As the days and weeks of this pandemic drag on, and the Stay At Home restriction becomes increasingly 'strict,' I am feeling more and more stifled.
For some reason, with all this extra time on my hands, I am wasting more of it. I feel defeated by my attempts to stay in shape (no gym means not as much fun, I can't stay committed, and I can't work specific muscles like I did with the weight machines). I lack motivation to be productive, cause it can always wait until tomorrow. And I am even getting tired of the games, activities, and Facebook posts I have used to entertain myself with. But - I keep trying to push myself to do things I can, even though there are so many things I can't do because of the 'Stay at home' orders.
Saturday 4/4 - Daniel's Birthday! Thirty years ago, God blessed Joe and I with this wonderful boy.
Valencia posted this on Facebook for Daniel's birthday. "To the man who has been my best friend for years, the love of my life. I look forward to every moment I am with you!❤️😍😘" I was glad to see this, because with the 'Stay at home' order, she is 'stuck' with him for awhile. LOL Seriously, it is so heartwarming to see them so happy together.
I was feeling cheated because our plans to go to a dinner comedy night club for Dan's birthday (including Courtney) had been cancelled weeks ago. Once this pandemic is all over, we ALL are going to have so much to celebrate and catch up on.
In this time of isolation though, I must remember all of those who are sacrificing so much more than I am, and have far less than I do. What can I do for them?
As usual, I spent way too much time here at my computer. I do enjoy watching the birds while entertaining myself with the internet.
I did notice that the tailless wren is starting to grow new tail feathers.
I did finally do two of Coach Wood's workouts. The second one was 20 minutes of yoga. Monita was making it difficult to do some of the moves when I was on the mat.
A nap on the lounge chair in the sun, lasting longer than expected, made me late for the barn. I joined Jan, Karen, and Patty doing some obstacles in the yard.
I am so thankful we're still able to ride our horses.
Here are a few (videos) of us horsing around. Home just after 6pm, by the time all were fed, chores were done, and I had showered, it was too late to go for a walk.
At 7am I was bored with the computer and decided to head, on foot, to Patty's to borrow a few books. On the way home I swung by Ken and Linnea's to look at their new landscaping and admired this arrangement of flowers.
Almost three hours later (we had stopped and chatted at both houses) we got home, having covered very close to five miles.
I had a big third breakfast, started reading Patricia Cromwell's 'Book Of The Dead' out on a lounge chair, and took a nap.
At some point, Joe went for a cruise (second time out this spring) on his inflatable kayak.
Styx and Babe were napping on the cat tower pedestals, when Monita came over and woke them up by harassing them.
We did a Google face time or chat with the kids, and including Patty. When you can't see them face to face, you can at least see their faces. 😍
I got a full seven hours of mostly uninterrupted sleep. Yeah!
I went to town at 8am, hitting Walmart first, to beat the crowd. With bandana, glasses, and gloves, I felt protected. Notice how few cars were in the parking lot. The store was not crowded and it was well stocked, except for hand wipes and bleach wipes.
These are my driving glasses, so I was having trouble seeing close up, and they kept fogging up when I exhaled. Also, one of my gloves got a rip in it. They are from an old box. I had handy wipes and more gloves in the car, so stayed diligent with keeping my hands clean, as I went to three more stores.
I got a bunch of plants at Lowe's and corn and horse wormer at Tractor Supply.
On the way home, I dropped a packet of school learning materials off at Kaylah's, which I had picked up for her.
It was after 1pm by the time I had everything put away and was sitting down on the screen porch to eat lunch. 
Babe was enjoying bird watching, and minding her own business, when Monita came out and started bothering her.
I worked in the yard until dinner time, mostly filling in bare spots with grass seed, but also planting some fern Cheryl gave me. It was quite warm when the sun came out from behind the clouds.
After dinner (Joe fixed tuna and noodles), I took Maggie on a long (almost five mile) walk. Here we are, sitting on a rock at the edge of Lake Catherine, while I removed a pebble from my shoe.
I couldn't decide which of these photos I liked best, so here are three of them.
We walked around the whole lake, with the main purpose to look at the road construction at Robin Hood Park.
We ran into difficulties sticking close to the lake and had to cut through a few yards, which I felt bad about doing. But the sun was setting and I didn't have time to swing way out on the roads to get all the way around the lake.
Maggie sitting at a 'cat crossing'.I enjoy looking at people's landscape.
We finally got to the construction site at the park, as dark descended, and we still had ¾ mile to go to get home.
I am so thankful I live in a rural area where I can get outside and see hardly a soul. Fairfield Glade feels like a ghost town though, which is becoming depressing.
After eating lunch, reading and napping (all on the back deck in a lounge chair) I planted my flowers.
I did three identical pots like this white one, and put six marigolds in this larger pot that is on top of our grinder pump. We had such a mild winter, the flowers I put in this pot from the pool last fall were still alive, but I had to cut out a lot of dead stems from them. The azalea (red shrub) I got on sale last fall is also blooming quite nicely.
Joe and I went to the barn at 3:30 to move the trailer so a fence could be put in. I was going to practice driving the new SUV while pulling the trailer. Well, it turned out that the new hitch is too low to get the trailer hooked up on. So Joe went home to get the jack. In the mean time, I tacked up Amiga.
In the first photo, you see Joe's scooter and he is messing with the jack after he was able to successfully hook up and move the trailer. The second photo is looking across the street at the newly cleared land as it is being made ready to also be fenced off for additional pasture. I rode Amiga over there to look around and take photos. All the area to the right of the gravel road and left of the grass at the top of the hill, used to be a dense woodland.
My horse did very well in spite of all the newness to the scenery. This light dirt is the cultivated garden plots. The darker dirt is the newly cleared land.
I tried to keep us out of the smoke, from the fire burning all the brush, for fear there was probably plenty of poison ivy smoldering.
In this last photo we were heading back to the barn. I let Amiga graze on this lush grass.
Home at 7pm, I had popcorn while watching two episodes of Blue Bloods with Joe.
Why are the things we can't have the ones we want the most? What is this fixation on the forbidden fruit? "The Unattainable Urge To Always Want What We Can't Have" by Rebecca Strong, states that "This isn't always bad. Someone outright telling you that you’re incapable of getting that promotion -- well, it drives your determination to achieve it. Sometimes, though, there is a downside to this inexplicable instinct. Sometimes we go too far for what we’re told we can’t have, even overstepping moral code or hurting others in the process."
Lately, I have craved that which I can't have. I gave up alcohol for Lent and have never been wanting a beer so bad as these past few weeks. Once the weather warmed up and I started working up a sweat in the yard, I have REALLY been in the mood for a beer at the end of my work session. I don't think I have ever longed for a beer this badly before. Is it because I know I can't have one? I am so glad Easter will be here soon. 
Wanting to socialize (especially go dancing) is something else I have really been craving. Time with others, face to face conversations, hugs, etc, are so much missed, but must remain forbidden. It's enough to drive anyone to drinking. But like I said, I can't! The end of this Covid-19 stay at home order can't end soon enough, but at least in a few days I can refresh and relax with a beer as needed.
For several hours I worked down at the pond, clearing gunk out of the creek since the water level was finally at it's normal height. With more rain in the forecast, I wanted to do what I could before the water rose back up.
I noticed across the pond some thrashing around.
It appeared to be two turtles, either mating, or fighting. After watching, photographing, and (videotaping) these two big snappers, I believed they were fighting and felt sorry for the one on the bottom who had not come up for air in a long time. I could see that the turtles were facing in the same direction. The back feet and tail were moving, and the top turtle kept putting it's head under water. I wonder if the top turtle was trying to drown the bottom one, and if it was biting at the bottom one's head when it tried to come up for air.
So I went over with my garden rake to rescue the underdog. I hate bullying! This last photo was taken with me standing right above them, their heads are to the right, with the top one's head under water. I pulled the top turtle off the submerged one and think they both swam away. With the murky water I couldn't see.
I came in to change, hydrate, and refuel.'Ring of fire' - Monita is between Styx and Babe.
Joe and I went to the barn to gather some buckets of small rocks. He tried out the 'fixed' trailer hitch and I went for a ride with Karen and Jan.
Karen on Levi, following Chester, after he cooled off in the large puddle. Here is a look at the livery horses in the neighboring field. It seemed rain was coming.
I rode across the street around the gardens and newly cleared land. Then I spent some time riding in the front yard. The supports to the roof of this log shed have been removed so it was laying on the ground.
Once home, I hauled all the buckets of rock down back and dumped them in the creek along the bank in places where it is eroding quite a bit.
The deer came down the creek and watched while waiting for their nightly corn rations. Look closely, you can see the two of them.
Once I had all the buckets empty, I brought the corn down, and then went around to the other side of the pond to get photos of the dogwood that are now in bloom.
Notice the deer were moving in to get the corn.
Not all of the dogwood are fully in bloom, but here is what it looked like with those that are.
Joe and I finished off the day watching Survivor.
Thursday 4/9 - Babe and Mama Styx going after their morning breakfast. Babe is bigger than her mom now, but Styx is still the boss. Babe had been eating, but when Styx joined her, Babe relinquished her spot.
Some storms had come through during the night, but we really didn't get that much rain. However, the temperature really dropped.
After wasting ⅔ of the day with computerizing, reading out in the sun, and napping; I went down to the creek to get more gunk out of it.
I accidentally drug out this salamander with a rake full of muck (mostly leaves), so re-homed it in a safer spot.
I saw many tadpoles, some fish, and a few frogs, and hoped they would stay out of harms way.
After hauling many wheelbarrow loads of muck up into the woods, I called it quits. My arms, legs, and back had had enough.
Mama Styx giving babe a lickin'.
After a sizable dinner, I took Maggie on a long walk, even though I was pretty tired.
I was able to see a pretty sunset.
4/10 - Much to my chagrin, my day started at 3am, but that wasn't going to deter it from being a Good Friday.
As the sun started to come up and the birds serenaded the start of a new day, I was thinking about going back to bed, but remained here, computerizing. The moon was still visible when I took corn down back. We didn't get the frost as warned, but it was 35° at daybreak.
Monita on the cubbie, while looking for trouble, woke Babe who had been napping in the hammock.
Daffodils I picked, to brighten the kitchen.
I was tired and grumpy, but not sleepy, so drug through the morning. After lunch I laid out on the lawn chair in the sun, with plenty of clothing on because it was only 48° out. I rested and might have even fallen asleep for a few minutes.
Not wanting the day to be a total waste, I got to work in the yard, clearing more leaves and weeds from a flower bed. Then I got sidetracked, and cleared this former trail through the woods on the other side of the creek.
When I got to the culvert under Lakeview, I spent a lot of time clearing debris out of the creek bed. There is about a 30 yard section where the water is actually flowing underground and the creek bed is dry. But when we get lots of rain, this section is full of water.
Since the utility guys cleared along Lakeview, lots of debris from the shredded wood has washed down into the pond. So I was trying to prevent this from happening in the future. There were also some 'log jams' where branches had gotten stuck and a bunch of leaves were trapped, so I cleared all of that out as well.
See the deer at the edge of the creek? She and several others had come looking for their evening handout. They blend in with their surroundings quite well. You can see them better when they are on the move (video).
Joe grilled steaks for dinner and I finished up work in the yard just in time to eat.
Courtney had taken the day off work to move and Britney and I had been following the process much of the day. Her movers 'Two Men and a Truck' didn't get to her apartment to load everything until almost 5pm, but that had given Courtney more than enough time to finish boxing everything up. This photo she took when they were unloading at her new condo.
Do what you can, and give thanks for what you can do!
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