They turned out wonderful, and not so crappy at all....what a great keepsake of our furry family!
Friday, April 17, 2020
Crappy Cats
So Jane found this online artist in the U.S. looking to make a few dollars - literally - for a good cause during the pandemic lockdown. For $1, they would sketch a "crappy drawing" of your pet from a photograph.....so to support the endeavor, we sent them a bunch!
They turned out wonderful, and not so crappy at all....what a great keepsake of our furry family!
They turned out wonderful, and not so crappy at all....what a great keepsake of our furry family!
Sunday, April 5, 2020
Lockdown
We are now several weeks into the COVID-19 pandemic, and most sane jurisdictions are on lockdown, with stay-at-home orders for all non-essential pursuits.
As of this writing on April 5th, Canada has over 15,000 "positives" and has suffered nearly 300 deaths. South of the border things are considerably more grim - over 300,000 positives and 8400 deaths....so far. Michigan alone exceeds all of Canada on both counts. This week is anticipated to be even worse, as we wait to see if social distancing measures have had significant impact.
We haven't left the property in weeks, as I continue to work from home - luckier than those who must venture out and continue to provide essential services like healthcare, trucking, producing food and stocking grocery shelves, and processing rampant EI claims. Just about all group events, including art shows, are cancelled or at best postponed.
With more time on our hands (no OT or travel and far less frantic art making), we are finding other ways to pass the time in lockdown. Good thing we get along!
Sure, there's lots of Netflix....but we are also reading more, re-discovering puzzles, and Jane is baking more. The onset of Spring for once will be met with ample time to keep up on maintenance, yardwork and gardening.
Meanwhile, the planet is taking a giant gasp of fresh air - one upside to this whole crisis is the drastic reduction in air pollution as factories idle and millions of cars and planes sit parked.
As of this writing on April 5th, Canada has over 15,000 "positives" and has suffered nearly 300 deaths. South of the border things are considerably more grim - over 300,000 positives and 8400 deaths....so far. Michigan alone exceeds all of Canada on both counts. This week is anticipated to be even worse, as we wait to see if social distancing measures have had significant impact.
We haven't left the property in weeks, as I continue to work from home - luckier than those who must venture out and continue to provide essential services like healthcare, trucking, producing food and stocking grocery shelves, and processing rampant EI claims. Just about all group events, including art shows, are cancelled or at best postponed.
With more time on our hands (no OT or travel and far less frantic art making), we are finding other ways to pass the time in lockdown. Good thing we get along!
Sure, there's lots of Netflix....but we are also reading more, re-discovering puzzles, and Jane is baking more. The onset of Spring for once will be met with ample time to keep up on maintenance, yardwork and gardening.
Meanwhile, the planet is taking a giant gasp of fresh air - one upside to this whole crisis is the drastic reduction in air pollution as factories idle and millions of cars and planes sit parked.
Crutchy keeping up with recovery in isolation
Thanks for all the back porch deliveries!
Homemade Pizza!
Spring in Bloom
iNASCAR - the only live sport still on TV!
Racers compete on actual NASCAR training simulators
Thinning out the hedgerow
Some "help" working from home
Getting the garden ready
Green onions outside the back door
Starting some tomato seeds
Homemade bread!
Jane's first attempt at chocolate chip cookies
Re-growing lettuce, from lettuce!
Vernazza in Cinque Terre, Italy - piece by piece!
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
COVID-19
Jane's recovery from her second knee surgery continued, amid some rather troubling news out of China.....and soon afterwards Europe....
So began the gradual response to the growing threat of COVID-19, soon declared a global pandemic. In light of sudden and grim outcomes in Italy, Spain and Iran, the rest of the world scrambled to "flatten the curve" with little time to spare before sharing their fate.
At the time of this post on St. Patrick's Day, Ontario is under an official state of emergency. Canada has closed its borders. Restaurants closed, all major sports leagues suspended, stock markets crashed.
Things look even more dire south of the border, given their much greater population, questionable leadership and some perceived reluctance to embrace science.
We were lucky on so many fronts.
We were lucky that's Jane's surgery was moved up a month, and her recovery was so much further along when the worst of this hit then it was supposed to be.....at least in terms of needing to visit hospitals and clinics. Physio even released her early based on progress and her work ethic at home.
We were lucky that I hadn't been travelling for work nearly as often, largely to due with assisting Jane in her recovery. Accordingly, I had been exposed to far fewer people than my normal routine.
We were lucky that our rural lifestyle literally defines "social distancing" - finally, an upside to being introverts!
We were lucky that we are both able to work from home. We had no upcoming trips or travel planned, at least nothing which could not be painlessly altered or postponed.
We were lucky that a checkup with the surgeon in Windsor afforded the opportunity for a Costco run, a few weeks before things truly got real. No panic over TP or cat food.
We were lucky that Jane had been using Click and Collect for some time now, given two years on crutches, and did a large grocery pick up mere hours before Ontario announced the school closures. Again, just missed the mass panic and run on the grocery stores.
We're lucky that we're both healthy - not even a standard cold or flu this winter, which would be concerning enough in these times - and that friends and family are healthy as well.
Coupled with Jane's improved ability to walk, we thought it was the perfect time to renew our park pass for Point Pelee - a pretty quiet place for a stroll in March - we even managed to get one good visit in for a cool but sunny weekend walk before they closed all national parks.
Now we're hunkered as Spring arrives - no need to go anywhere for a while, and lots of yardwork and artwork (and reading, boardgames and Netflix) to catch up on, as we ride it out and embrace the "new normal".
So began the gradual response to the growing threat of COVID-19, soon declared a global pandemic. In light of sudden and grim outcomes in Italy, Spain and Iran, the rest of the world scrambled to "flatten the curve" with little time to spare before sharing their fate.
At the time of this post on St. Patrick's Day, Ontario is under an official state of emergency. Canada has closed its borders. Restaurants closed, all major sports leagues suspended, stock markets crashed.
Things look even more dire south of the border, given their much greater population, questionable leadership and some perceived reluctance to embrace science.
We were lucky on so many fronts.
We were lucky that's Jane's surgery was moved up a month, and her recovery was so much further along when the worst of this hit then it was supposed to be.....at least in terms of needing to visit hospitals and clinics. Physio even released her early based on progress and her work ethic at home.
We were lucky that I hadn't been travelling for work nearly as often, largely to due with assisting Jane in her recovery. Accordingly, I had been exposed to far fewer people than my normal routine.
We were lucky that our rural lifestyle literally defines "social distancing" - finally, an upside to being introverts!
We were lucky that we are both able to work from home. We had no upcoming trips or travel planned, at least nothing which could not be painlessly altered or postponed.
We were lucky that a checkup with the surgeon in Windsor afforded the opportunity for a Costco run, a few weeks before things truly got real. No panic over TP or cat food.
We were lucky that Jane had been using Click and Collect for some time now, given two years on crutches, and did a large grocery pick up mere hours before Ontario announced the school closures. Again, just missed the mass panic and run on the grocery stores.
We're lucky that we're both healthy - not even a standard cold or flu this winter, which would be concerning enough in these times - and that friends and family are healthy as well.
Coupled with Jane's improved ability to walk, we thought it was the perfect time to renew our park pass for Point Pelee - a pretty quiet place for a stroll in March - we even managed to get one good visit in for a cool but sunny weekend walk before they closed all national parks.
Now we're hunkered as Spring arrives - no need to go anywhere for a while, and lots of yardwork and artwork (and reading, boardgames and Netflix) to catch up on, as we ride it out and embrace the "new normal".
Someone's driving again!
March sunrise
Drifts linger along the Lake Erie shoreline
National Parks!
New observation tower is going to be great!
A nice albeit muddy stroll to The Point
The Tip of mainland Canada - the only snow we have left!
Lake Erie ramble
Golden Ale and Wee Piper in Banded Goose crowlers
Spring and hope emerges
Burning some brush on a Sunny Sunday
Saturday, February 29, 2020
Cabin Fever
Jane was going a little stir crazy after nearly six weeks of housebound recovery, visits to doctors and physio notwithstanding.....so we took advantage of a beautiful sunny winter day for a drive along the lake.
St. Thomas seemed like a good choice - a place we don't go very often, not too far, but far enough. We could take Highway 3 and follow Lake Erie all the way for a much more relaxing drive than the 401. There is some interesting architecture there in the Railway City, as well as a statue commemorating the train accident that killed Jumbo the Elephant in 1885....and if memory serves, there might even be a microbrewery.
The Highway 3 detour remains in place, as it likely will for several years, as shoreline erosion has forced a road closure where Talbot Trail follows the lake very closely. Luckily, it's a fairly short detour....but definitely sucks for those that live IN it or any affected businesses.
We also took the opportunity to meet Jane's parents for lunch, and found a great little spot at the New Sarum Diner, just off Highway 3 a little bit east of St. Thomas.
On the way home, we also opted for a voluntary detour to the village of Rodney, to see the tiny Ye Olde Jail and visit somewhere we had never been before.
Great day for a drive!
St. Thomas seemed like a good choice - a place we don't go very often, not too far, but far enough. We could take Highway 3 and follow Lake Erie all the way for a much more relaxing drive than the 401. There is some interesting architecture there in the Railway City, as well as a statue commemorating the train accident that killed Jumbo the Elephant in 1885....and if memory serves, there might even be a microbrewery.
The Highway 3 detour remains in place, as it likely will for several years, as shoreline erosion has forced a road closure where Talbot Trail follows the lake very closely. Luckily, it's a fairly short detour....but definitely sucks for those that live IN it or any affected businesses.
We also took the opportunity to meet Jane's parents for lunch, and found a great little spot at the New Sarum Diner, just off Highway 3 a little bit east of St. Thomas.
On the way home, we also opted for a voluntary detour to the village of Rodney, to see the tiny Ye Olde Jail and visit somewhere we had never been before.
Great day for a drive!
Detour!
Talbot Trail Closure
Jumbo Memorial
Beautiful St. Thomas Superior Courthouse
Some local libations!
Ye Olde Jail in Rodney
Saturday, February 15, 2020
A Tale of Two Februaryae
February came and a few groundhogs made some contradictory predictions....some of them are bound to be right! We were still green, though a week later the white stuff found us, possibly for good this time.
The Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49'ers in an entertaining Superbowl 54.
Cooped up cats continued to entertain us....and swarming me for body heat every time I made the mistake of sitting down for a minute.
Jane continued her long road back from her second knee replacement. Winter weather has meant a little more attention must be paid to traction and salting the deck on the few occasions she does go out, which we never usually bother with.
Her first official outing not involving hospitals or physio was for breakfast at Renny's, followed by a nice drive around Lake Erie on a sunny Sunday.
The Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49'ers in an entertaining Superbowl 54.
Cooped up cats continued to entertain us....and swarming me for body heat every time I made the mistake of sitting down for a minute.
Jane continued her long road back from her second knee replacement. Winter weather has meant a little more attention must be paid to traction and salting the deck on the few occasions she does go out, which we never usually bother with.
Her first official outing not involving hospitals or physio was for breakfast at Renny's, followed by a nice drive around Lake Erie on a sunny Sunday.
Evening glow
Early February
Momma about to lay the smack down on her firstborn
One week later!
Sunday dinner for the convalescent
The Lake has remained open all winter
Nature's art along the Lake Erie shore
What can top Mike topped with FIVE cats.....?
Possibly Mike with SIX cats???
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
