Sal needed a knee.  Went to the knee-guy.  He said, “I’ll give ya a new knee. Get in line.  May take four months, maybe longer.”  A few weeks later, “We gotta cancellation. Late notice.  Ya want it?”  We took it.  We were lucky.

Borrowed a moho and parked it on a friend’s lawn.  Operation went well.  We were very lucky over that.  Surgeon was great.  Then all flu-hell broke loose and we were in moho-hell feeling like dog-poop.  “We are so unlucky.” 

And then Coronavirus struck the world.  And the world ground to a screeching halt.  Stores being emptied.  Surgeries halted.  Sal got in ‘under the wire’.  People stayed home.  I went shopping for a few things.  Sal continued to heal.  J and I fixed a few other things.  It was bloody freezing when it wasn’t raining.  “Well still, all in all, we were pretty lucky to get ‘er all done in nasty month.” 

And then yesterday, we came home.  YESTERDAY WAS HOME-DAY!  It was quite a schlep but ol’ Sal was up for it.  She handled all the stairs, helped with the unloading and has since put most of the stuff away.  Six weeks ago, her entire knee joint was replaced and yesterday she walked through the forest, climbed thirty stairs and put crap away.  We are lucky she is so plucky.  Now everything is ducky.

The house was intact and, more to the point – the water system was full and working like a charm.  Fired up the wood stove.  Fired up the genset.  Took a hot shower.  Made dinner.  We are no longer just ducky, lucky and plucky.  We are blessed and golden!  We are luckier than a lottery winner!

Last evening we sat on the front deck looking out over the sea and sipping wine.  “All we need now is a pod of whales and a few ravens and this would officially be heaven.”

Bottom line: the short-notice and awkward month of inconvenience is easily forgotten.  Sal has a new knee that works real good.  We have new brakes on the car and new lights on the new bush-bar.  And now we are home and self-isolating.  You will understand if we remain self-isolated for the next few years.