Covid Diaries Weeks 13 & 14

I couldn't quite keep up with the weekly updates so this addition covers two weeks, from June 6th - 19th. When I started writing these diaries in March, I had no idea it would last this long. Restrictions have definitely loosened up a bit, but we are still a far distance from “normal”, whatever that now means. 

Doing

This weekend Ella was feeling a bit under the weather. She had a fever for two days, which I think was the result of a few bug bites she got on her face near her hairline. She didn’t want to be sick, and kept telling us she was fine, that she was just hot from being under a blanket. I think she is scared of being sick from what she knows of the coronavirus. We had to convince her that it was ok and she just needed to rest, drink water, etc. I was of course, secretly concerned that this was more than just a reaction to her bites. But we are still practicing social distancing and she hasn’t got anywhere except for a few walks in national parks, so I knew deep down that it was unlikely she had Covid. (UPDATE: This turned out to be nothing and Ella was back to her usual self within a few days.)

One benefit of Ella being unwell is that she took naps during the day. Oh my how sweet is it when both of your children are napping! Ella gave up her naps before Ollie was born so we’ve never experienced this before. On Saturday I let Ella nap in our bed and laid down with her. Once she was asleep I just stayed there, reading my book, meditating, catching up on emails… it was glorious to just chill out for the afternoon and not feel like I should be doing something else. This feeling of not ever being busy is a silver lining of the pandemic.

Once she was feeling better we had a few outings to conservation areas. First up, my mom and dad and I took the kids to Rattlesnake Point. We visited here last autumn, when the leaves were gorgeous shades of red, orange and yellow. At this point in the year the leafy trees keep the path well shaded.

Another morning, Andy and I took the kids for a morning hike to Limehouse Conservation Area. There were some cool rock formations and caves to explore, although it was a harder trail for the kids. We stopped for a snack about halfway and Ollie started saying he needed to wee. Oh oh! We were about 1.5km from the car, so needless to say he did not quite make it! He of course wanted his wet shorts off, and we had left the spare pair in the car (rookie mistake!) so I ended up carrying him, naked from the waist down, on my shoulders all the way back to the car. We got quite a few chuckles from the other hikers!

I scored a secondhand slide for the backyard which has been a huge hit for both kids. We were actually looking for one of these for Ollie’s birthday but they were sold out everywhere. (This is how we ended up with the crazy, but still very popular, bouncy castle.)

On one particular beautiful sunny morning, Andy, Ella and I headed down to the lakeshore in the city of Oakville. (The lake is Lake Ontario, one of the five great lakes in North America.) We picked up coffees from one of our favourite cafes, Kerr Street Cafe, and a couple of smoothies from Love Lettuce Cafe. After our treats we walked along the lake, stopping to throw in some rocks. It really is a beautiful spot to walk, and the lake is so big you can almost imagine you are gazing out at the ocean.

We are nearly finished work for the school year! Yipee! It seems like so long ago we found out we would be teaching online at the start of Term 3. If you had told me then it would be for the entire term I think I would have been dreading it, so in a way I'm glad we only found out that distance learning would be extended every few weeks. I really hope we are back to somewhat normal routines in September. Working from home full-time is just not for me.

Cooking

On the search for some interesting pizza toppings, I remembered a combination of white beans, butternut squash and cherry tomatoes from my cookbook Super Legumes. Sounds strange, but is delicious. In place of tomato sauce you blend olive oil, mint, rosemary and lemon zest and brush it on the pizza dough. It is very yummy, healthy and filling.

Reading
I finished The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Watching
We have finished all four seasons of Money Heist and now we don't know what to watch in the evenings. I hate finishing a show you love! This one is definitely an all time favourite for me, up there with Breaking Bad, Friday Night Lights and Ozark. I can't wait for Season 5!

In the news...
Most regions in Ontario have entered Stage 2. Things like hairdressers, outdoor restaurant patios and splash pads are open. Unfortunately our region has not yet reached this stage so we will need to wait a little bit longer for these places to open again.