Let's Get Caught Up, Shall We?

Oh, fer crying out loud.  Now Blogger has gone and changed the posting format.  I hope this all comes out the way it usually does...

This started out as a bunch of butterfly blocks from a guild Block Of The Month.  Whoever won the blocks donated them back to the guild.  I thought (?) I had given all the guild donation quilt stuff to the new chair of those projects, but apparently my organizational skills are not what they should be.

I had a cute lilac print in my stash that worked well with the blocks.  I needed to add some of the little antennae to a few blocks.  The back is a girly flannel, printed with a shoe design.  You'll have to take my word for that. 😀

Here's a four-patch posie quilt done by one of the Binbrook Guild members.  I led a demo station at the February meeting and this gal either had hers already pieced at home or was inspired to get one made after seeing the demo...I'm not sure which.

Looks great though, eh?

The same quiltmaker owns this.  She made this in a class I taught many years ago.  Her setting is different from the pattern, but it looks good - I like it!

Here's the sour cream coffee cake I mentioned in my last post.  I still have a tub of sour cream in the fridge so I may have to make another one of these.  Note to self:  For Gawd's Sake Woman!  Cut it in half and put some in the freezer instead of eating the whole thing in the space of a week!

Here's my Covid Journal up to May 22nd.

5/4 Worldwide 3.5 million cases and 274,000 deaths. Considering that situation occurred over four to five months, the numbers are mind boggling.  Canada 59,474 cases with 3,774 deaths. The U.S. has 1.1 million cases, 67,000 deaths. Dr. Birx is seemingly against the reopen protests because of the danger of virus transmission. The Republican-dominant Senate is reopening today, while the Democrat-dominant  House of Representatives is staying closed. The U.S. estimate on number of deaths has gone up to 100,000. Effective today, Longo's grocery stores (southern Ontario chain) requires all customers to wear a mask. In the U.S. a security guard at a dollar store in Michigan was shot and killed over this policy. Dear God, USA. Will you ever get your shit together?

5/6 Ontario will allow garden centers and hardware stores to fully open this weekend. Low rate hydro will continue until the end of May. Otherwise, emergency orders will stay in place until May 19th. After a failed experiment (on my part) with Zoom, I had a practice session with a willing friend and figured out what my audio problem was. Now I'm ready for the next Zoom birthday party which is planned for next week. Fyi, Zoom is no better than Messenger video chat (imho) although the paid version has a lot of features. Customer porch dropoff today - we managed an in-person chat 70 feet apart.

5/7 Donned my mask and made a grocery run for milk, veggies and fruit. Made a great score with a tub of Lysol wipes. Woo hoo. Whoops! One of Trump's valets tested positive yesterday.  Hamilton reporting 474 cases and 23 deaths.  Haldimand is at 196 cases with 30 deaths.

5/8 Mike Pence's press secretary tested positive. I was up around 5 again this morning (two days in a row, grrr). Early morning scrolling through my IG feed...those recipes look too good. So, this afternoon I made a sour cream coffee cake, a la Barefoot Contessa. Two hours later I got a message from a friend offering us some of the cinnamon rolls that she'd made. Well sure! We'll eat them too!  Here is a link to a news article outlining how the White House buried the CDC'S  guidelines for reopening.

 https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/cdc-report-reopen-white-house-1.5562558

5/9 Mother nature is on a tear...freezing temps and SNOW. Fuddle duddle. Ontario gov't is permitting education workers to voluntarily & temporarily move over to the health care sector, with wages & benefits continuing.

5/10 A Quebec based Cargill meat plant will close...64 workers are now positive. U.S. Coronavirus Task Force- three members in self quarantine due to exposure. Dr. Fauchi NIAID Director, Dr. Richfield Director of the CDC, and Dr. Hahn FDA Commissioner.

5/11 Here is a clip from the news: But the director of the University of Washington institute that created a White House-endorsed coronavirus model said the moves by states to reopen businesses "will translate into more cases and deaths in 10 days from now." Dr. Christopher Murray of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation said states where cases and deaths are going up more than expected include Illinois, Arizona, Florida and California.
And another: China, where the pandemic began in December, was the first country to reopen factories and other businesses after declaring the disease under control in March even as infections rise and controls are tightened in some other countries.  However, a spokesperson for China's National Health Commission says a rise in newly confirmed cases is a growing concern.  "In the past 14 days, there were seven provinces reporting new confirmed local cases," Mi Feng told reporters at a briefing on Monday. In Ontario, bad, bad Doug Ford entertained his daughters - who do NOT live with him - on Mother's Day. That’s against all your own rules there, Dougie.

5/12 This morning's news is reporting that today Dr. Fauchi will caution about a rushed reopening of the economy - which is at odds with Trump's urgent demands. Canadian premiers in BC and Ontario want the borders to stay closed. Me too!

5/18 We had LifeLabs come to the house and do our bloodwork.  We’re both overdue and we have a doctor’s appointment scheduled in a couple days.

May 19 Ontario schools are staying closed until at least September.

5/20 Virtual doctor’s appointment for DH and I.  Our doctor passed away in February but his sons are all doctors, and they are taking over his patient files.

5/22 Canada 82,480 with 6,342 deaths. Ontario 24,628 with 2,100 deaths. Daily cases in Ontario have been going up for the last 10 days - Mother's Day?

Here's ME, PERSONAL news:

• My back/hip are giving me no end of grief.  The virtual visit with the new doctor has given me some relief in the way of "better living through chemicals".  I'm on a stronger anti-inflammatory but I still don't know what's going on.  It could be a flare-up from the car accident 20+ years ago when I was bedridden for the better part of three months with a herniated disc.  Up to yesterday, the longest I've been able to work at a  single stretch is 2 1/2 hours.  However, that's up from ONE hour a couple weeks ago.
• Much of the veggie garden is planted, and I noticed yesterday that the beans have started to sprout.  I'm picking asparagus every day, which gives us a meal's worth every two days.  I've already got a couple loads in the freezer for winter soup.  The past couple of days I have also been picking lettuce.  Every year I start a few lettuce plants and get them out super early under little cloches, and every year the plants that sprout all by themselves are ready for early picking at the same time.
• Last Saturday a crown on one of my molars decided to break.  Half of it flew the coop but the other half is staying put (so far).  Dental clinics are still all closed, so I phoned the office to see what message they'd left for patients on their voice mail.  I was directed to email the dentist, so I did that with a description of my problem.  She replied within an hour:  My office like almost all other dental offices has been ordered close during this outbreak and all of our PPEs have been ordered to be donated already. At this point I can prescribe you some pain medications, or perhaps some antibiotics if needed. However, last night, we were sent an email from Royal college of Dental Surgeons permitting us to reopen partially to treat urgent dental needs, we are getting prepared for that purchasing new PPE and equipment, I think  we are ready to screen our emergency patients by the end of next week, and then book for treatments asap after that if you could wait until then. If you feel you need  to be seen sooner, there are some emergency dental clinics that are open in Hamilton. I will attach a list of them with this email, if you have to get a tooth fixed, it needs to be classified as an  “emergency” care, so, please,  contact them so they can evaluate the situation and let me know if I can help you in any ways, regards, Since my tooth didn't hurt, that was all fine with me.  I had my emergency assessment yesterday and will hopefully get the replacement crown this coming week.  That is all dependent on dental clinics getting the go-ahead - because the tooth does not hurt and is not infected it's not considered an emergency.  My Tuesday appointment may, or may not, happen...we shall see.
• Since I was already out, after the dentist I went to the bank, the liquor store, the pharmacy, and the garden center.  I came home kind of stressed.
• I'm r.e.a.l.l.y. tired of the bad news.  Now the USA is basically on fire because another bunch of cops murdered a black man.  Dear God, when will it stop?  I am honestly starting to get depressed, and that is not like me.  Maybe I should order some new shoes.
  

Cozy House Quilt & Covid Update #3 (including more tidbits from that whackjob Donald Trump)

This is such a cozy House block quilt, with the addition of Courthouse Steps blocks.

Homespun fabrics, quilted with a very traditional Baptist Fan design.

I always love pieced backs.

Here's one of my favorite spring scenes.  There were four honeybees buzzing around in there with those cute little jonquils.

COVID JOURNAL #3 (4/20 - 5/2)

4/20 Ordered 10 m elastic @ Ann's Fabrics, pickup at their back door. New projections for Ontario: 20,000 total cases (at 11,184 today) . Declaration of emergency extended to May 12.
4/22 Up at 330, baking muffins by 430. 

 1-800-Luke came by and picked up the package we had for him from the vet, AND dropped off a lasagne for us, yum.   Finished the masks for the food bank. Ordered another produce box for Friday pickup. Ontario has now requested military assistance for the long term care facilities. ..so sad.
4/23 Went OUT today although I still only wore yoga pants...to the Food Bank to deliver masks, made a bank machine deposit,  hardware store to pick up 2.2 kg chieftain seed potatoes, and then Hagersville for truck parts. As we drove past Hewitt's Dairy I was lamenting that we couldn't stop for lunch on the way back. After lunch (at home ) I called around looking for more seed potatoes for the garden and was only able to find one more bag so I prepaid that and we'll pick it up tomorrow. Heard the news that Doug Ford's m.i.l. has been diagnosed positive - at 95 she is unlikely to survive.
4/24 -OMG. Donald Trump has suggested consuming /injecting disinfectants. Fuck me. HOW did this man get elected and why has he not been put in the looney bin?  Later on he walked that back and said he was being sarcastic.  Um, if you believe that bullshit you should watch the news clips - he was being completely serious. Today's $25 produce pickup included 1 romaine lettuce, 1 cabbage, 1 broccoli,  1 sweet potato,  1 box tomatoes,  9 mini cucumbers,  1 cantaloupe,  8 kiwi,  8 apples, 1 box raspberries, 1 mango, 1 bag red grapes. Picked up the prepaid bag of potatoes, and scored three more at the produce pickup. Drove past Costco -dh wanted to stop but I refused to line up in what appeared to be a looong line.
4/25- Province reporting 14,000 cases and 900 deaths. Community gardens are allowed to open, following physical distance and sanitization guidelines. Pay increases for front line workers in various health care settings.
4/26 Ontario schools will stay closed until May 29. I made 2 dozen cinnamon buns. Why, why, why? Gave a pan of 6 to the neighbours, put 6 in the freezer, and hid a pan of 6 before dh puts himself in a sugar coma. 

4/27 A clip from CNN news regarding that ridiculous (!) president and his "disinfectant" suggestions:

I went to grocery store, last hour before closing. Not busy.  I was the only person wearing a mask.
4/29 Zoom birthday party for great-niece tonight. During a porch quilt dropoff today I stuck my head out the living room window and chatted with a live body! Planted 2 lettuce and 2 cabbage under cloches.
4/30 - trimmed my bangs.
5/1 Got a takeout pizza for DH's birthday.  Ontario will allow garden centers to open starting Monday May 4th for curbside pickup or delivery only, and they must maintain social distancing. I guess no one told Doug Ford that they were already doing that. Golf courses may prep their greens, but cannot open yet. Automatic and self-serve car washes may open too...thank goodness, 'cause my beast is filthy!  Ontario has 17,119 cases and about 1,200 deaths (541 have been  in LTC homes). The province is running at over 400 new cases every day.
5/2 Picked up an order of hamburger and roasts from  a local farmer that should see us through the rest of the year.  Absolutely AWFUL news coming out of the meat packing plants in Alberta...921 employees at Cargill have been diagnosed with covid19.

I feel so sorry for our U.S. neighbours.  I would be embarrassed to admit that my country was being led by the likes of Donald Trump.  I sure hope that our federal government has the good sense to keep our borders closed, in light of the fact the U.S. has decided that nail polish and tattoos are so important that all those people have to go back to work.  Gosh, I don't even have that in my journal, about the protest rallies happening (which is also leaking up here - there have been a couple of rallies in Toronto by idiots demanding that we open everything back up).  I'm grateful that I'm in a position to stay home and limit outings for as long (hopefully) as will be necessary.  Although, I did see that some of the medical experts are suggesting that we could be in this boat for two years.  Yikes!