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.

New Normal, and Picking Figs

I ate lunch (outside, in a stiff breeze, great social-distancing, with a mask when the server was near) yesterday with two friends who are in their 70s. We talked medical stuff. One lady noted that, after age 65, they were doing "maintenance." I think Adam is feeling that already. Since Wednesday we have been trying to adjust to the new normal of his having a serious autoimmune disease that will require diligent, life-long attention.

Adam bought me flowers on his grocery run this morning.

But you can't live there every minute, can you? No!  As much as possible, you cannot let a diagnosis rob you of all your joy. Today, we are watching Hurricane Isaias creep up the coast toward us. I enjoy listening to Mike's Weather Page on facebook look at all the models and guide us through the nervy anticipation of wondering where landfall will occur. This time, I'm hoping for the middle of South Carolina (sorry, SC friends!!!), and giving Ocracoke a break. Those poor people!

I've been picking figs. We have two large bushes, well ... really trees. Our Brown Turkey fig tree is slow to mature this year, but our Mission fig tree surprised me this morning!

The beautiful Mission figs don't have as much flavor as the Brown Turkeys, but together they make an excellent  jam. I have nearly a gallon ziplock bag thus far in the freezer, and if the coming hurricane doesn't strip them all to the ground, I'll have  a  lot more!

After lunch yesterday, we three ladies went to a local farm stand. I bought two heirloom tomatoes, and Adam will make us BLATs again for lunch: Bacon/Lettuce/Avocado Dip/ Tomato

The hens continue to lay well, about 3 or 4 each day. My new rooster is very fine.

I'm practicing painting very thin, translucent flower petals. They are time-consuming but pretty.

Our anniversary was rather a tough day. Adam got his diagnosis that day. So we celebrated small, and went to our favorite gyro place in New Bern. I called ahead for our gyros and we took them  to a park to eat in the car together.

The park is on the Neuse River with lovely views and so  many birds used to being fed. You can scatter your sandwich crumbs out the window and they say, "Thank you." The sandwich shop also has a bakery next door, so we splurged on a chocolate cupcake (for Adam) and  two cookies (for me). The coconut macaroon was so yummy.

That's all from us! Life continues to be challenging right now. I remind myself that it will even out again at some point. Meanwhile, it's good to remain hopeful and thankful.

If I Wait Until I Have Anything to Say ...

... I may never post at all!!
Hello, friends. Not too much happening around here. We had cold. We had snow. We are warming up again. Spring is on the way. Maybe I'll just share a bunch of pictures? Okay, sounds good!

Snow at home, across the fields, and at church - a fraction more than a dusting, and all that we'll have this year.
Adam baked babkas for the snow storm :)
I painted a bigger painting for a friend far away and mailed it to her. I painted some sailboats too.
Our congregation gathers each Sunday after worship for a quick meal. This was our table today.
Our willow dome in the pasture is coming along! The smaller sticks are starting to sprout.
Beau says hello. He is very snoozy in winter.
The bakery that opened a half mile from our house was a delightful place to visit this past week! They let you bring your own cup from home and pay for a refill - how nice! And their donuts are wonderful. I have donuts a half mile from my house ... so very dangerous!
We continue with all our weekly duties and joys and keep in touch with family far away. Two friends in Mississippi passed into heaven this week. God planned many weeks ago for us to sing "Rock of Ages" this morning at church. When I sang, "When I soar to worlds unknown ..." I choked up and started to cry, thinking of a childhood friend who did that very thing this past week. He flew into glory, freed of physical illness that had made life difficult, even though he remained cheerful and hopeful to the end. As I get older, I realize how very much I have to be thankful for. Adam and I are blessed with each other and all God has given us in life.
Have a good week, dear friends! Remember to enjoy every minute.

Painting for the Hurricane

Yes, I decided to stay for the storm. I couldn't face another road trip just yet; a night of howling chaos outside followed by some days of no air conditioning seemed preferable to bumper-to-bumper evacuation traffic. 

Hurricane Dorian is due to arrive in our backyard in about 24 hours or so. Very early Friday morning (in the wee hours) should be the worst. As long as a tree doesn't fall on the house, I'm not really scared of wind or rain or thunder. We may get a little flooding but nothing like we've seen from the Bahamas -- nothing.

To calm my 'fraid nerves I've been painting. Little cards wouldn't do it for me, so I went hunting for a resource photo online and found this:

This is NOT my art work. I'm just using it as inspiration.

I tried a little card first -- an imitation.

Then I pulled out the massive roll of watercolor paper my son and daughter-in-law gave me, whacked off a big piece, and started painting before I could chicken out. I haven't done much "big" work. But since its only purpose was to calm me down before a hurricane, who cared if it turned out awful? Here is the development of the Hurricane Painting:

The ugliest flower. I worked on it later. Ugh.

I cannot describe how delightful it is to lay water down on the paper in a shape, dip my wet brush into some wet pigment, dot it into the water, and see it spread within the boundaries of that water. Ahh -- calming. I like it better than some of the other bigger ones I did, and I might swap them in the frames soon. I think I could paint those blue flowers for hours.

Tomorrow I'll need to paint again. Last day before the onslaught. Dorian should pass just next to us, rather quickly. But it will feel like a hurricane, no doubt about that. Most of the people we know who've lived here a while are staying also. Here's to hunkering down!