Covid Chronicles, Week 10

 It seems as though I'm busier than ever now that the weather is picking up.

Peter has started making what he calls a "victory garden."  He rented a post hole digger to set 11 posts.  I helped him ensure they were up straight.  I was the "person with the level."  

We finally got a chance to drive up to see Katie and Andy!  Ninety minutes to drive there, 90 minutes to visit (socially distantly) on the back porch, and 90 minutes to return home.  We were tired by then, but it was nice to see them and their dogs.  Uhtred, the puppy, jumped on us as we arrived.  That was ok until I realized that his paws were quite muddy!  Oh, well.  Good thing we have a washer and dryer at home.  

Otherwise, Uhtred has a pretty good disposition.  Poor Dogmatix has to deal with the puppy jumping on him occasionally, but apparently all is going well overall.  

Actually, Uhtred wasn't feeling well a few weeks ago, and the vet prescribed medications for inflammation.  He tested negative for Lyme disease, however, and it's most likely some "growing pains" that puppies can get.  

We are planning to make a small patio in the front of the house.  I went online to find some furniture that we could put there, and I found this from Wayfair:

It's actually all one piece!  It's called a "Tete-a-Tete Bench".  It's cast aluminum.  Already on order, should arrive by mid-June.  

As we go walking in different neighborhoods, I have been looking for a piece like this, but to no avail.  We see lots of benches, Adirondack chairs, and an occasional tiny garden table with two chairs.  I didn't want the wiry look of those garden tables and chairs; I wanted some chairs with arms that looked comfortable but don't send us into a reclining slumber, like an Adirondack chair could.  This seems to be my best bet.  We can sit and read and enjoy some sort of beverage while sitting together.  

A lot of the time I go outside and sit on the steps if I am waiting for an expected visitor to arrive.  This will be a lot nicer for that!  (Sitting on the steps is not the greatest for comfort!)

Covid Chronicles, Week 8

Best wishes for a happy Mother's Day!

We are very happy to have had a very nice day on our 39th anniversary a few days ago.  Well, it was about as good as it can get with Covid restrictions in place.  We enjoyed a walk in the sunshine, and later in the afternoon Katie called just as John was expected for a visit!  We sat outside, ten feet away from John, with Katie on the speaker phone.  So nice to have a "family visit!"  

After the phone call ended and John left, we cooked a dinner of filet mignon (which we ordered from Omaha steaks just as the problems with meat began to brew), and a dessert of ricotta cheesecake.  Good thing we know a thing or two about cooking!

I was browsing on Facebook this weekend....and I came upon this template for a mask.  It looked to be exactly what I was looking for!   And - it was FREE.  I've never really taken to sewing, but it seems like having a number of washable masks on hand is a good idea right now.  We already had a few masks (two each), but I wanted a more fitted model (like this).  This one looked to be simple for my basic sewing skills.  It worked out pretty well,  The links are included below.  

Perhaps you....or someone you know.....would also like this.  I was happy to share it with a friend who needed the child size for her granddaughter!  

Three of my masks were made from cloth napkins with a fairly tight weave.  I made two more with old denim pants for the outside layer and an old navy t-shirt for the inner layer.  I had enough elastic to make ear-loops for three of the masks; Amazon has some that will arrive in another week.  In the meantime, I cut up an old sock and those became ear-loops on one of mine.  

Thanks to my mom and dad, who gave me a sewing machine years ago as a gift!  Digging out the machine was a chore, but once that's done the machine became more "accessible."  I made five masks!

Here is a photo of the masks made from cloth napkins:

Here is the link to the template:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UlnV0alwP3r0ZblWc6k9E8SCk2DCYUfe/view

And here is the YouTube video:  DIY Fabric Face Mask - Make These Well Fitting Masks to Donate to Healthcare Workers and Shelters

DIY Fabric Face Mask - Make These Well Fitting Masks to Donate to Health... Download the pattern here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UlnV0alwP3r0ZblWc6k9E8SCk2DCYUfe/view?usp=sharing Th...

Covid Chronicles, Week 7

Week seven has begun.....I think this will be a while, so I'm trying to pay attention to the little things that make life interesting.  Practice makes progress, right?

We have friends where the husband is on fellowship in Cardiology at Baystate Medical in Springfield.  The wife is a pharmacist at Hartford Hospital.  The daughter is kindergarten age, and they are having a tough time implementing the many distance learning lessons supplied by her teacher.  I offered to meet with Vivienne via FaceTime (on a regular basis) and do some things with her.  She is nicely improving in decoding consonant-vowel-consonant words with sh and ch, and also in recognizing her sight words.  Yesterday I noticed good improvement in counting, as we played a dice game!  It's a lot of fun, and also gives me a feeling that I'm at least doing something to help others at this time.  

Anyway, I had the family print out a paper square that needed to be folded like the origami "fortune tellers" we used to make in grammar school.  This one folded to become a SHark!!!  She had a lot of directions to follow (that's the SLP in me getting activated here), it starts with SH, and it's good practice for fine motor skills, too.  

Here is a photo of mine. The tape was necessary to keep the forehead together while I made it "talk."  I guess I could have used glue, but then one needs to wait until it dries!  

A fun thing that anyone can do at this time is head on over to the Cornell Red Tail Hawks camera:

Red-tailed Hawks

Red-tailed Hawks A Red-tailed Hawk pair has been nesting above Cornell University’s athletic fields since at least the 2012. Watc...

At the moment of this writing, there are two babies hatched.  They are so cute!  I am always amazed at the good parenting the hawks provide to the babies.  The mom is named "Big Red," and the dad is "Arthur."  I have been watching this for quite a few years and continue to donate so that these web cameras can continue.  Give it a look!

Here is a photo they provided of the first baby that hatched:

Just a warning:  they are carnivores.  They eat raw, fresh meat.  To keep the babies healthy and happy, there are usually some dead animals hanging around the nest at this point.  Once you get over that, they are totally amazing.  

At least we can keep in touch with our kids with FaceTime, texting, emails, and phone calls.  Katie recently sent us this photo of her two dogs.  Uhtred, the big one standing, is only like 6 months old.  He is a standard schnauzer.  Dogmatix, relaxing on the bench, is at least 10 years old and a mini schnauzer.  

I continue to try to maintain a routine and exercise every day.  I've also been on Amazon a lot.  On Saturday we got up and Peter went to make coffee......but the coffee grinder just stopped.  Sigh.  It was six years old already, so I just ordered a new one on Amazon.  Thankfully I found some ground coffee in the house, as most of our coffee is in whole bean form.  It will tide us over until the grinder arrives next weekend.  

Best wishes to all......

It's not about the cake! - Musings on gluten free baking

I just finished 24 cupcakes for a birthday party for my adult kids this afternoon.



This is what I have learned over the years:

Make cupcakes.  It's fine to use a mix.  I like cupcakes because they are fun, don't dry out as quickly as regular cake, and allow the hints below to make a great dessert.

My son tells me that most GF baked goods taste better when refrigerated.  It's a good idea to make the cupcakes and fill them, then put them into the refrigerator until the next day, when you frost them ahead of your guests' arrival.

Use a cupcake corer or small spoon to carve out a bit from the top of each cupcake.  Put a small glop of something everyone will enjoy, whether it's from a jar of fudge topping, some cherry pie filling, jam, lemon curd, or a peanut butter filling.  Cover your filling with the small cake piece that you just carved out.  This gives a nice surprise when your guests bite into the cupcake.

Use HOMEMADE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING.  Do not use a can of frosting!  There is a big difference in flavor.  Make a double batch, because the frosting is important.

Use a piping bag to make a bakery-like topping with the frosting.  This is easier than you think.  You can use a disposable pastry bag and a decent open-star stainless steel tip.  Swirl from the outside in.  Well, that's my experience, anyway.

You can put cocoa into a fine mesh strainer, then bring the strainer over the frosted cupcakes, tapping the strainer lightly with a spoon to let some cocoa drift onto the frosting.  This is nice if you filled the cupcakes with something chocolaty.  Otherwise, a small decoration like chocolate chips looks nice.

Do not worry about perfection.  It's homemade, not made by a computerized machine!  No one will care.

With the filling, homemade buttercream frosting, and the bit of decoration, your guests will love the cupcakes.....even guests who hate gluten free food.

It's not about the cake!

How do I handle that?

I've been lacking in keeping up this blog.  Sorry!

What's been going on, you ask?  Well, a year ago, I retired from my work as a speech-language pathologist in my local school system.  I truly loved my job, but the time seemed to be right.  I didn't see any sense in putting off the next step in life.  I felt that I needed to figure myself out, just as I had to figure myself out when I got married....had kids....an empty nest....etc. 

It was a good thing to retire a bit earlier than Mr. HH.  I took up strength training classes at a local gym.  I started teaching third grade religion classes at my church.  I joined a bible study group, which was fascinating.  (People talking about the afterlife?  NO ONE discusses such things in a public school setting!)  I started line dancing. 

Mr. HH is now retired, and I am busier than ever. 

Here's my take on change:  It takes a year to get used to any major change, like a new job, a new life situation, or even the death of a loved one.  It takes two years to "get a handle" on it. 

We need to give ourselves time to get a handle on things. 

Crazy life

My life recently has been crazy but very good.

After a number of years of my daughter and her husband living in South America, they suddenly moved back to the USA almost a year ago.  He is in a school for watch repair, and that will end in yet another year.  We don't know what will happen then, but for now, we are in heaven!  It's almost a five hour drive to visit them, and we do it approximately every other month.  I can now send her cards or even packages, or just give a quick call or text.  It's really not much more phone-like contact than before, but the ability to see her more often and to send cards (that actually reach her) is priceless.

In April, our son finally got a job that uses his many skills and talents, while also paying a living wage.  He got a new apartment in a nearby town.  He comes by regularly to do his laundry and eat dinner.  No problem with that!

Having kids that have surpassed the teenage years and have entered real adulthood is awesome.  I am proud of both of them more than I can express.  They each have unique talents, they are both extremely kind people who do amazing things, and they seem to truly enjoy our company!

This May, hubby and I celebrated 36 years of marriage.  That's pretty cool, too.  He's a total sweetheart.  I can sit and talk with him more easily than anyone.

Shortly thereafter, our daughter received her Master's degree in reading!

Following that, we went on a short cruise to Bermuda to celebrate my 60th birthday.  We are currently acting on the idea that one never knows what is around the corner, so we should do things while we can.  (Last year we took a trip to Alaska.....came back to a big mess and lots of angst, but that's a separate story.)

I had told hubby, "No party!  We're going on a cruise instead!"  He said OK.

Just before the cruise began, hubby was hired for a new position in New Haven, and he formally retired from his job at UConn.  He is uniquely qualified for this new position, and sees it not only as a challenge but as a "last hurrah" before retiring for good.  When I saw his interest and enthusiasm, what more could I say?  The grand plan (at least for the moment) is for both of us to "really" retire in two years......

Between the Bermuda cruise (which was great) and his job change, I had barely enough time at home to do laundry.  Routine household tasks were difficult to accomplish.  We visited our daughter, transferring ownership of a vehicle to her.  We went to Maine for a weekend.  We got a "new" (pre-owned) vehicle for him to commute to the new job.  We went to a car show in Bennington, VT, and stayed at an inn there.  So much fun; not much time to breathe!  The end of the school year was in full swing, and I had been careful to get as much work in as possible before the cruise, but the scheduling for the following year always gets me anxious for some reason.  I knew I could do it and I did, but wow.

We did all this to pack in summer fun before hubby's new job kicked in on June 12.  You don't want to leave work early or take lots of days off when the job is brand new!

On June 10, it was after my birthday.  Daughter and son-in-law were coming to CT for the weekend.  We were to have dinner together with my dad, brother, and son.  I had said, "We can even just grill here at home," and hubby said, "No, I think we should go out."

I figured, "Why should we pay for dessert and coffee?  We can just come back here for that!"   I made an ice cream crunch cake (GF of course) and set the table.  Hubby never said anything.

We arrived and parked across the street from the restaurant.  We walked across the street and I saw my two amazing children walking on the sidewalk toward me.  My daughter looked beautiful.....and amazingly, she was wearing a dress that had been my mother's.  Mom had worn it to my wedding 36 years ago!  

We walked into the restaurant.  Oh, look, balloons!  Someone is having a party.  Um, that's my friend.  Um, I know everyone here!  Oh my gosh!  They are having a party for me?

Hubby said daughter really wanted to have this party. She was the driving force here.  How could he say no?  So he's off the hook, and the work involved in this means more than any presents ever could.

Needless to say, after a full four weeks like this my back and neck were in knots.  It was good stress, but I'm a person who needs down time.

I was doing errands the following Friday morning and noticed a salon next to my bank.  At this salon, they also do massage.  I walked in.  Next thing I knew, I had an appointment right after lunch.  It seemed to be just what I needed!

Now I am home for the summer.....except I will be doing a bit of summer school......and my house needs a lot of attention.  I am cleaning out my closets and have a long list of things to accomplish.

Lessons learned in the last year:

• Sometimes we just need to wait a long time for the good things to come.  
• Enjoy the little things in life, for someday you will realize they were the big things. 
• Life goes by quickly.  (How did we ever get this old?)
• Appreciate your loved ones.  Tell them so.  Act like it, too.
• Take time to meditate.  

Wishing you all a multitude of blessings in the near future....

Still here...

I have neglected this blog for a while.  Never fear, I'm still around searching for those tasty nuggets in a burned dish.  Some days are easier than others.