A Quieter Week...

Monday, May 25, 2020
This was Memorial Day. The Marx family came for lunch. This was their first time in our home since Christmas. We have been to visit them a few times but they have not ventured this far. Governor Beshear opened up visits to no more than 10 people. So we took advantage of this opportunity. Claude would grill barbecued chicken. He had deviled eggs, Caesar salad, rolls, and potato salad to go with it. The Marx family brought dessert. Andie and Bailey made peanut butter cup cookies. Yum! Hayden and Andie also made breakfast burritos with a special dip and brought us some of these to enjoy through this week. Again, Yum!! I had sorted through all my crafting things and put several containers of things on the table in the family room downstairs. Andie, Hayden and Bailey went through it to see if they wanted any of it. They took it all!! Andie thinks the art teacher at school can use what they don't keep. There will a lot of cuts in funds with the financial setback from Covid-19. So these things may be really useful. That is great! It was a good visit and so nice to have family in our home. No hugs. We were going to use the patio downstairs under the shade of the deck above. However, it was miserably hot and humid so we opted for inside. We tried to stay spread out and be responsible. I had cleaned and designated the guest bathroom as theirs to use. We were all actually very well behaved in a social distancing sense. 

I received a link from Howard Carter for the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. We listened to them as a family. Here is a link. https://www.ukuleleorchestra.com/ It was really fun to listen to them play together. They are very relaxed and have a great time. 

Michael shared this link with us also and we all enjoyed it and I sent it to Howard for the Carter family to enjoy. It is the Octopus Jig Tipperary style. If the link doesn't work, just go to YouTube and search for the Octopus Jig Tipperary. Two girls playing a banjo and fiddle, then a flute is added to the mix. The things is they are each playing a part of one of the instruments. It is amazing. https://youtu.be/bj5zgZsxNDO 

Before the Marx family left, we called Jake and included him in our nonsense. It was fun to have a little family time and I am grateful for that opportunity. 

I received this neat picture from my cousin, Hershel Culpepper. Hershel's mother, Vera, and my father, Vernon are brother and sister. Hershel was doing some family history research and found this document. It is a registration card for Carl Edward Lawrence, our grandfather. The thing Hershel wanted me to see is that he registered as having light red hair. Our Uncle Harold (another brother) had red hair. This would be where it came from. The thing I was also blown away with is the penmanship used on this document. Amazing.

I settled in after the Marx family left to finish the my Afghan of Many Colors. It really turned out nice. I am very happy with it. It is large enough to cover Claude completely if he napped under it. I still have yarn left over and I will make a second afghan with that yarn. In addition I have baby yarn and will make baby afghans out of it. Cleaning out feels great. But you sometimes have to be patient to get things done to empty out storage.

Tuesday, May 26, 2020
The subject of death has been very present with us lately. A friend from Church let us know her father passed away. Another friend's son died suddenly. He was only 23 years old. We also had confirmation that Julie, Cordell's wife (Cordell is Claude's brother), is terminal. She has pancreatic cancer. Joann, Claude's sister, posted this meme about death that was simply beautiful.

When I learned of Zachary's death, I notified Dusty that Claude and I would really love to help in any way they needed it. I volunteered to play the piano or organ, as needed, for the funeral. This is another area of our lives that has been strictly limited due to Covid-19. It turned out they could not use the Church building yet so the visitation and funeral would be held at Tucker, Yocum, & Wilson Funeral Home in Georgetown, Kentucky. They asked me to play the prelude and postlude music. The opening and closing numbers were to be done by playing a CD as choirs are not allowed. Then one special musical number was sung by Christina Holt and accompanied by Nicole Charles. I went Tuesday at noon to practice the electric piano. Then I went back at 4pm with Claude for the visitation. 

Before going to practice their electric piano I dropped off treats for Papa, donated a car full of things to Goodwill, treated myself to a biscuit and soda from Bojangles, and delivered a baby gift to the Hale home. May I just say that for someone who has been pretty much shut off from normal life, this was a whirlwind of a morning and then afternoon. Back to getting lots of things done outside our home. Reality was a little jarring!

Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Zachary's funeral was held at 2pm this day. I spent my morning with Claude on his laptop searching for lights for the outside of our home. We have determined it is time to replace these lights as they are rusting. We searched Lowe's website to find what we wanted and both agreed was a good fit for our home. The first picture is what we currently have. The second picture is what we would purchase at Lowe's after attending the funeral. They had more in stock than we needed so we got the six we needed and are very happy. 

Claude and I also requested our absentee ballots on line for the primary election. With this virus, another thing to be careful of is the voting booth process. In an effort to not spread the virus, they will only have one actual polling place in each county or maybe area of the state. Part of this is that the people who usually man the polling locations are in the age which is particularly difficult if you get the virus. They don't want to expose them to the virus. So this election they will offer and are strongly suggesting that everyone vote with an absentee ballot. While this is not a process I would normally think is correct, I absolutely agree with it in these circumstances. But you must request a ballot, then they check to be sure you are a registered voter and everything is on the up and up. The state then mails you a ballot and you return it via mail or drop box at the County Clerk's office. We have now requested our ballots. We have gone to the County Clerk's office to vote absentee before when we were going to be on a trip on the actual election day. 

Claude went with me to the funeral. The electric piano is in a side room of the funeral home. Claude sat in that room with me during the prelude and postlude. Then we sat on the sofa in the lobby during the other parts of the service. The opening hymn was a recording of the Tabernacle Choir on Temple Square singing "Abide with Me; 'Tis Eventide". This is such a beautiful hymn and speaks of the Savior staying near us as we commune (pray) with Him. His words fill our souls and provide light to our lives. This was a great hymn for this service. One of the speakers was Eddie Bolton. He shared the experience of his family immigrating from Ireland to the United States. He shared that when they left Ireland they were surround by lots and lots of family, hugging, tears, knowing and feeling their love as they left. Then they crossed the ocean in the huge airplane and landed in the United States. When they arrived there was again family who had already come to the United States in the airport with posters and balloons and tears of joy welcoming them to their new home. Eddie explained this is what death is like. You leave family that you will see again and you greet family who has gone before. I loved this mental picture of death and that it is a part of the great eternal Plan of Happiness. Eddie also spoke to Zachary dying at age 23 and leaving behind and wife and three little kids. Eddie said we are each given an allotted amount of time on this earth. It may be a long time but it may also be a short time, like Zachary. At the end of the day, it is enough time in Heavenly Father's plan. I again was deeply touched by the repeating of the phrase "in the end it is enough time" no matter how long or short it is. 

After the service Claude and I went to Lowe's and purchased the lights. Only one person from each family is allowed in the store. I sat in the car and turned the volume back on my cell phone. I realized I had missed a call from Julie during the funeral. I called her back. On Julie's bucket list is a trip to Kentucky to see the Ark Encounter. They have dear friends they have wanted to take this trip with for years. These friends want to help Cordell and Julie make this trip before Julie passes. Cordell had communicated this with Claude and Claude had assured Cordell it would be great to have them all come for a visit. Julie got to thinking and remembered that we were going to have a family reunion the beginning of June and didn't want to interfere with that. I was able to assure her that we had cancelled the family reunion with this corona virus and all the restrictions in the states we would come from and be in. So they should surely come whenever they can for this visit and checking off her bucket list. We had a sweet conversation. I shared with her the thought from Eddie about the time being enough and what peace that gave me. She said it also spoke to her. I love this Lady and her hubby. I hope it all works for them to be able to come. We will welcome them with open arms for a great visit. 

We finished our outing with a visit to Jimmy John's for something to eat. Then I would spend the evening working on the granny squares from the baby yarn I have left over.

Thursday, May 28, 2020
Spent my day crocheting granny squares from baby yarn.

Friday, May 29, 2020
Spent my day crocheting granny squares from baby yarn.

Saturday, May 30, 2020
Finally, the rain is gone. This was an absolutely gorgeous day. The forecast was for no rain and a high in the low 70's. This was an outside kind of day for sure. I got up and was outside in my grubby gardening clothes at 9am. Claude would join me. My goal was to weed all the flower beds along the north edge of our property where we have made water breaks and put plants in them. Claude's goal was to trim the bushes and trees and do a bit of edging. His edger quit on him after he mowed the grass during the week so he wanted to finish up that job. We paused once about noon for a break on the front porch with liquid refreshment. Then back to our tasks finishing about 1pm. After 4 hours, we were so tuckered out it was pathetic. 

I did take this picture of our front flower beds by the house. The peonies are in bloom and the lilac bushes at the far end are also in bloom. The signs Claude has repainted for the door, hanging birdhouse and sign in the flower bed are bright and colorful.

Oh, as I was coming back up the hill from weeding, I decided to get off the grass and onto the sidewalk along the side of the house. This was right at the spot where Claude has stacked the extra bricks we own. My shoe slipped and I fell forward toward the bricks. Terror struck my heart. I am to get the impressions made for my implant bridge tomorrow. I could see me hitting my face again and damaging all that work. I did hit my cheek a bit but not my mouth...thank heavens. 

We showered and then headed to Wendy's for something to eat. We both chuckled at this date. Thru the drive-thru for dinner. Parked under the tree by the back parking lot to eat. Drove through the drive-thru for Frosty's for dessert. Parked under the tree by back parking lot to eat. Then home. Such is the nature of a date during Covid-19. Thank heavens for that tree by the back parking lot providing shade in which to sit in one's car and enjoy one's meal.

We got this picture of the Roper family in their new back yard. So very happy they have a yard they can actually get out in with the girls and play. 

And, tah-dah, I finished one baby afghan. On to the next one. 

Sunday, May 31, 2020
We spent our morning doing reading in our scriptures, listening to Darin Griffith teach about that particular block of scripture, listening to the Zoom Worship Service with our ward, and partaking of the sacrament. A lovely sabbath morning. 

I found this ad for a t-shirt and am just sure I need to purchase eight of them. One for each of the grand and great-grandmonsters. What do you think?

So Covid-19 still directs our ability to get out and about. But things are beginning to open back up with big restrictions. There is a calendar of when it is anticipated things will open. But if we have a resurgence of the illness, we could have to tighten the rules again. The good thing about being retired is it is much easier for us to give in to being quarantined. 

The bad thing that has happened this week and is overshadowing a lot of the talk about the corona virus is the question of race. A black man was taken into custody by police in Minnesota. The officer held him to the ground with his knee on the man's neck. The man was pleading to be let up as he couldn't breath. The office did not let him up and the man died. This is just not good on any level. The officer is now charged with murder. The country is in a huge uproar about racial inequality and particularly police brutality. There are demonstrations that start peaceful enough and are to be our right as citizens. Then they turn into riots with burning of buildings and vehicles and looting of stores, smashing windows and so on. This is happening in cities all over the United States. One young black girl who was an emergency responder was killed in her home in Louisville. I heard on the news that the police came and her boy friend fired at them first and then they responded with fire and she was killed in the fire. The demonstrators in Louisville were demonstrating for her life and again it turned into a riot. The girl's family is pleading for the rioting and destruction to stop. Police stations have been set on fire. Claude read this morning that in Minneapolis, the people who were arrested were all from out of state. They came in just to stir up the hatred, not to peacefully protest. This is all just awful. Simply awful. I am happy to live in the country for now and not in the city. We are in a dark place in the country. A very dark place. 

Ups and Downs of this Last Week...

Last week I missed this picture and story.

We each find our own way through this quarantine period. Our Hayden is particularly well suited to this. The basement at the Marx home is his Man Cave. He can stay down there for hours and is very happy with his games and things. He comes up throughout the day for food and relief and eventually to sleep in his bedroom upstairs. But the basement is clearly his domain. One day last week he was upstairs and Bailey went downstairs for something. She very seldom frequents their basement. After all, it is a Man Cave. But there are also things stored there and she probably went to retrieve something needed in the kitchen. Her parents received this delightful picture as a text message! Yep, our girl somehow managed to lock herself in the basement and they could not get the lock to open. One the other side of the door is the kitchen and family room. Please try to picture Michael feverishly trying to get the door off it's hinges and then working with two screw drivers trying to get the lock to release. They managed to get our girl out of the basement. Irony of ironies, Hayden goes up and down many times a day and never has been locked in the basement. Bailey goes down one time and locks herself in. We all had a chuckle as they shared this story and Bailey sent me her picture. 

Monday, May 18, 2020
Today was filled with crocheting interspersed with clearing out more shelves in the house. We had one old metal shelf in the basement storage with sleeping bags, air mattresses and other bedding on it. I went through this shelf and cleared out all the old blankets I received from my parents. We repurposed some and some we tossed. I found three old green sleeping bags we have not used in 15+ years. We have two sleeping bags that are the satiny material. I kept those and found a good home for the three green ones. The shelf has a lot less on it now and that feels very, very good.

Tuesday, May 19, 2020
This was a rainy day. Flood watches were out for the county in which we live. A good day to stay inside and crochet. I received a text from my dear Friend, Laura. She was also cleaning things out in her home. She sent me this picture and asked if I wanted this yarn she did not need.

I sent Laura these pictures with the assurance I would love to have that yarn. In fact, as I was trying to pick the colors to go in each row of the afghan I had realized I didn't have any lighter blues and was wishing I had some but refused to go and purchase any. That just seemed ludicrous to make an afghan to get rid of yarn and then spend money on more yarn to make it. Laura's gift to me was just what I needed. What is that old saying, "One man's junk is another man's treasure" only in this case it is women. We would visit them on Friday and get the yarn. With all the rain I didn't want to drive in it to get this yarn. Plus I had a dental appointment coming up and knew I might need to rest a bit after. 

And I continued to crochet.

Wednesday, May 20, 2020
This was the day for my final visit to the implant surgeon, Dr. Mark King. We should have had this visit a month ago in April. However, due to the virus and the closing of all dental offices, it was postponed until May with the understanding that, if things did not get better, we would move the date again. While this prolonged the process it was a blessing to me as it gave the bone in my jaw time to heal more. When I fell I really shattered that bone and I was grateful for more time for it to heal. 

I spent my morning crocheting. During that time I received a telephone call from Julie, my sister-in-law. Her hubby, Cordell, is Claude's brother. I was so happy she called me. Julie was diagnosed and has been fighting pancreatic cancer for some months now. Cordell has Parkinson's so they have a lot to deal with. In addition, Bonnie, Claude's mother had called a night or two before and told us the doctors told Julie they can do nothing else for her. With the virus they are not letting family in to the hospitals to be with their relatives. They finally let Cordell in so he was with her. So to have her call was just a huge blessing. We talked for a long time and she sounded good. She even has the Ark Encounter on her bucket list and hopes to come this fall if circumstances allow to visit it. I was texting with our son Jake and told him about this welcome phone call. Jake's response: "Julie and Cordell are good, hard working people. I always felt we were blessed with a wonderful ensemble of aunts and uncles." 

Finally it was time to head into Georgetown. We would drop off the sleeping bags at their new home. Then we dropped off a bag of treats for Papa. As we drove past the park where we walk, we realized it was completely closed off and had obviously been completely covered with flood water from the creek. Then off to the doctors office. 

Doctor's appointments have really just opened back up again. It is different. We arrived in the Jeep and the receptionist saw us arrive. She came right out the door with a clipboard and waved. There were two other cars in the lot with people waiting in them so I was not really sure she was waving at me. I called into the office to let them know we were there. He assured me she was waving at me and was coming to the Jeep. I put on my mask and opened the Jeep window. She handed me a clipboard and told me to come in when it was filled out. I did this and found a waiting room with only three single straight back chairs spaced out along the wall. She took my temperature and that was okay. I followed her to the room for the surgeon to work on me. There I found this turtle.

I just love turtles. This one always makes me calm and assured things will be just fine. In came the doctor but it was not Dr. King. It was Dr. Lucy. She just graduated from University of Kentucky's School of Dentistry and was supposed to begin her work with Dr. King in July. They have just bumped that up a bit. She was cheerful and delightful and had the unhappy task of deadening my gums for the work they were to do. And deaden she did. My goodness. She started with gauze soaked in the deadening agent. This she left on my gum for a bit. Then she took a swab soaked in deadening agent and let it rest on my gums for a bit. Then the needle and she gave me about 50 shots to deaden me and then let that set for a bit. Then she came back and anywhere I could feel it at all she shot me some more. I am guessing it took at least 100 shots before she was sure I was okay. This should have been my clue that what they were doing would be uncomfortable in the best of circumstances. What they did was cut two little slits in my gums to expose the two implant posts that are in my mouth. Each had a tiny cap on it. They would take those caps off and test the strength of the implant post with regard to it adhering to the bone in the gum. The right one was 73 and the left was 81. I do not know what those numbers mean but I do know that Dr. Lucy and Dr. King, who did the work after the deadening, were both very, very happy with that strength. Dr. King even commented to Dr. Lucy that I was the patient he was telling her about and showing the shattered bone and how pleased they were with the healing. I may be a good patient to train other doctors! Who knew? After the testing of the strength they put the larger caps on the implant posts and pronounced me done. I have a dental cleaning appointment with Dr. Hollen on June 1st. Dr. King's office called Dr. Hollen and set it up so that she will clean my teeth that day and also make the impressions for the bridge of crowns to go on these posts. Dr. King's office wants me to come back when I am all done so they can see the work. I will happily do that for this amazing dental office. They have been so good to me and helping me get through this mess I made for myself.

Claude took me home and I curled up on my love seat and crocheted the rest of the day away. 

Thursday, May 21, 2020
My poor gum was really, really sore. I didn't think it was anything out of the ordinary. I could feel each of the spots where we a deadening shot had been given. The places where the posts were also ached. I determined my day would best be spent resting and crocheting so I took up residency on the love seat in the living room and crocheted the day away. 

Claude did grocery shopping in the morning.

In the afternoon I checked Facebook and learned that a dear friend's son died. This young man was only 23 years old. I sent the father a message and assured him Claude and I would love to help in any way we could. I also volunteered to play the piano or organ if that would be allowed. Zachery was only 23 years old. He just passed out and died as far as I could tell. He was married and had two little girls. This is heartbreaking. 

Friday, May 22, 2020
I spent the morning crocheting. My gum was better but still had some discomfort. Only a threat of rain. I suggested to Claude that we might try going to the Carter's to retrieve the blue yarn. He was happy with that idea. I popped a text to Laura to see if we could come later in the day. She said that would be fine.

I also popped a text to another friend, Velvett, and gave her Dr. King's contact information. She also fell and has damaged her front teeth. I wanted to know about Lillie, her granddaughter, who has leukemia. Velvett has been instructed by her cancer doctor that she should not go to the dentist until all this virus stuff settles down. She had breast cancer and is very compromised. The cancer is gone but she is very compromised from the treatments. She will save Dr. King's information for later. As for sweet Lillie. She passed away in her mother's arms after her valiant fight with cancer. Oh my is this one hard to deal with. 

Claude and I left for Georgetown about 3pm. We dropped a treat bag off for Papa. Then we got us each a soda at Burger King and pointed the Jeep to Frankfort. The Carter's welcomed us and we sat on their deck at social distancing standards with our masks on and had a lovely visit. This was just so refreshing and wonderful. I really like being home a lot more but visiting with friends is such a treasured experience now. 

After this we stopped at Zaxby's in Frankfort for dinner. Sat in their parking lot with the windows down and enjoyed our salads. Then off to Georgetown for a walk. The path was open now except for one spot that was still completely under water. We had to walk way around it at that point. But we got a nice walk in. Claude saw a tiny turtle on the walk and I took this picture. There really is a turtle there. Claude picked it up after I took the picture and put it on the grass.

Back to our home and I spent the evening crocheting.

Saturday, May 23, 2020
Time to leave the crocheting for a bit and do some cleaning. Watered the plants. Cleaned the four bathrooms. Dusted. Then sat on the front porch for a bit with Claude. I took these three pictures from and around the front porch. The first shows the storm clouds coming in again. The second and third are the peonies starting to blossom. The last one is the turtle rain gauge given to me by the Tyler's for Mother's Day. It is full of water from all the rain we have been having. 

Then down to the basement to work on a clean out project. I wanted and was ready to go through all my crafting supplies and pare them down to next to nothing. My idea was to go through and toss what could be tossed, combine what could be combined, and make a box of what could be given away. Monday, tomorrow, the Marx family is supposed to come over for a barbecue. I wanted to have this done so Bailey could go through what I was giving away in case she wanted any of it to work with while quarantined. I had crafting things in my sewing room and in the toy closet. While I was doing this it seemed to lead to cleaning out my sewing machine cabinet. It was great to get through all of this but it took all afternoon and I finished at 6:30pm when Claude called to say dinner was ready. Two bags of garbage later and I was a happy creature. All of the give away is now on the table in the family room for Bailey to look at. What she does not take I will ask a friend with seven children if her kids might like it for this summer at home to play with.  Whew! 

The evening was spent crocheting again. I'm getting there. This is going to be one great crocheted blanket. It is rows of 200 double crochets and I think I might call it my 'Afghan of Many Colors' as a play on Joseph's Coat of Many Colors. Each row is a different color of yarn. There is really no pattern to the choosing of colors. Just what I feel impressed to do next. I am happy to have the blue yarn that Laura gave me in the mix. Should be finished before a lot longer and then I will post a nice picture. 

Sunday, May 24, 2020
And here we are at Sunday...again. We have had our home church service this morning. This was followed by a quick drive to Hardee's at Love's Travel Plaza for a sandwich. We brought these back home and sat on the front porch to eat. We have really come to love sitting on our front porch in the shade enjoying any breeze that floats past. Such a blessing to have that porch time together.

This afternoon I will Blog, write the missionaries, take care of Papa's bills, shorten the sleeves in Andie's blouse, clean out patterns so I can see if there are any Andie wants to keep, wrap Father's Day so Michael and can take that home with him tomorrow, and try and come up with an Anniversary gift for the Marx who will celebrate that on June 1. Busy afternoon but good things to get done. My evening will be spent crocheting...who would have guessed!

I'm Back...

Monday, May 11, 2020

One of the great things about quarantining during the corona virus is the opportunity and time to try new recipes. Claude is our resident chef. He really does all the cooking these last few years. And that is a good thing. The other thing that is happening is an eMail I get every week or so from BD Mongolian Grill. They eMail fun recipes. I forward them to Claude and he determines if the recipe is interesting enough to keep and try. This day he cooked Fire Cracker Shrimp. It so just delicious.

We posted this picture on our neighborhood Facebook page. Then Claude went back and posted the recipe for our neighbors. Here is the recipe. Keep in mind, Claude tweeked it a little the first time he made it. 

FIRE CRACKER SHRIMP

THE INGREDIENTS:
2 Tbl oil (vegetable, peanut, soybean, etc.
16 oz shrimp (or choice of protein)
½ cup green onions
½ cup roasted red peppers
½ cup snap peas or pea pods
½ cup mushrooms (canned or fresh)
½ cup fresh garlic (chopped)
½ tsp salt
½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
½ cup sweet chili sauce

THE DIRECTIONS:
1. With stir-fry, timing is everything. Prepare all of the ingredients and seasonings before doing the cooking and have them set up in a handy place.
2. Slice or chop vegetables to the desired size. If you want to remove the tails from the shrimp, now is the time. Also, cook the rice or noodles so it/they will be ready when the stir fry is done.
3. Heat a large stir-fry or sauté pan over high heat, add the oil and allow to heat for about 30 seconds. (If you add the bacon chunks, cook them first, then add the shrimp to the oil and bacon drippings.)
4. Add the shrimp and cook until just pink, about 2-3 minutes.
5. Add all of the vegetables and seasoning, except for the sauce and cook until the vegetables are just tender.
6. Remove from heat and stir in the chili sauce until everything is coated then serve immediately over rice or noodles.

OPTIONS/SUBSTITUTIONS
1. You can change protein portions and ingredients as needed.
2. I added some chopped up bacon, several slices, to the mix just because…
3. If you want to cut down a little on the heat, reduce or eliminate the crushed red pepper.
YIELD: 2 Servings – This is a slightly modified version of the BD Mongolian Grill's recipe recently published on line.

This day I started making a PowerPoint out of the scrapbook from our May 2007 Michigan trip.  Bonnie, Claude's mother, joined us for this road trip. These projects just take lots of time and quarantine time is the best time for this to happen. My plan is to get this done and save the printed pages with all the pictures I took and the narrative Claude wrote and give it to Papa for Father's Day. He enjoys the travel scrapbooks so much and I know he will like this one of Michigan.

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Spent my morning sewing masks. I learned that our neighbors, Herb and Charlotte Archer, did not have masks. All of Kentucky is encouraged to wear masks when they are out. Herb is actually the contractor that built our home. I made each of them a mask. Then I made two more masks for Jake with the shoe laces (pictured below). I made extra masks for Claude and I so we keep one for each of us in each of our cars and we also have one for each of us on the gossip bench by the front door. I cleaned up the sewing table but I put everything in a container under the sewing table because I'm not sure this kind of sewing is done yet. We walked to Herb and Charlotte's home and left their masks on their front porch. 

In the morning I also learned that Max Person and his family have the corona virus. Max was one of the teens when we lived in Maryland. He is the age of our children. It felt like the virus was getting closer since we really now knew someone with the virus. I also ordered the Father's Day gifts. Nissa contacted me to thank me for the bracelet we sent her for Mother's Day. So it was a full, productive morning.

We had hoped to visit the Marx family in the afternoon. I sent Andie a text and it turned out...wait for it...they had appointments on their calendars. What in the world is happening?? The kids had orthodontist appointment at 2pm and Hayden had to take his AP test on-line at 4pm. I determined visiting at 5pm was just a bit too late. We had a box full of things to go to them so it would just sit in our breakfast room for a bit longer.

In the evening I received a sweet text from Bailey. She wore the mask I made to the orthodontist. The orthodontist complimented her mask and Bailey was sweet enough to let me know about that compliment. 

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

I put the masks in the mail to Jake. Yippee!!

We received a cute picture from Bailey. It seems they have 6 chipmunks in the front yard. Claude and I both cautioned her not to feed them. It is a mother and five babies.

This night we missed going to Louisville for Cirque du Soleil OVO. This and all other concerts, etc., have been cancelled.

Thursday, May 14, 2020

This morning was spent at home. While working some more on my PowerPoint presentation of the 2007 Michigan trip, I came across these two postcards with recipes that are fun. They are very Michigan type recipes. We spent time on Mackinac Island and the thing there is fudge. Lots of fudge stores. Then we traveled across the Mackinac Bridge to the Upper Peninsula headed to Escanaba. We stopped for lunch and had pasties (prounced past-eez). Pasties were a staple for workers in the early years in Michigan and other places. They could be carried easily to work and made a substantial meal for someone who worked hard and long hours. We tried them with ketchup and gravy. I tended to like the gravy over them the best. But they were good either way.

I also came across some pictures that I sent via eMail to Nissa, our daughter. She spent one day with Bonnie, Claude and I at the Tulip Festival in Holland, Michigan. The first picture is Nissa in a flower bed full of tulips when we took a trolley tour of the area. The second is Nissa with Claude mother, Bonnie. The third picture is Aubrey Anne and Paul, Nissa's youngest children. They are so little and cute. We bought them Dutch hats for a souvenir.

One of the things Claude has been working on for me is a welcome sign we have had in our front flower bed for years. All the color had completed faded and it needed to be repainted to bring the life back to it. Claude took on that task and did an excellent job. He picked the colors for all the pieces on the sign and then put on two coats of clear coat so that, hopefully, it will retain this great color longer. This is the sign and then the sign in the front flower bed.  So very pretty.

I love making puzzles. I have an addiction where puzzles are concerned. I found this one on Facebook and thought it would be great for a Christmas puzzle. Then I went on line to check the cost out. They want $35 for this puzzle. That makes it not something I will purchase, no matter how much fun it would be for our family. I have a hard enough time paying $12 for a 1000 piece puzzle. Not going to pay $35. I like to say I have 'a line in the sand' over which I will not cross. Just won't do it. But it would be a fun puzzle to do.

Had a couple of interactions with Andie, our daughter. Andie teaches first grade. This has been a weird end to their year. She is on her computer everyday in contact with these children to see how they are doing with their work. They are sending her pictures of things they have accomplished so she knows they are getting their assignments accomplished. Now it is the end of the school year. They will not go back to the classroom for instruction. So she is getting little pictures and notes from the kids. This is one of the notes Andie really liked. It says, "Hi Mrs. Marx, I love you." This picture is the student holding Andie's hand. You know it is Andie because she made a side bun on Andie's head. Andie often twists her hair and holds it in place with a huge comb clip. So sweet.

Then Andie got her mail. In the mail was the bracelet we got her for Mother's Day. It is her birthstone. Andie sent this picture. Andie said, "Some folks are super loved and can work from home in style." All the girls loved their bracelets. 

In the afternoon we went to Georgetown to take Papa some treats and refill his bird feeder. As we left the house and headed down Hwy 32, Claude said, "There is a problem with the air pressure in the tire." We pulled over to a spot where Hwy 25 and Hwy 32 part ways.  Claude got out his air pump that we carry in his Jeep and he had started to put air in this tire with only 19 pounds of pressure when it should be 35 pounds of pressure. I was sitting in the Jeep when I heard Claude yell, "Sandi, get out and look at this!" I grabbed my cell phone and hopped out of the Jeep. There was a string of cars coming up the road with balloons and banners and people standing with their bodies out of the sun roof, lots of car horns blaring. It was a parade of the teachers from Northern Elementary School which is where the kids from Sadieville attend. They were making sure the students knew they were loved and appreciated. This explained all the kids sitting out at the entry to Eagle Bend and in Warring Pavilion and park in Sadieville. They were waiting for their teachers to come by to wave at them. We stopped what we were doing and waved to all of these great teachers and they headed into Sadieville. Fun moment in time.

When in Georgetown, after leaving Papa his treats and filling that bird feeder again, we drove to a tire store. Claude told them there was definitely a nail in his tire. They set up for him to come on Friday and they would work on his tire.

This evening we missed Bailey's final Band Concert for this school year.

Friday, May 15, 2020

Claude went to Georgetown in the morning to get his tire fixed. He made sure he left early enough to get the chicken mini's he likes from Chick-filA. They were able to put a patch on the inside of the tire that is guaranteed to last. That $28 was a whole lot less than buying tires for the Jeep. That will have to be done in the near future as these tires have more mileage on them than one would expect them to have in their lifetime. Can't complain about how well they have lasted. Then Claude did his walk alone at the park. 

I spent my morning weeding the flower beds. Then I had a little quiet time on the front porch. Then a shower and down to the basement to work on my PowerPoint presentation. 

This evening we finished up watching all the 8 seasons of Psych. We ordered Psych the Movie and watched it. It was fun to see these things again.

Saturday, May 16, 2020

Twice a year we have Stake Conference. This is where several congregations in our area meet at the same time. It is a Saturday and Sunday event with leadership training meetings Saturday afternoon, an adult session in the evening. Then Sunday morning there is another general session. This is always an uplifting time. That didn't happen because of quarantining. 

What to do with this time. We both wanted to take this opportunity to watch Lord of the Rings. We usually only do this on New Year's Eve. It just seemed liked this might be a time to get an extra viewing of these movies we love so much. I have a lot of extra yarn that I want to clear out of our home. So I pulled out all the yarn that is the same weight and started to crocheted a blanket out of them while we viewed the movies. Claude brought down his coloring project and worked on that while we watched the movies. His coloring book is Christmas cards we will send this coming December. We heated up a frozen pizza and just had a lovely afternoon and evening with some of our favorite movies. Good times.

Sunday, May 17, 2020

I really enjoy the fact that Facebook posts pictures and posts from years back. This morning this picture was the one I found. It is Papa sitting in the patio area at Sonic. This was a cool place in the shade that I could take Papa. We each had a soda and as we sat there the birds came to play. If you look closely there is a bird on the ledge. It just chattered away at Papa and he was in heaven. He loved sitting in the woods as a child watching birds and animals. So in his antiquity he reverts back to the joy that experience brought him as a child. He just loved watching the birds. This was another one of those sweet moments in time.

Claude and I had our reading time and completed the Book of Mosiah in the Book of Mormon. Then we watched the YouTube of the lesson done by Darin Griffith on this section of the scriptures. Then it was time for us to watch the Worship Service on Zoom. Just as Claude was getting up to get his laptop ready to watch this Zoom meeting, we got a message from Bishop Rex Holt saying Zoom was not working correctly and we wouldn't be able to have our Zoom meeting. We decided Claude would take a quick nap and I would go down to work on my Blog, a letter to the missionaries and a letter to Papa that I do each Sunday. First I sent a text to Andie to see if we might bring Dilly Bars from Dairy Queen to them in the afternoon. 

Claude didn't get a very good nap. He had two phone calls while he was trying to nap. I received a response from Andie that we would be very welcome to come to their home. So we gave up on the nap and me working on my lap top and pointed the Jeep toward LaGrange. We would take the box full of things for them. We had the 3-ring binders I saved for Andie to use in school, the drapes I shortened for them, Bailey's leggings I repaired one more time, recipe books, throw pillows made from the extra drape material. Claude also included two family history journals for the Mini's. I put my Anne of Green Gables books in for Bailey and we took Hayden our Hobbit and Lord of the Rings DVD's. I also returned the puzzle Michael loaned me. We picked up the Dilly Bars for them. Michael invited us in and we sat on one side of the family room and they sat on the other side. It was a nice visit. Then we returned home. 

I am spending my evening finishing up my work with my lap top. Claude is watching things he had DVR'd that I really don't want to watch. It has been a good day.

This week I realized my hair was long enough to go in a pony tail. Two days I have worn a ponytail. Can't believe I am 69 years old and back to wearing pony tails! Thank you Covid-19 for this new adventure.

That Time When Life Was Very Different...

And we just finished the next week of Covid-19 quarantine. 

Monday, May 4, 2002
This day started with the first doctor's appointment in months. The plan is to gradually lift restrictions. The first of these is some medical appointments. IF your doctor can provide their own supply of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and meet other strict criteria set by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) they may start to see patients again. Our dermatologist was ready to see regular patients and it was Claude's turn to have his check up. I rode into the appointment with him.

Doctor's cannot have patients sitting in their waiting rooms. So we pulled up in the bright green Jeep and parked out front. Claude called in and told them he was out front in the bright green Jeep. I must say that bright green color is a blessing in this age of curb side service. No trouble finding us in a crowd. The receptionist told him to have his insurance card ready and she would bring out the paperwork for him to complete. She came out with a clip board and gave it to Claude and took his insurance card. She returned inside. When the doctor was ready, she called Claude on his cell phone and told him to come in. He went in and directly to the examining room. And this is how a doctor's visit will be handled during this time.

The cool part for me was finding a rock ledge covered in honeysuckle. I hopped out of the Jeep and, with my trusty cell phone in hand, took several pictures of that beautiful honeysuckle. 

This was my comment on my Facebook post about these pictures:
"It's a honeysuckle kind of morning. Waiting for Claude's appointment, I noticed a beautiful rock face laden with honeysuckle. Growing up in Louisiana, there was a big hedge between our driveway and the neighbor, Buddy Seaton, and it too was laden with honeysuckle. As kids we would take a flower, pinch off the base and enjoy tasting the nectar. In our motorcycling days I loved driving by honeysuckle and enjoying that sweet fragrance. Here are some pictures of the lovely honeysuckle I enjoyed this morning. Yes, I did taste that nectar and also taught Claude Christensen about the nectar. Good start to this day."

While Claude was in the doctor's office, I called the Berlin Resort and cancelled our June family vacation to celebrate out 50 years of marriage. We were really looking forward to this time as a family. Plotted it and planned it for over a year. Didn't really want anything else for a celebration of 50 years but this time with our family. Well, we wanted a couple of trips together. We were able to make the quick trip to Tombstone, Arizona in February before all the madness began. We will probably not get the big drive around the country we wanted to do this fall. But we didn't want any party or that kind of thing. Just time with family. I must admit that in some ways the virus has caused us to conscientiously try to keep in touch with each other. Claude challenged us to do that at the beginning and we have all tried to keep up with each other in a more determined fashion. This was a hard one to cancel though but we both felt it was time. We talked with our children and got their opinions also before canceling. Sometime in the future we will make this happen. 

 A friend sent me a YouTube link about the SpaceX Starlink Satellites. They form a train of white dots in the sky and have caused some to wonder if we are being invaded from space. Not so. Jake says they do have a life span and will eventually drop out of orbit and into the earth's atmosphere where they will burn up before hitting the earth. Absolutely amazing! 

When we visited the Marx family the Monday prior, Bailey made cupcakes. Okay, they tasted a little funny. We cheerfully ate and made no comment about the taste. I asked for extras to bring home to show our appreciation for Bailey thinking to do this. After we left, Bailey had a little talk with Andie and they agreed there was something wrong with the cupcakes. I'm thinking Bailey put way to much baking soda in them. Bailey determined after talking with her mother that she needed to burn these cupcakes. On this Monday, she and Hayden did sacrifice those cupcakes in the name of learning to bake from scratch. Funny kids. Great Mom for helping them realize their need to deal in this manner. Interesting combination of learning to cook with Hayden's Boy Scout skills.

Katelyn sent us a picture of our Emelia playing in their back yard. She can now sport pigtails. She is just too cute for words. 

Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Meme for this day will only make lots of sense if you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

This day I went to the post office first thing in the morning to mail Mother's Day presents to my daughters and two grand daughters. It was cold and it was drizzly. I drove through Hardee's and got a biscuit for Claude and one for me. Then I headed home and curled back up in bed with Claude as we ate our biscuits and sipped our sodas and checked our phones for eMail's and Facebook posts. Then I looked at my dear hubby and said, "This is just the kind of day to stay curled up with a good book and eat soup." He totally agreed. So we curled up and watched Psych and movies for the entire day. And it was wonderful. To have a day that can just be a totally down day and not feel guilty was simply a bit of heaven in my book. We would get busy the next day but we totally enjoyed our day together. 

My sweet friend, Laura, shared this picture with me. Years ago I was the Stake Relief Society President. Laura was one of my counselors. This is our presidency singing a song at our Relief Society Retreat. (Lisa Adams, Laura Carter, Barbara Mason and Sandi Christensen) These ladies I will always treasure. They were there for me and became such dear friends. Forever grateful that Heavenly Father brought us together at that point and time in each of our lives.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Back to being productive. This day was cleaning out more of the house. I headed to the basement storage area. I had two shelves of glass jars for canning. I really don't need nor will I use all those jars. I posted on Facebook to see if anyone wanted any of them through the Church Facebook pages. The first three people to comment are who I would split the extras with. I pared what I kept down to a dozen quart, a dozen wide mouthed pints and a dozen regular pints. I kept all the canning pots and equipment. Some of this was my mothers so it holds a special part of my heart. I am now down to one shelf of canning things.

Then I went to the shelves that I had saved 3-ringed binders. I had a couple of those shelves. Sure didn't need all of that. However, our daughter, Andie, is a school teacher and she might could use some of them. I took them all off the shelves and sorted them into three kinds. The first had the plastic outside that you can put a picture into the cover, the second is had a plastic slot on the back for a label card to go into, the third didn't have any of this and would definitely go to Goodwill. After sorting them, I made a list of the kind that Andie wanted and she told me which she would keep. I put those in a box for her. Saved three of the ones I wanted and Claude took a couple he wanted for his recipes. The rest are in a big box to take to Goodwill when it reopens. It feel really good to get those shelves cleared. We will not fill them up again. We'll just have that part done in preparation for an eventual move. 

Now the interesting thing that happened had to do with a big plastic tub I used to sort the binders in. When I finished cleaning out the tub of binders, I noticed a Styrofoam peanut like you use for packing things in the bottom of the tub. I reached in to take that out of the tub to put in a trash can. I noticed something along the edge at the bottom of the tub. You see, I used this tub throughout the year to save Christmas presents that are wrapped and labeled for the next Christmas. I keep a grid of what presents I have purchased throughout the year. On Christmas Eve I empty the tub and put the presents under the Christmas tree. It seems there was a present in the bottom of the tub that didn't make it under the Christmas tree. It was a gift card for Bailey. Oops!! 

I took this picture and sent it to Bailey with an apology for her not getting it at Christmas. I was to see her on Friday so I saved it to give to her then. That didn't happen so I put it in the mail Saturday morning. Oh me, oh my!!

Todd Tyler, our son-in-law, posted these pictures on Facebook. He and our daughter, Nissa have been on the Keto diet for some time now. Todd has dropped 70 pounds and 3 pant sizes. Nissa has dropped 60 pounds and 4 pants sizes. So proud of them for picking a plan and sticking with it. 

Thursday, May 7, 2020

This day I finished my puzzle. Andie and the kids gave Michael a soccer puzzle for Christmas. Michael put this puzzle together the end of January at the same time I was putting together a puzzle while I healed from oral surgery. When we finished our respective puzzles, we shared them with the other person. I have had this puzzle in its box on my dining room table waiting for the right time to make it. We have been in quarantine quite a few weeks and it seemed like it was okay now to take some time to work a puzzle. I am a puzzle addict. I will readily admit that. So I don't start one until I know I can devote a good bit of time to getting it finished because I have a very hard time stopping the work of making it to do other things until it is finished. Tuesday evening while we were watching television I finished my letter to Papa, then I cleared the breakfast room table and started on this puzzle. I did the outline and sorted out some of the other pieces onto two cookie sheets and the bottom of the box. I went to bed at my usual hour and got up before Claude. I worked on the puzzle for a while in the morning on Wednesday. Then I spent a good bit of my day cleaning off shelves in my basement storage and getting takers for the items. Then I went back upstairs and set to work on my puzzle making. I finished Thursday morning at 3:30am. It was such fun to make this puzzle. It is very whimsical in artwork and the pieces were cut square and it just all worked together to make a good experience. I love the mental and eye challenge of puzzle making. So making a 1000 piece puzzle by myself is another blessing of the corona virus. I usually only make one real puzzle each year and that is at Christmas. This year I have already been able to make two. Yeah me!!

My day was spent in my sewing room. I hemmed the two additional drapery panels for Andie and Michael's bedroom. Then I took the scraps of fabric from cutting the length off of the panels and made throw pillows out of them just for fun. I also repaired Bailey's leggings. 

I made Claude another face mask. Claude wears glasses and has a hearing aid in each ear. When he wears the masks I made with the elastic to loop over your ears, his hearing aids tend to pop out of his ears. Just too many items going behind his ears. A friend posted a picture of face masks she is making with shoe laces and a big button. I made Claude one of these to try. He is going to wear it when out for a while to see if it is as good as it looks like it will be for him. If it is, I will make one more out of the other shoe string. Claude is also going to look for more shoe strings of the right length and as small as we can get the ends so they can go through the button holes easily. This is the picture Lisa posted of her mask.

Friday, May 8, 2020

This turned out to be a rainy day. I was so hoping that would not be the case. It was to be the day the Papa's hall at the nursing home would be wheeled outside for a 1pm parade by family and friends in their cars to wave and yell hello to them. Andie was going to drive over with the Mini's to wave and yell hi to Papa as well. Sure enough it was rainy and that meant no parade. I called the nursing home to confirm that was the case. Ugh. I sent Andie a text and told her not to drive over as the parade was cancelled. I had created a box of the 3-ringed binders for her with her shortened and hemmed drapes, throw pillows, Bailey's gift card and leggings and some books. That will now sit in my dining room until we can deliver it to them. Maybe this next week when we need to take a drive.

Andie called and we talked for a bit. It turns out she was given an award during their staff call that morning. She is the Teacher of the Year at LaGrange Elementary School. So proud of our daughter. She is talented at her profession and it was wonderful knowing she was recognized for this work. She is to get a parking place at the front of the school all year during the next school year. We laughed as Andie said that, with the corona virus, they probably won't have in-class school next year and it will be NTI instruction and she won't need the parking space. We had a good chuckle over that. Andie is wearing her 'quaran-teacher' t-shirt in this picture. 

This night we would break the record for the coldest night on record for this day in May. We had a freeze for sure. Even the weather is weird. 

Saturday, May 9, 2020

Spent my Saturday morning doing my ironing. Yep, I still iron some things. 

I finished this in time for Claude and I to go to Georgetown. We took the glass canning jars for two of the ladies in Georgetown. Dropped off bottles at the first lady's home. Then to Burger King to get Papa a chocolate shake. We dropped that and the General Conference edition of the Ensign off for Papa at the nursing home. Then we drove to Bojangles to have some dinner. Off to the next lady's home to drop off glass jars. Back to the park for our walk. When we finished our walk and were back at the Jeep, I suggested to Claude that we should have something for dessert together. We wouldn't leave our home for Mother's Day so we should have something this day instead. He heartily agreed. We both thought donuts were in order. There is a Krispy Kreme place in Lexington where they make the donuts. We drove there and waited in line for 1 hour to get them, then we drove home. Between the time to drive and sit and the cost of the donuts and the drive home these are probably the most expensive donuts we have ever purchased. However, the light came on signaling they were making them fresh while we were in line so we got fresh, hot donuts. They were simply delicious. 

Sunday, May 10, 2020

Today is Mother's Day. I just like a quiet Mother's Day. No fanfare at all. So being in quarantine was perfect for that. I got up at about 9am and didn't feel great. I waited till Claude awoke and then I got my shower and even curled my hair. We ate the last of our donuts for breakfast. While I did this, I listened to a recording on my cell phone of Jacob, our son, singing Happy Mother's Day to me. He left that message several years ago and I still love listening to it. Then we watched a gospel study video. We joined others in our congregation for a Zoom Worship Service. Jake called me after that and we talked for about a hour. He sounded so good and it did my Mother heart good to hear that. Claude headed in to take a nap and I watched some "How Things are Made" television shows while working on getting things ready to Blog about my week. When Claude woke up we started to watch the nature shows we have DVR'd and enjoy so much. Andie called and I had a great chat with her, Bailey, Michael and then Hayden. Claude called Bonnie, his Mom. Now we are back to our nature programs. I do love this way of learning. 

My daughter, Nissa, mailed me a gift. I waited to open it until this morning. It was a rain meter for our flower bed made with a turtle in it. I love turtles so much and this is just a perfect gift. Claude took a picture of me with my gift and I took of picture of it in the flower bed.

Claude prepared me one of my favorite meals, Hot German Potato Salad with Kielbasa and Spinach. Yum!! 

I found this picture and made this post on Facebook about Mother's Day.

"There are a few things about us that really tell the story of our lives. Hands are one of those things. Today is Mother's Day. This is a picture of my Mother holding my daughter's hand about one month before she passed away. Most of you know my Mother had Alzheimer's. The importance of touch was always there for her even if names and memories passed. Today this picture celebrates to me the importance of the 'mothering' done by each female in the world. It is a part of us that we exhibit without even thinking about it even if we didn't bear a child. With that understanding, I want to wish "Happy Mother's Day" to all women everywhere who use that nurturing part of our natures with others in so many ways. May each day be a Mother's Day for each of us all through the year. Happy Mother's Day!!"

It has been a great Mother's Day and a good week. They are trying to open some things with strict guidelines to help prevent the spread of Covid-19. There are target dates set to open different types of businesses and establishments. The hope is to not have a spike in the number of cases. We'll continue another week of quarantine and enjoy it as much as possible.