Saturday, March 21, 2020

I had a wonderful idea

Actually, while Cliff and I have been locked in time-out I've gotten several new ideas.  For one thing, I want to a 4X8 foot raised-bed garden this year.  I've never tried raised beds, but it would give me a place to plant carrots, radishes, and herbs.  The patch I now call my garden is mainly for tomatoes and peppers, and nothing about that will change except the location.   But I want to try the raised bed and see if it works for an old lady with aches and pains who is also lazy.  I could plant radishes, herbs, and perhaps green onions and lettuce; when any of those are done, I could plant green beans in the same spot.  I'm still researching; I notice the hoarders have decimated the store-bought raised beds, as they have everything else, especially toilet paper.   

But here's a brainstorm of mine:  Cliff and I are doing fine in lockup, but it gets monotonous.  More so for him, probably.  So out of nowhere, I told him this morning, "Wouldn't it be fun to ride into Wellington on one of the tractors, waving at people,  then riding out into the local countryside for awhile?"  

He still listened as I said, "We could go by Rachel's (our daughter) house and she and Kevin could step outside and we could stay six feet from them and yell back and forth.  Wouldn't that be fun?"

I was expecting his usual "you and your hairbrained ideas", but instead, he said, "Yeah, we could do that, and I'd fill up all the gas cans while we're out."

It would be more fun if we could get our tractor club come and make a parade with us, but I guess probably they aren't as silly as I am and have more important things to do.

I've made spaghetti for dinner and peanut butter cookies for dessert.  I forced Cliff to listen in on our daughter's favorite podcast, Murder in a Small Town, but he slept through a quarter of it and surfed through another 50% of it.  I'm not crazy about it either, but sometimes I get a laugh out of the two guys doing the talking.  There are some country music podcasts I like, including one Rachel got me started on when Cliff spent a night in the hospital, "Dolly Parton's America".  There's one out of Australia, I believe, "If That Ain't Country" that's a pretty good one for country-music lovers.   

Yesterday, on my walk in the woods, I noticed a lone little woodland plant, Dutchman's Britches.  I got close-up with my camera and snapped a couple of shots, thinking to share the surprise on my blog.  Well, the trouble is that the little white "britches" don't show up with all the dead leaves right behind them.  



Don't you hate it when a picture that should have been great winds up blending into the background?

Our daughter taught Cliff how to Skype last night.  Actually it wasn't Skype, it was Messenger; but it's the same thing as far as I can tell.  That was a new experience for him, and he was duly impressed.  And now, he's asleep again.  I guess I'm on my own.  Oh wait, his foot is tapping to the country music coming out of Alexa; maybe he's playing possum!

We don't have any kind of grocery store in our little town, but the butcher shop (Nadler's) put this on their Facebook page:  "Meat and much more!  With our catering business on hold, we are turning our efforts to providing a greater variety of products to our community.  We are currently working with Highland Dairy as well as our food service providers to ensure that in addition to having plenty of quality meats, we also have milk, eggs, frozen vegetables, and even some toilet paper.  :-)   Visit our Website for a full list of products ."

How about that?  Small-town people sticking together.

We are on Season 3 of West Wing, still loving it as much as we did the first time we watched it.

I'll check back in soon.  (Cliff's definitely sleeping.)

It appears to me that I used two or three different fonts in this entry, but I'm not going to worry about it now. 

Hello out there!!!  Can anybody hear me?

Peace

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

9 comments:

  1. I like taking drives and seeing who is on the road, driving or walking, and getting out of the four walls. It helps relieve the boredom of living alone. Your plan is excellent, not silly at all!!

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  2. Very little about our daily life has changed, really. I typically buy enough of nearly everything on the first of the month to last us till the first of the next month, so we only really need to pick up bread, milk and snacks through the month. Like you I grew up making do with what we grew in our garden and raising chickens, hogs, beef and other livestock, and the lives we live now are pretty spoiled compared to then. I can tighten my belt quite a bit more and still get by very well, although I have to admit that I really wouldn't like it much. I haven't been out of the apartment since March 11th and the only place I miss going is to church.

    I would love to have a raised bed to do some gardening, but my landlord wouldn't allow it. I have to be content with growing a few flowers in a couple of large planters, but if it really gets dire I could grow some veggies in pots I suppose.

    I know I don't comment much but I do read all of your blog entries and enjoy them very much, Donna. Y'all be safe and well.

    Di

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  3. I don't think our lives have really changed so much, it's just knowing what we CAN'T do that gets us down. I hate the idea of someone else shopping for me. Like you, I always stock up. Unfortunately, the day everybody started hoarding we were going to Costco to get a big old container of Dawn dish soap, but it was a mess and we didn't even get out of the car. Honestly, if it weren't for fresh fruits and veggie, milk and bread, I wouldn't need to go to the store often. Also, I get cravings and think I simply HAVE to have a certain food. I'm used to fulfilling my food fantasies.

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  4. Hello out there...! I think we're doing this social distancing thing in the same manner. My husband goes to the landfill with our trash one a month and I rode with him yesterday for something to do. That was my excitement for the day. Stay well!

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  5. It will be another month and a half before we see any of the spring flowers. I love the Dutchman's breeches. We do have them here, but I'm not sure if I've seen any in the wild. A tractor ride does sound nice!

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  6. Raised beds are definitely one way to ease back pain and to help keep the critters out. too. My duster is talking about doing the same as she has trouble with her dogs running through the garden. It's nice to thing about all things green and growing. We don't have much of tht going on here at all. Getting out for a ride or walk sounds good to me. I crave fresh air and sunshine !

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  7. Sorry about the typos, that is my daughter thinking about a raised garden too.

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  8. I LOVE YOUR TRACTOR RIDE UDEA!!! Maybe put a sign saying, " EVERYTHING IS GONNA BE ALRIGHT!" on the back or/front of the tractor!!!

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  9. I would love to be on a tractor ride! Lots of fresh air filling my lungs would be so very nice. Our lives haven’t changed at all. I’m in the bedroom with my electronics and TV. Robert is in the living room and Joe does what he needs to do to help us. I have been “socially distanced” for years. Keep writing my dear distant friend. Your stories carry me along with you.

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