The Melt Is On

Yesterday and today we had plenty of melting,

it was warm enough to spend some time outside.

Yesterday we watched as the water came down

the pasture from the field to the north ~ it 

didn't take long as it moved along through

the snow.

Today the water moved freely through the

path it had made.

The last couple of days have been so 

pleasant, since we are both home we did

get a walk in during lunch both days and

everybody (animals included) are 

soaking up the heat from the sun.

Reality - A Diary

Last week ended with a Stay Home MN 

order by Governor Walz for two weeks - so we 

will continue with what we are doing 

for another two weeks (we believe it 

will be longer).

We have been checking in on parents (L) by

phone since they are trying their best to 

stay in.  I wave every day when feeding

the horses ~ We plan to visit as soon as 

it warms up and they can visit outside

on the patio.

We have been checking in on my parents

who are busy on the farm.  We visited them

yesterday outside (sitting in the sun) ~ they

are doing well and seem to be taking

precautions.

Last week of work was very interesting for

me, there weren't as many changes as

the week before but it was obvious that

staff is feeling the tension and concerns

of uncertainty.  There are more people now

working from home, kids are home doing

homework and trying to keep busy and

jobs are uncertain.   I have co-workers who

have family restaurants that are shutdown,

husbands are filing for unemployment and many

have family on the front lines all over 

the United States.

This week we learned how to FB video with

family members.  We are used to doing Alexa

with Grands #2 & 4 but with this we were

all able to visit at one time.   It was a lot of

fun! We have missed all of them (it has been

a month since we have seen them).

This week we will have two offices at home ~

there are some rules :)  good thing I was

here first   :) 

I continue to listen to some of the live reports

from the MN Health Department - the numbers

caused by Covid-19 are increasing which isn't

the news we want to hear but is reality.  There 

are so many reports and so many opinions 

we have started to avoid some of the news.

Stay safe everybody ~ 

Snow * Rock

Yesterday, Saturday the 28th, the Rock is 
clear of snow but still surrounded by snow.

Today, Sunday the 29th, the water is
starting to run in the pasture... 

It was a really nice day ~ we were able to
sit outside and visit, I got in a nice
walk around the house.

Now we are ready for the coming week~

Reality - A Diary

I have been trying to keep my blogging

for the most part positive and upbeat

during this time.

The coronavirus is affecting everybody,

nobody is exempt and it is something

that nobody to this extent has

experienced before - it is

changing our lives.

I want my grandchildren to be able to

read about this in the years to come.

This is our experience ~ so I suppose

a little bit of "Grandma's Diary"

Feb 18, 2020

About this time we would have been

starting to pack and preparing for being

gone on our vacation to New

Iberia, Louisiana to visit my sister, Jessica,

and family.

We had been planning this trip for some time 

and the plan had always been to drive and take

our time either going down or coming back

to do some other sightseeing.  The plan was

to go so that we would catch some portion

of Mardi Gras.

Our daughter and son-in-law decided to fly in

to New Orleans and spend a long weekend

with us.  We would see them for a 

couple of days before they

would fly back home.  I remember they got

really good flights waiting on purchasing tickets,

we discussed whether we should fly or drive.

The coronavirus was being talked about, I want 

to say that there wasn't much that we saw on it

accept the news stories in other countries (the virus

started in China) and the cruise ships had been 

having some trouble with their guests getting 

sick.   I do recall talking with the kids and they

were packing disinfectant wipes.

There was discussion on visiting New Orleans

and the kids were going to be flying in and out

of there - it was decided that Mardi Gras was too

busy of a time and we would do that on

a different trip.   

** January 21, 2020 - first case confirmed

in the State of Washington.

We started traveling by car on my birthday, 

February 21st ~ I had plenty of hand wipes

and even some disinfectant spray with that

I used at the hotels we stayed at (remember

in Minnesota it was still flu season and we

have learned a lot over the years to try

and take some precautions).  For us it has

become habit to use the hand wipes when

out and about, so that was nothing new.

We left Louisiana heading on our trip home

on February 26, 2020 (looking back on

reports at this time there were now apprx.

60 confirmed cases in the United States ~ we

don't recall reading or hearing of any cases in 

the areas we were going through.  We do

remember touring Graceland and they handed

us ipads and headsets for the self tour (we did 

take a wipe and cleaned our ipads).

We arrived home two days later  ~  went

snowmobiling that weekend and the 

next work week we caught up on dentist

appointments.

I also shopped at Costco and stocked up

on things we needed ~ the store was just

a usual busy.

March 6, 2020 - the very next weekend 

Minnesota had its' first confirmed case 

of Covid-19 and it was an individual 

who traveled on a cruise ship.

The words coronavirus and Covid-19 were

becoming a part of our vocabulary.   We were

given updates daily.

This week the news really caught our

attention when sports events started

canceling, Disneyland, then concerts and so on.

Minnesota Governor Walz issued a "Remain

in Place" order on March 13, 2020 and 

schools were going to be closed preparing

for remote teaching.

Louisiana closed schools just a few days

before this and my sister, Jessica, was also 

preparing to teach remotely.

We hadn't been thinking about it but now as
we look back we now had surpassed the
two weeks - folks traveling have been told
that symptoms can show up within the
next two weeks.   We are happy that we
got home when we did.

March 16, 2020 - was the beginning of a crazy

week.   My Hubby (Grandpa) was no longer

doing his job going into homes  but keeping busy

with other duties - my job was crazy with 

changes to how we do things which

continued all week.   The bars and restaurants

were closed to dining in but now do take-out

and drive-up.

Our medical field is all working, studying and

concentrating on slowing down this virus, I 

would like to see us beat it but realistically we

need to try and slow it down.

This first week was a just a taste of the times

we are headed into, everybody is attempting

to adjust at home, at work and those that

have school responsibilities.  Is any of it easy?

Definitely not.

One thing that is ironic is we are usually

stressing that screen time should be limited

and here we are, everybody needs screen time

to function now for both work and school.

This has gotten way too long, I kept thinking (no

hoping) that it was going to end earlier than

later....  this is the real thing ~ I want to

put some of what we are doing and the

feelings down on paper since so much

has happened this month of March.

Hang in there ~  I remind myself "this too will

pass" and we will come out on the other side.

to be continued....

Snow * Rock

Maybe today the Rock will be 

completely free of snow.... 

 March 12, 2020

March 25, 2020 

The sun is giving off some much needed

heat starting to warm things up - the

rock is always the first to be uncovered.

Mr. Al

We learned about this tree known as Mr. Al -- a huge

oak tree in Louisiana. 

He lives at Jefferson Terrace Blvd. and State Hwy 90 
in New Iberia, Louisiana.

Mr. Al is a 150+ year old oak tree.   In 2011, the tree
was moved to make room for a frontage road.  Mr.
Al was moved 1.5 miles to his new home at an
expense over $300,000.  (yes over $300,000) - he
has his own water well.

He has done well in his new location, survived
Hurricane Isaac, some tropical storms and
Louisiana's heat.

The oak trees are somewhat protected - it 
seems when I researched that it is more of a
City Ordinance in City Limits that has
some protection of the old oaks.  We heard that
if a tree's roots were in the way of a sidewalk
you would build around the root or allow room
for it.   They are very large and grow
quite a canopy.  Some are decorated with
the spanish moss which grows and hangs 
from the trees.

Quite a story Mr. Al.

Road Trip South - #5

So much has changed in our world in the last

month.   This will be the last post on

our vacation in the State of Louisiana. 

We celebrated Fat Tuesday (2/25) ~ a full day

of parades in Houma, Louisiana put on by

two different Krewes.

The last day, Wednesday, we toured the

Shadows on the Teche, a plantation home

built in 1834 with so much history going

back to plantations, slavery and the Civil War.

Sugar Cane was and still is the crop

that is raised there.

The home is now surrounded by the downtown

business area,

in fact the little visitor's center is on one side 

of the street and the home on the bayou side.

Interesting to see that the main floor rooms 

were only accessed by outside doors not an

inner hallway.

-----

This was the kitchen on the ground floor (very

small) since the actual cooking/baking was

done at an outside area (it is too hot to have

it inside). 

Many homes were destroyed and burned

during the Civil War ~ this home was

left standing.

The Bayou Teche - to us Minnesotans it looks

like a river but we are told it is not a river

 but a waterway that moves very slowly.

We enjoyed our tour with our hosts:  my sister,

brother-in-law and niece.

Followed by a very nice lunch at Victor's - the

food was wonderful!

my hubby and I

Spring and Crafting ~ Cricut

We are celebrating the First day of Spring,

well inside (we are waiting for the weather

to warm up) - we have been seeing

temperatures in the teens (a little

chilly for this time of year).

Being "Stay-At-Home Minnesota" is

being a little bit of a challenge (but easy

enough since it is just hubby and I - we don't

have to keep children busy just ourselves). 

I have been doing some crafting and getting

some projects done that have been just

an idea.  Also thinking about some little

spring cleaning projects.

I do have to say I am missing "all of my grands"

but we can do this!

This little block sign was a St. Patrick's

greeting for our daughter-in-law ~ the

Irish one in our family.

This wreath was made with burlap ribbon

and the little muslin flowers were made by

my Mom for daughter's wedding.  We used

them as decorations all over so have quite

a few of them.   I have been looking for

the perfect project.

The burlap is wrapped through a heart

shaped form ~ I have a round shaped form

I am going to use next.

Hello Spring ~ painted and personalized

with flowers added.

Spring will be here soon right?

Road Trip South #4

Up Next

to continue blogging on our Road Trip

South (which was the end of February). 

Hubby and I spent one of the mornings at

Jefferson Island and the Rip Van Winkle

Gardens.  It is the off season for the 

gardens (but I bet they are beautiful 

and full of color soon).

We were greeted by a peacock and then

several more and some other birds. 

They are beautiful ~ there were so many that

Hubby started calling them turkeys (at home in

Minnesota, the wild turkeys are pretty abundant)

Jefferson Island is a wooded island on a 

prehistoric salt dome.  The mansion looks out over

Lake Peigneur and the Rip Van Winkle Gardens

border the mansion property.

The island story  - Jefferson Island was a salt
mine, the story is:    Texaco was drilling in the
area for oil and by mistake went too far down
underneath the lake.  The incident drained the
 entire lake like a whirlpool consuming barges, drills
and 65 acres of land.  The lake was a 10-foot
freshwater body of water now it is a 200-foot lake.

A chimney still remains as a reminder 
of the terrible day.

The Mansion 

Built in 1870 as a winter retreat for the

stage actor Rip Van Winkle - it is listed

on the National register of historic places.

On this trip we toured three different homes
and for its time this was by far the fanciest
and most elegant. 

The mansion is surrounded by 350 year old
oak trees (more on these old oak trees
in another post).

~~~~~~~~~~

That evening we attended the "Finals" 
at the Club.  Our brother-in-law was in
the finals winning 3 out of 4 nights
in his class.

This picture sure has a story - yes the people

in the back are laughing at us!

The "Screen Face" competition

The costumes are all handmade (BIL made
his own with some help from his club --
surprising most of the costumes are put
together with glue)

The following are club members and
their costumes.

Little tidbits we learned:

The feather dresses (are carried with a metal

brace that is put over your shoulders - very

heavy); causing bruises on the gals.

One of the ladies costumes was purchased

second hand from New Orleans and it was

$1,000.

The costumes are stored year round in a

climate controlled storage unit.

This is a picture of all of the members - almost every 
class or division they had a winner!  

What a Krewe!!

A sidenote:   it doesn't seem like we were just on
vacation.  It seems like the coronavirus
followed us home (this isn't true) but in the last almost
three weeks every state we drove through has 
cases.   Little blessings are important right now.

Unsettling....

Our world since I last posted seems to

be turned upside... by coronavirus or covid-19.

We are trying to stay informed watching "live"
news reports and taking some reporting
and many facebook posts lightly.   Is it
concerning?    Very.

Our family is:

1) doing our best to stay healthy and taking 
some precautions such as continuing with
handwashing, sanitizing (it is still flu
season here in Minnesota)

2) trying to limit our trips grocery shopping
so stocking up on a few things.   We have
three packages of toilet paper and two boxes
of kleenex (no need to hoard the paper
products).

I was surprised that my late night shopping
trip (to avoid as many people as possible) the
toilet paper aisle was pretty empty, the egg
supply was almost empty, the water
products were gone and in the vitamin
aisle the Vitamin C and anything that was
labeled immune support was gone.

3)  We are making some different plans 
although this is a pretty down time 
(snowmobiling is done and it is too cold
to do much outside).   Spring cleaning is
starting early - I have spent part of my
day cleaning today.

The numbers of those confirmed is rising
as they say will happen and each state
is taking action.  

Work related things are still going along
as usual with suggestions and some
policies changing (actually updating since
the last time they were used in 2009 for
the Swine flu).  This coming week maybe
we will see some other changes. 

One thing is for sure ~ things are 
changing and evolving rapidly.

In all of this, it is a bit sad ~ change is
never easy and we have never seen
something like this...

Stay aware, be healthy and enjoy
some down time. 

I am working on some crafting and
reading a book that has been
waiting to have its' cover opened.

Take care.

wondering what spring will bring....