What hath the Great Leader wrought? Today the news is that this mask and social distance averse person has tested positive for COVID 19 and now all government is scrambling to get tested. It would be somewhat fitting, though extremely discouraging, if his stupidity brought the entire U.S. government to its knees. All this on the heels of his shameful bullying performance during the first “debate.” We listen to the BBC radio broadcast during the overnight, and the comments from around the world are illuminating. Some leaders have wished he and Melania well, as is to be expected, but a large number have taken to snarky comments and disparagement. Our standing in the world may never recover - how could we let ourselves in for this man’s outrageous behavior and lack of demeanor?
The earlier part of the week for us was interesting and enjoyable. Last Friday evening we had our bi-weekly Zoom cocktail with Tom and Kevin in Tucson. They too are suffering from the pandemic, not from coronavirus, but from the forced time away from friends and family. Tom is recovering well from his hip replacement surgery; they, like us, are suffering from pandemic “depression” unable to see friends, entertain as we would like or sample restaurants as we please. Hopefully our conversation cheered them up as much as we were cheered. We promise that we are going to find a way to travel south for a visit this winter. If we drive, we will spend the night only in fully disinfected rooms, or sleep in the car; but we will be there. Same goes for Del and Karen. If any of you guys will have us.
In some sad news, Friday we learned of the death of Caroline Mae Covert Wilcox, age 95. Caroline was the sole surviving sibling of Mark’s father. She and her family continually extended hospitality to all the family, and her passing stirred many happy memories of growing up in the 1950’s and 60’s. Our condolences are extended to her family. Friday, we also went in for another COVID 19 test, our fourth time to have the dreaded long-handled swabs shoved up our nostrils. As the testing is free, and we are out often, we think we need to take advantage and be sure our masking efforts are effective.
Saturday and Sunday were spent resting and spending some time finishing work at Abigail’s. We removed her vanity sink and large hanging medicine cabinet and spent time beginning the re-installation of the new equipment. Plumbing and carpentry being what it is in older houses (this one built in 1951, which doesn’t sound that old to us) there were many curses, many trips to the hardware store for parts, and many drives back home to collect one more needed tool. By Monday evening she had a new and updated bathroom.
Monday morning Mark was in for his pre-operative physical, securing a chest x-ray, an EKG and additional bloodwork. All were good and he is cleared for surgery next week. There will still be a blog next week, but it may not be published until Saturday. Mark continues to lobby for both hips at once; that way the surgeons can put 4” extensions in both legs, thereby getting him to his desired 6 foot (OK 5-10 1/2) height that he claims is his birthright. Evidently Medicare doesn’t cover that particular procedure.
Tuesday morning had us back at Abigail’s for the finishing touches. Mark installed some base mould in the kitchen, hauled the old vanity and mirror to the Restore facility, and loaded all his tools back to the Pierce homestead. Deb commenced scrubbing the bathroom, kitchen, dusting and vacuuming, Darcy and Abigail hustled to clean their individual rooms and spaces; all in preparation for the arrival of the refinance Appraiser, schedule to arrive at 3:00PM. He arrived 20 minutes early, causing some minor consternation, but the project was complete. Tuesday evening we continued to use some of our tomato crop, enjoying homemade sauce with meatballs over pasta. This was accompanied by some of Mark’s fresh baguette.
Wednesday the plumber arrived at Deb and Mark’s to reset the toilet. Minor project from the plumber’s standpoint, but something our heroic in-house handyman was unwilling to tackle. Deb and Mark received a Negative result to the Friday testing, but bad news in that Deb’s friend Jan received a Positive result from her Friday test. Deb has not seen Jan (a member of the Tuesday Drinks group) in several weeks, as Jan had not been feeling well. Tuesday drinks had been rescheduled for Wednesday, and all toasted Jan’s health and wished her a speedy recovery.
Our “adoptive granddaughters” Iris and Esme stopped by to visit on an afternoon walk. We are now seeing them three mornings a week as their Mom drives Iris to her preschool morning classes. They drive by at 8:30 with the window down and the girls wave to us as they drive by. A highlight of three mornings a week.
Deb went to Abigail’s for final harvesting on Thursday. We found we couldn’t use all we had grown this season, our first true foray into vegetable gardening. See have learned that we need to plan what and when we plant; we are intending to enlarge the area next year and will plant early and on time. This year we endured beginner’s luck, losing no crops to bugs or disease but some to improper planting. The final harvest, plus the last of our tomatoes was well worth our combined efforts.
Thursday gave us time for several projects around our house. Mark installed low voltage lighting along the west garden walk that we have been landscaping all season. As the weather is cooling, we decided to order a standing propane patio heater so that we could continue to entertain our small circle of friends on our patio. It arrived on Friday afternoon and Mark spent several hours bolting it all together. We ended the evening with a glass of wine on the patio under the heater as the weather cooled to an overnight low of 35ºF.
As usual, keep washing your hands, mask up constantly and maintain that social distancing. We are thinking of each and every one of our readers as we continue on this pandemic adventure. The future surely will hold some travel for us and we will see each of you in person. Until then we see you in our dreams.
