Staying Busy During Stay at Home Pandemic

The country has been in lock down status because of the COVID-19 pandemic since mid-March. It started when the grandkids began Spring Break and continued until school was finally canceled for the year. They have all been busy working from home, distance learning, enjoying special activities their parents dream up to keep them all from going insane, and messaging Mimi or Poppy at random times throughout the day. Being retired, our lives haven't changed... that much.

Ryan and Sophia on Troll night.

The Gutierrez Harry Potter night.

The Glenn-Searls Fiesta night.

We do miss the freedom to drive north and south on I-35 and see the grandkids, going to the theater and watching movies, going out to eat, shopping when we want to do so, attending church or going to the temple, taking an RV trip, or just having the freedom to go anywhere at anytime! Ron seems pretty content with his phone and TV remote; but, I have intense moments of cabin fever. As a result, there are a few things that I do to fill the days.

Poppy doing Poppy things.

I usually walk the dogs each morning or evening. If we don't walk down the road, I'll walk the path I've cut around Scott's property.  In the early days of spring, the bluebonnets were simply beautiful and I looked forward to watching the patches grow each morning.

One of many beautiful bluebonnet patches along the roadside. 

Part of my walking path.

I spend a lot of time in the sewing room. It has become my own fortress of solitude. I've organized fabric, labeled boxes, and worked on inventory for the Etsy shop.

Sorting and organizing is ongoing as fabric is used.

I have managed to throw away several boxes!

Some of the newest inventory items.

... more inventory

and more inventory.

When not working on inventory, I've made masks for the family members, to include Jamie's mom and Molly's parents, masks for hospital ERs, NIC units, the brethren at church who minister to the home bound, and members of our church family. I've worked on quilts for the unwed mother's shelter and the Quilts of Valor program, and made pillow cases for the residents of Rebecca's nursing home.  I've had to be resourceful at times when the elastic ran out and was hard to find. Some of the masks were made using headbands, and some were made using parachute cord. 

The first batch went to Alisha's hospital in Oregon.

...one of my Quilts of Valor donations

...modeling a mask

... attaching binding to a donation baby quilt

The second batch went to the NIC unit.

The third batch went to the brethren at church.

Rebecca presenting the first batch of pillowcases
at her nursing home.

...picture of Becca taken from the Gatesville
Messenger

... donated pillowcase

... another

and another.

When I'm not in the sewing room, I'm outside. We put in a very small square foot garden to grow zuchini, squash, peppers, tomatoes, and a few herbs. I spend time caring for my hens, Rockelle and Little Red Hen. I mow grass, trim trees, pick up rocks, burn brush, and enjoy the best season in Texas while it lasts. I also tried my hand at cutting hair, which is NOT one of my talents. But, Ron was a great sport and we both enjoyed a day of laughter. 

The garden when we first put it out.

The garden this morning after Pete dug up
one of the squash plants and I found even more
dog paw prints in it.

My hens; Rockelle on the left and Little Red Hen
on the right. Red is the only one that
still lays. 

Ron with a front view of the mohawk 

... and the rear view. 

I have been thankful for the wonders of technology which has enabled me to watch sessions of general conference and weekly classes from church, do some indexing of historical records for FamilySearch.org, zoom with the family, message the grandkids, and watch junkfood for the brain on the idiot box. 

watching conference

Zoom piano concert and family meeting

screen shot of indexing page

Shopping has never been a big deal to me, so I don't miss taking shopping trips. When I do go out, it is to replenish the freezer and cabinets to replace items that were previously stocked. I take advantage of HEB curbside pick up and Wal-Mart's senior hours on Tuesday morning. When I see an item that is scarce, I grab it. Like a huge pack of toilet paper! The one thing I do seem to splurge on is Bluebell ice cream treats. My comfort food!

Comfort is a stocked freezer and cupboard.

We didn't need it; but, we have to restock as we use.

YUMMY!!!

The whole experience hasn't been horrible, other than not seeing all of my family on a regular basis. I see Scott and Molly daily, which is a great blessing. They both run errands for us and help out with anything we need.  

Molly and Scott

We got to see Ryan's family when they did a drive by visit for Molly's birthday. 

Jamie and the girls keeping 6 feet away.

Ryan... 6 feet away.

Delivering Molly's birthday gift.

We were able to see Seth when he came down to help with the pool. (I will have an additional post about putting in the pool.)

Seth, packing down the sand with Poppy.

And, Leslie's family spent last weekend in our drive way camping out in Miss Lippy. We were heartbroken to not be able to send out a message to all of our kids, saying, "Come and help put up the pool then swim with us!" But, those days will come soon enough.  Gov. Abbot is relaxing the self distancing expectations as of Friday, so we hope we do not have a spike or resurgence in the numbers. If not, we will continue to resume a normal life style. 

Before Leslie's family arrived, I sanitized Miss Lippy.

She hadn't been used since our trip to Palo Duro at
Thanksgiving. 

Thank goodness Scott has her remodeled
to accommodate 7 people!

Leslie brought hair dye to color the girls hair.
Sophie went with a dark blue.

Maggie went with a magenta shade of
pink, or purple??

We added a little color to Boomer's tail...

And a dab of color to Pete's head. 

Sophie and Maggie helped put up the pool and were
the first to enjoy it while they distributed the salt.

Sophie

Maggie

Looking forward, we know that that resumption of normalcy will not be easy or happen quickly. We've pretty much canceled our family road trip that we take on the even numbered years. We were going to travel to Yellowstone and Grand Teton. But, the National Parks are closed until further notice. As a result, we will make plans for some sort of family gathering at home. Luckily, there are plenty of things to do. We now have the trampoline, tree fort, archery equipment, assorted yard games, and the pool. We will most likely just spend time here as a family as restrictions are reduced. And that's just fine with me!