covid update and drawings

Another week has passed and things are getting even scarier around here re. Covid. It has felt very surreal to me because Queensland had barely been touched by Covid since the initial outbreak. Border closures and lock-downs prevented spread but, since vaccinations hit 87% double vaccinated, the government opened up and now it's been mayhem. Infections continue to rise daily although I do believe the data shows vaccinations have helped to keep many from needing hospitalisation or ending up in ICU.

Current Queensland Covid stats  — 

New cases over the last 24 hours - 20,566

Active cases - 109,524

Current Covid hospitalisations - 502

Currently in ICU with Covid - 27

Lives lost to Covid over the last 24 hours - 1 

 

Compared to other areas, those figures are small, but after being used to 0 to 3 cases a day, that's staggering to me.

We had our own scare a week ago when my son's girlfriend's mother got quite sick and they suspected Covid. They had to go to a drive-through testing centre.

As Aaron is a close contact, he had to get a test done too. The testing centres don't open until 8am but you have to get there very early if you want to get through and not be turned away. We arrived at 7am and we were the last car. An hour and a half later, the queue hadn't budged so we decided to go home and come back the following day, extra early, and more prepared.

I was up at 2am the next morning to have a coffee and get ready. We arrived at the testing centre while it was still dark, just before 4am, and the queue was already well under way. Crazy! At least we were in the front section of the queue. It was a long 4 hour wait until they opened so I managed to do a fair bit of reading on my Kindle. It was a sheer miracle that my bladder behaved itself in all that time. To be honest, I had been quite worried about how I'd manage in that regard. The queue snaked around through several suburban streets so it wasn't like Public Amenities were available. It was a relief to get back home I can tell you.

 

Anyhow, Aaron and I were both tested. I'd had a sore throat and headaches for a few days prior, so I decided to do the test while the opportunity was there.  The results came back 36 hours later - NEGATIVE for both of us. Phew!  Aaron's girlfriend also got a negative result but her poor Mum tested Positive. They are both vaccinated and she is doing okay all considered. I do wonder if his girlfriend will test positive on her next test considering she and her Mum were in her car for around 3 hours the day they got tested. Hope not...

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I have been doing some drawings but I ditched the 365 day challenge — no surprise there, I guess. I didn't expect to ditch it so soon but, in fairness, I had signed up on the spur of the moment when one of my Instagram art friends talked about doing the challenge. With crazy days on a personal level, it didn't take long for me to feel too pressured by the challenge. I have a hard time doing basic sketches due to my need for detail and realism so my drawings were requiring more than one day to complete. 

 

The good news is that it has motivated me to draw more frequently so that's a plus, at least. 

 

Nearly ten years ago, my daughter used to make raggedy dolls, all unique in their own right. This particular one was gifted to my Mum but recently, due to Mum's circumstances, this gorgeous dolly found her way to me. Ann has now joined the raggedly doll clan here. Michelle did make one for my Dad too which she had crafted to be a little fisherman being that my Dad was big into fly-fishing at the time. I have Dad's doll too which may make an appearance in a drawing at a later date.

 

And the completed drawing below — the hair and the chequered pattern made me a little googly-eyed at times.

I find that my biggest procrastination on doing daily drawings is actually the time wasted on deciding on what to draw. I dilly-dallied over the next subject for most of the following day and ended up drawing him later in the evening. I do prefer to draw/paint in the daylight hours. I found the reference image for this little guy on Wikimedia Commons, with a Creative Commons 3.0 licence. Thanks to Jürgen Schoner for the wonderful and very clear reference image which can be seen HERE.

 

Work in progress

 Completed snail. 

Yesterday, I completed this Buddha drawing. My wooden Buddha has been the subject for quite a few of my sketches over the years. He has had many real transformations too — from dark stained brown with gold accents to turquoise, then to a soft aqua, and now a light to mid grey. 

I might do some watercolour sketches next so stay tuned. 

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On another note, I came across this on another friend's blog and thought it may appeal to someone. The first four words you see are your Focus for the year. 

 

Mine were Connections, Lessons, Strength, and Gratitude. 

 

Feel free to list your words in the comment section. 

 Oh, and a play on words you might find funny, if not a little concerning. hehe

Love, Light and Peace to All xx