Saturday, March 21, 2020

Spring on Friday

WPSH Alt C: View from my front door

It's been a cloudy, overcast day, today.  But, no rain and my asthma is better.  The photo above was taken yesterday afternoon, when we had some sunshine.

I called friend R this morning; I knew she would be at home because her place of work is closed for the duration.  Spoke with her for a bit.

Then, I called the Temple and left a message to ask the monks how they are keeping.  They usually depend on people to provide them with alms and I don't know if any arrangements have been made for their meals during this time of sheltering in place.  People usually bring stocks of supplies to the Temple when they visit and they have a fully equipped kitchen on site.  Later in the evening, the abbot of the Temple called me back.  He said that people have been bringing them meals and leaving them on a table that it placed outside the main sermon hall and the monks take the food in and warm it up.  He also said that, if things reach a point where people can't bring them meals, they have the basics such as rice and lentils and can cook themselves a meal.

I debated between making French toast and milk rice for brunch, today, and in the end, I had neither!  Instead, I had lunch!  Freshly cooked rice, leftover shrimp curry, and some of the green beans I cooked yesterday.  I cooked enough rice for a couple of meals.  I can always add some milk to a portion of it to make milk rice for breakfast, tomorrow.  Later, I wasn't very hungry for dinner, so I had a roast beef sandwich and I'm having a bowl of blackberries (sprinkled with some sugar, I admit) for dessert (midnight snack!)

I did my 20 minutes of walking outside, in the late afternoon.  It was still cloudy and there wasn't any sunshine, but, it wasn't raining and I got some fresh air.  I opened the windows to air out the house, too. 

When M came to tend to the garden, he brought me two individual cups of yogurt!  He had brought me one, earlier, too, when he brought the bags of cat litter!  I told him he shouldn't give all his food supplies to me, but, he said I was family!  Aw.  I made him a cup of tea, in return!  He planted the succulents cuttings he brought over last week, thinned out the peaches that are forming on the little tree, raked up the front garden, and mowed the grass at the back.  The back yard, which was looking a bit overgrown after all the rain, is nicely manicured, now.  It will get watered, next week, when it rains, again!

A couple of my cousins called in the evening.  One of them has a daughter who is a doctor at one of the hospitals in Boston, dealing with the virus outbreak.  His other daughter was doing aid work in Rwanda and managed to catch one of the last flights out of the country before their airports closed; she and her family are in quarantine for the next two weeks.  I'm so touched that he took the time to call and check on me. 

I did some knitting and practiced the piano in the evening.  Later, I video chatted with my daughter.

Today, I am grateful for:
- A cloudy, but, dry day.
- Being able to walk, outside.
- M sharing his cups of yogurt with me
- Phone calls and video chats
- My yarn stash

Today's joyful activity was video chatting with my daughter.

How was your Friday?  What are your plans for Saturday and the weekend?



16 comments:

  1. It was kind of you to remember to monks at the Temple and good to hear that they are still being given gifts of food.

    I'm glad that your cousin's daughter was able to get back home. My friend Julie is back, friend M is on a plane as I write this and L is due to fly out of Egypt later today. That'll be everyone home then except for my neighbour who left two days ago for a month's holiday in Japan - I don't know his reason for going but it's a very risky choice and even more so taking into account that his wife at home is disabled and not well at the best of times.

    My main task for today is to download and set up the app I need so that choir practice can continue online on Monday. Apart from that, I am continuing to rest and recover, although I am thankfully feeling much better by today.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Eileen. I'm glad your friends are either back or on their way back from their travels. Wonder what made your neighbor decide to travel at this time; I hope he gets back safely and his wife will be OK while he's away!

      Hope you are able to download and set up the choir app! I'm glad you'll still be able to practice your singing. Glad, too, that you are feeling better, today. Continue to rest and recover.

      Delete
  2. A positive day. What stands out for me is you being referred to as family by M. That is just so lovely. He clearly thinks a lot of you, as I'm sure you do of him. XX

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It really was a good day, Jules. I've known M for over 27 years; he's my late neighbor's nephew and he was very fond of my mother. My daughter thinks of him as an uncle; he's been more of a constant in her life than any of her actual uncles!

      Delete
  3. How beautiful your front yard (and neighborhood) looks! Andrea

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your neighborhood looks so pretty in the sunshine as does your front yard. Your flowers are doing well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Live and Learn. Yes, the flowers are doing well. They love all the rain we've been having!

      Delete
  5. It sounds like things are going very well with you, Bless. Life is wonderful here, in spite of the pandemic. I am cozy at home, knitting socks, cooking, reading on the front porch, and planting fruit trees. There is lots of work in the garden to do, and that keeps me busy. I planted lettuce seeds and cilantro yesterday.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Things are going well, here, too, Stephenie. Sounds like you are busy and getting a lot done! I'm considering growing some vegetables, myself, although, between the garden cats (who dig in and like to sleep in my planting beds) and the mourning doves (who like to eat the seedlings!), it's hard to grow anything!

      Delete
  6. Your yard looks wonderful with your flowers.
    Happy spring!

    M sounds like such a nice person. I picture him as a calm wise man. Kind of like the teacher in Karate Kid.

    :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Debra. Happy spring to you, too. M is a very nice person and a very good friend. :)

      Delete
  7. That's a beautiful street you live on and your flowers are so pretty. That was kind of you to check on the monks at the Temple.
    Well I think we are getting used to the idea of staying put, and I'm thankful that we live where it is easy to get out and walk. There are few cars on our road, sometimes I can get to the mailbox and back without seeing one at all. If someone comes by we are on opposite sides of the road. It was tricky to get to the road today as two areas of the driveway were ice! I shuffled along and used my walking pole. I'm looking forward to it melting for good, and later on, the spring flowers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Bushlady. The monks are like family, I've known them for so long and my mother used to tutor them in English. They've always been there for me.

      I'm glad you are getting used to the idea of staying home. Be careful when you go to collect your mail and on your walks - those icy patches can be treacherous! Hoping spring and the flowers arrive soon for you. :)

      Delete
  8. I love the sense of community you have - everybody from the monks to your gardener friend, to your family. It sounds like you have a great support system!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Sharon. I am blessed to have caring family and friends and I try my best to be supportive of them, too. :)

      Delete

Thank you for visiting my blog and commenting. Your comments are much appreciated. Please comment in English. Thank you.