4-27-2020 Monday- 12:15pm

Good Afternoon!

Time for the weekly update.  :)

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On Tuesday we had a forecast of 50 degrees, but this is what happened instead--LOL!

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Ian was working on a story last time we did Gramma Day.  This idea came from his preschool.  He drew a picture (Gold coins, apparently) and then he dictated a story about the picture to Mama and she wrote it out for him in highlighter.  Then he has to trace every highlighted word.  He mailed the story to me.

So we had a video chat on Thursday about his story that is now on my frig.  :)  And I told Ian I would try to think of an adventure story to make a little book about him and mail it to him.

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During the late afternoon we had our first thunderstorm of the year.  Leah and I had our Thursday night video chat.  Discussed mask sewing plans.  Leah volunteered to do the mask sewing again.  Declined--but not enthusiastically.

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Friday was the closest we have come so far to hitting 70 degrees--68 after having snow on Tuesday--LOL!  

Annie was sunbathing...

,,,until she heard me taking her picture--LOL!

Cats are rarely deep sleepers.
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On Saturday--finally--marigold seedlings!!

I guess I have been spoiled by only ever having planted catnip and cat grass that nearly leap out of the ground.  Leah kept telling me to be patient.  No coleus yet, but I do have tiny baby marigolds!
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I had the usual three video calls on Saturday--lunch with the boys, Gramma Day with Ian while Liam naps, and then a quick bedtime story with the two of them up in their bedroom.  I also asked Leah to call me later...had been milling on the sewing offer.
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Yes, I decided to send the sewing paraphernalia over to let Leah sew the masks.  It would be a big project for me.  Honestly--as you know--I couldn't even keep up with calligraphy class and the Friday questions blog since the lockdown.  So I decided to take her up on her offer...and ask her if she would do the cutting out of all the layers for the new pads/panty liners for us.  That's the hardest part for me--the standing and leaning over to cut out the pieces.  I get sharp lower back pain and can only do it a little bit at a time so it takes me forever.  Yes, she will do that part--but doesn't want to sew those together as they are a bit more complex than the face masks.  No problem.  I am thrilled she agreed to do that part.  Sitting and sewing isn't as hard on me and when I do have to stand to iron--can do that a little at a time.  So, we figured out how we'll do this and I started making a list of what she'll need to pick up.  :)
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So, this week I need to FINALLY hem a couple pair of pants I bought many months ago that are too long.  (That's how unmotivated and lacking extra spoons I have been--LOL!)  Then I will gather up all the sewing supplies and Leah will make a trip over to collect them and drop a few things off for me.  That's number one on the list this week.
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I have been using up my extra spoons doing "spring" stuff when I have a good day.  I still need more trips to the garage to bring in my fans and summer clothes, etc.  I would also like to do some purging and Marie Kondo a few spots in here.  ;)  
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In the meantime, I have been watching Murdoch Mysteries new season on Acorn TV, renting a new series from Netflix called The Alienist, watching the new season of Still Game on Netflix streaming and the new season of Bosch on Prime.  Yup--I bounce around depending on what I'm in the mood for--dark or light--LOL!
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I will also be working on Ian's own adventure book (got an idea from his flying dreams), writing letters (as usual), and just trying to keep up with the cooking and cleaning I am doing more of and all the seasonal shifting about that comes with spring and fall.  I am kept busy enough...always have projects waiting in the wings.  There are Christmas cards to make...birthday cards...blank cards I use to tuck letters into (no new handmade for way too long)...calligraphy classes still wait for me...love to make some handmade paper again this summer.......oh, and then there are those pants to hem...like now--ROFL!!
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I'm also planning out what to order to stockpile on necessities when I get my stimulus check.  I'm planning on being super practical with that money and buying up boring stuff like shampoo, laundry soap, toothpaste and deodorant.  On the website it says it should be in my bank on Wednesday.  So that's exciting.  Will be a relief to be stocked up for a good long time with items I have to buy regularly.  Except paper goods you can't get easily yet, of course.  It will be a genuine "relief" check for me.  
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Anyways, that's how my isolation is going.  Quite well, actually.  I can't complain.  Not about anything new anyways--ROFL!
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Have a wonderful week, everybody.  Or as good and as grateful a week as you can muster.  Stay in touch with each other.  I wish you all health and safety and joy.  :) :)
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"The little things?  
The little moments?  
They aren't little."

Jon Kabat-Zinn

4-20-2020 Monday-noon

Good afternoon!

Tons of pictures today--from McFamily and of my own.  So grab a cuppa and here we go!

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Easter McFamily pic.

The boys worked on coloring Easter eggs.

I love these little videos.

The finished eggs.

The boys after the hunt.

Liam peeling an Easter egg.

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You can see from the sidewalk what they did to the window in Daddy's office.

Covered it with hearts!

Ian loved it!

I hear of people putting up hearts and rainbows and putting teddy bears in the windows.  All good, if you ask me.  :)
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They did their planting a little before I did.  All their seeds have sprouted now.

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Voles have been just destroying their beautiful yard!

One fell into the window well.

Annie would have been going nuts, but Blink took it more like all my other indoor cats always have.

The vole wars have been going on for a few years.  They've been infesting the area.  As you may recall I had one living under one of the bushes next to my patio last year.  Haven't seen it yet this year, but I have no doubt it is still there and may have had a family by now--who knows!  *sigh*
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Okay, I promised you I would tell you all about how I am dealing with the toilet paper shortage.  I knew Leah would be able to help me with how to take care of cloth toilet wipes because it is much like dealing with cloth diapers.
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First of all I needed to order some soap nuts.  Or you can also get various kinds of diaper soaps.  Using them keeps the fabric more absorbent.

My soap nuts came with a little cotton pouch.  It said use 5-7 nuts...so I put in six.

They last for several loads.  I'll have to remember to ask Leah how many times she uses hers.
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Lastly, this is what I was waiting for!  A hundred handmade toilet wipes from a lady on Etsy.  Came all the way from England.  There's my little pouch of soap nuts on top of one pile waiting to be washed for the first time.

Leah suggested I wash them like three times first off, but I only did once and could have listened to her, of course--LOL!
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  Lots of measuring was done.  I found a set of collapsible cloth square boxes on Amazon I hoped would hold the wipes.

And a set of wet bags that I prayed would fit... 

...my little silver trash can I already had in my bathroom.  It has a black plastic insert and a foot pedal that I thought was perfect for this purpose.

All my measuring and guesswork paid off!!

The wet bag worked like a charm!

Don't worry.  I have another garbage in-between the washer and dryer right in the bathroom, too, so this one won't be missed.

Half the clean wipes are waiting up on the shelf over the washer and dryer.

The other half are on the counter next to the toilet.  They fit perfectly in the cubes!

The lady also included a little freebie of a couple of makeup cloths.

Not that I wear makeup anymore, but it was nice of her.

Anyways, this is now what I use for peeing only.  Sorry--not up to using them for pooping--LOL!  But us ladies use more TP for urine than we do for pooping.  At least I do...even with my IBS issues--LOL!  So, I am delighted with how long a single roll of toilet paper is lasting now!!  Wow!  And I have to admit these are really nice and soft.
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Okay...what else...?
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Oh, it was snowing on Monday and I saw a killdeer running down the sidewalk!!  They have this funny way of running and stopping...running and stopping...like the little birds I remember seeing on the ocean beach.  Killdeer are most distinctive. (pic off web)

I just LOVE them!  I was so excited to see one!  I haven't seen one since I was a kid in the fields near our house.  I recognized its call, but I didn't get my cell phone ready for a picture of my own fast enough.  If you have ever wandered too close to a killdeer nest you will always remember the broken wing act that they perform to draw you away from their eggs.
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For those of you who have never seen it, I found this video on YouTube.
Just seeing one after all these years!!  A sheer delight!!  What it was doing lost in town, though, I can't imagine.
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Other than the killdeer sighting...there's been the usual Critter Cafe patrons.

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I had my Thursday night video chat with Leah.  And on Saturday I had THREE video chats with the boys.  Had a chat while they ate lunch, Gramma time with Ian while Liam napped, and then a quick bedtime story at night!  Extra Gramma time that day.  :)
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But I do have potentially sad news.  It was a week ago yesterday since I planted my seeds and...absolutely nothing whatsoever.  And I soaked them when they were potted and mist them every morning.  :(

Yes, Annie did step on and crunch a couple of the pots--knocking them over trying to get to the windowsill.  (The third from the right in the two rows closest to the window--the ones needing somebody to lean on.)  So there might not even be seeds in those, for all I know.  (Confession--there's dirt behind the cabinet I haven't cleaned up yet.)

 I shut her out of the bedroom and she spent the rest of the day crying outside the door.  Awk!!  So I moved away a box that was nearby (helping her to leap up there, I blatantly believe), moved the trays closer to the edge of the cabinet, and put the spray bottle where she'd like to land...to discourage her.  She got a second chance.  So far, so good on keeping Annie off the pots...but not so good on germination.  Fingers crossed.
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Oh, but one more mishap with Annie and she's permanently shut out of there whether she cries all day or not.  Gentle Annie doesn't really possess the height and depth of true cat howling.  Miss Karma knew the song of her people.  She could make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, drown out a car radio, and likely had a distance range of a good block or two.  ;)
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Anyways, I guess that's it for this week.  Partridges are here pecking away.  We're supposed to get up to possibly even 60 degrees this week!  Wow!  Right now it is a cloudy 49 degrees...and the tiny snow piles are melting away.

 

Won't be long now and I will quit feeding the birds, clean all the poop off the patio, and be able to sit outside to read with my new pillow.  May or may not have flowers, but I will be out there, regardless.  :)
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Stay safe and well, everybody!!
Till next week. :) :)
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From someone who knew more about isolation than we will ever know...
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"I don't think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains."
Anne Frank

4-13-2020 Monday-11am

Good Morning!

Was a very busy week.  I cleaned the two tabletop humidifiers over a couple of days and let them dry in the pantry by the stack of quarantined packages from Amazon.

Funny--I thought I ordered 2 lbs of starting soil and it was .2 lbs!  Tiny package!  My fault for not reading closely enough.  No wonder it was such a deal--LOL! 

I finished the humidifier parts and left them to dry. 

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Got mail from Ian!!  When I pulled out the card all these individually colored and cut out red hearts fell everywhere!  Which was just what he wanted.  :) 

First he had dictated a letter to Mama that she hand printed out for him and then he sat and copied the entire letter.  He told me it took him two days!  Inside... 

...and more on the backside. 

My very first all handwritten letter from Ian!  Told me all about this Slime Rancher video game he and Daddy play at night before bed if he's been good all day.  :)

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We had a video chat after I got his letter.  I told him I will keep it forever!!  Right now it is on the top of the frig stuff with all the pics, birthday and Easter cards.

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On Tuesday Leah and I had our evening video chat/craft nite call.  Turns out Leah forgot she had some masks she had gotten for various things: when the kids had influenza a few years ago and for woodworking.  So she didn't think I needed to make any masks since she also bought a few black ones when the whole thing began in the US and she mailed me some.  

So, for now--we do have masks.  But I might still make some just to have around since this whole thing might come back in waves before we have a vaccine...and just to have for the next pandemic, you know?  That feeling that if you are prepared it won't happen.  Kind of like Murphy's Law in reverse.  ;)  But for now I am still making calligraphy class and Friday blog posts optional.  In the mood to do other projects like I did this last week.  :) 

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 Anyways, I got this far in the pantry on Wednesday.  Finally got everything out of the quarantine boxes put away and the boxes broken down.  All the seed potting supplies had arrived!

We had snow again during the night...I think this was Thursday morning. 

I forgot to get a picture in the morning when everything was layered white again. 

By the afternoon, as you can see, a lot of it was melted away already.

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Somebody in the building put up this curved trail of hearts down our front door! 

I just love seeing it.  Always makes me smile.

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I made Annie some raw chicken liver cat soup and some fish cat soup this week and she liked them both.  

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Thursday night Leah and I had another video craft night.  We mostly discussed groceries (pretty soon Leah will be venturing out after 5-6 weeks) and being more stressed than we think we are.  I worry about them and they worry about me...and we all have other people we worry about getting it.  We've been watching less news and that helps.  :)

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On Friday, a warmer day of 48 degrees, I made trips with my little collapsible cart.  Brought out the trash and boxes to the dumpster.  When I got back I added the collapsible blue and black box that I velcro to the handle and loaded up the cart for a trip to the garage...

...with the humidifiers, little brown table one of them sits on all winter, the heavy half circle rug I keep under the snow shovel, the snow shovel, and a bag of donation clothes. 

Once it got to the garage and unloaded that lot...then I loaded the cart up again for a precarious trip back to the apartment. I managed to get the last 40# bag of bird seed on to the bottom (no easy feat--LOL!).  Then I collapsed the black and blue box to set on top of the bird seed, put the two small tables upside down on top of that, figured out how to lay the high back chair across the stack so it didn't fall off, and put the old kitty litter plastic container filled with potting soil on there, too.

I had to push and hang on to the chair--LOL!  Was a slow process, but where there's a will there's a way, right?  I even stopped and picked up mail on the way back inside.   

Maneuvering the doorways was the hardest part, but it felt wonderful once I was inside and got the door closed behind me!  I got the chair and tables this far...and just collapsed in my chair for a good long break.  :)

I did move them out on to the patio later on. 

Really will be nice to sit outside and read this year. 
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Because of my bum arm with the muscle damage I can't grip (hold, push, pull, or press) for very long to hold a book ...so I ordered this reading pillow.

 I can't remember now for sure what it was called...pillow pal?  Got it on Amazon.  Came squished down in a smaller box and slowly went back into its shape over 20-30 minutes (which confused Annie a bit). 
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Every time you flip it your tablet, phone, or kindle will be at a different angle.  I haven't even tried it out yet, but it looks pretty inviting.

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I don't know about you but my alcohol wipes, hydrogen peroxide and cotton balls have become a permanent fixture somewhere in my kitchen for this past 33 days of isolation.

Since I live in a senior building I regularly wipe down the things I touch before I can wash my hands after I have been out of the apartment--door handles, light switches, etc. 
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Called my mom on Friday.  The staff brought her a glass of wine with her afternoon snack for Good Friday!  She got a kick out of that.  She's doing okay.  They still will not allow anyone in the building but Mom gets quite a few phone calls.
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On Saturday I had a video Gramma Day with Ian in the afternoon.  Read some more of the Moomin comet book.  :)
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Saturday night I read a bedtime story to the boys in their bedroom--from Frog and Toad.
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Then on Easter Sunday I had a video chat with Ian and Liam while they ate lunch so they could tell me about their in-house Easter egg hunt they had in the morning.
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Then, in the afternoon, I rather pushed myself to get my seeds potted.  

Marigold and Coleus variety packs.

All are settled into my little nursery under my bedroom window.

So far, Annie has left them alone.  I hope she continues to ignore them because she will be quite miffed if she gets shut out of the bedroom--LOL!
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Then Sunday night we had another story time with a couple of Frog and Toad stories.  Had a lot of Gramma time this Easter weekend.  This new technology is such a blessing!!  :)
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Well, finally have the pantry floor more organized.  I even opened the 40# bag of bird seed this weekend and scooped and scooped it into the bin until I could lift to dump the rest.

 

I buy a variety of dry cat foods that I give to Annie occasionally with her regular dry food.  Just add a tablespoon or so here and there for a treat.  Those are all the bags clipped shut on top of the two boxes of kitty litter.  Her extra canned food is on top there, too...kind of a big Annie pile--LOL!  I'm glad to be stocked up because there seemed to be a run on pet supplies on Amazon...along with so many other items.

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Speaking of--I caught a few minutes of Annie dreaming.  Had to be silent so as to not wake her.

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Then, as I have been writing this, we got a sudden flurry of snow!  You'll hear me automatically apologize to the grackles for scaring them away.  Dagan and Leah think it is amusing when I do things like that.  I've been known to apologize to inanimate objects, for goodness sakes--LOL!
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Anyways, there you go!  You were right here in the action--LOL!  It's 25 degrees so not a surprise to have a little snow mid-April.  Never fear--as soon as I walked away from the patio door there were grackles, sparrows, and juncos all over that seed...and I'm sure the partridges will be here shortly--LOL!  
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Well, I think that was about it for this last week.  Stay safe everyone!  Virtual hugs!!  :) :)
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"We feel like separate water droplets but we are also ocean."
Jane Hirshfield