Wednesday 22nd April 2020
Today I finally received my $750 support supplement from Centrelink. Most of it is going towards bills overdue or due this week with just a few dollars saved for weekly groceries again for the following week's grocery shop.
It's been over a week now since I last stepped outside and went for a walk or to the supermarket to do a shop ( I hate going to the supermarket as I have an allergic reaction to them and don't do click and collect because half of the items on my weekly shopping list are unavailable each time I do a shop so I need to look for alternatives each time) . I am down to my last bits of vegetable and protein. I only have 2 more rolls of toliet paper and 2 more boxes of tissues left - fat chance I will find any toliet paper as I haven't been able to buy any of the single rolls or So Soft brand toliet paper that I normally buy for 5 weeks now and no I don't want to purchase a packet of $7 toliet paper which are much smaller rolls and don't flush very well or last very long. I may just have to purchase some more boxes of cheap tissues.
The only times I've left my apartment is to take my rubbish out ( which I need to do again soon) and to go downstairs last Monday to do my laundry ( wash & dry) - still not using the disgusting kitchen downstairs! I hate leaving my apartment as I fear contracting the Corona virus. My allergies are getting worse - every morning and night my eyes tend to water, my nose runs and my skin is itchy ( I fear the virus can make it's way via any broken skin on my hands I have from scratching my ezcema and dermatitis probably made worse from the stress and continuous handwashing and eating truck loads of cheese which I should not be eating). I also have this cough which I get during Autumn (Fall) and Spring mainly at night and sometimes in the morning ( I thi k rain maybe coming again!) - I managed to trigger this from just ironing my clothes at night over the past 2 days. I try to keep my apartment free of dust by vacuuming almost every day and dusting when I can to reduce the amount of dust but it is impossible to eliminate any carbon that manages to creep into my apartment from the main road even when I keep my window closed. It is not so bad that I can see it settling on my desk but I do see it settling in between the window frames. My one and only succulent I originally purchased to try and counterbalance the carbon doxide I am producing in the apartment is not working efficiently - although my greenery is getting heaps of sunlight to photosynthsise, and the moisture from the condensation I create and ocassional watering, it seems to be dying in parts. I should have just planted the 2 healthy disease free succulents I purchased from the markets instead of adding the cuttings I received from my manager which did not look so healthy. I am going to have to remove any dead or diseased plants when I get a chance - hopefully this will improve my succulents' health. Hopefully it will over time improve my health too.
By 5 pm today I still haven't left my apartment instead opting for a dinner of tinned salmon mixed with small amount of mayo yoghurt pepper finely chopped shallot ground cumin and the finely grated 2 small pickle gerkins I had left which I ate with a cracked pepper water crackers from my stockpile of non perishables.
Tomorrow I must go shopping but I can't guarantee that I will end up going. I still have some frozen turkey mince and frozen peas left in the freezer as well as plenty of cheese butter some plain yoghurt shallots a capsicum 2 mushrooms and avacado and other bits and pieces left but no fruit except for a lime and a lemon. Time to get creative if I don't go shopping tomorrow. I can always whip up something from my non perishables as well - a can of bully beef a spring onion some ginger frozen peas an egg stock cubes and a packet of Jasmine rice chilli as well as some capsicum or some corn and bang fried rice! - although I will have to make it somehow in the oven - sure I can make it work!
Yesterday I made some sort of bark - it was not a cake or a biscuit but a hybrid of both. I was trying to make the 3 or 4 ingredient peanut butter cookies but I only had tahini and not peanut butter so I mixed together tahini a teaspoon of baking powder dark molasses maple syrup 1 egg vanilla paste ground cinnamon ground cloves a pinch of salt dark chocolate chips pitted dates cocoa powder and a few teaspoons of self raising flour really well - I tasted it and it was rank!, I could taste the bitterness of the tahini not helped by the taste of the dark molasses. I spread it out using a rolling pin as it was so thick and sticky between 2 sheets of baking paper spread out over a roasting tray. Because I could not remove the top sheet of baking paper, I left it on and baked it very low and slow. After about 15 minutes the mixture started to cook and viola! the top piece of baking paper peeled off so easily. I continued to bake it low and slow for about another 25 minutes ensuring it did not start to burn. I cooled it down and broke it up into smaller pieces and what do you know? it actually tastes quite nice - nowhere as bitter as the raw concoction! I don't recommend anyone try and make it though - it is my attempt at depression/iosolation or survival cooking during hard times. I put the pieces after they have cooled into a snaplock bag zipped it up and placed it in the fridge. Hopefully they will taste even nicer like a fudge brownie if I leave them in the fridge at least for a few hours or overnight.
Thursday 23rd April 2020
Today was a very productive day.
First I started a second Future Learn online course and completed week 1 of the course in a few hours.
I had a shower and took my rubbish out AND travelled to Chatswood by bus and walked down to the larger Aldi and Coles at the other end of Chatswood.
I managed to get the majority of the groceries on my shopping list from Aldi then Coles then finally from Fruitez. Coles had toliet paper in stock but they were in packets of 6 or more and only in 2 brands - Quilton and Kleenex with no prices on them. I think the lady in front of me said the packet she purchased cost her around $6 - still rather expensive as the rolls of toliet paper seemed to have shrunk in size - they were tiny! So no purchase of toliet paper for me yet again and it't now week 5 without purchasing any toliet paper I think. I had purchased a box of the last few boxes of tissues left at Aldi which I can use as loo paper if I need to. I spent so long at Coles as I could not find the things I needed and when I could , could not make up my mind which one to get!
Time to go home with my 2 very full bags of groceries. It was an uphill walk all the way back to the station about a km away so I caught the bus as my groceries were quite heavy.
Before I caught the bus I had a quick look at Kmart - first time i a very long time. They did not have what I wanted so no purchases today. It was really awkward making my way into the entrance of Kmart with my trolley as there was a one way only maze marked out to enter and exit the store - a bit extreme as the shopping centre has become a virtual ghost town since the Corona virus situation began. Only places open are the Coles, Fruitez, an Asian grocery store, maybe Oportos and KFC with limited opening hours, a chicken concession, a florist, a chemist, Kmart and possibly a Bakers Delight ( or Cobs as it is known overseas) - everything rlse seemed to be closed or had no customers in them at all - even the main butcher shop was closed.
When I artived home I unpacked my groceries and could not be botheted to make dinner so made mysrlf 2 wholemeal promite cheese and avocado sandwiches to eat with a cup of tea which I have been drinking a lot of lately.
I watched Masterchef but got bored and a little tired - I fell asleep again.
End of another day.
Friday 24th April 2020
Today I paid a few bills which I had thought I would not be able to pay but could after checking my bank account. I was surprised to see that the Governments Supplement had been paid on 22nd April. I wasn't expecting to receive this until later this month. Straight away I set aside next week's rent, paid this weeks rent due, paid part of my phone bill due 6th May in advance ( the balance I did not pay due to complaint lodged awaiting response) and the balance of my offsite storage facility monthly rental ( which I thought I would be unable to pay until 29th April making it just a few days overdue).
Other then watching tv, watching Youtube and Tiktok, checking my emails, Facebook ( which I do most days) and lodging a few complaints - today was a very do nothing day. Another not going out day - just easting sleeping and blogging. I skept a bit more then normal today as I was really bored. I had more promite cheese and avacado sandwiches today as well as some crumbed oven baked whiting ( fish fillets) - no oven baked chips today . No baking today but I did make a marinade for my chicken wings to soak in overnight - food preparation for tomorrow.
Hoping to wake up early tomortow to pay tribute to Anzac Day sevice personnel. There are no dawn services or legal games of twoup this year due to the current situation ( it will have to be calked oneup this year) - Can you actually play twoup by yourself? of course you casn you just win all the time or you can play via Skype Zoom FaceTime etc etc....
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