March 31, 2020

This little robin was painted by an artist,

then made into a pillow cover I have really enjoyed.

The artist sent a robin postcard along with the pillow cover,

and I was so delighted with it I ordered postcards for some of her other paintings as well

and mounted them in this frame.

March 30, 2020

This little pair of birds has a metallic finish I really like.

My brother carved this owl for me for Christmas one year when we were teenagers.

This little glass owl purse

(can you believe there is such a thing??)

has been a fun addition to the bird menagerie.

March 29, 2020

It was so nice to hear birds singing today outside.

It made me think about the birds I have scattered around our living area...

for some inexplicable reason I've become a little enamored of them in the last few years.

Thought I would document this little obsession.

These two are probably my favorites, because of the colors.

The beautiful bird house was a wedding gift from a lovely co-worker

and craftsman extraordinaire.

These coasters were a Christmas gift from my husband's family last year.

I love the colors in them as well.

March 28, 2020

 No sunshine this morning,

but the new green shows up nicely against the dark tree trunks.

The sun peeked out a little this afternoon.

March 27, 2020

My next-door neighbors are having their deck replaced by our neighbor down the street,

the ones who live with Bella.

They've been next door a lot the last few days, working on the deck,

and relaxing afterwards on the front porch.

I brought my foldable lawn chair over and sat in the yard to visit with them.

I was a little more socially distanced than I would have liked.  :)

March 26, 2020

Fruit is not low carb,

but since I'm not doing particularly well sticking to a low carb diet,

I figured fruit is better than my normal high carb treats.

I've been eating oranges almost every day lately,

hoping to build up my immune system a little.

I don't know if it's working,

but I sure am enjoying the effort.  :)

March 25, 2020

 Jed and I went to the grocery store for the first time in a couple of weeks,

for the first time since we started sheltering in place.

I knew there would be no toilet paper,

but I was shocked to see how many empty food shelves there were.

I wish I knew if this is because the stores aren't being restocked,

or if people are buying everything up as soon as it hits the shelves.

I don't want to be a stockpiler,

but I'm beginning to wonder if I'm going to have to become one.

March 24, 2020

Despite the cloudy weather, this tree in our backyard is starting to bloom...

 ...along with this one.

 Then later in the afternoon we saw some sunshine!!

 I went for a walk with my next-door neighbor, 

maintaining a 6 foot social distance.

It was lovely to be out in the sunshine!!

 Our neighbor down the street is blessed to have this little cutie.

I've been working hard to earn her friendship

(mostly with dog bone bribes)

and it's paying off!

I played with Bella while my two neighbors chatted.

They talked a long time! 

:)

March 23, 2020

 Jed and I often play games on our lunch break.

Today's choice was Yahtzee,

and I'm pretty sure I made the highest score of my life!

This was originally my daughter-in-law's score card,

then it was Jed's,

then it was mine.

Reduce, reuse, recycle!

Plus you can compete against prior players.  :)

March 22, 2020

Low carb cheese steak...

stuffed in a pepper instead of a sub roll.

March 21, 2020

Low carb shepherd's pie...

made with mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes.

Mashed cauliflower is AWESOME!

I made a double batch of it for this dish because I like it so much.

March 20. 2020

Another walk on another cloudy day.

March 19, 2020

I've been on a lasagna kick lately.

I think it's one of the prettiest dishes there is.

March 18, 2020

 I had a little bit of a brainstorm today...

putting a tiny lamp behind this glass plate

to make the colors pop.

 Playing around with the filters.

I really like this one.

March 17, 2020

Happy St Patrick's Day!

March 16, 2020

Jed and I went for a walk this evening and 

in spite of the constant cloudy weather

and the current unrest and uncertainty,

it was sweet to see signs of spring coming.

Jed liked this little weed because each petal looks like a miniature pitcher plant.

March 15, 2020

I spent the vast majority of this day checking Jed's schoolwork,

particularly Latin.

Brad studied Latin all 4 years of high school,

and this is Jed's 4th year of Latin, having started in junior high school.

I'm so proud of these boys!

You'd think after all those years of my sons taking Latin,

I would have learned a thing or two about it,

but you'd be wrong.  :)

March 14, 2020

Happy Pi Day to all my nerdy friends!

I'm looking at you, Lori!  :)

March 13, 2020

My computer died this day.

It's now April 2.

I took pictures every day I was offline,

waiting for the day I could post again.

I was surprised to find how much I missed it!

I thought this project might end up being a burden,

another chore on my daily to-do list,

but though it's been challenging some days,

it's been a fun challenge.

Most days the challenge has been finding something

even halfway interesting to photograph...

I haven't even gotten started on the skill-improving part yet.  :)

March 12, 2020

I saw a glimpse of Jed as an adult today,

as he helped me with several things around the house willingly and with a good attitude.

He helped me vacuum by lifting all the furniture that can be picked up so I could vacuum under it

(that is a huge help!)

He helped me move furniture in my bedroom as I rearranged it.

He fixed the garage door safety sensor

(after I apparently whacked it out of alignment, unbeknownst to me, 

while I was sweeping the garage.)

And he changed the water filter in the fridge.

That's where this water pitcher comes in.

We had to run 4 gallons of water through the new filter to flush it before we started using it.

Our gallon water pitchers were too large to fit in the dispenser,

so Jed filled up a 2 liter bottle and emptied it into a gallon pitcher

so he wouldn't have to figure out how many liters are in 4 gallons.  :)

He called me away from my spring cleaning to come see what he had done.

He had emptied the 2 liter bottle completely and this is how full the pitcher was afterwards.

He was pretty pleased with himself.  :D

I already was.  :)

March 11, 2020

It was another foggy morning today.

Foreground in focus...

...background in focus.

A little while later it was even foggier!

Foreground in focus...

...background in focus.