COVID-19 - Week #10

I just counted and this is the starting of the 10th week since we got home from our Dubai trip to start 'sheltering at home'.  Some days I feel a little stir crazy but mostly I have survived.  My house has never been so organized.  I've finished going through and redacting my old journals and organizing my memorabilia into notebooks.  Our children will thank me for this someday.

I finally got my brow and lip waxed which was wonderful....I know vain and frivolous but still wonderful!  I've been knitting again, or more appropriately TRYING to knit.  I have managed to figure out how NOT to make my knitting so tight and also isolated the mistake I was making to add stitches.  I ordered some new yarn and can hardly wait for it to come in so that I can see if I can actually follow a pattern now!

I just finished making my photo book for the Kenya 2019 trip.  I've done 2 Zoom Bookclub meetings and 2 Kenya Keys Zoom board meetings.  Technology is great!

I'm still baking a lot and everyone is happy with that.  Bread and rolls and cookies - actually lots of cookies and we now have a favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe!  I was also happy to learn that even with all the baking, I've only gained about 4 pounds! 

Our evening walks have helped me not gain more.  Plus I've been doing some AARP exercise.  They make me feel young and fit, unlike the other exercise videos I've tried.  Most of them make me feel old and fat!

On our nightly walks we have loved watching the baby ducks and goslings. It was chilly here last week so we saw this cute little duck family huddling together for warmth.  The mom has a large family of 13 and has done a wonderful job of keeping them safe.  With cats and dogs plus foxes and herons, it is not easy keeping ducklings together and alive.  Oh and storm drains...they say that a huge number of calls to our fire department this time of year are to rescue baby duckling caught in storm drains.

 Also fascinating to watch the geese.  There is one large group of what appears to be 3 families that have formed a community and are always together.  

This family has the youngest babies.

Then in this photo you can see the two families - one with 'teenagers' that are almost as large as they are and the other with middle sized tweens!  You can't get too close or the ganders will hiss and act threatening.  Geese make great parents.

Speaking of birds - we have so many that I fill the feeders daily.  I love watching them so it is worth the effort and expense.

Matt and I were thrilled when we had several days of visits from the very striking Western Tanagers as they migrate north to the McCall area. 

Other frequent visitors to our feeder - American Goldfinch, Lesser Goldfinch, House finches and the show stopper Western Tanager!

Matt got this great shot of one of our hummingbird visitors.  I love them!

Thanks to Matt,  the little garden is ready to be planted.  Normally in Idaho, you plant on Mother's Day but this year the following week had temperatures into the upper 30's so I'm glad we waited.

And of course we are spending a bit more time with Isabella and her Mom and Dad.

Chick-fil-A delivery

Pretty exciting when you and Grandma have matching shoes AND you find a painted rock that perfectly matches!

The kite I bought years ago in China was a popular diversion one afternoon. 

And we even did a little fishing in the ponds by our house.

Another fun fact is that I filled up my car on April 9th and have used a little less than a 1/4 tank.  Fred Meyer grocery pick up continues to be the way I feed the family.  It is easy and efficient.  They do a good job picking out produce and I am happy.

The church is making plans to reopen soon but the guidelines at this time say that they don't suggest attendance for people over 65 so I guess we'll be enjoying 'home church' a while longer.  

All in all, it hasn't been a difficult time for me.