Cordelia's Mom, Still

FURLOUGHED: Week Six

Posted on April 23, 2020 by cordeliasmom2012

My, the weeks sure are piling up! The lockdown in New York State has been extended to May 15.

Days are spent sleeping late, eating too much, hanging around doing not much of anything – finally, I’m living the dog’s life! I always knew her life was better than mine.

Someday maybe I’ll be bored enough to take up basket weaving (isn’t that an awesome photo?), but not yet. I have lots of cookbooks to work through, hundreds of video games to play, and lots of cleaning and household stuff to do.

Of course, eating well sometimes means eating simply:

Ham-Egg-Cheese Sandwich with Chips

After such a hearty brunch, it’s time to check the old bank account. Yep, still doing ok, thanks to New York State Unemployment, with the added U.S. Government funds (an extra $600 a week! I’m making more staying home than I ever did working), and the monthly Social Security. Fortunately, hubby and I also had enough sense pre-pandemic to put some money into savings. We’ll get by without too much hardship. My heart goes out to those who were living paycheck to paycheck and are currently having trouble getting their unemployment funds in place – and to those essential workers who are risking their own health on a daily basis while still receiving the same pay they got before (and in at least one case I know, an essential worker whose pay was cut by 5% – WTF!).

Anyway.

The weather is still crappy, and weird. All week it’s been cold and either raining or snowing. Some days it was snowing while the sun was out. One day there was a hail storm:

Hail Storm! (April 21, 2020)

Hail Storm – View to South

Hail Storm! My Poor Car.

Hail Storm – Windshield Closeup

Five minutes after that storm, the sun came out and melted the ice.

Bear in mind that this is the third week in April, when we could reasonably expect mild weather and new blossoms. The grass has grown a bit and a few tough dandelions are struggling through the mud, but mostly it’s just yucky out there.

So, still not much incentive (for me at least) to go on a nature walk outside my own backyard.

Puppy Cody seems to be ok with that. The few times we’ve taken her over to the local school for a longer walk, she didn’t really seem to enjoy it all that much. I’m not sure if that’s because she doesn’t like getting her feet wet, or if she’s just become so accustomed to our own property that she feels uncomfortable elsewhere. We’ll occasionally take her anyway, but she does get plenty of exercise chasing bunnies and squirrels on our own property.

BTW, I pulled out our property survey and measured the property lines. A walk all the way around the perimeter of the backyard is about 500 feet – just under 1/10 mile. I figure if I walk that perimeter every time I take Cody out, I’ll be getting a fair amount of exercise even though I’m at home. With mud and snow acting as friction, the walk is a bit more strenuous. With luck, by the time the weather does warm up, I’ll be able to trot around that yard (won’t that be fun for the neighbors to watch?), and certainly I’ll be ready to resume my walks in the park.

The good news is: Hubby just returned from the grocery store and tells me most items have been at least partially restocked. Hopefully, that’s an indication that the crisis is at the beginning of the end.

How’s it by you?

__________

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
__________
Images by Cordelia’s Mom/TeddyRosalieStudio

Posted in Covid-19, Health, Photography, That's Life | Tagged CVOID-19, furlough, lockdown, pandemic, unemployment | 29 Comments

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.

__________

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.

__________

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.