Isolation Binge

11 April 2022

What a week it's been! Plans have changed numerous times. We haven't really known day to day what we might be doing or how we might feel, but I guess that's part and parcel of the times we find ourselves in.

This time last week my son and I were avoiding each other in the hope that I would not also test positive and we could claim some of the school holidays for, you know, fun stuff. It was not to be unfortunately, and it seems no amount of antibacterial spray was keeping that second line off my test.

For a couple of days being upright was not a position I was much good in, and couldn't really focus on reading or study, so I did very little and slept a lot. In between snoozing I binge watched the most television that I have watched in years.

I discovered a way to watch the latest season of This Is Us (although I have somehow missed the first three episodes, so I'll have to go back and watch those when the whole season is available elsewhere). What a show! I think I cried in every single episode. I may be just a little bit in love with Jack Pearson, and my favourite part is the way the timeline slips back and forth and you get glimpses of what's to come without explanation. That's what kept me watching. The twists, turns and connections being teased out of the overall storyline, and how tiny moments can mean so much to so many people for so long.

I also discovered that I have a thing for New Zealand television series from the 2010's. I happened upon The Almighty Johnsons a while back, and most of the cast have appeared again in The Brokenwood Mysteries. It's possible that I enjoy the different accents as much as the mystery and interesting storylines. I did quite enjoy Republic of Doyle, Hamish Macbeth and Smother as well (although, not all this week).

As a general rule I enjoy television series where the story is crafted in a way that makes you think, gives you lines to repeat with those who have watched it too, and is enjoyable enough to watch more than once. In no particular order, as well as This Is Us here's some of my favourites.

M*A*S*H

Sons of Anarchy

Veronica Mars

Peaky Blinders

Blindspot

Boardwalk Empire

Hell on Wheels

The Three Musketeers

The Witcher

The Last Kingdom

The Blacklist

Grey's Anatomy

The Umbrella Academy

Merlin

Fringe

Reign

Justified

Game of Thrones

Lucifer

Gilmore Girls

Younger

Grimm

Wynonna Earp

True Blood

The Dukes of Hazzard

Bridgerton

A few Aussie shows for good measure:

Bluey

Rake

Love Child

House Husbands

A Place to Call Home

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries

Miss Fisher's Modern Mysteries

As much as I've enjoyed time to just watch television I'm looking forward to feeling better so I can do some other stuff. I don't particularly enjoy being unproductive.

I did manage one cool thing before I hit the worst patch. After a false start with a little technical difficulty (totally my fault - I was on my Facebook Live 'L' plates), I did my first live floristry demonstration. Here it is if you're interested...
https://www.facebook.com/FlowerstoImpress/videos/9...

I have to say that I feel as though we got off lightly with the relatively short amount of time we had to self-isolate. While we didn't feel fantastic most of the time it wasn't too awful. We didn't have any difficulty getting groceries (and flowers for my live demonstration), I didn't have to supervise any learning from home, I didn't have small children to occupy, and power and internet were readily available, so we were able to stay connected, and we didn't have any disagreements.

Last week I signed off saying that I was going to take a photo of my dog. I did that, but it wasn't without its challenges.

Every time I crouched down he came over to me. He's such a people person. It was a bit difficult taking a photo of him with a telephoto lens when he wanted to be right beside me, but I managed it in the end. Here he is in his magnificent majesty.

Luckily this week was Nature, so I was able to find something interesting in my back yard, once I had enough energy to go out looking.

It's been quite a party, ain't it

Purple Fairy