The down time of Coronavirus National Emergency shut down. 2020

Well here it is, upon us all.   My husband and I had already decided to self quarantine 2 1/2 weeks earlier, as I had cold/flu already for too long this season, and we had concern about the information or lack of clarity of the information at that time.  Now it is global, and President has declared National Emergency so enough about that, now what to do during the next 3 months as we are shut in as my husband likes to say?

1)  Walking in fresh air.  First, we walk and likely every other day or daily at public park in our town where few people are out and walking.  Come spring and summer, that might well change to too many people to do the social distancing we would like.  Of course the people at the park may well want to do social distancing also, so might not be a problem.  And if the public park doesn't work, we have our 2 mile walk to the River and back. Today there is Snow for second day (March 2020) and news indicates the snow will be gone soon.

2) Writing. I thought blogging in my old blogs mght be a way to go.  Also, using the greeting cards from the time of my mother's death to send out to family and people.  Writing my and our memoirs. I have books to actually help a bit with that one, that I have ignored or not written in for years.  And I prefer to write, journal as that is my way of remembering, frequently do not refer back to former writing, although my memory is not working as well as it once did.

3) Crochet/Knitting.  Well for me that just goes with the time, whether coronavirus or not, as I have been crocheting for years.  Recently our church prayer shawl group suspended itself due to coronavirus, and I was ahead of that one, making prayer shawls anyway to bring when husband and I decided to suspend our self-quarantine. I have a couple of grandchildren though, and it might be timely to online instruct them in this fine business of knitting/crocheting, using yarn they maybe already have.

4)  Downsizing, Clean Up, House Redecorate.  So many of us have some kind of clean up or clear up to do, ie, garage, house, spring cleaning.  For myself, it is time to turn my winter clothing in my dressing room (a bedroom I confiscated to become a dressing room ...  lol)  to spring and summer clothing.  I have much downsizing to do just now, and probably while thrift stores are not receiving much or people aren't using, I can at least separate items out.  And well, I have not redone our home in couple years, so can think about how I might do it.  I am sure that different people's juices are flowing as people think about what they can do during this down time.

5)  Turn off the news, Facebook, media about the virus.  I know I am frightened and doing stress related constant watching the news or Facebook to learn what is going on, and I also know that I need some relax time out, as do many of us.

6) Staying in contact with loved ones, people. Part of my own reach out has more to do with my own anxiety yet staying in touch and contact helps and takes away some of the anxious feeling.  Recognizing I am among the fortunate to have a husband while many people are doing this shut down alone, I think it is more important than ever to do reach out and stay connected, in contact.  Even though Facebook is among popular media platforms, using it in productive ways right now might help some.   I like our walks, just saying hi to people seems to lift my spirits.

7)  Kids at home. That is no longer my expertise, as I said we are the elderly population, no kids at home.  Better that parents speak to this one, than me, yet already I am seeing ways to keep children busy while at home.  I wouldn't mind a letter or card or two from youngsters.

8)  Music.  It is, imo, a language of it's own and goes a long way to calming people.  Already I have found two places that symphonies are willing to livestream for Free their concerts.   My husband likes music and is an accomplished pianist.  Our home is filled frequently with music, the many playlists he has developed and the piano he plays himself to a) calm his own nerves and b) to serenade me (was the Memory Care Unit weekly, they have shut down for the interim).

9) Games, not Internet, not online, board games, cards.   We haven't done this one yet, hope to, expect to, hasn't really happened yet.  We both did this with our kids when they were kids.  Might be something we will pick up and do for this shut down period   Might be something for younger families, parents and children to do if they aren't already.

10)  Crafting.  I had plenty to do for a long while, in fact, purchased and collected.  Didn't seem to have the heart for it after my mother passed.  Or maybe getting along in years.  I don't really know.  Even as I type this, I don't seem to have inclination to pick the therapeutic manner of crafting.  Wondering aloud who I could gift the items I might create?  There is still next year. eh?  Nonetheless others with the fortitude and inspiration may want to think about it, also an idea for useful child helpers.

11)  Gardening.  Not really an issue for me, I like to play outside with the yard.  Lots of people do, and this would be the time to give that yard an thorough upkeep, planting, cleaning, while growing the newly planted vegetable garden and flower garden.  Happy days, plus fresh air, and also that quieting of mind time.

12)  Oil Painting, or any kind of painting.   I look forward to it warming up a bit where we live so I can get some time oil painting on the enclosed deck which also doubles as our reading area, breakfast area, painting studio, nap time.

Other thoughts for how people might use this coronavirus down time are  welcome. 

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Switching out this blog - Gram's Gems time to go from serious to fun!

I am aging, so to speak, and looking at fun ways to live out the years left to me.  I learned I have diabetes 2, my mother passed away almost 2 years ago from complications diabetes 2.  I learned it is also a genetic disease.  Probably runs in her family, as her father, and 2 brothers had diabetes 2 back in days of little information except what dr told us. 

In the interim, I have been personally disappointed that my grown children have gone on to have their own lives, and seemingly have little to do with me.  I am learning that is not unusual, so depersonalizing it as an issue.  My husband's grown children are in the midst of their lives.  Between us we each have one child who still puts value into holding onto mother and father's lives.  I am learning to accept and adjust to what is rather than what I would want it to be - old ideas that seemingly do not hold the same values as I believed, and had in my era. 

So enough about that, Gram's Gems is going to be about the fun ideas I am working on with my husband's supportive appreciation and often times his help.

Crafting, Sewing, Gardening, Cooking special diabetes diet, Traveling, Camping, Religion and Spirituality, Oil Painting, Blogging for fun, are among some of the things I like to do.  My husband is doing meditations in early morning hours, music on piano, cooking, and lending a helping hand to much of what I would like help with - he is my Angel, to be sure. 

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Placemat Repurposes - some of many ideas - try Pinterest for more

My projects ahead as I was able to purchase some nice placemats at rummage sale, and husband is looking at me like what are you going to do with those!   I am going to make projects out of them, yes?  So off I go to Pinterest for ideas, and these are a few of the ideas I could blog today.

DIY Porch Pillows for less than $35

From My Front Porch to Yours

The carrier can be the gift itself or you can purchase a new casserole dish or bread pan and add your favorite recipe. Sew Many Ways

This would make a cute gift!   Kids apron made from placemats.  from At Home in The Northwest

Hi Pretty Handy Girl readers! It’s Colleen from Pretty Handy Girl with a fun collection. One of the easiest and cutest ways to decorate your home’s entrance is with garden flags. Did you know if you use a placemat, there’s little—if any—sewing! Find the perfect DIY Garden Flag for your home and for any season below:

no big dill: How To:: Placemat Bag I made this pattern up last year and recently sewed up another two for my kids' scriptures.  Can check it out at her site.  Photo below.  Here's a brief and easy ho..

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Easter 2016 - Family Goes to our Church

Easter 2016, acknowledging and honoring the day.  Two daughters made the day special.  One daughter had her long awaited baptism. The other daughter shared her time and family with us.  A blessing to attend Cathedral and the beautiful pageantry. And I dissolved into tears having my beautiful angel granddaughter, formerly an Acolyte in the Cathedral processional, sitting with us. Beyond words was the power of the gifts our families gave us today. 

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Fashions at 60 plus - Awesome!

Inspired by the idea of fashion ideas for women over 60 (which I am) following the link to see the fashionably beautiful way women can dress.   Now I'm not that thin, ways to go on that one, even so, it's fun to realize I don't have to dress in dumpy clothes for my age!

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Nanak - What Does It Mean

Simple.  The father of my latest granddaughter sent a video for Nanna, and in my hurry to respond, I typed the word Nanak.  Son sent a photo text of granddaughter to me the next day using the word Nanak.  I think it stuck, and I like the word better than I would like to be called Nanna, or Grandma.  So Nanak it is.  Sounds like a word from Alaska, doesn't it?

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Daughter’s family stationed in Hawaii, 2006

KoKo Head in Hawaii, photos taken by daughter when stationed in Hawaii, 2006.

 

She did her kitchen in Coffee motif, using  Espresso painted cabinets, and coffee cup napkins pasted to kitchen backdrop

Her patio garden, Hawaii, 2006

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Our weekend out of town; The Story.

Our weekend;   The Story.  I have a peridontist appointment about every three months, in a town about 2 + hours from where we live.  So we have turned it into a weekend getaway, and a visit with my mother who lives in a nearby town to the town where my peridontist is located.

Had my peridontist appt Friday and the report was good - some small improvement actually.  Not much improvement, but far better than deterioration.    Then we went to my mother's home, spent the weekend. and then came home to our animals.   Our cat and dog remain at home, and so our time away is limited to a safe duration for the cat and dog to fend for themselves.  Now that my cat bite is healing and the cat is healing, life is returning to normal.   (A couple weeks earlier the cat was bitten by an animal, and in not knowing she was bitten, I picked her up, more rather tugged her out of her hiding place and she bit me…not at all her usual behavior, she is a very loving cat.   We didn’t see her wound at the time, but knew something was wrong with her.  Arthur spotted her wound, and we took her to the vet, who gave her a vaccine, and told me was more concerned that I get myself to hospital to treat the cat bite.  I did, was vaccinated and given antibiotics, the incident reported to County Health, the cat quarantined at our home for 10 days and we are both mending without incident, the primary concern being exposure to rabies).   When we returned home, our dog Jake resumed eating again.  He misses us when we are gone and gets sad - depressed.  Dogs have feelings.  Oh, and our cat too, she has feelings, misses us and glad when we return home. 

After my peridontist visit on Friday afternoon we drove to my mother’s home, picked her up and went out to eat.  We live in a rural town, and there aren’t a lot of restaurants or places to eat, so we enjoy the opportunity of eating out at different restaurants on the days of  my peridontist appointments.  It’s an eating out together date we look relish.  Choosing a restaurant in the town where my mother lives proved not to be as obvious as it might seem.  We kind of scoured what we knew to be restaurants in her neighborhood, opted to go further away, settled on Black Angus, since I was hankering for a nice steak lunch.  We got there and it no longer has lunch, open for dinner only.  Must be the economy.  The hour was growing late into the afternoon, I was hungry now, and we had not eaten breakfast that day,  or at all, so we wound up at (oh yuck!) Old Country Buffet.   Arthur likes the many choices of buffet restaurants, and sometimes so do I, but Old Country Buffet is not one of my favorites.  We both really enjoy the buffet variety of primarily healthy choices at  Sweet Tomatoes restaurant, but there were none the town where my Mom lives.    

Saturday Arthur spent the day home, defrosted Mom’s freezer for her because it had become so full of ice that the ice on all the shelves were touching each other, no room for food.   He took care of some other taskings for her, then spent the rest of the day fooling around with installing stuff in  his old fashioned computer.  Not the laptop kind, the big bulky kind.  Some guy he knows had given him some Linus software to download or told him about it.  Anyway, it was a dead computer (not working) and when Arthur finished the download it sprung back to life, installed Windows XP and is sort of functional again.  He was delighted.  Still needs an audio driver and something else that would permit it to link to internet.  He was just intrigued that it started working again...kind of like a guy tinkering in his garage with his power tools, only Arthur likes to tinker with puter.

Saturday I took Mom to Farmers Market in Proctor area of Tacoma.  That is a district that more resembles Portland or some Seattle districts; organic, green living, conscientious choices - that sort of thing, and an amazingly cool, fun grocery store with very upscale item choices.  For a mere $309.00 you can purchase a wheel of gourmet cheese!  An experience in itself.  (I’m being a bit snarky – it would be very unlikely we would ever spend that kind of  money on cheese.)  We visited a new consignment shop in her immediate neighborhood – delightful items, colorful, fun, upbeat, cheerful.  I liked it.   But I didn’t buy anything, because in truth, neither of us need another thing!

And more for the hunt of treasure than because either of us need anything more in our homes, we went to a few garage sales. What was being offered wasn’t the kind of garage sales we were looking for - more like junk sales.  We had fun anyway because we toured many of the University Place neighborhoods, the million + $$ homes with breathtaking views of the Narrows water, Narrows Bridge, the outlying island.  And alongside the million + $$ homes, are more modest ranch style homes.  You can be on a ‘house of dreams’ street and turn to go down the the next street which could well be a quiet and modest street of different ranch style homes.    University Place neighborhoods are in interesting mix of income levels.   After our tour of neighborhoods,  I took her to visit Charlie at cemetary where his ashes are placed.  It is a beautiful, peaceful cemetary, a place of quiet serenity amidst the hubbub of getting from here to there.  Nice place to quietly reflect on life.  I know, it may sound like a strange juxtaposition to reflect on life when at a cemetary where the dead are buried…..but that is how it works for me.

We went back to Proctor district that evening to have dinner at a niche Mexican restaurant (not a restaurant chain) because Mom said she heard good things about the food and atmosphere there.  Lively atmosphere with mix of old and young people dining.    I had a Taste Assault dish called Chicken Mole, although it would be better named Chicken in Mole (prounounced molay)  Sauce, because the sauce was Outrageous -  6 ingredients, and I can remember plums, almonds, mole (an unsweetened chocolate), and some other ingredients.  It wakes up your taste buds like wowza!   Not hot or even spicy, flavorful would be the word I would use to describe it.  Flavorful with each bite.  Arthur took a menu and will experiment at home with making the mole sauce because I liked it so well. 

Sunday we took Mom to her church (St Andrews Episcopal Church).   A bit of history here; my mom lost half her sightedness recently and is vision impaired now.  Mom had been saying she felt she needed something inspirational amidst all the doctor appointments and bad news.  Along the way, I decided to call the Priest at St Andrews to talk to him about Mom.  When she was a child, she attended Episcopal church in Spokane.  I explained to him her childhood church exposure, and her current medical condition with being sight impaired, being told by her doctors not to drive anymore. He agreed to visit Mom immediately and arranged for someone to pick her up and take her to church on Sundays.  

She has been to St Andrews now, a few times, and wanted us to visit her church.  We wanted to visit it also, as I enjoyed the upbeat conversation with the Priest - he was energetically young, even though he isn't young.    That Sunday they had special guests, a singing group who livened up the entire worship service with renditions of the hymns done to foot tapping music.  Guitars, tambourines, horns, and one of the gals playing guitar was barefoot!   Felt like we were at a campfire gathering!  Geesh!  But the worship service having a combination of traditional liturgy, the laying on of hands for healing, the Eucharist, and the lively music with a welcome invitation to all does reflect ‘The Emerging Church’.

We loved the church, it had accommodations our little church building isn’t equipped to have, and if we lived in that area, we would likely attend that church.   Afterwards we ate at a restaurant in her immediate neighborhood that she is fond of - an old fashioned restaurant left over from approximately the 1950’s era.     So lots of eating this weekend, way too many calories, and Mom had a nice weekend.  So did we.  

Oh and at the Farmer's Market I bought some snow peas that were priced below what is usually charged for snow peas, so I bought enough to freeze.  Bought a couple of tomato plants already bearing tomatoes, and a basil plant.   I didn’t plant a vegetable garden this year, and haven’t spent much time outside with the herb and flower gardens, so keeping it light this year.   Weather hasn’t been too cooperative where we live – cold, rainy, then unseasonably blistering hot, then cold again.   At the market, I found a growing salad bowl planter that I wanted and Mom bought it for me for my birthday gift.  The planter has growing  lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro plants  - salad ingredients, and that is the extent of my vegetable garden this year.   Except all the herbs I have been growing for a few years now. 

And I was delighted to learn about a lovely tasty sauce called Chimichurri?  Oh, I tasted some at the market, and just had to buy one - lime Chimichurri.  Great to use as braising sauce for grilled vegetables, on meats, or just straight on healthy chips or fresh veggies.   Taste delight!

It was a rather sweet weekend.  Last year around this time, we had visited Mom and she and I went to Lavender Festival on Vashon Island, ferry ride over and back, a beautiful, clear, sunny day, making the waters deep blue and picturesque. There was a Farmer’s Market there too, and we visited that Farmer’s Market

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