Day 18 Good Friday

Local news just reported trash guys can't keep up with all the trash being set out now that people are home and doing their spring cleaning.  Well what did you think was gonna happen.  They are home and need something to do so why not spring clean and do some things they need time to accomplish.  Next week we have a trash amnesty to put out 12 bags instead of the 2 without having to buy a $2 tag to put out more than 2 bags.  I know this next week I will be working on those 12 bags.  You are damned if you do and damned if you don't.  I realize no one was expecting all of us at home for several weeks but many are making the best of it by getting things done, because afterall what else should we be doing?  Eating, drinking, sleeping, being bored, breaking social distancing? 

I thought early shopping meant the shelves were to be stocked. Not so. Besides the nasty ole women need to stay home if they can't be polite. There is a line don't try to push your way in front of me and tell me I can't be there cos I'm not over 60. Well thank you for the compliment but I have every right to be there and you need to get back to the end of the line. AND do not ram your cart into me cos I stopped to get some meat. Stay back your 6 feet. There were 2 old biddies that about got slapped from me today. Rules and manners people. 

Not only were people rude today but the store is under construction so everything is in a different place and there is stuff everywhere.  You can't find anything and there were boxes of stuff all over.  What a mess it all is.  

Since I was out it is free donut day at Dunkin Donut if you buy a drink and pay with the app. OK I am out already and it was 7:30am did not have my breakfast yet.  BTW those protein muffins are really good and very filling.  I got a jelly donut for breakfast tomorrow.  I also got 10 donut holes for Easter morning, I am going to go see dad cos we always did sunrise service, we would get coffee and donuts and go together.  So I have the code to get into the mausoleum early and I will go have sunrise service with him and we can read the Bible together.  I miss you dad and all the traditions we had.  

They are so cute at this stage in their lives.  Lunch is served, trout or sucker fish?  

 

 
 

Day 17 Maundy Thursday

Last night I sort of participated in a Seder.  One of my friends just converted and invited me to join them on Zoom as I was missing all of my Easter celebrations.  I have to say I wish I could have understood more of it but then I don't speak the language.  I did find myself singing along to one of the songs that they sang repeatedly.  It is a very small congregation and I learned that the Rabbi also serves a church in Mexico via Facebook.  Every time I attend one of their ceremonies I learn more about her religion.  I am glad she invited me.  Made me not miss my Easter events a small bit.

Yesterday it was 88 today it is 48 and we are not going to get much warmer, expecting a freeze tonight so I will be dragging pots and covering plants.  The wind is howling today.  Watching the eagle nest will make you dizzy as those cottonwoods really sway with the wind.  Hope the wind does not scoop up the babies when one of the parents gets up.  We should not have any more Winter, someone scoop it up and take it away.

You know how it is you go to your craft room, I just needed some paper to use as a cover and back for my niece's book I wrote her.  Then an hour later you have cleaned out 3 parts containers and have a gallon bag full of little scrapbook stuff you will never use.  It is all good cos I am cleaning out the basement but it was not on my list of things to do today.    I keep hearing my friends say I have all this time to do those projects I never had time for and now I don't want to do them.  Yep when you are forced to do those things you don't want to and when you want to everything is back to normal and you don't have the time.  Get them done now we will be able to leave sometime soon I hope.

Normally my library has a reading contest Jan 15-March 15.  You read 5 books of a certain genre. This one was fantasy, not my style of writing but I managed to find 5 free books to download on my Kindle.  We get a mug when done.  A couple years ago they allowed adults into the summer program.  You have to read so many minutes, I think 1,000.  Well easy peasy for me cos I read at least half an hour daily.  You get a certificate and a tote from a local Tee shop.  This year I guess because we are quarantined they have snuck in a Spring reading from March 30-May 22, you have to read at least 6 hours, ok once again easy peasy for me. It is a way to get kids to read.  While you can't go to the library you can download books and there are a lot of free books out there on Amazon and other places you can download or pay hardly anything for.  My goal is to read 3 books per month and I almost always meet that goal and more.  When I was a kid my dad got me interested in reading.  He and I would often trade books when I became an adult.  When I was 7, I read 100 of these 1" hardbound blue books that were autobiographies.  We would go to the library monthly and I would get all my books.  My brother read Dr Suess (blech do not like those books).  I doubt I will ever get through all the books in my house but I am giving it a good try, just like using all the yarn in my house.  

Day 16

It is foggy this morning.  It was pretty muggy yesterday, hmmmm.

The red bud and apple tree are blooming more this morning almost full bloom.

Everything looks so spring green and pretty.

My wonderful stylist dropped off a package for me to color my own hair.  We got on zoom and she walked me through it, there is a reason I pay her to do this.  I just washed it and conditioned it and we will see how it went when it dries.  I was more than willing to just let my hair go cos really who is gonna see it but she came up with a way to make it work. She is the best.

We have a pip in D36 egg, won't be long before the 3 amigos are weeble wobbling together and head bonking each other.  Mom and DM2 will have their hands full.

When my niece who turns 30 next month, where did the time go, was little she had an invisible friend Penny the little blue penguin.  One time I went on a work trip and she sent Penny with me to watch over me.  I have always wanted to write childrens' books but I get a couple pages done and the story dries up never to come back.  A couple years ago i sat down and the story just wrote itself. I printed it out on card stock today and need to find something for a cover for it.  I am NOT an artist so no pics but I am sewing characters for her to have along with her book. She is a good artist so she can use the back of the story pages and create her own illustrations.  Now to find the time to get this done.  HAHAHA

Just got to watch D36 hatch.  IT never gets old.  Now the real fun begins with 3.  Sorry this picture is not very good.

It got up to 88 today and now the wind is blowing the cold weather in that will sit here for about a week, they are talking 25 next week with rain and snow.  Make it go away.

I have some pictures to post for today but my phone does not always share them quickly, sometimes it takes an entire day, I have no idea why, so as soon as they get to my email I will share them.

Day 15

Has it only been 15 days?  It just seems so surreal.

This morning I read a story about a woman who went to the grocery store and in the middle of an aisle was an elderly woman crying, she only had $37 to spend on food and had to take a cab or uber back home.  She could not find any groceries, so this woman helped her. Upon talking to her she said she was scared she lived through the depression.  My parents did too and I have to wonder how many their age are scared too thinking they may have to live through this again.  I stocked my mom up when this first started cos I did not want her to go without and even though I have my 3 months stash I will dig into it to help people their age because I don't want them being afraid and thinking this could happen to them again.  My dad talked about often only having a baked potato for lunch cos they were plentiful grown in the garden.  Mom was the baby of 9 kids and talks about how often there was not much to eat.  I see people baking bread again, no flour or yeast to be found and thinking about growing a garden, my dad always had one.  It is time to return back to being self sufficient we have become to lazy and dependent on things that we don't have to grow ourselves. So are you baking bread and growing a garden this year?

You can hear the lawn mowers going, first mowing of the season.  I did manage to work in the flower beds and made some progress.  I have lots of wild violets blooming, some a purple and some white with purple.  I love them.  The birds are sure singing today.  Looking at the weather after tomorrow afternoon it won't be yard work weather so best get to it while I can for now.

Last year working on the Kid's Camp at the Irish Center my Crafts helper and I would meet at each other's homes.  We would always fix a snack. I made strawberry muffins the first meeting.  It has become a fav of ours. Well the other day she texted me a pic that she had made some.  Made me want to make some but no strawberries so I had these yuge blackberries in the freezer, they are in the oven now, can you smell them?  Can't wait to taste them.  Instead of almond extract I put Amaretto in.  They are pretty good, I got 30 out of the recipe. In the freezer they go for future breakfasts.

For some reason this seems like Saturday night, I have no idea why.  It was a perfect weather day. 

Day 14

It is cloudy and misty this morning.  I needed to go to the bank cos I needed money to pay the guy who mows my yard.  Mom needed a few things so I stopped by the grocery store, wow it is empty, bread, meat, milk, cheese, eggs are almost all gone and it was only 8:30am.  Prices of eggs were 2.89 a dozen for medium.  It was just weird, they count noses at the one open door and if you can't go in you wait in line.  Not many cars on the road and it is rush hour for the morning.  Many eating places and others are dark inside, parking lots are empty and it is just weird.

DM2 has brought 8 fish in this morning to stock up the pantry, now they were just born yesterday but...  they will eat a lot and so will mom and DM2.  He is quite the hunter.  2 years ago mom came in with 2 good sized fish, one in each talon.  Make that 9 fish.

I noticed after I filled the finch feeder there were 2 bright yellow finches eating.

Day 13 Palm Sunday

We should welcome D34 to the world today and we have a pip on the 2nd egg which means D35 is about to appear.  What fun times.

So what are they putting in milk these days?  I hardly use any but always have half a gallon hand for baking mostly.  I just dumped about an inch in the jug that said use by March 18th, cos it was starting to smell bad.  I remember it used to be you could barely keep it til the use by date now you can almost keep it forever.  So what are they putting in milk today?


I got this in an email this morning.

“We must be willing to let go of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”

—Joseph Campbell

It is almost time for the hummingbirds, I have not seen the Juncos for a couple of days which means the little hummers are close by.  I am making nectar today and will put the feeder up for the next 6 months. Don't forget no red food coloring in the nectar it can kill them. Change it every other day or every day when it is really hot and muggy.  Because it is sugar water it can mold easily and mold can kill the little hummers.  Now to wait for the first one to appear.  Boil 4 cups water and 1 c sugar.  Let it cool and keep in fridge.

 D34 is already to get out from under the parent, this one will be trouble. Meanwhile D35 is still trying to get out of the shell. This is a first to have 2 hatch on the same day. Now when will D36 make an appearance?

D34 is on the right and D35 is on the left. They are weeble wobbles right now.  D34 has been talking to mom. Looks how he imprints on her.  They are so cute at this age. 


We have sun and the grass is that pretty spring green and after the rain everything looks so clean. I can tell the first yard application is working cos some of the weeds are looking a bit bad this morning and after last year I have a lot less dandelions, so I need to keep at it. It is the first mowing of the yard this season.  Can you smell it?  The smell of Spring. 

Mom House Finch has been sitting in the nest I need to sneak up and see if there are eggs, last year she had 4 and they are so cute when they are fuzzballs.  House Finch nest on the front porch has 4 eggs again this year.

Day 12

I totally lost it this morning.  I just wanted to scream.  The muscle spasm is still there not as bad but none the less it is still there which means another day of not being able to do anything even knit.   I have reached my breaking point this morning because with this spasm I cant even do anything in the house.  There is a huge difference knowing that I stay home because I have things to do and I want to stay home than being forced to stay home.  Yesterday the Governor locked the state down til April 24th even though my mayor had locked us down 12 days ago.  The cats are driving me crazy, Bucky keeps knocking things off counters and BigBoy keeps picking on Groucho.  I think they are feeling my stress too. 

Can you imagine -95 at night, my cutoff comfortable point is +55.  Anyway this is beautiful and a few minutes to take you away from all that is going on now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t57DPnH06V0

Decorah Nest:  So DM2 just brought a yuge fish to the nest, do we have a Pip in progress so we will have that little fuzzball soon?   We do have a pip in progress right on time of the usual number of days to hatch for the first egg.  So exciting let the fun begin.

I was going to go to Mrs Wilson's Knitting Circle online but they did not notify all of us they changed the code to get into Zoom for the meeting.  I got my ticket before they cancelled the session. They sent me an email on March 25 that said they were gonna do it by Zoom and gave me the code. OK So I sent it to my main knit group as about half a dozen of us attend and then lunch.  We tried for half an hour to get in and never did because we found out they changed the code.  Thanks a lot for letting all of us know.

I have been watching the auction of Doris Day items she had in her house.  I loved her, she was one of my favs.  I could easily spent several thousand dollars today, but nope I don't have that kind of money.

The muscle spasm has subsided but it is still there, been sitting with the heating pad all day and I can finally knit.  I am feeling better than this morning when I lost it. 

Day 11

The owls were out this morning.  I wish they were out in the day. Sometimes I see them in my walnut tree off the deck but it is dark and I can only see the form, they are pretty big. 

It was in the 70's yesterday and today we may have sleet.  Winter is still battling Spring for who has the rights to control the weather, yet next Tuesday we may see 80. It is that crazy time of year.  The trees are budding out, the jonquils are blooming and the dandelions are blooming like crazy.

Last month and now this month Dunkin Donuts gives you a  free donut on Fridays if you order a drink and pay by the app.  Free donuts would normally get me out but I just am not gonna take a chance for a free donut. 

So Chick-Fil-A decided to sell bottles of the CFA sauce and one other one that is the most popular.  You only get 2 packets and they used to put them out but like their mints people were taking a lot home.  I like it on a baked potato, pasta, and of course fries.  Now someone has figured out the recipe so you can make your own.  BTW if you make the chicken salad (which was my fav thing they made) you need to add nutmeg to the recipe they leave that out.  So here is the recipe.  When I get to the store I need to buy the ingredients to see if this is the right taste.  https://www.chelseasmessyapron.com/chick-fil-copycat-sauce-3-ingredients/?fbclid=IwAR2PKd75h_BTQCpcpV_kBEkDD9sz8SEaPpbkuyIGzLxY2UdQOR20UslT2b0

Yesterday my back said it had enough and decided to go into a muscle spasm.  It hurts more to sit than lay down so I have literally been a couch potato.  I hate these things cos they just have to un-spasm on their own.

Day 10

I see Doris Day's house and items will be auctioned this weekend.  I love her she was always one of my favs, Please Don't Eat the Daisies and Pillow Talk are my favs followed by a few others.  You can get a view of what will be in the auction here.  I wish I had the money to buy the house.  You can watch the auction online Saturday, guess what I will be doing?
https://hookedonhouses.net/2020/03/31/doris-days-house-carmel-estate-auction/?fbclid=IwAR2FF7MCo3HP7JBGykYVCzzwccpZcfC-40DzZJbANkbwuFsXmNsogEq1Qh0

It is raining this morning so no yard work. However I am working in the craft room.  Lots of people have given me craft stuff over the years and so many times I just put it away and never really looked at it, well now I have the time to go through it and put my craft room back in order.  I will take it to ScrapsKC for their store.  This will be my second car load, you don't want to know how fabric I have.  I also have all the yarn we have been given for Fiber Follies for our charity work it is in my basement in the corner and on shelves, I probably have a couple hundred skeins but that is ok cos on the first Monday of the month when we do charity work I take a sack full in and everyone picks a color and works on their choice of hats or mittens.

I already went through my scrap book stuff and cross stitch stuff and that was half a car load, last load was all fabric and this load will be all fabric as well.  ScrapsKC takes craft items, school and office supplies and resells them at a cheap price. They then use the money to feed and take care of the homeless.  I have worked there at times when they do sip and sort, we sort through boxes of stuff, but it in like boxes ready for pricing and putting out to sell and then throw away a lot.  We have found some hilarious pictures of people's families and then of course there are always those items that we have no idea what they are.

Got an email that 21 years ago I got my yahoo account.  Has it been that long?  

Day 9

The longer I stay home the longer I don't want to go out in public, what germs await us once we get the all clear to go back to life as we knew it.  March 20th was the last day I went out in public but we officially got locked down on the 24th.

I wish this virus was an April Fool's Joke but sadly it is not.  We will get through this as a country, but it will take a long time to get it back.

I went out to put the rest of the application on the yard with my spreader, and the pulley plastic broke in two, I tried holding the wire but it won't work.  I noticed I still had the price tag on it and looked it up. I bought it in 1997 for $26.99 (bet I got it on sale). It is a KGro, K-Mart.  I fixed the hook years ago that attaches on the bottom with electrical tape, so I guess I got my money's worth.  I got a lot of rebate checks from Menards so guess when I can I will go get one.

I did however spend some time working in the yard, the wind has come up this evening and we are to have high wind tomorrow and rain on Friday, so I will have to work in the house for the next few days.

Can someone tell Cuomo we don't care to listen to him daily, he is not the POTUS.  He just gets on TV and whines, but then if he is going to unseat Biden I guess he needs to get some support.  

Bass Pro Shop was to be closed but they pointed to a state law that what the state said was illegal.  Good for them, if liquor stores are open gun stores should be open. If the looters are gonna start we need to be able to protect ourself. 

Day 8

We are getting close to the first egg hatch at the Decorah nest.  3 little eggs waiting to hatch into 3 little dandelion bundles of fun.  If you have not watched this nest you need to and watch nature at its finest.  It is amazing that in 3 months they go from egg to eagles leaving the nest.  Let's hope we don't have a repeat of last year where both fell out of the nest and had to go to rehab for a few months.

Another beautiful weather day working in the yard.  Always fun to see what is coming up. The weeds are winning.

My main knit group Fiber Follies at the Irish Center charity items for the first quarter.  BTW Groucho approves for napping.

Day 7

If you are on Facebook you know people are getting creative on how they pass their time during this time.  One of my favs is the wife has long blond hair and she bends over and fluffs her hair to hang down like a horse tail.  He gets in front of her with his back to the camera and the music makes them bounce along as it he was riding a horse. Lots of "virus" songs being written, and other fun things.  The mind can do some pretty silly stuff when forced to keep busy.  There are lots of color pages, crafts for kids, blueprint has free classes til April 9th, lots of free cross stitches being given on FB, and tons of other things. 

I decided to put St Pat's away and drag out Easter.  How many Easter bunnies does one need.  I found a tub that had nothing but stuffed bunnies in all sizes and colors and textures, etc.  Well I had 4 Easter tubs and I now have 2.  I am trying to whittle down my holiday tubs to 2 each.  I have way too many decorations and so this year I am cleaning out. They all reside on shelves in my attic that walks out over the garage from my bedroom.  They are getting too heavy to haul downstairs and then back up and it is a lot of work for what?  I have 2 small boxes of Easter dishes, for what, just mom and I now and I usually go over there and eat cos it is only $6 and I don't have to cook or clean up afterwards.  Mom can't cook anymore so.....  Times change and not always for the better.

We had knit group on Zoom.  It went well and we ended up just sitting around talking mostly about the virus.  We decided we needed to stay in touch once a week just to keep up with everyone and make sure we were all ok.  We had just started a toy class but that will have to be put on hold.  

Day 6

I have not been anywhere since a week ago Friday.  The first couple of days were kind of rough like when we get a blizzard and you can't get out.  But then I settled down into the calendar is empty and I have this huge list of things I want to get done, so I started working on the list.  The winds have finally died down they said we were gusting at 49mph yesterday afternoon and evening.  No wonder the nest blew down.

I did get most of the application down today for the yard, now I need some rain.

The jonquils are blooming as well as the violets and these flowers I have no idea what they are.  The Decorah sunset was beautiful as it often is.