Sometime this evening we will have hit the half year mark of our isolation. May it not be the case that it's halfway down and half to go. And may it especially not be the case that in March I'll say -- Ha! Were it that we had had only half a year more...
This is not a moment of celebration, but I'll pause for a small reflection: we have been lucky. Back in March, the growing season was just beginning. And so we plunged into a busy and productive set of months. There is one grocery store that will deliver all the way out here and so not going to the store became a nonissue. Thank you, grocery store shoppers. You've been so wonderful! Until September, the grandkids were here. And to my knowledge, no one in my family has been sick with the infection. All that is a heck of a lot of stuff to be grateful for.
So if we can just continue in this calm way for a while longer and then come out grinning, that would be good. Really, really good.
It's cold still. We're having record lousy weather here (that is my own category, one that combines wetness with unseasonably cold temperatures). Still, we eat breakfast on the porch today. It's 58F (14C), but Ed claims it's good enough. I have to think that either he has made his internal temperature adjustment so that he can now claim that cold does not affect him, or he's feeling a tug to Dance, our oldest half-feral cat, who is complaining that we haven't spent enough time with her on the porch lately.
Because of the bad weather, my afternoon date to read and draw with Snowdrop (outside, with social distancing in place) had to be thrown out the window. Still, I do drive over to her home to drop off some fruits and pick up a pet carrier. Through the back door.
Hi little one!
Honestly, it may not seem like much, but to see her sweet little face in person is to be happy.
I am handed some art work that the kids did with one of the sitters. I hear Snowdrop gave hers the title "Apple Tree of Joy." I need an apple tree of joy! (Sparrow's painting may well be titled the same..)
And so long as we're on the topic of fruit trees, let me roll back to a morning moment when it was still cold, but the rain had taken a pause. Ed and I walked over to the young orchard to see if the pears were still there (or if they had been chomped down by squirrels/deer/birds/other creatures). The wet days have really perked up the meadow!
And yes, the pears are still ripening. For now.
Evening. You noted that I picked up a pet carrier. Whatever for? Well, it's the back-up plan. You'll recall perhaps that we placed an ad for Cutie and Calico on Craigslist. We hope they'll find an adoptive home. And indeed, after an initial misfire, we have a lovely couple who want to take these girls in. Because Ed and I are isolating, the way to do this is for me to trap the girls in a pet carrier and to hand over the carrier (to be retrieved at another time) to the new owners. If we can't get both of them into one carrier, I have the borrowed backup to work with.
This whole transfer is nerve wracking. Can we get them in? Just one kittie would be easy. Two -- not so much. They are easily spooked. I give great thought to having a large glass of wine before the attempt, but decide against it. I should have my wits about me.
As I ponder this, Ed goes into the shed, throws some treats into the carrier and boom. They're in.
The couple comes, the transfer takes place. The worry never ends, of course. If it doesn't work out, then the couple will be returning the two girls to us. That's the deal. We'll keep on trying until there is a good fit. But for at least tonight, we are two cats down here, at the farmette. Five of the teenagers remain. So many have been lost to the great outdoors and to speeding cars! We can only hope that the remaining guys will stay safe.
This is not a moment of celebration, but I'll pause for a small reflection: we have been lucky. Back in March, the growing season was just beginning. And so we plunged into a busy and productive set of months. There is one grocery store that will deliver all the way out here and so not going to the store became a nonissue. Thank you, grocery store shoppers. You've been so wonderful! Until September, the grandkids were here. And to my knowledge, no one in my family has been sick with the infection. All that is a heck of a lot of stuff to be grateful for.
So if we can just continue in this calm way for a while longer and then come out grinning, that would be good. Really, really good.
It's cold still. We're having record lousy weather here (that is my own category, one that combines wetness with unseasonably cold temperatures). Still, we eat breakfast on the porch today. It's 58F (14C), but Ed claims it's good enough. I have to think that either he has made his internal temperature adjustment so that he can now claim that cold does not affect him, or he's feeling a tug to Dance, our oldest half-feral cat, who is complaining that we haven't spent enough time with her on the porch lately.
Because of the bad weather, my afternoon date to read and draw with Snowdrop (outside, with social distancing in place) had to be thrown out the window. Still, I do drive over to her home to drop off some fruits and pick up a pet carrier. Through the back door.
Hi little one!
Honestly, it may not seem like much, but to see her sweet little face in person is to be happy.
I am handed some art work that the kids did with one of the sitters. I hear Snowdrop gave hers the title "Apple Tree of Joy." I need an apple tree of joy! (Sparrow's painting may well be titled the same..)
And so long as we're on the topic of fruit trees, let me roll back to a morning moment when it was still cold, but the rain had taken a pause. Ed and I walked over to the young orchard to see if the pears were still there (or if they had been chomped down by squirrels/deer/birds/other creatures). The wet days have really perked up the meadow!
And yes, the pears are still ripening. For now.
Evening. You noted that I picked up a pet carrier. Whatever for? Well, it's the back-up plan. You'll recall perhaps that we placed an ad for Cutie and Calico on Craigslist. We hope they'll find an adoptive home. And indeed, after an initial misfire, we have a lovely couple who want to take these girls in. Because Ed and I are isolating, the way to do this is for me to trap the girls in a pet carrier and to hand over the carrier (to be retrieved at another time) to the new owners. If we can't get both of them into one carrier, I have the borrowed backup to work with.
This whole transfer is nerve wracking. Can we get them in? Just one kittie would be easy. Two -- not so much. They are easily spooked. I give great thought to having a large glass of wine before the attempt, but decide against it. I should have my wits about me.
As I ponder this, Ed goes into the shed, throws some treats into the carrier and boom. They're in.
The couple comes, the transfer takes place. The worry never ends, of course. If it doesn't work out, then the couple will be returning the two girls to us. That's the deal. We'll keep on trying until there is a good fit. But for at least tonight, we are two cats down here, at the farmette. Five of the teenagers remain. So many have been lost to the great outdoors and to speeding cars! We can only hope that the remaining guys will stay safe.
