What day is it and does it really matter?

My days have become divided into two categories:  rainy days and unrainy days.  Since I am pretty much in total lockdown, things have become pretty basic.  The highlight of yesterday was the pruning of my hybrid willow bushes by the virile Lew (sorry Steve - no pictures...).  He did a wonderful job and didn't mind my constant stream of questions - from a safe distance.  I now have a pile of willow branches that I will get into a bucket of water to root.  I am going to, once again, try to grow a barrier between me and the dusty, truck-ridden road.


I have a new set of workmates:

(L-R) Hedgie, Foxy, Bunny, Otter-y, Mousie

Nothing like a quick project to get one through the day.  Even the dogs are tired of my constant presence:

"Are you still here?  If you're not going to
hand out treats, go back to work."

Easter was weird.

Well, not that weird, but it was different.  I am trying to treat this hiatus as a retirement rehearsal - which is probably a good thing, as I am pretty sure they will close the office at the end of the current lease.  I baked some chocolate chip peanut butter cookies, using some powdered peanut butter I discovered in the pantry - a purely impulse buy - and gave them to my neighbor, my sister and the UPS guy.  Today I get the fuel oil tank topped off - at under $2 a gallon, I can't miss the opportunity.  I'm sure it will be a lot more this winter, during the new reality.  Next Friday, the septic guy comes.  I hope I can contain myself....


Meanwhile, it is too cold to garden for long, so I just look longingly out the windows.  I have made little forays into the flower beds, raking and cleaning out.  I am itching to plant my poppy seeds, but have to be sure the last frost has gone past.  I may start knitting exotic animals and little people friends.  Who knows.  I'm down to "X" by Sue Grafton on my audio book list, with one more to go.  She was so close to "Z", it doesn't seem fair that she passed away before she wrote it.  Bless her heart.  I listen/watch Billy Collins read poetry everyday, which is very enjoyable and I highly recommend it (on FB).  At least there is a little stirring of the grey cells.  My sister was here for a couple of days - her husband's family invaded their house (apparently, the pandemic does not apply to them) so we entertained ourselves with take-out from the Mexican restaurant, margaritas and a very strange rendition of Wagner's Ring Trilogy.  If nothing else, we laughed our heads off.  Good medicine for whatever ails you!


This Saturday is my pick-up at the organic farm store and a quick foray into the grocery store, then home again, home again, fast as I can.  I hope you are all safe and sane.  I have tons of catch-up reading on my blog list and am looking forward to hearing how you all are faring.  xo

Challenging times for a hugger.

As we sidle into the 50th week of SIP, I'm noticing that I really miss the physical contact with family and friends.  I am an incurable hugger.  However, Peanut and Lovey are enjoying the bounty.  I've tried to include Slimmie, but he is not big on hugging.  Head butting is more his style.

After endless days of grey clouds and rain, we finally got some sunny days and I beat a hasty path out to the garden.  Unfortunately, the truck traffic has not subsided much, and the trucks kick up a toxic tsunami of dust that rolls up the yard and to the house.  I have taken to gardening in a face mask.

Lots of standing around in between making
dust tidal waves

Rhubarb continues to grow

Oregano made it through the winter

At the halfway point in weeding (scalping)
the future flower bed

I took the remains of the covering off of the carport and bagged them up.  Nothing like masses of plastic shoved in plastic bags to make the blood run cold.  Sigh.  Ideally, I would like to get a solid garage building built, but the cost is prohibitive and what funds I have are stretched to the max on other projects.

I think it looks like an alien insect
carcass...

Seeing as I have two willing minions (sisters) who are eager to help me with projects, I have started a new list.  My youngest sister, now ensconced in Vermont until it's safe to go home (NYC), will be intermittently staying with me to break up the monotony.  My middle sister will be here when she has a break.  Woot!  We are being careful not to put ourselves in harm's way, given the fact of our elderly mother and extremely susceptible BIL. 

My sweet Linden

I am having to hire an arborist to cut back my hybrid willow bushes.  My neighbor, who usually does it, turned 85 and I will not have him out there risking life and limb.  Besides, the arborist is gorgeous.  If I was 40 years younger, I'd have a go.  Heehee. 

Inside, the knitting continues.  I just finished a pair of shortie socks for one sister and will be casting something new on as soon as I can decide what it will be - so many projects!  More progress has been made on the little house and I hope to have it finished by the end of next week.  Then I can start on the little furniture and stuffie family members - I think bunnies.

Speaking of bunnies, what are you doing for Easter this year?  It's an entirely new landscape and I am wrestling with the decision of whether to spend it in VT or stay home.  As much as I hate to disappoint my mother, I think it would be wiser to keep my distance.  I'm definitely going to need a whole lotta jelly beans this year.

I hope you are all safe and well, and finding joy where you can,

Lots of musing going on.

Firstly, I want to thank those of you who reached out to see if I was still alive and well.  Yes and yes.  My silence was due to the fact that I am slow to adjust to being turned on my head.  I've gone through all the stages - I'm sure you can relate - denial, worry, wine, worry, potato chips, worry, ice cream, worry, chocolate, worry and now I am settled on pretty much adjusted.  As long as no one starts hoarding coffee, I should be okay.


As is required in my state, I have not been out, with the exception of one bout of grocery shopping for the month ahead, to deliver eggs to a friend (those of us with chickens are becoming very popular - too bad I didn't know this in high school), and a quick stop to check on my sister and mother - blowing kisses at them from across the room.  I did bake a birthday pineapple upside down cake for my neighbor who turned 85.  Since his family couldn't be there, I spent a couple of hours with him, at a distance of six feet.


I am lucky to be able to work from home, so my paycheck will continue.  That is good news, as my favorite local restaurant is allowed to offer margaritas to go.  I worry about the local small businesses and how they are faring through these unprecedented times.  It underlines - for me - the importance of giving them my business.


So far, the novelty of having me around 24/7 has not worn off for the dogs.  More's the pity.  They shadow me constantly.  I'd go outside more often, but it's been raining almost every day.  We're all getting a bit stir crazy.


When I did go out, I discovered that the front yard had been invaded by a population of gophers over the winter.  That, or the entire population of voles and moles on the Eastern coast.  It's unbelievable!


There has been cooking.

Cheesy Cuban Chicken

And baking


Paleo blueberry muffins

And finishing things I had started (oh, say, five years ago....)

Not quite finished, as it has a long way to go.  Years ago, I had made three of these little doll houses - which includes furniture and a mouse/bear/bunny family - and sold them in a consignment shop.  Unfortunately, they were a huge hit and I realized that I could not possibly keep up with demand.  Now I am doing it just for fun.  I'll take pictures as I go along.


So.  I will post more regularly and with more pics as my NEW PHONE has a better camera.  Yes, as these things often go, my phone started to die two weeks into this isolation.  Since no stores are open, I had to get a new one via virtual chatting.  Geez. 


I hope you are all safe and well and not going bonkers.  As someone very wise once said, this is a great time to finish things you've started.  So far, I've finished a bottle of pinot noir and I'm eyeing a bottle of sauvignon blanc.  Heehee.

Individual Cocooning - the New Social Distancing!

Social Distancing

Individual Cocooning

I will say one thing about the general chaos that has struck this nation, it is tending to bring out the better side of people (with the exception of the selfish idiots who stripped the shelves bare - you know who you are.)  A plethora of posts have popped up on FB that have people offering to pick things up and do errands for those who are safest at home.  People are buying gift certificates from small local businesses who have been forced to close - giving them a slim lifeline until the danger is passed.  It is heartening.  I have started seeds, if for nothing more than to make myself feel more hopeful.  I am still commuting to the office, although that will change by the end of the week, I feel.  It's a good thing I pack in my lunch, as all restaurants are closed.

These are interesting times.

Why Alexa and I will never be on speaking terms.

Apparently, all those enunciation exercises I was forced to go through in Charm School (yes, I was actually sent to Charm School by my desperate mother), have atrophied.  While I think I speak clearly and succinctly,  I am often misunderstood.  However, I can get in and out of the car more gracefully than anyone I know.

This morning, being in a rather self-indulgent mood, brought on by my annual attempt to banish sugar and dairy from my diet, I ordered a large latte, with no sugar, almond milk, and a senior discount (ahem) from Dunkin Donuts on my way to work.  This was also as a reward for getting out of the house earlier than the new time (WHY!?!?!?) has allowed since Sunday.

What I got, when I sat at my desk and took my first sip, was a large latte with almond milk and four tablespoons of sugar.  I managed not to spit it across the room, but the good feeling was gone.  Good grief.

There have been a lot of entertaining texts generated by my lack of clear speech.  Especially when I dictate while driving and without reading glasses.  "Hi, Rosie.  Your pig will be congo with federal express."  "Hay, Marianne.  I will be aardvarked on the bags."

While sitting with my mother, we often try to get Alexa to read a book she's been listening to.  Without my sister there to interpret, we often end up pleading with her, to no good results.  The last time, instead of a book by Sue Grafton, we got homicide statistics for some unknown city.

Good lard.

Just your typical Monday.

At least Spring seems to be getting a toe-hold.  Saturday started with a light coating of snow and yesterday started cold but, by the afternoon, the sun had warmed up the air enough for me to open the sliding glass door a bit.  All of the furries were taking advantage of the sun beams.

I can hardly stand it...Lovey with her
cat.

Saturday, my sister met me at their local TSC and we availed ourselves of the DIY dog wash.  It is a great service - they provide the facilities, the shampoo, conditioner, towels, dryers and grooming stations.  Both pups are squeaky clean and were awarded biscuits at the checkout.

Sunday was spent cleaning, organizing and cooking.  I had my neighbor over for dinner and tried out a new dessert - a vegan coconut rice pudding that turned out great.  He didn't even know it was vegan and loved it.  It was also way less sweet than my old recipe, using a quarter cup of maple syrup.

Then I broke a tooth.  The fun never stops, does it?

I left a message with my dentist's office and waited for their call back this morning.  Then I spent a blissful hour and a half getting set up with a temporary crown.  Oh, the joys of old teeth and old fillings.  It's a good thing I just finished paying off my last two crowns last week...

By the time I made it into the office, it was after 12.  There I was greeted with the news that I am now the 'back-up' for yet another attorney in HQ.  Let's hope this one sends his own emails.  I am now trying to eat my salad without using the numb side of my mouth - which, this time, has included most of the lower half of my face.

I am trying not to get too excited about going out into my garden, as I may jinx the weather!  I had a young fellow down to give me an estimate on fixing my deck and replacing my fence.  I have a feeling it's going to be an expensive year, especially since most of what needs to be done, I can't do.  But I can snoopervise... :)

I leave you with a photo of my 96 y/o mother at the voting venue in VT.  Bless her pea-picking little heart.

Notice how she matches the decor...this family
has STYLE!

If pictures say a thousand words...

at this point, they'd all be naughty.  So, since we try to keep this blog family-friendly, there are no pictures.  Besides, if you've seen ice, snow and more ice, you've seen them all.

We were graced with three days of 40-50 degree sunshine, which helped immeasurably to life the spirit.  However, it was not enough to get rid of the ice.  Rats.

I looked up at the roof this weekend and discovered that both fresh-air intake vents were flattened by the last snow.  I have sent a text to the roofer and we are discussing it tonight.  I am not keen on shelling out more money, as they were supposed to last until spring, when they will be riveted onto the roof.  I am starting to think this roof is jinxed.

Theodore (actually, Therese) the squirrel was handed off to the wild life rehabilitator, Thursday afternoon.  I felt like I was harboring an illegal alien, as we had to meet in the hospital parking lot in VT and she was a NY squirrel.  However, her little paws never touched the ground, so I am saying it doesn't count.  According to the latest update, she is almost healed, having had antibiotic ointment smeared on her eye twice a day.  I tell you, if I had only known that one could BE a wild life rehabilitator, I would have signed up at sixteen.  That would have saved me a lot of wrong turns.  Ah, well.  Too bad hindsight only sharpens when you are of an age that you need reading glasses.

Bag #3 of black oil sunflower seeds has been opened - I am not working on 120# for the winter.  I am, after all, feeding a cast of hundreds - birds, squirrels, rabbits and who-knows-what-all. 

I spent Thursday looking after my mother - I don't know how my sister does it.  The house is like a furnace, all conversations are at high volume and, while I am happy that she is content listening to audio books, the volume makes your ear drums vibrate.  I managed to finish the second sock of the pair I had been working on and ducked out to hand off Therese and pick up a few groceries.

Speaking of which... I may have to have a responsible adult accompany me into Aldi's from this point on.  I had four things on my list and walked out with two full bags.  Sigh.  They have all my numbers.  If I could only stay on the left side of the store...  I ended up with a large, fresh steelhead trout fillet and four packages of GF bagels (even though I am swearing off grains, dairy, sugar, legumes, and alcohol).  I am weak. 

I ended up poaching the trout in a broth/water/citrus concoction and made Mexican Restaurant Cauliflower Rice to go with it.  Oh, boy - both were excellent!  I am definitely going to try some other cauliflower rice mixtures!  Other than allowing myself two glasses of wine per weekend, I have been adhering to the Whole 30 guidelines and have noticed a bump-up in energy.

On Sunday, I finally was able to clean the sheep's water bucket and rake out most of the discarded hay.  I also cinched up my BGPs and started on the back room.  It is not an endeavor for the faint of heart, let me tell you.  On a roll, I also blocked and finished a cardigan that I started last March, then finished the front trim, which needs a steam block, and will be blocking out a giant shawl/scarf that I just finished as well.  I have one sock done of a new pair and the second started.  Spring must be on the horizon!