My Daybook: 18th April, 2020

Outside my window…
the sky is lightening, the paddocks are covered in a faint mist, signs of colder Autumn mornings, I see a mob of kangaroos grazing

I am thankful…
for the swift calls that the Australian leadership has made to suppress Covid 19, that the curve is flattening, and mostly I’m thankful for my fellow Australians, they have on the whole responded well to the call for physical isolation, truthfully I’m also pleasantly surprised

I am thinking…‘
about my little sister, today was to have been her Wedding Day and instead it’s indefinitely postponed. First she lost her job (beauty salon) then she had to postpone her Wedding until who knows when and come to terms not only with that, but the fact that her fiance’s family would be unable to come from El Salvador. So today my thoughts are full of her xx

Learning all the time…
regards formal academics we are currently in the middle of school holidays, our focus has shifted to more creative pursuits. I’ve been setting the children Art and Stem Challenges, yesterday’s was to make a Bridge with paddle pops and to work as a team. The working as a team was more of a challenge for one child than the actual creation of the Bridge

Celebrating the liturgical year……
well what a different Easter that was! The Easter Triduum is the pivot of our liturgical year, we practically live at the Church during those three days, so this year was extremely different, and yet we still observed, mourned and Celebrated. Our Sunday observations are different, and yet we still come together to pray and worship. Imagine though the day when our Churches open again and we can once again receive the Precious Body and Blood of Christ!

From the kitchen…
I’ve just rewritten our cooking roster to reflect that we now have four essential working adults who are not home to cook during the week. Our weekday meal preparations are now down to four of the youngest children and myself, and I am feeling the difference. My cooking crew consists of two teens 15 & 13, who can and do cook independently, thank goodness, and apprentice chefs 11 & 9, the first who can cook independently but who often needs prompting and the latter who can cook a little but needs lots more hand holding yet. On the weekend the adult children take over, including our newly returned Michelangelo who is the best cook in the family

I am creating…
my book database continues to be a huge focus here, I now have over 600 book suggestions! Books for various Australian cultures, history periods and a variety of literature. Studying Afghan Australians, the Outback then I’ve got titles for you. There has been an explosion of Australian books published in the past 10+ years and I’m astounded at the quality of books available. Keep checking back at the database as I have more plans yet…

I am working on…
reminding readers that our postponed Australian Homeschooling Online Summit really isn’t far away. It will be held from May 4th-15th with 30 fantastic workshops, of which I will be presenting two.  Currently the world’s focus in on education at home so it’s rather timely to be holding an Australian Homeschool Summit. How appropriate in this time of isolation that our Summit is all held online, so perfect. Once again we are giving away another three free tickets so be sure to enter for your chance

I am going…
isn’t it strange to get excited about going to the supermarket, an essential trip. I never thought that I, a total non shopper and indifferent driver, would ever be excited about an outing to the supermarket. I’m not sure what’s more the draw card to be able to smile and exchange a few words with complete strangers, all from 1.5m away of course, or to be able to actually drive somewhere even if it’s just to the supermarket.

I am hoping…

to be more consistent regards exercising, not just for myself but the children too, thinking mental health. Last week we managed a couple of walks around the property even if a comprise had to be met, apparently walking in the bush and reading at the same time is achievable, so grateful for our property. Next up is to get back to running, it’s been so long it’s going to be a shock

I am praying…

• my sister and her fiance, as I shared, today was to be their Wedding Day
• our niece, her second baby is due next month, this is a challenging time to be in the labour room
• my sil and family, her grandmother died a fortnight ago and obviously not being able to attend her funeral was tough
• all the unemployed due to Covid 19 including my sister
• our parish, so many parishioners are of a vulnerable age, missing them all
• all who are suffering all over the world, we are all impacted in various ways as we battle Covid 19

I am pondering….
how wonderful it is to have Michelangelo 20, back home due to Covid 19. We are loving having him and it’s so fascinating how the dynamics change with just one family member. He picked up work immediately, both he and Princess 18, are working as seasonal workers in the food industry, he is out through the day but every night his younger siblings eagerly wait for him to return

I am reading…
I read a couple of riveting books this week

You’ll Never See Me Again – Lesley Pearse was really well written, I read into the wee hours of the morn. A tale of a woman whose husband returned from the Great War with shell shock and she just couldn’t take the bullying of her mother in law any more so when she saw a way out she took it. What struck me though was the descriptions of the Spanish Influenza, I studied World War One in history at school and I don’t recall learning about the Spanish Flu. How the flu spread, the death rates, the description of the disease, the recoveries, the villagers reactions. It was all too eerily familiar, it really was
Murderess – Jennifer Wells  I was riveted, why did Kate’s mother push a stranger into the path of a train. I did think Kate at 24 was a bit drippy for just staying at home, it was after all the 1940s, I could see where the story was going, the whys and wherefores but I was just was not expecting the ending! Still in shock, processing

I am hearing…
the computer hum, the house is that silent as the children all sleep in, though I spy PC out in the garden hoeing

I am struggling…
this upcoming week will be a challenge as we work on getting back into regular habits in preparation for the end of holidays. Bedtimes and prayer life will be our first areas to realign

Clicking around…
I regularly take breaks from reading the news, we do need to balance between information and living life. I am however intrigued but the educational decisions made in this country and around the world. I’ve been collating and posting articles from top educational experts on my blog fb page, top experts telling us children only need 1-3 hours a day to formally learn. Yep says this long term homeschooler, yep. And then I see many schools are planning on having their students learning all day online from 9-3!! Once again a disconnect

One of my favorite things…
well luckily family is high on the list of favourites ’cause it’s a case of non-stop togetherness here. The younger children have not left the property for 5 weeks! The boys tell me they could go for a record and make it a year! I don’t think so lads. Obviously their home is high on their favourites list

A few plans for this week…
it is our last week of school holidays, so focus will be keeping kids off screens and outside playing, life was easier when raising the older children, a childhood with little screens.  I’ll be fine tuning my plans for the upcoming term, making sure they are specific enough so we achieve well. The end of last term became quite distracted as we all processed World and National events, it’s now time to focus

A little peek at my day…
it’s the weekend so three of our essential workers are home today, all four on Sundays, it give a rhythm to our weeks. In many ways my life hasn’t changed a great deal, it’s just minus our extra curricula and  physically catching up with friends, though zoom helps meet a need there.

PC has just asked for my help in cleaning his shed, Major! Reminder to self: ‘tread lightly’