Tag Archives: Tasmania

31 Days of Gratitude

December 31, 2020 By in Family, Tasmania Tags: , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Flatlay image of daily gratitude journal

I think we’ve all had to look a bit harder to see the good stuff this year, so at the start of December I decided to take a moment each day to think of something from 2020 that I’m grateful for.

I originally shared these on Twitter, one tweet each day. It was especially nice to have a few other people joining in – old friends and new – and to see the similarities and differences in the things we are each grateful for this year. In general, it feels like the big overwhelming events of 2020 have made us all reflect on the simple things close to home that we sometimes take for granted.

As a way of recording my own moments of gratitude all in one place I’ve turned them into this quick blog post.

I’d love to read your own thoughts on what you’ve been grateful for during this hugely challenging year. Feel free to share yours in the comments below. Continue reading →

Back to school… again

June 8, 2020 By in Tasmania Tags: , , , , , 2 Comments

A hand holding a shell up with the sea as a background at Seven Mile Beach in tasmania

DorkySon has now been back at school for two weeks. It honestly feels like he has never been away. After a couple of months off, I’m amazed at how quickly we have all adjusted to the new/old routine again.

We are back to 6.50am starts, back to school lunch sandwiches cobbled together as I slurp coffee and scroll the news on my phone.

The news. Gosh. It’s impossible to write anything at the moment – even the simplest of family blog posts – without acknowledging what is going on in the world. Continue reading →

Settling

May 7, 2020 By in Family, Tasmania Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , 9 Comments

A collage of three photos showing Hobart trees in Autumn.

The last ten days have probably been some of the most ‘normal’ since Tasmania’s COVID19 lockdown began. It feels like we are truly settling into our new routines, and there are far fewer of the ‘fight’ days that I wrote about a couple of weeks ago.

The last weekend of April was lovely. The Saturday was my birthday, and we abandoned our usual amble along the beach in favour of a walk into the city. We made our way through Battery Point, admiring the autumn colours and keeping an eye out for teddy bears in windows, before wandering slowly along the waterfront. Part of Castray Esplanade has been closed off to be used as a drive-through testing centre, and we saw one car go through as we passed. We kept our fingers crossed that whoever it was would get good news the following day. Continue reading →

Rhythms

April 19, 2020 By in Family, Tasmania Tags: , , , , , , , , , 17 Comments

A view of the River Derwent taken from Blinking Billy Point in Hobart, Tasmania

How’s everyone going out there? You doing okay?

Here in Hobart, we have just reached the end of Week Three at home. There are days when it feels like we have really hit our stride and settled into this new rhythm… and then there are those other days, where every minute feels like a fight.

In one of his recent posts on the MONA blog, David Walsh wrote: “I was happy to stay at home, until I had no choice but to stay at home.”

This resonates so much.

In truth, our lockdown life doesn’t look hugely different to how we normally live. DorkyDad and I both work from home all year round. DorkySon would be on his Easter holidays just now anyway. None of us are big socialisers. But the removal of choice has been an adjustment, as has the unending monotony of the days. It leaves a lot of time for overthinking.

We remain deeply grateful for all our privileges – indoor space, outdoor space, a full pantry and, of course, our health – but even with those advantages and an awareness of how lucky we are, we’ve been unable to escape the constant feeling of impending doom, the sense that the world is collectively holding its breath and waiting for the indefinable moment when things will start to turn. Continue reading →

DorkySon Turns 11

April 6, 2020 By in Family Tags: , , , , , , 9 Comments

a young boy seen from behind walking through some trees near Nutgrove Beach in Hobart

Last year when I started scribbling down notes for DorkySon’s birthday blog post, I thought it would be the trickiest one I would ever have to write. We had just spent a week in Auckland for his 10th birthday, and I was struggling to work out how I could fit in all the chat about our trip with my usual reflections on the year that had just ended. There was just too much to say.

Ha.

How I wish that the hardest thing about this year’s blog post was how to fit birthday cake, a business class upgrade, and a busy weekend in another city into 1200 words.

Instead, I’m wondering how to write about turning 11 in the middle of a worldwide pandemic.

* Continue reading →