The vet gave me a sachet to be opened on arrival home, which was for worming Poppet. Opened it up today and it was a spot on treatment and the parcel referred me to instructions that were not there. So I googled for instructions and sure enough, spot on worm treatment! Who knew! Definitely saves stitches from trying to shove tablets down reluctant throats.

I had a bit of a cookathon today - basically using the new pressure cooker was a priority so I made hedgehogs. Amazing. All you do is push a button labelled meat, and twenty minutes later you have porcupines! I think I like this newfangled approach to pressure cooking. At present I am waiting for the alarm to go off to let me know to add cheese to the potatoes au gratin and return them to the oven. Not sure the potatoes I used are ideal for it as they are dutch creams, where sebagos would have been better, but I expect i will find out soon enough.

Much washing up and putting away ensued and the kitchen is once again tidy and clean (astonishing I know!).

It started raining this afternoon, after strong winds discouraged doing the laundry this morning, so I am still only part way part through that side of things. But as I am into week two from contact I am being conscientous about not going out, and will have to keep myself amused at home for another seven days. Sigh. I think I will resurrect the coffee maker tomorrow and see if it has stopped leaking when I turn it on.

Work is sorted out and apparently I will be getting the JobKeeper allowance from the next pay, so that will be exciting. I will have to get something on mail order so I can control the fire burning a hole in my pocket haha. I suspect that will be the tiles.

Long break - sorry. I have just got back after a big day out and eaten my dinner (a takeaway baked lamb dinner from one of the local eateries). Poppet is no longer entire (phew, perhaps the house can stop smelling like a litter tray every time she comes in season), has a microchip and is currently stalking around in the ceiling space (apparently introducing her to new people is not acceptable). She has bounced back from the operation so I am pretty sure she is safe up there unless she starts hurling herself after flying birds.

I have also sampled crepes from the Pancake and Crepe shop. It's a good idea, you get a pair of crepes which you zap for one minute before arranging to receiving the filling. The filling is cooked for 2 minutes and there is a generous side salad to arrange alongside. The sauce lets it down and I think he uses cornflour and it does not travel well. But a garlic prawn crepe and a chicken and mushroom one last night. Tonight's baked lamb was surprisingly succulent for all it was well done.

Filling in 8 hours while socially isolated can be tedious, so I just took extra care to remain a couple of aisles away from people when I went to Harris Scarfe and touched nothing till I found the cotton sateen sheets I wanted. I also wanted a cast iron casserole dish, but they had sold out. My kitchen knives spent that time with the nice Italian man, so they are now razor sharp once more. Then off to KMart to see if they had cast iron casseroles (no) but I found a pressure cooker/come slow cooker for sale which was only $59.00, so that came home with me. I accidently blew out the bottom of the last pressure cooker (not literally, but it developed an alarming dome on the base), so have been denied the joys of porcupines for some time. And with that in mind I had the butcher sell me a kilo of mince and a kilo of topside (all in one lump at present). So no prizes for guessing what I will be doing tomorrow.

Grabbed some lunch from a takeaway the parked down by the river at Bridgewater in an empty park. I did get a bit of a start when the police cruised past twice but I smiled nicely and they kept going.

Then off to collect the patient who was surprisingly perky for all that she had spent the day in the company of a room full of total strangers. She was pleased to get home, and has now polished off two dinners to compensate for the one she didn't get this morning. I have also been given a few devoted snuggles and now she has gone off to explore. Early night tonight as I was up late last night and early this morning.

You'll (hopefully) be pleased to know the results came back negative. I rang the local GP and pointed out that my potential contact had been only 2 days previously, and he agreed I should remain below the parapet for a fortnight monitoring symptoms. So I have two whole weeks off for uninterrupted fun!

I do have to drop the cat for her operation on Monday and then find ways to fill in my time, but I am used to spending endless time in Hobart not actually doing anything so that should be OK.

Having established I am certified covid-free I popped into the supermarket and replaced the empty weetbix box, bought some wine and a nice triple brie for when I get the munchies, and returned home to my cocoon and did nothing. The fire is nice at present and I am full of cassoulet and yoghurt so starting to feel a bit dozy.

Tomorrow I will be in for a meal from Pancakes (they are doing takeaway crepe kits which include a crepe, the fillings and a salad that you put together yourself when you are ready to eat) and Sunday will be a quick trip to pick up a roast dinner at another eatery. So not exactly in hibernation but close enough for the next few days. After that I will be rather more conscientious.

Hope you are all well and having fun

There's nothing like starting the day with a cotton bud on steroids shoved down your throat and up your nose, but it's done now, and I have to sit at home and wait for the results. I am not unduly concerned, just being overcautious due to the vulnerability of some of my patients (Friday's is recovering from a transplant so it now going with someone else).

It is many a long year since I had my nostrils cauterised to stop nosebleeds, but it feels just like I still have the cauterising agent up there - I expect it will be fine tomorrow.

The trip down and back was uneventful, quite a nice sunny day, then driving through the ghost-town that is Salamanca Place to a series of tents, barriers, guards, stop points, people in PPE like you see on telly and a line up of vehicles approaching each group of staff to be subjected to pain.

Then home. And frankly that was all I have done all day. Yesterday was not terribly much more productive but did at least involve getting a bit more progress in the kitchen.

EMW the fireplace in the front room will eventually be sorted out, probably best to do that before I invest in any heating options - no point having it disappear up the chimney. It's also not that noticeable as I had a heavy curtain over the doorway. The main problem is the spare room off the lounge as the cats can open the door to it, and that leaves drafts from an unsealed window and the other side of the same chimney - that can be a bit wearing. Being able to close the laundry door makes a huge difference, and having a heater also makes a difference I discovered last winter. Blinds over the kitchen windows would be helpful too along with some of those sealing strips you plan to use. It all takes time, and I am used to the peccadillos of the house and relieved to be making progress once more.

The whole question of heating supplements in mine are at issue too EMW. I have inadvertently created a spot where a wall heater can go in the kitchen and it backs onto a power point in the neighbouring room so that's OK. But the craft room is perpetually cold in winter (due to an open chimney) and the cast iron grate, even if installed, is unlikely to provide satisfactory warmth, so perhaps another panel heater? Hard to know. A new reverse cycle air conditioner would be nice, but that might have to wait a while.

It was a transportation day today which did not start till noon, so I did a bit of wall and window washing before heading into the fray. My passenger is a former councillor who stood down the election I ran for. She was definitely in the opposition camp at the time but we have become friends since then.

I asked her how she was getting on with isolation and she started the 'oh I wish it would end' but reduced me to tears of laughter when she continued. "It's been terrible, my huband has gone completely mad!" Me poised to offer the phone number for abused partners " He came in just yesterday and announced he's bought another farm!!!".

So that was all right then. Half way down she admitted to having seen the doctor the day before for a renewal of antibiotics. I expressed concern and she mentioned she had had a cold for some time. I was relatively unconcerned until she was refused treatment on arrival due to an elevated temperature. Sigh. So I will call the Public Health in the morning and see if I should be in serious isolation for a fortnight.

At least I have plenty to keep me busy.

And then the bank to clean tonight as they still don't seem to have made any progress regarding my replacement.

I will be quite pleased to get to bed tonight for all that it has not been a terribly arduous day.

It's hard to know. I know it doesn't live on one side of me, and it seems to run through the fence to the other side when frightened. So it could easily be living under one of the many outbuildings there, or being fed and called a 'pet' or just living wild. Only way to find out would be to trap it, keep it for a month in case someone came enquiring, or take it to the vet for a microchip check (not that any of the locals would bother with that anyway). On the plus side if it lived with me, its whereabouts would be unknown as it would be indoors at all times, haha. Fortunately the trap is at someone else's house at the moment so not much chance of trapping it. I will also have to wait till Poppet is fixed just in case it's a boy.

It's been raining most of today - breaks long enough to scuttle out and get firewood in, but otherwise quite damp. And cold. The fire is chugging away but seems to be less than enthusiastic about warming things up.

I hung the door to the laundry today and did a bit of wall washing, but have yet to break out the sugar soap which I will be needing as I get further up the wall. It's nice to be able to shut the door it, but it will have to come off it's hinges once more for a further trim on the bottom. I will leave it in place till it has a chance to get a little rub on the paint on the bottom to see what's happening. It will also need a cat flap installed so the door can be closed but they can reach their litter tray.

Then the sausages were turned into a made up cassoulet that involved beans, chicken and dried mushrooms as additions. I got a bit carried away with the stock so it is a bit soupy rather than gluggy, but still tasty. I will freeze the rest for 'ron.

I will try to wash some walls tomorrow. I really can't install the tall cupboards until that's done and I would really like to get them out of the loungeroom so I can start in here. Meanwhile I will just potter around I think.

Deep fog greeted the morning today - and lingered for some time. Fortunately it cleared by lunchtime so I got to the tip, got rid of more stuff, came home and played with the door. It is now trimmed (hopefully far enough to clear the floor) and primed and just needs to be hung. It would be nice to be able to paint it first, but since none of my paint seems to be where I thought I put it, that will not happen soon.

I also spotted the little cloudy tabby that I spot from time to time. I suspect it must be the same litter as Poppet as it is petite like here, has her eyes, body form and even hair distribution (she has little tuffets of hair in unexpected places like this one). It is very cautious so I have not ever been able to get outdoors to say hello. I did at least get a photo of her this time (I assume it's she - it could of course be he).

The door is occupying rather more of the floor space in the kitchen, but provided a useful table surface for me to sort through more of the impedimenta that seems to accumulate whenever I turn my back. And tonight it will be tortellini due to lack of culinary adventures on my part.