Quiet Sunday Morning

That's Henny Penny. She's been a good mama before, so I'm letting her set a clutch of ten eggs. She has help from three other hens who noticed her being broody and thought, "Hey! That looks like fun! Let's all crowd in there and be broody together!" I have to lift them out each day so they leave her alone.

I found a pair of unfinished crocheted smittens and finished them. Nice tight stitch, warm, with high wrists.

We rearranged my studio to put a free-standing AC unit in there, which caused me to rearrange the furniture, which caused me to clean off a high shelf of all the absolutely-unneeded items up there gathering dust. It felt nice to give away ALL of my jigsaw puzzles (gifts from Adam years ago) and many books. I have more books to go through.

See that empty high shelf? Yippee!

I started painting whimsical cats. They are fun and not so detailed and time-consuming as some cards I do. Well ... I admit I have a way of eventually making all my cards time-consuming, haha. But these are fun to do.

The one below is my current favorite. The brown cat on the left reminds me so much of a Garth Williams animal, not sure which one.

Adam is trying to cook healthy food to help his body be as well as possible. Here's last night's dinner: a white wine vinegar cucumber salad atop greens, guacamole dip, fajitas with grilled steak, onions, and pineapple.

On Friday Adam planned a little date for us, which was just delightful. We've been rather blue and stuck-at-home, but any get-away needed to be very carefully socially distanced for the sake of his depleted immune system. We went to a local park we didn't know about -- took the doggies, lovely trails, hardly any people!

It's New Bern's Civil War Battlefield Park.

Then we went into New Bern and ate outside at a restaurant. Got there early and were the only ones outside. Masks worn by everyone, which just goes to prove that wait staff can wear masks if they are willing and encouraged to. It was delightful to be out and about again.

Another meal recently from Adam -- rice, veggies, spinach:

And homemade ricotta gnocchi!

 We also went to some friends' house and ate dinner with them on their patio outside, watching the big creek and waiting for the sunset. It was lovely and so thoughtful! They brought dinner out to us, and we sat around a big table in the evening breeze and got to talk. Such socializing usually seems like a luxury (at best) or an obligation (at worst) in normal times. But this pandemic has shown us that social gathering is truly essential for our emotional, mental, and physical health. The view of the sunset:

Even with a spouse, or family, being at home all the time becomes a heavy burden. We need community! It's good to admit that we are not all naturally a Pa Ingalls.

Trixie likes her daddy's knee :)

Last week I was running errands and I felt a need to be outside, to get away from home a bit. I went to a nearby waterfront park. No one was there. Here's a video of how peaceful it was, and showing the incoming storm that finally drove me back home in torrential rain.

Now it's a quiet Sunday morning and we prepare for church, for worship. A pandemic is a long, drawn-out affair. Some people have the patience to wait it out; others do not. It's hard. What a trying year it has been! Here in the Southeast, this time of year, we shrug and note, "And now we get hurricane season!" But this morning, as I watch two hurricanes head to the same spot on the Louisiana coast, within a day or two of each other, I shake my head and wonder what God is trying to tell us about ourselves, with this year. Suffering brings need, and need brings community ... or it should. May we be a community that helps each other. That loves each other. Or, as Paul so simply reminds us, "Love is not self-seeking." And for this memorable year, these words: "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails."

Much love to all you, dear friends.

Wise Words from a Saint and Sister

My beautiful elderberry

 I ordered this used book online.

 Do you know Helen Roseveare? She was a medical missionary in Africa in the middle of the 20th Century. She knew struggle, she knew sin, and she knew suffering. She also made it her life's goal to know God. I'm still pondering that balance in life -- the importance of knowing God, and the importance of being known by God.

Here's a quote from Roseveare in her introduction to the book that I read over and over, finding it so wise, so helpful. It's long. I will pare it down to make it more succinct:

"My life ... has been for me a journey toward one definite and glorious goal, 'that I may know Him.' I have often felt that my life was akin to mountaineering, with a clear goal to reach the highest peak .... I found frequently that I climbed in glorious sunshine ... my face set determinedly for the nearest peak .... I revelled in the sense of achievement and victory and in the glorious view .... Then, slowly, my imagination would be caught by the next peak ... and eventually the resolve would form to set off upwards again.
"Here I made a mistake, many times .... As I went down from the present peak into the valley between the mountains, I was often shadowed by the very peak I had been enjoying .... This often led to despair .... I see now that I was wrong in this 'feeling.' The going down was merely an initial moving forward towards the next higher ground, never a going back to base level. The shadow was only relative after the brightness of the sun; the valley could provide rest for working out the experiences previously learnt, a time for refreshment before the next hard climb."

And here's the part that grabbed me:
"Had I understood this meaning of the sunshine and shadow in my life rather than interpreting my experiences along life's way as 'up' and 'down,' I might have saved myself many deep heartaches" (p. 8)

Are you ever puzzled as you try to interpret the events of your life, especially as you get older and it becomes apparent that most of your life is done, and there's little time to somehow "fix" the past or even see it in an improved context? I do, all the time. I find Roseveare's words so comforting as I remember (or am living in) those shadowed, deep valleys where perspective is limited. I usually close my eyes, figuratively speaking, and just survive. Grit my teeth and wait on the Lord. Look at Roseveare's counsel: those dark, low valleys are a time for rest, reflection, refreshment. And if they seem dark, perhaps it's only in contrast to the brightness of the breath-taking mountain peaks we teeter on for five minutes before each descent.

I've barely begun her thin autobiography, but I think it will be rich with wisdom like this.

Every Bloomin' Day!

 Are we still plugging along, my friends? Yes, we are. I've been painting a bit because folks have been ordering my cards, and I've been shipping them away. Here are a few favorites from last week.

 The lavender (above) is a fuzzy photo. I really like this type of painting (below):

 Geraniums:

 At last, I am biting the bullet and getting some of my watercolors made into packages of assorted cards. I'm in the process of working on that with the printers in New Bern.

I don't post about my chickens much anymore, but they are still a part of my daily life, and I enjoy them. Below are Clementine the Mean, Sheena the Assertive, and Sylvie the Loud Mouth.

 I think those two hens between them could run the world.

I did finish Adam's vest at last. Many adjustments need to be made in the next version, but he's enjoying this one. I bought lots of these buttons at the thrift store months ago. I knew they'd come in handy.

 I bought this stunning hanging basket at the nursery recently, among other plants that were a splurge and I probably should NOT have bought them ... but I couldn't resist. Isn't she beautiful? I sit on the back deck (which is now cleared of potting paraphernalia) and gaze at her.

 Adam and I were doing stuff at the church and checking in on a couple of folks this past week. We chatted at them outside in their yards, wearing our masks. We stopped at the local grocery store, the Piggly Wiggly. (Except this is a little store, not nearly so big as the Big Pig. So everybody calls it the Piglet.) We got two lunches to go, parked in front of the wide river, and had a little car date.

 Other people were there doing the same. We saw friends. A dog begged from car to car. People adjust and find new ways to enjoy life, even in a pandemic.

Adam is not well yet. His Mono still makes him tired. His eyes are much better but not quite well yet. But now he has thrush in his mouth -- yeast infection. It is painful and uncomfortable. It hurts to talk, to swallow, even to chew. I made nice, soft pancakes this past week for him. These are our strawberries from the garden.

 My dear mother-in-law sent me a wonderful "happy"! Now I can paint directly on watercolor cards, instead of gluing the watercolor paper onto separate cards. This is nice paper!

 My herb bed looks like a magical sea of airy cilantro blooms. I want to bury my face in it and breathe in.

 That wasn't much to tell! Maybe because we are kind of meandering through life right now as many people are. When all our tomorrows look quite unpredictable  and uncertain, it's sometimes easiest to turn to the points of beauty around us for calm and comfort. Blooms do that for me. I hope you are finding peace in your disrupted days. 

"Let not your hearts be troubled."

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace

whose mind is stayed on Thee."

"Lo, I will be with you."

"I will not leave your nor forsake you."

In the end, regardless of how we may all disagree about it, we will all pass through these Coronavirus days together, and emerge on the other side together.  And history will decide the details. We will remember how we felt, how we treated each other. Especially this year, I want to remember to stop and smell the flowers.

At Last ... I Finish Something

I finished a book! Hooray! 

I have a stack of about 10 unfinished books.

 I've watched three film versions of Rebecca, but none of them compare to the book. Du Maurier's use of the unreliable narrator is superb. What a tool to use in a suspense novel! 

I also finished a sewing project ... kind of. It needs buttons and button holes for sure. This is the Vest Mock-Up:

It could take me years to put those buttons/holes on.

 Both fabrics were junky pieces in my stash from the thrift store. I used them for their weight -- heavy, sturdy fabric for the front, thin, silky fabric for the lining. The welt pockets were most difficult.

 I learned much in this first trial run. I'll make some changes to the pattern in my next attempt.

Today I painted something to replace a sunflowers painting I did last year that I tired of. It was hanging in the guest room. It's 22" x 15".
I sketched in the white picket fence. Then I started with the roses.

 I added some shading on the fence and the green background around the roses.

 More shading, more leaves, and some blue sky.

 You probably can't see any difference between the above photo and the one below, but I felt it needed something ... more depth. So I added thin pen in many of the roses and darkened their centers. Just little changes.

When is a painting finished? When you put it in a frame and it's too much trouble to take back out.

 See the pen?

Recently I returned to a simple, lovely piece of music, "Clair de Lune," part of a suite by Debussy that I memorized and performed in college. "Clair de Lune" was the easy, throw-away piece. Not anymore! I've lost much skill, but I still want to play. It's peaceful.

This piano piece needs SO much work.

 Tonight Adam made just fried broccoli and cheese sauce for supper. It's been a long day, and we're both spent. It was perfection! He mastered this dish after working at a restaurant in his 20s where it was served. The batter is light and perfectly crispy.

That's about it, folks. I haven't been to the garden in two days. The strawberries are probably screaming to be picked. Instead, today I went to a coffee shop with a friend. We sat at a picnic table in a park and enjoyed our coffee and pastries, and talked about how much we miss simply meeting with friends and doing things together away from home. We're ready for life to come back to normal. Sadly ... the Covid-19 virus is not ready yet! It's more efficient at contagion than we are at containing it. We can wish all we want, but it has the upperhand, medically speaking. Still, I think we'll be going out and shopping and visiting again soon. Our goal in isolating was to preserve our healthcare system, and we have accomplished that, correct? So now it is time to roll our sleevies up, face the hard fact of the virus, protect our at-risk people, and get back to living as safely as we can. I'm so proud of the medical folks who are working tirelessly for better treatments and a vaccine! Let's keep our chins up!

What I've Been Up To ... And It's Not Covid

Hi, friends. It's been a busy week or two! As our stay-homeness has progressed, I've found myself adjusting to it and getting on with life. Most of my mental time in the past month has been dedicated to my very sick husband. He has two viruses (neither of which is Covid-19, thankfully!). He has Mononucleosis, and he has Pharyngoconjuntival Fever. The first is in his throat; the second is in his eyes. After a visit to his eye doctor and one last visit to the pharmacy, he is on the mend!

So ... no, I have not been obsessed with Covid-19, as some friends assume. I've been much more worried about what's wrong with Adam.

Have I been hunkered in front of my laptop, consuming scary virus news? (I ask this only because some people have assumed I am.) No! I've been doing these things:

Cleaning out the garage. (This has been a many-days, exhausting job.)

 It doesn't look like it's been cleaned out, but believe me ....
Part of the garage trash:

Then cleaning out the back of the garage to turn it into my new potting shed!

 This area was chest-high with junk. You could not walk into it. I wanted it for a potting shed, so all the stuff had to go into the garage ... hence the garage clean-out.
Potting area:

 Storage area:

 Those tubs and tool boxes are Adam's but are too heavy for me to move. 
More junk:

 This contraption held all the nails/screws/nuts/bolts the elderly previous-owner had accumulated for decades. I cleaned it up too. Adam doesn't want it. I think it's cool but have no idea what to do with it. Ideas, you clever friends?

Working in the garden. (I found sprouted potatoes in the garage that we'd forgotten were there! They were planted.) The peas are all blooming, the lettuce and spinach are perfect, and the strawberries are amazing this year!

asparagus, strawberries, and a volunteer elderberry plant I dug up

 

Digging around in my flower beds.

Weeding out my herb beds. I made a video about the herb beds, but it was awful.
Painting!

 I sent off watercolors to three different friends last week!

Sewing. I'm now making a perfect pattern from which I can make Adam all the swanky vests he could ever want.

I bought this pattern at a German lady's Etsy shop and downloaded it. Then I printed it off, taped it all together at the little x's, and cut the pattern pieces out. I'll make at least one mock-up vest for Adam from fabric I have in my stash. I think the pattern will need adjusting to fit him perfectly. Then I'll order some nice wool and satiny liner to make a fine vest. After that, we won't have to order vests online anymore that don't fit correctly; I can make him all the vests he likes!

This has ended up being a productive time. For about a week sometime in March, I was a slug and lay around discouraged at the changes in the world. But here in rural N.C., life hasn't really altered all that much for folks like us who stay at home a lot anyway. The biggest struggle has been Adam's illness(es), not the Covid Virus. 

We all cope with this event differently, but I think it's so, so important not to criticize others for how they handle it, or presume to think we know their attitudes or feelings. We don't. Depending on people's temperaments, health, family members, locations, and occupations, their responses to Covid-19 will vary. It is unkind to state an assumption about how someone is responding to it, much less to criticize their response. I'm keeping track of Covid much as I keep track of hurricanes in the autumn, staying glued to Mike's Weather Page - because it interests me. That's all.

But Covid is out there, and this is a fascinating, bizarre time to live in, right? I find it interesting to read about and stay abreast of, in the middle of all the other things I'm doing. I hope you do too! One day when our grandchildren ask us what it was like to live in 2020, I want to be able to give an informed, interesting answer.

Stay well out there!