Life During a Pandemic, part 6: Staying Sane

 So life isn't too much different here since we are retired homebodies.  However it's the trips to the grocery store and other essential outings that bring variety to our day.  When I was working, I went to the grocery store because I had to.  I go now to get out.  Those days are pretty much over for a while.  Today was day 8 since I had gone anywhere except my walk.  I was planning to do curbside pick up at Wegmans but when I made the order on Saturday night, the soonest I could get pick up was Thursday.  Given that I had finished my last banana, my blueberries and the lettuce, that wouldn't do.  They had delivery Sunday afternoon and all day Monday(today) so I chose Monday morning as I thought the store would be better stocked.  My groceries were left on the porch around 10:45 am.    A few minutes later, the news broke that the governor issued a Stay at Home order. 

Watching so much news can be unsettling but there's such a need to know and things are in a constant state of flux.  After reading the order, I realized that life, for our house, would remain pretty much the same as we've been cautious.   I had ordered mulch and week killer online at Home Depot on Friday night so I figured I'd go pick them up as well as go through the Starbucks drive through to get a couple pounds of espresso.  Last was a drive through at CVS to pick up David's RX.  Home Depot was quite crowded.  The customer service rep said that it was just today--my guess is people wanting to do home/garden projects while they're stuck at home.  I signed for my mulch them went to the car and it was loaded in.  I felt pretty safe--not being anywhere close to a human.  I did succumb to a junk food craving and went through McD's drive through for a double cheeseburger and small fries.  Looks like we're home for a while.  Hopefully we can keep getting Wegmans delivery for staples.

Yesterday we Google Duo'd Jeremy and Genevieve.  We really do enjoy doing that.

Other forms of amusement:  Facebook posts like this--google your first name and the words apocalypse outfit and see what you get.  As you can see--mine is pretty badass.  

Luna is loving having me on the couch and appears annoyed when I ignore her.

David cleaned out the side flower bed and uncovered the little tombstone that Emily made for her parakeet in 1991.  It says (including the part that's missing)  God Bless Chilly   Bn Dec. 24, 1988  Died Nov. 4, 1991  God Bless Our Beloved Bird.

I made pancakes Sunday morning.  Wanted to use up the buttermilk I had.  I'm sorry I didn't check my mom's cookbook first.  I used a buttermilk pancake recipe I found online and they were good but I had forgotten that the Oatmeal Pancakes I loved while growing up also had buttermilk.  This recipe is from the 1950 first edition of the Good Housekeeping Cookbook.

Got started on my 1760s gown for our millinery shop for Historic Annapolis that probably won't happen.  At least I'll be ready when it does!

Life goes on and if we do what we need to do, it will continue to.  Please stay safe and stay inside.

Life During a Pandemic, part 5: The New Normal

I had to go out and get some essentials yesterday.  I had put an online order into Wegmans Thursday night (yesterday was Monday and the soonest I could get the order filled).  My instacart shopper texted me at 9 am.  Some substitutions were made for a couple of items--Domino sugar in lieu of house brand and stuff like that.  They had no ground meat, no paper towels and no toilet paper.  Also I could only get 1 gallon of milk instead of 2.  Interesting process.  I pulled up to the curb and clicked "I'm here" on the app then entered my vehicle info.  A Wegmans employee brought my order to the car.  That was easy and may be a possibility for future shopping.  I was able to get fresh salad greens, blueberries etc. so as long as I can get fresh vegetables and fruit, I'm okay.

Next was Trader Joe's.  I had my shopping paraphernalia on the passenger's seat.  This is the new normal.  Typically I would have my reusable bags there but they are discouraging the use of them.

There was a line --people standing 6 feet or so apart--outside of Trader Joes.  I thought of not going in but changed my mind because I didn't want to go back.  My main item at Trader Joe's is their fresh soy milk.  It's the best stuff for my lattes.  I've yet to find one as good.  The line moved fairly quickly.  They'd let one person in for every one person who came out.  I was impressed with what they did.  When you got to the front of the line, they'd squirt sanitizer in your hands and direct you toward to sanitized carts in the vestibule.  They would wipe them down as people returned them.  The store felt almost empty which was a relief though there were lines at the checkout.  They were hard to see as everyone was standing so far apart.  As luck would have it, they had no soy milk and are out at the warehouse.  I did get everything else and picked up a second gallon of milk.  Cashiers were wearing gloves.  I guess this is all the new normal.

 Last was CVS.  I needed to pick up some prescriptions and could have used the drive through but I also needed vitamins.  The only measure taken there was that there was a table in front of the pick up window at the pharmacy which forced the customer to be 6 feet away from the employee.  I wiped the cart off and kept the wipe in my hand.

Once home, I brought everything in and placed it on the counter, used antibacterial wipes on all packages before putting them away, recycled/trashed the bags then wiped down the counters with Clorox Clean up.  The new normal.

The rest of the day was pretty ho hum.  It was raining so no walking.  I had washed the sheets so I made the bed and did my usual Monday spa day.

4 pm I had to go pick up Ranger's thyroid meds at the vet's.  I had placed the order on the phone in the morning.  Drove up and parked in front, called them and gave them my credit card info and a tech delivered the meds to my car.  The new normal.

I'm starting to plan ahead for purchases.  I have 6 rolls of paper towels left.  No one has them in stock.  I love my Bounty brand but they are impossible to find online as well.  Walmart.com has Brawny in a 12 roll pack so I ordered that and 2 30-can boxes of Fancy Feast.  The paper towels come this week, the cat food arrives by April 10 which is fine.

This morning I woke up to a bunch of people tagging me on Facebook.  It appears that Trader Joe's s now closed for enhanced cleaning due to a "crew member either testing positive for covid-19 or being treated for symptoms. The crew member was last in the store March 23."  Great.  This is a new normal I could do without.  Given the great care the company showed with crowd control, I suppose I really have nothing to worry about even though I didn't wear my bandana or gloves.  But that's easier said than done.  The new normal.

Life During a Pandemic, part 4: Seek Beauty, Choose Joy

One of the things that brings normalcy to my life is my daily walks with my buddy Chris.  We haven't walked in over a week and we're both going nuts.  It was a beautiful day today, a bit chilly being in the 40s but clear and sunny so we decided that we would meet down at Carroll Baldwin Hall and walk social distancing style-- i.e. 6 feet apart.  Today was the therapy I needed.  As such,  I'm writing very little but posting a little photo tour of our walking route today.  Enjoy

We started our walk going up Baltimore Street 1 long block to the end where the Savage Mill Manor House.  I've always loved this house.  It was on the market when we bought our house but it was a handyman special at that point and it was a bit out of our price range.  That was 1982.  The Mill uses it for various events and it's a lovely place.  If you turn right, you will come to Savage Park.  We turned left which took us one short block to the upper parking lot at Savage Mill.

As we expected--the parking lot was pretty empty!

We walked along the walkway where you can see the historic stone walls along the Little Patuxent River.

Here is one of the back entrances to Savage Mill.

Seeing all the daffodils makes me happy.  Bulb flowers always represent the start of spring to me.

The gates were closed to the parking lot but we noticed that the same artist who hung a dreamcatcher at the post office, hung one there--along with another artist.  These small public displays of art simply brighten my day like nothing else can.

We continued down Foundry Street by the lower parking lot which did have a few cars in it.  Several had stickers for Horse Spirit Gallery so I suspect they may have been employees filling mailing orders.  We also encountered a couple coming out of the French Bakery with take out.

We continued down Foundry street to find more art!

When I got home, I looked the artist up.  She's local.  I pm'd her and thanked her for lifting my spirits and making my outing like a little treasure hunt.  She said she plans on leaving more hearts around the community!

Another beaded dreamcatcher!

We crossed the loading dock going toward Bollman Bridge.  This house sits above the Little Patuxent across the street.

Here we see the main building of Savage Mill.

I love the textures you see in old structures.

You can see the elevated back deck of the Rams Head which sits above the river.  It's one of our favorite Happy Hour spots.

The old wheel house which is fenced off.  My kids told me that they used to go in there after dark with flashlights when they were in high school.  They swear there are ghosts there.  There are holes in the floor that go down to the river.  Good thing they told me after the fact or their asses would've been grounded. LOL

More views of the Little Patuxent with a low water level.

Bollman Bridge--the last remaining iron truss railroad bridge of its kind in the US.

We then walked up the lower end of Foundry Street.

We were reminded of a fairly new business that opened at the mill and we vowed to walk down and patronize them once things open up again.

We crossed Foundry Street and walked a few blocks down Washington Street.

Another heart!  This one at the far end of the yard to Carroll Baldwin Hall.

I walked around to see what it said.

I couldn't help but think of how 3 weeks ago Carroll Baldwin Hall was full of ladies--women supporting women--learning about 18th century tradeswomen and sewing beautiful things.

We turned on Woodward Street and walked back up Baltimore Street.

Back to our starting point.  So odd to see it so empty as they normally have church services on Sunday morning.  

Getting out and about was what I needed today.  After our walk, I went home and used up some fresh veggies that needed to be cooked:  spinach, peppers, scallions and cherry tomatoes--sautéd and put in omelettes with a little cheddar then topped with Sriracha!  Good stuff.  

I also found out that you can watch Outlander on demand early on the day it airs.  We enjoyed our omelettes as we watched.  

3/22/2020 10 am

3/22/2020 5 pm