It’s definitely not fun times for Victorians at the moment especially those in lockdown once again. I have friends and family in some of the lockdown suburbs and today’s news about those in Housing Commission buildings was pretty heartbreaking. Between the Ruby Princess debacle in NSW and hotel quarantine in Victoria – the government has definitely dropped the ball. I am hopeful that we can get on top of things and see numbers going back down – there’s no use finger pointing but the community transmissions have left most people pretty dismayed. I am extremely grateful to those in lockdown who are ‘taking one’ for the nation – I don’t think any of us will ever take the freedom we had pre-COVID-19 for granted once this pandemic is over.
I am working on staying calm and looking forward to returning to in person (but socially distanced) yoga classes with my longtime Iyengar teacher Pamela Speldwinde at Action Yoga in Ivanhoe and have also booked a shiatsu (Japanese fully clothed) massage with Aliki Zouliou who Mr Rosanna and I try to see a couple of times a year as much as it would be preferable to see her at least quarterly. We have friends who are keen cyclists, one of whom is also a tradie, and they have monthly massages as a preemptive health measure given the amount of bodywork they do on a daily basis. Pamela and Aliki have only just reopened their businesses and are being very cautious. I’ve had to buy a number of my own props to use in class but see this as a worthwhile investment given my yoga practice has been lifelong.
It’s been a strange time to celebrate my birthday but I was very spoiled over the weekend with home made meals by Mr R and time in front of the fireplace just to sit and read – it is all about the simple pleasures. Mr R and I have had our eye on an Art Deco vintage poster for some time – the original one we liked from Vintage Posters Only sold (and you can buy other original posters from Letitia Morris and The Galerie) and it was way too expensive, so we instead bought a reproduction (with the same design) from Picture Store. You can also find retro-style reproduction posters from La Brocante and Harper and Charlie. It’s often the framing which costs a lot of money – we took our poster to The Print and Framing Company in West Heidelberg (who also do some amazing things with mirror TVs) and along with my birthday flowers and cake, I was very happy with my present this year!
We are all spending more time at home and if you are still working, it’s lovely to be able to invest in interior design, and decor, that makes you happy, adds value and lifts your spirits. The one thing I always keep in mind at this time every year (traditionally the two coldest weeks in Melbourne) is that once term 2 school holidays are over, we are in the second half of winter and on the journey towards spring and lighter days ahead.
The highlight of the day was going for an evening swim with my family and looking up into the pink sky to see a kookaburra in the enormous tree next door – a highlight only surpassed by seeing a koala (with a gum leaf stuck to its nose) on the road near the Korumburra general store on Australia Day a number of years ago while driving with Mr Rosanna on a regional road trip. There seems to be an influx of Australian animals at the moment as one of the best sights this summer break was Mr Rosanna and my eldest son seeing a large grey kangaroo hopping down Lower Plenty Road while picking up takeaway pizza from 
Miss Rosanna 