A Couple of New Places for Us...

Monday, January 11, 2021 we woke up and both wanted a biscuit. I had a package to mail and needed stamps. Claude joined me and we took care of the post office business and then made our way to Love's to get a biscuit from Hardee's. I must say this was the biggest biscuit I have ever gotten from anywhere. It looked like whoever made it was at the end of their biscuit dough and didn't have enough for two biscuits so they plopped it all together and made one giganormous biscuit. Claude got a chicken biscuit sandwich and my biscuit was bigger then his! It was yummy but it was a really big biscuit.

Claude had a doctor's appointment in Georgetown at 1pm. I was going to go with him to drop things off for Papa. We had a bit of time so I ordered from the Great Courses catalog that came in our mail. I always look through this catalog but the courses are usually a few hundred dollars. I don't want to pay that much so I never order the course. This time the courses were all $37. I picked seven of these courses and placed my order for them. I am going to share them with family. I have read several reviews from friends on Facebook who say the courses are really, really good. Looking forward to learning new things. 

We left at 12:30pm for Georgetown. I drove so I had my car to take care of Papa while Claude was at the doctor. Papa was in his bed when I filled his birdfeeder so I got a wave and kisses blown to me. He was actually reading one of the letters I mailed to him. That made me feel good. I found myself crying as I walked back to my car. I truly believe, if Papa were to pass away, it would easier than having to walk away without giving him a hug or letting him tell his stories for the umpteenth time. To me, this is the real trial of the corona virus. 

I picked up Claude and we went to the drug store to get his prescription and then to Burger King for a drive-thru lunch. Claude wanted to buy groceries while in town so we went to Walmart. I stayed in the car enjoying my game on my Kindle. I stopped that and started reading a new novel. I received a text from my poor hubby stating the lines at checkout were exceedingly long. Twenty minutes later I received another text from poor hubby stating he was #3 in line for takeoff. Those lines must have been very long. I assured Claude via text I had started a new novel and was in good shape to wait.

We got home and, after typing a letter for Papa, I curled up on the loveseat in the living room to watch television and crochet and work on plastic canvas projects. We enjoyed Jeopardy. Alex Trebek passed away and Ken Jennings was guest hosting for the first time. He paid a heartfelt tribute to Alex Trebek before they started the game. Then Ken went on to do a great job of moving the show along. He has the potential to be a good host if offered the job. My understanding is they will have some other people guest host as well.  

I couldn't sleep again. It may be dealing with the virus and the state our country is in. Not sure but that may factor in. I went to my tried and true remedy, getting my book to read until I get sleepy. It helped and I did have periods of sleep through the rest of the night.

Tuesday, January 12, 2021 was the day I was calling AT&T again. Our Internet keeping dropping off. The router shows all systems are green and good to go. My laptop in right under the router and it loses the Internet connection. Claude's laptop is doing the same thing. His office is upstairs and around a corner or two from the router, so one would expect that to be a bit of a problem. So, I called the nice lady at AT&T and spent an hour trying to get the connection set up correctly. I did this the end of last year and it worked for a few weeks and then started up again. She wanted to plug the ethernet into my laptop. My new laptop has no such portal. So, I had to get Claude and his laptop down by the router as he did have that kind of portal. We were able to get what we hope will work for the future. 

The fun thing that happened was receiving a package for Claude. I shared in a previous post a couple of weeks ago about Claude dropping his one and only jar of dill pickle mustard as he was getting ready to prepare sandwiches for us. It shatter and all was lost. He was crushed and he had no idea where that mustard came from and he was really enjoying it. I took the broken pieces of the jar out and wrote down information from the label. Then I used my cell phone to order him four more jars of the mustard. The fun things about these jars is they are made to be juice glasses. Ordering four will give us a nice set of glasses. While I thought we had grown past this way of accumulating dishes, it appears my hubby was looking forward to using the container as a juice glass. I also found on the company website that they made pickled green beans. Our Andie bottled some pickled green beans a couple of years ago and she gave one jar to her dad. He was hooked. So I quietly also ordered Claude two jars of pickled green beans. I told Claude about the four bottles of dill pickle mustard and that we was getting two more surprise jars as well. 

I am working away in my office/sewing room and the light on the stairs starts to go off and on rapidly. Then I hear Claude say, "The package is here!" I ran upstairs with my cell phone and took pictures of Claude opening this box. I must say that watching Claude open this box took me back to opening our box of treasures from our trip to China. We purchased some things in Xian and they shipped them to our home. They arrived about six weeks after our return. The box was layers and layers of wrapping protection from paper, to bubble wrap, to Styrofoam, etc. It took us forever to get through the layers of packing to get to the items we purchased. This wasn't quite as bad but it came close. Claude found the dill pickle mustard first.

Then he found his pickled green beans. He was one happy guy. I guess we never get to old to get a package in the mail and it bring us joy!

Wednesday, January 13, 2021 we had the first of two really pretty days. Wednesday would be in the mid to high 40's. We needed to make good use of this day. A search of unique places to eat in Kentucky turned up a place that would be new-to-us named Hall's on the River. We ran some errands while we were out and then drove to Winchester, Kentucky. I found a walking trail there for us to try. We never found it. The plan was to drive past it to where we would eat. Then come back after eating and do our walk. We did find the restaurant at which we wanted to eat. It is on Hwy. 418 not far off Hwy. 627. It actually sits on Lower Howard Creek which runs into the Kentucky River not far away. 

We arrived at the restaurant and thought maybe it was closed. We put on our masks and went to the door to be sure. There was a cook, a server and a person to run the cash register but absolutely no diners in the place. We had it to ourselves. 

We chose the table we wanted to sit at and reviewed the menu. I had read the menu to Claude at our home when we were determining where to go. We both found there were items that sounded good to us. We ordered Fried Green Tomatoes for our appetizer.

For our meals Claude ordered Fried Catfish and I ordered Crab Cakes. Then we each shared so we both got a flavor of some of the things this restaurant offers. 

The food was delicious. We will return. I asked the server if we could roam around and take some pictures. There is decking around to eat outside with a view of Lower Howard Creek. The pictures are from the decks of the restaurant.

As we left Halls on the River, I asked Claude to pause for a photo op!

Once outside, I took pictures of the historical markers on either side of the bridge that goes over Lower Howard Creek. 

Then Claude and I walked down the mouth of Howard Creek to where it flows into the Kentucky River. The sun was going down on the Kentucky River. It was very pretty.

With the sun setting, it was time to head back to Sadieville. I posted my pictures on Facebook and was surprised at the number of people I know who have been to this restaurant over the years. Many suggested we try the fried banana peppers. It was fun to be out and enjoy a new restaurant. The virus has made it very hard for the food service industry. It is good to support them as they try to remain in business. 

As we were out and about, I did some texting with our grandmonster, Katelyn. She has two little girls and is pregnant with a son, due in June. She has wanted to hang pictures on the girls walls by an artist named Simon Dewey. He has painted two pictures of Jesus with a little girl. Katelyn loves that they look like her little girls. Raelyn is blond and Emelia has dark curly hair. 

I found the pictures by Simon Dewey that Katelyn wanted and also a painting by Greg Olsen that I thought would be great for their son. 

I ordered all three pictures. They will be framed and hang in the children's bedrooms so they know they are always safe. Love this.

Wednesday evening I received a telephone call from our daughter Andie. Her question, "Were you in South Africa in August 2019?" Yes, we were. Andie continued, "Well, you will find this amusing. Hayden received the post card you sent him from South Africa in today's mail!!" That's right folks, we mailed that postcard from Johannesburg, South Africa the day we were returning home, Tuesday, August 20, 2019. Hayden received it Wednesday, January 13, 2021. Andie told me it was in good condition. This she found amazing since it took 17 months to get from Africa to Kentucky. Amazing. Michael's stepmother was complaining about how long it took U.S. Mail to travel in December. Michael was going to call Joyce and be sure she heard this story!!

Thursday, January 14, 2021 would be another beautiful day. This time the temperature would get to the mid-50's. Time for a walk. We determined we would try Raven Run Nature Sanctuary. This was a place we found last year but could not get in. At that time you had to have a scheduled appointment on weekends so there were no crowds. This time no reservation was needed. It is located south of Lexington. We drove to Lexington and did a few errands there. Then we drove to City Barbeque for our big meal of the day. Then south to Raven Run. 

We found a kiosk with information about the trails to be walked. Raven Run is 734 acres of land with 10 miles of walking trails in varying degrees of difficulty. We opted to begin our visit with a walk of the Freedom Trail. It is listed as easy. It is close to the parking lot. We enjoyed this walk and I took these pictures of our walk on Freedom Trail.

As we got to the end of Freedom Trail just before returning to the parking lot, we spotted a mother deer followed by her baby. Her baby was almost as large as she was but it was obvious it was a baby and much more skittish than the mother. The mother looked at me and was wary but did not attempt to run away. It was nice to be close to them.

We decided we would walk to the Nature Center. 

In front of the Nature Center is a grass covered slope with a 'Phenology' station. This is a place where you put your camera in a stand and take a picture of the land. You then post your picture on Instagram. This allows them to watch the timing of changes through the year on this grassy slope. 

Between the buildings that make up the Nature Center was an interesting thing to me. It was called an 'impluvium'. Basically it collects rain water that is recycled and used at the Nature Center. Fascinating.

We found where the trailhead was for all other trails at Raven Run. Now we are prepared to come back and try another trail next time. We headed back to the car for the drive back to Sadieville. We made good use of our two good days.

We made good use of our two good days sandwiched between very cold days and snow days.

Claude and I finished two projects we have been working on. Claude finished his first ever plastic canvas piece of artwork. He did a fantastic job.

I finished repairing a gingerbread house. The roof had holes where the plastic canvas broke and the bottom also had holes in it. I made an entirely new roof. I cut the bottom out of the gingerbread house and attached a new plastic floor. This will go to our daughter Nissa. She plans to use it to put Christmas cookies in when her grandchildren come to visit at Christmas. 

Friday, January 15, 2021 was the first of three weekend days with potential for bad weather. Friday was to have a brief bit of sunshine. Then the front would move in and change that. We started the day with a bit of rain, then sunshine, then snow. It came down in little pellets like BB's. I know this because I took a letter to our mailbox for Papa and it snowed like this on me as I walked to and from the mailbox. 

I would spend my day in my sewing room. I determined my next project would be cleaning out my music files. I began taking piano lessons when I was in the 3rd or 4th grade. I have been collecting music of various types since then. I have two file drawers full and four boxes by my piano and what is in the piano bench as well as a bag of organ music in the back seat of my car. I would spend Friday and Saturday getting through all of this music. 

Saturday, January 16, 2021 we awoke to a bit of snow on the ground. Claude suggested we start our day with a biscuit run to Hardee's. I will never say no to that suggestion. Off our bright green Jeep sped to satisfy our biscuit cravings. Claude enjoys a chicken biscuit sandwich. I always opt for a plain biscuit. Without fail, I will be asked if I want butter or jelly on that. My response is always, "It has no calories if you don't put those things on it!" 

On our way to Hardee's, I had Claude stop so I could take a picture from the bridge of the snow on the creek. It had turned cold enough so the snow was not melting on the water and just resting on top of the water. It was simply lovely.

Back to our home to spend a day on our projects. Mine was to complete going through my music. I threw out three Walmart plastic bags of things. Emptied four binders of things. Now all my music fits nicely into the bottom two files cabinet draws, my piano bench, a basket with Christmas music and the bag for me to play the organ at Church in the back seat of my car. There is room in the two bottom file drawers for the music not in there to be in there if needed. Yeah me!! I was able to scan some pieces that are part of my three children's history and eMail this to them for their files. I taught all three to play the piano. 

Claude's project was the workshop's funny little storage area. We have lived in our home for 16 years. I gradually started saving boxes in this little area. It is a space that was finished as part of the room but is narrow between the stairwell and the wall to the family room on the other side of the workshop. Claude decided some time back it would be nice to have shelving in there to store the boxes on. He purchased supplies and Saturday was the day to get it done. He did it all himself with the exception of my holding up the long shelf while he attached it to the wall. Then he called me and I helped him put the boxes on the shelves. It looks so nice and like that space really had a purpose all along. 

During my rummaging and cleaning, I came across two potential frames for Claude's cardinal artwork. He was able to use one of the frames. I have moved this to our gossip bench in the entry way. It is perfect for a winter decoration.

Saturday evening, Claude and I curled up in the living room to watch more of Season 6 of Northern Exposure. During this season, Dr. Joel Fleischman goes 'up river' to live with a group of the local Inuit people. He goes from being a New York doctor to a person who lives in a hut with a dirt floor and lives off the land. His hair has grown out and I took this picture of him as we watched the television. I put a picture of Hayden beside it. Hayden has let his hair grow during the pandemic. I think there is a lot of similarity there. I looked at Claude as we watched Northern Exposure and he looked at me and we both said, "yes", at the same time. 

We went to bed Saturday night feeling good about our day and accomplishing tasks we really wanted to get done. I even found time to read some during the day. Good Day.

Sunday, January 17, 2021 we have enjoyed Church service via Zoom, Claude passed the sacrament to us, we read and studied together. Now Claude is getting his nap while I use the WiFi to accomplish the Blog and eMails. Then he can use the WiFi for his meeting. There is snow, a little bit, on the ground. As we ate breakfast this morning, the flakes were enormous. I was watching the snow fall as we waited for breakfast to finish baking. I said to Claude that these flakes were enormous and they reminded me of our wedding day. Growing up in the south, snow was a rarity. I prayed for snow when we were in Utah to be married on February 13, 1970. It did snow that day. When we came out of the Logan, Utah Temple, the ground was covered with snow and there were enormous flakes falling from the sky. It was like a blessing on our marriage from a loving Heavenly Father. As we are tucked in our home on a snowy Sabbath day, I again feel like it is a blessing on our marriage. We are richly blessed. 

Historical Event Week...

Sunday, January 3, 2021 our Sacrament meeting started at a later time. This year it will begin at 11am instead of 9am. I got up and got my shower. Then I went to the kitchen and fixed me a big glass of ice water and got me a bagel. I sat down on the love seat to get all my devices going so I was ready for Church. Claude walked in and looked at me and gently put his head near mine and softly said, "You know that today is Fast Sunday?" Oops!! I clearly did not even think of that. The first Sunday of each month (usually) is Fast Sunday in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We abstain from two meals and donate the funds we would have used for those meals to the Church. This is then used to help those in need, first in our own ward (congregation), then in our stake (several congregations) and then on to Church headquarters to help other wards who did not receive enough contributions to help their members. This money could be used to pay rent, utilities, food, etc. We will make a generous fast offering but, and I feel like Mother Eve when I say this, "I did eat!"

We enjoyed our Zoom Sacrament meeting then spent time in our scriptures. This year we are studying the Doctrine and Covenants. Claude led us in that reading and discussion. I love doing this with my hubby. 

I spent my afternoon getting my Blog caught up, writing our missionaries and writing to Papa. Claude and I spent the evening in front of our television. It was a good day. Claude fixed ham and bean soup out of Christmas leftovers. It was so yummy. Great for a winter evening together.

Monday, January 4, 2021 we spent our morning doing chores in our home. Claude took charge of cleaning the kitchen and vacuuming the floors. I had one load of laundry to fold. Silly Moi! My new dryer does turn itself off. My old one didn't do that anymore. If I didn't turn it off it would go for hours. So, when I finished washing clothes on Saturday evening, I had one last load to dry when we went to bed. I turned on my dryer and went to bed because the new dryer will turn itself off. I completely forgot to fold that load of clothes on Sunday. So Monday, I began my work folding clothes. Then I did the ironing. I watered plants and some did other things that needed to be done upstairs. 

About 3pm we left to go to Georgetown. We would go to the bank and do our walk at Moss Park before going to the nursing home. I left a treat bag for Papa. This one had a little bag with two Lindor Truffles and another little bag with a face mask Claude purchased from Mike Rowe. I then went around to the back to fill the birdfeeder by Papa's window. I stopped short as there was a little bird eating there. I took these two pictures to share with Papa.

The bird soon realized I was there and flew away. I filled the feeder. Then I enjoyed that sweet wave from Papa and his toothless grin. He blew me kisses. It is always a sweet moment to have together. So grateful he is by a window and can enjoy the birds and we can wave and blow kisses.

Monday evening we watched some more of Northern Exposure. I worked on my Kleenex box cover. Claude usually colors. However, he has been wanting to find something else to do during this time. He is not giving up the coloring, but he would like to try his hand at something else productive. I suggested he might like working in plastic canvas and yarn. He thought he might like that. I went to the basement and retrieved all my plastic canvas instruction and pattern books and brought them up to him. He read and looked through them and picked out a couple of projects. I suggested one of those might be a better place to start as it works on a plastic canvas that is really top to bottom and left to right. The other he wants to do is a shape and your brain has to think a little differently. He will do that eventually but he agreed to start on the one that is standard layout on the plastic canvas. I took these two pictures of my hubby working away and then showing me the part he had accomplished that night. He was even really smiling!! Very proud of my Big Guy Clauda!!

Tuesday, January 5, 2020 we slept in. I mean we really slept in. We neither slept well. My sleep was good for the first hour (Midnight to 1am). Then I was like sleeping but very aware I was sleeping as in I was a wake and narrating my sleep. So weird. Got worried because I couldn't hear Claude breathe. His body wasn't even moving with air going in and out. He was not snoring. Evidently, his sleep was just like my sleep and we both had a very restless night. Hence, we really slept in. 

I got up and got my shower. Then I had a flash of intellect. I said to Claude, "I have an idea I want to share and you can say yea or nay, it doesn't matter." Then I told him I thought we should go to Lexington and pick up frames for something and I wanted to look at yarn for something. Then he could take me to Montana Grill for lunch. He grinned and said, "I could be talked into that!" 

We got ourselves ready and were off to Lexington. Hobby Lobby had the frames we wanted. Claude went to pay for them with a coupon on his phone to get a discount. Then he went to the Jeep and I headed to the yarn section. I found all I was looking for and got my 30% discount on all of it. 

We drove to Montana Grill and I tried to call in our order. Mind you we are in the Curbside Pick-up spot and I tried to call on my cell phone to place the order. It rang once and disconnected. I tried this three times. Then I asked Claude to try it with his phone. As he was doing this, the server came to our car door and took our order. She said, "I'm not sure what was happening but I would get one ring and then a disconnect." Geez!! We ordered. She brought us our food. Then we drove to an empty part of the parking lot and had our picnic lunch in the Jeep. Claude enjoyed a Caesar salad and bison burger. I enjoyed bison nachos. They gave us an order of the pickles which I love so much. The last time we ate at Montana Grill was our anniversary, February 13, 2020. We reveled in every bite of this bison fest! Such a good picnic.

Wednesday, January 6, 2021 was a day spent at home and was a day for the history books. Claude and I each spent the day in our respective offices working on our laptops. I first got January packages ready to mail for anniversary and birthday. Now I just have to get to them to the post office at the right time. I was also trying to get a good backup done of all my files. I received a text from my sweet friend, Laura, telling me to turn on my television. I had my television on the National Geographic channel. It was running through a series of shows about archeology digs in Egypt. They were each an hour long and I was letting them run through while I worked. I have always been fascinated with Egypt. Since I was not paying really good attention, I set my DVR to record four of them to rewatch later. When I received Laura's text, I quickly put my television on Channel 27 (CBS) and was appalled at what I saw. 

Background on this day...The Congress was to meet and count the electoral college votes. End result would be to declare officially the winner of the presidential election. The catch was that Georgia was having a late vote for senators. Their votes would decide who had the majority in the Senate. Everyone knew that Biden, a Democrat, would be the incoming President. Everyone knew the House of Representatives had a Democratic majority. If Georgia elected democrats as senators, then the Republican majority in the senate would be over. It would then mean the Democrats would also have control of the Senate. Mitch McConnell, a republican from Kentucky, would no longer be the Senate Majority Leader, he would become the Senate Minority Leader. It turns out that Georgia voted for enough democrats to tie the vote in the Senate between democrats and republicans. The tie breaker will be Kamala Harris, the soon-to-be Vice President, a democrat. With democrats controlling all three branches of the government, there will be very little voice for the republicans in Washington, DC. 

With this as the background, you have President Trump encouraging his supporters to come to Washington to protest the perceived illegal elections in several states. They came by the thousands. The Capitol building was set for the Inauguration to take place on January 20th. It was flooded with protestors. The only police force in place was the Capitol police. Soon it was realized they needed more law enforcement and the Washington, DC police force was called upon. My understanding at this point is that the Mayor of Washington, DC asked the the surrounding counties, states and military not participate so as to not stir up more trouble. This left the poor Capitol police force unable to control what turned into a mob. They stormed the Capitol building and breached it. Congress was shuttled to an undisclosed location or asked to shelter in place. They entered and defaced and damaged things. One lady who was there as a protestor was shot and later died. Others fell as they tried to climb concrete walls to get in. Eventually pepper spray and tear gas were used to disburse and get the crowd under control. The Mayor requested and received the aide of police from adjoining county and state police forces. Eventually the crowd was disbursed. Congress went back to work and completed the electoral college count and declaration of Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential election. President Trump issued a video-taped statement which I found pathetic. 

I have gone out and found pictures of this event. These are the pictures of the protestors (mob) breaching the Capitol doors and climbing the walls to get in.

Once inside they broke glass to enter Senate and House of Representative chambers. Capitol police are trying to fend them off at gun point. On the news there was a video of a man hanging from the balcony as he tried to climb into the balcony. I found no still shots of that. 

Once inside they entered offices, took podiums, and generally acted in a most disrespectful way to our Capitol building. 

The final picture is the smoke overshadowing the Capitol as law enforcement tries to gain control so that Congress can go on with its duty.

As Claude and I talked about this that night, I told him that, to me, this was a view of the type of people we are becoming as a society in the United States. This is so very unacceptable and very, very concerning. My sweet hubby posted this on Facebook on Thursday.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again.  Character Counts.  Unless and until American voters start casting their precious votes for men and women of good character, we will continue to see division and strife.  In the last two (or maybe more) Presidential election cycles, America has been given the poorest of choices and we're paying the price.  Ideology does matter but not so much as character.  A person of good character will act in the best interests of the people, choosing the best ideas and actions from all contributors for implementation.  They will play hardball when needed and act with compassion when appropriate.  They will be truthful and honest in their communication and steadfast in their pursuit of a great America for all Americans.  All this BECAUSE they are of good character.  We cannot realistically expect corrupt people to suddenly convert.  If you truly believe a particular person is corrupt do not support them and we will eventually winnow out the bad ones and recruit, elevate, and elect the good ones.  We can no longer count on the press/media for accurate information.  They have not demonstrated good faith efforts but remain a necessary evil at this point. Seek out sources where we can find those that still value the truth.  Pay more attention to what people DO than to what people SAY."  As a country we are in a bad spot and it behooves all to do a reset... of our own attitudes, and our tolerance and expectations of those who are supposed to lead us.  The law of the harvest remains.  We will reap what we sow.  Corruption today will not lead to a better tomorrow.

"There is a sickness in the land, a sickness of the mind and of the heart, and where sickness thrives, bad things will follow.

"I wish that these things did not happen in my lifetime, as do all who live to see such times.  But it is not for them to decide.  What we must decide is what to do with the time that is given us." (Gandolf from Lord of the Rings)

"America can do and be better but it has to want to.  Seek out men and women of good character.  People who really love this country.  People who understand the importance of liberty and the responsibilities and costs that come with it.  People who have heart and common sense and who understand the value of serving others and something bigger than themselves.  We cannot "plow around" our leaders.  Therefore we must only delegate power to those who understand right from wrong and who value the difference..."

This was history in the making of the worst caliber.

Thursday, January 7, 2021 I had an appointment with our dermatologist. He checked me over. I had two spots that were new that I was concerned about. One was on my neck and he pronounced it nothing to worry about. He could burn it off if I wanted but he didn't think it warranted that. We left it alone. The other was on the left side of my nose. Dr. Wilson did not feel it was cancerous but he wanted to be sure. He shaved part of it and sent it for processing. I will get the results of this biopsy within two weeks. All these types of things are slower because of Covid-19. 

I dropped a treat bag for Papa and picked up my prescription that had been refilled for eye drops. I drove to Bojangles and treated myself to a biscuit. Then I hurried home. After having something like that biopsy done, I really just want to be back in my safe place, which is my home. So grateful for our home during this season of weirdness.

When I got home, I looked for Vaseline. This is to be put on the spot where the shaving of my skin was so that it doesn't form a scab. I knew I had a large container of Vaseline and a small container. I checked drawers where it should be and my ditty bag for when we travel and found nothing. I did this at least three times for each of these places. Then I determined I should just drive to the gas station and purchase some there. While I was gone, Claude looked in the drawer and found the two containers. When I got home, he took me into our bathroom and showed me what he found. Ugh!! But, I have what I need to help this place heal on my nose. 

Friday, January 8, 2021 we received the new Liahona magazine. There is the Ensign magazine printed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for adults, the New Era magazine printed for teens and young adults and the Friend magazine printed for young children to 12 years of age. In addition there was a Liahona magazine published in different languages for others living around the world. Sometimes the Liahona did not come out monthly. Now the Church is going to three magazines published in, I believe, 48 languages. They will be called Liahona for adults, For the Strength of Youth for teens and young adults and Friend for children to age 12. These three magazines will come monthly to those 48 languages. January was the first edition of the Liahona and I was anxious to receive it. I have made it a habit for years to read my Ensign magazine cover to cover. After reading it, I give it to Papa to read. So, I was curious about this Liahona and how it would be similar or different from my treasured experience each month. I truly enjoyed this magazine as much as the Ensign. I will give our copy to Papa on Monday with his treat bag. 

By the way, I am old enough to remember the predecessors for these magazines. I have Relief Society Magazines which were done for women for a number of years. I grew up with the Improvement Era as the adult magazine. There were many others through the years. Now, I could just read the digital version on my tablet each month. I may eventually do that. But for right now, I love the feel of the paper in my hands as I read. And, I can give it to Papa. He doesn't do anything digital.

Friday we did The Day of Claude and Sandi. Claude started our day with pancakes for breakfast. We made a point to do things together throughout the day. It was so nice as we curled up to go to sleep that night to both feel very good about our day. With the staying inside due to the virus and the cold air outside, it can get tedious at times. Making a day special for us with things we both wanted to do together was just the right way to break the potential for monotony.

Saturday, January 9, 2021 I started my day by doing the laundry.

I had another Kleenex box cover I was making out of plastic canvas and yarn. On Friday I finished making all the pieces. Saturday I wanted to finish that project by putting the box together. So while washing clothes, I worked on putting this box together. I will keep this one. I have bruised my poor thumb pulling the yarn through the little holes. The mesh on this plastic canvas was finer. I purchased thinner yarn to help with this however I still broke two needle eyes working with the yarn in those holes. I have several sheets of the smaller mesh plastic canvas that will go to Goodwill. The other thing that happened with this one is the little flourish you see on top left-hand corner of the blue on this side. As I was working the canvas, it looked like I missed a stitch on one row. I inserted a stitch in that spot on my next go around and then that stitch vanished. It seems I had a small tear in the plastic canvas. I was greatly distressed as I had lots of hours of work getting the four sides and the top to that point. Since the yarn was a weird version of variegated, I couldn't just toss this and make another. I stewed about what to do to save this project. At some point, I remembered making something we called 20th Century Doodles in shop class when I was in high school. You hammered 10 nails into a piece of wood in a line with the nails being 1/4 of an inch apart. Then at an angel somewhere else of your choosing on the board you made another line of nails 1/2 in apart. Then you wrapped string around the nail at one end of one line and strung the string across to the same end of the other line of nails. You worked your way back and forth and ended with a beautiful piece of art that had an arc in the string where it overlapped. I decided I would use that idea and work yarn over the broken section and then continue my normal fill where the plastic canvas was strong. So that little flourish is covering a crack in the plastic canvas that was about an inch long. I love the look though. I could use that as a pattern in future projects. 

This day Claude and I each received on our cell phones a map with information about our travels in 2020...the year of the quarantine!! We clearly did not quarantine completely. But any trips were carefully made with strong precautions to be safe from the virus. I do not have any explanation why we have different totals. We really haven't gone much of anywhere without the other. Mine is on the left with 80 cities and Claude's is on the right with 78 cities. It is possible to travel in your sleep?? 

Sunday, January 10, 2021 has been a good Sunday. We enjoyed Zoom Church and then reading together. Claude had a Zoom meeting and I came downstairs to write Papa, the missionaries and to finish my Blog for this week. Now Claude is having his favorite nap of the week, a Sunday afternoon rest. Tonight we'll work on Season 6 (the final season) of Northern Exposure. I'm starting a new project and Claude will work his project. Life is good.

The New Year Begins...

Monday, December 28, 2020 we started our day with a quick trip to Georgetown to take Papa a treat bag. Then it was back to Sadieville. We were having a really, really pleasant day. No rain. Temperature in the 60's. We decided it was a good day to get the Christmas decorations down. Claude worked on the outside and I worked on the inside of our home. I use the armoire and the dresser in our guest room to store things from our home that we have to remove to put out Christmas decorations. So the end of my putting Christmas away was taking items out of those storage placed. I turned around and was sure I saw a tarantula on the lampshade!!

Turns out it was only Andie's hair clip from when she and Michael stayed in this room over Christmas. Whew!!

I did not take our Christmas tree down. We decided to enjoy it until after the new year began. Claude did fix the little ornament the Marx family gave us to fit the year 2020. I hung it on our tree. 

And my dear friend, Laura, suggested I check our sunset. I did and it was gorgeous.

Tuesday, December 29, 2020 Claude had an appointment with Dr. Hollen to have his teeth cleaned. I opted to stay home. I read in my Simple Abundance book and did a few household chores. 

Andie sent us this picture. A little back ground. When they were at our home for Thanksgiving, Claude showed her his new griddle. Andie and Claude share a love of cooking and all things kitchen. This is a great griddle that is smooth on one side with a ditch around the edge to collect grease when frying bacon. The other side has ridges so you can cook something and get grill marks like when you use your gas grill outside. Claude is really enjoying this new toy. Andie sent me a text and asked me about the griddle. I told her I was sure Claude got it at Bed, Bath and Beyond. She wanted to get Michael one for Christmas. I told her Claude was in Lexington that day and he could pick up one for her and she could wrap it when they came over to the house for Christmas. The funny thing about this goes back to when we all lived in Maryland. We met Andie and Michael at a new restaurant for dinner. Michael was so happy as he was sporting new sandals he just purchased from Kohl's. Claude lifted his pant leg and he was wearing the same exact sandal. Michael was appalled he was wearing what his father-in-law would choose to wear. This happened one other time. Claude said he was just sure Michael would be extra happy he now had a griddle like his father-in-law. Michael is very happy with is griddle.

Wednesday, December 30, 2020 was the day we determined we would pick up Hayden to spend New Year's Eve with us. We determined we would pick him up between 4pm and 5pm. Then we would stop in Frankfort for a burger on our way home. Plan in place we puttered around the house during the day being sure we had all we needed for New Year's Eve. 

At one point Claude went to fix us a ham sandwich. He was going to use Braswell's Dill Pickle Mustard on them. He only had the one jar and he really loved this mustard. I did too. We had no idea where he got it. I walked back into the living room and heard a loud crash. The mustard jar slipped out of Claude's hands and shattered on the kitchen floor. I went in and grabbed paper towels to wipe as much off the floor as I could. Then I used a wet cloth to clean up the shards of glass. Then I swept the kitchen floor. Claude resorted to regular mustard. We were watching Northern Exposure while we ate in the living room. I checked the Internet to find where to get this mustard. I pulled the broken jar out of the trash and wrote down the information from the label. This helped with my search. I found it and ordered Claude four more jars. I also found they make pickled green beans. Claude loves pickled green beans. Based on how good their dill pickle mustard is, I made a command decision and ordered two jars of pickled green beans. After I finished, I told Claude what I had done and that he had four jars of the mustard coming in January and two more jars of a surprise for which he had to wait. The poor guy had tears in his eyes as he thanked me for doing that for him. Ya know, he was hoping to use that dill pickle mustard jar for a juice glass. Now he would have four juice glasses. I'm not sure if he was happier about the mustard or getting this glasses. I am married to a very interesting man!!

We went to Georgetown and walked before going to get Hayden. The kid brought his duffle bag with clothes and things and also his gaming chair he got last Christmas. We had one happy 15 year old on our hands.

One cute cartoon on Facebook that fits the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020.

Thursday, December 31, 2020 was New Year's Eve. Claude and I were up and around well before Hayden. We were watching Season 4 of Northern Exposure while Claude prepared food for New Year's Eve. About 2:30pm I received a text from Hayden. It had a bit about the Lord of the Rings movies.

I sent a text back to Hayden and asked him if he was awake or was he sending this in his sleep. In a bit he showed up in the living room and curled up in the red rocking chair. We know this is Hayden's chair when he visits. 

By 3:30pm we were all set up in the basement and ready for our annual New Year's Eve celebration. We watch all three of the Lord of the Rings DVD's back to back. A pause in between each for a potty break. If we start at 3pm we are usually done around midnight. Hayden was with us last year and had such a great time, he wanted to return again this year. One is never too sure how long a grandmonster will want to do these things with aging grandparents. So we are happy to have them come and enjoy this event with us while they are eager to do so. Here is our family room ready for the festivities. The piano and bench are laden with food, tv trays are at the ready, the movies are queued up, extension cords for devices are plugged in, a yarn project is laid out for me. We are ready to stay cozy and warm in our basement for the next 9+ hours!!

Now, we asked Hayden a week before what treats he might like to have on hand that night. We received a Google Keep list of his requests. Grampa got everyone of them. There was nutritious food in the form of chicken fingers and popcorn shrimp and there was a plethora of candy treats. All of the candy treats were kept in a grocery bag and quietly placed on Hayden's gaming chair for when he came downstairs. He was one happy young man. He turned to Claude and said, "I didn't think you would get everything!!" Being a grandparent is great fun. However, next year, if Hayden chooses to join us, we have learned we will ask for his 4 favorite treats...not the top 20!!

We had a great evening watching these movies again. I posted this to Facebook. I do every year. I love the quote.

Watching Lord of the Rings trilogy with our grandson. This is Claude Christensen and my New Year's Eve tradition. One of my favorite quotes is: J.R.R. Tolkien – The Fellowship of The Ring

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

My New Year's wish is that we all take what we learned from 2020 and decide what to do with the time given us in 2021 based on that knowledge and understanding. Happy New Year's!!

Friday, January 1, 2021 Now I must get used to typing 2021. Doesn't flow quite as easily from my fingers as 2020. But I will get there. 

Hayden slept in again. We determined we would let him sleep and return him to Casa Marx after he woke up with a stop along the way at somewhere he wanted something to eat. We watched the end of Season 4 of Northern Exposure so we could take that season to Andie when we returned Hayden. We had already taken her Seasons 1-3. I fixed a treat bag for Papa.

We drove Hayden home with the stop in Georgetown to leave a treat for Papa. Hayden chose dinner from Chick-fil-A. We made it to Shelbyville where Andie met us for the trade-off. We are so happy Hayden wanted to join us and that the Marx family lives close enough for visits. We are very grateful we have all not gotten the virus and feel safe doing this type of visiting with them.

Saturday, January 2, 2021 I awoke in our guest bedroom. I had one of those nights where I could not sleep. I took my Simple Abundance book and read into the wee small hours of the 2nd. I did sleep for about 4 hours during the night. I awoke at 7am and went downstairs to type a letter to Papa. I had not done that the night prior. When I finished the letter, I needed to get it out to the mailbox before they picked up mail. I was sleeping in a t-shirt and my clothes were in our bedroom. I didn't want to wake up Claude. What to do, what to do?? I needed something more to walk out to the mailbox at our curb. Then the light came on. I opened the guestroom closet door and took out my long winter coat. I buttoned that puppy up and walked to mailbox in my t-shirt covered by my big coat almost to my ankles. Yea me!! However, when I got to the mailbox, there was mail in the box already!! I have an app on my phone that shows me pictures of the pieces of mail I am to receive each day. I checked that and none of the mail in the box was on the eMail. I felt like I should leave Papa's letter, so I did and pulled up the flag on the mailbox. They did deliver mail later that morning and took Papa's letter. Yippee!!

Now, I determined I needed to pause in our lives and do something with just me and Claude. As he slept, I researched possibilities on my cell phone. When I could hear that Claude was awake, I went back to our bedroom and climbed in bed with my hubby. I told him I had some potential plans for our day and he could pick what sounded good to him. We settled on a drive to Madison, Indiana to get a burger at a place called Hamburger Hinkle. It was about 1 1/2 hours away. We could get a way but it would not take all day. That is what we did. Here are a few pictures. Amazingly, I did not take a picture of Hamburger Hinkle. The first picture is crossing the Ohio River from Kentucky into Indiana. The second picture is a toy store on Main Street where we parked. I thought the orange Christmas tree in the window was interesting. They sold Lionel toy trains and I believe the color of the tree was the color theme for the Lionel Company. There was also a robot head upside down on the top of the front door. I am not sure what the tower was as we left town. It was interesting to me because it was like a tower one would find in the United States topped by a pagoda structure with a man on top of that. Lots of layers of things going on there. The last picture is the Ohio River as we left Indiana and went back into Kentucky.

We parked and ordered our burgers. Then we walked about three blocks while our order was being prepared to purchase a birthday gift for Andie. Our first experience with the particular town was a year or so ago. Andie told us about a store that sells all kinds of olive oils and vinegars. They have lots of flavors and testing cups for you to try them out. We decided we would pop in there and let Claude pick out a couple of bottles of vinegar for Andie's birthday coming up in March. We went back and picked up our hamburger order and sat in the Jeep to eat. These burgers were okay. A lot like a White Castle burger. It was fun to try them out but we'll try another restaurant when we go back to Madison again.

We were home in the early afternoon. My goal when I went to bed the night before was to get up and take down our Christmas tree and get the laundry done. Once home I started on those chores and got them finished by midnight! 

While working on this, I received a message from my neighbor that it is time to order Girl Scout cookies. I sent a text to each family member allowing them to change what was ordered for them in 2020. Then I sent a message back to Kim letting her know what I needed for 2021. 21 boxes of Girl Scout cookies have been ordered for our family birthdays. Kim tells me they may not be able to set up booths outside of Walmart and Kroger this year. I asked if I could post on Facebook and she said that would be great. That post is done. Girl Scout cookies are a nice, normal thing we can do.

Nissa, our eldest daughter, sent us this picture of what she did with their Christmas present. We got spoons while in Jekyll Island that are silver spoons. They had things carved into them. Nissa and Todd's had Souper Mom and Souper Dad. Nissa got creative and made this wall hanging with theirs. So proud of our girl!

I felt a strong prompting to take pictures of the Nativities on our Christmas tree this year. Not sure why. But I followed that prompting. Our tree is covered with ornaments from our travels, handmade ornaments and White House Christmas ornaments from the 20 years we lived in Maryland. In these ornaments are some that truly pertain to Christmas. It was fun to watch for them as the ornaments came off the tree and take these pictures. 

These ornaments came from our travels. The little green tree that opens up with a silver Nativity inside is from Ireland. The cotton boll angel we purchased in Natchez, Mississippi. We drove the Natchez Trace home. The little nativity in the white ball I believe came from Costa Rica. The bell is out of olive wood and we purchased it in Jerusalem in Israel. And the last round ornament we purchased in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

I did purchase a dreidel and made it into an ornament. The dreidel game is played by Jewish children during Hanukkah. The dreidel is like a spindle with four sides. Each side has a letter in Hebrew and that letter tells the children what to do when the spin the dreidel and it lands on that side. Our Michael is Jewish. When he and Andie were first married, they went to his grandmother's for a Hanukkah party. Bea, Michael's paternal grandmother, had little jars with pennies in them for each person. She also gave each one a tiny green plastic dreidel. They all played the game and had great fun. Then they took their pennies and dreidels home with them. This picture is of the Hebrew letters and what each one tells the kids to do.

These are the four sides of my dreidel ornament. 

This is an assortment of others I have collected over our 50 years. They were pretty or touched me in some way. 

This one is a round ball. On one side is the manger scene. One the other side are the three wise men traveling to the manger. At the top is a star that shine over the manger and over the wise men. Way cool!!

Finally, the clear glass ball with a Nativity inside. I always place this one under a light on a branch of the tree so it looks like the star above. 

I love Nativities. They come in so many varieties. When we traveled to China with Alan McKay a few years ago, he told us that you can't really find a Nativity as a souvenir in China. So he carefully finds figures that can make up a Nativity and creates his own. Clever. 

Now we are into 2021. What will it hold. I pray it holds an opportunity for me to get back into the nursing home and eventually give my aging father a real hug. That would be the best. I pray that we will find a cure for the corona virus. Or at least something that will bring this pandemic under control. I pray that I will remember all the lessons I have learned living this year. That I will not be afraid to put aside those 'important to me' to do's to pause and take a quick trip with my hubby. I am grateful that 2020 taught me I can live with a lot less and be very, very happy. I found this Christmas I really didn't have a single gift I wanted. Not one. Even on Christmas morning, if there had not been one things under that tree for me, I would have been truly happy. I had part of our family with us and I knew the others were safe and well. What more could a mother, daughter, grandmother and wife want on Christmas day than that. Nothing. Really and truly, nothing.I hope I learn some new things as we travel through the days of 2021. It is always good to learn something new.