Semi-lockdown

After a week of complete lockdown, we are now in semi-lockdown. We can go out and about, but we must wear a mask. I hate these little blue masks and have thought about making my own.  There is a multitude of instructional videos on YouTube, but I don't feel like doing it just for another week. E is back at school tomorrow and the orders are to wear them all day. The kids will get hot and sweaty: I certainly do, inside mine for an hour's exercise outside.

With regard to our original lockdown, there have been no more cases from the security guard who tested positive a week ago. Why? Should we feel relieved to be safe a while longer from the UK strain, or annoyed that we've had to suffer the stay-at-home orders? Surely this man's house mates and other close contacts would have caught it by now. Exactly how did he catch it anyway? Apparently, he sat all day guarding the corridor where one room had a case of the virus. Did it come out in a draught when the door was opened for food service? Was he, fortunately, someone who didn't spread the virus? Investigations are ongoing, especially as there is a Melbourne case where a family of four in hotel quarantine managed to infect the person in the room opposite. Everyone has an opinion and it dominates the airwaves.

Meanwhile, there have been hours of heavy rain in Perth, which is good news for the firefighters to the north-east of us. The cold front has come down from the Pilbara, where there has been heavy flooding. In Carnarvon, where I was in May/June, the waters are up by over 7m: a disaster for the caravan park. Parts of the main road simply fell away and motorists were trapped for 48 hours.

I cooked a meal for C and E in Como yesterday. Their garden was dripping wet and very green: quite unusual for this time of year:

This is a lemon tree, but they are still green.

The latest gift for the dog-who-has-everything is a butterfly-shaped container, designed to stop him gobbling down his food and generally slow down his pace of eating: 

I had a go at making creme brûlée, which we often order in restaurants but can't be bothered to make at home! I had a little-used blow-torch, which we couldn't persuade to function any more. C queried Google, while we still can, but to no avail. In the end, we put the little dishes under the grill and the blow-torch in the bin:

Floods up north: end of the road?