10 Good Things #1

Cozy books, spring blossoms and jelly with icecream

Last week I mentioned that my son had been dealing with a horrible virus. Well, it turned out to be RSV, and just as he was beginning to recover from it, he actually got hit with bacterial pneumonia. My poor kiddo spent three nights very ill in hospital this week but, thankfully, he is now home and on the mend.

Unfortunately, two days ago I also started to experience the same pneumonia symptoms! I suppose it was bound to happen, quarantining in a little hospital room with him... Luckily, because we knew what we were dealing with, I was able to start the right antibiotics sooner, so I think we’ve nipped my case in the bud much earlier. Nonetheless, I’m still feeling under the weather, so I don’t have it in me to do any longform writing just yet. Instead, here is a list of 10 good things that have kept my spirits up through this very long and exhausting week.

1. Modern medicine. How extraordinary is it?! 100 years ago a nasty case of pneumonia could have very easily been a death sentence. Sitting in the hospital, watching my little boy sleep and knowing we were in the safe hands of modern medicine, I thought of the many, many women who have gone before me, sitting up all night with their ill children, but with nothing more than a cool wash cloth and a prayer to provide relief. I am so grateful for science.

2. I am equally grateful for compassionate and clever health professionals. I know I could never cope doing what doctors, nurses and other health care workers do, day in and day out. They are truly incredible.

3. Medicare. Three nights in hospital, round the clock monitoring, medication, oxygen, meals for both my son and I, and we weren’t a cent out of pocket. I realise Medicare is far from perfect but I cannot image the stress of having to deal with an enormous amount of medical debt, as happens in other parts of the world. We are so lucky in Australia.

   

4. My own bed! I always love getting into my nest but after a few nights sleeping on a hard little hospital bed? Nothing beats it. Add in freshly washed linen and our fur babies at my feet and I’m in absolute bliss.

   

5. Blossoms on our peach and apricot trees. We planted a baby peach tree and a baby apricot tree last spring and they have grown so much in the last year. They both got a good prune over winter but we should get our first few peaches and apricots this summer. I never realised just how incredible a peach could taste until we grew our own (at our previous house).

6. Re-watching Ghosts. Have you seen this show? It is so cute. I love it!

   

7. Reading The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst. There is nothing lovelier to me than a cozy, witchy book.

8. Ducks. They are just so sweet. We have never had ducks but I have fallen down a rabbit hole watching cute Tiktoks about keeping ducks and I cannot help but wonder…

9. Red jelly and vanilla ice cream. This isn’t something that we normally eat but it has featured heavily this week in hospital and as we have managed sore throats. It tastes like childhood in the 1990s, in the best possible way.

   

10. Ordering seeds for spring planting! Trawling through all the heirloom varieties in seed catalogues is such a simple joy. I actually love cold and gloomy winter weather but I am very ready for the spring sunshine to wash all these winter germs away…

I hope you have had a lovely (healthy!) week. Take care of yourself and don’t forget to make time for proper rest this weekend.

Katie xx