January to June 2020 Review

 Who would have thought that 2020 would have been what it is. What started out as normal in January, turned to questioning the virus in February to us being locked down in March. 

We were of the last provinces to have the virus recorded. It was expected to happen as other provinces were already having cases on a daily basis. The cases rose and one nursing home was hit hard with the virus. They had about 50% of the deaths in wave one. Testing was ramped up, we were told to "Stay The Blazes Home" which became our provincial mantra. It was a tough few months for everyone.

As we were all trying to follow the restrictions, we also had to experience a mass shooting. Twenty-three people died as the result of this. To top it off, two more people died in unrelated accidents outside of the province. What a blow it was to the province. The saying "Nova Scotia Strong" came into existence. I have to say that Nova Scotians are very strong people.

As the curve of the virus flattened and we could breath a bit easier, we were attacked by a Ontario doctor on Nova Scotia's handling of the virus in the one nursing home. That upset me as other provinces were having their wrecks in nursing homes and didn't get attacked like we did. It was then that I heard, once again "Only in Nova Scotia".

The gardening bug hit and we had problems getting plants. In the end, we got everything but leeks. There was snow at the beginning of June so the garden got planted late. We also got our front door landing done by our wonderful neighbor. Social distancing was the name of the game while it was being done.

Sewing

As we were at home except for weekly drives until the long weekend of May, I sewed daily. I sewed up a lot of the Christmas fabric I had, made bags, masks, doll clothes, piping, a reading pillow, and what ever else I could think of. I even took a couple of weeks off from sewing and I still managed to sew 46.6 meters of fabric in the first 6 months. 

I think I sewed every test pattern that came out and some were fun, others were wrecks. I learned a lot during that time. I sewed using mainly stash but, once the fabric stores opened, I did support them buying some fabric. 

I placed an order for snaps and sewing machine needles and they came from England. I bought thread at Walmart. I was running short and needed to stock up. I was also preparing for the second wave.

Knitting

I knit for the dolls doing new and old patterns. I also knit a child's sweater learning how to use gauge to figure out the number of stitches needed. It was a lot of fun. I also knit messy bun hats, scarves, and a dog sweater in those first six months. I actually bought very little yarn during that time. 

Knitting became a sanctuary for me. I was able to escape from the world in the evenings. 

Conclusion

Though 2020 took a wild turn from what we know as normal, living with covid in the first 6 months had its ups and down. I had to monitor our mental health closely and made sure we got out for weekly drives. That helped us a lot but there were still moments when it was explosive in our house. It was hard not to visit with people unless from a distance of 6 feet or more. It was hard not to see family. It was hard but we learned to adapt. 

As the curve flattened and the number of cases decreased, we did venture out to shop. We used curbside pick up, early morning shopping, and left stores if we felt uncomfortable or unsafe. We wore masks, used hand sanitizer and practiced social distancing. It became our new normal.

The most exciting day was when we could have a family bubble. We went for dinner at our family's house to celebrate. What we ate didn't matter, it was being with family that mattered. They were wonderful to us in the 6 weeks we didn't go out by getting the things we needed.

By the end of June, we were back outside doing things, living our new normal, and being grateful every day. 

Part 2 next week.