A blustery Friday afternoon...

  And these days, getting to go to the grocery store IS a celebration.  sigh...  I have been going out roughly every 2.5 weeks to pick up little things I've run out of...mostly fresh vegetables. And probably more because I'm a little stir crazy than because there are things I can't live without. Back in late March, I was excited to be able to just shelter in place and stay home. Now it's nearly mid-May and my mind has changed. lol  


   I have been canning things like beans (Navy and pintos), chicken breasts (whole and cubed), pork loin and roast beest.  I have been baking bread-- I have 2 loaves of sourdough in the making now.  What a process that is !  I hadn't made it in so long that I forgot.  Took 6 days for the starter to be ready to use, feeding it daily.  Then the day it's ready, you mix up about half of the flour and water. Let it sit an hour.  Then mix in the starter. Then let it raise for 4 hours and then into the fridge overnight. Get it out in the morning, add the rest of the flour, sugar and salt. Make into a smooth ball of dough by kneading it for about 15 minutes. Then back into the bowl. Raise for one hour and back in the fridge for 6 hours. Then out on the counter, make into loaves and let rise about 4 hours.  HOLY HELL !!!!  At 3 o'clock this afternoon, it will come out of the fridge to be made into loaves.  It will not be ready for supper.  Sourdough bread should cost a billion dollars a loaf.  Just sayin'...

  Himself needs a new phone I guess.  The one I bought him on Amazon does not work right, and between him and the phone it's a freaking nightmare. So when he gets off work this afternoon, I will meet up with him in town and we will visit the phone store. Fun times.  He gets so frustrated with it, and there ARE problems with the phone.  And him.  lol


  I just finished eating a plate of cold baked beans and leftover meatloaf for my first meal of the day. (It's 2:30 pm)  I am not hungry.  I am not sleeping well. I am not my stellar self.  lol   Mostly it's only me and the dogs that have to deal with me, so at least there's that.  Today I have had several phone calls from friends, led an online aa meeting in a town about 2.5 hours north of me (ain't technology grand ??).,  filled bird feeders again-- we're having a cold snap and they are eating like crazy.  We have a young raccoon that's been visiting  and last night he knocked a feeder to the ground, so I relocated that one and filled it too.Sometimes in the late evening when we're watching tv, he sits on the porch rail and looks in at us.  Drives the youngest dog to distraction. The older dogs-- not so much.  lol

  I got word yesterday that a dear old friend of mine died from Covid-19.  She was in a nursing home  and had dementia... and I hope she wasn't sick too long or too bad.  She was a delightful old woman when I met her some 25 years ago.  The last time we spoke was about 4 years ago I guess, when she first went into the facility. She was grateful to be there.  She was an ex-nun and a rabid anti-Catholic.  She had been a teacher for years and when she refused to teach the doctrine they "let her go"  She was put out without a penny to her name. When I met her, she was living in a little trailer on someone's property that they let her use.  Lots of us that knew her would drop by with gifts of groceries and gift cards and wood for her wood stove. She had a head full of snow white hair that she cut herself. With cuticle scissors, she told me.  lol  She wore it short and spiky. She was an amazing woman that I was blessed to know. This brings the number of covid related deaths in my life to 3. Enough.

  Well, I probably need to go put pants on to head into town. I am partially dressed, but wearing long johns right now.  lol   Himself told me he is working tomorrow too. 2 days of OT looks good in the bank, but I don't want him getting over tired. He was young when I got him, but now he's 60 and there was a guy at his job that was exposed and didn't tell anyone, just kept coming to work. Dumbass.  They closed the plant the next day and had a team come in to sanitize everything. So far no one else has gotten sick, but I am concerned. We have masks and gloves and I never go out without them.


  So... that's the story from here on Honeysuckle Hill. Stay well, my friends...and be safe.