Notes from a Self Quarantine

I started planting my vegetable garden a few months ago — it was probably April when when I put all the seeds in the ground. I was really proud when all the little tiny stalks started popping up out of the dirt. And then we got a big heat wave in mid-May, which is pretty much unheard of here at this time of year, and everything just…shriveled up and stopped growing.

And I was so sad. But the weather went back to normal (even though I’d much prefer the heat wave) and things got a little bit better out in the veggie garden. And then I cheated a little bit and replanted some seeds to replace the dried up plants…

But then I got to pick this beautiful radish last week!

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How amazingly perfect that radish is!! Usually I grow really small, slightly deformed radishes that I can only get two or three slices out of when I cut them.

And then I picked some more this week:

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And that radish is hanging out with some green and RED basil! Who knew that red basil was even a thing?!? It smells and tastes the same as normal basil, but I just love the pretty color!

And then this was tonight’s radish:

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So I have determined that I can now successfully grow radishes and basil. The other crops I’m not too sure about, but it’s looking like we are eating radish and basil salads all summer long! Aren’t I just a pioneer women!

My husband went to a HIIT class at the gym tonight. I was in the kitchen when he got home. He walked in, we said hello, then he dropped his water bottle in the kitchen sink, put his keys on the counter and turned to hang his gym bag on one of the chairs at our kitchen table.

Then he screamed “OMG — there’s a mouse!!!” like the little girly-girl that I always knew he was. Just kidding — I don’t think that about him, but it was refreshing to hear him actually screech just like I would have screeched if there was a mouse hanging off my gym bag.

And that’s exactly what happened — there was a brown mouse hanging off the outside of his gym bag, clinging to the fabric as he went for a traumatic roller coaster ride through our kitchen, a ride that he definitely didn’t sign up for nor did he remember purchasing a ticket. I screamed for my husband to bring the bag outside, he ran to open our front door, but then the mouse must have looked like he was going to jump off the bag before he could open the storm door, so my husband hurled the bag…at the closed glass door.

Momentarily stunned and possibly concussed, the mouse hid in the corner behind our front door and tried to burrow under my husband’s stash of old sneakers (that’ll teach him to pile shoes in the hallway!) and my husband screamed for me to get him a glass. But what kind of glass? A wine glass? A pint glass? A plastic glass?? There are just so many choices in our house and I didn’t know what he was going to do with the glass…trap the mouse or offer him a beer from the keg?

Well he wanted just any glass, something that would allow him to trap the mouse and force him outside and away from our house. Now armed with the a pint glass made from actual glass, my husband tried to push the mouse from behind one of his shoes and out the front door. It looked like he was going to be successful, the mouse retreated under the heavy front door into the space between that door and the glass storm door, but then he must have decided things looked better on the inside, because he came back under the door and headed for those old sneakers (I can’t imagine because they smell good, but then I am not a mouse).

There was screaming, there was chaos, there was definitely a scared mouse — the whole episode must have only lasted 60 seconds, but they were probably the longest 60 seconds for the mouse, and then we finally got him in between the space between the two doors. I was just ready to head out the back door to run around to the front of the house to open the glass storm door while my husband monitored the door into house, but he was able to open the storm door a little bit while keeping the inside door almost closed and thankfully the mouse went running out of our house and disappeared into the bushes.

And I don’t blame him — he probably didn’t want to be in our house any more than we wanted him there. But how did he get onto my husband’s gym bag? The only solution my husband could come up with was there was an old piece of chocolate in the bag and he’d stuck the bag under a bench at the gym. Maybe the mouse smelled it and crawled into the bag. I wonder if he ever found the candy and then if it was worth it — he must have spent a good hour trapped in a smelly bag as my husband drove from the gym, ran a few errands and then headed home. He was probably dizzy, tired and confused and then there was screaming and he got slammed into a hard surface. Not a good Tuesday evening that’s for sure.

And now he’s stuck outside in a new neighborhood and he didn’t even get to eat that melted chocolate. And I am worried that maybe he invited a few friends that we haven’t seen yet. We stuck my husband’s entire gym bag into the washing machine. And I threw out that pint glass. I just couldn’t imagine offering anyone a cold beer from the tap with that glass…

Or yellowish in the case of my new garden friend:

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I almost stepped on this little guy this morning. I was outside in the garden checking on my plants — it’s really hot here right now and I wanted to make sure they were doing OK. Our irrigation system ran this morning so at least everything got watered, but 94 degrees at 11 a.m. is still 94 degrees.

Thank goodness I looked down before I stepped around that last plant pot, because I could have squashed the little frog and then I would have felt so shitty! But he’s pretty fast on his little legs so he probably would have hopped out of the way just in time. Once I noticed him, he did a bunch of hopping around the garden — first into one of my raised beds, then immediately out again, then behind another plant pot.

I ran inside to grab my phone so I could take a few photos. Here he is getting reading to hop somewhere else:

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And he’s quick — I never saw him actually hop! I wanted to get a good action shot, but he just kept outsmarting me. It’s like he knew that he had a picture-taking paparazzi following…

He got really comfortable in the plant pot — I guess with this heat, that might just be the best place to be! I wonder if he will still be there tomorrow…are they nocturnal? Or will he sleep there tonight? I just have so many frog-related questions now…

I have now been working from home for exactly a year. And I guess a day… It went by so fast and also so very, very slow.

And what have I actually done with all that time stuck in my home? You’d think all my closets would finally be organized or I’d have cleaned out all that crap in the spare room that we obviously don’t need because I couldn’t tell you the last time we used it. I could have learned a foreign language, finally written my first novel or at least started one.

What I do have is an even bigger “To Be Read” pile of books (I really, really need to stop ordering books! But I’m supporting independent bookstores!) and multiple painted canvases from my virtual painting classes. Sure none of them are going to win an award or hang in a museum, but they chart my progress over the past year and that makes me happy.

And I am slowly updating my outdated technology. I did finally replace my crappy old desktop computer with a new laptop, but that was only recently so maybe that doesn’t actually count. I replaced my Fitbit because the alarm function wasn’t working anymore and some days that’s all I use on the the damn thing. Now I need to get a new cell phone, but every time I go to the Verizon store I feel like they need a blood sample and a signed affidavit that they can have my next of kin before you can actually purchase a new iPhone. The pressure is real, maybe I will wait on that until next year.

And I can’t believe we are still in the middle of this.  I’m so grateful that I can work from home — some days I can’t even imagine getting back on public transportation, but then there are other days that I want to run screaming out the front door and hug the first stranger I see on the street.  And my attention span is shot – every day I feel like a goldfish in a bowl, like that blue fish from that Disney movie, constantly distracted by the next shiny object.

But there are definitely some things I would like to keep from the past year — wearing comfy yoga pants and slipper-like shoes to work every day (bra, what bra?), not having to sit on the crowded commuter rail train (although I miss that dedicated time to read a book), curbside pickup at the library (why didn’t we think of this earlier??). And I’ve enjoyed all the virtual events — there’s something for everyone out there and you don’t have to travel to get there!

But I guess all of this is just what happens when you are living through a global pandemic. It’s going to be so strange when we all get back out there in the germ-filled crazy world after a year of hiding in our homes. Just don’t forget your hand sanitizer, you’re going to need it!

OMG — you guys, they’re BACK!!

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Yes, my favorite little house finches from last year! They came back! And it looks like they are already scouting places to build a nest again in the exact same spot as last year. Stupid birds, why would you want to build your nest right next to my front door. It’s definitely not a private location — I can stare at them from the window right besides my front door. Which I obviously do because some days there’s just not a ton going on during a pandemic…

I took a ton of photos of them today. And there was even another bird “couple” who looked like they were checking out the same spot for a nest and the first finches had a little bit of a fist fight while they were all in the air. At least I thought that it was the first set of finches, it’s not like they carry bird ID cards, or anything like that, but my husband read somewhere that they can come back to the same nesting spot for years.

Today I told my husband that I want to turn our front door camera so it aims on the light fixture next to the door so we can watch recorded video of the birds while they are building their nest. He was not amused…

At least the birds came back! Spring must really be here. My husband said he’s not going to allow them to build a nest there again this year, that he’ll just keep removing the nest. He’s just no fun. I need my bird entertainment — it’s better than television!

Reason #3,562 why I cannot go to Target anymore during a pandemic:

I obviously really like Easter decorations, but this might be getting a tad out of control. And my husband is definitely going to be annoyed with my new additions. But just how cute are they??? Who doesn’t need a stuffed bird dressed as a bumble bee? Or a bird dressed as a bunny?? OK, maybe I didn’t need the stuffed animal bunny, but it is Easter time, darn it!

And I am not even going to talk about the two extremely large bags of Cadbury mini eggs that I also purchased. They now come with the original milk chocolate centers and the newer dark chocolate version! So that means I had to buy both. I had to make sure that I like both flavors! Hopefully I don’t eat both bags tonight…

Please send help…I think I might need it…

My husband’s boss built us a birdhouse last spring — it was his pandemic craft project. He even hung the birdhouse on a tree in the backyard for us, which was a very good thing because there is absolutely no way that my husband would ever hang it. He claims that he doesn’t like to put holes into walls, so I can’t imagine him drilling a hole into a living tree. But honestly I think the “no holes in the wall” thing is just an excuse to not have to ever hang anything in our house. I have stacks of framed artwork stuck into pretty much every corner of our spare bedrooms as proof. Maybe he just doesn’t like the art I buy…

Well, we had some visitors this morning at the birdhouse — they even went inside! They didn’t stay long, but maybe they were just checking the space out and taking some measurements. Gotta make sure that sectional sofa could fit!

I think our possible tenants might be bluebirds, but I’m not a bird expert and I didn’t get a picture. But they seemed pretty excited — there were two of them and they kept flying in and out of the house, and they even hung out on the front perch for a little bit.

And then later this afternoon, I think I saw my friend the house finch checking out one of our other trees in the front yard:

The birds are back and they’re checking out locations for nests! It’s starting to feel a lot like spring!

My husband said they’d better not build a nest next to our front door again this year because he’ll take it down, but he’s just a darn buzzkill. I hope they do build there again this year — it’s better than watching television!

I really have no idea what day of the week it is anymore. It all started on Monday — by Monday afternoon I was already thinking that it was Tuesday. I didn’t really think that Monday was an exceptionally long day or anything like that, but I did have three Zoom meetings so that could have done it. And it’s just continued all week — I honestly thought it was a day later all week. This morning I was absolutely convinced that it was Friday already, even though I knew it was Thursday when I woke up. What happened this morning to make me think I had already lived through another day? Maybe that’s why I am so damn tired all the time, days pass and I’m not even getting a night’s worth of sleep!

And then there is also the fact that we are in the 15th month of the year 2020. The year that just seems to never end. Thankfully the weather seems to be getting better and it’s lighter longer each afternoon. But I have lived in New England long enough to know that weather changes rather quickly here. I remember a few April snowstorms. So I know not to let my guard down too much!

Maybe I should have just added alcohol to my coffee this morning… Hey, I am working from home, right?

And I had such a day at work. I would have asked if it was time to go home yet, but I’m already there. Least the commute is a million times easier!

I went to the craft store Michael’s this afternoon for one thing and I came out of the store with eight items. I only needed to buy 11 X 14 inch canvases which cost $10.99 for a pack of seven, but ended up spending $96. How is that even possible?? And now I’m not even sure what I bought…

And maybe that’s part of the problem. Every time I go in there, it’s like I am being sucked into this crafter’s void, a place where time and money obviously do not exist. A stuffed Easter bunny holding a spring flower? Why yes, please, I need that!

And then there was this Easter bunny, which I definitely did not need:

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But just how cute is that?? How could I not buy it?? There was also a matching one that was outfitted in blue gingham carrying a metal watering can — don’t worry I walked away before I put that one in my cart too. It was hard, but I did it.

And then there is a spool of pink ribbon decorated with a cherry blossom print. I don’t need that, I’ll probably never use it and it’s just going to sit in my craft cupboard with all the rest of my unused spools of ribbon. (What, no one else has a craft cupboard filled with ribbon?? You’re missing out, folks!) I also bought another natural vine wreath which at the time of purchase I fully intended to decorate with spring colored items like this garland with the white, pink and red berries that I bought from Target maybe 3 years ago that I have never used, and that I’m not entirely sure where it is currently located in my house, or the pack of blue, yellow and pink birds that I bought from Michael’s around this time last year. Don’t worry the birds are accounted for — I saw them in the craft cupboard earlier today.

But then I got home and saw the exact same wreath that I purchased two months ago with the brown and orange bird that I was going to pair with those Gerbera daisy flowers and the green vine garland that I bought a couple of years ago at another store and I’m sure is also somewhere in my craft cupboard or that organizer-shelf thing next to my closet. I might be noticing a pattern here…

So yesterday I purchased some really expensive 11 X 14 canvases for my virtual painting classes…

Earlier this afternoon, a furniture delivery truck drove slowly down our street.

“You didn’t order any furniture, did you?” asked my husband. He sounded absolutely horrified that this large delivery truck could be stopping at our home.

And that, my friends, pretty much sums up the current state of our household during this pandemic.

Don’t worry, the delivery truck didn’t stop, and it made a right turn onto the next street where I am sure it delivered some furniture to some actual very happy customers.

How many days until warmer weather?? We obviously need some kind of distraction.