All kinds of weather

Yes, I did post last evening about Dick's 70th birthday, but that was kind of an experiment with his new iPad.  Not at all a satisfactory experience for me!

So since this blog is my diary, I want to post the pictures and activities since last Monday when I did my last regular weekly post.  Our weather has been all over the place!!  

Wednesday was absolutely beautiful and I got these pictures when I went out for my walk. 

On Thursday it seemed sunny around noon and I thought I would go for a walk.  But just like that, I looked outside and it looked like a blizzard out there!  In about 15 minutes the storm blew away, leaving a light covering of snow on the grass.  But soon thereafter the sun came out, and just like that, it was all gone!

I had to work for my coffee that day.  Our Keurig had been warning us that it was time to descale,  but I was SO busy I forgot.  (Hahahaha!  That's not true.  I was not busy, I just forgot.)  On Thursday morning it refused to let one drop of water come through.  So good old YouTube to the rescue!  As it told me to, I straightened a big paper clip and cleaned it well, of course, then I poked it up into the little holes on either side of the needle that jags through the K-cup.  I also put white vinegar into the carafe to descale it first.  At first the vinegar/water was just dripping through, but eventually it started coming out full force.  Of course, I had to run many cups of water through it after the vinegar to make sure it was ready to drink.  I had the unpleasant experience one time of making my coffee too soon and the milk instantly curdled when I added it.  Yuck!  Anyway, my first cup of coffee tasted extra good that morning after waiting so long and working so hard for it!  

I've been spending a lot of time reading a lot of things I have written over the years. I came across the story of teaching the song "You Gave Your Life Away" at school in the spring of 2009 - my last year of teaching, although I did not know it at that time.  Here's what I had written:

One of the songs I recently taught each of the grades is Paul Baloche's "You Gave Your Life Away." It will be one of our mass chorus songs in the Spring Program. Most of the songs I use are more upbeat, complete with choreography, clapping, jumping, or whatever. And, of course, the wild and crazy behavior that goes with it! But I usually like to use one contrast song, and this one is it. So far I have always had the kids sit down on the risers to sing this one, asking them to try to forget about each other (a HUGE request for any age) and just focus on the One we're singing to. 

I'm telling you, I have never seen any song have the effect that this one does. No matter how many kids, or which grade, or what normal behavior issues there are, they COMPLETELY calm down as they sing this song, and they really do seem to become oblivious to each other. 

Today I had my Tuesday half of the Primary Chorus, normally my most challenging period of the week. Today was no exception until we sang this song. The Pre-K teacher was waiting outside the door in tears, so moved as she heard those little voices singing so beautifully in pure worship.

So I decided to experiment again with the acapella app and here's my trio version of that song.  

On Friday afternoon and evening we got snow again!! But it disappeared before noon on Saturday. 

I've been telling Dick that I think he could trim the back of my hair a little bit.  I hate when it gets long enough to start "bunching out" in the back, haha!  So he got his beard trimmer and pulled the hair outward bit by bit with a fine tooth comb and then trimmed the ends off with his beard trimmer.  He did a pretty good job!

I did get a couple of sunrise pictures this week.  I always get up at 6:15, and now it's already daylight!  Often it's too cloudy.  Also the sun is rising at a different place than it had been this winter.  I used to be able to stand on my front porch to get a good shot.  Now I often have to stand on the side porch to see it, or sometimes it seems to be completely hidden by the neighbor's house.  

On Saturday my friend Peg texted me that she had hung something on my front door.  So I checked, and there was a bag with two masks she had made for me!  Musical notes and pianos!  I LOVE them!!  Sunday evening when we were FaceTiming with the guys in Portland, I was being silly and put the mask on top of my head.  It reminded me of the little black bonnets we used to wear to look dressy when I was a teenager.  

Sunday was Dick's 70th birthday, and that is what my post was about last evening.  You'll have to scroll down to see it after you're finished with this one if you missed it.  But I did not post this little "Happy Birthday" video that shows our little, very delicious dessert. 

In the process of looking for photos to put in his "decades" collage I came across this one!  Eight years old.  Good grief, he looks like Anthony's boys!!!

Today was another beautiful sunny day.  I love walking in our community.  I like to take different streets each time.   Here are a couple of pictures I took.  

Our governor announced today that he'll start to open some things up on May 8th.  I was hoping for May 1st, but thankful he did not say that he's keeping everything closed for the whole month of May.  I think I would have fallen down screaming and crying if he had.  Today there was a protest in Harrisburg and they most certainly were not at all following any rules of social distancing, masks, or anything.  There were a lot of people there, all of them standing close to each other.  It made me sad and mad.  If our numbers in PA go up because of all those people being defiant and careless, thus causing us to have to stay home even longer, I will really, really cry.  I just want to see our children and grandchildren and have them here and go to visit our parents in the nursing homes.  

Well, that's my rant and now I'm all caught up!  Lord, heal our land!!!

Trying the iPad

I am trying something new. Blogging from an iPad! A few months ago Dick sold some car parts that earned him more than expected.  So he told Anthony to order him an iPad to replace the very old, big, heavy, slow laptop he was using. It was a hand-me-down from Jeremy’s college days!  So what perfect timing!  It was delivered to Anthony earlier this week and he got it all set up. Today when Dick went over there to hike through the woods and check his trail cams, Anthony had it ready to give to him - on his 70th birthday!

Yes 70!!  How ever did we get this old??  We had hoped to celebrate this milestone birthday in Portland. But Coronavirus changed everything of course.  We couldn’t even have a party.  But we still had a good day. This morning we had our regular online worship service with GBRV.  I spent quite a while looking for pictures for a collage.

And here’s the collage I made!  One picture for each decade of his life!



Of course Dick had lots of phone calls and messages today. At Anthony’s this afternoon he chatted with them from his truck.  Later this afternoon we video chatted with our Florida crew for quite a while and then our Portland crew.

I made a chocolate cupcake in a coffee mug which I topped with ice cream and seven candles.   It was really yummy, and his blood sugar wasn’t much higher than usual at bedtime. I guess walking in the woods this afternoon took care of that.

 Well, I give up for this evening.  I cannot figure out how to arrange my pictures.  Everything keeps sliding from place to place. 

Lots of things going on even as we observe social distancing

What is going on here??  I haven't blogged for ten days??  And I can't even say it's because I've been too busy.  The crazy thing is, I had it on my list for this past weekend, and at some point I crossed it off because I thought I had done it.  Is that pathetic or what?

So, because I use this as my diary, I will try to go back to the first weekend of April and figure out what I've been doing since then.   

But first a collage of pictures of our house in Spring.  I'm thankful that this quarantine is in Spring instead of Winter.  At least we have beautiful weather some of the time and the beauty of new life all around.

And here are the sky pictures I have taken in the past week or so. 

On Saturday, April 4th, something very exciting was taking place in Columbia, PA.  Destiny and Alex are expecting a baby at the end of August, and they had a Facebook Live gender reveal.  Of course, originally it was not going to be an online event, but Coronavirus has forced almost everything to be online, as you all know.  It was fun to be watching.  She had patched me and Frank and Lauren in with Google Duo so we could actually talk with her instead of just texting like everyone else.  And it's a boy!  

On Sunday morning, April 5, I woke up feeling very sad and actually a little bit mad.  I took some Snapchat shots for my Facebook post that day, lol!  I just missed being with grandchildren SO BADLY!!  And I could hardly stand it that Grandma Mary and Dad and Arlene can't have visitors except outside the window. 

We had our two online worship services that morning, but I really needed to get out of the house.  It was an absolutely beautiful day.  So first of all we walked through the Penn State arboretum.  There were very few people there, but at least it wasn't closed.  Not too much to see, but it felt good to walk in the sunshine anyway. 

The fountain pool was empty, but there were trees and a few flowers blooming. 

Then we drove over to Anthony and Lori's.  We stayed down on the patio and talked with them up in the screened porch.  It was really fun.  Dick and I walked around and then sat on the bench at the far end of the pond for a while.  The sun was so warm and therapeutic.  

Looks like we were "social distancing" lol!!  

Last Wednesday was another beautiful day and we went for a walk around our community after Dick got home from work.  

And then on Friday we woke up to this!!  It was really cold and windy that day.  I had to go for groceries and it truly felt like the wind chill was colder than it had been all winter!

Of course, just like everyone else, I'm not sure what to do about my hair.  It's past time to get more of the "brown" trimmed off.  It's not even brown anymore, but sort of reddish blonde.  My roots in the front are very white, but in the back I'm gray.  Did I say that last time?  I feel like I just wrote that somewhere, haha!  Here's a collage I made one day last week.  The brown haired picture was taken on December 28th.  I'm actually glad I started this journey to natural before the quarantine hit.  I would be having fits by now about my roots!  

GBRV had a Maundy Thursday service and also a Good Friday service, both online of course.  I play piano here at home, Pastor Calvin puts the lyrics on the screen, and everyone can sing along at their homes.  It's not a perfect system.  We use Google Hangouts and deal with constant feedback issues.  We try to advise everyone to turn their microphones off except for when they are speaking, but it's hard for some to figure out or to remember.  During one of the services I started playing the piano, but had forgotten to turn my mic on!  When I realized it I turned it on and we started the song all over again.  

One day I decided to reinstall the Acapella app on my phone so I could do a better job of "mixing" my vocal parts.   This was my first and only project so far.  It was actually pretty fun to do. 

On Saturday I painted a dozen eggs all by myself.  I was feeling sad to not have any children to do it with.  Dick took a picture of me, and I put it on Facebook.  WELL!!!  I could never have dreamed the conversation that picture would start.  Apparently at a quick glance, the white shoulder strap of my apron must have looked like a cigarette hanging out of my mouth - to a lot of people.  Oh, the comments and jokes!  They just got funnier and funnier as the day went on.  In the end I didn't feel sad at all because I laughed so much!  

On Easter Sunday morning we were up and ready for sunrise service at 6:30.  Using Google Hangouts means that we can see each other, so I couldn't really stay in my pj's!  

Afterward I said to Dick, "Hey!  We have a tradition of posting a picture of ourselves on the way to church on Easter Sunday wearing matching clothes!"  Well, he wasn't thrilled about changing.  He said, "I was about ready to take a twenty-minute nap."  I told him to go ahead and take his nap because it would take me at least that long to figure out what we would wear.  I had not thought at all about Easter clothes this year.  I decided that it was appropriate to do a more dressed down version of Easter this year.  Getting our selfie took about ten tries at least, but here we are.

At 9:30 we had our regular worship service, and then at 11:00 Calvary's service was on CalvaryLive.  We had to leave before that was over, because at GBRV we had a 12 noon appointment!  A lot of churches in the area were planning to ring their church bells for five minutes.  We were invited to come hear the bells and to at least see each other in the parking lot.  Dick and I parked in the cemetery across the road so I could get a better view for pictures and video.  It was beautiful outside!  And so fun to at least be able to call out and wave to others who were there.  

  

Then we drove to Mt. Nittany Hospital to see the signs that some ladies from church had put along the access road into the hospital.  

My big mission of the day was to safely deliver some Easter eggs to grandchildren!  In addition to the ones I painted, I also had put candy and dollar bills inside a bunch of plastic eggs.  

First of all we went over to Anthony and Lori's and once again talked with them from the patio.  Hunter is always ready for a conversation and kept bringing toys out to show us!  He told us he'll come to our house after the Corony virus!  I miss him so much!!

And here are both boys.  Did I say how much I miss them???

From there we drove to Duncannon.  I told Sam to make sure the kids understood that we would not be staying long and that we would be staying in the van.  It was so much fun, but hard.   I'm sure Sammy and Bianca have both gotten taller in the four weeks since they were last here.  Oh how I miss having them at our house!!!

Are they adorable or what???

And then we drove back home.  I felt so happy.  Every part of our Easter day was different than normal, but all of it was good.

From Portand we got this precious picture of Lincoln and Daniel.

Later in the evening I saw on Facebook that Anthony and Lori and the boys had dressed up for an Easter photo shoot.  Melt.  My.  Heart.  

And then to top off the day, we had a FaceTime chat with them which also included Lisa, George, and Sophie.  It was a perfect way to end the day!  

And now I'm finally caught up here!  I hope all of you are finding things to do and ways to connect.  I PRAY that we are going to be able to gradually get back to being together and doing business as we progress toward summer!  Lord, hear our cries!!!

A different kind of keeping busy

Well, if I wasn't sure what day it was last Wednesday when I posted, I surely don't have a clue now!  This is CRAZY!!  I have never in my life had this many days at home and without any other human beings besides Dick.  So it's hard to give any kind of a day by day account of things. 

So what have I been doing?  Food prep just for us. Writing.  Singing.  Staying in touch via Facebook, phone calls, emails, and texting.  Getting groceries occasionally.  Making masks!  Being lazy sometimes. Taking pictures. Laundry.  Eating too much some days.  Not walking enough.  

So first of all, this morning's sunrise from our side porch. 

And now let's take a tour of what everyone else that I wish I could be with is doing! 

First of all, in Florida.  One evening Sophie somehow made a six-foot cardboard reproduction of a childhood photo, and walked it into her parents' bedroom.  Scared Lisa half to death, hahaha!!  

Over at Stauffer Acres Anthony and Lori and the boys have been spending late afternoons out in the woods, hiking and cleaning out little streams so they can flow more easily.  I really miss being over there. 

Down in Duncannon Sam and the kids enjoy playing outside too.  There's a little stream by his place that they like to play in.  Sammy has a metal detector he likes to use.   He's getting so tall!!  I really miss having them up here on weekends.

Here are some pictures from Frank and Lauren in Reading.  They live in the city, so no playing outside.  Jada enjoyed a phone call with her teacher the other day.  Frank's making a schoolroom for her in their basement playroom. Isn't that picture of Alaya and V'anni just the CUTEST???

Out in Portland Jeremy and Mike are busy guys!!  They got an 8-year-old foster son the beginning of November and a 5-year-old the beginning of March.  AND they bought a house and managed to move into it last week with NO help !!  (Mike had a kidney transplant ten years ago, so they must be absolutely sure he does not get exposed to the Coronavirus.)  So they got a moving truck and did it all by themselves with two little guys underfoot!  They are amazing!  And they are loving their much bigger, split level house.  I love their back porch with the benches that Dick helped to build the other summer when we were out there.  And the rocker they got for Martha (Mike's mom) before she died. 

Down in Lebanon Ray and Ashley and RJ went for a hike yesterday.  She took a video while they were walking and I took a few screen shots from it. Beautiful day! 

A few days ago when I needed to go grocery shopping I decided I would try to wear a scarf as a mask, but it did not work at all.  It kept falling down.  So yesterday I made a mask out of a pillowcase.  It worked ok, but it made me feel like I was suffocating!  Today I made a mask out of my scarf, a much thinner material, and I think this will work when I need to go to the store. 

I've been intrigued by some videos I have seen on Facebook of people harmonizing with themselves or with others online.   I decided to see if I could do it.  I got the Acapella app on my phone, but I soon deleted it because I was afraid I was going to end up being charged a monthly fee.  So I came up with my own method, not at all professional!  I sing one part while I play piano and record it with the Voice Memo app on my phone.  I then save it to Google Drive.  Next I play that back on my computer while I sing another vocal part, recording it again with the Voice Memo app.  Again I save it to Google Drive.  Then I play that recording back and take a video as I sing the third part.  The first morning I did it I was still in my robe and had no intention of posting it.  But it cracked me up that I could actually do it, so I posted it on Facebook anyway.  

People seemed to like it, so I made another one the next day.  I got dressed this time first!

The next day my friend Tracey from Tennessee asked if I was taking requests, and if so, she wanted me to do this old hymn. So I did.  I hadn't showered yet, so I decided to focus on this picture of the Good Shepherd when I made the video. 

And because our choir won't get to do one of my favorite Holy Week songs, I did this one today.  How Deep the Father's Love.  I was deeply impacted by this song when I sang in a community choir in 2003.  We did a cantata called Jesus, the One and Only.  I'm sure I have used this song every place I have directed music ever since then. 

And now a few more pics.  Today I drove through Penn State campus for the first time in over three weeks.  So many things blooming, but so empty.  I could stop my car any place to take pictures because there were no other cars. Even on University Drive in front of the Bryce Jordan Center.  It was almost eerie.  Unfortunately it was clouding over, so the sky was not beautiful and there was no sunshine. 

An empty Berkey Creamery!  Don't think I have ever seen that before!

Bryce Jordan Center.

Dick is still working, although they are slower than usual since there are many less cars in town without all the students and with lots of people working from home.  Other auto mechanic shops have closed, but so far his is still open.  But he will start having Saturday mornings off, which we will not mind at all.  

We're concerned for Dick's parents, especially since there have been some cases of Coronavirus at Pleasant View this past week.  Now in addition to Arlene not being able to visit Dad, she is supposed to stay in her apartment all the time. 

Grandma Mary lives in a very small nursing home where there are only 18 residents.  As far as I know there have been no cases of Coronavirus there, and the residents still eat in the dining room together and can sit in the sunroom together, but no visitors are allowed.  

These are really tough times for most people, especially for healthcare workers and the educational system.  Of course there are some good things happening as a result, but it's hard to imagine the economic impact.  Lord, hear our cries!