Shut-in & other end of March Happenings

Greetings

We planned an outing to go to Cabalas then to Walmart to get oil changes for the vehicles.  Then we remembered we were supposed to stay home & only go to essential public places such as work & our local grocery store, so we stayed home.  I rescheduled my dentist appointment.  Teeth cleaning is important but not an essential.  I'm a natural born homebody, so I'm doing just fine.  Kevin on the other hand, not as fine being cooped up so much, but he is dealing with it the best he can by talking on the phone more & such.

I did this because I like to cut out paper hearts & the Chamber of

Commerce asked business & residents to put hearts in our windows.

#aworldofhearts   Spread love not germs.

Grandkids

I ordered a penny project for the Grands to do while they are doing their schooling at home.  The project is supposed to be educational, crafty, experimental, fun, interesting....  It might go well or it might not, so we'll see.  

Darling Happy Spring.                                  The other side of Spring.

And this....

Her 1st pig tales.

Cooking

I cooked the turkey we had in the freezer.  We got 2 back last Thanksgiving when turkeys were on sale.  I wanted to get the 2nd one cooked before warm weather came, so the cooking wouldn't heat up the house when the house didn't need extra heat.  We ate on the turkey for several days -  turkey, veggies & dressing for supper; turkey & egg biscuits for breakfast & turkey salad sandwiches for lunch.  After all that turkey eating, I wanted to put a bag of turkey in the freezer for later but there was none left.  Kevin cooked up the turkey bones & put 3 bags of broth in the freezer to cook beans in. 

I made a variation of this recipe one evening for supper.

Nailed it!  I used canned diced tomatoes on mine since we didn't have 

garden fresh tomatoes.  Kevin said no thanks to tomatoes on his.

Gardening

Kevin looked over his drawing of the garden to see where he is planting stuff.  We are planting kale for the 1st time, so he did some reading about growing it.  He mentioned that we need to get a few more tubs to set under the eve of the garage to catch rainwater for using to water the garden.

Kevin built a robin nest box & 3 blue bird houses 
out of scrap materials then he put them up.

Cleaning

I did a quick wash of my car with the long handle car washing mop to get the road salt & grim off.  I didn't do a bug scrub on the front cause I didn't want my hands to get too cold. 

The deer left plenty of this while hanging out in our trees over the winter but not 

one antler shed was dropped for me to find while out walking to get more exercise.

Health & Weight Maintenance

I walked to work most days & walked extra during lunch & breaks.  I walked & stretched in the house most every morning.  I walked extra outside since we had some warm days.  I walked extra up & down our stairs while cleaning & doing laundry.  Instead of bringing all the laundry up at one time, I make several trips.  I also make extra trips when carrying in groceries, just to get in the extra walking.  I tried to watch my portion sizes, but still need to be more mindful to eat smaller portions.  Extra walking makes extra hungryness. (Is that even a word?)

Will this baseball looking rock slide on the ice or

will it break the ice & make a splash?  No one out

here to social distance from while hiking.  Some 

rocks slide on the ice & some broke through without

any splashing.

Frugality, Savings & Spending

We spent $140.26 grocery shopping this month.  I say we because Kevin went shopping for us some, whereas I usually do our weekly grocery shopping.  We got a few more stock up items due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  I got a couple extra gallons of milk & put in the freezer.  Kevin stocked us up on beans, crackers & such, just in case for the unknown.

We ate out at Red Lobster when Kevin picked me up at the airport from visiting Daughter & the Grands.  I made my trip just in time before the shelter-in-place & social distancing started.  I got my plane ticket months in advance to get a cheaper ticket.  I took food & a travel cup for getting water, so I didn't have to buy expensive airport food & drinks during layovers when it was meal times.

Decisions?  Decisions?  What would be good to go with these

Girl Scout cookies for a picnic lunch?   Turkey sandwiches, 

of course.

Social & Community Service Activities

Other then work, the grocery store & gas station; we kept our distance from other people like we were supposed too, for the most part.  I visited with Moma on facetime.  I did my normal snapping & messaging with Daughter & Grands.   

Moma has been working around in her yard picking up sticks & cleaning 
out flower beds.  These are crocus coming up in one of her beds.

Daughter has been preparing to move, doing some inside painting 
of the house & painted her garden gnome for the summer season.

Other Activities

I continued working on a puzzle.  I read a few more chapters in the Little House book By the Shores of Silver Lake.  I read blogs & organized pictures on the computer.  I searched for words in my giant word search book.  I watched Roseanne, Grace Under Fire & Cybill on Vudu free TV.  I watched more episodes of Dr Quinn Medicine Women on DVD.

4-wheeler riding, hiking & picnicing.  We saw turkeys, geese, 

deer, antelope, grouse & an elk.

Spring Cleaning & other mid March Happenings

Greetings

I've been seeing geese flying north, so I know spring is coming close behind them.  I got caught up on reading the mail after I had been away visiting the Grands for a couple weeks.  One thing I've been missing while I was away is cuddling with the Grands while having my morning coffee.

Missing this cuddle time.

Grandkids

The Grands are doing their school work at home since their school is closed for a time due to the Coronavirus social distancing that was put into affect across the nation.

Home schooling.

Cooking

I cooked a deer neck roast in the crockpot.  The meat turned out tender & tasty.  I oven roasted squash, had leftover fried okra & cooked some rice to go with the roast.  The squash & okra was put up from out of our garden.  We had leftovers for several days.  I made brown gravy for the leftovers.

I put steak sauce on my meat.  Kevin put BBQ sauce on his meat.

Gardening

Kevin & I were poking around in the garden & noticed that the cat-nip is putting out.

See the little leaves popping out of the ground?

Cleaning

I did some spring cleaning of washing all the bed covers & pillows on our bed.  I changed out the decorative pillows on the couches.  I have 2 different sets of pillows & change them in spring & fall.  I washed the shower curtain.  I ran the bathtub full of water & put Clorox in the water.  I let the water & Clorox set for several hours to whiten the tub.

I picked up trash around the edges of our property & 

found these treasures.

Health & Weight Maintenance

I got back into my morning inside the house walking & stretching routine.  I made extra trips up & down the stairs while cleaning & so forth.  I walked extra during lunch & breaks.  I've been eating too much at meals & need to be more mindful to cut down on portion sizes. 

Walking out in the trees.  The sky was so pretty & blue.

Frugality, Savings & Spending

I spent $36.59 at the grocery store.  I started stocking up on kid friendly food items that are on sale in anticipation for the Grands summer visits.  I got items such as pop tarts & juice.  We keep stocked up on our everyday use items throughout the year, so we didn't have to go out & get toilet paper, hand soap & items like that.

I made an online order from Walmart for snack items to be sent to the Grands for them to have while they are out of school unexpectedly for the next several weeks. 

One of the Grands is selling Moon Pies for a school

fundraiser.  I sent him $9 to help with the cause & bought
each person in his household a pie.  

Social & Community Service Activities

Our Lions Club meeting & bingo was canceled due to several having the flu & the social distancing thing. We didn't go to the fire department's pancake supper fundraiser either.  We did go out to eat for burgers & fries at a local restaurant one evening for supper to support the local economy.  When we left the restaurant, there was not any other customers at that time.

Other Activities

I worked on the puzzle I've been working on.  I plan to get the puzzle done before putting the patio table back outside on the deck.  I continued reading the book By the Shores of Silver Lake.  I searched for words in my giant word search book.  I read blogs & organized pictures on the computer.  I have got behind with my picture organization & need to get back at that.  I watched episodes of Roseanne, Grace Under Fire & Cybill on Vudu free TV.  I watched episodes of Medicine Women on DVD.

Kevin & I got to do our weekend exploring adventure of 4-wheeler riding, hiking & having a picnic.  We explored a new to us area.  

I like to take shadow pictures, I don't know why,  I just do.

No one here to have to stay away from.

I discovered the 1st wildflower of the year.  I've looked in my wildflower 

book for this one before but it's not pictured, so I don't know what it is.

Travel & other beginning of March Happenings

Greetings

I traveled to visit the Grands & their parents too, of course.  Oh what an adventure I had.  The parents took a little get-away while I was there to stay with the kids.  The parents got free baby-sitting & I got lots of quality time with the Grands.  Win/Win!

3 plane rides to my daughters & 2 back home.

There was this little bird in one of the airports.  I gave it some crumbs of 

the chex mix I was eating & it ate.  I tried to get it to eat out of my hand 
but it wouldn't.  It did hang out on my arm rest with me for a time.  Someone 

had left a bottle cap full of water on the window sill for the little bird, 
though I never saw it drink.

Grandkids

Me with all the Grands.

The beautiful & handsome parents of the Grands

& my awesome hosts during my visit. 

Cooking

I did several cooking activities with the Grands in between our eating of popcorn. 

The oldest Grand made me his grilled cheese with an over 
easy egg that I had anxiously been waiting to try. 

We made mini pizzas using English muffins.  Each person put

on their own toppings.  This Grand liked to make us our popcorn.

My daughter made this delicious white chocolate raspberry swirl 
cheesecake with an oreo cookie crust for church homecoming.

These tacos on the grill was one of my favorites meals.

The girls wanted to help do the dishes. Doing the dishes at this age is so 
much fun.  I wish I still had this kind of enthusiasm to do the dishes.

We ate this for supper one night.  We were all so hungry

after the middle school Grand's track meet, not a crumb 

even for a little bird was left.

Gardening

A forsythia bush was starting to bloom at the corner of my

daughter's house while back home it was snowing.

The violets & dandelions blooming around in the yard were a

welcoming sight of spring for me.

Cleaning

While my daughter was at work, the Grands were at school & the toddler was napping, I helped do laundry & get everything folded.

The Grands put away their own clothes after school.

Health & Weight Maintenance

I ate too much several days & had to take tums at bedtime.

I went outside most everyday with the Grands.  They seemed to

get plenty of exercise, but me not so much.

Frugality, Saving & Spending

I took the older grandboys to the movies.  I paid for us all to get into the basketball game.  Entry fees & snacks were not cheap but well worth the time spent with family at these events.

My daughter got to take a couple of the flower arrangements

that were centerpieces on the tables at church homecoming.

The flowers lasted my entire visit & were pretty along with my 

daughter's other decorations.  We had a combined birthday party

for the 2 year old & a cookout to visit with some of our other 

family & friends.

We went thrift store shopping.  I found this mug that I thought 

was unique.  I didn't buy it.  For one reason, I didn't need it. 

For another reason, I thought I would break it transporting 

it back home. 

Social & Community Service Activities

I visited with the Grands other grandparents during

church homecoming.  Look at us so proud of our Grands.

I visited with a life-long friend.  We went out to eat & then went

flying all over the county with Kevin's uncle.

Other Activities

Went to head start.

Went to track meet.

Went to listen to the pep band.

Ate a lot of popcorn.