It’s been a few weeks of ups and downs here in The Meadow. The rain finally stopped allowing us to eventually get out into the garden to start our much needed working bee but unfortunately I then came down with Influenza A which meant I didn’t leave my bed or couch in nearly 2 weeks! I literally had 2 days of feeling good to start the ball rolling before it all came to a grinding halt again…..aaaaargh!! Luckily I started to improve (with the help of some antibiotics) just in time to hop onto a plane to Hobart for our planned trip to Tassie to see the granddaughters. After 2 weeks of vertigo and nausea I was rather worried if I’d be able to join in all the fun (read ….enjoying the Tassie pinot) but apart from a rather painful ear on landing I was feeling quite human and was able to mostly join in with all the fun on offer!

We all came down with it after the June Long Weekend (well 4/7 of us did) but luckily we managed to squish in a couple of days together first. Slow cooked food, big reds and log fires by night and some walks in the crisp sunshine during the day made for an easy couple of days before the lurgy set in! The little boys had some much needed country air and the cubby house was finally back in action! The flu definitely seems to be as active as Covid right now. Typically I had a flu shot booked for Tuesday at 10.30 but came down with it on the Monday at 4pm – rather frustrating! Don’t wait folks!

Tasmania never fails to show you a good time. We were super lucky with the weather which was neither wet or as freezing as I had imagined it would be in June. Lozzy’s house is very cosy and as long as you had your trusty puffer coat for outdoors everything was rosy! The only way you know it’s a bit chilly is that Berry puts on his beanie with his shorts and sweatshirt! We had outings every day – it’s all about co-ordinating with the timing of baby sleep times and meals. Fish and chips at the beach, park plays, feeding the ducks in Richmond followed by pizza and pinot at Pooley wines, cocktails and Italian food in Salamanca, beach walks for the Mummies, whiskey and beer tastings for the menfolk, fire pit and toasted marshmallows, painting and walks with Myla and cuddles with India all made for a perfect 4 days together. The worst part was the 2 hour wait on the train station coming from the airport – two cancelled trains in a row and the coldest platform in history made for an uncomfortable time. If only Australia was as civilised as the UK and Europe who have cafés and waiting rooms (sometimes even with a wood burner to keep you warm) on their bigger stations which would have made things much nicer.

So with a month to go before the MOTH is a man of leisure it is all systems go! Trips to Sydney, Melbourne and New Zealand are all scheduled over the next few weeks as well as packing up the office, hosting the boss at The Meadow and squishing in a Christmas in July weekend here after a hiatus of 2 years due to you-know-what. It is nice to have things in the diary again and we all have a new found appreciation of actually getting together and we certainly don’t take anything for granted anymore! We have our lovely European holiday to look forward to later in the year and hopefully a few weeks to cobble the garden together before we go – another week of rain is forecast from tomorrow so let’s hope it doesn’t take us back to square one! I optimistically bought some winter veggies today and am off to plant them before the big wet! If you haven’t had your flu shot please do! I haven’t had Covid but those that have had both say the flu was worse! I’m swallowing vitamin C and Zinc at the rate of knots to help my poor immune system but the thought of a few days of sunshine in Portofino in a few months is what is helping the most – I swear it is a mental balm – hahaha!!