Sunday this & that

As I get older, I find myself becoming less and less tolerant of heat. Today was 90 degrees (32C) and miserably humid. And it's only mid-May. I have a feeling this summer is going to be awful, and I was hoping for a little more time before the worst of it started. Sigh. This morning I went out around 9am to water the garden and half an hour later I could have wrung sweat out of my clothes. I came in and showered and stayed inside after that. I just can't stand it!

Which is unfortunate, because today was Carsen's 8th birthday party, and it was taking place at a local park. I bought her some books and a craft kit as a gift from me and Gregg and dropped it off at Marla's house prior to the party. Marla was disappointed that today had turned out to be so hot and humid. This time of year is always iffy as far as outdoor comfort level goes, but kids don't mind and I'm sure they had fun.

I ran down to Barnes and Noble to get Carsen's birthday gifts. Yes, I'm a last-minute auntie this year! The pet treat cutters/molds/recipes kit is a nod to the fact that Carsen has two new puppies this year, Boston Terriers the family dog gave birth to back at Christmastime. She loves her three dogs and will enjoy making homemade biscuits for them. I hope she likes the books, too. 

After dropping off the birthday gift, I came home and took a nap in the a/c. I felt guilty about this, because Gregg's been working on painting the outside trim on the house all day long. I would love to help him, but again, can't take the heat. I'm cooking him a nice supper to make up for it!

Speaking of a nice supper, the oven part of our gas range isn't heating. I'm sure it's a faulty igniter or something, but neither of us is handy with that kind of thing so I guess I'm going to have to find a repair person next week. I really can't be without an oven for too long! Because I knew it would be an issue this week, yesterday we fired up the grill and cooked a bunch of marinated chicken breasts and sirloin tips, which I'll make into dinners and lunches for the next several days. I also cooked corn on the cob and sweet onions wrapped in foil on the grill. I picked up the corn along with fresh tomatoes and a small watermelon from the farm stand, and tonight I'm making a pasta salad to go with grilled chicken. Tomorrow night will be teriyaki beef and stir-fried veggies with rice. Leftovers from both nights will make good work lunches, too, along with fresh salads. I can't wait until we're harvesting tomatoes and peppers and cucumbers and squash from our own garden, but the farm stand will do in the meantime.

A good Sunday night to everyone! Thanks for stopping by.

Weekends

I wish the weekends didn't go by so fast. It seems like a blink between leaving work on Friday afternoon and going to bed on Sunday night. I can't wait for the long Labor Day weekend coming up.

Are there any other Dexter fans out there? I've been watching the new Dexter Resurrection and it's so good! * At first only getting to watch a new episode once a week bothered me (if I like a show, I'll binge watch given the chance) but it's become something to look forward to on Friday nights. We have pizza for dinner and then I have a drink or two to unwind while watching the return of one of my all-time favorite shows. The only bad part is there's only 3 episodes left, and I'll be sad when it's done. It's lots of fun!

Yesterday morning I met up with Marla for brunch. We do that once or twice a month, and it's also something to look forward to. There's a place in town that makes really good Eggs Benedict, and that's usually where we go. This time she brought Carsen with her, since her husband was busy with something out of town. She's growing up fast, and is a real cutie.

When we were leaving, I said, "Thanks for coming to breakfast with us, Carsen!" and she replied (with a cheeky grin) "It was my only option." haha!

*This new series is so well written, it reminds me of the first several seasons of the original. Peter Dinklage, Uma Thurmond, and Neil Patrick Harris are all guest stars, David Zayas is back as Angel Batista, and Michael C. Hall is amazing as usual. 

A birthday party

Last week, my friend Marla's little girl turned seven years old. It seems like she was just born and here she is finishing up first grade. Crazy! I was invited to the family birthday party for her on Sunday afternoon. I had fun picking out gifts from me and her "uncle" Gregg. After a lot of looking around, here's what I settled on:

Star Projector Galaxy Night Light - Astronaut Space Projector, Starry Nebula Ceiling LED Lamp with Timer and Remote, Kids Room Decor Aesthetic

The next evening Marla sent me two photos of Carsen's bedroom after they got the projector set up and running. They were lying on her bed together watching it. It seems the gift was a hit! 

And I also got her one this, because I almost always give books to children for special occasions:

I adored Shel Silverstein's poetry as a child. Reading some of it 

prior to wrapping reminded me why! So. Good.

 A "family" gathering at Marla and Toyo's house involves a lot of people. Toyo has the kind of large Asian family where cousins and second cousins show up with their spouses and kids along with grandparents, aunts, and uncles.  Then on Marla's side there are grandparents, a great grandma (Marla's dear grandma Mildred, well into her 90s now and increasingly frail), a brother and his wife and kids...then there are several longtime friends, like me, who are counted as family. As an only child from a very small family, half of whom I was partially estranged from while growing up, it's almost overwhelming. I found a quiet corner in the kitchen to sit and take it all in. There was a taco bar (which was huge, and delicious), two homemade birthday cakes (chocolate and strawberry), and a big pile of gifts.

 Carsen is a lucky girl. She was showered with love for her birthday.

Her grandma took her shopping before the party 

and this is the dress she chose for herself. :)

Breakfast with Santa

This whole first year at my new job is turning out to be a learning experience. There are many, many special events, field trips, holiday celebrations, and fundraisers that take place in an elementary school setting. As both the school secretary and bookkeeper (especially as the bookkeeper), the learning curve has been somewhat steep, but I'm really enjoying it. Over the past couple of weeks, in addition to my regular duties, it's been preparing for our annual "Breakfast with Santa" event. It takes place on a Saturday morning, with a pancake breakfast, crafts, storytimes, and one of the teacher's husbands dressed as Santa and taking photos with the children. It's a big deal, and let me tell you that a LOT of work (and expense) goes into pulling it off. 

When I found out that it's not just limited to students at Carver, I invited Marla and little Carsen (who attends a different elementary school in the district) to come. I bought Carsen's ticket as one of her early Christmas presents, and Marla and I took her yesterday. 

I was so glad I went! Not only did Carsen have a great time, but I got to see the result of my hard work these last two weeks. (Had I not had a child to bring, I wouldn't have gone at all).  What a great turnout we had, and what fun it all was! It made the work of preparing for it all feel more worthwhile.

Santa!

Pancakes just taste better with whipped cream and sprinkles. It's a scientific fact.

There were several craft stations. Here's Carsen at one of them showing off her creation.

Carsen and Marla taking silly pictures. This might be my favorite!

Mrs. Claus reads a story.

That's one of our kindergarten teachers as Mrs. Claus, and let me tell you, that woman KNOWS how to read a story to children. Even the adults in the room enjoyed it! *

One of many volunteer elves from among our staff.

Before we left, I stopped by my office to grab something and got a photo of Carsen sitting at my desk. I may get this picture framed and put it up in there!

*At one point in the story, Santa ripped his pants trying to go back up the chimney, and you could see his candy cane printed long johns underneath. Mrs. Claus said, "That's right, children! You could see Santa's drawers!" and a little girl in the audience (with perfectly dramatic timing) piped up with, "But I don't WANNA see Santa's drawers!" It brought down the house.

Back to school week

I love my new work schedule! My official hours are 7am-2:30pm, but on days when I have to make a bank deposit (which is most days) I'm allowed to leave at 2:00. The bank is less than a quarter mile down the road from the school, and my house is a ten-minute drive from there. Today I made it home by 2:20 in the afternoon! How nice is that? I don't mind getting up early, either. It's totally worth it to me to have most of the afternoon free. 

My actual job is still going really well, too. I couldn't ask for a better environment or coworkers, and I seem to be catching on quickly. What a relief!

Yesterday was the first day back for students. When I mentioned that on my last blog post, several people expressed surprise that our summer break is so short. The reason why is because our district is on a "modified year-round" schedule. Basically, it means that summer break is two weeks shorter than it used to be (eight weeks as opposed to ten) but we get those two weeks back as an extra week off in October and again in February. Summer break is still a full two months, and now we have breaks spread out more evenly through the year. It's kind of nice, actually.

Speaking of the first day back:

Marla's little girl, Carsen, started kindergarten yesterday!

I can't believe she's already starting school. You know what this sassy little woman said to her mother the night before starting kindergarten? "I don't want you and Daddy to walk me in tomorrow. I can go in by myself!" Haha! She's going to do great. :) I wish she was attending the elementary school where I work (we have kindergarten, too) but she was already registered elsewhere at the beginning of the summer. Too bad! I'd dearly love to get to see her every day at work for the next five years.

Catching up

 I'm home sick today. After almost two weeks of dealing with shortness of breath, a dry cough, chills, and a general feeling of being unwell, I called the doctor Tuesday afternoon and made an appointment for yesterday. 

I was pretty sure I didn't have Covid, because I'd taken two at-home tests that were negative. The doctor confirmed that it wasn't that (thank goodness) but just as I expected it was an exacerbation of seasonal allergies that led to an exacerbation of asthma. He also thought I might have the beginning of a bacterial infection in my lungs. I came home with prescriptions for prednisone, antibiotics, a new inhaler, a nasal spray, and a note excusing me from work for the rest of yesterday afternoon and today. 

One thing the doctor noticed worries me a little. My blood pressure was very high, particularly the bottom number. This was very unusual. He didn't seem too worried about it, given that I'd been feeling so bad and struggling to get good deep breaths, but it bears watching. One thing I didn't tell the doctor is that when I left work the hour before, I was very angry and upset. The office women were being horribly rude to me (they were mad they'd have to cover my desk and the front door while I was gone). Normally I can shrug off their toxic behavior, but when I'm not feeling well physically that becomes harder to do. On Tuesday when I first made the appointment and let everyone know I'd have to leave for a couple of hours, the principal overheard one of them going off on me about it and he was pissed. He called me at home that night and told me he intended to address their nasty attitudes. He said, "You work way too hard to be treated that way." Apparently he hadn't had time yet (yesterday morning) to talk to them, and when it was time for me to leave for the appointment they were incredibly rude about it. I was in tears when I left, and plenty mad, too. I'm so glad the doctor told me not to go back to work afterwards and to take today off too! Let them suffer for treating me like dirt! Hopefully by the time I go back on Friday the principal will have addressed the problem with them. In any case, I wonder if getting so emotionally upset had anything to do with my crazy high blood pressure reading? Gregg thinks it's definitely possible. When I'm not feeling so physically poor I should be able to ignore them and let it go, like usual. I don't expect things to change much, but I've gotten very good (most of the time) at shrugging it off.

I made a mistake in taking the first dose of prednisone with dinner last night. I probably didn't get over 3 or 4 hours of (broken) sleep. I'll be taking today's dose as soon as I eat breakfast! I already feel a good bit better despite the lack of sleep--prednisone is like a miracle drug for me. My eczema clears up, my allergies dry up, and I feel much better, fast, whenever I take it. I've decided to get a referral to an allergist and to talk to them about getting a full range of allergy testing and starting allergy shots. We'll see how that works out.

I meant to post last week as my spring break was winding down. They had the plant and flower festival at the farmer's market, and I went out and bought three blueberry shrubs to plant over by my raised garden bed. I got two of the variety "Premier" and one of "Pink Lemonade". The Pink Lemonade is supposed to get pink berries instead of blue, and they're supposed to be twice as sweet as the blues. We shall see! My little quarter-acre "homestead" (Haha) is coming along nicely. Even the crabapple tree I planted in front is finally, finally getting some tiny new leaves. It was a bare stick for so long I was beginning to despair that it was really alive and not merely dormant! The fig tree I planted is growing nicely. I expect by next year I should get a few figs from it. In summer garden news, I've been getting loads of lettuce and radishes, the carrots are almost ready to harvest, my tomato and pepper seedlings are ready to be planted out, the potato vines are sprawling all over the place, and my cucumbers and snow peas are finally sprouting. My gardening brings me a lot of joy.

One last thing of note from last week. On Saturday Marla and Martina came over for a couple of hours. I almost canceled because I wasn't feeling too hot, but I really wanted to see them. Marla brought little Carsen with her, too! That child is growing up fast! She'll be four next month and she's got that crazy little kid energy. Between her and the puppy chasing each other through the house, George trying to stay out of the way, and Marco getting excited and wanting to be in the middle of everything, it was like a circus over here for a little while!

She's loved the big aquarium since she was a baby. Gregg keeps telling Marla she needs a tank of her own. To which Marla responds, "And is Uncle Gregg coming to take care of it for us?" :)

This next picture was typical of the visit!

I don't know about Carsen, but Poppy was worn out when they left.

Marco loved every minute of the chaos.

George was a very good boy, as usual. He's been so patient with Poppy, and he's always glad to see Martina and Marla and even little Carsen. Here he is saying goodbye to Carsen when her daddy came to pick her up. After she left, we all had wine and adult conversation.

Easter weekend photos

 I took a few pictures the other night when my friends came over for our little belated birthday/vaccination party. 

First, the table with my china rabbits, the birthday cake, and the punchbowl full of Sparkling Strawberry Margarita punch.

Did I mention that Marla, Martina, and I made plans to dye Easter eggs? We thought it would be a fun activity for the day before Easter. They both brought over a dozen boiled eggs (I'd prepared my own dozen the night before) and I supplied the cups of dye. We really had fun with this! Martina said she hadn't dyed Easter eggs since she was a kid. Marla planned to go home afterwards and dye more with little Carsen, since she's finally old enough to appreciate the activity.

Speaking of Carsen....she's just as fascinated with the big aquarium as she's been since infancy. She spent the whole 30 minutes or so she was at our house looking into it.

Except, of course, when the two toddlers were finally reunited!

Buddies.

It was certainly good to see my friends again, but I must admit it felt a little awkward at times. There would be sudden silences when no one could seem to think of anything to say next. Halfway through the party, I had to go sit on the porch by myself for five minutes or so. I was feeling a tiny bit overwhelmed. (Marla and Martina were inside having a spirited conversation about something so I don't think they noticed). They both went home a little earlier than normal, and I think we were all tired. Everyone acknowledged that we've gotten out of the habit of socializing in person and it just feels a bit strange. Who knows how long it will take before seeing friends will feel normal and comfortable again? Still, we had a good time and hopefully this is the start of more ordinary life again!

My neighbor Luella is back in the hospital. I woke up early Easter morning to the sight of an ambulance taking her away and we've been really worried about her. Today I texted her just on the off chance she or her daughter might see it and respond and let us know how things were going. Well, Miss Luella herself texted me back! She says she's very weak and will be in the hospital for a few days, but despite all that she seems to be in good spirits. I texted her back and told her how pretty her yard looks today, and she asked if I could snap some pictures and send them to her. Could I?!

The 50+ year old magnolia that had all the gorgeous pink flowers this spring now has the nicest green leafy shade.

She was so happy to get these photos! I told her to hurry up and get well and come back, her little house misses her! :) 

I hope you all had a nice Easter (if you celebrate it) or a nice spring weekend!

Last of March, first of April

 Gregg finally suggested a birthday present for me that I was excited about--a new hammock to replace the one that wore out years ago. We still had the big metal hammock stand to hang it on stored in the garage. I picked out a red quilted one and we brought it home on Sunday. I've been relaxing in it every afternoon since!

It takes up half of the back porch, but I love it. With the screens keeping mosquitoes and bugs out and the ceiling fan to keep a cool breeze circulating, the porch is that much more comfortable and fun. My porch is my happy place.

This hasn't been an altogether happy week so far. A woman who works in our school library got devastating news about her beloved dog over the weekend and they had to have her put to sleep on Monday. The family is heartbroken, and I feel terrible for them. Then I embarrass myself by starting to cry every time I talk to Robin (the coworker) about it. I guess the loss of Ginger is still too fresh for me to interact with others experiencing pet bereavement right now. It seems to have triggered a load of fresh grief for me. It's strange. And hard.

Something else is happening that's bothering me. My 83 year old neighbor has been very, very ill all of a sudden. Her birthday was the Friday before mine, and we noticed lots of her family's cars at her house over the weekend. Since her kids, grandkids, and even some young great-grandchildren all live locally and come over a lot, we didn't think much of it at first....but then this week started and there were still cars there, and one of her daughters was spending the night. I finally sent her a text, just checking in, and found out that she had been in the hospital for 8 days and wasn't released until her birthday! We had no idea. Her daughter is staying there at night for the time being to keep an eye on things. Apparently Miss Luella had pancreatitis first, then a preexisting heart arrhythmia starting acting up, and then she caught pneumonia. Eight days in the hospital! At her age, that's scary stuff. She said that she's very, very weak and is having a hard time eating and drinking enough and can't seem to get any energy back. No wonder! I've been trying to think of something we can do for her, but all I can come up with is maybe fruit and flowers? I don't know what she can or can't eat, but a small basket of fruit seems harmless and some bright flowers might be cheering. If anyone reading has any suggestions I'd love to hear them! Of course I've told her that we're right next door, day or night, and to please call if she needed anything at all. I also offered to run any errands she might have. We've tried to think of other stuff that might help, but her family seems to be taking excellent care of her. Gregg did roll her garbage can back under her carport the other morning. We can't think of much else at the moment. I imagine her recovery is going to be long and hard, and once her family isn't there day and night maybe we can do more for her. But again, any suggestions are welcome.

On a happier note, Marla and Martina are coming over Saturday! And Marla will bring little Carsen over for the first hour or so (her daddy will come pick her up after a little while so the party can continue baby-less)! I haven't hugged that baby in over a year. She's about to turn three, so that's over a third of her life so far.

This was back in January. See? She's a little girl now!

It's going to be a fun time. I'm looking forward to seeing my friends again, and there will be birthday cake, and so my birthday celebration continues. Today is a half day at work, and after that we're on spring break. I'm looking forward to it.

Week 10...just catching up

As hard as it is to believe, yet another week of staying at home has flown past. Some cautious forays out into the world have been necessary, though.

I worked on Monday. It was an easy day, answering phones (that barely rang) for four hours. There was almost no one else around. It's been a silent building for months now, which is kind of sad. It was never meant to be so quiet for so long!

On Tuesday morning I went to a long-delayed dental appointment to have a permanent crown put on. I'd been living with a temporary since early March. For the first week or two after the permanent one came back I was afraid to go out in public, then the office closed for a month due to Covid-19, then when they reopened I was too afraid to make an appointment right away. The temporary was holding up fine, so I kept waiting. Finally the office called and explained to me all the steps they're taking to protect patients and staff from the virus, so I decided it was time. What a relief to have that done!  I've had so much bad/painful dental work done over the last couple of years that going to the dentist has become somewhat torturous to me, no matter how minor the procedure. The temporary crown did not want to come off, and the scraping, pulling, and loosening that was necessary to make that happen had me so rigid with stress that tears started rolling from my eyes. (I wasn't in any actual pain. I think it was just adrenaline and fear). I was so embarrassed, but my new dentist, Dr. Abbas, was very kind and patient. I like him a lot, and I'm beginning to trust him. He finally got that stubborn temporary off, and the new permanent crown in place, and I'm still relieved a week later. 

Then I had a doctor's appointment with my regular GP on Thursday. I wasn't thrilled about going to her office, but I had to because I needed refills on a script that she didn't originally write for me. I wore a mask and hoped for the best--the office was taking every possible precaution, like calling ahead to check for flu-like symptoms, checking temperatures at the reception desk, spacing out chairs in the waiting area, etc. So that was okay. One funny thing: two days prior, they took my blood pressure at the dentist's office, and it was on the high side. Not crazy high, but elevated enough to alarm me a little bit, you know? But then on Thursday at my regular doctor's, my blood pressure was perfect again, just as usual. That will tell you something about my fear of the dentist!!  :)

On Friday morning I met up with two of my book club friends for our weekly date: doughnuts and coffee bought at a drive through and eaten in our parked cars while we talk. Our book club is talking about resuming meeting next month and how we can do it safely. I think our June meeting will be held on a back patio with plenty of room to space out chairs. I sure hope we can do it; I've missed that group of women and our book club nights so much! Fingers crossed.

Friday was also a special day: my little heart-niece, Carsen, turned two years old! It's hard to believe that she's already a toddler.

For everyone's safety, her creative mom and dad gave her a Zoom birthday party! They did a good job of making sure everyone knew how to access it, including Marla's parents and 90 year old grandmother. Everyone got to sing "Happy Birthday" and watch the birthday girl blow out her candles. She was sitting at a table with a huge arch of colorful balloons above her that her daddy had assembled. It was the most unusual birthday party I've ever "attended"!

After such a busy (well, busy by 2020 standards) week it almost feels like life is getting back to some sort of normal.....except not. Things seem more weird now than ever. I work for 4 hours this coming Tuesday and then I think I'm done for the summer. Who knows what school starting up in August is going to look like? I just hope we can start. It's so strange to still have weeks of staying at home in front of me after being here for 10 weeks already.

Gregg is thinking about returning to his pet store job next week--the beginning of June--barring any sudden large leaps in our local numbers over the next 7 days. He's planning to try to limit the number of people allowed to browse the aquarium aisle at any one time, asking them to observe 6 feet of distance. If the store gets too crowded for that, he'll either retreat to the back office for a while, or else come home altogether. He'll wash his hands often and avoid touching his face. Will that be enough? I sure hope so. We're both pretty nervous about it. Good information about the risk is just impossible to discern in our current political climate. It's scary and frustrating. We're all just doing the best we can, I suppose.

To end on a happier note, here is another (bad focus, but good color) photo of our male Painted Bunting. I say "our" because this beautiful bird, and a female, have been eating at our feeder for several weeks now! I'm the envy of the people at the Wild Birds Unlimited store where I buy my seed. Painted Buntings are almost never seen in this area.

The female is gorgeous golden-green color. Much more subtle than the male, of course, but very beautiful. I have yet to get a photo of her. They're shy birds that visit the most early, early in the morning and then again right before sunset. We've also had another new-to-us species visiting the feeder these days: a pair of Blue Grosbeaks. They're the most gorgeous shade of blue you ever saw, and it's been impossible to capture it on my cell phone camera. Here's a picture I lifted from the webs to show you:

All the while, we've still been seeing tons of Cardinals, House Finches, Titmice, Carolina Wrens, a pair of Red Bellied Woodpeckers, and a few pesky Cowbirds and a small flock of Grackles with fledglings in tow. The squirrels are also beyond bold at this point, which is going to end badly one of these days when Ginger or George takes them by surprise. We saw a deer the other night when we were out walking the dogs (it ran past under a streetlight) and we've seen a couple of rabbits lately, too. We're going to miss all this time at home to watch the animals and birds and the seasons change when we're finally able to fully return to normal work schedules. It's been a memorable three months, that's for sure!

Like a shot in the arm

It's Thursday morning and already I can say that it's been a better week. I feel better and much more cheerful.

On Monday I was scheduled to go in to work and answer phones for a few hours. The administrators were there working hard to put together a virtual awards ceremony video. Due to a change in how registration was done last summer, over half of our students didn't have "media release" forms on file letting us know if we had their parents' permission to use their photos and names in something that would be shared on social media. Between honor roll, various school awards, and a photo montage of all of our 8th graders (in lieu of a middle school graduation) we had over 300 students whose parents and guardians needed to be contacted! I offered to come back the next day to help and the principal immediately took me up on it. So I went back Tuesday and worked a full day alongside him, his three assistant principals, and two other staff members they managed to find. I personally called and spoke to almost 60 parents and left messages for about two dozen more. By 4:30 I was beginning to stumble over my words a bit and my voice was started to go hoarse so I knew it was time to quit for the day. I haven't talked to so many people in months! Yesterday I went back and finished, I still had about a dozen parents to contact left on the my list. In between all these lengthy phone calls explaining who I was, what we needed and why, and how to access the video, I was also taking pictures of our Teacher of the Year and Support Staff of the Year and doing write ups on them and posting them to our school's social media. 

So yeah, I was busy. And I loved it! It felt so good to be contributing to the school again! It was even nice to talk on the phone to so many parents that I know--some of whom were desperate to talk after weeks of lockdown which I totally get. It was a treat to sit and have lunch with a few of my coworkers, too. The principal bought us all lunch and we gathered in a conference room, spread apart some, to eat it and there was much laughing and talking. Going to work for three days has made all the difference in how I feel.

Another great thing happened on Monday afternoon. When I got home from work Gregg and I went outside and trimmed some bushes in front of the house. While we were working on that, I got a text from Marla saying she wanted to drop something off at my house for us. I told her to come on by, that we were outside. A few minutes later her, her husband, and the baby pulled up. Marla got out of the car and stood several feet away and we got to talk face to face for the first time in months! She had brought two cupcakes for us to try. The baby's birthday is later this month and she's planning to make strawberry cupcakes for the party. And get this---it's going to be a Zoom birthday party! No one will actually be at their house except the three of them.

Luscious

I was so happy to see them. The baby was in a carseat in the back, and I said to her, "Carsen! I'm so happy to see you!" and she responded in her tiny little voice, "See you....."

I've missed that little girl so much.

I got a little teary when they left. I swear, I'm turning into a weepy, emotional mess in my old age.

So that's been my week so far. I'm feeling much, much better. Thank you all for the nice comments and support on my last post.

How are you doing this week?

Passing the days

On Saturday I texted the science teacher from my school who keeps bees and chickens, asking her if any eggs and honey were available. She answered with an emphatic "yes" and told me to meet her at the school, since she was headed out there to plant some stuff in our pollinator garden. I was able to score two containers of honey and two dozen of the prettiest eggs you ever saw:

Look at those colors, like Easter eggs. 

I made a loaf of banana nut bread and chocolate chip pumpkin bread with them. You can see the bananas and walnuts on the edge of the top picture. Marco hung out on my shoulder and helped. He also insisted on having some walnuts before I folded them into the batter:

Do you see his eyes closed in bliss as he munches them? :)

I also made fabulous omelets for dinner the other night. You just can't beat fresh eggs.

So, how are you doing? We seem to be settling down into the new normal for now. Since we're both finally almost over whatever illnesses we've had, we've started working on various projects around the house to keep our minds occupied. I did our taxes the other day which is always a relief. We cleaned the trim on our house, which had algae in some spots. Yesterday we undertook a big project in the front yard. We have a line of crepe myrtle trees beside the house, which had a border all around them of concrete "stones" and weed-smothering black netting put down when the trees were planted. The stones were sinking into the ground, the netting had a thick layer of dirt on top which was growing copious weeds, and overall it wasn't very nice to look at. We decided to remove the stones and stack them in the back yard for future use in flower beds I'm planning, and to remove the netting altogether. We had no idea what a labor intensive project that was going to be! The stones are connected in 3s and they're very heavy, and there's a LOT of them. It took us almost three hours to get them moved, and then getting up the black netting material was difficult because of all the heavy soil and weed roots that had settled on top. But three hours later, we were done and very proud of our efforts! Now we'll be able to mow in between the trees and it should look much neater. And I have lots of border stones for use elsewhere. As we were sitting on the front steps resting from our labors, a pair of bluebirds showed up and started hopping through the fresh soil we had uncovered, looking for bugs. We took that as a good omen.

Keeping busy seems to be the best way for me to cope with this pandemic. Being outside in the fresh air and sunshine is like a tonic after so many anxious hours watching the news or sitting in front of the computer reading the news. And the dogs think everything is just fine and dandy these days! They love our new routine of being home all the time, catering to their every whim. We've been going on plenty of walks around the neighborhood, and of course sitting on the back porch with them in the evenings. If only things weren't so scary out in the wider world, this would be like a treat. We've never had so much time off together to spend at home, and except for being afraid of the virus we're starting to enjoy spending so much time together. I do miss my friends, though. I've tried to text/call/message most of them from time to time just to check in but it's not like seeing them in person, hugging them, and being together. I was chatting with Marla the other day on Facebook manager and she sent me a couple of sweet pictures of little Carsen. I'll finish up this post with them, because they're cheerful. Take care everyone.

Standing up in her "big girl" bed that she's now sleeping in. 

Fingerpainting with her mommy to pass the time.

Happy Halloween!

It's Halloween night and we're all prepared with candy. 

Although we've only had one single trick or treater all night. And she's too little for candy....

She's so cute, though, that I don't mind that she's the only one! Mom and dad are dressed as Ghostbusters.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Surprises

I've received some wonderful gifts and happy surprises in the past week. I'm so very fortunate in life to have many, many wonderful friends! First up, from Parsnip in Tucson:

A care package for Ginger and George! They love the chicken crisps (she's sent them to our lucky canines before) and George loooooooooves new toys. He's been hoarding both of these in the dog bed and he barks like mad when Ginger grabs one of them. Which she does strictly to annoy him; she's never been big on toys but she delights in anything that bothers George. (As you've probably surmised, she's feeling much better!) Thank you so much, Parsnip. You're a thoughtful and dear friend.

Next: I won a book giveaway for the first week of October from the delightful Rue! Her Great October Book Giveaway is an event to look forward to each year. Pop over to her blog if you're interested and leave her a comment for a chance to win a magical/Halloween/Samhain themed book! This is what the package that arrived looked like:

And here's the book I got, which is very serendipitous considering a craft project that I'll be starting next week (more about that later!!)….

What fun!

On Sunday morning I texted Marla just to say hello, since what with one thing and another we hadn't seen each other in a couple of months. We decided to have a little impromptu visit that afternoon and she showed up about 4pm with this little cutie-pie:

Isn't she precious? I love those pink cheeks and big brown eyes. It was so good to see little Carsen, who's already walking and talking. Man, that happened fast!

She's been fascinated with our aquariums since she was a tiny thing. Speaking of Carsen and tiny things...…….we had a small house sparrow that lived with us for over a decade named Chip. After Chip died a while back Marco stopped saying his name....until Carsen came along. He's always (and consistently) called her "Chip". Every time he sees her, he says, "Hey Chip! Heeeeyyyy Chip Chip!"  I guess in his mind Tiny Bird = Tiny Human. How cool is that?

After Carsen spent about 30 minutes here, her daddy came and picked her up and took her home so that Marla and I could have some baby free time to hang out. It was so much fun! We got caught up and we even had wine together for the first time in two years! Marla didn't drink while pregnant, of course, and after that she was too cautious to even have a small glass of wine while breastfeeding. I totally respect her for that, but I'm glad we can finally have drinks together again! My new back porch was just made for wine and conversation. It was so very good to see her. :)

All of these happy surprises really helped lift my spirits after several weeks of stress and unhappiness. Things are feeling much lighter around here!