Just when you think the walls have closed in so tightly you are going to go mad, here’s an article about being stranded. Really stranded.
A Bolivian orchestra has been stuck in a haunted German castle, surrounded by twenty-three packs of wolves, for two months.
I hope Frederick the Great likes music.
https://nypost.com/2020/05/23/bolivian-orchestra-stuck-at-german-castle-surrounded-by-wolves/
Yesterday was a mental health day.
There are no adventures planned for the long weekend. Unpacking the summer clothes (still not needed here in RI) and cleaning up the storage room are on my agenda, as are laundry and paperwork. The fog is thick outside my window.
Two beaches open on Monday, but we’ll stay away from the crowds and go for a walk another day. There are no events planned at the Veteran’s cemetery, which is sad.
If you’re planning an adventure this weekend, stay safe and enjoy yourself!
I would never have called myself a big shopper, but when I saw this sign on Marshall’s windows I couldn’t wait to find a parking space and go inside. It was very exciting!
I had just come from physical therapy and my hip was aching, but nothing was going to stop me from putting on my mask, taking a sanitized cart and following the “one way” arrows painted on the floor. There was no line. It wasn’t crowded. Everyone in there was happy, or at least seemed content (how do you describe someone as “happy” when you can’t see the smile behind the mask?).
I bought three tops, two jars a fig jam and three pairs of socks. The check-out line was long, but it moved fairly quickly.
The dressing room was closed, so I have my receipt just in case.
Now it’s time for a nap.
What’s open in your world?
Banjo Man’s super power is water witching. Here he is busy calculating the depth of Barb and Rod’s mystery well. It took a while to find the well, but a good time was had by all in the process. Rod is standing by to punch a hole in the ground to hopefully find the well cover.
As you can see, we are social distancing.
And Banjo Man’s reward?
Maple walnut. A real treat.
These arrived yesterday afternoon. They were sent by my niece Sili and her family in California. And they were very, very much appreciated.
Little did Sili know that an hour before these arrived, I was sobbing my heart out in my car in the parking lot of a medical building. Nothing was wrong with me–I’d just had a little skin cancer scraped from my back–but it was one of those days where everything was closing in and my anger and worry and frustration and sadness had bubbled over into a major “come apart” (as my friend Ann would call it).
And when I came home, still a weepy mess, the roses and the love and thoughtfulness they represented greeted me at the door.
Of course I cried because they were so beautiful and I was so touched, but that was certainly better than sobbing with self-pity in the car.
Today I went to my GP for the cortisone shot recommended by my physical therapist. My only social contacts this month have been medical ones. My doctor was only too happy to comply with the shot for the bursitis in my hip that’s plagued me for months. And it didn’t hurt a bit (though I’d worked myself into a state of dread thinking that he’d use one of those elephant-sized needles I’d seen them give the large animals on “Secrets of the Zoo”).
Afterwards Banjo Man (who had stayed in the car and taken a morning nap) drove me to Subway and I picked up a Spicy Italian sub for my lunch.
My first Subway in at least three months. And oh, was it delicious!
I’m not sure when I’ll stop weeping, but I suspect in a few weeks when the mountains and the lake work their magic I’ll feel a whole lot better and more at peace.
That’s the plan.
In the meantime, I keep making quilts–big and small–to keep busy. Here’s the baby quilt top that was finished this afternoon:
Started in 2019, finished in 2020.
And here’s what is on the kitchen island being basted:
Uh-oh. Another wild quilt.
This baby quilt will finally get its binding stitched down tonight.
Started in 2018, finished in 2020.
So…proof that you can be one hot mess and still accomplish something. Please pass me a tissue and that bottle of Ibuprofen.
The Funny Grandson has had enough.
As have we all, in one way or another.
This afternoon I will attempt my first “inside”, non-medical errand in ten weeks: going to the recently reopened AAA office to apply for a Real ID.
I have my mask, my hand sanitizer, my antiseptic wipes and all (hopefully) of the necessary paperwork.
This “gold star” drivers license was to be required for boarding airplanes starting October 15, but now that date has been pushed back. But my RI driver’s license expires in December and I’m not going to be in Rhode Island for a few months, so I didn’t want to leave this chore until November. I’ve heard some horror stories about how many trips it takes to the Motor Vehicle Registry to comply with the necessary paperwork requirements, so I thought I’d start the process now, in my last weeks in the state.
I’d actually planned to do this in February, when Banjo Man was in Nebraska with his family. But I kept postponing that trip to town–I was tired, it was cold out, blah, blah. I postponed other things, too, like trips to my mother’s banks to combine accounts and to get my hair cut. There was always next week.
Well, we all know how that went. I really, really wish I hadn’t procrastinated in February. Lesson learned.
These last two weeks going to physical therapy have been strangely enjoyable. Imagine having to be somewhere at a specific time! Putting make up on. Fixing my hair. Finding clothes that match. Wearing socks that aren’t covered with pieces of thread. Chatting with someone other than Banjo Man.
Oh, the joy!
So I ask, have you ventured out to run an errand? Bought groceries? Gone to the Post Office? Been to a salon?
I have done none of those things and have no plans to. Maybe in June…
During her daily press conferences this week, the governor has been begging people to “come out of your cave”, to “be brave”, to go shopping, blah, blah, blah.
As much as I would like to venture out of my house, put on my mask and experience a somewhat “normal life” again, there is nowhere to go.
Some restaurants are allowed to open for outdoor dining only. Do I want to sit outside in 55 degree weather to eat dinner on paper plates and using plastic utensils? Maybe, if clam cakes and chowder are on the menu, and it’s 75 degrees (maybe in a couple of weeks?) and we’re seated out of the wind (not easy when you are near the ocean) and we are wearing sweatshirts. But we are not going to get above 67 degrees for at least the next ten days. And we still have plenty of food in the freezer.
The hair salons are still closed. That would be my first stop! I can’t wait.
Marshall’s and Home Goods and TJMaxx are closed. There is nothing on their websites to say when they are opening up again.
Kohl’s is closed, though I could order online and pick up t-shirts curbside at the store. But I don’t know what size I am. I’ve ordered from Land’s End and Kohl’s and Zulily and ended up shipping 80% of it back.
Walmart is open, but I keep hearing that they are packed with shoppers. No, thanks. I don’t need t-shirts that badly.
The beaches–both state and town–are still closed and now won’t open until Memorial Day. Parking is still banned along the seawall at Narragansett, hence no walks.
So, Governor, as much as I’d like to obey your latest command, I think I’ll just stay home.
elitedaily.com
Twenty minutes after I’d finished stitching the binding down on the Corona quilt (we were watching the three-hour Survivor finale), Banjo Man declared he was “chilly” and appropriated the quilt.
He loves quilts.
My plan, back in March, had been to survey my stash of fabric and pick two fabrics that looked interesting together and make a block. Here’s how:
I cut three 2 1/2″ strips of Fabric A and Fabric B and sewed them together like this. The strips had to be about 16″ long, though many of mine were longer.
After it was ironed and the sides trimmed, I sliced the block into six strips. You can see I have eight strips in the photo, because I was using “fat quarters” for my blocks, but I saved the extras to use in other blocks or for the design on the back.
The six strips were sewn together like this:
Now I had a 12 1/2″ square. So easy, right? I only had to create 49 more! I never dreamed I would make so many blocks and that the quilt would end up being so big, but making these simple blocks became more and more entertaining as the “stay at home” order lasted week after week after week.
You can see how this was a simple project, but it was so much fun to make one block at a time out of any fabrics that appealed to me. My one rule? No pink!
I chose to set the blocks “on point”, which made the assembly more complicated, but the blocks could have been set in rows instead and would have looked just fine.
The backing used about seven yards of fabric, so I ended up using 15 yards of fabric from my stash.
I used leftover pieces from the blocks to create the backing. The dark red middle strips were from fabric bought in Rome. And the five yards of Oriental fabric was purchased fifteen years ago and finally found a home.
The binding is from leftover strips of Rome fabric.
It’s such a good feeling to have finished this quilt!
And since we are still holed up in our house, I have found pieces of a quilt top in my closet. It needs to be assembled. A backing will need to be created–once again, from the stash– and then the whole thing will have to be quilted.
I call this the “Garden” quilt.
As long as I’m stuck in the house I might as well keep sewing, right?
Waiting for the physical therapist.
I have no idea why I thought taking this picture was a good idea, but I do feel like I’m losing my mind and maybe this is proof.
It was good to get out of the house this chilly, sunny morning. After 45 minutes of torture at the hands of Sherri, the cheerful physical therapist, I swung by Panera Bread for a salad, which was placed through the open window of my car by a masked employee.
These are weird times.
Banjo Man and I still discuss whether we should fly or drive the 3000 miles to the lake. I have read all of the precautions and new protocols from Southwest and they certainly sound reasonable and safe. Everyone has to wear a mask. The middle rows of seats will be empty. No food or drinks will be served. The air in the cabin is mixed with outdoor air and changes every three minutes, plus the filters are the kind used in hospitals. I love to fly Southwest and I trust them.
And we would only have to travel for one, long day.
Then again, driving would mean that everything would be in our control. I’ve read the new cleaning policies for the Hampton Inns and they sound excellent. We would wipe down the faucets and remote, etc. in the room and would bring in our own blankets (Banjo Man doesn’t trust the duvet covers), but otherwise I think it should be totally fine to stay in hotels along the way. We could take advantage of fast food drive up windows (hello, Wendy’s chili!), Subway and restaurants with outdoor seating. We’d have a cooler with fruit, etc. It could work.
My therapist isn’t so sure I should spend 7 days in a car, but she brightened when I said I would spend an hour or two in a hotel pool each evening. There’s no evidence that the virus is spread in swimming pools. Hurray for chlorine!
So we will keep discussing the pros and cons. Feel free to chime in.
And tell me, have you taken any pictures of yourself wearing a mask? You know, for the photo album as a way to remember 2020?
How could we ever forget…
Fourth of July
Glen the Banjo Man
LIVE at the Dump
is there any more pie? 