Nina Simone sang these lyrics in 'Feeling Good.'
As for me lately - I am not feeling good.
I think I have a case of Corona.
It is not the virus which has me down, but because of the fallout from this pandemic. My new normal is a disaster. My attitude is - Why clean house, no one's coming over. Why get dressed, I'm not going anywhere. Why bother to shower, who's going to care. Why get up from my computer, nothing better to do. And when I do feel the need to get up and move, I make a trip to the kitchen. UGH!!
I need a new norm.
I saw this Isolation Well-being check list a few weeks ago and knew it was a good idea, but never really committed to it. Well, at this point in time, I am going to make a deliberate effort to hit at least half (7) of these things each day. I know that sometimes all someone needs to get motivated, is to GET MOVING. Starting is usually the hardest part. It takes a little determination, but surely I still have some of that. I have got to get up out of this chair and make a decision to move my body in an energetic way! I could hike, go to the barn and get on my horse, or turn on some dance music and boogie around the house! Anything to get some exercise, be productive, have enjoyment, help others, and tend to my mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical well being.
A week ago I took the photo of the four little birdy mouths, begging for food. Today they held very still. Look how big they have gotten. Notice in the first photo, you can't even see them from a distance. My Easter decoration will remain out front until these four have fledged.By 10am I had the bed made, was dressed, and headed out to get some things done in the yard.
It rained off and on all day, and I actually was chased back inside five times. I probably should have given up on outside tasks. But I did get some weeding done in various spots, like this little patch of Sedum by the drainage ditch.
After one particular heavy rainfall subsided, I went out to see how the yard handled the amount of rain. The drainage ditch I built was doing well, containing a lot of fast moving water (video).
While indoors, I worked at housecleaning. But as soon as the rain stopped, I went back outside. I cleaned and filled bird feeders and had Joe help me tie back two trees.
At one point, I transplanted this wild Althea that was growing in the ditch by the big dip on Lakeview. It had blocked the flow of water, but once I cleared the ditch, it was then getting washed away.
It now lives between the bench on the rock and the pond, safe from flood waters.
We'd had enough rain throughout the day, that the pond level was over most of the 'sandbar.' And yes, I did pull more gunk out of the creek before it got this high.
Late in the day, a storm system, including a tornado watch, gave us a torrential down pour.
This (video) from my sun room shows how the gutters can't handle the heavy rains. But actually, even in light rains, the water flows down the window. The gutters, or roof, or gutter guards are faulty.
After the storm passed, I took this photo showing the other side of the house in back by the porch. Too much water is missing that gutter also.
We had Patty over for dinner, getting takeout from a new restaurant in the Village Mall. She brought me these beautiful lilacs. Boy did they give the kitchen / dinning area a wonderful smell. It was with ulterior motives that I had invited Patty, so after we ate, she helped me (or rather, I helped her) rip out three ten foot seams in the valance I had bought at a thrift store a few months ago. The seam ripper tool she brought over made it go very quickly.
After Patty left, I took Maggie for a quick walk before the next rain cell opened up on us. And yet again, we did get sprinkled on before getting back to the house.
I got too sleepy here at my computer, downloading and editing photos, so went to bed. I felt it had been a fairly productive day. Having company motivated me to give the house a thorough cleaning, even the bathrooms, a job I hate. And I got a lot of odd jobs done outside as well.
Sunday 4/26 - The Bible says Sunday is a day of rest, which sounded like a good idea to me. I still tried to keep my checklist in mind, so started out with a shower. I even took care of some wayward hair as (Pluto) puts it. I’m not real sure what buffing and shining is all about, but I did apply lotion afterwards. LOL
The Carolina wren (in middle of photo) was yelling at me while I read up in the balcony. His/her nest is about ten feet below and to the right of this window.
It was a very cold, gloomy, rainy day... all day long, so my motivation was at a low.
I did wash that fabric that Patty and I had un-hemmed, but it did fray quite a bit.
I also hung it up to dry because I don’t have an iron and I was trying to get the crease out of it, which goes down the middle of it, from it being folded in half and sewn that way.
I did a lot of reading, took a little nap, and started a puzzle that Patty had brought over. We also had a group chat with Dan and Valencia, Britney, Patty, and Mom and Jean. Courtney was unable to join us because she was on call for work and busy with that.
I didn’t achieve much today, although look at my progress on the puzzle. Too bad it isn't really a project, otherwise I would feel more accomplished. All in all, it was a good day because I did a lot of things I enjoy.
Stevie and Monita at feeding time.
Maggie and Babe in front of the fire while Joe and I watched Blue Bloods.
Monday 4/27 - It was foggy as the new day dawned, but I could tell it was going to be a beautiful day, even though the temperature was only 37 degrees. I took this series of photos when I was putting corn out down by the pond. The sky was getting brighter quickly.
As the fog cleared and the sun got higher in the sky, the blues and greens became vibrant, almost like my puzzle.
I accomplished a lot on the puzzle and then went to Patty's (with Maggie and the safari fabric in tow). Patty had sewn a pillow cover with the shorter section I didn't need and hemmed all the edges on the large piece of fabric that had frayed when I washed it.
After Maggie and I walked, while Patty worked, we returned home and I set to work putting the fabric on the bench pad. Monita kept a close eye on me as I stapled the corners.
She was also the first to test out the newly covered bench.
I think the pillow looks great with the bench. I keep the pillow in the corner against the wall and lean against it when I sit here occasionally.
After some time reading on a lounge chair in the sun, I headed to the barn. The plan was to ride a little bit and then turn Amiga, Cash, and Zorro out in the pasture across the street while we monitored them.
It ended up that the vet came to look at Polly's horse, so we got distracted and decided to wait on the group grazing for another day. Patty worked Zorro in the round pen and let him graze in the front yard while I rode Amiga. She is leading him back to the barn in this photo. I was happy that Amiga did so much better today.
When I got home, crazy Joe was sitting down back, smoking a cigar and drinking a beer.
I completed the jig saw puzzle.
We watched two episodes of Blue Bloods.
The cats did their usual before bedtime antics.
Here is a (video) of Mama Styx cleaning Babe.
I felt like I did a pretty good job on my check list as I read and relaxed before lights out.
Tuesday 4/28 - The deer were waiting for me when I went down back with the morning ration of corn.
They moved back out of the way, and then the two ducks flew in, landing up hill and waddling down towards me, while the deer watched, as if indignant. As you can see from this (video), the deer are more cautious than the ducks. Once the corn was poured and I headed up to the house, the deer ran the ducks off.
Maybe 15 minutes later, I noticed this deer up nibbling on Brian's roses, Ruh roh Scooby.
The unexpected morning rain, delayed my plan to go to the barn.
When I checked on the wren nest because the parents were making so much noise, two babies flew out. Then the parents were really sounding the alarm. This baby ended up behind our St. Francis statue. And these two babies were still in the nest holding very still. By days end, all birds were gone and it was very quiet out front.
The rain stopped, skies cleared, I had an early lunch and then went to the barn.
I rode across the road around the newly cleared land, the gardens, and the field; then I rode to the Holly trail.
I was pleased with how Amiga did, but still have much to work on with her.
I lead her across the road to be with Cash, who was now grazing in the field. She immediately trotted up to greet him and then started eating.
Patty came over with Zorro and Jan was soon to come also. We chatted while watching our horses enjoy the rich grass.
They were very happy to be together, munching away.
Once home, the ducks were up near the house letting me know they were looking for corn. They followed me down back with the corn and dug it before I took a step away from the rock. Who needs pet ducks when you have wild ones so close?
I had an early dinner, because I had had an early lunch, and then Joe dropped Maggie and I off at a grass road east on Peavine. I was in search of a dogwood I could transplant.
Almost two hours later we arrived home, having covered a lot of ground in the deep woods and grassy roads. I immediately checked for ticks. After pulling off two that were attached to me, I reverted to the tape method which is great for removing, trapping, and killing them. Most of these 15 were on my clothing. After a good scrub down in the shower I also started a load of laundry, to de-tick what I had worn.
Wednesday 4/29 - Chipmunks, squirrels, and birds - oh my! The cats are always on lookout duty. It was a pretty morning, but rain was coming. So I cut my computer time short and was out in the yard by 9am.
I checked the wren nest on the porch, and nobody was home, so I decided they weren't returning. I cleaned out the nest and switched out the Easter greeting to a non-seasonal one. Look how much nesting they had.
Then I got to work sowing grass seed. After raking to loosen the ground and spreading the seed, I sprinkled the grass clippings (Joe had saved for me) over the top of it all.
The rain came just as I was finishing up. I continued to work, out in the garage, to plant these flowers in two of the pots I have.
The remaining flowers, to go in the beds, would have to wait until it dried up.
It was almost 2pm by the time I came in for lunch.
Full from a big toss salad, and a tad cold, I proceeded to move to the living room, and settled in front of the fire.
I enjoyed a cup of hot tea and (of course) a cookie and some chocolates. Reading and a nap then ensued.
Joe and I ran to Food City together and then later in the evening, watched Survivor.
Thursday 4/30 - It never got above 55° nor did the sun ever come out from behind clouds, all day l-o-n-g. It was cold and gray the entire day. But I had a plan, requiring Joe's help. While he went to get Brian's trailer (at Brian's brother's house) I went out to remove the dead dogwood and dig a hole for a new one. Joe went to the leaf dump to empty the trailer of brush Andy had left in it.
Then we were off to the woods where I had spotted a good dogwood to go in front of our deck. I dug it up while Joe went in search of the log pile I had also come across. Never finding the wood, because of my bad recollection of where I had seen it, Joe came back to help me with the tree. It was quite heavy because I was sure to keep plenty of dirt with it.
I put the tree on this large plastic drop cloth, and we managed to get it through 40 yards of dense woodland, and onto the trailer. It was too tall and unmanageable to get the top of it into the back of SUV, so I sat in the back seat with the window down, and held on to the top of the tree. We went very slowly, driving the one mile back home. Joe helped me get the tree to the back yard and while I completed planting it (had to dig the hole larger) Joe went for the firewood.
Maggie enjoyed watching and supervising both of us.
Here is a look at the tree once I was done planting it. You can see that it is quite tall.
And this is a view of it from up on the deck. It gives good cover to the birds coming and going to the feeders near by. I really hope this one survives. It is my third attempt to transplant one. I got a lot more roots with this one.
I stayed out working in the yard another few hours before 'calling it a day.' 
My attempt at fixing dinner didn't go well, but we ate and Joe didn't complain.
We watched two episodes of Blue Bloods as usual, and then I was into bed to read, with three of the cats joining me.
Friday 5/1 (May Day) - an ancient festival of Spring, but also known in many countries as International Workers' Day (or Labor Day) is commemorated on May 1st every year. In the U.S. we celebrate it with the express purpose of welcoming in a change of season. This day was also the first day of Phase 1 of the Reopening Strategy in TN.
Fairfield Glade's five golf courses and both marinas were now open. I went to a ladies picnic (or summit meeting as they call these gatherings) at Dartmoor beach and Joe golfed at Druid.
There were nine of us ladies (all from the pool) total and it was great to sit and listen and chat with them. I enjoyed catching up with them and hearing their Covid 19 and Stay at Home stories.
Our 'summit meeting' lasted 2½ hours. When I got home and let Maggie out of the mancave, she joined all four cats in the sun in the living room.
Feeling the need to get active, but not feeling energized or motivated enough to work in the yard, I took Maggie for a long walk. This is a view of the new road route at Robinhood park, leading into the intersection on Peavine.
We walked along Lake Catherine for a bit and I caught a quick photo of these turtles sunning before they slipped into the water once spotting us.
We walked along the side of Peavine, on the newly packed gravel where the widening will occur. At the top of the hill, where the four way stop is, the road is going to be lower than the existing road.
This photo was taken looking back down from where we had been walking.
We made our way over to Mirror Lake so Maggie could cool off and get a drink.
Here is a look at the amphitheater being built. Next summer, the blasts will once again be held here at Mirror Lake. There is to be a flat area in front of the stage where we can dance. Who knows when, or if the Blasts will occur this summer.
Joe grilled hotdogs for dinner and I read until an early (8:30) bedtime.
None of us really know what the future holds but we can all be fairly certain that there will be a new normal.
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