We spent our second consecutive month in lockdown in New South Wales. Another month of not getting away. Instead, my weekends have been productively spent doing odd jobs around the house. It is such a weird time of life, mostly being housebound, only going to work and back again and picking up groceries. I haven’t walked as much this month instead doing daily workouts at home instead. Due to the great weather, I really got into my gardening and it has freshened the place up.

Listened to - 

* created a July 2021 playlist on Spotify

* Wine With Teacher Podcast

* Triple J

* 10-Minute Teacher Podcast

* The School of Greatness with Lewis Howes

* Happier with Gretchen Rubin

* The Marie Forleo Podcast

 Read - 

* Self Help For Your Nerves by Dr Clair Weekes

* Meet Me In Venice by Barbara Hannay

* Find You First by Linwood Barclay

* If Truth Be Told by Om Sharmi

Splurged on - 

* no getaway this month so had a spa bath to treat myself instead each Sunday night of the month

* two huge prints by Rothko. They came as a pair. I hung one in the bedroom and I think I will end up selling the other

Watching - 

* Have You Been Paying Attention?

* Three Birds Dream Home episodes on YouTube

* The Olympics

* The Hurt Locker movie

Went to - 

* Turtle Nursery to buy woodchip for the front and back gardens and white pebbles for my succulent garden out the front. Took three trailer loads of woodchip and four bags of white pebbles

* Get my vaccination at Olympic Park. My second dose is booked for October

Booked - 

* nothing booked, just the opposite; had to cancel my hotel booking for my friends wedding in Melbourne in September due to lockdown and my three day stay in Dubbo in the upcoming school holidays

Cooked - 

* Chocolate Cupcakes, Choc Chip Cookies, Chocolate Brownies, Vanilla Cupcakes

* Veggie Pasta, Soy Braised Barramundi, Thai Orange Chicken Curry, Hoison Beef Stirfry

What's new - 

* Home improvements - Weeded the gardens, put the weed mat down and finally bought woodchip. It was hard work but such a rewarding day. My bf also put up the solar panel spotlights that his mum had given him for his birthday to showcase the trees in the front garden. We also cleared the crap from beside the house and added woodchip which looks so much neater. I added more succulents to the front garden and then white stoned around it. Looks magical. I bought a huge 12 arm white chandelier for the front room from a guy on Marketplace. Waiting for the house to be painted first before it will go up. We measured up again in the ensuite so my bf can begin to do work in the next couple of weeks. We moved the boards into the ensuite that were in the upstairs lounge room. We took down the railing from outside and we are going to get glass installed instead. Measured up for a carport and started looking up companies but they are $$. Researched rattan chairs to replace the two we have in the kitchen area but again they are $$. My budget is $200 a chair which I thought was pretty generous but they are so much more than that. We put up more wire on the fence for the passionfruit vine to expand and attach to. Also attempting to weed the back yard an hour at a time, slowly getting there

* Completed my 45 Wellness Challenge and going to try to keep it up forming good habits. Downloaded the Streaks app to keep me motivated

* Nominated my teaching preferences for next year. Considered taking the year off but going to work another year full time

* My boyfriend and I celebrated three years together with a BBQ at home and wrote a card to each other. My idea. He wasn’t too keen but did end up saying some super nice things about me

* Up to a continuous 67-day writing streak for my blog. Going to attempt to do it until the end of the year

* Our pet fighting fish Prince passed away on the weekend. My bfs’ son had bought him for us two years ago. He was good company

* My bfs dog stopped eating two weeks ago and has been losing weight fast. We took her to the vet and she has been diagnosed with cancer. I have seen my bf cry twice. Today was one of those days. Now just to love on her lots before her time is up

* Been given Tuesdays off from school. It is such a nice break and really really good for my mindset. Those kids are hard work. Our school is so big that the demountable’s have been placed in the teachers carpark. We only have a small carpark for the principal and the deputies. The principal gave me the secret code and I’m in!

* My boyfriends new truck finally arrived. It is the new Mack Anthem. Excited to go on a work trip with him once lockdown is over

* Received a care package from my best friend in Adelaide which spurred me to make two for our direct neighbours. They were both genuinely thankful to receive them. Have also packaged four more to be sent out to friends

Looking for - 

* rattan bed head for the boy’s beds

* rattan chairs

* bone inlay sideboard

Sold -

* Magimix, a bunch of silver photo frames, excess coloured cardboard, spiral cutter to make zucchini spaghetti, homemade 15m bunting

 
Started - 

* Cassie Mendoza-Jones course; Anchor Into Your Power. Only completed the first two modules, really need to get back to it

* Gardening more. Got some flowers from my sister and my brother’s garden and potted them up and my Aunty also gave me some flowers. I bought a Jasmine plant which is going to grow on the side fence to give a bit more privacy as our neighbours can see right into our backyard

Attempting to -

* publish an ebook on How To Teach A Child To Read. Have started it, now just to dedicate more time to finish it in September

How has your mindset been during lockdown? Have you taken up any new hobbies? We would love to hear your thoughts. Please feel welcome to join the conversation and leave a comment below.

For other months in hindsight click here