Pandemic Diary: A weekend can still be a weekend:)

Throughout the week working at home, I would go outside just to prove to myself that there was an outdoors.  I took this picture of this tree outside our home late one night.  Thank goodness, Spring has finally arrived in our corner of the globe  - always a sign of encouragement.

Sleeping was problematic all last week.  I found myself unable to get to sleep until the wee hours of the morning and then deciding to stay up to be sure there weren't any fires to be put out at work, dozing off between meetings and then working late to catch up. That, of course, caught up to me mid-week  -  I finally forced myself to stay up all day and then go to bed at a decent hour.  Yesterday I made it my business to catch up on all my paperwork and, with the help of my son, got my scanner working. I was able to complete what I wanted to do.  There are some other projects I have to do, but the bulk of the paperwork and the time-consuming scanning, saving, and emailing is done. Thanks to daylight savings time, the sun had not set yet, so I took a brief walk out onto the deck. and took some pictures with a bit of color.  That one potted plant of S's just makes me so happy.

As a result, I awoke today feeling like I actually have a weekend to enjoy.  So far it's felt like a Saturday, but without the grocery shopping.  One of our daughters is out delivering home-made masks to her sibs and reminding us all of the need to be cautious. Another daughter stopped by with the older two Grandgirls.  We left our exchanges (mine - some things for the kids, hers a box of cookies our eldest Grandgirl baked for us) on the porch, each picking it up at a distance, talked across the yard waved and said our I love you's and such was our visit.  And yes, I washed my hands, wiped down the cookie box with a paper towel sprayed with disinfectant and posted the sweet note from our granddaughter on the fridge. I have a feeling those cookies will be gone before I have a chance at one - and that's probably a good thing, given the lack of physical activity lately:)!

And these contributed to that Saturday feeling as well!:) During the week, when I get a knitting or cross-stitch magazine or new project in the mail, I skim it, but don't really sit down and peruse it.  I save that for the weekends when I have time.

My husband is now on furlough and I have to admit, I'm relieved.  We will have to tighten our belts a bit, but for now, I'm confident we'll be fine.  I have to laugh; I saw him watching one of those quasi-reality shows about a bunch of guys building something.  I told him, "That's your equivalent of a knitting show." We both had a laugh over that.  People gotta make things. Or at least watch others do it;). It's in our blood. 

I checked in with family members across the country.  So far, everyone is OK, thank God, the Myth, the Universe, coincidence: whatever you want to call Him, Her, It.*

We all have heard, read or listened to the news this week, and I certainly have nothing to add, except that our son, Danny Gavigan, is in the movie Unarmed Man.  It's on Amazon Prime.

His character is not a very sympathetic one, though the topic - sadly - is a symptom of our times.

Not much new to report on the knitting front - I am working in the occasional few rounds on Sorrel:

I'm fading with the next color every four inches or so, knitting with two strands of fingering weight from the lightest/most vibrant to the darkest color. I just started the second of 7 combinations.  So far the difference is barely discernible and I think that's a good thing. I see why the fade thing is so popular.  Andrea Mowry and earlier, Laura Bryant, had a brilliant idea: you use up those crazy balls of beautiful yarn you don't know what to do with; you get to see where the colors lead you - and you keep up your interest in a larger project long enough to finish it. I'd say that's a win-win:)!

I've also been watching a bunch of YouTube vlogs when I want to take a break from the sh!tshow that is the news these days - if only to keep me from yelling at the TV set or needing stronger blood pressure meds.  There are a bunch of new episodes available, so, as soon as the iPad is charged up, I'm taking them into the dining room/home office/law school classroom we've sectioned off during the week and will be watching them as I knit on this and maybe some of the other sweaters I am so close to finishing:)! In the words of the immortal Ina Garten, "How bad can that be?"

In the meantime, dear friends, I hope you are all being careful, taking care of yourselves and staying well.

Speaking of fades, I plan on using this for Joji Locatelli's Fading Point - hopefully, sometime this year!

God be with you 'til we meet again +

*Understanding that some may have certain beliefs and others do not, does not mean I don't have my own, so please don't give me flack about saying this - if for no other reason than I won't respond to it.