139 days of Safer at Home

I don't think the cats mind that I am home all the time.  They aren't like dogs though, so they also are not thrilled that I am home.  They probably milk more treats out of me since I'm here all the time, but otherwise, their lives continue to be fairly stress free.

Hops amuses me sometimes as she loves to perch on a box or a step stool.  I have some sewing project boxes in the living room and last night she perched herself there to watch TV.

Sometimes she relaxes / sleeps on the living room carpet and obviously has not a care in the world.

Belly up, exposed to the world., snoring.

Whatta life.

😸

The Covid news is not at all good today.

73 new cases in our county, with some concentration of positives at the Seneca bean plant in Cumberland.  Our County Health Department folks are really under pressure.

Mask Up folks, it is going to be awhile before we see the end of this virus.

Johanne Kristine Johansen Hansen - Obituary

March 31, 1925 - July 25, 2020
Born in Luck, WI Resided in Des Moines, Iowa

Johanne Kristine Johansen Hansen of Des Moines, Iowa, died on Saturday, July 25, 2020 at Lutheran Hospital from pneumonia following surgery. Johanne was born in Luck, Wisconsin in 1925. She married Thorvald Hansen in June 1948. They met at Grand View College (now University), which played a dominant role in their lives. Johanne served as a pastor’s wife for many years until moving to Des Moines in 1965. She worked at the Grand View library for over 20 years. She was a long-time member of Luther Memorial Church. Many of Johanne’s interests stemmed from her Danish heritage: genealogy, and Danish counted cross stitch, for example. Other creative outlets were knitting mittens and stocking caps for children in need. She worked on quilts with her church group for people in need. Johanne is survived by three daughters, Ellen Hansen, Barb Miller, and Nancy O’Keefe. She had six grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and one great-great grandchild. She was preceded in death by her husband, Thorvald Hansen, and four siblings. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Luther Memorial Church or to the Grand View University fund for students in need at GV Cares Fund at 1200 Grand View Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50316.

Day 138, Safer at Home

A few more beautiful Day Lily blooms today.

Okay, finally some sewing progress.

I just haven't been able to get back to the sewing machine, I'm not sure why.

I found these cute little charms on eBay.

I put one in each of the jewelry pouches I made for the Luck girls who graduated this year.

I made a deck of playing cards for each of the female graduates with a sports photo that I took during the season.

I made some little cinch bags to 'wrap' the cards.

For the boys, I made a snap closure pouch that coordinates with the Adventure Bag that they are getting. 

The playing cards slide inside.

The jewelry pouches turned out fine.

I am still fine tuning my pattern, but these are certainly useful 

(and it used up some fabric that I had in my stash).

I'm getting closer to mailing off all these goodies.

I'm starting to feel the pressure now that both Spring Valley & Luck have actually held Graduation Ceremonies.  Both ceremonies were live streamed via the internet, so while I did not attend, I got to see the kids get their diplomas.

Congrats to the Class of 2020.

This class more than any in history is learning to be creative, 

make the most of the situation 

and go with the flow.

Day 137, Safer at Home

Monday, a nice day weather wise, lower dew point and mostly sunny.

💛💛💛

I attended the board meeting for the Cameron Public Library.  I have served on that board for about 4 years now.  Today, our business was to decide if it was safe to re-open the library to patrons.  We have provided curbside delivery of books for those who wanted to order a specific title, now the patron can come into the library to browse for 30 minutes.  I hope this can work and that our library staff can remain well and safe.  There is risk with our county numbers on the rise.

After the meeting, I took a drive to Almena.

Today was the farthest I have roamed from home since 3/12/2020 when I drove to Hayward for the basketball tournament game.

My mission was to check on a vegetable stand there.  I have loved the fresh produce sold at this stand over the years, they have had the best tomatoes on the planet.

But, it does not look like they are planning to sell this year.

I have a phone number for the couple as they were nice enough to sell to me last year, I'll call them in a few weeks and confirm that they are not selling to the public.

This morning, Hops and Barley, were asleep in a cat bed near the deck doors.

They made me think of Yin and Yang.

☯☯☯

I have a new plant growing on the back deck.

I think it looks like Hops but the flower is not what I am accustomed to expect from Hops.

I'll have to post it for the panel of experts on the Facebook and see what they think.

My guess is that it could be a wild Hop plant.

My neighbor when I lived in Arvada, Carol, has recently moved to Nebraska.

She sent me a note that during her packing she had run across something that I should have, so she shipped it to me.

I'm not sure what to think of this crazy cat, it is cute or homely? 

No worrieds,  I'll find a spot for him.

Today's Lily.

The variation of color in the petal is just lovely.

A few years ago, one of my Bridge player friends called me up and said she was digging up a slug of Phlox and did I want them.  Of course, I said yes.  She even delivered a large tub of plants.

I planted them along the driveway in my ditch project.  Most years, just at the buds are about to open, a deer munches them off, but this year, we have a lovely supply of just barely pink Phlox.

😷

Wisconsin continues to show large increases in positive Covid-19 tests.

Our county had a jump of 34 new cases, 

23- close contacts of positive cases

1-related to travel

4-related to attending gatherings where a sick person attended

6-do not know how they got sick

It is the ones that do not know that make me the most nervous.

I have 137 days invested in staying well, I don't plan to change my behavior now.

Over 150,000 deaths in our nation now.

Sad times.

Wisconsin

Confirmed 52,685 +957

Recovered -

Deaths 901 +1

United States

Confirmed 4.37M +58,631

Recovered 1.31M

Deaths 150K +552

Worldwide

Confirmed 16.4M +205K

Recovered 9.51M

Deaths 652K +4,843

Memories of Johanne Kristine Johansen Hansen

1925.03.31 - 2020.07.25 

Memories of Johanne Kristine Johansen Hansen

It was a sad day today.  I learned that my Aunt Johanne died yesterday, Saturday afternoon, 2020.07.25.

She was the youngest of my Dad’s sisters and the last of that family.  She lived to be 95 and we had celebrated her birthday in March with a Zoom session of most of my cousins.  Covid-19 had kept us from having a proper 1^st Cousins Reunion this year, which would have been in June. 

June 17^th was the last email I received from Aunt Johanne. In it she talked about wondering what the schools would do this fall and how Nancy had been given permission to come into her apartment to help with some computer fixing & a list of other chores that had piled up.  She managed pretty well with Covid restrictions, still managing to get down the hall to the mailbox daily, going later at night to avoid any contact.

Johanne went into the hospital on July 8^th.  At first the reports were good about her recovery from surgery, but then the pain got worse and pneumonia set in and then a blood clot in the lung.  And now, she has no more pain and no more worries.  I’m very sad for her 3 daughters to have lost such a good Mom.  And I’m sad for all my first cousins as we have lost more than an Aunt and the last of the Johansen family.  And now, it is the end of that generation of Johansens, leaving it now to my generation.

When I think about my memories of Aunt Johanne as a young girl, the first thing I can remember was riding with her through the Minneapolis highway system on our way to Des Moines.  She was driving and I was so impressed because I had not seen those big highways before.  I have no idea why I would have been riding with her or who else was along, I only remember being in the backseat as we cruised through overpasses and underpasses along our way.  In later years, as I drove through the Twin Cities, a little nervous about the traffic and trying to stay in the lane that took me in the right direction, I marveled at her ability to manage that drive.

Then, as a young woman, I would see Jo and Thorvald most every time I drove through Des Moines on my way to Luck.  Sometimes it would only be a short visit as I would want to travel on.  Aunt Johanne always fussed about me leaving to drive on when it was already dark.  I did it several times, she never liked it.  She was right.  At least one time I got into a squeeze trying to get a motel room extremely late at night with No Vacancies for many miles.  Sometimes I would stay at Uncle Chris and Aunt Elsie’s, but most of the time I would hop in the car and head for Luck, WI or back to Denver, CO.  Always knowing that Aunt Johanne would worry for my safety.

In my memory, I thought that Aunt Johanne and Aunt Elsie were the wedding planners for the family.  I think they helped with a couple, at  the very least, but to me, they were the organizers and doers that made things happen for the family.  As we got a little older, Sister-In-Law Lois and I would say we were Jo & Elsie if we were working in the kitchen together or putting on a party.  We felt proud to be walking in their shoes.

I remember one visit to Aunt Johanne, on a summer day in Des Moines, we sat on the sun porch having a cold drink.  That was the first time she showed me the family tree she had been working on.  She had used a poster board and started hand drawing in the tree with a few of the details.  It was really the first time I understood who the Tante’s were in Luck and how I was related to all of my Grandmother Frederikke’s sisters and brother and all of their children.  I knew just enough about computers then to know that we needed to find a way to enter what we knew into a family tree software.  And so, it began that the two of us worked on keeping the family tree updated over the years.  Johanne and Thorvald did all the research back into the 1800s, in Denmark or at the genealogy center in Salt Lake City, UT.  As of today, our tree has 1,198 names included.  We tried to add every new baby and any new death. She was particular that we didn't say what we didn't know to be fact and that we didn't stray too far away from the bloodline, meaning the families of in-laws, etc, although I have been known to cheat on that rule.  I did the update this afternoon as soon as Cousin Barb called me.  Aunt Johanne would want the tree to be accurate and updated. 

The family tree work gave Aunt Jo and I a good reason to email back and forth with any updates.  As time went on, I got in the habit of trying to email her at least once a week, whether I had much to say or not.  She started closing her emails with Ha’ det godt, Danish for Have it Good.  I love that and I started using it as well.  Often, we would just say a bit about the weather, or I would update her about her great & great-great nieces and nephews.  She kept them all straight, as to who belonged to who, which was not an easy feat.  In our family alone she was an aunt, great aunt, great-great aunt, and great-great-great aunt. I looked forward to hearing from her and am forever grateful that she embraced the email process and we kept in touch all these many years, even after Uncle Thorvald passed in 2015 & her eyesight became dimmed by the macular degeneration.  We sometimes would hash over the political situation; she was a strong Democrat and knew that I was as well.  She was disgusted with the Trump administration crudeness and was hoping to see him voted out in the Fall.  She was a night owl as was I, so emailing was perfect as it could be done at any hour of the day.  I suppose I should have telephoned her to chat more often, but we had so many enjoyable email ‘conversations’ over the years, I’m not sorry for our electronic correspondence.  Many of which are saved in a folder in my email, there now for me to re-read and remember.

I did not get to Des Moines as often as I should have since moving back to Wisconsin in 2008.  Thankfully, we had a First Cousin’s gathering each year, so there was at least one good chance to visit with her, although the competition for her time amongst all the cousins put her time in great demand.  This last cousin’s reunion, in 2019, was the best (in my opinion).  Aunt Johanne was the star and we each took a turn to ask a question and then we all listened.  It was just fun to hear what she remembered and to hear her thoughts, and to see the looks on the cousin’s faces as she answered each of their questions.

I learned to do Counted Cross-stitch from Aunt Elsie, but Aunt Johanne was also a master.  She even made up a pattern to capture the 3 churches of West Denmark.  A commemorative bell pull that I hear will be donated to the West Denmark Church and I’ll be proud to present it.  I remember that she cross stitched some valances for one of her rooms, I loved those and was amazed by the work involved.  She made a charming home and whenever we ate a meal there, it was done with proper decor and dishes.  She made me wish I was more Danish in my daily behavior.

I always admired the life work of Uncle Thorvald and Aunt Johanne; I respected their many contributions to Grand View College.  I remember one time when Uncle Thorvald told me I should write more, not as in more often or letters, but just to write to express myself.  I took it as a profoundly serious compliment and have worked on keeping a blog for about 12 years and often spend some time writing to elected officials & the occasional editorial for the newspaper and now this.

I am so happy that I had the cousin’s reunion here at my home in 2018.  She got to see many of the artifacts that I have collected from Dad, and Grandfather Ansgar’s barn (courtesy of Paul & Maggie Petersen).  I have several cement blocks that were hand made by Aunt Johanne & Dad in about 1940, as well as a few other antique keepsakes.  I was incredibly grateful that she was able to come here, got into the house okay and then enjoyed the day of visiting with her nieces and nephews.  It made me incredibly happy that she could see my yard and house, at least that one time.

After Uncle Thorvald's funeral in 2015

On the steps of the Dane School at West Denmark,
she was determined to make it up the steps so that she could see the inside.

2019

Add caption

At Grandview University, building named for her and Uncle Thorvald

Ha’ de godt Auntie

134 days invested in good health

I woke up to thunder this morning, a quick storm ran through and dropped just a little rain.

Today was bridge day, not much else got done, except my usual reading of the news and editorials.

I caught 2 kitties on the screenshot today during Bridge.

Roche's kitten likes to get right up to the camera lens and usually mutes the sound or makes some other setting adjustment.

Calvin is such a lap kitty, sleeping on LeAnna's lap during most of the 2 hour session.
Today, he gave us a little cameo.

Not much other news here.

More positive Covid19 tests here in our county, the ones that worry me are the ones that the sick person does not know where they picked up the virus.

So, I continue to be cautious.

Another weekend coming up, it seems like the days go by so quickly, once we got past about day 14.

 Be safe.

☮☮☮☮☮

Day 133

There it's a lull in my energy level, 133 days will do that I guess. 

One of my daily routines is to play Question of the Day & Puzzle of the Day on the Alexa smart device.

It's good for my brain, and it is fun.  

Occasionally I do pretty good.  

The results are emailed to me the next day.   

This was my all time best.

Day 132

 The yard feels like a sponge, 3 inches of rain and then it has been spritzing off and on all day today.

High of 65℉, I almost had to turn on the fireplace it was so chilly in the house.

A couple more pretty Day Lily flowers open today.

The Chickadees are back at the feeders, they must have fledged all their babies.

A couple of pretty visitors today.

Female Northern Cardinal

Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak

 After a record breaking number of positive test results yesterday, I read that the % positive rate was down today in Wisconsin.  Now if we can keep Trump from sending his armed militias to our cities, maybe we will survive 2020.  But since he has declared war on all democratic mayors of major cities, I'm do not know what we should expect next.  

104 days until we VOTE.

Day 131 and stormy

It started out stormy with some steady rain, about an inch.

It ended with 3 tornado warnings all around me, and 2 inches of additional rain.

I spent about 15 minutes in my closet/bunker waiting out the tornado watches.

Lucky, all we got was rain.

So, 3 inches of rain, just today.

My lawn guy came in between storms and mowed the grass.

Kind of crazy, he drove away on his mower in a hard downpour, lucky he just lives 2 houses away.

***

Wisconsin had another all time high of positive tests for Covid19.

Our county had a few more positives too.

I'm starting to realize my dream of quilt camp in October is probably not going to happen.

Be safe.

Day 130 of Safer at Home

Well, I took the weekend off I guess.  

I didn't even think about writing on Saturday, 

meant to on Sunday, 

and here we are.  

Monday fun-day.

The Day Lily patch is very pretty this year.  Such an easy perennial for me.  I'm sure these clumps should/could be split, but for now, they are just full of blooms.

A couple two three that caught my eye today.

✉✉✉

My friend Mary reminds me quite often "Everybody likes to get mail".

Today I got a surprise package from my friends Dave & Suzi in Colorado.

Suzi has sent me a box of Quilting magazines in the past, 

so when I saw the box, that's what I was happily expecting.

But, in addition to an assortment of great magazines, 

a funny Trump Twitters roll of TP, a new book to read and....

Taco Bell taco sauce!

We have written back and forth about our love for good tacos and this sauce is one of the keys.

🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮🌮

Safer at Home

The news is still quite bleak for Wisconsin with huge increases in the positive test results.

I am now connected to someone who is sick and tested positive, which brings home the need to remain vigilant and careful about social distancing & masking.

More than 143,000 deaths in our nation now, which in itself is so upsetting.

I am hopeful, however, now that big retail 💲💲💲 is stepping into requiring masks in their stores. Maybe we can slow down the transfer of the virus.  

(I do think bars are probably a big petri dish, but more folks have to shop than like to sit on a bar stool.)  

I think big retail might just be the unlikely hero in this story.  Of course it is in their best interest to slow down the virus so that they can stay open to customers 💲💲💲.  

But no matter the motivation, I am thankful to Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, Menards, Marketplace, Starbucks, Kohls, Target, Home Depot, Lowes, Whole Foods, Costco, Albertsons, Apple, Best Buy, Aldi and Petsmart.

I just saw the Aldi news while researching this list, yippee!  

Now if KwikTrip would follow along, my personal supply chain would be safer.

Cases overview

Wisconsin

Confirmed 46,249 +830

Recovered -

Deaths 853 +1

United States

Confirmed 3.89M +63,591

Recovered 1.12M

Deaths 143K +512

Worldwide

Confirmed 14.6M +167K

Recovered 8.2M

Deaths 608K +4,496

I chalked this on the driveway about 2 months ago.

I got some industrial spray chalk, and it takes and licking and keeps on kicking!

I have not touched this up since I chalked it.

Glad I wrote something that can stand the test of time.

I posted a notice on my front door after a few visits by a well meaning neighbor.

I do not answer the door.

She still rings the door bell, but at least she probably understands now why I don't answer... probably.

Be safe

Stay well

Day Lily, 127 Days of Safer at Home

As I went down to drop a letter off in the mailbox this evening I caught Alvin the Chipmunk hanging around with Thumper at the end of the driveway. 

I was pretty far away, I had to use the zoom on my phone, but you get the idea. 

We can all get along.

k

A couple more varieties of Day Lily opened their buds today.

Be safe.

☮

More I-Sew-Lation, 126 days of Covid-19

More sewing today.

I decided to make a couple of jewelry pouches.  

Maybe 20 years ago +/-, stepmom Ev sewed these for all her daughters, step daughters and granddaughters.  I still have mine and have used it many, many times.

Today, I used the same Wisconsin wild flower fabric and, as the liners, other fabric from that same year of Wisconsin Quilt Shop Hop.

I like how they turned out.

I can see that I need to fine tune my pattern and write some notes as I made a couple of errors during today's session.  But, they are usable and look good if you don't get too picky.

***

Some news that made me happy today had to do with major corporations requiring masks for all customers...Walmart, Walgreens, CVS and others.  I'm wishing that both Aldi and KwikTrip would do the same, as they are part of my supply chain.

I have not forgotten my commitment to learn more about Black history and the BLM movement.  My plan is to get back to watching more historical productions by the weekend.  A couple of the movies that I already watched need to be viewed again, as they were jam packed with new information for me, and I need to try to absorb more.

Stay Safe

Mask Up

125 days of I-Sew-Lation

Finished sewing 4 Adventure Bags today.  These are graduation gifts.  Inside will be a sewing kit, nail file, & multi-use tool. 

The red and gray are for the boys 

and the Wisconsin wild flowers are for the girls. 

More to make tomorrow.  Hoping to make Friday shipping day.

125 days invested in safety & health.

☮

124 Days of Safer at Home

Did some sewing today.

I'm working on Adventure Bags for the graduates.

I am ready to install the zippers tomorrow on 4 bags, the rest goes very fast.

This flowered fabric was a special purchase as part of the 

Wisconsin Quilt Shop Hop a few years ago and I just love it.

Wisconsin wild flowers.

This Wisconsin fabric was from last year's Wisconsin Quilt Shop Hop.

Fun to have something personal to 'Sconny.

I'll finish these in the morning.

I had a bird casualty today.

A Common Grackle hit the front window and landed on the bird feeder.

He was still moving then, but I feared the worst.

I did move him to a towel in an box and left him outside in case he would recover.

But sadly, he died.  It always makes me sad to lose one.

I never did go to the nursery to get bedding plants this year,

I just let my pots grow what they would.

Most of my pots are growing sunflowers planted by the squirrels or chipmunks.

On the front deck, these pots are growing a fun plant that gets a  yellow flower.

It has a large, very soft, heart shaped leaf.

I just love it.

I have been home for several days now, 

I'll likely have to make a trip to KwikTrip tomorrow for a few supplies.

But I'm cautious, our Wisconsin + numbers are up.

Some people on social media point to the lower numbers of deaths a support for theories that this has all been overblown.  But this is not a live or die disease.  In fact, survivors may face a lifetime of chronic illness and lung disease.

I am determined to avoid contracting this wicked virus.

Cases overview

Wisconsin

Confirmed 40,683 +494

Recovered -

Deaths 828 +0

United States

Confirmed 3.48M +57,942

Recovered 1.03M

Deaths 138K +282

Worldwide

Confirmed 13.2M +216K

Recovered 7.33M

Deaths 575K +5,037