Last week I said it, didn’t I? We very tired, slightly disillusioned Homesteaders had managed to evade the Covid monster but plugging the gaps and keeping on carrying on was taking it’s toll. Maybe an enforced “holiday” would be worth it, we mused.
It’s fair to say that, on Sunday, The Farmer was pretty unpopular among us. He had been coughing and sneezing his non-Covid germs around the Homestead for a week or so and now, we raged, we had all succumbed to his lurgy. Grrrrr!
It was The Resident Engineer, after a sleepless night which is very, very unusual for her, who decided an early morning Covid test was a good idea; you know, just in case.
For real? It’s finally happened?!
A scurry of testing followed and showed that there was a definite gender divide: Farm Girl, The Engineer and myself tested positive while The Bean Counter and, bizarrely after being the target of the household’s disdain the day before, The Farmer, were negative. Even weirder was Princess Nikita testing positive a day later; she had spent the weekend on The Homestead.
So, how was this going to work?
There have been many, many conversations since the rearing of this pandemic’s ugly head. Our first aid kit is jammed full of panadol, throat lozenges, and unsnuffling meds; our pantry, garden, and freezers can keep us fed without a need to visit a supermarket for a month or so. We would just hunker down, hang out, and look after ourselves. That was the plan. What wasn’t in the plan was the idea that only half of us would succumb. Suddenly we were divided down the middle – girls upstairs, boys downstairs – with The Bean Counter taking the role of chef and tender of the menagerie.
Days upstairs were passed sleeping, keeping on top of the pain with panadol, itching our feet (no one talks about this side effect…oh! those toes were itchy-sore), and re-watching Blown Away, Next in Fashion type stuff; easy watching, no thinking. We found, if we kept our water intake up and didn’t let ourselves get too muscularly sore, the days were fine. Nights, however, were pretty long and riddled with nightmares.
Then on day 3, The Bean Counter succumbed. Time for a re-think. The Farmer is now downstairs with only Colin for company. I have now taken over meal preparation and The Farmer fends for himself; so much of our menu is “from scratch” and, at the end of the day, something I can do quickly and easily.
Yesterday was a beautiful day.
We all took a gentle wander around The Homestead and discovered Spring had arrived while we were locked away.
Taking everything into consideration, we’ve been pretty lucky. Our GP has kept in touch with us as we have both immune suppression and respiratory issues. Firstly, they couriered an oxygen monitor out to us and also reassured us their Nebuliser was ready in case we should require it.
So far, so good.
As for The Farmer, he who got blamed for us all getting so sick?
To date, he’s still negative. Crazy!
Union Homestead 
Well, what bad luck after escaping for so long. It sounds as you were all a lot worse than me so much sympathy and hope for a speedy recovery. Glad your GP was so helpful.
Although it’s annoying and we feel a bit sore and snuffly, there’s an aspect of relief to it all. Now we’ve had it! Phew!
Exactly, that’s how I felt.
Oh wow…sorry to hear this, but I totally understand the relieved feeling too. Glad you chose the milder form. And lovely to see hopeful harbingers of Spring. Get well soon!
Thanks! Its been a weird time all in all having actively avoided it for so long. I actually feel a lot better than I have for ages. Yep, I have a cold, a few muscle aches, a headache now and then but I think just having the excuse to stop and rest – no argument! – is what we all needed. That and a few more sunny days…come on, summer!
In a way, it was quite lucky that you almost all got it at the same time. It would have been very tedious if you had got it one after the other. I hope that you all recover well.
True! This way it will hopefully be done and dusted quickly. Still waiting for The Farmer to fall victim…if only to erase his smug smile. Apparently its all to do with inner strength and a healthy attitude and the rest of us are inferior beings…š
As one who has avoided the virus thus far, I can only agree with The Farmer.
Hi, It is interesting how the dreaded COVID affects people in many ways. For me, it was like a heavy head cold which kept me prone much of the time. I received daily ‘phone calls from the COVID home monitoring service operating from my local hospital checking to see how I was faring and offering helpful advice which meant I contacted my GP clinic and discovered I qualified for anti -virals.
I hope you are now in recovery mode which can last at least a couple of weeks. Fingers crossed – no long COVID.
We seem to be coming out of the covid fug now. Some things are hanging on, tho. We’re all worn out, most of us are still battling itchy skin (who knew this was a side effect), and we feel sort of post-cold. No long Covid, thankfully!