Mar 19 - 30, keep on keeping on with Covid.

    The last half of March has made us believe spring is in the air.  Typical blend of beautiful, sunny warm days (50 - 60's) and back down to the low 40's.  Rain, but no snow, thankfully.  Here's a few notable things that made our days a bit different from one another.

• I finally finished the premie baby blanket that I started knitting last summer.  I had to buy some blocking pads and learn how to block and steam it so it lays flat and square.  But, I was finally able to mail it off to the UMASS NICU for them to use or give to a premie baby.  Yeh.  Now I am starting on a different pattern.  
• Scott, Amy & Adelle came to drop off a bike trailer for Tamara.  It was one of those nice days, and we went for a walk together around our block, ending up with feeding the horse & two goats some carrots.  It was great to see them in person, even if it was an outdoor, masked, Covid visit.  
• On one of those high 60's days, Peter and I went over to the trail that goes along the Buffamville lake, ending up at the beach.  Great 2 mile walk.  Interesting that it was so warm, yet the lake still had ice in the center and along the edges of the stream.  It just felt so good to get outdoors and walking.  
• Since I now had a trailer that attaches to a bike for Siena, I made the trip out to Tamara's.  Again a nice warm day, and Tamara, Cheyenne, Savannah, Siena and I all went for a nice long walk.  At one portion of the sidewalk, there is a digital speed sign, showing how fast the cars are going.  Of course, Cheyenne, Tamara & Savannah had to race along the road to see how fast they could sprint.  Cheyenne won at 13 mph, Tamara at 12 mph, and poor Savannah couldn't get it to light up, even though she ran fast.
• It has been so sunny and warm, that I made Peter help me bring the table and chairs up onto the back deck.  Still a bit chilly, but it gets the afternoon sun.  So, I even sat outside reading for a bit.  My daffodils are even about to bloom!  How nice.
• Finally, I have been working on preparing tax returns for Peter, myself and the family.  Keeps me busy.  I even finished Orion's final tax return, coincidentally, on the 1 year anniversary of his Covid related death, March 30th.

My first knitted premie blanket, blocked and finished, photos:

Scott, Amy & Adelle's visit photos:

Buffamville Lake hike photos:

Visit with Tamara and girls photos:

Spring around the condo photos:

Fun family photos:

Mar 10 - 18, Siena's 1st Birthday, and Spring is in the air.

    Beautiful sunny days, in the 50 degrees -- so we visited some local (Sturbridge) hiking trails.  The first was Westville Dam, with a nice trail along the lake, over to the dam.  The second was to Arbutus/Leadmine Trail, which was a really nice old gravel road, around a small lake, and up and over the surrounding hillside, through the woods.  Both were 1.5 - 2.0 mile loops, and made for a wonderful way to get outdoors, get some exercise, and get out of the Covid-winter house.

    Mar 13th was Siena's 1st birthday.  We did an impromptu Zoom call, and watched her open her presents.  At that point, she was almost walking.  Today, she is taking her first steps.  

   We also took advantage of another beautiful sunny day and visited Anica and family.  We went for a walk around their neighborhood, then played for awhile in their backyard.  I can't wait for all of us to get our vaccinations, and to be able to visit indoors again.

  It's amazing how the littlest things can make such a big difference.  My computer desk is right next to the windows in our kitchen/dining area, and in the morning the sun shines directly into my eyes, all morning.  I never felt I needed curtains or shades before, but I have been wearing a baseball cap just to be able to sit at the computer and work since we came back home in May.  I finally had enough, and went out and bought a pull-down shade.  Of course, that meant Peter and I had to install it!  Us, use a drill?  However, we did prevail, and we did install it, and I now can just pull it down when needed when the sun shines in my eyes.  Such a small thing, such a delight.

  Covid is hopefully starting to ease up.  Kids are starting back to school, in person, full time.  I am getting my 1st vaccine today, and Peter has an appointment next week.  Yeh!

Westville Dam hike photos:

Arbutus/Leadmine Trail hiking photos:

Siena's 1st Birthday photos:

Visit with Anica & family photos:

New kitchen shade photo:

Back to school photo:

   

Feb 4 - March 10 - Life as a retiree, during Covid-19, in New England during the winter.

   We had a lot of February and March birthdays, most of which were celebrated with Zoom calls.  I really appreciate Zoom, but prefer to be in person.  

  Feb 5th = Quinn's birthday, 7 yrs old

  Feb 9th = Tamara's birthday, 37 yrs old

  Feb 18th = Owen's birthday, 4 yrs old

  March 8th = Lily's birthday, 12 yrs old

  March 9th = Evie's birthday, 74 yr old !

  March 10th = Aimee's birthday, surely she's still 30 yr old.

Visited Tamara and girls for a neighborhood walk on March 3rd, when the weather was sunny and sort of warm (in the low 40's).  I have finished two jig saw puzzles.  One was of the neighborhood where Peter grew up.  That was actually easier to do, since you could just look at the picture and find the street names, to see where the puzzle piece went.  

I have charted our next RV trip out to the Utah National Parks next fall.  We would leave early August, and get to Colorado to visit Shanti & Gabe's families for Labor Day week in early September.  Robbie and Ann are going to join us for that week.  Then we head out to Utah, and back through northern Arizona, through Texas to visit Peter's son, and back home by the beginning of November.  Should be a great 3 month trip.  I have even reserved all of the campgrounds that I can.  Some have a restriction on how early you can reserve, so I have a spreadsheet showing the dates I need to make the reservations.

I have started preparing tax returns for Peter, myself and the kids.  I also have Orion's final tax return and his Estate return to prepare.  I think I have 11 returns to prepare.  How did I ever do this for a living?

For my birthday, Peter got me a carved, wooden cardinal, that I put out on my deck railing.  Since after Mar 1st, I had to take down my birdfeeder, due to the bear that lives in the neighborhood, this looks really neat on the railing.  And, it looks almost like the real ones.   My birthday Zoom call had all my kids, siblings and cousins on it.  Wonderful way to connect.  And, Joe and Liz stopped by with a birthday cake!  They lit a candle, sang happy birthday to me, we chatted outside on the stoop, and they went home.  What a delightful Covid surprise!  All the birthday phone calls and emails just warmed my heart.  

Birthday photos:

Evie's birthday Zoom call pic:

Wooden cardinal and real cardinal photos:

Finished jig saw puzzles photos:

Next fall Trip to Utah and back - route and campgrounds photo: