Pandemic Pontifications

Hmm. Pontifications. To express ones opinions in a way considered annoyingly  pompous and dogmatic.  Okay. We'll see if I live up to my alliteration. I've been in quarantine since March 14. One would think that being retired like we are that there wouldn't have been much change to our schedules. Truth is I was actually pretty busy. Allow me a moment to grieve my pre-quarantine life. I originally wrote this post in April. It is now the end of October and we are still in quarantine.

I was chauffeur to Audrey. I miss seeing her regularly although she comes over often to get her bike which is kept in our garage. We have visited through my upper window but it is not the same. It just feels wrong to spray lysol on her bike and the door knobs. But that is what we have come to. I miss Madeleine, too, but since she recently got a car I wasn't seeing her as regularly so I had already grieved her loss. I'm still grieving not seeing Madeleine and Audrey. With the cooler weather Audrey doesn't come to get her bike now. They are both back in school. Katie is back at school, too.

We used to see Ira multiple times a week. He would come over for breakfast some times. Mark would bake apples and I would make French toast. Sometimes he came for lunch. Sometimes both meals on the same day! We always had so much fun with him. We have face timed with him and I am thankful for that but it isn't the same. So, Esli was born in September. We have become part of Natalie's and Scott's bubble. We took care of Ira when she was in the hospital. We are the designated care givers for both boys now. Scott works from home so their exposure to the community in minimal like ours is. 

On Tuesdays and Wednesdays I volunteered for City Impact at Elliott Elementary School. This year I was assigned an ELL class. I love those kids! I miss them. 10 kids from 6 different countries, Jordan, Liberia, China, Viet Nam, Central America(not sure which country), and Myanmar. So diverse but so much the same. All of them learning to speak and read English together. Now they are quarantined, too. They and their parents are trying to navigate this pandemic in their new country with limited English skills. The little girl from Viet Nam and her family went back to Viet Nam in February to visit family and have not been able to get back home. I think of her often and pray her family has found a way to make a living until they can come back to Lincoln.  I don't know when volunteers will be allowed back into the schools. I have kept in touch  with my teacher via text messages. She is working on lesson plans that would include me reading to her students on Fridays via Zoom. I'm looking forward to that.

I miss shopping. Shopping has always been a sort of therapy for me. Being an introvert it is something I do alone but receive great pleasure from it. I don't always buy anything; I just love wandering around Home Goods and looking.  I enjoy going to our neighborhood store, Cedar Hill, formerly Aunt Patty's Attic. (same store, new name) I can spend way too much time wandering around in there. I usually do buy something there but nothing too big. I'm shopping local so that is my "justification".  I love shopping for gifts and cards. I still have not ventured out for shopping therapy. You might think that I would have taken up online shopping as a replacement. While I do shop online some it is not the same for me as in person shopping. I look forward to the day when I can casually wander my favorite haunts without fear of getting sick.

I used to do most of the menu planning and shopping. Mark has taken over the grocery shopping. I'm grateful for that. Speaking of grocery shopping it is so strange to know there is shortage of so many things.  We have gotten into the routine of Hy Vee Aisles on Line with curbside pick up.  I order groceries about every two weeks. It has been an interesting foray. I let them choose a substitute if they are out of stock. That has been fun. On the positive side I think I am saving a lot of money by not shopping in person. A side note - I think I have only put gas in my car once or twice since we got back from New Mexico in early March. We mostly drive the little Insight. I know we are saving money on gas. 

I think I will go ahead and post this, if for no other reason, to document this time.  I'm gonna try and catch up on posting and try to be more regular about it.

It's raining cats and dogs

I don't know why we have so many pets. Oh wait a minute, yes I do! I think we are running halfway house for rejected cat(s) and dogs. (We are full up so don't get any ideas) My diabolical cat and I have grown to have a love/hate relationship over the years. Admittedly more hate than love. You'd think by now he'd have outgrown the need to ambush me. Not so. Every single evening when I settle onto the couch to watch TV or read he decides he must spend time with me. If I'm reading, of course he must try to sit between the book and my eyes. If I push him away he attacks me. If I'm watching TV he must sit on my lap however, I may not move an inch or I'm toast again. I can't win! I used to love cats but when Henry takes his final resting place in our backyard cemetery I think I'll be happy to live out the rest of my life without another cat. As my luck goes he will outlive me and I will have no peace.

Trust me. Looks can be deceiving.

Our two dogs are neurotic. They were both rescued from the local humane society. They both have separation anxiety. For some reason I am their person. When I am home they are at my feet ALL DAY LONG! I can't even go to the bathroom without them. If the door doesn't latch Gilbert follows me in and sits next to the toilet. If the door latches then they are both waiting for me when I open it. If I sew they are right beside my sewing table, when I cook they join me in the kitchen. Wherever I am they are there. Don't get me wrong. They are sweet pups but they are so needy. They need to protect me from everything, the mailman, the FEDex man, the UPS guy, the doorbell, the neighbor in his backyard, the wind, the squirrels, every person who has ever dared to walk down our street . . . oh you know. Everything! They are very barky. They think that barking makes us all feel better. You want to know a secret? It really doesn't. It makes me cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs! I do love them, quirks and all, I  just wish they weren't quite so barky and needy.

Family history

These are photos from my childhood. A photo of my sister and me and one of our parents. These were taken in the early 1960s - fairly happy times. They were taken before the infamous tour of duty in Turkey. I have always seen that as a turning point in our lives. I'll save that story for when I've had more time to collect my thoughts.

I'm just a little crafty

Last fall I ordered some nice quality felt from an Etsy shop. I love it. It is so much nicer than the felt you find at chain stores. I originally thought I would use it to make ornaments but then I got an idea to make a banner of sorts. I used Pinterest to find ideas, mostly shape ideas. I can't draw to save my life. Even tracing is challenging for me. I can embroider and use scissors. This is what I came up with:

I love my ELL students and wanted to do something something special for them. I remembered making these for my girls when they were in elementary school. I made them Valentine themed.( I did not use the fancy felt for these.):

Sewing 101

I love to sew and craft! However, I lack confidence. Recently I gave myself permission to sew and craft whatever I want. By that I mean that I don't have to pigeon hole myself into a category or feel like my projects aren't worthy because they are easy. Except for homemaking classes in 8th and 9th grades were I learned basics I am pretty much self taught. I'm definitely a self taught quilter. I learned to sew on my mother's machine which she bought in Germany. I still have that machine and would still be sewing on it except they stopped making parts for it. It now sits on display in my secret room as an inspiration to me. I now sew on a Baby Lock Grace model which is nearly the bottom of the line but still has way more features than I will probably ever use.

I am not ashamed to admit that sometimes I use precut fabrics. Apparently a lot of other quilters do, too, because you can find a huge selection of them. You can use them as is, which is what I have done, or you can use templates to make other more complicated designs, which I hope to try in the future. I like the precuts because the color guess work is gone. I am not very good at choosing colors. I tend to overthink and get very frustrated. I have started small, literally. I've been making baby quilts which seem to be appreciated by the receivers. I've been tinkering around with size and how to make one from one charm pack. I think I may have settled on a design although I may change my mind in the future. Here are my recent projects made from charm packs:

This is one charm pack with the back and binding made from the same fabric.
It makes a rather small quilt.

This is also one charm pack but I added coordinated sashing. The back and binding are a different coordinated fabric. The sashing makes it a little larger than the one above.

This one is two charm packs with a solid back and binding. It is the largest of the 3.