Keep Track of Julia: January, 2021 to February 11, 2021

Now we begin the second year of COVID. We are lucky in Sri Lanka, or maybe I should say Kandy. We can swim, get our hair done, go to a gym, go out to restaurants, travel around the country and have small parties. No cause for complaint. Only restrictions are masks, hand washing and signing in. Having said that, we are bracing for a possible third wave. In late December, 2020, the former Ambassador to Russia and a cousin of the ruling family negotiated a deal with Ukraine allowing 4 plane loads of tourists into the country. They were to kept in a "bubble"; being restricted to one hotel, travel in designated buses, and only go to certain areas approved by the government. The deal was made without consulting either the Ministries of Health or Tourism who have been working for some time on developing protocols for the reopening of the country to international tourism.

Before you knew it, these tourists were turning up in places where they were not scheduled to go. The starkest example was when 3 bus loads showed up at Sri Dalada Maligawa (The Temple of the Tooth Relic), the holiest of Buddhist shrines in Sri Lanka. One lone monk launched a protest, to no avail. They were allowed in, although apparently not into the main building where the relic is stored. Next thing, packs of maskless Ukrainians were seen in Kandy City Centre (the main shopping mall) roaming the shops.

A similar deal has been made with Germany and on January 21, the airport reopened for tourist traffic and cargo flights. The required quarantine period for returning residents on arrival and/or a positive test result has been lowered to 10 days in a monitored facility with the remaining 4 days to be completed at home.

The number of cases now exceeds 72,000 with 375 recorded deaths. Very low as compared to other countries, but enough to dictate caution. Seems if you have political connections, nothing applies to you. For example:

A group of political cronies and monks outside Kandy City Centre (KCC) on January 12. No social distancing and it seems that masks are optional.

The monks look like they might be Burmese. One would have thought that we should be keeping our distance from Burma. A view point reinforced by recent events in that country.

Our continuing attempts to revive Book Club have fallen on rocky ground. Film Club has also been suspended until we can get back into a hotel. The Kandy Club disgraced themselves at the Christmas lunch and are none too clear on what the health regulations are for private clubs. Discussion Club and mahjong continue unabated as do lunches at Lesley and Ralph's and monthly visits to Simpson's Forest. On our last trip to Simpson's Forest, I managed to swim 40 lengths. Getting close to 1km.

Deanne had a small luncheon on Independence Day, February 4. We toasted Sri Lanka's 73 years independent of the British with sparkling wine, our current hooch of choice.

From left to right: Douglas, me, Deanne, Lorens, Judith, Jim

The Wrights had a birthday party for Viv's 60th. 15 in attendance making us fortunate to be able to gather.

We have continued to have rain long after the north east monsoon should have been over. Kind of a drag, although, I always say, "You don't have shovel it." Of course, it has done wonders for the plants.

My purple thunbergia that I got almost a year ago from L'Atelier is finally blooming.

Unfortunately, the white one that was growing so well on the outside staircase wall has been totally destroyed by the bandicoot rat living in the bank.

Don't be fooled by the picture. They can weight up to 1 kg. and grow between 7.5" to 13" long. The one living in the bank is a bruiser.

The water hyacinth in the pond has also bloomed. The flower only lasts about 1 day. I was lucky to capture it.

The fish aren't doing as well as the plants. All the guppies in the pond died. They continue to flourish in the bowls, however. Turns out the guppies are not very hardy, so now I have carp. I got 4 of them; two couples, one of which died. Let's see how they do. One cleaner fish is still there as well. I think I may have been killing them by filling up the pond occasionally with tap water. Of course, you have to leave the tap water sit of a while so that the chlorine will off-gas. Duh!

The black bat flower has also brought 2 blooms. Totally amazing.

So many other things are in bloom so that we have flowers all the time courtesy of Vineetha's talent.

The flower bowl at the front door.

The spiders also like the rainy weather as do the birds.

Keep finding these amazing webs.

Kept hearing these loud bird calls one day coming from the other side of the paddy field. I stupidly thought it was the crested serpent eagle, but it turned out to be a fabulous peacock. This is not the actual one as he was too far away for the camera. I did see him through binoculars though. Looked to be about a foot tall with a 2 foot tail. Lovely. Ava saw him displaying for a couple of peahens.

The bounty of fruits, vegetables and spices continues to amaze.

Pomelo from Vineetha's garden

Pepper from my mahjong buddy Gerry's garden put out to dry in the sun.

Starting to dry.

Closing as always with my delightful snuggle of cats.

Putha is the cutest of them all.

The latest addition, Mali (younger brother) enjoying the window seat. He doesn't really live with me full time. He comes to eat and lets me pat him a bit. He recently got bitten on the front left leg and was limping around on only 3 legs. He let me lift him up to put him into a soft place to lick his wounds. Then the wound got infected. He let me put coconut oil on it. The oil induced him to clean the wound and all is well now. The continuing wonders of coconut oil. I am hoping that I can get him to a vet soon to get snipped.