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.

A bicycle wreck

The first picture shows my grandson Aaron in Texas breading fish. Notice he's using both arms and hands.

In these pictures he's in a children's hospital in Fort Worth. He had been spending a lot of time outside riding his bike.  He was loving it. Then he went to stop his bike in front of his driveway and he flew over the handlebars. He of course had a helmet on. He tried to break his fall with his right wrist. He broke his arm and wrist in two places, majorly displacing one bone and involving a growth plate.  You can see how high the cast had to go.  He'll wear this for a month, then a cast to his elbow for a month, and then a brace for a month.
A friend was able to come stay with the two younger children and both Sara and her husband Robert were able to go to the hospital. The children's hospital's policy during COVID-19 is to allow both parents but no substitute can be made unless he/she is the guardian of the child in place of parents. 
They got him into emergency surgery and he was out by midnight and home by 1 A.M.  He never left the surgery area. All to practice caution during this time of isolation.  He did get sick from the anesthesia but went home and slept through the next day. Once the bones were set the tremendous pain left and they got the remaining pain under control.

 Here he is playing with legos using his left hand (he's right-handed).  It takes him longer but he says he appreciates the process better (he has an upbeat positive attitude).  We sent him two Star Wars Lego kits through Amazon(thankful for Amazon during this shelter-in-place time especially for people my age)to help him spend his time and let him know we were thinking of him.

Below he's putting flowers on the Easter cross Easter Sunday. The congregation's members could come by and place flowers on it.
Below that picture is Sara and all her family on Easter Sunday.  There was only a taped service on Facebook, but they went over to get their annual Easter picture. They're not as dressed up as usual but are not real casual either.

Robert, Sara, Abigail, Andrew, and Aaron.

Today is my husband's 66th birthday. My son, his wife, and her daughter (his kids were with their mom) came over to give Mike his present.  He moved some things in the garage and swept it and that's where we met, standing 6 ft. or more apart. It was raining heavily, so standing outside wasn't an option.  They stayed for almost 45 minutes and we had a really nice chat.  I didn't go to our favorite bakery in another town to get his cake, but I baked him one from a mix, something I haven't done for over a year. I don't bake much anymore.  I had bought 4 months of birthday cards at a Hallmark store 3 weeks before all this craziness started, so I had his card already.  I did get on Hallmark.com and ordered 2 Mother's Day cards and some sympathy cards.  It was free shipping and I had them within 5 days.

We are hanging in there and counting our many blessings.  Hope you are too.

Visiting son and family from a distance

This past Thursday we met my son at a grocery store in the near-by town where he lives.  He went grocery shopping for us.  Then we followed him out to his house where we stood on one side of the garage and he, his wife, and their kids stood on the other side.  I took some pictures but we didn't stay long (it was cold outside with a brisk wind).

 It was so good to see them if only from afar. I also took a picture of their lab Rogie who

they got at a local shelter.  She's a wonderful pet.

This picture I put in because I so enjoy having a little one again. Andrew is 3 and lives in Texas.

He loves to Facetime and show me things. These were two of his Christmas presents.

His sister is 9 and his brother is 11.

His cousins shown in the first picture are 17, 15, 14, and 13. The 14 year-old is my daughter-in-law's daughter and the other three are my son's. They have blended really well into one family.

This was taken at Christmas time when my daughter and her family stayed for 5 days with us.

They are 11, 9, 17, 13, 14, 3, and 15( their ages now - they were all a year younger at Christmas).

The two in pajamas had just gotten them and had to put them on. We all enjoyed our time together.

I wish I could have them all over for dinner now!

The next three photos are of our park lake. We are permitted to walk the trails as long as

we keep away from anyone else.We only passed one other person and we got off the trail and

let him pass.

My husband and I are doing well.  He works outside a lot.  Right now he's grading 

his brother-in-law's hilly yard with his tractor so that a very big Amish-built shed can be

put there.  He went out today to cut down tree branches that are in the way for placing the shed.

I am cleaning out closets and kitchen cupboards and reading a lot.

Hope you are all doing well.

Indoor spring arrangements and COVID-19

I recently changed my indoor winter arrangements to spring ones.  I took pictures of the winter ones on my phone but not on my camera, so they are not easily shared.  However, I did take pictures of the spring ones with both my phone and my camera, so I was able to download them off my camera onto my computers. I also put away most of the angels I had out (I've been given at least one every Christmas since 1973, but I no longer put my whole collection out.).

In place of the Christmas/winter angels, I put out my collection of Victorian houses and buildings of my town of Ohio.

The collection is on my mother-in-law's dry sink in the dining room.

The glimpse of the Precious Moments is of my mother's collection that 

were mostly given by my children or me.  It will go to my daughter who

wants it.

Also in the dining room.

A wedding picture of my parents and a favorite picture of my son's children.  They

are now 21, 17, 15, and 13.

We have a local artist that designs and makes the crocks.  He's also the local 

high school's art teacher.  The picture is of my 2 children and me 15 years ago

at my father's 80th birthday celebration.

The angel is from my husband and is a favorite.

On my parents' armoire in our living room. Abigail was maybe 4 at the time.

She is now 11.

This is in an old white metal pot on a stool in my kitchen.

A corner of my dining room.  The mug was bought in one of my much earlier travels.

Living room.  The picture frame has moving pictures of my son's 

wedding that change regularly.

A table of my parents that moved everywhere with them.

As we cope with the COVID-19 situation there are two things that I haven't had to deal with in a long time: grey hair and growing out fake nails. I missed my 5 week hair appointment and may be forced by the state to miss my May 4th one.  I usually get my nails filled in every 3 weeks. It's been 5 weeks and will probably be at least 9 weeks before I can get them taken care of and that's if they reopen in May.

However, in the overall scheme of things these are very minor inconveniences.  Plus no one but my husband is seeing me closer than 6 ft. And that's if someone drops something off on the porch or we get off the trail at the park to let someone pass.  So it's no big deal.

Hope you are all doing well.

 My husband and I visited Ireland the year we turned 50. That was 16 years ago.  I thought I'd feature some pictures.

Abbey Castle built for a man's wife. Later turned into

a Catholic girls' boarding school.

Ardmore looking down on the town and beach.  I am

presently rereading Heart of the Sea by Nora Roberts which

is the 3rd in a trilogy set at Ardmore. We stayed at a B&B on a hill 

overlooking the town and visited the pub featured as the Gallagher

pub in the book.

The baptism well overlooking Ardmore.

The baptism well.

The remains of a castle tower at Ardmore

Looking at the cliff at Ardmore

 We are managing Ohio's Shelter in Place. We have gone to the grocery store twice.  But the doctor advising our Governor DeWine has said a wave of COVID-19 will hit Ohio hard in the next two weeks and that folks over 60 should not even go to the grocery store.  So we are giving a short list of staples like milk to my husband's younger sister who is going to work every day because she works at a health clinic. She lives just up the road.  My son and family lives 35 minutes away in another town and my daughter and family live in Dallas, Texas.
We have been communicating with my son and daughter via Facetime.  And my daughter-in-law set up a meeting on Zoom for 6 groups of family to sing Happy Birthday to our granddaughter who turned 17 on March 25th.  We could see each other one group at a time, but she was able to get us all on her computer.  She was quite happy.  It was the best we could do with social distancing.
I have enjoyed catching up with all of you on my blog list who are still keeping their blogs. I decided to reach out again during this time of isolation.

experiment

I'm experimenting to see if I can post after all this time.