Hi, All! How are you doing? Honestly, I have my ups and downs with this Stay-at-Home order. Some days seem to fly by and I manage to do okay while others drag on and I find myself a little blue. I know we are all in the same boat and I am not sharing anything that you have not experienced yourselves but, sometimes it is nice to express it. I am very thankful that my family and friends have stayed well, so far. I know I cannot ask for more than that.
With this staying-at-home thing seemingly lasting forever, I have had to add to or augment my list of ten things to do during this coronavirus pandemic. I thought I would give you an update on what I have been doing. I would love to hear what you have been doing to keep yourselves busy, if you are willing to share. (If you would like to see my original ten ideas, you may see them here.)
1. Decorate for Spring
I did decorate the inside of the house for Easter and I shared a little bit of that with you in a previous post. I also did a small amount outside, as well. It does not measure up to what I usually do for spring but, by using what I already had and after making one safe trip to a very conscientious garden nursery, I was able to brighten the front of my home up a bit.
I made this door hanging with old silk flowers and an old basket I had sitting in the basement. I reorganized the front step decorations and the door hanging finally ended up on the front door.
2. Yard Work
I have been slowly working on my yard. The weather here in the Northeast has not been very cooperative, however. It snowed twice a week or so ago! In between those storms I was able to edge one of my garden beds. I also found two boxwood shrubs that had transplanted themselves in the yard and I transplanted them into a couple of containers on the side deck. The first night a squirrel dug up one of them :/. I was able to replant it but, "Come on!"
I also found some runaway lady's mantle plants and transplanted them into another flower bed. Neither one of these finds looks great now but, anything green and living is giving me joy right now. I also like finding free plants!
3. Starting Seeds Indoors
I did start some seeds in an old seed starter container on March 30th. My husband was able to find some marigold seeds for me at the grocery store so, I have started with those. As with everything else that I am showing you today, they are not that impressive but, I check on them and water them everyday. Even today, they are looking better than they did yesterday. I might just end up with some marigold plants that I can move outside. Wouldn't that be great?!
4. Taking a Walk
My husband and I have been walking almost everyday, weather permitting, and it has been a tremendous boost to our psyche. I hope you are able to get out, as well. For some reason, we have seen our backyard neighbors more on our walks than we see each other normally. Don't worry, we always maintain a safe distance from each other.
5. Do a Craft
I amazed myself with this one. I haven't sewn in years but, when it looked like we were going to need masks and we couldn't find the ones we thought we had in the garage, I took out my dusty sewing machine and made a few. I am very rusty in the sewing area which is embarrassing because I used to be a pretty good seamstress. My mom taught me and she is the absolute best!
I didn't have any fabric so I used some old sheets and went to work. They are not the best looking masks, nor are they the most comfortable, but they work. My daughter sent me a tutorial through text message. I wish I could figure out how to share the link with you. It was titled, "How to SEW a Medical FACE MASK//TUTORIAL on youtu.be. Perhaps you can find it that way. I ended up making two more out of white fabric only. I felt they looked more professional than the printed fabric ones.
6. Home Projects
Husband Tom is painting our kitchen cabinets white as we speak. Hahaha! He always seems to be the one who gets the big projects. My projects are usually much smaller.
7. Bake Something
I did actually bake chocolate chip muffins last week. I shared those in my post, also last week. You can check that out here, if you would like.
8. Doing a Puzzle
I finished my first puzzle several days ago. The puzzle was a map of Cape Cod, one of my most favorite, if not favorite, places in the world. I couldn't bear to break it up so, I left it at the end of my dining table. I have started another one on the other side of the table. This one is an old Christmas scene puzzle and, to be honest, I don't think all of the pieces are still in the box, but we will see!
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9. Talk to a Family Member or Friend Everyday
I have to say this one has been easy for me. I am lucky enough to have pretty thoughtful kids and usually someone manages to call me everyday. For my part, I call my mom everyday, as well. My poor mom has found herself in a rehabilitation nursing home (long story) with no way out because of the coronavirus. She has dementia and is sometimes confused. I call her everyday because, of course, I want to talk to her and make sure she is okay but, I also want her to know I am here and always thinking of her. Unfortunately, I live two hours away from her or I would have done one of those window visits you see on TV. If things lessen up here in Massachusetts maybe I will be able to do that soon.
Hopefully, you do not have anything like that going on with a loved one in your family but, talking to someone everyday will help you immensely, not to mention the benefit to the one you call. I highly recommend it :).
10. Create a Countdown Calendar
Early on in this pandemic I printed off a calendar to mark down the days until we could start living normally again. Little did I know I would have to print off another one due to an extension of the first date. There's a strong possibility I will have to print off yet another one but, I am NOT going to do it until absolutely necessary. Meanwhile, my calendars have worked as a mini diary for this time in my history. I jot down a quick note telling something I had done that day or an event that might have taken place. Believe it or not, seeing the days counting down has helped a little bit.
Other things I have been doing (not glamourous at all!) is doing things like organizing. I have not done much, only a little. I actually hate organizing but tearing the kitchen apart to paint the cabinets has necessitated it. I also have done more cleaning and now that we have been able to buy paper towels I may start washing the windows. (I like doing that better than organizing.) The ladies in my garden club have talked about purchasing bark mulch. That is also a good activity in which to engage. Our yards should look gorgeous after all of this, don't you think?
One last thing I might look into doing is something my children have been engaging in all over the place. They are meeting up with their friends through Zoom. My husband's company hosted a Zoom cocktail party a week ago and although I thought it was boring because they talked about business stuff, I thought the concept was a good one. I am going to check around with my friends and kids and try to get some direction on how to host one of those kinds of parties myself. We have "Zoomed" with the kids so maybe, somehow, we will be able to figure it out!
As I said, I would love to hear what you have been doing during this trying time in our lives. Please leave me a message~
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