Monday, July 6, 2020

Independent Living

The whole-cloth quilt proceeded a little bit more this week.


The "Which Came First Shawl" is moving along, too. Here's how it looked Sunday afternoon when I wrote this up. It doesn't look much different now, because I've only done another 3 1/2 rows.


The vegetable plants are growing (it's their job), and the zucchini plant has a blossom in there somewhere. DH has stationed little garden gnomes here and there to remind the squirrels and birds to leave our plants alone.


Our church choir has been working on a virtual choir performance. We were each given links to practice recordings a couple of weeks ago, and then a week later, we received a link to a video recording of the accompaniment with the person directing us to watch and listen to with earbuds or headphones while we recorded ourselves singing along. The hardest parts of the assignment were 1) finding a time when the dogs weren't likely to bark and 2) getting Dropbox to work for me, because I hadn't used it in a long time, and it wouldn't let me change my password. I eventually got it all worked out and sent off my recording. If I get a link I can share, I will include it in my blog. I have no idea when that will be.


We're still having our Zoom meetings. Sunday was Soren's birthday, so we got to sing "Happy birthday" to him.


The dolls watched the fireworks on TV, which was sensible. 

DH went over to his brother's house to watch from the street. He wore his mask and took a lawn chair. He sat far away from his brother and they were both far away from the neighbors, who were setting off personal fireworks. They had lots of company, as every block and cul-de-sac had its own individual fireworks display. The commercial fireworks started about 9:30 and went on for much longer than normal, because so many places in the region had cancelled the fireworks because of Covid-19. I guess it's the same company that puts these shows on all over the area, so they had a lot of stuff they had to use. When they finished, the neighbors went back to setting off their own supply, continuing until well past midnight. I had stayed home with the dogs and my bottle of wine. I had opened all the doors and windows early in the morning, so it would be cold in the house, then shut everything up again and pulled the shades, so the house was tolerable even after dark with the windows closed. Rocky slept through the noise, so I guess he can't hear that frequency anymore. Dusty was nervous and stayed close by me and the wine.

Our governor has extended the mask mandate to all the counties in Oregon. We must wear a mask if we go inside any public space. I found this photo online from our local airport.


I'm glad masks are required now, as it seems that does more good than just distancing, and this will take the pressure off the stores, most of whom had been requiring masks for customers and employees, making some customers unhappy. Now they can blame the governor, who can shut down any business that doesn't comply.


What's on my needles: The "Which Came First Shawl," first section (Egg) finished and ready to start the new color.

What's on my sewing machine: They are thinking about making more masks, so we can have several, as we will be using them more now.

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. A little progress this week.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: "Mariah's Play," a story about a play Mariah is in. She explains to Billy how, in the play, diversity helps a group of dolls solve a problem.


What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows. Not your typical historian romance, nor your typical fantasy novel, but somewhere in between and pretty funny. The great Katherine Kellgren adds much to the story with her expressive narration.

What's in my wine glass: Liberty Road Merlot, which was an appropriate choice for the Fourth of July Weekend.

What's my tip of the week: If you practice "catch-and-release" with spiders, it's easy enough to do. I put a small jar or a small plastic container over the critter, gently slide a card under the container and spider and carefully lift the whole thing so there are no gaps. Out he/she goes to the garden and off to find a new home. The exception, of course, is with spiders I know to be poisonous. With them, I just read them their rights (they have none) and send them off to spider heaven with a quick, merciful blow. Spiders are good in the garden. They keep the destructive bugs down.



Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.

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