"Novel" Entertainment

When you don't get out much, little things become one's entertainment or diversion.

Tonight we ordered a pizza from Domino's which is across town from where we live. We were amused to find they give you a tracker, a visual way to follow the delivery person on a map on a computer or a smartphone. The little car icon slowed down several times; don't know if that was for stoplights or if the screen only refreshes at certain increments. It entertained us.

I finally hosted a Zoom session/meeting. It was a test run with my sister in North Carolina this evening. Still not confident about certain aspects, but we saw and heard each other just fine. She on her laptop and me on my ipad.

Tonight around 10 p.m. we might step outside on our front lawn to see the satellite overhead. It is tracking northwest to southwest. We had lots of wind today so the skies are clear. I didn't hear clearly on this evening's weather report what I would be seeing. It was a SpaceX StarLink Satellite Train. These are satellites Elon Musk launched for internet access service. They are evenly spaced. The train gets smaller as the individual satellites find their orbit. The video attached is from another county. I did not see as many as pictured but I was originally looking a bit too far high and only saw them as I turned toward the west. I may have missed some. It was eerily beautiful.

I scheduled another to-go grocery order. I will drive to the loading spot around 2 p.m. Monday. We will see how complete this order is. I am thinking of signing up with the store I most often visit (owned by Kroger) for another pickup in 10-12 days. I am more familiar with that store's inventory and store brand products. 

I have been thinking of this coming winter. We will not make a trip to a warmer place probably. Still too much virus around. I had a day of gastroenteritis in Oceanside and my husband grew weary of any outings more than an hour's drive. Maybe God was preparing us for letting go of winter trips. 

What are you doing to divert your thoughts from the restrictions around us? 

Bible Verse Coloring Pages

Christian Book has some free coloring pages on its web. In the past, I have not found coloring pages engaging, but these pictures are fairly simple. It is nice to have something on the refrigerator in place of activity schedules and notices. Also, a good reminder of God's Word. There are 4 different pictures from which to choose. 

I knew I had some frozen grated zucchini in the garage freezer left from last year. Today while rummaging around I found it at the bottom. Tomorrow I am going to bake some bread.

I might also sort through a drawer in my bedroom. I have a book to read, but I wanted something else to do. We will probably start a jigsaw puzzle this weekend. 

It was nice Monday but the rest of the week is kind of cold with rain chances. I exercised with a YMCA 360 video this morning. I looked at the very short intro to Tai Chi, and the instructor mentioned a yoga video for back pain. I will try that this week sometime since I probably won't do much walking in the cold.

Starting to get a bit bored. I was glad for the coloring page diversion.

Horses and Tulips

Over the weekend I mentioned in red above my post that the Google Album Archive was not working right. My photos had gray ovals with a line through them instead of the photos. Several of my blog posts had "missing" pictures, and the entire album displayed that way. They are mysteriously back.

Today Magical Meadows a therapeutic horse organization brought some of their horses to Grace Village and walked from window to window. A few residents came outside to pet the horses.

The tulips in front of a GV building are now in full bloom; and the pear trees in the condo neighborhood are also open.

  

Spring Inside At Least

While yesterday's sunshine streamed through the windows, I put my tablecloth with flowers and butterflies on the sunroom lamp table and replaced the red pillows with the yellow ones. It seemed so spring-like. I even sat in the sunroom looking through some of my decorating folders.

However, the forecast was for snow today. I snipped 3 daffodil blossoms to put in a vase inside.

We received several inches of snow today; there are still a few flakes from time to time this afternoon. Saturday will be slightly warmer and the snow should melt. 

 The strange lights glowing on my neighbor's house are the reflection of my dining                                 area lights in my patio door.

The pear trees were about to bloom.

          

Indiana's governor has extended the stay-home mandate to May 1st. He and several surrounding states are trying to coordinate the return to work and the opening of restaurants and stores. We will hear more about the stragegy and steps next week. But older people and people with health problems are expected to limit their exposure to the general public. Kosciusko County has 22 confirmed cases and 1 death. The area around Indianapolis has the most cases with over 500 deaths state-wide. The rural and small-town communities will probably reopen sooner than the big cities. 

It will not go back the way it was before Covid-19, but it will be better than having so many people not working. Still can't meet in large numbers so most churches will keep live streaming worship services. I went to a grocery store yesterday to find the few things I was unable to get using to-go pickup. About half of the people wore masks, and they were careful about social distancing. Not as scary as previous weeks with big crowds bunching together. Hoping the new grocery store measures will stay around for a few months. 

First-Time Online Grocery Shopping With Store Pickup

Today was my first pickup of a local grocery store to-go order. It went pretty well. I had instructed them with the order to put the items in the trunk which we would open with a button inside the car. I see in the email reminder they sent today that they are now *requiring* people to do that or they will leave the basket of goods by the car but not unload them. 

We phoned that we were parked in the to-go space; the young man said he would be with us shortly. I would say from the label on one of the bags that they pick up perishables (milk, margarine/butter) and frozen goods when you call as the label said dry goods cart; frozen; dairy as though those were separate steps to carry out.

I didn't get the disinfectant wipes. No surprise there. I probably didn't get 2 items because I stated no substitution: the diet caffeine-free Pepsi and the low-acid orange juice. I don't know why there were no Spanish rice package nor cold cuts. Didn't have them I guess though I said substitution OK.  I really need the cold cuts. There were a few substitutions. For example, I ordered 4 packets of Idahoan instant potatoes (they were on sale). I ordered the small packets; I received the family size. I can use them OK by only using half a package instead of the whole one. They gave me a different brand of taco shells. I ordered 18-count egg carton but received 2 1-dozen cartons. The only other thing besides the cold cuts that I needed quickly was the Dove Sensitive Skin bars of soap. Hurray! They had those. And I can get by with tuna or egg salad instead of cold cuts for a few days. I did like very much today that I could order their specialty muffins and deli salads; those are two of the good features of that store.

I really appreciated the no-contact pickup. However, I found it took me a long time to fill out the order online. I guess you can save for future order items you use regularly. I will probably order again in 10-11 days. I still have quite a few things in my freezer at home to "shop" from. 

I may try to go to Meijer tomorrow (with my mask) during senior shopping hour to find the orange juice and cold cuts. I'd rather stay out of the stores, however. 

Easter Eve

Since it might rain tomorrow, I went for a walk in the sunshine this afternoon. I visited with a man from my church on his front porch; I haven't seen him in weeks. Two ladies who live next door to each other were sharing a porch; then another friend out walking came up close enough to join in. It was good for the 4 of us to get caught up on some news. In a retirement community one does tend to be acquainted with one's neighbors.

I was tired of walking west to the pond and back so I set out east to cross County Road 250 East onto Robby Road. This was "new" territory for me. Lots of things blooming now.

Hellebore are supposed to be early bloomers. This one over by the Community Center seems a little later than what I would expect.

As I headed east on Sunset Lane I came to these little purple flowers at the corner of Sunset and 250E.

This house on Robby Road had bright yellow forsythia and daffodils.

I think these are saucer magnolia blooms, but I am not sure.

Daffodils are abundant .

This blooming tree and the cross on the door reminded me that tomorrow is Easter. When I got home, my husband showed me an Easter card dropped off by our backdoor neighbors.

Yesterday my husband and I participated in communion using a YouTube video done by my pastor. We had some red wine and a water cracker which worked fine. It helped us focus on the events of Good Friday. With such a strange Easter this year, we were grateful to have something familiar to do.

We will watch a livestream worship service tomorrow. We may not be together with other believers physically, but we join them in spirit and heart as we remember the risen Savior.

Pretty Spring Day

Today was a pretty April day. I went walking around my neighborhood this afternoon. Quite a few people out walking.

The Star Magnolia on Elder Lane is blooming now.

Forsythia is showing its little yellow flowers.

All of my daffodils are open.

Ducks and geese amble around the pond.

My irises and lilies have put up sprouts. My quince bush has little green balls that will turn into coral flowers by the end of April.

While humanity is suffering and struggling, the natural world is experiencing spring. 

I had never noticed this little gnome at the base of a mailbox before today. 

My sister-in-law asked me to buy some things for her at the grocery store. Though Owens (Kroger) had some orange cones with yellow tape delineating a waiting line, they were doing no monitoring nor making people wait to enter. All the employees have masks; about 10% of the shoppers (mostly older people) wore masks. I mostly needed to shop the perimeter of the store, but I noticed the center aisles had dozens of people jammed up next to each other, none wearing masks.

A retired nurse at my church gave me a few surgical masks. I am wearing it now when I go out where I might be close to the general public. Now 2 ladies in my church have offered to make cloth masks for anybody in our church who wants them. Mostly I  think people are not being very careful about social distancing in the retail stores that are open. I have decided not to go into grocery stores during the month of April (and longer if the circumstances warrant it). I will be ordering online for pickup. I already registered with one store though I probably won't use the service until the week of April 13th. Several of my condo (Robin Hood) neighbors have already stopped going inside grocery stores; using Shipt or Instacart I think. I am still willing to pick up items from a local store.

I have some sneezing and a little chest tightness from my allergies and asthma. This happens every spring so I am not alarmed; but I am being careful not to go out much anymore. 

Still Here

It has been quiet around here. Today I did have some human-to-human interaction (from a safe distance) besides my husband.

I went to the grocery store this morning. The employees are wearing masks now and there are "sneeze guards" between the checkout clerk and the customer. I saw several older people wearing masks as they shopped. I used my disinfectant wipe to open freezer and dairy doors. The clerk told me if I wanted to use my cloth bags I would have to bag everything myself so I told her the plastic is OK. *No* toilet paper again.

 On the way home I passed a Walgreen's. They had some tp. I really only needed to buy one package, but since the sign said limit of 2, I went ahead and bought a second package since it is so hard to find and we will now be staying home more days. When I bought my two packages of Charmin, there were only two left on the shelf, but at least a dozen packages of other brands. 

I am thinking of doing an online order for pick up at Martin's grocery store around the 15th. I will only have contact with one person who brings the items to the car. Several of my neighbors are no longer going to the grocery store, just ordering online. 

This afternoon we have sunshine and 57 degrees temp. I opened a few windows to let some fresh air in. I took a walk around my neighborhood. I talked with 5 neighbors biking, walking, or sitting on the porch. As I am typing this, I see a few others out walking. Daffodils are blooming in several places. Mine have slivers of yellow so should be open in another few days.

 I had a springtime surprise this year. Those of you who have been reading my blog posts for a while know that I gave up on crocus after several attempts because an animal (rabbit?) kept eating not only the blooms but the foliage. I used nets, but as soon as the blooms were done and I removed the netting, the plants would be nibbled to the ground. The foliage comes up from the last planting 3-4 years ago but never blooms. Well this year I have one purple bloom.

Those red tulips I mentioned in an earlier post now fill the whole plant. 

We have 5 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in our county, but more are expected. My nephew who lives in Detroit has felt the effects directly. He has been furloughed from his job. His girl friend's mother died last Saturday in Beaumont Hospital from the virus. This deceased woman had underlying health problems. Unfortunately, she had no visitors allowed in the hospital, and her daughter was unable to have a Jewish funeral for her. So sad. Most of the funeral homes in our area allow a small gathering of immediate family at a graveside service, but some families choose to plan a memorial service when circumstances permit later. My pastor's daughter postponed her big wedding. Her father will administer the vows privately (if the county clerk's office reopens so she can get a license). She hopes to have a big celebration in the future. 

Keep safe during these difficult times.