APRIL 2020

The Easter Bunny on horseback. Love it!

A friend sent me the information that New Zealand had declared the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy as essential personnel, so they are allowed to be out and about.

Beech, I liked that video too. It is still possible to be funny without being profane.

The Easter Bunny on horseback.  Love it!    Of course, if I had seen that when I was a little kid, I would have hoped he was bringing the horse to me.  

A friend sent me the information that New Zealand had declared the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy as essential personnel, so they are allowed to be out and about.

Beech, I liked that video too.  It is still possible to be funny without being profane.  

If anybody wants to watch a live sport, they are still showing horse racing on Fox Sports 1.  It's on all afternoon today and tomorrow.

The Hilton Doubletree Hotel has a secret recipe for their famous chocolate chip cookies. Since the world can't come to them to get the cookies, they have released the recipe so that everybody can have them. Here is the link to the recipe and video.
https://vimeo.com/405613197

On Easter Sunday, April 12, Andrea Bocelli is hosting a free, live online concert.
He's set to sing classics like "Ave Maria" and "Amazing Grace."
To watch, tune in to his YouTube channel at 1 p.m. ET.

I thought you all might be I interested...............

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL................

No matter how our lives are changed due to the virus, the reason for Easter never changes.
Happy Easter to all.

I am watching horse racing from Gulfstream Park. One of the pony riders has bunny ears and a puff tail on her helmet. Very cute.

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter!    We, of course, stayed home...  ...  

ELLEN:
 I would have been hoping that Easter Bunny was bringing the horse to me, too!


We went to Kroger's during the senior hour this morning, before my lazy chickens got up.   I am not a morning person, but there we were, shopping at that hour.  Kroger's was pretty well stocked, we hadn't been in the store in two weeks.  They didn't have bread flour or yeast, which was interesting.   They did have bread, but you could only buy two loaves.    They had plenty of  fresh fruits and veggies, which is mostly what we needed.   There wasn't a big crowd during senior hour, and almost all had on masks.  We are living in a strange world these days.   People without masks are now the ones to watch out for.....


I cleaned the barn, Donnie mowed the yard, the pony lot and the area behind the barn going down to the creek.   We had 3.5 inches of rain yesterday which flooded the county seat, but other than our creek being up, didn't do much to us.   I think it ran off so fast, it didn't even make too much mud.  

We have at least two birds' nests with eggs in the barn right now.    Seems a bit early, but I guess they know what they're doing.  My apple tree is blooming and I thought it was dying last fall.   Apparently it just needed lots of rain, which is what it's been getting for months now.  Hopefully we will have lots of apples, last year wasn't a good apple year for it.  

My chicks are still in my bathroom.....they smell like chickens.  Hopefully they will move into the peacock's dome soon!!  The cats don't even pay any attention to them anymore.   I bought 8 thinking two or three wouldn't make it past chickhood, but all are going strong so far.  Lots of eggs in our future.....

Ark, it seems that a lot of people are making bread these days. The local stores are out of bread flour, and every other kind of flour.
Yesterday, I did make a really quick run to Shipshewana to the bulk food store and bought bread flour, sugar, and brown sugar, and out the door. I now have 50 pounds of bread flour and have to figure out how to store a year's supply. LOL I think a bucket with a tight lid might do the trick. It's great flour and costs sooooo much less than regular stores.
If you have an Amish store around, check it out.

And now for a punny.

Breaking news from Spain:

The Spanish king has been quarantined on his private jet.

This means the reign in Spain will stay mainly on the plane

Tee hee, ELLEN. Good one.

Today I set off with a plan to get whatever I could of much-needed groceries at a Dollar General store three miles away, and then ask one of the wonderful Turkey-Farm guys to get the rest, along with two meds awaiting pickup, whenever they next went to the big supermarket 14 miles away. But I hadn't gone a mile before I decided that it was such a gorgeous day, and I was soooo hungry for some tiny taste of normalcy, not to mention simplicity and control, that I swung off abruptly in the direction of the big market to do it all myself. EEEEEK! Bad decision! Too many people! Impossible not to crowd! Too few people wearing masks and gloves! Baggers and cashiers not wearing masks or gloves! I thought it would be cheering. Wrong, wrong, wrong! I was a nervous wreck -- still am.

Though I got all of my needed groceries and meds.

Maine is in much better shape than other states, thanks, in part, to early smart action, but still - 734 confirmed cases, 422 of them active, and 20 deaths, with the numbers still sharply spiking. And most of the cases are in the southern two counties, which is where I live.

I noticed that all the flour shelves were empty, ARK and ELLEN. Luckily, that wasn't on my grocery list. Now it's on my worry list. Sigh...

I liked the message on one of my birthday cards: Next to the image of an alert Golden Retriever sniffing the breeze from a car window: Every day is a new place I haven't been before.

Can't wait for tomorrow!

ELLEN:
I got some plain flour and bought some yeast two weeks ago, so will just have to figure out measurements. I did make cornbread a few days ago. Donnie LOVES cornbread. I should make it more often. Congrats on the big score of flour! I have read if you freeze the flour for three or four days, then put into airtight containers, the moths won't appear. Hope that is correct.
Cute punny!!

BEECH:
Last time I went to Rural King, it was crowded at the check out like your grocery. I actually felt panicky. Then I spent a couple of weeks with a low grade fever, convinced I had the virus. If so, I have lived thru it, but doubt I had it. Strangely, both my indoor cats have the sniffles now. Kumquat is almost over it, but ThunderPuff has just started sneezing. Donnie is fine. The dog is fine. I asked the vet if cats could catch a cold from me, although I never had all the symptoms of a cold, and she didn't know. I guess we are all in the dark with this one.
We went out for a drive the other day and I felt like hanging my head out the window like a dog, enjoying the breeze and the view.


Speaking of the Easter bunny riding the horse, that is actually a gaited mule! I saw a video of it the other day. Nice ride!

Chicken stew in the crockpot, barn cleaned and ready for tonight, horses and donkey confined to arena with slow feed haynets,
now I need to go clean up those chicks in the bathroom.... Smelly little buzzards....

Ark, regular flour will work for bread, but it is a little less reliable on the amount of rise. You should be able to use the same recipe that I posted before. It will taste just fine, no matter what you use. The smell of fresh bread in the house is always a winner.
I have one large airtight container and am going to get another one to store the flour. Keeping it from getting too warm is one of the "rules" for keeping it in good condition.

Yesterday, I put an English roast in the pressure cooker, and added some potatoes at the end. YUM. It was snowing earlier today and it's still cold, so there will be nice leftovers for today. And tomorrow. And Friday. And.....

Drat! It's snowing AGAIN!!!

Just to let you all know, CB is having log in problems, but can read. Just not post. Hi, CB!!


ELLEN:
It didn't snow last night, but we had a deep freeze. I hope our apple tree blossums have already done their thing and we still have apples. It was a white world here this morning. It's warming up and sunny now. The barn is clean and I am getting ready to weed eat the peacock dome. The grass and weeds in there are having a great growing spell.. The chicks will make short work of that when they get in there.

There are 7,491 cases of Coronavirus in Virginia with 231 deaths so far. The vast majority are in the larger cities in the eastern side of the state. It is more rural here, so fewer cases so far. Our county has 8 confirmed cases, the county that Virginia Tech is in, next to our county, has 40 cases. We had to run down to Wytheville yesterday to pick up a table saw that Donnie needed. We went down I-81, which we haven't been on since all this started. It was surreal. The traffic was very light, comparatively, and most of that was truck traffic. The traffic is usually very heavy. It felt strange.

Oh gosh, ELLEN. It will finish sometime. All weather patterns have changed. It's still cool and
pleasant here which is uncommon for this time of year.......Usually heat comes in the beginning
April.

Today the hood is boring..........no action outside, a few runners is all. One little 4 yr old on a bike who
told me her brother is the fastest in the neighborhood............LOL, he's 6..........

No other news..............

God bless.

ARK - Did I see on FB that you and Donnie just observed a major wedding anniversary??? Congratulations!!!! Tell all here, too. You will get lots of deserved virtual hugs from all of us admiring and appreciative FOOPS, I bet.

Milestones here: the last little scrap of snow on my property melted away on Tuesday. It was all that remained of a four- or five-foot-high mountain heaped up by my neighbor's front-end loader between my barn and woodshed. Ice gone out of all the lakes, red maples blossoming, even green grass now showing everywhere. Whoopee!l Still a little cold, though, with temps in the low 40s and an icy wind today, so I'm still feeding the woodstove from that woodshed.

BEECH:
Thanks, we did have a little anniversary....46 years. We celebrated by going thru the Wendy's drive-thru and had a fish sandwich and Frosty..... Didn't have to dress up for that!

Congrats on the last bit of snow melting!! That can only lead to better weather. I brushed Daisy and Trinket today, they are shedding like crazy. Ivan and Areion are nearly done, but Daisy and Trinket looked like dandelion puffs. Then I did. The wind was blowing enough that most of the hair is in the next county now. Cactus won't start shedding until late June.

Stay warm and healthy!!

Belated Happy Anniversary and many more.............Hey, you can't beat Wendy's Frosties and the fish sandwiches are really
yummy...............

ARK: Happy belated anniversary. 46 years is a milestone for sure. Congrats.

We had snow yesterday also but it didn't accumulate just turned into slush. It's till wet this morning.

I made a trip to the dreaded grocery store yesterday.  Piece of cake.  I was anxious as I drove there, but once I got there it was no muss no fuss shopping.  The shelves were stocked and I got everything on my list.  Stopped at 2 different stores.  There was even toilet paper on the shelves. One store had arrows on the floor, the other one didn't. People were just busy shopping, get in and get out.  My kind of shopping, no browsing.  Almost everyone were wearing masks.  I forgot to try the Rain X on my glasses so I shopped in a fog...I was worried about putting it near my eyes, just in case.  Someone said try to tuck the mask up under the glasses.  Next time I'll try that trick.

Hang in everyone...

Stay safe and healthy.

Happy Anniversary, Ark and Donnie!

We still have a snow on the ground this morning, but it will be gone later in the day. According to the weather projections, it should be warmer this week.

Trudy, do you have any pipe cleaners? If you hot glue on along the top edge of your mask, you can form the mask to your face so your breathing won't fog up the mask. You could either just glue it along the top edge, or fold over the top edge to enclose the pipe cleaner. I made some masks and stitched the pipe cleaners inside.

I'm always an in and out shopper. I don't like shopping and never have. I have a list, get what's on the list, and out the door.

According to our governor, we have another 12 days before things will start opening up again. The only areas in the state that had a lot of cases were the counties around Indianapolis, and near Chicago. There are a few counties that don't have any at all.

Wendy's sounds good. I'm thinking chicken sandwich.

It's soon going to be Christmas.................

Dear Santa,
Please bring me a pony.


This is what the local therapy stable did yesterday.
http://www.inkfreenews.com/2020/04/21/magical-meadows-horses-bring-cheer-to-nursing-home-residents/

Cool for sure...................There's something about animals that is just peaceful..........

I haven't been inside the stable that this group is from, but they have an absolutely gorgeous facility. The barns are all painted up red with beautiful white trim, white board fences, etc. They accept people of all ages and sizes for therapy.

Go enroll ELLEN and have some fun...................

ELLEN:
What a fun day for all at the stables! I am sure the residents of the home really enjoyed their horsey parade. Good idea!


GRAYMARE:
It's been chilly enough at night to think Christmas was around the corner. It may be behind us now, the temps are going up. I hope my apple tree didn't suffer from three nights of frosty weather. It was full of blossums.


We went for our weekly fresh produce run to Kroger's early this morning. I found everything I wanted. Most of the shelves were stocked well, only bread and paper products are still a bit scarce. Later in the day we went to the local lumbar company to get sawdust for the barn. The wind was HOWLING. It looked like a yellow snowstorm flying around from the wind hitting the sawdust coming out of the machines. I stayed in the truck, but Donnie had sawdust where no sawdust should have been. It even got under his facemask he was wearing. He had to take a bath when we got home.

There are the first little goslings of the season.  Two parents, 7 little ones paddling furiously to keep up.  They too, will have to learn that my yard is not a hospitable place.  If they didn't leave such a mess behind, they would be more welcome.


Now it's Saturday.  
Yesterday, I cleaned my sliding glass doors.  Instead of using the usual Sprayway cleaner, I used a marine wax on them.  (Star Brite marine wax.)  It goes on easily and wipes off just as easily.  Then, it rained a lot of the night and into the morning.  Guess what.  No water spots.  NONE.  The glass is cleaner and clearer than it's ever been.  
Since the wax is considerably more expensive than other cleaners, I will only use it on the outside.  It isn't nearly so discouraging to clean them knowing that the first rain will mean they have to be cleaned again.