Dackel Princess

It’s Getting to Me

This morning Jack decided I had to go out. He needed new batteries for his blood meter for his diabetes, as the current battery was close to death.

I had planned to go out tomorrow. I planned on wearing dirty clothes to the store, using head covering, facial mask, and gloves. I was ready for that. But suddenly, having to go out today, found me having a panic attack.

Would I make it? Would I be infected? Okay. I need to do everything I had planned for tomorrow, just one day early. I was terrified.

You see one of the cases here in my small town presents like this.

“A young woman was self-isolating at home with her children. She just went to our local grocery store and back and always wore a mask and gloves. Suddenly this healthy young woman is stricken with Covid-19. Was her husband also self-isolating? Well no. he works for the State for the highway Department and went out every day, without protection. Their carelessness has caused real problems for us in my little town. Several more cases have been reported and it all stems from that one, thoughtless couple.”

The cashiers, the workers, and even the patrons such as myself, are angry. Angry at being put in this position.

When I got to the store today I was all done up in my homemade hazmat suit. A few times I felt like I was having a panic attack, and I was grateful to the mask, as it kept me breathing and not passing out.

I found myself looking at people and wondering where they had been? Did they look germy? I saw a young mother with her little baby, who sat in the front of the carriage, chewing the basket handle!

***Shriek***

I was able to get our prescriptions, food for a couple of weeks, and I stopped and got Jack his wine. I picked up our mail, which had Anneliese’s prescription and a couple of bills. I was home by 1:15, wiped everything down in the basement, brought it upstairs, and then ran into the shower.

Then I prayed. I prayed that I didn’t pick up any germs while I was out.

I made my lunch (my favorite roasted eggplant) and now I am sitting here, in the warm sunshine trying to relax. I put my pajamas on after my shower and I feel delightfully clean and comfy.

Yes, a good way to unwind.

The Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. How will you celebrate Easter this year?

Unfortunately, we will celebrate home, alone. Perhaps I will make a roast of some sort.

2. Is it easier for you to receive grace offered or extend grace to another? Explain.

It is much easier for me to extend grace. I find it quite difficult to believe that I am even worthy of the care, love, and concern of others.

3. Do you say grace before meals? If so do you have a standard dinnertime grace or is it more ‘off the cuff’? Do you say grace when dining out? Do you have a favorite grace? Any special memory associated with ‘saying grace’?

We do not say grace. My husband never did it, and I have not forced him to. In my youth, I always said grace with my parents. My Dad said some really beautiful ones.

4. What are some challenges you think the next generation will face? (Generation Alpha-born between 2011 and 2025)

I believe they will have to learn how to work for what they have. Not every child, but so many are living in a world where there every wish is granted immediately. I also believe they will need to learn to appreciate what they have.

5. Share a favorite quote or lyric featuring the word faith.

6. Insert your random thought here.

Now what kind of trouble do you think I could get into staying home and going nowhere? This morning I got an alert from my BJ’s Credit Card. A purchase had been made on my account in Wilmington, DE.

Now call me upset. Where have I been in the last month? Well, I got food and supplies at BJ’s on Friday the 13th of March. Now I have not been back there since.

I have a few credit cards and they are used at certain places. One for food. One for gas. (BJ’s) and one for Amazon purchases. That’s it.

Well, I must say that the Bank that handles the BJ’s Account was wonderful and they canceled the account, and will be issuing a new card.

So that is my Wednesday Hodgepodge. Truly a bunch of good questions that had me pondering the answers.

I am a Moron

When one has copious amounts of time on their hands they begin looking for things to do. It had been some time since I updated my Ipod (which I seldom use due to using Amazon Music on my cell phone). Well, two things have changed. The first being that I have a new computer, and would need to set up the new machine with Itunes, and second, my brain does not retain what it once did, thus I recalled nothing about setting this all up.

(Greta and the laptop.)

In fact, I stumbled all around Apple’s Web Page until I locked myself out of my account.

Call me crazy, but I honestly could not recall the sequence of events I needed to go through to get Itunes to recognize my Ipod.

I tried and tried to go through their unlocking process and finally, after about an hour I looked at the screen and realized I’d been using the wrong username! Yes, call me embarrassed!

Now that I have unlocked my account, I need to figure out how to get Itunes to talk to my computer. I’ve saved that joyous learning session for tomorrow, as I am just done in from today.

I know just enough about computers to be dangerous! Not really. I do pretty well, but since I got my last laptop, so many things have changed and instead of converting things back to a menu I know I have decided it is time for me to learn the new “better” systems. Forced learning. It’s maddening but necessary.

I have one little crocus that pushed through the earth today. It’s adorably cute and I have threatened Arnie that he is not to wee on it!

Our Lake has no ice left in it now and once again we have a moving, living, breathing Lake. I do so love the Lake at the beginning of Spring. So full of life.

Thankfully, I do not have to cook tonight. It is all leftovers! Yay! Not that I mind cooking, but right now it is rather intense cooking three meals a day, seven days a week.

The Afternoon at my Lake

I decided to go out in my front yard with Lili and make a short video of the Lake. We are very close to Ice Out on our little piece of Heaven on Earth.

It was rather an unexciting day here. I think the one car you see in my video is the only one that went by all day!

I hope you all are well and healthy.

I am a Hermit

More craziness is entering our world. My little town of 5000+ now has 4 cases of Covid-19, also know as The Corona Virus. We’d managed to escape for a long time, but with cases all around us, we knew it was just a matter of time.

We also jumped State-wide to an overall number of cases at 621. The number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 is now set at 9.

My State is not a highly populated State and these numbers, which rise exponentially each day, scare us all.

I had a video call with Amanda and the kids yesterday and that was so nice! I miss them a great deal but realize that we all must make sacrifices to come out of this thing alive.

Yesterday I decided to watch some Amazon Prime TV. I watched a Biography of Singer/Actress/comedian, Rose Marie.

Most people will know her from “The Dick Van Dyke Show”. I had no idea that she actually started her career at the age of 4 in Vaudeville Show Theaters!

She was an amazing woman and met and fell in love with a soldier who played with big bands after his discharge from the military.

They had a great love that lasted until his death. She never remarried and at the age of 93 still mourned his passing. So many things I never knew about her. It really was a good biography.

Next, I watched a show about the United Airlines Plane accident. United Airlines Flight 811 was a regularly scheduled airline flight from Los Angeles to Sydney, with intermediate stops at Honolulu and Auckland. On February 24, 1989, the Boeing 747–122 serving the flight experienced a cargo door failure in flight shortly after leaving Honolulu. The resulting explosive decompression blew out several rows of seats, resulting in the deaths of nine passengers. The aircraft returned to Honolulu, where it landed safely.

The investigation was really going nowhere when the parents of one of the Victims, Kevin and Susan Campbell investigated the cause using documents obtained from the NTSB. Mr. Campbell is a mechanical engineer who explored the causes of the cargo door problem. The Campbells’ investigation led them to conclude that the cause of the accident was not human error but rather the combination of an electrical problem and an inadequate design of the aircraft’s cargo door latching mechanism. They later presented their theory to the safety board.

The Boeing 747 was designed with an outward-hinging door, unlike a plug door that opens inward and jams against its frame as the pressure drops outside, making it impossible to accidentally open at high altitude. The outward-swinging door increases the cargo capacity, but it requires a strong locking mechanism to keep it closed. Deficiencies in the design of wide-body aircraft cargo doors were known since the early 1970s from flaws in the DC-10 cargo door. These problems were not fully addressed by the aircraft industry or the NTSB, despite the warnings and deaths from the DC-10 accidents and attempts by Boeing to solve the problems in the 1970s.

So, that ate up an hour and really was fascinating. There are about 20 more episodes that I can watch.

So that was my Saturday and now I start on Sunday. Let’s see what mischief I can get into today. Probably not too much.

Days Slipping By

It’s Saturday, right? I admit to being slightly off as far as the days of the week go. Since I no longer watch any Soap Operas (sadly All My Children went by-by a few years ago) my whole Monday through Friday thing is gone. So what do I use?

Well, the dogs are no help at all with this. They act the same seven days a week. TV is consumed with nearly 24 hours a day coverage of the Corona Virus, and since I am doing my best to block it all out, it leaves me a bit lost at times. I could use those days of the week underwear that I had as a kid. That certainly would help.

On Friday I made a big pot of Soup. I’d planned fish for Friday but will cook that tonight. Friday we had the hot, yummy soup, that warmed our chilled bones. It rained most of Friday and never got warmer than about 40 degrees.

I think I may clean my closet. It needs it again, and since I am a house captive, it’s a good time to get it done.

How are things going where you are? Here in New Hampshire as of 6 PM on Friday, we had an overall number of cases of 540. The number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 (The Corona Virus) is at 7.

I do not think this will be over soon. I think we will be in this for a while and it really makes me feel sad. I miss my family. I miss being with my grandkids. Ugh. We will get through this.

The Friday Five

Well, well, well. Here we are on the first Friday in April. If we are lucky, this will be the real start of Spring and we can wave goodbye to Winter. As I sit here ~~not really~~ listening to the TV, here are the things I have thought about this week.

I’ve noticed the last week or so when I have gotten up in the morning, that I am being serenaded by the newly returned birds. I had rather a deep conversation with one of them. I’m just not sure which bird. I will be delving into that in the future.
I am waiting for my shipment of dog foods from Chewy. They wrote a nice email explaining that it may take a week to ten days, due to the emergency we are experiencing right now. It is exactly the reason I ordered it early. I expect others have as well.
I have been enjoying cooking meals for Jack and me. We have been fortunate that our local shops have had beautiful produce. I have allowed myself one morning a week to suit up, with hats, gloves, and mask and head to the grocery store and buy fresh produce. God bless the truck drivers of our country!
Lili’s ear is already so much better. Her right ear is infected, and I had to bring her into the Vet. I waited in the car and they took Lili in, examined and cleaned her ear, brought her out and the Vet talked to me all the while standing at a distance.
The ride home from the Vet was beautiful. Giving me lovely views of the mountains around me.

Then I used my cell phone to call them with payment and then the Technician brought out her medication. Easiest Vet visit ever!
Since discovering my flourless zero-point banana pancake, I realized I needed a stash of bananas.
I eat berries and yogurt (hidden under the berries) and my banana pancake almost every day. So good and it is only 4 Points for breakfast including my coffee.

So I bought a bunch of bananas the other day and as they ripen to perfection, I mash the banana up, and place it in a Ziploc freezer bag and freeze. Then I can take out the banana the night before, thaw and the fridge and presto! I have my morning delight!

Stay safe, and healthy Gentle Readers and remember, stay home and the life you save may be your own or someone you love.

Maribeth

Memories of my Youth

I was thinking back to the days of my youth. I grew up in Falmouth, Massachusetts, before the rapid growth and over-building. Back when it was a small town and a great place to live and grow up.
The first house I lived in was on Clipper Lane. It was a nice house and I had my own room.

What my childhood home looks like today.

But more often than not I would find myself sleeping in my sister’s bed in the morning. Nightmares and sleepwalking.
I had a brother and a sister. My brother and I weren’t very close. My sister and I were and still are.

My brother was much older then I and I think he just sort of resented this cute little kid running around the house trying to be a part of everything.
My room was over the kitchen and the back door. I could see everyone come in or go out and I could also listen to the voices of my parents talking at the table there. Sometimes good talk, sometimes bad. But I could always know what was happening.
The great thing about my room was the storm windows. They were the old fashioned kind that was fit on for the winter and then taken off and a screen would be put on for the summer.

In the winter I could put up the window and sit with my feet on the radiator and keep them warm while I played with my Barbie dolls. The window sill area was their “loft apartment” with tissue boxes for beds or sofas and thimbles for stools or lamps.

Janet and me!

My cousin Janet and my sister played with me too. We would play for hours and hours. Back in the ’60s when Janet and I played, my dolls would be Paul and Linda McCartney and hers would be Mick and Bianca Jagger. For hours and hours, we escaped into this wonderful world.
We made clothes for the dolls too. Out of scrap material from my mother’s sewing supplies. I remember seeing my Barbie’s looking like a real glamour Queen, even though I am sure the outfits were terribly designed and badly sewn.

But to Janet and me it didn’t matter.

The Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Has spring sprung in your part of the world? How can you tell? Did March come in like a lion where you live? Going out like a lamb or something more ferocious?

March has been a terrible month. We have had everything from Snowstorms to Thunder, lightning, and hail.

2. The last thing that caused you to spring to your feet?

It has to be something with the dogs. The Squirrels are out and Lili goes bananas!

She loves to chase them. She has never caught one, but the exercise is good for her!

3. Do you have a spring clean to-do list? What’s one chore on the list you’ve already managed to accomplish? What spring clean chore do you most dread?

I have cleaned off shelves and sterilized them. I also cleaned out cabinets in my kitchen.

4. Tell us something you’ve learned about yourself or the wider world as a result of social distancing/the virus crisis.

How truly the human race is a social being. I look around and find how really lonely people are. People love being out. They love happy times spent with friends. I think right now their concern about this virus also keeps them away from those they love.

5. Something you love that’s the color pink?

My Tervis Tumbler Mug. It’s not just pretty, but keeps my tea and coffee nicely warm!

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Today marks my three month anniversary with WW. I am now 30 pounds lighter!

Getting Out

Monday was a good day. Due to Jack’s medication arriving at the Post Office, I found myself suiting up, hat, mask, gloves, etc, and going out. I figured that I shouldn’t waste the trip so I made a list for groceries and went and got those as well.

I didn’t see one person I knew, which was a bit of a bummer, still, it felt nice to be outside and driving around.

Through all of this craziness, I have had one constant, one little lover-man by my side.

My Arnie. Jack teased that I am being stalked, as Arnie follows me all over the house. I think he somehow senses my feelings and has become my emotional support dog! He is an amazing little dog.

I’ve been cooking quite a bit and enjoying that. And today I spent about 4 hours reprogramming my computer. Here is what happened.

I downloaded a program to help me with font size and it came with a little bonus. After finding the Virus, I tried to just make it all work and well, it was simply easier to reset the machine.

The new machine, a Dell is nice in so many ways. But it is taking me time to set it up just right. I am nearly there. I have one more program to install and then I am done.

Tell te what you are doing to pass the extra time you have at home? Cleaning closets, working on projects? Cooking? Or watching TV?

Have a great Tuesday Everyone!.