Cars

So, yesterday morning as I was settling down to work, we got a knock on the door from our neighbor.  He said there was some sort of accident down the road and that there were lights blinking on the cars...

This is what we walked down to see.  The black car plowed into the white car which plowed into mine.  The driver of the black car was no where to be found ...

The white car belongs to my son-in-law.

Unfortunately, the side of my car that already had damage was not touched so I will have to take care of that myself :(.

Crazy.

 

Rocket Man

This is the first quilt I've made since moving home; this is for my youngest grandson.  The theme his parents picked was Snoopy in Space so I went out and got this fabric .. it's super busy. I decided to make the quilt a rocket ship, and use only a little of the Snoopy fabric.

I got a new space background.  I'm not sure I like it -- but it's better than with the Snoopy background.

I think I'm going to use white as a border -- that should tone it down a little and I may cut it a little smaller too. 

What color do you think the border should be? white or orange?

There's No Place Like Home

 So... we're in the middle of a renovation of our house and living with our YD and family.  It's almost done, but not yet.  Here are some pics of our house in progress.

This is what our looked like when we first bought it.

This is what it looked like when we started work.

This is what it looks like now.

No after picture, yet.  We'll have to do some landscaping.  Can't wait.

Here's a picture of it with lights for Christmas.

2020 Victory Garden

Not really a "Victory Garden" -- just the beginning of my herb garden.  I have wanted to have my own fresh herbs for a while now -- I tried planting mint in the front yard -- it didn't work.  I have purchased numerous rosemary plants which have either died or been accidentally killed. I have had some basil plants that turned out okay.  So, anyway, I decided to get an herb growing kit on Amazon "Herbs in the Burbs."

 

 

It's a super cute box with all the necessary equipment -- however, a waste of money.  But I thought it would be a good way to start the plants -- I could have done it for much less money by buying starter plants at Home Depot ... but here are the plants that have sprouted:

cilantro,

parsley, and

basil ..

The rosemary and thyme didn't sprout so I bought a couple of small plants from Home Depot yesterday.  I also got a window box in which to plant all the herbs.  I plan to transfer the plants later today.

Plans and Dreams

I've come to the realization that some of my dreams are just that, dreams -- they might never be reality.  Basically, I've been having a pity party for a while now, poor me.

Last night, or early this morning, during one of my frequent bouts of insomnia, while I wasn't sleeping, I realized that things might not be exactly what I want but I can make the way things are, be what I want.  Does that make sense? It's like "if you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with".  The same concept.

I've always thought that I would love to live by the sea

To travel the world alone and live more simply
I have no idea what's happened to that dream
'cause there's really nothing left here to stop me
It's just a thought, only a thought

So, in response to this epiphany, I'm going to try to stop worrying about my dreams and focus on what I can do. 

Today, I purchased an herb garden indoor garden kit.  Just one of the things I've wanted to do.  So I'll start my herb garden before we move home.  I'll be able to take it with me.

I'm also going to check in with a friend to find out if I can still plant in August when we move back to our house .. or if I have to wait until next spring.  I'm also going to ask another friend about which plants she has had the most success with and what she would recommend I add to my tomatoes, which I'll wait to do next year. 

I am also going to sign up for a photography course (obviously on line).  I've been wanting to do this but have been putting it off, for no good reason.

If I never have my house in Eagle Harbor, I can still vacation there and enjoy it.  It's okay.  I can live with that.

I haven't been doing any sewing, but I will ramp that up as soon as we move home.  I have two quilts to make and can't wait to get started on those.  I have the main fabric for one of the quilts and I should go ahead and get the other fabrics ...

Birthdays ..

I somehow missed blogging about my grandsons' birthdays .. May, June, and July.

So, happy birthday to Cooper ..

to Andrew ... and to Mikey ...

and here's Nate for good measure.

We spent a week in Arizon and saw them just about every day.  We normally stay with them, but this time we rented an Airbnb with a pool in the back yard.  It worked out really well and it was great to see them. 

I worked four of the days we were there - learning how much harder it is to focus when I'm not in my element.

Funnel Cake

So we were driving to Sycamore Grove Park in Livermore for a walk and my husband and I were talking about things we hadn't had in a while .. I mentioned that I hadn't had a good doughnut.  He said that he and my SIL were talking about funnel cakes.  So, I looked up how to make funnel cakes and found that we had all the ingredients.  When we got home, I made some. 

I usually just go with the first recipe I find, but after reading one comment that trashed the first one I read I went with this one - County Fair Funnel Cakes - Love Bakes Good Cakes blog.

All the ingredients ready to go ...

the oil heating up ...

help with mixing the batter

ready to go

putting it in the oil

not very appetizing in the pan ..

Cheesy Bread Re-do

So, we're on vacation - sort of - in Arizona this week.  We rented an Airbnb, with a pool in the back yard, in the same town as my YS and his family.  We drove down last Saturday and have been hanging out at the house all week long.  The kids have been over every day. 

The "sort of" vacation was because I worked all week (Monday thru Thursday).  It was okay; would have been great except that I screwed up on something which tends to get me down.  It's weird, since I'm working remotely, I can work just about anywhere.  It was harder here because of the extra family around.

Anyway, we decided to make the Jalapeno Cheddar Bread again.  Recipe from tasty.com.

The great thing about making bread in Arizona in the summer is that to get the bread to rise, all you have to do is put it outside .. no warmed up oven.  Crazy! It worked even better than I would have expected.

Blueberry Scones

We are still living under the Shelter In Place order.  On the weekends, partly because of the SIP order and partly because we're still living with my YD and her family, I am so bored.  I'm sure I shouldn't say that, but I am. At home I would be sewing or cleaning or gardening or something, but here it's not the same.  (I cleaned the kitchen last weekend so I can't do that again.)

Anyway, yesterday, in my state of boredom, I decided to make scones.  I hadn't made them before so I pulled this recipe from King Arthur flour. 

They are tasty, but are pretty thin.  I think it was because I ended up processing the dough a little too much.  They smelled great.  I will definitely try these again.

SIP A to Z : Z

Z is for Zoom

Zoom is how we see all our friends and family now.  Zoom is the phone system my office uses and now everyone everywhere is using it to communicate. 

I am so ready for this to be over ...

We watched one episode of Picard tonight.  It was pretty good.  I enjoyed it.  If I didn't have all these other people around, I would probably watch all the Star Trek I could find.  That and Doctor Who.  But we have others we need to appease so I have to be happy with what I can get.

SIP A to Z : Y

Y is for Yeast

Along with toilet paper (which should have been my word(s) for T), yeast is one of those things that has been hard to buy.  The day before I started sheltering in place, my daughter and I went to the grocery store.  At the first store, there was no yeast; at the second one, we found a jar.  We decided to get it.  I've gotten the jars before and usually end up throwing it out.  Not this time.  Fortunately, we have had enough yeast to make all the breads we have wanted to make and we still have more.

(pizza dough)

 

(cinnamon bread)

 

(pretzels)

 

(pepperoni cheesy bread)

SIP A to Z : X

X is for Xenophobia

This is one of those words that I hear all the time, but was not sure of its meaning.  So I looked it up.  From Meriam-Webster (online), the definition is:

fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign

When searching for this, I ran across the following, also from Merriam Webster regarding the difference between xenophobia and racism. Here is the link:

"What to Know:

"Xenophobia is the fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners, whereas racism has a broader meaning set including "a belief that racial differences produce the inherent superiority of a particular race." Although they are similar, they are different enough that it is possible for one to be both xenophobic and racist.

"It’s never a good sign when we start seeing a massive increase in lookups for two closely related and unwelcome terms like racism and xenophobia, as is the case of late with the rise of COVID-19 and subsequent global pandemic. However, our place, as a dictionary, is not to judge the words that are being looked up (or the people looking them up), but instead to provide, to the best of our ability, as much information about them as is possible."

I find that interesting -- what judgment/conclusion would they be coming to regarding the people who are looking up these two words? 

Perhaps I should have chosen X-ray ...

SIP A to Z : W

W is for Watching TV

Okay for this I could have gone with Who which would have had a double meaning for me. 

Did you ever see World War Z?  The 12th doctor (Doctor Who) was in the movie.  He was working for W.H.O.  So, he was Doctor Who before he was Doctor Who.

Anyway, we have (along with a bazillion other people) binged many different TV shows. We watched Little Fires Everywhere, the Tiger King, the Plot Against America, the Interrogation, and probably others I don't remember.  Don't know what we're going to watch next but I'm sure it will be something.  Any suggestions? 

SIP A to Z : V

V is for Virus

I was agonizing over this letter.  Couldn't think of what to do.  I was thinking very very very awful.  I considered Verity (only Doctor Who fans would get this one -- but I haven't been watching the show or listening to my podcasts so that wouldn't be fair).  And then there was virtual, which would definitely work, but once I thought of virus (and you would have thought that it would have been my first idea) I just had to go that way.

This virus is just crazy.  The way our lives have been disrupted. The way that if you contract the virus, you could be deathly ill or not even know it.  And I think the lack of human interaction is making some of us crazy .. some of us crazier than others.

SIP A to Z : U

U is for Unique

This is a strange time, a unique time.  All of us "sheltering in place". Only going out for necessities. And in my case, not going out at all.  I do walk but nothing more than around the neighborhood.  I don't believe anything like this has ever happened before and I hope that once this is over, that it never happens again.

SIP A to Z : T

T is for Time

It seems like I should have loads of extra time on my hands, but I'm not doing much with it.  I could be doing so much more. I don't know how I was getting by when I was spending so much time driving to and from work.  I should feel like I've regained so much time, but I don't.  It's weird.

Of course, if I were to make this a Doctor Who thing, it would be for Time Lords. 

Happy Friday!

SIP A to Z : S

S is for Sleep

I am constantly tired -- not because of too much activity but not enough.  Some days I am so exhausted that I have taken a nap on my lunch hour (my father used to do that every day).  Insomnia seems to be the order of the day.  I am wide awake at night and sleepy during the day. 

The world turned upside down ...

My SIL said today that insomnia is a side effect of the staying at home / sheltering in place.  Who knew?

 

S is also for Shelter In Place.

SIP A to Z : R

R is for Reading

In between cooking and cleaning and watching way too much TV, I've been reading.  Nothing on my list but a bunch of books.  Mostly WWII related -- usually fiction.  Several about female spies and a few about the resistance.  One about a train that was "liberated" at the end of the war by some American GIs (non-fiction).  I usually try to get my books for free on my Kindle.  I'm cheap that way.  But if I find an author I like, I will sometimes buy their other books.  My memory isn't great so sometimes I get the same book twice -- though I think the Kindle isn't letting me do that anymore, at least I hope not.

Happy Wednesday ..

SIP A to Z : Q

Q is for Quarantine

Well, we're not exactly under quarantine.  We're Sheltering-in-Place, but it feels like quarantine, except we get to see each other.

I want to go on the record that I don't like the idea of people not being able to see the ones they love when they have the virus and are in the hospital. It seems inhumane to me.  I guess I understand on an intellectual level, but past that ...

Anyway.  Here's my pictures for today.

 

From Dr. Seuss, the Quick Queen of Quincy and her quacking quacker-oo.

SIP A to Z : P

P is for Pizza, Pretzels, and Peppers

So since sheltering in place, we do a lot more cooking, basically every night. We did order Afghani food this past weekend, but that's the only time we haven't cooked, or had leftovers, since March 17.

The past three days, we had Pizza (homemade) -- no pictures :(.  Pretzels.

and stuffed Peppers ...

and tomorrow, I'll be making Popcorn.

SIP A to Z : O

O is for Outdoors

Today was a gorgeous day so we (the five of us) went for a walk.  We took the baby over to a playground to swing.  It was great to get outside -- not that we haven't been getting out, but this was a longer walk than usual and the weather was great.

SIP A to Z : N

N is for Ninety days ...

It's been at least 30 days so far and who knows how long this will last.  Although it's not what we thought we'd be doing (we thought we would be planning on moving back into our house at the end of of the month .. that's not happening now), it's actually beginning to feel "normal."  And I am going to miss these days when we go back to work.  Although I find work much harder at home, I'm getting used to it.  I get more frustrated with things.  I have more computer issues.  But it's okay.  And like I said, I'm going to miss this when things go back to "Normal".  Oh, maybe N is actually for Normal.