Monday, March 30, 2020 - Morning Walk; Getting Things Done---Because I Need To Keep Busy; How A Blog Connection Went Full Circle

Monday, March 30, 2020 - Morning Walk; Getting Things Done---Because I Need To Keep Busy; How A Blog Connection Went Full Circle

I left my window open just a few inches last night since it was still pretty warm.  When I woke up at 4:30 or so, I was COLD!  I laid there awhile, but finally I had to get up.  I shut the window and then turned the furnace up before I made the coffee.  

It sure felt good to post the blog before I went to bed last night.  Being confined, I find I have much more time to get things done.  Typically when we are here, I keep busy quite a lot with family and friends, not that I mind that!  I'm really missing them!!  This morning, I was able to read blogs first thing.  While I do miss the one on one interaction with others, I can keep as busy as I want by myself.  I can always read if there is nothing else to do.  I may even find time to do a puzzle.  I think I have a few in storage at the garage - if I can find them.

After our second cup of coffee we headed to the park.  It was a little cool (55) but there was just a light wind.  I've got a few more pictures to share with you this morning:

Morning sunrise as we entered the park

 Before heading home we took a drive through town.  Dean wanted to get the phone number of the auto repair shop so he could call about having the the car worked on.  He knew it the number was posted at the shop.  He called when we were home.  We can take it in Wednesday morning.  The truck goes in for work tomorrow morning.  Everything seems to happen at once.  

When we returned home I fixed our breakfast shakes.  I'm not sure how much longer we'll be able to make shakes.  If I can get frozen fruit we will continue, if not, it will be eggs/bacon or pancakes.  

Before Dean left this morning we put our mat outside.  We plan to grill some hot dogs tonight for dinner, so hopefully we will be able to set outside while Dean cooks them.  It's supposed to rain later this evening.

Before he left after lunch, I asked Dean to show me how to record some shows.  The remote that came with the new satellite is different than the one we had in the house. Since I don't watch much TV I had never tried to record shows with the new one.  I really enjoy some Food Network shows - Pioneer Woman; Trisha Yearwood's show and there is a new one...I can't remember the name but something like Farm Girl?  Then I watched one of Ree's shows from last year that I had not watched before - making pizzas.  Yummm!  Now I want a 3 pepperoni pizza!!!

Love these white puffy clouds - they look like cotton!

I had a few morning chores to do, dishes, change sheets, laundry.  Routine stuff that helps fill the day.  

 I finally added the states to our travel map on Bentley from last summer/fall and this winter.  Wyoming, Montana and California are now on the map.  Dean's been after me to add these, so we'll see how long it takes him to notice.  Lol!

When we visit Matt & family this summer (we sure hope the virus will be contained by then), we hope to pick up a few more eastern states.  

 It's been awhile since I last cleaned the earrings that Dean bought me for our 10th anniversary.  I wear them most of the time.  I put them in a small container of warm water with a couple drops of Dawn dishwashing liquid, then stirred it around a bit.  After several minutes I took a soft brush to them.  They are now sparkling clean again.

We haven't been to Pittsburg since mid-January when we went to see little Jameson before we left.  On our way back we stopped to pick up mail at UPS that had accumulated.  I called today to see if anymore had come in.  There wasn't any, so I guess that means we have been successful in getting everything changed over - I hope!

The tulips opened up more overnight.

 Next on my agenda was to go through my cookbook.  It's has become a bit of a mess so today I fixed that.  I often see something I think sounds good so I'll print it and put it in the book.  I went through all the recipes and threw away maybe 15-20 sheets that I decided I would never make - too many new ingredients would be needed.  Now it will be a little easier to find a recipe when I need it, as I made sure they were divided in to the right topics as well.

 My cookbook consists of two sections:  1) recipes I have gathered since I was first married back in 1974; and 2) a cookbook that my Aunt Lil made of family recipes back in the mid-90's.  It's not just a cookbook as it also includes some family history of the Stapleton and Poor families (my mom's family).  I enjoyed reading through all of the stories again this morning.  I was a little teary eyed thinking of all our family that is gone now.  Going to Grandma Stapleton's was always fun.  She was the best cook!
  

Cover of the Family Cookbook (Stapleton's & Poor's)

I was just putting the last recipes in the the cookbook when Dean returned for lunch.  We've been eating quite a bit lighter at noon.  We typically have meat and cheese with a few crackers, some veggies and an apple.  Dean watched one of his favorite noon shows - Gunsmoke, before heading back to the garage.  This morning he burned the brush that he cut yesterday.  He took the hitch and generator out of the truck this afternoon since we don't plan on going anywhere with Bentley anytime soon.  He ran the generator for awhile, and checked on the brush pile after he returned from lunch.  He always finds something to do, like I do here.

Do you see the steps in the middle of the trees?

These are the steps going down.  Towards the bottom there is a bridge, then you can walk up the other side of the ravine (the steps in the picture above).  This is known as Lover's Lane at our City Park.  I haven't been down it in years.  

This tree really popped overnight!  

My next project for today is to go through our files to see what I can move to our file cabinet at the garage.  I need to work on our income tax but that will wait until tomorrow when I have nothing else to do, so I can focus on it.

My story about how blogs can go full circle:  While we were staying at Pilot Knob in Winterhaven, CA we met up with friends of my sister Crystal.  When we visited with Sharon and Larry at their RV, I remembered to tell Sharon I had received a message from "Joyce" asking me to tell Sharon hello when we saw them.  I didn't know who Joyce was, but she lived in the same town as Sharon and she thought she had met my sister Crystal once when she worked in the Courthouse.  Both Joyce and Sharon worked there at the time.  Are you following me?  When I told Sharon she knew exactly who I was talking about, but she didn't realize she also followed our blog.  I never thought anything more about this.  A few days ago my step-dad's niece posted she was in the ER at a hospital near where she lived.  I commented on her post.  Later that day or the next day Joyce sent me a note that she seen I had commented on her daugher-in-law's post per her ER visit.  I explained to her I had known Michelle since she was just a child - that her uncle is my step-dad (her mom's brother).  In a second note I mentioned Dan (her son) and Michelle had even visited us while we were in the park at Oswego a while back.   She had no idea Michelle and I had a connection, and until then I didn't know who Joyce actually was.  I find this so interesting and fun, how our blog brought Joyce and I together in a mutual connection, yet we already had a connection that neither of us knew anything about until my comment on Michelle's FB page.  

When Dean came home, he wanted to know if I wanted to take a ride before we had dinner.  Sure, I would.  We took a drive east of town and drove out near Hallowell and Faulkner just looking around.  It started to rain shortly after we left town and is still raining (7:51pm now).
He had planned to grill hot dogs for dinner, so I cut them in half and cooked them in a skillet on both sides.  We added the condiments we liked and added a few potato chips with it.  Later we had a chocolate chip cookie and a dip of ice cream.  A nice easy meal.

We watched TV and I visited with my sister Cindy on the phone before we called it a night.