Day Two Hundred and Ninety-two

Feest Isolation Days – 31 December

Well here it is, the last day of 2020!  It’s been a long and lovely holiday season despite the Covid around, and boy is the Covid around!  This country is going into near total Lockdown again and everyone has been warned NOT to visit anyone or party tonight outside of their own households. I baked a cake with Terry’s help… he made the caramel for me.  This is cake  we will be eating a bit later. 

We had a cold night last night, this morning was the frostiest so far this winter and it was one degree.  So of course that would be when our central heating boiler decided to pack it in and stop working.  That was what tipped me over momentarily.  I was fine, and I cope with most things, but not a cold house. I was especially upset since in normal times we’d be in a New Zealand summer by now. My plumbing began to work and the tears did well up.  We turned on the electric heater and stayed tucked up in our warm bed. This morning my resident plumber whipped into action and by late morning had managed to figure out and resolve the problem.  Sometimes a good night’s sleep is required: last night he’d made the diagnosis, this morning he fixed it! 

Ahhh.  Warmth.  So required.  We were delighted by the boiler repair, and our actual plumber will come and service the thing next week.  I think he was impressed with Terry’s new found skill…mind you he was a Professor of Kidney medicine and that does involve the body’s plumbing!

Today was a glorious cold, sunny, frosty day, and we found a beautiful country walk very close to home.

My plan originally was that we would both write something today, but like many best laid plans, that isn’t going to happen.  At least I managed to put something up for you to peruse before you turn the calendar over.  You’ll get a double dose of the Feest’s soon I promise! I’ll let you know. 

The Kiwis have already celebrated New Year!  These are the fireworks at the Sky Tower in Auckland.  I will NEVER complain about the firework display while I watch it there ever again!  They have been somewhat thin some years…not this year from the look of things.

Let’s hope that the way this year is drawing to a close will mean that next year will be better for everyone.  There IS a Brexit deal!  Boris, or as the Telegraph on line misspelled his name today, “Borks”, got a deal.  It’s thin apparently, but it beats no deal.  Even most of the Labour party seemed to agree with that.  And Trump is leaving!

But the most fantastic news of all is that the Oxford Astra Zeneca vaccine has been approved!  Hurrah and Hallelujah!  Without a doubt, that will make the biggest change to our lives next year. Thank you to the Scientists and the head of the team who is a woman.  Hip Hip Hurrah!

As this year draws to a close, it is worth remembering to be grateful that we are still here.  There are many who are not.  And it is also useful to remember that the pandemic isn’t over yet.  Keep up the good work, the social distancing and the mask wearing and hand washing and sanitising and give thanks to all those NHS workers who are on their knees and doing their jobs so brilliantly. To all the NHS staff as well as all the many key workers out there, thank you and Happy New Year.

Stay safe, stay in and enjoy!

To all of you please have a

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I’ll be back again as normal on the 4^th of January.

With love
Kathy x