, firepits and the ocean a few metres further away and miles of sand for Myla Moo to explore. She does love eating the stuff which makes for some very gritty nappies but mostly she just loves to run around and seems to have inherited her parents love of the great outdoors.

What happens next for them is in the hands of the Gods as they have 6 months to fill in before a job offer in Hobart in the New Year sends them back to Tassie. We will make the most of the next few weeks before a job for one or both of them no doubt takes them away from The Meadow. They will leave a big hole when they leave.

It was lovely to have Sam, Liv and Cooper to stay while the others were away. One baby at a time is alot more manageable and it is always so nice to have some one on one time with them. Cooper is such a gorgeous little chap, always trying to see how things work – looking underneath lamps and behind machines to try and understand the how and why! He is a real thinker and Pa loved hanging out with him for a while.

We had a lovely visit to the local Shoalhaven Zoo, a family run affair located on The beautiful Shoalhaven River and perfect for a few hours wandering around with the grandkids. Sometimes the small places are so much more hands on and up close and I absolutely LOVED being within a metre of the most magnificent lion, looking straight into his surprisingly blue (and crossed) eyes! I’m pretty sure you can’t get that close at Taronga Zoo?? The other surprise was the maned wolf who looked like a fox on stilts, as if someone put the wrong head on it’s body! Meerkats and monkeys are always good value and the range of beautifully coloured tropical parrots and the fabulous macaws were a bonus. The café is perfectly situated above the banks of the river and we will go back to enjoy it again soon.

As the days are short and the log fire is raging by 4.30pm we seem to be eating dinner a bit earlier and by 7.30pm the MOTH is glued to the TV sport – rugby league, rugby union, soccer, AFL, golf, even the F1 God help me and I am therefore banished by mere boredom to the other end of the house, the one WITHOUT the wood burner but luckily with a gas log fire which does feel cosy after a while and in the absence of anything interesting to watch on TV I have turned to Foxtel catchups of series I missed earlier. I am sorry/not sorry to say I have become completely obsessed with Escape to the chateau DIY, a series about Brits buying chateaux both large and small and in various states of disrepair in France and turning them into jewels, mostly for B&Bs or wedding venues. It ticks all the boxes for me 1. Its in France 2. Its about renovating amazing old buildings into beautifully current homes 3. It’s about following dreams and perservering even when everything looks dismal and 4. They visit local markets and brocantes and eat outside under sprawling oak or plane trees which is SO appealing and I absolutely LOVE it! Since I know I cannot travel anywhere for ages it is making me feel almost as if I am in the French countryside and I can hear the beautiful birdsong of my youth and the country lanes are filled with meadow flowers and big fat bumblebees. Heaven. I may have googled chateaux for sale in France. I most definitely have googled country houses for sale in France….whoops!! Anyway dreams are free until you act on them and a bit of armchair travelling never did anyone any harm eh?