Mother's Day 2020

For Mother's Day my daughter and her family sent me this arrangement through FTD flowers.  I set it on the bar level table in our kitchen.  It has since been planted in a ceramic pot outside on the back porch. Miss Kitty had to get in the picture.

 

My son and his family bought me this and brought it over to me. He, his wife, and her daughter came over with their lab.  His kids were at their mom's. We sat out in lawn chairs six feet apart and talked for over an hour. Such a nice time!

I bought some pansies for my back porch.  Later on when it gets hot and stays hot, I'll have to plant something else because they will wilt and die.

 Just a few of the flowers I got to plant in my pots. I had to put them in the garage because it got down to freezing three nights in a row.  I have since planted most of them, but not taken photos.

This is the entrance to our back porch.  I have not weeded or planted annuals  here yet. I also need to transplant the lavender bush you can barely see in the back middle of the photo.  The crock was my husband's parents and have traveled with us from house to house. The white door behind it leads to a nice-sized room we use as a pantry.  There is a freezer in it.  Mike installed a heater so things don't freeze in the winter though we have to be careful what we store there as far as perishables in the summer because of the heat. We store our extra toilet paper, paper towels, kleenex,, water, ice tea, etc that we get from the big box store Sam's.  It's been a real blessing for us.

We are still hanging in their. Our Ohio governor has lifted a lot of restrictions.  One of the things that means is I get to get my hair done on Monday. Wonderful news.  We will wear masks. I'll have to hold mine in front of my face because of the color treatment, shampoo, etc.
Next Sunday Ohio churches start back with seating and mask restrictions. It will be fantastic to be there once again!
I met a friend in our local middle school parking lot overlooking a pond on Friday.  We sat in chairs six feet apart, had lunch from Dairy Queen's drive-through, and visited for an hour or so.  Rain finally ran us out.  I meant to take my camera but forgot.
My friend then went to the Dollar Store and was dismayed at the fact that only she and one other person wore masks.  I won't go to the Dollar Store because of that and also that it is always crowded  (I can see the many cars from the road.)  Irresponsible in my opinion.
Hope you are all well.

Cleaning during coronvirus

I have been spending some time during this shelter at home time to clean out and reorganize my kitchen cabinets and drawers.  I have found things I'd completely forgotten I had and some I'd been wondering where they'd gone to. I'd also forgotten how far back my lower cabinets went!

 I didn't realize how many cookbooks I'd crammed onto the above shelves. I only saved ones I've regularly used over the years. The green binder and the tan plastic recipe box on the first shelf were my mom's.  They'll eventually go with my recipe binder(the white binder) and recipe box(over on a counter) to my daughter.

 I put a bunch of books in a big box to take to the local Catholic thrift store when it reopens.

 This was a huge mess and I would have to take a lot out every time I was looking for a particular spice. Things are much more accessible now.

Below are misc. drawers that were jumbled chaos.

I found an outstanding Pampered Chef sharp knife in the above drawer - have already used it.

 A lot got either thrown out or moved from the above drawer.

I still have the bottom oven drawer and the dish cabinets to do.

And on an entirely different topic, here is a photo of my lilac bush. The white one on the other
side of the yard always blooms later.  I didn't get a picture of my magnolia tree this year, but it
wasn't as full or as pretty this year anyhow.

I did finally venture out to the grocery store in the early morning that was set aside for at risk folks. I wore a mask and latex gloves which I turned inside out and threw away when I got to my car.  The checkout aisles had plexi-glass separating the clerks from the customers. Surprisingly,  not all the workers wore masks which I thought was a bit irresponsible.  There were very few customers and we kept out of each other's way like not going down an aisle if someone was already there.
Finally, I got everything I wanted including the brands and sizes I wanted.  I wrote detailed  notes on my lists but my sister-in-law goes to Walmart and I go to my local family run grocery store so she had to make substitutes.  She and my son overall did well, but it just wasn't the same. Plus I bought fish which I wasn't about to try and have them pick out!
I also went to the drugstore.  There were too many things that I had to choose which to get. I doubled everything so I won't have to go back for a long while.
So whether it was the wisest thing to do, I did it anyhow.

Mike and I are still doing fine--hanging in there. We've been watching an eight-part documentary on The Roosevelts and The Last Dance about Michael Jordon and the Chicago Bulls.  Both are really good.  I just ordered three more books from Amazon for my Kindle.  I go through them fairly quickly.  Heather Graham has a thirty-one book series that I love.
Well I hope things are well with you all.  I'm enjoying reading your blogs once again.