Thankful Sunday, January 31, 2021

 I am thankful for snow.

We are at home watching it snow. This morning it began snowing for what is supposed to be a continuous two day storm. There's a certain calmness to watching snow fall and for that I am thankful. 

The rest of the story:

I'm not sure that Theo would agree with me at this point because he had to go on snowy roads this morning to go to work and will have to do the same tomorrow. Amidst the snow, freezing rain is forecast which will make everything just that much more dangerous. I'm guessing I will be given the option of teleworking tomorrow, but we shall see. Ward works from home very day.  I understand how lucky we are to be in a warm house puttering around watching it snow outside our window.

A Personal Vaccine Experience, Part 2

Our friend, Kris, shared her experience of when she got the first coronavirus vaccine. Recently, she got her second dose and is giving us an update about the procedure.

Can you explain the overall procedure? Did you get a reminder? Was it at the hospital again? Did they use a different arm?

When I went for my first vaccination, I was given a vaccination record card which recorded my first shot and at that time I was scheduled for my second vaccination, which was at the same location in the hospital as my first vaccination.  My coworkers got a reminder call or text or email but for some reason, I didn't.  I received it in my right arm again.

Was the National Guard involved this time?

Yes, they were.

Was there any leeway on the timing of the second shot? Could you have slid the vaccination a day or two in either direction?

I didn't ask for any leeway but I've read that a few days either way don't really make a difference.  I don't remember the article I read to give you a reference, but it did state that you didn't want to allow it to vary by weeks or months because the results of that haven't been tested and the resulting immunity couldn't be assured.

Did you have any instructions before or after the shot?

Nothing new--I had to wait for 15 minutes afterward (which allowed me to catch up with a coworker who was also getting her second dose) and to be aware of the side effects.

What, if any, reactions did you have this time? How does it compare to the first shot?

The second vaccine has the reputation of having worse reactions, but this was not my experience.  If anything, my arm was not as sore as it was the first time around.  Then again, I was more on top of taking Tylenol right away (which I would definitely recommend to anyone planning on getting the vaccine).  

Are your coworkers, who have gotten both parts of the vaccine, having a similar experience to yours?

There has been a great variety in experiences.  I received my vaccine on Thursday.  I worked with a couple of people who had theirs on Wednesday and they were doing fine.  There were at least 2 people who called in sick due to the side effects and another coworker left work mid-morning due to feeling ill.  The symptoms seem to involve fatigue and aching although some also reported having fevers.  

The thing I have found to be most interesting is that I know of two people who previously had covid and who, after getting the first vaccine, felt quite ill (fevers, aching, and fatigue).  My biggest takeaway from these experiences is to anticipate not feeling great if you have had covid and get the vaccine.  Also, be aware that even for those of us who haven't been infected, you may feel ill the day after you receive the vaccine. Everyone I have spoken with says that the symptoms go away after about a day. 

How long before you develop maximum immunity from the vaccine?

7-14 days is what I have been told.

Were you given any information about the new strains of the coronavirus and the current vaccines?

Not officially, no, but an infectious diseases physician working on the floor where I work said that he anticipates the current vaccines will still provide good protection.  He also said that the way the vaccines are made will allow them to be more easily tweaked for new strains than, say, the flu vaccine.  

I think it's too soon to know, but were you given any indication of how long immunity from this vaccine should last?

Unfortunately, no.

How does it feel to have both vaccines now? When the proper time has elapsed to realize full benefit from the shots, will you be changing any of your habits?

I feel a sense of relief, and also of urgency to have others vaccinated, especially those in the highest at-risk populations.

From what I understand, we still need to be vigilant with social distancing and mask wearing, so in the short term, I don't think my habits will change drastically.  My in-laws had their first vaccination this past Friday so I am hoping by the time spring break rolls around that we can visit them (they live 8 hours away and we haven't seen them in over a year).  My mom's vaccination was delayed until February so I want to maintain my vigilance in the hope that I can visit her at some point.  I have toyed with returning to the gym--I have always tried to avoid the busy times, even pre-covid--but I'm not sure yet about the wisdom of that idea.  

Thanks for sharing, Kris. I think this is useful information for all who are considering the vaccination. I know I found your experiences very interesting.

Thankful Sunday, January 24, 2021

 I am thankful for our cats and 

the help they provide with our clothes.

Whether it is gathering dirty clothes, folding clean ones, hanging up coats, or packing clothes for a trip, the cats are always there to help. And for the amusement this provides, I am thankful.

A Good Coat of Paint

 We have a half bath next to the laundry room right as you come through the door by the garage. At first, it seemed like an odd place for a bathroom to me. My experience had seen half baths near the main entry and were used mostly by guests. However, someone pointed out that this was probably meant to be the place you use when you come in from working outside where you didn't have to worry about getting the rest of the house dirty. 

Well, I guess that made sense, but guests still used that bathroom sometimes.  And it was definitely worse for the wear. It had all of the original 30 year old fixtures with rusting plumbing, walls that had permanent stains, and finishes flaking off the vanity and moldings. No amount of scrubbing made it look better. I was embarrassed when guests used it because it looked like we never cleaned in there. 

This month we finally did something about it. We were gifted some paint that was leftover from a friend and decided that this bathroom was a good place to use it.  At some point, the previous owners had done a poor job of trying to restain the moldings and paint the walls which resulted in a lot of prep time for us. We also decided the room was too small for the extra shelf and towel bar and removed them.  

The results. A very simple, unremarkable bathroom, which was just what we were going for. Our goal was to get the bathroom to a place where no one would notice it, where as before, it was noticed for how grubby it looked. And all it took was a good coat of paint (and a lot of sanding).

2020 My in Review According to My Blog, part two

Note: In preparation for writing today's post, I just reread yesterday's. I want to thank to all of you who read it despite all of the typos and bad grammar it contained. My excuse is that I was interrupted several times while writing it and it was getting late and I wanted to publish it. I hope that I will do better in the future, but no guarantees in that area. :)

July 2020, I did four posts this month.

This month saw me returning to work in the library. At that time, we thought we would have customers back in the building by the time school started. We're still waiting on that one. I celebrated my birthday by paying a tribute to my mother. I was not an easy baby and she was a saint for sticking it out with me. The first nasty comments showed up on my blog after many years of G rating remarks. Luckily, they stopped, although I know they can come back at any time. But my main focus for the month was outside - citing unusually hot weather with no rain. Despite that, I found many flowers blooming in our yard along with zucchini in our garden.

You can see a yellow zucchini developing among the leaves drooping from the heat.

August 2020, I did seven posts this month.

August was a month during which our country was in upheaval to which I obliquely referred to in a post that wondered where all of the calm, rational thinking had gone. Otherwise I found positive things to focus on such as the tomatoes and brussel sprouts we were harvesting along with copious amounts of pears. I spent a long afternoon at the DMV and was thankful for the workers who day after day have to put up with unhappy customers. For one of my walk around the yard posts, I featured insects, but perhaps the most fun of the month was the discovery of a linear park in a nearby town.

We visited the linear park again recently when we saw a boat display.

September 2020, I did five posts this month.

September found me acknowledging that I was cranky. I didn't go into it on the blog, but pandemic fatigue was definitely taking its toll.  It was a good thing that we had already scheduled a week away in WV at Miss Landers' cabin. I documented our trip which included hiking through beautiful scenery as well as visiting historic sites. Also, the end of September marked a first for me - going to a drive-in movie. Ward and I had a good time until our car wouldn't start to go home. The staff were great with their help in finally getting it started.

Spruce Knob, the highest point in WV. This is one of the places we visited.

October 2020, I did seven posts this month.

I started the month with a reoccurring theme on this blog over the years--posting fatigue. That's when I feel like I don't have anything to say and writing a blog post is a chore. As part of a plan forward, I said that I would be featuring posts from the past. True to my word, I reran a post featuring a recipe for a potato soup that Wally made and the differences between rutabagas and turnips. I also reran one of my favorite stories about Sarah and taking time to experience the beauty of the day. The other posts were my standard fare picturing flowers and vegetables (radishes, turnips, and tomatoes) from our yard.

Wally's potato soup recipe was an early post when I was featuring cooking.
I was very proud of myself when I figured out how to put in a link to a printable recipe.

November 2020, I did six posts this month.

In November, I had a mask lapse when I forgot to wear my mask into a grocery store and didn't discover it until I got some sideway looks. I was horrified, but learned that I'm not alone in having a lapse like this. The rest of the month presented posts of things of not much consequence. Pretty normal for this blog. I did a post of lists that included what we had for Thanksgiving dinner (turkey and two kinds of stuffing) as well as the countries I have visited outside the US (Belgium and Japan among others). I mentioned that we got a new furnace and continued to harvest carrots and turnips from the garden. Ward and I took hikes in the nearby mountains and in a bird sanctuary. The month finished up with me reporting on the neighborhood Halloween costume parade.

These late season carrots were the sweetest of the year.

December 2020, I did seventeen posts this month.

The holiday season and the uncertainties of how it was going to be celebrated because of COVID had me feeling restless. In my crazy mind, I thought posting every day for two weeks would be a good distraction. Not one of my clearer moments, but I did accomplish my goal. Three of the seventeen total posts were blasts from the past when I reviewed some of my Christmas memories and how animal crackers figured into the decorations of the season. I also reran a post on different kinds of tree bark. I liked looking at the stark profiles of the trees in the winter and remembered I had done a post featuring that previously. 

In addition, I tried to look for positives in the long dark nights, but mainly the posts revolved around Christmas. I showed you the decorations on my mantel and told you the significance of each. I featured some things we were making for gifts including a wooden matching game, terrariums, and wooden boxes handcrafted by Ward. I had my first ever guest author when Kris told us about disappointments from past Christmases. She has since also written about her COVID 19 vaccine experience. I would be happy if her contributions became a regular thing. But the post that makes me smile the most is the one where I described rejuvenated behavior in my elderly cats with the excitement of Christmas.

Annie, after she had gotten done with dumping out the candy basket of peppermints.
That's still a daily occurrence.

So there you have it, 2020 in review according to my blogs. Did I learn anything from doing this? Maybe. This review confirmed that my favorite kind of posts involve something outdoors whether it involves plants or animals. Also, I can see that I use this blog to try to put myself in a better frame of mind sometimes by doing thankful and positive posts. 

When I first considered doing a blog, my kids told me that I needed to pick a theme or it would just be an online diary. I think they were right, but since I have no goals here except to put some thoughts down in writing, that's okay. Little did they know that maybe having a simple blog about not much more than  my thoughts and happenings may have been the best way to make new friends. A wonderful, unexpected consequence.  And to quote myself, "And for that I am thankful."

2020, My Year in Review According to My Blog, part one

Part One

I wondered what last year would look like if I only used my blog to remember it. Here it goes.

January 2020,  I did eight posts this month.

I started the year off talking about the controversy of whether the new decade begins in 2020 or 2021 since there was never a year zero. Little did I know the controversies that were to come were so much bigger and would make me want to crawl into a hole and never come out, she says with exaggeration. I explored the difference between homonyms, homographs, and homophones and it all made perfect sense at the time, but I'm hard pressed right now to remember exactly what the differences are. At least I know where I can go look them up again. I was fascinated by an apple that rattled because of loose seeds and was thankful that I had willing teachers in my new job. But mostly, I did porch updates on the porch that was being build on the back of our house.

This picture shows new trim that was added to the porch.

February 2020,  I did three posts this month.

February found warmer than normal weather and early blooming spring flowers. We also got a new-to-us car, and still more progress was made on the porch. We went to a concert and I had a cookbook party at my house. Boy, do I long for those days of socializing with others like I didn't have a care in the world. 

I discovered snowdrops blooming. I didn't even know that they were there until this year.

March 2020, I did five posts this month.

Spring began in earnest this month with blooms abounding everywhere. I spent a special morning with my buddy, Sarah, when she showed me that the back of daffodil leaves are softer than the front. This was also the time the corona virus pandemic reared its ugly head here in the east. We didn't know what it all meant and we were confused by the conflicting news that was emerging. We stocked our pantry for quarantining, in case it came to that, and Ward and I both began teleworking. Unfortunately, I spent most of my time reading news about COVID 19 and not following the good example that Sarah set for me by being in the moment and appreciating nature. 

Not only were crocus blooming, they were joined by daffodils and budding fruit trees.

April 2020,  I did seven posts this months.

This was a month of celebrations with a tribute to Wally on his birthday and pictures from past Easters spent with extended family since this one was spent without them. I featured birds that were coming to our feeder and wrote a poem about the pandemic. I rarely write poetry, but I think this was a way to release some of the high anxiety I was feeling about the scary, coronavirus world.

This Too Shall Pass

Gentle clouds

Apple blossoms

Bird warbles

It should be so easy

Warm house

Close family

Plentiful food

It should be so easy

But reassuring thoughts are fleeting.

Novel virus

Not knowing

Job loss

It is so easy

No masks

Uncertainty

No cure

It is so easy

For bleak thoughts to invade.

Deep breaths

Good books

Neighborhood walks

I will try

Friend calls

Nutritious food

Consistent sleep

I will try

Because this too shall pass.

 May 2020, I did six posts this month.

Except for a birthday tribute to Theo, the posts this month focused around the pandemic in one way or another. Ward and I finally got comfortable venturing out of the house and went on several outings to combat the cabin fever we were experiencing. We took three outdoor outings away from other people and enjoyed visits to a national battlefield, an azalea garden, and a barn quilt trail.  Another day, our van broke down and while waiting on the tow truck, we talked to our first family that had lost someone to COVID 19. We were overwhelmed by the kindness of the family who helped us and the story of losing their father last week to COVID 19.

One of the barn quilts we saw on our tour.

June 2020, I did five posts this month.

This was the month that I did two posts featuring my father. The first was for Father's Day when I shared some of the things I learned from him including freckles are fun, but wear your sunscreen. The second was being thankful that I got my father's ears, which stuck out, because my non-delicate ears were holding my masks very well. This was also the month we decided to have new siding put on our  garage and found a massive termite infestation. Not fun, but it all got fixed.  And this Thankful Sunday post below shows that I was still feeling quite a bit of anxiety about COVID 19 but trying to do some positive self-talk.

Life can be confusing. Terrible, beautiful, simple, complex. But everyday we get a new chance to make sense of it all.

So for today's sunrise as well as all of those to come, I am thankful.

Part 2 coming soon.

Thankful Sunday, January 17, 2021

 I am thankful the mail keeps coming.

For various reasons, the post office has been having problems keeping up with the demand for its services resulting in delayed deliveries. This has caused some problems such as a delayed bill (happened to us), but despite the tardiness, I am enjoying the late delivery of Christmas cards. One or two shows up each week -  always an unexpected treat.  When they arrive in this manner, this gives me time to thoroughly enjoy each one without the busyness of the holidays swirling around me. So for the fact that mail keeps coming, even if it is late, I am thankful.

Refrigerator Wisdom

I love Winnie the Pooh and his outlook on life. This paper lives on the front of my fridge but had started to blend into the background. I thought I would bring it front and center this morning to remind me having a good day is much about choice. Hope this your favorite day. :)

 

Outtake: 

The kitchen lighting wasn't very good, so I took the paper down to photograph in another room. Here's my first attempt when Leo thought he would help.

A Sail Through the Park

Ward and I had a fun evening this week when we visited Carroll Creek Linear Park. We discovered the park last summer, and we enjoyed walking along its central canal which was lined with beautiful flowers and walkways. This time we we walked at night and saw boats instead of flowers. To bring traffic to the area during the winter, the park sponsors model boat displays mid November through mid February, titled Sailing Through the Winter Solstice. The canal was lined with model boats that we all lit up making a very festive sight. The event is a fund raiser for local charities with money being raised by $1/vote for your favorite boat. Even though this is the fifth year for the event, this first time we had heard of it. We plan to put it on our calendar for next year. Below are pictures of some of the boats we saw.

This was a model of the Snallygaster, a 1/2 reptile and 1/2 bird creature of local legend.

Comforting Books

 Kris made a comment the other day that her family was rereading some childhood favorites for comfort and asked about favorite books from my childhood. Below are a few that I collected from my bookshelf.

Ghost Town Treasure by Clyde Robert Bulla. This book brings back fond memories, not so much for the story, but because this was the first chapter book I read all by myself. I was very proud of this accomplishment and I can still feel how good that felt, even today.

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner. When I was in second grade, my teacher, Mrs. Murray, read us a chapter from this book everyday after our lunch time recess. I loved the story about how the four orphan children made their home in a boxcar they found in the woods and looked forward everyday to hear about their further adventures. There have been over 150 more Boxcar Children books written since the first one, but I think the first one is the best and I reread it from time to time.

Old Mother West Wind stories by Tornton W. Burgess. I discovered these books in third grade. There was a set of them on a shelf near my desk and when I finished my work, I would get one to read. They were stories about animals who lived in the Green Forest. What I liked about them was, even though the animals talked, they remained true to the way they were in nature. Reading them was discovering nature in a fun way. I have not see an original set since then, although I did find this compilation that I read to my kids.

Trixie Belden books by Kathryn Kenny. I discovered these about the same time I was reading Nancy Drew books. I like these better. While Nancy was older and sophisticated, Trixie was younger and more down to earth. What I liked best about Trixie was that she had chores to do before she could go on her adventures and solve mysteries. I thought I had to do more chores than all of my friends, so I related to Trixie. I have a few Trixie Belden books that I still pull out from time to time for comfort reading.

I couldn't find the copy of perhaps the book I liked best of all, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I'll talk about it another time.

What books did you like as a child?

Policies

 I did a series here about Theo in his younger years. Here is the post that started it all.

----------------------------------------------------

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2011

Ponderings from Theodore--The Early Years

Theodore has always been a thinker--meaning long after I have moved on from a subject, he is still pondering it. Occasionally, we are going to visit some of his questions and observations from his earlier years. Some are serious and others are humorous.

 

Policies 

Theodore approached me one evening, when he was eight, 

with the following idea.

“I think we should have a family goal for each month. For this month, I think it would be good for us to have no more electronic entertainment such as TV, computer, and video games.” 

He then went to the next room, turned on the TV, and started watching cartoons. I came into the room and asked what happened to his new plan. He looked at me and said, “Well, you know, it's not policy until it's in writing.

Facebook Break

 From my files, female cardinal in maple tree.

I decided that I was going to take a break from Facebook to minimize the amount of negativity I was finding around me. Well, that lasted three days until I was back on the site. Yesterday morning I got a notice that someone had mentioned me in a post. I wanted to find out more and that was it. I not only read that post, but started scrolling. But you know what? I'm not that sorry that I didn't last longer because Facebook is not all bad. Here are a few things I saw this morning that I enjoyed.

1. A bad joke-"What was Harper Lee's favorite drink? Toquilla mocking bird." 

2. Beautiful pictures of a crescent moon from Maine

3. A picture of my grandmother with her older daughter and her first granddaughter. 

4. A picture of a baby gorilla. My nephew is a primate zoo keeper at the National Zoo and every time there is a shut down of the zoo, he posts a picture a day of one of the primates with a clever caption. The pictures are great and the captions are even better.

5. A link to a song by the Mama's and Papa's. One friend frequently posts links to old songs. I appreciate that she does the work of finding them.

6. A picture of a tree made from puzzle pieces done by a friend. I'm going to have to investigate this more because it was looked really neat.

7. A recipe for harvest stew.

8. Mention of a local event I want to see.

9. Notice about a happening in my neighborhood.

It took some discipline to just focus on these things. I had to scroll quickly past several negative, hostile posts to see them, but I did. I rarely read any negative posts in their entirety before, but would read enough to know what they were about--and that was too much for me. But focusing on the fun stuff, was just right this morning. I'm not going to avoid FB for now. My new goal is to keep scrolling when I sense that a post is negative and to enjoy the rest. After all, I'm looking for positivity and there is a lot to be found on FB.

Another day, I'll talk about the amount of time that can be spent on places like FB.

Giving

 "It's better to give than receive." Or as I heard someone say on TV the other day, "Doing something for someone is the best gift you can give yourself because it feels so good."

With these thoughts in mind, I did a project this past weekend to continue with my attempts to surround myself with positive vibes. I put together cards to be handed out at a long term care facility. Having spent several years around nursing homes with my parents, my heart is saddened by the additional isolation that these people are feeling right now. With these cards, I hope to brighten someone's day, even if it's just for a moment. 

After shopping and piecing together things from home, I was able to make cards to send to the facility in my hometown where my mother was a resident. I chose it for sentimental reasons, but also because they are small with only 35 beds. I thought I could manage 35 cards in a timely manner. 

While I was working on the cards, I was very much channeling my mother. She was a champion at sending cards to people and I used cardstock and stickers that used to be hers. I know she would be quite happy with this effort.

Although I try to be helpful to others everyday, I am going to make an effort to do more of these kind of projects, because I think they were right - giving is the best gift you can give yourself.

Thankful Sunday, January 10, 2021

 I am thankful for Frog and Toad.

Many of you are probably familiar with the Frog and Toad books by Arnold Lobel.  These beginning readers were first published in the 70's but remain timeless as many classics do. Frog and Toad are good friends who have different adventures together throughout the books. Their problem in the story, The Cookies, in the Frog and Toad Together book is especially relatable to me.

I will paraphrase the story for you. Toad bakes cookies and Frog and Toad decide they are best cookies they have ever eaten. However, they decide that they should stop eating before they get sick. So they have one last cookie and another very last cookie before they realize that they can't stop. Frog explains to Toad that they need will power which is trying very hard to not do something you really want to do. 

So they put them in a box to keep them out of sight, but figure out they can always open the box, Then they tie a string around the box, but they realize that they can just cut the string. Next they put the box on a high shelf before they decide that they can just get a ladder to get the box of cookies down. 

Finally Frog gets a ladder, takes the box down, cuts the string, opens the box and scatters the cookies for the birds. Toad is sad that he has no more cookies, but Frog says, "But we have lots of will power." Toad says, "You can keep it all because I'm going home to bake a cake."

This simple story makes me smile every time because I, too, have tried to stop eating cookies because I don't have lots of will power. I usually start with a box in the freezer, but then...

So for Frog and Toad and the smile they bring to my face, I am thankful 

This and That, January 9, 2021

From the files*

I am feeling unsettled these days. That comes with all of the unsettling world and national news around me. And when I'm unsettled, I'm more restless, and when I'm more restless, I tend to spend more time focusing on my own problems whether they are big or small.  To help with this, I've cut myself off from the news and am going to take a Facebook break for a while--both of which are easier said than done. 

So what else does all this mean? It means that here I am going to try to focus on the mundane and silly hoping that will be good be a settling influence on me. But wait, you say. Don't you already just focus on the mundane? Well, yeah, but I'm going to pretend this is different.  Also, I'm going to try to post everyday for a couple of weeks to see how that goes. I'm a little skeptical about success with this since my class and work are getting busy.  But I have to set the goal first, before I can reach it. So as my mind is swirling with concerns, big and small, here's the humdrum for the today.

Yesterday, I harvested the rest of the turnips and radishes. Theoretically, they should have been able to stay in the ground until we need them, but they had been frost heaved up so they were mostly exposed where creatures big and small could nibble on them. The bonus of leaving them outside until now is that cold weather only makes them sweeter. On the menu today is a stew featuring turnips, cabbage, carrots and ground beef. A nice hearty stew for a cold winter's day. 

The tree is coming down
 this weekend,too.

However, it's not too cold to take down the Christmas lights. Thank you, thank you to Ward for willingly doing this. The outdoor lights this year have been very frustrating because we never knew which part of them would be lit and which part would be out. And it varied. Previously dark parts would suddenly light up again. Not sure what to do about that. But to paraphrase Scarlet O'Hara, we'll worry about that next year.

And lastly, in case you didn't know, today is National Static Electricity Day. Time to go find a balloon and have a hair-raising time. :)

Until next time...

*From the files will feature pictures I've taken in the past. For months now, I've been slowly going through the pictures on my computer culling many of them, but I also find ones that I like. BTW, birds and flowers always get special consideration in my book. The above picture was taken January 2015.