Good morning.

Lovely to read what everybody us up to!

The jury is still out on his I'm going to face the day.

Tatoulia, I knew your presentation would go well. You don't give yourself enough credit.

I do not have a hen that would brood the baby chicks. Generally you can't get a hen to do that unless she has been sitting on eggs, and even then you have to be careful.

CM, I too prefer jobs that will not come back. Lately my life feels very full of the other kind though.

I'll have to come back and update later.

Good Evening Everybody
What wonderful posts to read! 😀

That's wonderful to hear Subclinical
Just what I wanted for you. Time to create in an atmosphere of social distancing. (((HUG)))

WTG! for dropping off recycling.
Hope those two crates are easy to get all sorted out.

Hi CriticalMass
WTG! for fixing the bench and cat waterer!
When we are kids we have to wear whatever our mothers buy for us.
When we are older we have figured out what feels good and works best on us.
We are not being OCD, just smart. 😉
I hate that cheap crap too.

After Steven had his brain tumor removed I told him I liked the tumor better than him, it was nicer and I missed talking to it. LOL
But I would be alright with a nice alien body snatcher too. 😀

I don't remember it being too difficult to fix Steven quick simple meals when he was radioactive.
But I didn't have a cookbook, just a list of things he couldn't eat.

Hi Tatoulia
YEA!!! You ACED the presentation!!! 😀

Hope Kitty learns lap sitting is fun for both of them.

WAY TO GO! with all your financial decluttering!!!
Money is one thing it's alright to have more of and even some for Justin Case. 😉

The weather today was gorgeous.
Not too warm & not too cool. Lots of sunshine and a pleasant breeze.
Been keeping up with housework cleaning & tidying as I go along so nothing much needing done at any time.
So today I played and did beading and watched movies.
Twinkles stayed out under the sagebrush for hours and when he finally came in I brushed him.

Hello! It all went well! Very well. It was worth every minute of work and worry last night. I logged off my computer at 450 and napped. One of my speakers knew I was worried and he pulled it together today. He timed in at 35 minutes (yesterday he merely read his slides and came in around 55 minutes and I nearly died of boredom). Our second speaker was excellent. So they were both excellent and I was pleased with the program!!

So mom's cat is now spending time on her lap! Not a lot of time but time nonetheless! Those two girls!!!

SubC what a lovely experience you had today at the studio. I could picture it perfectly! How lovely!

Cm nothing wrong with wanting things the way you want them! Uncomfortable clothes are terrible. For me, my pjs have to be woven cotton. Thin woven cotton. My sheets have to be percale. I get it.

Tillie how are you? My house is a bit of a mess right now. I'm feeling humid even though it's not really humid right now. I heard on the news that our lovely weather is about to be replaced with heat and humidity. I am considering putting the AC on tonight.

I've blocked off my morning tomorrow so I can just work. Isn't that a hoot???

I worked on my June expense report last night and have ~600 coming to me. I'll pop that right into savings. I'm tempted to put that on my loan but I think savings makes better sense. I have set up automatic payments on my loan; paying the full monthly amount every two weeks. I'm also paying drips and drabs from when I don't buy something. So if I start looking at shoes (honestly, who wears shoes anymore) or other nonsense, I put what I would've mindlessly spent onto the loan. I hope that I can keep up with this. I'd really and truly like to see this end in November 2021. I have a plan. And that's what is important.
Okay off to clean the kitchen. My favorite girl is asleep on her chair.

I'll try to keep this post not so wordy as I sometimes get, but still newsy. Heehee.

SubC, I would be over the moon if I could go paint at some sort of roomy studio. 🙂

Today was when quilting was to resume, but I'm not sure if I want to do much but coast until after the 4th of July, when roommate's treatment is over.

She's a bit frustrated with having to take time to cook everything from scratch from the low iodine cookbook while working from home too.

Weather's been hot. Storms this weekend maybe.

I got the patio bench bolts tightened today and cleaned out the cats' drinking fountain and changed the filter in it.

These were items on the To-Do list I'd started about 3 weeks ago. I especially love getting one-time tasks done. Repeated tasks, well, they don't give the satisfaction of closure, and coordinating them with the one-offs makes my brain hurt. This is one reason why I get tempted to procrastinate.

I'll just have to work with that or try to distract my mind from overthinking it.

Getting a few more items off the sewing table. Won't be long before I can be productive there. Since going to church again, I've realized most of my summer pastel cotton capris don't have adequate pockets for my smartphone either.

I'd tried a few years back to locate the sort of cotton fabric those are made of, thinking I'd sew some from scratch. Had no luck. Hancock's where I once worked carried it but they went out of business. So, I'll probably just have to make hidden side seam pockets in what I have.

Sometimes flip phones had their advantages!

Just in case you haven't figured it out, I have sort of OCD issues with my clothes - fabric fiber and thickness, being able to have my "pocket items" with me wherever, etc.

Used to be okay when I could find the type of clothes that worked for me year after year, reasonably priced, in several stores - then suddenly everything had gone to polyester and tiny or no pockets, often flimsy, garish, faddish cheap stuff I wouldn't give two cents for.

Hate having to waste time tweaking everything just to be able to get dressed to go places. 😛

Tatoulia I'm glad to hear your job situation seems okay. Hope bf's does well too.

SubC, close your eyes and think "Hens! Hens! Hens!" 😉

Tillie, I hope that's really Steven and not an alien body snatcher - though if the alien is willing to declutter we shan't complain either way, eh? LOL

I went to the studio.

It was really nice. All the doors and windows open, fans going, I entered through the back where there was a masked person working in her studio space in the far corner, then through the main room where I stopped to get my work off my shelf - three masked people throwing pots at widely spaced wheels and one masked employee supervising and keeping his distance, into the glaze studio, where I was the only person and was able to claim the best work station by the big picture window and work in the sun with a lovely breeze, uninterrupted for three hours!

I did have one conversation with the masked employee loading the kilns in the next room (the rooms are delineated by floor height, not a wall, but he was far away.) he is the glaze guru, and I had a question, so he came over and stood about 8 feet from me so that he could see what he needed to see and helped me with words.

After three hours I had finished three large pots and another person came in. She was working twelve feet away on the other side of a partition in the low-fire section, but I decided I had reached a good stopping point, cleaned and disinfected my space, and left.

I have two more large pots and two small pots to glaze, and I may use the slab roller (in the main room) in a few weeks depending on how I feel about things. I don't know if I will go back again this week or wait until next Tuesday. Definitely not tomorrow. Too much scheduled in the space. I will only go when there are large stretches with no classes or activities.

Afterwards I stopped by my empty school, took some pictures of equipment I needed to take, and picked up the things my friend left on my desk. I also dropped off a jar of corks for the craft supply closet.

Then I dropped my recycling at the community drop off and came home.

Following my no leaving the house unless something leaves with me rule. Although, my friend left me two big crates of stuff. I just brought it home to sort out.

Good Morning

A male duck is called a drake when it is an adult. During adolescence, ducks of both sexes are simply referred to as ducklings. An adult female can be known as either a hen or a duck. A group of ducks is called a raft, team or paddling.

Your flower boxes sound so cheerful Tatoulia 🙂
YEA! for a beautiful day there, find time to enjoy it.
Hope you are panicking for nothing and your seminar goes great (((HUG)))

Morning Subclinical
Really hoping you are at the pottery studio.
YEA! that the Rats love your special snacks!!!
Grateful your Dh is still working (((HUG)))

Yes, Turkeys are amazing when they fly 😀
Peacocks too.
When your Chicks hatch in the incubator can you then stick them out under a Hen to raise?

I can picture Mr Kitty and if I sit really quiet, I can hear the kitty clinks.

Tillie with God as my witness, it never occurred to me that baby quails would be the size of the eggs! I feel so stupid! I bet they are adorable.

From what I read, SubC, with ducks you can't always tell if there's a boy duck with them (such a city slicker-I don't know the proper names for boy ducks).

A day in the studio sounds lovely!

It is another sunny and cool day here. I have a few more things to finish up before panicking before the seminar.

Oh a week or so ago I changed out my flower boxes. I now have one pink abs one white geranium in each box. I used the same box as the pansies (very small). Generally I use larger boxes at this phase but I liked the look of the 15" boxes.

Coffee clinks!

Actually, kitty clinks. Mr kitty stays out at night now, and in the morning he comes in for his cereal. He pushes his bowl around in the corner and it clinks against the molding.

Tillie, I am glad that the garbage is going away.

I know about chickens, but the first time I saw how far and high wild turkeys can fly, it shocked me!

I can't believe someone could hatch store eggs. They must sell them up refrigerated? I snuck two extra into the incubator first thing in the morning. It was less that a 12 hour spread, so hopefully it will be fine. 27. I am setting my hopes low. 4 good hens.

I prefer to broody hatch chicks, but right now I need to do this.

Tatoulia, that was a long work day!

I hope things are ok for your bf. Dh is feeling relieved again right now because his group dodged the second round of layoffs this week.

I love mail, but it is a problem for me. If someone writes me a letter, I cannot let it go.

Good news from the barn. The rats finally found the snack bar. Now I just need to keep providing them with special rat snax until they stop showing up.

I think that I am going to try to go to the pottery studio and glaze today. I have to go this morning because there is a class in the afternoon.

Good Evening Everyone
Was a nice dark cool day, tomorrow is supposed to be hot.

Hi Tatoulia
Hope everything is working out with your email (((HUG)))
It takes a LOT to get me to speak up, usually I just walk away because I know from experience people don't want to change their minds.

Knocking on wood myself to not jinx Steven's cleaning.
Can't mention it to him because he will get angry and stop.

So HAPPY you are receiving mail back!!!
I used to enjoy getting cards and letters but now I only get junk mail. 😛

Good Luck with your presentation tomorrow.
Hoping everybody is awake and on their game. 😀

Funny how I forget that things and sights common to me are unique and alien to a city girl.
Watching chicks hatch in an incubator is always fun.
I have Quail parents come through my yard each evening now with their tiny little babies running along with them.
Cottontail bunnies frolicking in my grass mornings and nights.
Quail are a lot like chickens, will lay eggs around here & there at times.
When they nest, their eggs all hatch at the same time and you can see almost 20 babies running around the mother's legs looking like dust because they are so tiny, the size of a Quail egg.
The babies peck up their own food, the parents don't feed them like other birds.
Even when still very small they can fly enough to get over fences or up in trees.
Did you know Chickens can fly too?
They can.

SubC did you read about the woman who was able to hatch duck eggs from the supermarket???

Boy I would love to see your incubator and the eggs.

Thank you for your support. I feel like it's a fading into a non-issue. I haven't heard back from the CEO so I'll take that as a sign that he's mulling it over. The other person cc'd on the email said she'd back me up and that it was beautifully written. And I've been so busy today (nearly 10 PM and I'm just now done with work).

So true about all voices. We need to be inclusive.

Big day again tmr.

So Tillie, I feel like I have to whisper. I don't want to disturb whatever is in the air that is helping Steven right now! I know it's hard to get hopeful so I'll just be grateful.

I worked all day. I got the garbage out. That's it for household things. I have a new summer skirt that is the most comfortable thing ever. I'm wearing it about every other day. I just love it. I still have to pull out last years clothes and wash them up. The tops should fit but the skirts may be less cooperative.

BF's businesses aren't making any money right now. I am not sure if he's dipping into savings or not. We decided early on not to take any loans, even the ones touting forgiveness. I'll have to ask him what the deal is. Last week he seemed pretty upset but this week he seems happier. He's scads more reserved than I ever could be.

I don't think our thrift shops are open yet. I so want to drop off things.

I need to go to my car this week. It just occurred to me that I've only started it once or twice since March.

I'm starting to get return mail! Now I know how people feel when they get my cards! It's pure joy. I mailed 8 postcards today and I have 7 ready to go for tmr. I'm now buying two sheets of postcard stamps at a time, and sometimes I buy all the little singletons and orphan stamps too. This is such fun for me.

Well I have to try to calm down and get some sleep. My big presentation is tmr. The dry run didn't go well. One of the speakers sounded like he was asleep.

Goodnight friends.

For about a little over a week now Steven has been slowly removing bag after bag of garbage from the garage.
He also removed about half the hoard from the back of the truck to have room for all this garbage.
He also did a bit of garbage removal from the passenger side of the truck.

This garbage is food related. Packaging/wrapping and used paper products, empty cans & bottles, etc.
All the kinds of garbage that attracts rodents and insects.
He also put an old broken microwave in the truck rather than keep saving it for "parts" for Justin Case.

Hope he keeps doing this.

Good Morning Everybody

Hi Subclinical
You're welcome (((HUG)))
Happy you are feeling stronger today.
Fingers crossed you get a bumper crop of Hens.
Maybe there will be a low key local Chicken swap near you.

Hi CriticalMass
Best of luck revamping the Bunny club!
Good luck getting that bench bolted and useable.
That patio area looks so nice. 😀
Just keep doing whatever it takes to keep yourself healthy even if everybody else has thrown caution to the wind. (((hug)))

Hi Tatoulia
WTG! keeping up with things and for keeping your mind sharp with the crosswords!
That's so fantastic about your finances.
Wonderful that your hard work is paying you back. 😀

Why is Mom not eating?
Keep bringing her things she may eat and YEA! for
The staff bringing her down (((HUG)))

When it comes to working on racism, we all need to listen to ALL sides.
Nobody can know what is offensive to me without listening to me.
Well meaning people very often don't understand.
Only way to do this correctly is to give every one a voice.
To truly know, you must walk a mile in my moccasins.
Wishing you all the best and that they are wise enough to take what you said and work with it and not against it. (((((HUG)))))

Have no plans for today except to do whatever I feel like.
Kitchen is clean, laundry is done, house is clean enough.
Nice new layer of dust but I refuse to dust EVERYDAY.
My spine is feeling better but I will keep resting it.

Good morning!

Mr kitty and I enjoyed the long posts!

Tatoulia, your company has a history of valuing people and behaving in a compassionate manner, so i hope that your ceo is smart enough to appreciate what you did.

How great to be able to see the end of your loan coming - only one more winter and spring!

I'm glad you got to see your mom again. I think she has good people taking care of her.

CM, glad to hear you got new talent in the bunny club.

And you found the bolts!

I hope you get your shorts done.

I am with you on the being more careful. I am appalled by the number of people I see out with no masks. I don't understand. Do they not understand that if they would all just wear masks whenever they go out, WE COULD STOP PEOPLE FROM DYING. How is that not simple?

People think it's ok to do all these things because it's "allowed" now. But the only things that have changed since we shut down is that there are MORE active cases in my state than when we shut down, hand sanitizer is available, and we know that wearing masks helps.

Tillie, thank you for your kind response. I needed to hear that.

Before I went to bed last night I washed two sweaters that had been waiting to be washed and put away since before school ended and blocked them out on racks to dry.

I also set up 25 eggs in the incubator I borrowed from school for the summer. Hopefully there will be fewer roosters this time.

I am feeling a little stronger today.

Chugging along...

Went to church - I was more calm, I don't know if less sad but it wasn't so on the surface as before. Father got many well wishes - people seemed oblivious to social distancing as they made their way to the exit, though. Most have apparently ditched mask wearing. I went to another exit and down the sidewalk and waited for the crowd to thin.

The bunny club board meeting was encouraging. Met the new people. They are going to be good for us if they do what they say they will. One is excited to be an event planner - she already did that sort of thing in her job. Another can help with the bookkeeping which was needed.

We brainstormed ideas for a fundraiser in August involving food trucks and outdoor activities. This would be at the church where the founding mother and daughter go and where we've had events in the past. The adoptable bunnies would be inside the church in the AC, of course.

If I can get on top of what I need to do to get organized, it may go well. Being on the board awhile longer is okay. I'll know if/when it's time to step down. It's actually been rather amazing the times we've been about to go under yet from one direction or another help comes. Like God wants us to be able to keep on helping the bunnies! 😉

Tillie, I'm glad you have had some nicer weather. Our temps are hot but not too bad in the shade, a little stuffy but not unbearable. Wind keeps it from being oppressive - as long as the wind is reasonable.

SubC, teaching is quite high energy demanding at the best of times. Glad you got to talk to your cousin the counselor.

Glad to hear from you, Tatoulia. Hope all works out for the best with your job. I think they would know you are a good worker and a caring person. WTG on the food and blankets for your mom. And for your financial progress - that's something to celebrate!

I need to take a look at my money situation and see if I can set some goals. Also my organizing and projects. This computer, I will just put up with its quirks until after my roommate gets done with her treatment. It's the last Friday this month and the effects will be gone in a week or so thereafter. By the 4th of July we should be beginning to get back to "normal."

The canopy has a bench under it you may have seen but it has bolts needing replaced before it is safe to sit on. I think I found which bolts we had purchased quite some time ago, still in their bag. Back when many things were even crazier - red van days and plumbing pipes days etc.

We have to take the dog tomorrow for the rest of the shots so he can be boarded. An errand or two, nothing big. Hoping I can hone in on what thing would be the best thing to do - and what is doable without making a bigger mess. The shorts might be it - they really have inadequate pockets, and I rely on pockets absolutely. I have enough existing shorts to wear, but if I could get these sewn it would just give me a few extra colors and get a project done.

The computer is something I'll want to deal with but maybe wait till after roommate's treatment to take it to the shop if that's what I decide it needs. Meanwhile I can do more pared down sessions with it. Just gotta not tax it to the max at this time. Interestingly, I decided to put the dilemma to my ADHD support group on Facebook, and I got a few hints. One gal said she has had similar issues even with a very new computer; she thinks websites just take a lot of RAM to run these days. That makes sense, as there are so many ads and videos trying to play, etc.

This time is rather odd in the pandemic with some things reopening, yet my desire is to play it safe more than many people are doing. The events in the headlines recently have made it harder to just concentrate on where we are with Covid. I'd LOVE to go to the Library and the Y, yet I don't think it's time just yet. Especially at the library I struggle enough with people who don't always respect personal space; I don't want to get irritated and I certainly don't want to actually be unsafe. And I don't know how the Y would be that safe yet with people exercising and breathing hard, etc.

I sense I am rambling... guess I'll say good night for now.

Hello everyone! I'm here! Showered and in my pjs. It's is absolutely lovely these days. Sunny and cool with no humidity. I have been able to sleep with the windows open. Absolutely lovely.

I caught up on posts earlier today Of course, now I don't remember a thing. I enjoyed seeing pictures of your yard, CM! It looks lovely. When is the Radiation for your roommate? I don't remember having a lot of problems with the diet. I don't eat cold cuts and I don't cook with salt. That's all I can remember. I do remember getting up early the day of eating bread at 5:00 AM. I think my treatment was in the afternoon. The worst part was no water. And when they gave me the pill, I asked if I could please drink the whole glass of water and they gave me a second one, too. I then slept because I still couldn't eat for X number of hours.

I've been doing better. Keeping up with the house and chores. I've started reading the Sunday NYTimes and doing the crossword puzzle. It is so peaceful. I'm sending about 30 postcards a week. My list has grown and grown. It's a hoot. And I'm starting to get mail back.

I'm overwhelmed at work. It's all meetings now. Absolutely no time to actually work. It's getting ridiculous so I'm going to start blocking off Wednesdays as work days. No meetings, no calls.

Tuesday is my national seminar. The slides my speakers gave me are a wreck. I finished fixing them on Saturday. They need more editing but I can't devote the time.

I'm working hard on my bills and expenses. At last I have more money than I do expenses. It's been about 12 years since I could say that. I've doubled on my small loan. If I can keep this rate going, it'll be paid off by November 2021. I also have a good bit in savings. I'm working hard on my finances and truly, this pandemic has helped me. I'm just not shopping.

I have a bag to go to my car of donations. I still need to pull out my summer clothes and wash them. But I feel good.

I called over to mom's today to ask the woman at the desk to help me. I wanted to drop off food and pick up mom's comforter. Well I had a big surprise because she must've told my mother so she arranged for my mom to be in the lobby. And some of the aides cane down to see me, too. I picked up mom's comforter and cover to wash for her. A few weeks back, I'd freshened up her summer bedspread. I also brought her chicken and rice because she hasn't been eating her food.

SubC I hope you can find a way to just escape for a bit. You deserve it. You, too, CM. You have some losses to grieve.

Tillie I'm worried about my job. My company was about to make a terrible mistake and I wrote an email to the CEO and i didn't mince words and now I wonder if I'll be fired. At the time, I felt I'd be hailed as a hero. I still needed to write the email. They were about to do something really stupid. It's done and I am not going to walk back what I said. I just felt that their planned response to looking at racism in the company was going to be really bad. Unintentional yet still tone-deaf bad. And someone told me. And she felt she couldn't say something. So I did. I wrote the email to her and to the CEO and the colleague called it "stunning" and said that she's "stunned".

I have to look out for my company and I have a moral obligation to my colleagues of color. But I'm nervous.

Okay I love you all. I love hearing about the kitties. My little dearheart is sound asleep

WAY TO GO! Subclinical for dishes, laundry, picking up and putting some things away!!!
But Especially for spending quality time with Mr. Kitty! 🙂

I understand.
You need time away from dealing with any school related things.
You just recently spent time at the school cleaning your room.
Now you need a vacation from it all.
Time to have your hands out in the soil tending your garden, time to be creative with your own arts, time to just BE.

I washed dishes & wiped up the kitchen.
In a few minutes I will start watering the grass.
Pleasant weather today.
Cool 75F with a slightly cooler little breeze and lots of sun, few high clouds.

Well, the only thing I accomplished outside today was cleaning up some things I had left next to the outdoor faucet.

Dh expected me to bounce back as soon as school was over. Or at least by the time I got my evaluations done.

School has been out for three weeks and I haven't cleaned up all my papers or turned in my receipts.

I have 11 weeks until open house. If we have open house....

I loaded and started the dishwasher and I Washed and put away a load of laundry and I picked up a few things in the basement.

And I spent a lot of tim e rubbing Mr. Kitty.

Good Morning Everybody

HI TATOULIA 🙂

Hi CriticalMass
Change is hard and lots of changes all at once is even harder.
Understandable that you are sad with your Priest moving on at this time.

Have you and Roommate spent any time enjoying the covered patio?
Can you wear the shorts as they are now and put the pockets in later, when you find the time?
Stay cool and keep well hydrated in that hot dry weather (((HUG)))

Hi Subclinical
WTG! for all the self control when looking at all the books offered!

Great that you can try rearranging bin/box contents to get some more things stored there.
If you could find a "Space Bag" the teddy bear could be flattened out smaller.

Nobody thought you would bounce back as soon as online classes ended.
Everything is still all up in the air and will be for some time to come yet.
Very glad you talked with your counselor Cousin.
Just don't be hard on yourself, you are not being lazy.
You need time (((HUG)))

My plan for today is to water the garden this morning and the grass this late afternoon early evening.
Take a shower and go back to bed when the sun is going down.

CM,
good luck with your bunny club.

I have found that with volunteer groups, people don't come forward to replace you until you actually step down.

I'm glad you got to go to Mass.

Tillie,

I do have stuff for the kids stored in bins on shelves in the basement.

1) the shelves are full and the basement floor is not cleared.
2) I also have a bedroom closet packed floor to ceiling.

I will not be buying more bins because the goal is to have all the stuff fit in the bins that fit on the shelves. Buying bins would be going backward.

I may enlist "Now" and use some of dd2's cardboard boxes to store dd1's belongings for Now. But ideally I can work on the basement and reduce the stuff enough to repurpose two bins and pack dd2's things away. The biggest challenge is a giant teddy bear that she does not want in her apartment, but wants to keep because it was so cool to have a teddy bear the size of her when she was a kid and she wants kids some day. It is half a bin by itself.

I also think I didn't tell you that I brought home 7 books from school. The teacher in the classroom next to me put them in the hall to discard. I actually showed great self control, because she covered a six foot table several books deep. I found two other books I already had at home to discard so far. So I am up 5 books. DD's books do not count, because they are not mine.

The weather is supposed to be nice here today, so I will try to make myself work outside. I have been lazy the last few days. I feel badly about it, but then, I have moments like yesterday when I tried to watch an online seminar about mentally and emotionally supporting students and staff when we return to school, and I found myself crying. I think I may be underestimating the impact of online school on me and I might just need time to heal.

I called my cousin who is a really good school counselor and talked to her for a long time yesterday.

Hi

Didn't do much today. Rested because I was sad. It hit me that I could go to the Mass tonight and tomorrow. So I went. That sort of helped my disappointment over missing the impromptu gathering for Father yesterday.

Tomorrow afternoon the bunny club board meets. I have no fresh ideas. As usual I never get around to integrating the notes from previous meetings to my messy stash of club info (which of course I wanted to organize a long time ago but can't concentrate and get done). Still would like to be a volunteer rather than a board member. Some of them have resigned and other people stepped up. Maybe my turn will come.

My roommate found a recipe to make margarine that fits her low iodine diet, using Spectrum shortening, butter flavoring, yellow coloring, and non-iodized salt. I tasted it - not bad. She was able to enjoy a baked potato. The old rickety hand mixer she'd had was failing, so she bought a Kitchenaid one yesterday. I'm gonna have fun with that myself - after the diet business I'll whip up a cake we can both enjoy.

Weather here has been and will be HOT. And dry, and often windy.

Good Evening Everyone

Happy you got to have another socially distanced visit! 😀

So Dd2 will take the bookshelf and still leave the rest of her things there for now.
Hummm...
Good luck finding the best way to store it all.
As I recall you have some basement shelves where you have bins of kids stuff. (?)
Guess you'll be adding to that.
Would you need to find more plastic bins?

Made deviled eggs because I am tired of eating bread.
It was pleasantly cool today but now getting colder.
Going to be another cold night.
Scooter snuggles up against me very tight when it's cold.
I end up waking up sore and stiff from not being able to turn in my sleep because he has me pinned down.
When it's warmer he just sleeps next to me.

CM, that is an impressive canopy! A nice yard too!

The kids came over. They took my plastic feed bag trash from the barn to throw away at their house and left all the cardboard boxes from their gifts for me to use under mulch in the garden. They also borrowed my small canner to use for sterilizing bottles.

We had a nice socially distant visit.

Dd2 has decided to take the bookshelf. Also an extra blanket that she made when she was a teenager. I need to figure out packing up the rest of her stuff.

Hey CriticalMass
That little covered patio area you two made looks like a wonderful place to sit! 😀

The flower pictures are lovely and thanks for the little cartoon giggles.

Good Afternoon Everyone
Very cool and dark with lots of cloud cover.
Moving very slow today.
All that up & down on the step ladder and reaching up to dust the ceiling fan and light fixtures has my spine and muscles sore & aching today.
Been doing some cooking, taking advantage of the cool weather and enjoying the added heat in the house.
I think I have decided on deviled eggs but will make the final decision after the eggs are boiled.
They are on the stove now.

Good Morning Everybody
"Clink!"

So many school changes for you Subclinical (((HUG)))
Hope when the dust settles, work environment levels out and is a peaceful productive place to be.

Unfortunately the anti mask people seem to be winning almost every battle everywhere in the US.
Leaving us the option to just stay home or risk the chance of unnecessary exposure.
I do everything to stay well but Steven just undermines all my efforts.

So, what plans do you have for redoing that room this Summer?
Would it still be a bedroom, a part time nursery? a guestroom?
Maybe a sewing room?
Sounds like a lot of fun having a whole room to re-do. 😀

Yep, all the Chicks here are scarce too.
Even city people were buying them up and they have no idea how to keep Chickens.
Very glad you can produce your own and hope Mr Fox crossed that rainbow bridge soon.

Yesterday only got up to 70F and very quickly cooled down after sundown.
The wind was strong and in the 50s and it brought a sprinkling of rain.
Just a sprinkling but it smelled so heavenly.
Got below 40 degrees over night and won't get out of the 60s today.
I should find things to bake in the oven.

Hi CM,

Glad you are feeling better. I know you will miss your priest. I'm hoping his replacement is wonderful for you.

Tillie, I am going to have an egg salad sandwich today. I made the egg salad yesterday. It will be the last batch (two sandwiches worth) for a while because I am saving eggs to set in the school incubator., which I brought home fir the summer. I need to increase my flock thanks to Mx fox. I had actually planned to buy some different breeds this spring, but...corona chick hoarding.

Dd will go home tomorrow or Monday and she will either take her shelf or not. If she doesn't take it, she may still claim it later, but I will probably use it meanwhile. I am planning to completely redo that room this summer. We'll see if it happens...

Dd1 and sil are coming out today. They want to do a pregnant Dd photo shoot.

I am still processing Wednesday, but I am ready to talk some about it. My end of the year conference with my administration. Had it's ups and downs. They asked me how the online teaching things went and seemed shocked when I said it was horrible. They said they had heard wonderful things about my classes. We discussed ways they might be able to offer more information and support if this happens again.

They are open to some physical changes I want to make in my classroom.

And I got heavy pushback about requiring masks in my classroom. Apparently they have had a lot of communication from parents that their children will not attend if we require masks! I am wondering how many children will not attend if we don't require masks. I don't think any of us were happy with where we ended, but we will revisit the issue in August.

I called my coworker friend. I have two coworker friends, but I discovered that one of them who I have been starting to see as a real friend doesn't actually need me in her life. She responded minimally every time I reached out (only a few times, I wasn't overbearing) during online teaching and in the week after we wrapped up, ignored my (Admittedly understated) request for her phone number (I used to have it, but I lost it) and never initiated contact. So, ok, I am just a work friend and that is good to know.

But my other work friend is a real friend, so I called her to ask how her end of the year conference went. She couldn't give me anything to compare because they didn't talk about next year. She is moving to a different state in July to live with her oldest daughter and be childcare for her preschool granddaughter. This is a fantastic move for her, and I am really happy for her, but it is a huge blow to my school, and to me personally and professionally. This woman taught all of my kids. She basically helped raise my youngest. I'm pretty sure I will never see her again. I am not allowed to tell my kids yet.

She said she left me a bunch of stuff in my classroom.

She also told me that another teacher is not returning in September, but I knew that the day my state shut down - he Is older and has health issues that make teaching too dangerous for him without a vaccine.

I am now the senior member of the art department. I wonder when they are planning to tell me. At least I now understand why they were asking about my sil's plans for next year. Silly me, I thought it was social. (He has subbed for my coworker before and could take most of her classes over, plus provide new ones to fill gaps)

Thanks Subclinical

That bookshelf sounds like it was a big project.
So much to donate and even more to find new homes for.

Hope Dh understands you used up all your decision making capabilities with nothing left to even tear up lettuce for salad.

The bookshelf in my room is small but able to hold a lot and the one in the pantry holds an insane amount.
That's what makes shelves so useful, especially when you don't have any built in storage like cabinets & closets.

So, when will she know if she wants/needs that shelf at her place?
Would you have a place and use for it?
You need some place other than your scullery to put all the things that come in but don't have a real home.

You did a great job in the studio making storage areas for your art/pottery tools.

Hello CriticalMass
I have windows 10...
After my laptop upgraded to it I went through and deleted almost everything that had been installed so my computer doesn't have any of those annoyances.
That's what most people do, remove or disable anything not necessary to how they use it.

Are there any spices and herbs Roommate can use to flavor up her food?
I find lemon or lime is a fantastic substitute for salt.
Ginger & cinnamon also good in many things.
I love fresh Rosemary, dill, basil and cilantro.

I'm pretty sure the seminary is a safe place far enough away from any hot spots.

The wind blew in lots of cloud cover helping to keep the heat down.
No chance for rain, not here not ever.
Trying to decide if I want egg salad sandwiches or deviled eggs tomorrow.
Today I am having canned peaches and cottage cheese.

Hi

Slept okay last night, and the aches from the pipe cutting are pretty much gone. I haven't done a whole lot today. Thought about taking this laptop in to the computer store for advice, but decided to wait till next week.

Talked to a friend of mine, she's an IT type. She said the way I compute, with many tabs and documents open, could be a lot of the problem. She also didn't recommend Linux for someone like me who doesn't want to spend a lot of time fiddling. But I don't want Windows 10 and I can't afford nor do I know much about Apple.

I was on my roommate's Windows 10 laptop for awhile today; she let me use it while she went to the store. I got a few things done, but some of the quirky annoying things it did just reinforced how much I hate Windows 10.

Sigh.

Even had the thought come to me this morning that I could maybe sell this laptop and get something else... but WHAT?! Everything wants to hook you up to their corporate data mining, give you pop up ads that interrupt your workflow, ugh ugh UGH.

So I'm kinda meh. But I did get a few small computer things done. Anything's better than nothing, right?

It's also really hitting me about our priest's last day being this Sunday. The secretary has texted out some really memorable pictures of him. Which only make me want to cry... This morning the daily Mass crowd had a little get together after out on the lawn with social distancing.

Wish I'd thought to go today. I used to be less disorganized and had an easy time making it to the weekday morning Mass fairly often. When I lived in my parents' house before the foreclosure. It was closer to the church and I'd just pop over easily.

I also worry about him going to the seminary which is near St. Louis, with all the civil unrest stuff. It seems to be out away from the city though.

Our quilting is supposed to start up this Tuesday, too. I may have mentioned that. Everything is just so dang DIFFERENT. We all know that. Welcome to 2020.

Well, I just must keep the faith, in more ways than one. My roommate started her diet today and she's not real happy about it. I don't blame her though. We are different in our food preferences - if it were me I'd just eat minimally, and probably lose some weight, and I don't mind bland food. She wants more flavor. So it's probably harder on her that it would be on me - and I'm the picky eater around here!

Sorry about Steven Tillie.

I'm glad you got some dust free time.

Dd and I cleaned off her bookshelf she left here.

Made a big pile for goodwill, filled a bin to store in my basement, set aside enough stuff for at least two more bins. Packed two paper grocery bags for her to take home. Can't figure out how all that stuff was on one bookshelf!

She thought she wanted to take the shelf back to her apartment, but now she is not sure.

Dh wants me to help cook dinner and I ran away. Too wrung out from the bookshelf.