So as I began to look back over all the happenings in 2020 my initial thought was we don't seem to have done very much. Actually we have accomplished a good amount but it was very different from how we expected the year to pan out.
So the year began with the usual snow, ice, farm chores, work, church, DIY etc.
We were really looking forward to a 2 week holiday we had planned in the UK to celebrate my parents 50th wedding anniversary. We had plans to visit David's family on the way up the country and had an Airbnb booked in the Yorkshire dales where all my family were to meet up for a weekend together.
Now if I'm honest I don't listen to the news very much so initially when Covid 19 started to hit the news I didn't pay much attention to it. I did start to listen when the Education minister in New Brunswick announced that if anyone had travelled to certain parts of the world during March break they would not be permitted to return to school for 2 weeks on their return. So when we set off with Rich and Jen to catch our flight from Boston to London the following week we were all aware that if we crossed the border into the US we would be working from home on our return.
We did not expect the world to shut down so quickly though. As our flight was about to taxi suddenly phones started pinging as Mr Trump had just announced he was stopping flights from Europe into the US. This ban didn't include flights from England so while a large number of our fellow passengers got off the flight we made the decision to stay on.
The long and short of it is we made it to England, Rich and Jen had a weekend in Canterbury booked, we went to David's parents and Trump changed his mind and announced that flights from England were now to be banned too. That meant a number of stressful hours getting our flights changed, driving back to London, flying back to Boston and driving over the border home before the border shut completely.
Unfortunately we never got to see most of the people we had planned on spending time with or did we get to celebrate with my parents. And I don't recommend popping across to the UK for a weekend!!!
The world then shut down, we quarantined for 2 weeks and then continued working from home for many weeks, in fact David and Josh still work from home the majority of the time now.
We got used to zoom work, zoom church, zoom curry nights. We found we had lots more time on our hands so did projects around the house and farm like crackfilling and painting a bathroom, building a greenhouse, taking up painting again and much more. It was actually quite good not to have to be anywhere for a while.
After a few weeks New Brunswick had very few cases so we could eventually bubble with another household which meant we got to see Isaac and Josh again. Then in July the Atlantic provinces made an agreement to bubble together so Harriet and her boyfriend Matt, could come home to visit.
Over the summer we celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary and went to St Andrews to stay for a night. We then celebrated our 10 year Canniversary with our traditional ice-cream cake.
Because of all the Covid requirements the summer camp my work runs needed a cook to operate this year so I spent most of July cooking at North Lake. I then had most of August off so did lots of chores around the farm, gardening, walking dogs and I went with friends to climb Mt Carleton for a couple of days. I also reached the 5 year clear of cancer milestone and had the port in my arm removed. We spent a long weekend visiting Harriet in PEI too.
David finds he has so much more time working from home and for the first time since we've had the farm is nearly ready for winter with animals in their winter homes, wood cut and stacked and already plans for jobs to do once the snow flies and we get back into the house renovations.
David celebrated his 50th birthday a couple of weeks ago so we surprised him with an afternoon of paintballing and a birthday tea.
Isaac has been really busy working this year, he was kept on during Covid and has been continuing to renovate his house.
Josh finished his degree online, graduated and started working as a developer. He and Isaac continue to volunteer as fire fighters. He also took up woodworking and has built himself a desk, 2 chairs for the deck and is currently planning a new bed.
Harriet is now in year 3 of her degree at UPEI. She is about to complete her second coop placement at a watershed group on the island. She is hoping to be home for Christmas but the borders have closed again because of the second wave of Covid so she may not be able to travel to us we won't know till closer to Christmas.
We are looking forward to what 2021 holds for us. We hope to be able to actually meet up with family and friends from across the world again.
We hope you have a very happy Christmas and we can see you soon.
10 year Canniversary
Celebrating 27 years in St Andrews
Paintballing for David's 50th
Harri starting year 3 @ UPEI
At the top of Mt Carleton
North Lake where I spent my summer
the new greenhouse
preparing the veggie garden
some of my Covid pictures
