49 days of Covid-19

Hey there, well, I am still here, hunkered down, waiting for better news.

Started the day with my bay leaf tea, watching the birds, while Barley snoozed in a bit of sunshine.

Everyday there are more positive cases in Wisconsin and more deaths.

There is starting to be more evidence of testing available to more than just the critically ill.

Some businesses are opening with accommodation for distance and safety.  Most of the State Parks and Trails are opening again.  Lots of confusion about what is open.  Many folks still not wearing masks.  Time will tell how it all turns out, but I'm still working off of Plan A.  Stay home with the exception of essential travel.

Today I was delighted to receive a handwritten postcard in the mail.

Now that I am a little more involved with my local Democrats, I appreciate even more the work of volunteers across the country working to make our country a better place.

 Today I noticed this on the calendar in my bathroom.

What do you think?  Probably pretty true, especially during Covid-19 Safer At Home.

I started to think about sewing the graduation gifts today, didn't get to far.  

Deciding on the fabric, leads to organizing fabric into tubs.  

Finding the necessary patterns and hardware leads to more organizing, 

and then I ran across a little stack of squares that were just shouting at me to make tiny quilts.  

So, I made tiny Corona Quilts today.

The graduation gifts will be on tomorrow's agenda.

7 weeks down, 4 more to go.

Be Safe

4 dozen days of Covid - 19

Today marks 48 days since Safer At Home became my mantra.

As of today, in the State of Wisconsin, 6,081 have been confirmed as positive for Covid-19, 281 deaths caused by the virus.  

In the county of Barron where I live, 6 have been confirmed, 0 dead.  

Of course in both cases, testing is primarily provided only to those who are very ill.

Nationwide 1.06M are confirmed positive for the virus and 60,983 are dead as a result.

The controversy continues to brew about opening businesses and returning to normal activities.

There is some hope for a possible treatment, drug trials are promising, Remdesivir is the name.  

Time will tell.

The beat goes on.

Took some photos of my daffodils today, they are a little droopy, but still so beautiful.

On a bright sunny day, it is hard to get a good photo, they almost reflect the light.

We had a cloudy morning, so that was perfect for a few snapshots.

It was a very chilly and windy morning.  

Mr Cardinal stopped by, but the wind was hard on him.

My general impression of the male Northern Cardinal is that they prefer to look dignified.

Don't we all.

***

Took my car in early this a.m.

My mechanic of 12 years, had given me a head's up that I needed brakes and transmission fluid flush, neither were emergent, but just to let me plan ahead.

I decided to get both done while I'm not driving.

He agreed to send me home in a loaner.

Devious to send me out in a nice loaner... 

it was fun to a drive a newer car with all the bells and whistles.  

Push button start, electric everything, rear view camera, wow.  Fun.

But I love my 2009 Vibe, all 160,000 miles and no car payment and low insurance.

But I did enjoy the 10 miles I drove in the fancy,spendy car today.

A few new birds around, hoping to see Bluebirds soon.
I'm almost ready to put the Oriole feeder up too.


I sent out a few masks to friends and family.

One happy customer in Colorado

Zoom  & Bridge again today.

Really fun, starting to be some new hairstyles crop up too.

Be Safe

Stay Well

Forward

Day 47, A Rainy Day in 'Sconny

I was listening to one of the late night hosts today 

and I heard him say that we have been staying home for 6 weeks.  

WOW! 

 It had not occurred to me that it had been that long.  

It's going pretty fast.  

I think the first week or two were the worst.

Once I got it in my head, then it became just a way of life.

Milestone day: Outbreak kills more Americans than in Vietnam War

🌧

It's a rainy day in Rice Lake, Wisconsin. 

Nice gentle rain, very peaceful. 

And it is not keeping the birds from the feeders. 

I saw a female Northern Cardinal, she was showing a lot of cone-head, 

so maybe she does not like being wet.

There are quite a few American Goldfinch around the feeders today. 

(I think there is also some hanky-panky in the works.)

I remember coming to Wisconsin to visit, before I made the-big-move, 

seeing the Goldfinch in full mating yellow was always such a treat. 

And now, I can sit and drink my tea 

and watch them all day long. 

I am very lucky.

The American Goldfinch are in full mating color.

This last photo is my favorite.

✀✀✀

So, it was a good day to sew.

I whipped up 3 scrub hats for my niece Michelle who is going through chemo and has a naked head now.  She's an RN and I thought these might work well or work, or whenever.

Only low budget models available due to Covid-19.

The instructions are on YouTube. 

Really fun to make, so easy.

I'll probably make a few more of these for the other health care givers in the family.

I am going to make one for me too, nice to have for painting or bad hair day.

Take care of each other, and to quote our state motto, FORWARD.

Day 46

Started out rainy but by afternoon the weather was nice.  

I rearranged my laptop setup by way of a new table/ deal that came today.  
Much better for my Zoom Bridge dates and for photo editing too.

2014 Wilkin's Resort on Bone Lake

Dad would have been 98 today.  Remembering him. 


Made a pot of white bean & ham soup. Really tasty,  really salty from the ham.

Be well

Stay sane

#45 and Sunny & 60 degrees

Confirmed 982K

Recovered 109K

Deaths 55,070

The US data is grim and the rest of the world not any better.  Now there is some discussion about the accuracy of the deaths, and that it could actually be a much higher number.  

I keep hoping that the news will be better, but until there is a vaccine, 

there probably is not much that is going to be good to hear.

60°, with lots of sun today.

I got the cushions put on the deck furniture, raked a bunch in the front yard, 

and then had time for a rest & some sun.

I saw my first of the year butterfly, I think it was a Little Yellow.

No photo, he just fluttered by.

While I sat on the deck, Barley stood at the screen door and let me have it.

I have not cleaned up the cat condo yet, but if the weather stays good, I'll get that done.

She loves to be out there.

I thought I was pretty smart today, I figured out that I could use a broom stick to poke the cushions stored in the garage rafters and knock them down, saving me the hassle of the ladder and the up and down.  This fall when I store the cushions up there, I'll have to plan accordingly to be sure I can do that again, it was easier.

Starting to hear a lot of motorcycles, 

many of which are flying up the county road as if there was no speed limit.
🛴
I played Zoom Bridge with the Out-West group today too.
A nice way to spend Sunday afternoon, even though my cards were just awful.

I ordered more bird seed from Farm & Fleet, I better go run through the drive through and pick it up.

One thing about the drive through shopping, nothing extra jumps into the cart.

Good for me, bad for the merchant.

Be well

Day 44 and it was a beauty

Pretty weather today, sunny and warm, a few clouds blew by 

and didn't drop the rain that was expected.  

So, Day 44 was a nice one.

Played Zoom Bridge with Roche, LeAnna & Karen today, snapped a screen shot.  Everybody was seriously into it, except for the goofy girl pressing the screenshot button.

Then, I gave myself a haircut.

I am pleased with the results.

All I needed was a mirror and a sharp scissors.

And now I'm good to go for a few more weeks, maybe. 

+++

I signed up for a free subscription to a series of Qigong classes, 

offered free by Qigong master as help during this pandemic. 

I took a course from a local instructor about 4 years 

ago and really enjoyed it. 

Today, I spent about 15 minutes relearning the slow movements, 

focused on breathing.   Very pleasing. 

I'll be sure to add this into my daily pandemic routine. 

✌️

Added a little more chalk to the driveway:

"☮️ ❤😺😺

Be Well

No Place Like 🏡" 

My chalk supply is pretty weak.  

I asked Amazon to send me a refill, I'm going to need it.

Day 44, and about 31 days or more left in Safer At Home.

I can do this, not a problem, but I'll need chalk.

Stay Safe

Be Well

Covid-19 Day 43

A beautiful day in the neighborhood.  Sunny, 62⁰, light breeze.

If a person was motivated, it would be good to work outdoors.

I sewed the rest of my mask supply this morning, with some supervision.

This was a first, Barley got up on the sewing table and watched the needle as it went up and down.

Helpful.

I had Zoom lunch with Dave, Suzi & Boomer, and that was great fun.

It is amazing how easy it is to connect and have time to just chat.

Looking forward to our next one next Friday.

This afternoon I had Zoom Bridge with the Out-West girls.  We had some Zoom technical issues to start.  I learned that if someone locks up and you remove them from the meeting, they can't come back.  So, we had to restart, but then everything worked great.

Very fun.

No big plans for the rest of the day.

It is time to start planning the graduation gifts, maybe I can get sewing on those tomorrow.

The U.S. death toll passes 50,000.

Wisconsin has 4,620 confirmed cases, 242 deaths.

HOW IT SPREADS

The virus that causes COVID-19 is mainly transmitted through droplets generated when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or exhales. These droplets are too heavy to hang in the air, and quickly fall on floors or surfaces.

You can be infected by breathing in the virus if you are within close proximity of someone who has COVID-19, or by touching a contaminated surface and then your eyes, nose or mouth.

All good at my house.

Be Well.

Carry On.

Can't we all just get along on Day 42

You already know the answer to that one.

Little dust-up at the bird feeders this morning.

Mrs. Pileated Woodpecker stopped by. 

I know this is a female because the boys have a line of red feathers that starts at the beak.  

Only the boys wear the lip stick in this family.

She eyed up the feeders, calculating where she could land, and then took a leap..

Getting the lay of the land.

 Figuring out where to perch.

Calculating her chances.

Pushing off.

Scrambing for a foothold.3

 Just as she was scrambling to get hold of the feeder, a gray squirrel gave her an eviction notice.

Then comes the enforcer and runs her off.

Squirrel boldly shoos off the woodpecker.

 The Victor

 I guess there's a new sheriff in town.

  

Pileated 0 Squirrel 1

***
Update, the Pileated Woodpecker returned.
Now I am thinking that this might be a juvenile Pileated Woodpecker. Anyway, the squirrel was not on guard and the suet was flying.

Fun to watch, the last of the suet that I'll be putting out since I know the raccoons and bears will be attracted if I leave it out. So, I'm glad this woodpecker helped get it eaten up.

I think I'll make this my posting for day 42 of Covid Avoidance.

I've been doing some sewing, took a nap, writing a note or two.

Pretty quiet except for the neighbor who is mowing/vacuuming/something his grass for the second or third time this Spring.  I bet he can't wait for my yard of dandelions to get going.

Be Well.

Stay Safe.

Day 41 - Earth Day 2020

This week's message from Security Health as part of the 5 week series was about physical health.  It stressed being grateful for what you can do and not worry so much about what you used to be able to do.  They ended with this "love and take care of your body, it is your only place to live".

My Orkin technician showed up today, it is the first time anyone has knocked on the door in 41 or more days.  He rebaited the mouse stations.  He was willing to spray outside for wasps, bees, spiders, and other bugs, but I just could not say yes to that on Earth Day.

Save the Earth;
it is the only planet with beer;
that we know of.

Played bridge on Zoom with the Out-West girls.  It was fun.  

It takes a big chunk out the day.  

Kind of gives me an excuse not to sew much on bridge days, 

and then more motivation to hit it on non bridge days.

Today I replaced the 3 smoke alarms that I took out to the garage late Monday night.  I was able to order them from Farm & Fleet on line and then pick them up at the drive through.  Very handy.  They installed easily, came with a pigtail adapter since the electrical connections have changed in the last 15 years.  I have one more on hand but need 2 more.  F & F only had the 4, so I'll have to order another.  Even though the smoke detectors are the hardwired kind, 

they still have a life cycle, or so I'm told.

That's all the news fit to print, 

hope you are doing well.

Be Safe.