More thoughts in the time of COVID-19
Wednesday, Day 48 …
Well … I began the day (after the blog) with a red sky and two packages of “live plants” delivered yesterday afternoon. I was able to unpack the plants to give them room and air, but that was all.
It was a full and rather exhausting day. I find that at this advanced age I don’t feel my age until I try to do a full day of whatever just like I used to do. I started the day by picking up three boxes of garbage scraps for the chickens from the local food bank. Then on for some groceries. Our pantry is doing well although the 7-11 has been eliminated by the new kitchen boss. Next stop was the home of a friend whose yards are full of dandelions. Forty-five minutes gathering yielded some conversation, a really sore knee, and two ice cream buckets of blossoms. Next stop a hardware store looking for sulfur (a soil acidifier) without luck. Another grocery stop (one store is a surplus supplier so doesn’t always have what I want). By then (1430) I was a bit shaky and walking stooped (which makes me angry) and realized I hadn’t eaten since early morning so I took my free sandwich coupon across the street to Burger King (any port in a storm) and had a high energy (and fat) lunch. I was pooped when I got home but was able to get the groceries unpacked and the dandelion blossoms under boiling water.
Spent the evening participating in the weekly radio net and trying to join the meeting of the watermaster district by phone. They were due to start at 1900, but by 2000 the meeting still hadn’t begun and I was fading fast. With their past behaviour in mind, I wonder if they are using the current unusual circumstances to pull shenanigans. Oh well …
No more, or at least fewer, seventy-year-old days for me.
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Thursday, Day 49 …
Day started overcast with a long list of things to do. Discovered that our chickens don’t like kale but do like dill. Dill flavored eggs?
We have an overload of zucchini so will serve some baked with cheese tonight. Pimento cheese spread for grilled cheese sandwiches and stuffed celery and on crackers mixed and ready. Dandelion water strained for jelly (it’s very dark this year). Rhubarb harvested ready for a crisp. Sage dry and ready to crumble. Dill spread to dry.
Day ended warm, mostly sunny with a few clouds. Full day … but not as wearing as yesterday.
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Friday, Day 50 …
I got carried away and did some planting in spite of the Moon phase (it isn’t right until tomorrow). I also spent time redoing (repairing) a section of the courtyard which had been decimated (I have to rebuild some retaining wall) to get it ready for the butterfly/hummer garden. I have lavender and salvia and thyme and mints and Northern Dragonhead (really) and others just waiting to start. If I take it a small area at a time, watching how long I keep at it, I can do this. Already, with even the little I’ve gotten done, I like how it is beginning to look. It will be ready for outdoor dinners soon … weather permitting.
The Met opera stream for today was the 1985 version of Aida which was Leontine Price’s farewell to her on-stage career. What a voice! The production was a bit funky (after all it was more than thirty years ago), the costumes were weirdly Adrian-style (think of Joan Crawford’s shoulders), and the tenor was not my idea of a love interest … but Price was amazing (and amazingly celestial) so Netrebko can go … find another role to sing someplace else.
Next week I can look forward to Marriage of Figaro with Fleming, Bartoli, and Bryn Terfel !!!
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Saturday, Day 51 …
Well … the Mitsu is dead. She had been having radiator trouble for several months but, since I am money-shy (this would seem to be my year for financial trials and learning), we had been teasing her along. I had been carrying a jug of water mixed with coolant, but this morning Mark told me that is no longer an option. The radiator is leaking as fast as he pours in the water and she is so old there is no longer a ready source of parts for her. A month or so ago a neighbor here on the Ranch asked if I wanted to sell her, so we’ll call him next week and ask if he still wants her.
This automobile crisis brought a gift with it. The family was talking about how to get me another vehicle and Paul went upstairs to bring down his allowance stash and piggy bank. I guess we will be shared owners.
Last evening we finished the Dragon Hatcher book. It was good enough that I’m ready for a follow-up, YA rating aside. Dragons seem to be the current thing around here. Paul is opting for something in the Dragon Master series. And of course, there is always Pern.
This morning I was again Net Control for the new radio club saturday net. Still not too many participants. Guess most folks are busy filling time at home with busy work. I did hear from a new person down in Vallejo. The big announcement was that the City of Mt Shasta has cancelled the 4th of July events for this year. No street fair. No run/walk. No parade. No fireworks. First time in more than 35 years without hoopla. But it has always been big with folks from too many places to risk it under today’s circumstances. That leaves only two events on the radio club calendar, both in September, and they may not survive either since some sources are predicting a second wave of this virus at the end of summer.
This afternoon’s task was getting more plants into the ground … thyme, prunella, blueberries, lavender, and transplanting some ground cover. As I was finishing it started to rain. That is good for the new plants and it washed most of the yellow pollen off the front slanted windows. Nice …
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Sunday, Day 52…
Today started with a bright, crisp, sunny morning and went on to be a laidback day. The plants I put out a few days ago seem to be liking where they are. I have one more lavender but haven’t decided where it will do best. It is one of the tall ones … Vicar’s lavender someone called it. And I really need to thin out the new growth under the lilacs.
Isn’t it strange that perception changes so drastically, depending on requirements. When the truck was usable, I didn’t feel any restrictions knowing I was mobile if I needed to be. Now, even though there is no place I need or really want to go, somehow it feels different. Not worse … but definitely different.
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Monday, Day 53 …
The sun topped the Mountain and was shining in my window a few minutes after 0630 this morning. It still rises south of the peak with five weeks to go ‘til Summer Solstice.
The word for today was jedi, a word no one knew in 1976 … but after all it is Star Wars Day. Ahhhh, English. A little of this and a little of that.
And that makes me think of another word that just came into (back into?) my life. Chelm. Years ago there was a very funny movie starring a collection of actors not necessarily known for being funny (Beat the Devil with Humphrey Bogart, Jennifer Jones, Gina Lollobrigida, Robert Morley, Peter Lorre). It was a favorite of George’s and mine. In it, Jones plays a former housemaid who married into what she claimed was a noble British family … the Chelms. Her claims and demeanor were over-the-top and, in point of fact, I never forgot. Then this morning I was reading a post about a town in Poland named Chelm and it all fell into place.
Do you need a laugh? Read about Chelm … https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-sages-of-chelm/?utm_source=mjl_maropost&utm_campaign=MJL&utm_medium=email&mpweb=1161-18952-103505
After reading Dragon Hatcher (actually listening to since Kamille was reading aloud) and the first two chapters of Dragon Masters, I thought about the McCaffrey PERN books and decided it was time to reread the lot of them on my own time, by myself. I sorted the collection by publishing date (which is the order in which the author suggested they be read) and started with Dragonflight. It is well-written and so easy to read. I remember the original joy. And I have a double stack waiting. So I’m set for the rest of the lockdown.
Weather went from rain to a relative humidity today of 17% with wind. It may turn out to be a scary summer and fall.
While sorting stuff a few days ago I went through a box of pictures and set aside the ones of my sister’s family to mail to her granddaughter (both my sister and her daughter are already gone). And yes to all you genealogists, I made sure each was identified with names and dates although her granddaughter might recognize most of them. That got me thinking about the family pictures etc. that I have collected due to my genealogy bug. What if we do have a fire? I’ve been considering getting a fairly large fire safe … large enough to hold pictures, certificates, computer hard drives and USBs, old letters and cards, jewelry hand-me-downs, and ??? I wonder what a mid-sized to large safe costs?
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Tuesday, Day 54 …
Well, Mark may have found my next wheels for me. It’s a ‘90, as was the Mitsu, but has less than 100,00 on the odometer and had only one owner. More importantly, it is within my means. Hold good thoughts because I will need my own transportation soon. Great Northern has arranged to supply summer lunches for the local children this coming summer like it did last year, and today I got a call asking if I was available to work packing lunches again. Of course I said yes. So from the second week in June through the first week in August I’ll be working every tuesday and thursday morning. Last year we had always been gloved, so adding masks won’t be that much different.
Re-reading the Pern books has turned into an adventure and a challenge. I’m finding I remember bits and pieces of the stories from my first read which don’t seem to jibe with the book I’m reading now. I’m sure it will all sort itself out, and maybe my memory is a bit off kilter. However, I’m enjoying …
Tomorrow will be a garden day as soon as the blog is posted. I have several plants to go into the ground, and I have a planter box ready to start a salad garden. This family is green shy and I miss salads. Besides, I’m beginning to gain back some of the weight I trimmed off after George died. Resolution … salad for lunch every day possible.
And potatoes go into the ground thursday.
Tyler, the older grandson, likes to bake. This evening he made a cheesecake … a big one to share with the family and the folks at work. I like that he likes to bake. I just wish he’d learn to like cleaning up afterwards.
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Wednesday, Day 55 …
Another week and we’re all still here.
May Mother Earth heal at this time and may we all bow our heads and pray for better days. Prayers for you all. Better days are coming. ~ WALK IN BEAUTY~
… KayCee White Eagle
… and …
To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.
… Audrey Hepburn
So … ‘til next week …