Cordelia's Mom, Still

FURLOUGHED: Week Five

Posted on April 16, 2020 by cordeliasmom2012

I stopped waiting for my ship to come in – with my luck, if it did come, the crew would all be COVID-19 positive.

Yes, that’s politically incorrect humor – but these days, any humor may be welcome.

In New York State, the lockdown has been extended to May 15. I’m ok with that, actually. Better to be safe at home for someone with like me, who’s in an immunocompromised condition. The good-vs-evil scenario between our country’s President and the various state governors has provided much needed entertainment; in New York State, most of us are grateful we have a strong, smart governor who takes no sh*t from anyone, but does so while maintaining his composure and while keeping politics on the sidelines where they belong during a crisis. Sure, our economy has temporarily tanked, but the continued lockdown will keep some of us alive who may not have survived otherwise; living people will eventually bring the economy back, and only living people can vote. I don’t think New York’s Gov. Cuomo cares much about future voters (as he stated, 600 people died just yesterday; this is not a political conspiracy). Personally, I don’t want to go back to work until it is totally safe to do so.

Anyway.

Life here with Puppy Cody goes on. Poor pup’s learning to keep still, more or less patiently, during a photo shoot:

Until, of course, she’s had enough. Today’s shoot was short-lived. She was in the process of jumping up as I took that last photo. Once up, she made sure I couldn’t catch her again.

Didn’t want to go out much today – believe it or not, despite it being the middle of April, we had enough snow to cover the ground. It’s gone now, but it’s still cold – and muddy. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Meanwhile, I take whatever photos I can inside. Hence, the dog pictures and the top photo (which I call “Juxtaposition“). And the good news is, I can sometimes devour my props (not the dog, people! never the dog!).

Speaking of eating, we’re doing lots more home cooking:

Pork Chops with Onions and Gravy

And I’ve learned to use yeast for baking:

Feather Rolls (recipe in “The Fannie Farmer Cookbook”, page 526)

Gotta go. Hubby wants some more of those feather rolls. Who would’ve thought lazy old me would become a bread baker? But to be honest: those rolls are the easiest thing ever – no kneading or rolling required!

Stay home, stay safe, stay healthy. This all will pass eventually.

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I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
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Images by Cordelia’s Mom/TeddyRosalieStudio

Posted in Covid-19, Household Items, Pets, Photography, That's Life | Tagged baking, cooking, Covid-19, furlough, juxtaposition, lockdown, Puppy Cody | 30 Comments

FURLOUGHED: What Week Is It Anyway?

Posted on April 11, 2020 by cordeliasmom2012

My, how time flies during a pandemic lockdown!

I just realized that I have, in fact, been furloughed for four weeks, not three. I actually started my “Furloughed” series during the second week, the first week being when I wrote my “Lockdown!” post.

Duh.

Somehow I lost an entire week – and I wasn’t even drinking!

I could go back and re-title all the “Furloughed” posts, but that would be way too confusing. I know how carefully all my readers keep track of my every word (I wish).

So, just consider today’s post to be Week 4, even though it’s not titled that way and is being published only one day after my Week 3 post. Confused enough yet? I know I am.

I woke up this morning thinking it was Easter Sunday. Hubby wondered why I told Puppy Cody to go out and “find the Easter bunny.” I wondered why hubby brought in the day’s mail (we never get mail on a Sunday!). ‘Long about 3 pm, I finally realized today is actually Saturday.

Have any of you ever laughed at someone who didn’t seem to know what day (or week) it was? Not quite so amusing now, is it?

Stay in, everyone. Stay safe, stay healthy.

But keep your calendar updated.

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I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
__________
Image by Cordelia’s Mom/TeddyRosalieStudio

Posted in Covid-19, Humor, Photography, Road Trips & Cars, That's Life | Tagged Covid-19, lockdown, pandemic, time | 26 Comments

FURLOUGHED: Week Three

Posted on April 10, 2020 by cordeliasmom2012

Bored yet? I’m not.

We had several days of very mild weather – warm enough even to go out without a jacket! I found one yellow flower struggling through the grass in the backyard, and took the above photo.

The next day it snowed.

Such is life in Western New York.

During the warm period, however, I did manage to clean all the downstairs windows. Such a joy having new windows with panes that slant in for cleaning. I think the entire downstairs took me all of an hour to clean.

Meanwhile, since hubby is also now on leave from work, he’s keeping busy with all those little home improvement jobs he hasn’t been able to get to in the nearly three years we’ve been in this house.

Remember the horrid neon yellow, nicotine-stained kitchen when we first moved in? With the ancient metal cabinet? And the green contact-paper backsplash? If not, here it is:

Awful, wasn’t it?

It was only slightly better after the plumber installed the new [unpainted] lower cabinet, countertop and sink:

We lived with that horror for too long, although it was slightly less hideous once hubby managed to put the white base coat on that cabinet and on those walls. But then he got too busy and the kitchen stayed in the primer stage for more than a year.

Come 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic. Everyone has to stay home. Those, like hubby, who simply can’t sit still for any length of time, must find ways to fill their days. Unlike me, hubby must be productive!

And so, here is our newly painted, updated kitchen:

The light is a little bad in this photo, but I wanted to show that the ceiling was also painted to get rid of the nicotine-stained brown color; the following two pictures are truer:

Hubby does nice work, doesn’t he? (I think he now deserves a delicious, home-baked cake, don’t you?)

We can’t do much about the floor at this point, but at least the paint complements it. And fresh paint smells so much better than 70-year-old nicotine.

I still need to find window toppers; I’m thinking 12- to 14-inch white valances. Something not overly frilly and maybe with just a bit of an edge cutout (probably diamond-shaped to go with the backsplash). I’ll be spending a lot of my current free time perusing the internet for just the right look.

We also need to find new hinges for the cabinets because the ones we bought to match the knobs didn’t fit. That will have to wait until the pandemic ends and we are comfortable going to the hardware store. We actually thought about going anyway, but decided a few new hinges were not urgent enough to risk exposure to the virus.

Hope all is well with you this Good Friday. May the nasty COVID-19 stay away from your house.

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Posted in Covid-19, Health, Household Items, Photography, That's Life | Tagged before and after, Covid-19, home improvement, kitchen update, pandemic | 14 Comments

Call of Duty

Posted on April 4, 2020 by cordeliasmom2012

For those wondering where Victo has been. She’s alive and well and fighting for the health of others, as usual. “Don’t disappear.” – that applies to all of us. Everyone keep in touch so we know you’re safe. If you don’t want to post, or can’t at this time, maybe at least send an email to another blogger so we don’t worry. (Victo – thank you.)

Comments are closed here – please leave comments on Victo’s site.

Behind the White Coat

How do we stay connected as humans beings as we retreat from our patients and from each other behind gloves and masks and face shields?

I have been pondering this.

Back in the day when I was doing inpatient medicine, if I knew someone was dying and there was no one to be there with them, I would go and hold their hand until it was over. The thought of dying alone is very upsetting to me personally. I don’t want to be alone. I don’t want anyone else to be alone.

Hospitals right now are not allowing visitors at all. If your mom or dad or sister or husband gets admitted, no one can come in with them… they are alone.

We have made plans for COVID dedicated hospitals in the area. I am on the list to help out at one should the need arise so I have…

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