In the Era of Covid-19

We're all going through a miserable time because of a little thing that we can't even see, a little bug that has most of us in lock down, confined to our homes, only allowed out for groceries.  

In our country, the rules are draconian.  I can't even send out orders because the couriers are not allowed to operate, other than for essential goods.  So, I have a pile of orders waiting here until that regulation is lifted.  I hate that because we pride ourselves on getting our orders out very quickly - usually on the same day - and I feel awful having to email customers to tell them that I can't send their orders for the next few weeks.  

And then the lock down was extended, so I have had to extend that date.  But all is not lost.  

For a few years now I have been intending to work up online classes. I bought the GoPro video camera and I acquired the editing software.  I thought about it for a long time then put it all away for another day.  

In my own defence, I have written about 8 books in as many years.  I've also lost count of the overseas trips that I have done, teaching at conferences, conventions, seminars and I have to sit quietly to count up the number of countries that I've been to - some of them multiple times - many of those since I bought the video equipment.  Just so little time (or energy) left over after all that and not helped by the fact that I have bred a few litters of puppies in the same period.

If I am to be honest though, I've been a little scared of the whole thing.  That's rather silly because I'm not stupid or even that technologically handicapped.  

Over the years I have taught myself to transpose music on Encore, even done some orchestrations on the same software.  I have taught myself how to use Paintshop Pro and later, Photoshop.  I can manipulate photos like a pro - the most common task being to clone out dog hairs (they get everywhere).  I have taught myself how to do all the beading and stitch illustrations on Illustrator and, with the same software, digitise all my line drawings.  

In between all of that, I have written all my old LP's to CD (I think that was a midlife crisis) and since then, I've converted them all to MP3's so that I can listen to music on a 'boom box', the brightest thing you've ever seen.  Doesn't fit in with my decor, but plays nice music.  Using the same software, I have even worked up all the clips and medleys needed for those quiz evenings at Beating Around the Bush Embroidery Convention.

So, as I said, not technologically handicapped in any major way.  I will admit that I have never been much interested in photography or videography - have learnt as much as I need to and no more than that.  My son, on the other hand, has been passionately interested in all of that, even studied it, qualified as a everything from a camera man to an editor, everything media.  His partner, who he met at university doing the same course, is similarly adept at all this stuff.

And still, I procrastinated.  But with this lock down, I had no excuses left.  What better way to spend the lock down than by learning a new skill.

And I have.

The photograph above is a little 3-dimensional bead flower/bead embroidery project that I completed last night and I recorded the whole thing on video.

That was interesting.  You have it connected to your iPad by wifi (which took some working out, I have to say), and that is sitting where you can see what it calls the 'preview'.  Then you have to work out exactly where to put the camera so that it records what you want it to record.  I started with it on my head in a head strap, but that was too far away and to cut a long story short, I ended up doing the whole thing with the camera in the dashboard stand shoved down my cleavage and held stable by my bra.  Needs must and all that.

I am also well on my way to getting the editing thing under my belt.  The first two lessons of what is probably going to be a four lesson workshop are done, except for the voice over.  It has involved cries for help, phone calls to my son, him connecting to my computer via Team Viewer (he lives in Cape Town, the opposite end of the country) and there will be more cries for help once I start the voice over - there has to be voice over as if I recorded my voice while stitching there would be dogs barking and all sorts of other household noises.

So, watch this space.  It not that far off.  If you are not already following me on Facebook - my page is Hazel Blomkamp's Fine Needlecraft - then go there and follow me, because I will announce it on Facebook when it's set to go.  

I have started with a bead flower project because of a promise I made to a bunch of ladies in Australia last year - that bead flowers would be first.  This afternoon, however, I will be starting a design that includes, amongst other things, my needle lace and my needle weaving techniques.

I suspect that for the foreseeable future we are all going to be resorting to doing a lot more of this kind of thing online.  I imagine that, until a vaccine for this nasty virus has been developed, we are going to be travelling a whole lot less.  I suspect that, even if we are prepared to travel we might not be allowed into countries unless we can prove that either we have had it and are therefore immune, or we will be required to produce proof of vaccination.  And until there is a vaccination, we won't be able to do that. 

We have another two weeks of lock down and even then, I think we will be facing a different world.  My current concern is that there won't be any flights from Johannesburg down to my local airport because on or around the 13th of May, I want to fly a puppy down.

On the last day of last year we lost our very precious old man, Neville to prostate cancer.  One of my saddest days.  We knew it was coming and he had reached a very good age for a Boxer, but still.  He was a unique and very special personality, I always felt privileged to call him mine.  Then, about a month ago, Brenda didn't look right.  Nothing I could put my finger on, just not herself.  I took her into the vet.  She spent the whole afternoon there having x rays, bloods, all the tests and without going into too much detail, two weeks later she was dead from a fast growing cancer, one that grew too fast to be able to do anything about.  And she was only 7 years old.  

We still have Lily and Monica so, not completely devoid of dogs but about two weeks ago, I was contacted by a breeder who knew that I had lost two of my precious Boxers.  She told me that there was a very well bred puppy (imported parents, all the bells and whistles and most important, from nice natured mum and dad) that had been born with a hare lip.  Just the split lip, no cleft palate.  Strong, suckling well, had been properly examined by a vet and nothing else found.  She wondered if I would be prepared to take him on - because he needs to go to people who wouldn't want to show him.  He also needs to go to a place that loves Boxers.

It didn't take me very long at all to decide that, even though I wasn't really ready for a puppy - still mourning the two I lost so close together, so recently - I would happily have him.  That I could give him a long and happy life.  She sent me some quite graphic photos of his lip, his palate, his slightly split nose which (because we were already in lock down) I forwarded to my vets.  Their opinion was that his problem is purely cosmetic and will only need surgery if we find he battles to eat, picks up infections - all unlikely - so I confirmed that I would take him.  

So, here he is.  The little fella sitting up on the right, the lighter one with lots of white.

A few years ago, a certain name started being bandied about on all the news channels (still is, daily) and at the time I thought to myself, that's an excellent name for a boy dog.  Why have I not thought about that before?  It's got a good, strong first syllable, one that he will definitely hear when I call him and I'm going to call my next male dog by that name.

So, his name is Donald.

It has been suggested to me that with that split lip, he may bark with a lisp.  In which case, we will call him Donald the Thnoop Dog.

We will welcome him, love him, enjoy his antics and give him a long, happy life.