Distancing

The world has changed a lot in the past two weeks. We've gone from the laughable toilet paper panic and frenzied hoarding, into an apocalyptic-feeling reality where most of the shops are closed and you aren't even allowed to have a barbeque with your extended family.

We didn't get to go to the agility trial on the weekend. On Monday, the 16th, all competitions were canceled until the end of April. Now the two trials in May have also been canceled, and the agility nationals have been postponed to a currently unspecified date. At this rate, we'll be lucky to have any competitions at all this year.

People remain divided between the panicked, the complacent, and the cautious. It's hard to know where on the scale to be. Am I reacting appropriately? Am I taking this seriously enough? Or am I worrying too much? It's a constant internal debate. And going shopping is more stressful than ever as I have to keep in mind the social distancing rules. Did I walk too close to that person? Am I standing too far away while they're talking to me? Thankfully most shops have Xs taped onto the floor and lines to show you where to stand in the queue, where to walk, so I don't have to guess all the time. I try to remember to smile and say thank you to people but honestly, I just want to get my groceries and get back home because it's exhausting. And finding cheap enough groceries continues to be a struggle because everyone is still buying them excessively, leaving us with the more expensive options.

Skuggi "blocking" at the supermarket yesterday, a task I always used to encourage people to give me extra space and now it's more useful than ever.

But so far our lifestyle hasn't suffered a drastic change with all these new restrictions, unlike many others. We've already been out of work for nearly eleven months now. And we haven't been able to afford to go anywhere aside from shopping for most of that time either. The only thing I really miss is the agility trials. I had high hopes for Skuggi's agility this year but as always life finds some way of ruining plans.

Sprinting to the finish line at our last agility trial, November 2019.

But otherwise, life just continues. I'm still sewing dog gear, mainly for my own dogs now since markets are canceled and I have no custom orders. We're working on agility things so hopefully by the time trials start again we will be able to superspeed out of Novice. We own 20 acres and our property is bordered by bushland, dirt roads winding through the trees, which is lovely for walking the dogs. As for Skuggi's assistance dog training, with social interactions basically forbidden, doing his public access test won't be happening for quite some time. The trainer I was going to do it with isn't able to get back to Australia this month as planned. He lives in the UK now and as you know, all international travel is banned. His license to certify assistance dogs expires in July and he said he won't be renewing it. So that's the end of that. When this is all over I guess I'll have to find another trainer who can certify him. Until then we carry on as normal as possible. 

Sparkie and Freya enjoying a bush walk earlier this week.

We picked up some wood and some wire netting to build a chook shed yesterday. I don't know when we'll be able to afford the actual chickens, but the materials were all free and it will be a fun project. And our little garden is growing well despite the kangaroos getting into the lettuces a few weeks ago. As well as the now rejuvenated lettuces, we have peas, strawberries, watermelon, radishes and an assortment of other sprouting herbs/vegetables.

Our garden.