Elephants & Gardening & More Covid (and a little stupid humour)

 This elephant was great to work on.

All ruler work, as you can see, except for a few bits of tusks & toes, a wrinkly nose, and a shaggy tail.

This was pieced by the same gal who did this Unicorn quilt.

It made me think of the crazy elephant jokes we heard on our honeymoon, from another honeymooning couple at Blue Mountain.

GARDENING

After crabbing about mending hubby's pants a few weeks ago, the Universe decided to even the score.

Uh huh.  These are MY pants.  Sigh.

I decided to get all girly with my repair. 🌻

Bloodroot, which is alway nice and early.  

A bit of a change from daffodils which I also love.

The big news for me today - the asparagus is up!!!  Tomorrow I'll make a pot of soup from the last frozen packet of the 2020 crop, then it will be time to start pulling out all the recipes for fresh cuttings.  Mmm mmm...

COVID-19 UPDATE

WORLDWIDE:  140 million cases, 3 million deaths, 832,800 new cases April 16/21

USA:   32.3 million cases, 580,000 deaths, 82,000 new cases yesterday

CANADA: 1,106,000 cases, 23,541 deaths, 9,346 new yesterday

ONTARIO: 413,000 cases, 7,698 deaths, 4,362 new yesterday.  Ontario has been reporting record high numbers this past week. 

HAMILTON:  15,146 cases, 344 deaths, 247 new yesterday - a new record high.

I've been stewing and steaming most of the day over the Ontario Government's handling of the pandemic this year.  Yesterday the Premier announced the 4 week stay-at-home order would be extended by an additional two weeks, to end on May 20th.  I'm all in favour of this - don't misunderstand me.  But he could have done so much more, and much much earlier.  With the current lockdown, big box stores were finally limited to essential goods only, so apparently Costco and Walmart have cordoned off the fluffy goods we don't really need.  

Hubby and I have gotten our first shots last week, which was such a relief.  But in all honesty, we are in a great position to stay at home and stay out of harm's way.  I feel so badly for essential workers who should have been prioritized for vaccines - the dental hygienist, the grocery store cashier, the day care worker, the assisted living employee, ad nauseum...  And as far as essential goods goes, if we don't have vaccines for the Amazon employees, should Amazon really be open?  Putting their staff and the shipping company employees at risk so we can order a kite, or a set of magic markers?

If I were Doug Ford I would be in a coma by now from lack of sleep.  I truly feel sorry for him having the pandemic drop in his lap, but he has an excellent crew of scientists and medical experts who have advised him and warned him for months about where we were headed.  Because he did not heed their advice we have indeed landed where we don't want to be.

OK - off my soapbox.

STUPID HUMOUR FROM OUR HONEYMOON

Q: How do you get an elephant into a VW?
A: Open the car door, put the elephant inside, close the door.

Q: How do you put an elephant into a fridge?
A: Open the VW door, take the elephant out, close the VW door, open the fridge, put the elephant inside, close the fridge.

Q: How do you get 4 elephants into a Volkswagen?
A: 2 in the front and 2 in the back

Q: How do you know if there are 4 elephants in your fridge?
A: There's a VW parked outside your house.

Jungle Walk, Recipes

 This is definitely the CUTEST quilt I've worked on in quite a while.

Jungle Walk by Harebrained Happenings

Here are a few of the blocks...

Today we are celebrating VALENTINES DAY.  Still locked in with the stay-at-home orders, until Tuesday.  Supper tonight will be leftover roast beef, but I'm making a Chocolate Olive Oil Cake for dessert.  This is a new recipe for me.  The Savour Ontario site (apparently I follow them on Instagram?) has never led me astray, so it will probably be very good.  Assuming I don't forget any ingredients which I know happens to all of us once in a while.

Yesterday, being GALENTINES DAY, I had a lovely two hour video cocktail party with the Beach Girls.  If they'd been here for our annual Winterruption get together I would have shared a large jug of Salted Caramel Martinis, but as it was I made a small jug and hic drank it all myself. 

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT POLITICIANS (not that anyone cares what I think...)

In Ontario, the province is getting opened up starting this coming Tuesday.  The government's plan is to transition the Public Health areas into colour coded zones - I think for two weeks at a time. I'm in Haldimand/Norfolk, which is going back to Orange status.  We are surrounded by Niagara on one side - which is going to Grey (really bad!), and Hamilton on the other side which is going to Red (bad!) - both areas keeping MORE restrictions than us because their situations are much worse than ours.  What that means is, like what happened around Christmas, residents of those restricted zones simply get in their car and drive to a more open zone to get whatever they simply cannot live without, which spreads more infection here into our zone.  So, my request to Hamiltonians and Niagrans:  STAY AWAY FROM HERE.  Please.  And thankyou.  The medical officers of health in most of the province think this whole thing is nuts, because the new variants are spreading and they want the stay-at-home orders to remain in effect for the time being.  But hey, why would the government listen to their experts?  

OK, that covers my thoughts on the Doug Ford Conservative government idiots.  Now I shall move on the the United States.

Yesterday, Donald Trump was exonerated for inciting the riot at the Capitol on January 6th.  I kind of expected that, but I am still shocked.  No more than I was when he was initially elected, though.  They have become a country that willingly elects a man who laughingly, sexually abuses women, makes fun of disabled people, feels justified in paying almost zero taxes, etc.  Now, they have no problem with permitting (arguably) the most powerful man in the world to run roughshod over democracy and encourage the murder of his fellow politicians.  What a sad state of affairs.  I was honestly hoping that with the election of Joe Biden things would turn around but that is not to be.  I would no more travel to the USA again than I would go to Iraq, Nigeria, or North Korea.  Not happening, and I know I'm not alone.  Sigh.

COVID-19 UPDATE

WORLDWIDE:  108.7 million cases, 2.4 million deaths, 310,800 new cases Feb. 13/21

USA:   27.6 million cases, 484,000 deaths, 84,727 new yesterday

CANADA: 825,000 cases, 21,200 deaths, 3,046 new yesterday

ONTARIO: 285,868 cases, 6,693 deaths, 981 new yesterday. The current stay-at-home order is in effect until Feb. 16th.

HAMILTON:  9,830 cases, 275 deaths, 40 new yesterday

Comfort and Blessing Quilt and 2020 Year End Posting

 This was the last custom quilt of the year.  I love working on sampler quilts.  This is Comfort and Blessing by Piecing The Past Quilts.

Lots of s.i.d. with some common elements throughout the blocks.

It's a little easier to see the quilting on the back.

Here's a shot of the borders.

This is such a pretty pic of a sunset on December 10th.

Hmm.  What else?... Christmas was quiet with just DH, Sadie and me.  I had to cook a turkey, which I'd almost forgotten how to do.  Normally 1-800-LUKE takes pity on us and invites us for dinner but this year we all stayed safe in our cocoons.  Although we did have a nice driveway visit with Luke and his wife a few days beforehand.  Oh, I miss hugging people. 😢  New Years Eve tonight will be the same thing - two people and one furbaby.  To celebrate kicking 2020 to the curb we're eating junk - frozen appetizers (along with some veggies - I do have some standards).

New Years Day is normally spent in person with a friend who comes over and sews with me, and then she stays for supper.  This year of course, no go.  We'll stay in our own messy sewing rooms and keep in touch with messenger video chats.  The two of us are always part of a bunch of quilters from Ontario having our New Years Day Sewing Marathons, so lots of emails and photos will be flying back and forth.  I am putting DH in charge of supper.  It will be pork tenderloin in the crockpot, with some kind of veggies and some kind of potatoes - I'm leaving that all up to him.

COVID-19 UPDATE

WORLDWIDE:  83 million cases, 1.8 million deaths, 444,400 new cases yesterday

USA:   19.8 million cases, 343,000 deaths, 229,300 new yesterday

CANADA: 579,000 cases, 15,600 deaths, 7,476 new yesterday

ONTARIO: 182,000 cases, 4,500 deaths, 3,328 new yesterday **record numbers, AGAIN!

HAMILTON:  6,057 cases, 168 deaths, 156 new yesterday

The provincial lockdown didn't happen on Dec. 24th as anticipated.  The Province delayed it until Dec. 26th.  Stupid, stupid, stupid, not that anybody asked my opinion.  The Premier decided to let people "shop" and get together for dinner.  I think he also wanted to let religious people have their church services, since they are a big part of his electoral base, but he didn't say that - that's just my thoughts.

Besides that, the latest asinine behaviour was the Minister of Finance for Ontario.  

Keep in mind that the government of Canada AND Ontario have instructed all of us to stay home and travel ONLY FOR ESSENTIAL REASONS.  So, what does idiot Mr. Phillips do?  He goes on a two week vacation to St. Barts.  AND posts fake videos on his twitter feed to make it look like he's enjoying Christmas at home.  Dickhead.

His boss, Doug Ford, the Premier of the Province, tried to tell us that he didn't know his minister was down there. Huh. But as soon as he found out he told him to come home.  Huh.  However, the next day, Ford has to backtrack and admit that well, yes, he DID know,  but not until after Phillips had already arrived there in St. Barts.  So he was going to give Phillips "what for" and wouldn't tolerate that kind of thing "any more".  So...clearly not firing the idiot.  

THEN... we find out that this same idiot had gone to Switzerland for a vacation in August.  WTF?

OMG.  I need the head exploding emoji here. 

To recap:

• the Minister of Finance took a trip out of the country but pretended he was still in Canada, all while the REST of us have been told to stay home and stick to ONLY OUR HOUSEHOLDS.
• his boss, the Premier, pretends he didn't know.
• then his boss, the Premier, confesses that he lied - he DID know.  (my word not his - he would not be honest enough to say that he lied to us)

The final note to this story is that Mr. Phillips has resigned his position as the Minister of Finance.  Probably as soon as he got off the plane in Toronto.  I figure Doug Ford threw him under the bus and made him resign.  Doug has already had so much bad press over the Covid  response that he really cannot afford any more shit going down.

Dear Universe, 

Could you please have a cannabis cookie?  

We really need 2021 to be a bit more reasonable. 

Thanks, xxoo, Helen

Let's wrap up June (since it's already August!) Log Cabin & A Unicorn

Log Cabin - I love the colours in this.  The quiltmaker wanted it quilted "like in the magazine".

That involved feathered swirls in the blocks, from the center out to the corners, and then a simple meander in the rest of it.

No s.i.d. kept the cost down a bit.

Unicorn - this is all paper pieced.  Whoo baby!  

Thankfully the quiltmaker sent me a pic of how she wanted it quilted.  Otherwise I'd probably still be staring at it wondering what the heck to do.

I had to get a little bit of technical help from a longarm buddy who has done this style of work.  The background rays were done with the I.Q., and that was a bit of a challenge too, but in a good way.  I like learning new things.

On the personal front, the garden is coming along nicely.  The zucchini is a bust this year.  In an attempt to thwart the zucchini bugs I planted it in large pots on the patio. Two of the three plants died from wilt.  The third one is hanging in there, so far.  We shall see.  Thankfully a friend has an abundant crop and she's been willing to share.  The bumper crops this year will probably be potatoes and tomatoes.

Pizza and bread made from a big-batch artisanal dough recipe has made a frequent appearance on the dinner table.  In fact, it's pizza night tonight, in celebration of some very expensive mushrooms I picked up at the market.

Since the end of June:

• I had a real haircut from a real hairdresser.  Sooo nice.
• I've had several backyard dinner-at-a-distance with friends and relatives.  The hardest thing is definitely coping with the fact that I cannot hug anyone.
• I've had two massages.  My neck & shoulder have decided they want to compete with my hip to see which body part can cause me more pain.  Aargh.
• I had an honest-to-goodness restaurant meal, on a restaurant patio.  I was very trepidatious but it was long enough ago that I obviously did not catch anything.  Why does Blogger not like the word trepidatious?  Anyone???
• I had a bone density test, then a telephone appointment to review the results (which are good).
• I had an eye exam that had been postponed several times from last fall.
• I was back at the dentist, just for my semi-annual cleaning.  
• I actually received a refund for my trip to Italy that had been scheduled for August 28th.  That shocked the hell out of me, in a very pleasant way.

COVID STATS AS OF AUGUST 9, 2020

I pulled these numbers from the news this morning:

Global:  19.6 million cases, 270,000 daily new

USA:  5 million, 54,000 new daily

Canada 119,500, 220 new daily

Ontario:  40,000, new <100 daily (70 yesterday)

I have to remind myself not to get too cocky over the Canadian numbers vs. the USA.  We are opening up and I KNOW our numbers will be going up too.  Dear God, I hope not to that extent.  I like to think that our politicians have our best interests at heart and will handle things accordingly.  I do, however, have great sympathy for my friends in the US.  I can't see myself ever crossing the border again.

A Lone Star Beauty and Covid Update #582. OK, not really...

This beauty had been in-progress by the maker for quite a long time. The Lone Star block is perfect.  She pieced it using the pre-printed fusible interfacing product, which makes for a very exact block.  It gets a little bulky in some areas, but that's a small price to pay for great accuracy. 

 The diamond wedges were all quilted with c.c. (continuous curve), and the outer edge of the star, along with all borders, were stitched in the ditch.  I created some ghost blocks in the white background to break that space up into more manageable-sized areas.

There's a nice repetition of the diamonds and squares in the background quilting.  And I love the contrast between the curvy and straight motifs.

This is definitely my favorite shot of the back. 💕

Covid Update To June 27th

May 23- broke a crown on a back molar
May 30- emergency dental assessment.  Dental offices are still closed but will hopefully open next week.
June 2- I had my dental appt for crown repair.  How often do you hear people say they are glad to go to the dentist?  Ontario's State of Emergency is being extended to June 30th.  Bars and restaurants are staying closed. Vet clinics and pet groomers are open.  Sadly, beauty parlours are still closed so hair cutting at home is still a thing. In Haldimand-Norfolk 164 migrant workers are now testing positive, and one has died in Essex county.  The farm corporation is seeking asparagus pickers - bring a group of 5, pay will be $25/hr per person, 7 am - 4 pm.
June 10- In the past week - short term rentals are now allowed in Ontario, so cottages are good to go. Ontario is mostly moving to stage 2, allowing hairdressers to reopen and allowing groups of up to 10 people.  Now we can have small weddings and small funerals.  However that does NOT include Toronto region, Hamilton, Niagara, Windsor-Essex or Haldimand-Norfolk.  The mayors of both Haldimand and Norfolk protested by getting their hair cut outside where the media could get lots of photos. I cut my hair again - this is Edward Scissorhands episode 4.  The Canada-US border will continue to stay closed past the June 21 end date, but the official end date has not been announced.  The Canadian gov't WILL allow immediate family to reunite on the condition the travelers are healthy AND self quarantine for 14 days.
June 12- Ontario will start allowing visits at Long Term Care Homes, Retirement Homes, Residential Care Homes, etc. although there is a long list of conditions that must be met first.  The 30 day limit on prescription meds is ending, and the TTC will require all passengers to mask up.  People can start a social "bubble" of up to 10 friends/family but they can't overlap with other "bubbles".  Grocery stores are ending the pandemic pay bump of $2/hr.  What? We don't need these people anymore? They are no longer critical? Oh, don't me started.
...I'm getting tired of keeping track.
June 17- my poor tooth ended up with a root canal which has left a lovely bruise on my jaw.  Looks like DH slugged me, lol.
June 25- we bottled a batch of wine which should keep me quiet for a few weeks.  Since we were out in the plague ridden world already we took the plunge and got a take-out pizza.  This was our second "restaurant food" since the pandemic started.
June 26- EXCITEMENT!!! I had dinner with a friend!  I packed up my supper, a bottle of wine, dishes, and a lovely gift from the Universe ...well, actually from the tee-total neighbours.  They'd had a celebratory breakfast and gave me the leftover (almost-full) bottle.  After eating our respective dinners-at-a-distance on my friend's deck we enjoyed the champagne with strawberries & whipped cream for dessert.
June 27 - holy sh*t. The US is reporting over 45,000 NEW DAILY CASES of covid. Keep our border the hell shut.

So, about those "Bonus Wages"...

Last month I got into a bit of a disagreement with a couple of people on facebook over the Ontario minimum wage.  Now the grocery stores are eliminating the 'bonus wages' they've been giving to employees for the past few months, and I've got my knickers in a twist again.  The grocery stores have been racking up large increases in their profits because so many people are uncharacteristically feeding themselves at home.  The executives at the TOP of those food chains (no pun intended) are, and/or will, no doubt be getting large bonuses to reflect their (ahem) "superlative performance" during the crisis.  What the hell?  Those low level employees are still putting themselves on the front line every. single. day.  And the people behind the counter at Tim Hortons?  Same thing.  Every. Single. Day.  It was suggested that entry level jobs are not meant to pay a living wage.  Yeah, sorry, I don't get that.  In my opinion that means it's a VOLUNTEER position.  But that's not why people go to work every day...making someone else wealthy while I work cheap?  Student wages is a different thing.  They're part time by necessity (ie school) and are generally supporting cell phone bills, video games, and date nights with their favorite snuggle person.  So sure, they don't need a living wage - they're just learning how to show up on time and do what they're told.  But adults who go to work should be making enough money to pay their rent, for God's sake.  How rich is rich enough?  Why is it always people WITH money who want to stop other people from HAVING money?

On a more pleasant note, I made Strawberry Orange Banana jam last night.  Pandemic Preserving, ha ha ha.  Here is a link to the recipe.  It's identical to the recipe from the Bernardin Home Canning cookbook I have, so yes, it's safe.

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! 

Half-Square Triangle Quilt, Yes I Have Flour, Covid Update #2

I really enjoyed working on this quilt.  There is so much depressing/horrifying/shocking (pick any one) news every day that this really cheered me up.

The whole thing is made from half-square triangles.  If you are involved in a guild swap of half-squares, this is a great use for them.

Mmm, love the back.

YES, I HAVE FLOUR

Like many people I'm not sleeping very well some nights.  Although I don't usually get UP at three in the morning, last Tuesday I was WIDE AWAKE.  So I figured, what the hell.  And since I have flour I decided to rattle around in the kitchen and make a couple of these delicious breakfast fruit braids.  The filling is cream cheese, fruit preserves, and some fresh berries.  DH and I managed to eat the first one over two days.  To show a bit of respect for the waistlines, I put the other one out of sight in the freezer.

One of the problems with the current lockdown is a lack of will to go get treats for Sadie.  Well, not that we don't have the will but it's a bit of a production, and frankly, quite stressful. So I fished around in the messy pantry and located the dog cookie cutters and the collection of recipes.  These are dirt simple.

After cutting and rolling, then kneading the leftover dough and cutting some more, I finally used the last bits to just roll out little globby blobs of cookies.  Sadie does not care - they taste just as delicious as the cute bones.

Forcing my way OUT of the kitchen I ventured down to my workroom and made up a bunch of masks.  And yes, I started cocktail hour a bit early that day.  Don't judge me.

More entertainment...I located a set of guild blocks.  Rather wonky, ranging in size from 12" to 13", but pretty nevertheless.  Hopefully quilting will happen this coming week.  This is one of the guild donation quilts.

COVID UPDATE #2

I need to update my blog more often if I'm going to continue this personal diary.

• 3/31 Public schools in Ontario will be closed until May 4th. Toronto cancels all events (parades, conferences, festivals, cultural programs, until June 30th. Hamilton has a snitch line to report non-essential businesses flouting the mandate as well as people gathering with more than 5. Haldimand-Norfolk has 27 confirmed cases, Anson Place (seniors facility in Hagersville) has 3 dead, 11 positive.
• 4/1, it's one of those days when I had every expectation of working. Morning news until 11 am, with a bit of online messaging thrown in. 11 am pull up a half hour exercise video, which is interrupted by a call from Dr. Adachi's office (he's my bone density specialist).  I got my "visit" over the phone. 1130 shower & dress.  1200 lunch & newspaper. 1230 dry hair then go back to the paper. 100 call from  a friend about the cancellation arrangements for our fall Italy trip, and some mutual Trump bashing. 130 finally finished reading the front section of the paper. DH & I go into town. ..get water, get meds, mail cheque to food bank. 230 take Sadie for a walk. 300 go fish small potatoes out of the bag in the fruit cellar so DH can plant them. 320 make tea & write up this timetable of today's activities. 330 go to work...it's obviously going to be a short work day today!  Hamilton reporting 112 cases as of today. Ontario = 2,392.
• 4/3 Trump orders 3M to stop shipping N95 respirators to Canada and Latin America. Gosh, you couldn't ask for a better neighbour than that, eh? (yes, VERY tongue-in-cheek)  
• 4/4 Provincial forecasting...by end of April 80,000 cases and 1,600 deaths.  Dr. Zizzo's death (my family doctor!) was featured on CH news, possible Covid death. Ontario today 3,630, Hamilton today 147. Effective midnight tonight I am no longer  permitted porch pickups or dropoffs, although I wasn't taking dropoffs anyways.(*)
• 4/8 Hamilton 198, 6 deaths. Hald - Norfolk 110 with 6 deaths (60 cases are at Anson Place who are reporting 8 deaths which is at odds with gov't numbers).
• 4/10 Ontario govt has extended all restrictions and regulations until April 23. Made 15 masks.
• 4/11 Tried to mail masks to family but the post office closed an hour early.  This is the first time I've left the house in 11 days.  I even had on mascara!
• 4/12 - Easter Sunday.  We took a drive to 1-800-Luke's and threw a bag on his porch containing two masks and a few gloves.  DH cooked us a roast beef for Easter dinner.  Yum.
• 4/13 - Got myself mascara-ed up again and made a succesful trip to the post office.  I also picked up my meds.  Only a 30 day supply is being filled these days to prevent hoarding and to limit shortages.
• 4/14 - 3 am and I'm WIDE AWAKE.  Decided to get out of bed and make a couple of breakfast braided breads, filled with cream cheese, fruit, and walnuts.  Later I will be making dog cookies since Sadie's cupboard is bare.
• 4/15 (*) I called the Ontario government for clarification on the non-essential business rules regarding porch pickups and dropoffs. Apparently that decision is up to the business owner, although my "storefront" must be closed.
• 4/17 Picked up our first produce box that was ordered online.  For $25.00 we got: 5 oranges, 1 melon, 1 box blueberries, 1 box blackberries,  1 box mushrooms,  2 sweet peppers, 2 red onions, 1 head lettuce (yay!!  I've been wanting lettuce for at least a week.), 1 head of celery, and a large bunch of snow peas. You drive up, tell them who you are and what size box you ordered and they put it in your car.  Nice.  After we got home I left a quilt on the porch for a client pickup, and she left me a bottle of wine as a tip! How sweet is that?  I was reading the news before bed (stupid, studid, stupid.  Always a mistake). Donald Trump was tweeting that three of the states needed to be LIBERATED. Wtf? He thinks the restrictions are too limiting on the population.  And, oh yeah, those three states are all DEMOCRAT states. That man is such a frightening character.  He instigates chaos and encourages frenzied behavior akin to a pack of wild dogs, all for the sake of politics. Check out the "rallies" of protest that are going on because of his vitriol. As much as I don't like Doug Ford, I agree that our border should stay the hell shut. Fucking nutbars over there.
• 4/18 Yay, the US/Canada border is staying closed for another 30 days. I started another batch of masks using the Patrick Lose pattern.
• 4/19 Canada 33,383 cases. Ontario 10,010. Hamilton 323 cases.  Anson Place 71 cases, 23 deaths.  Dear God.  And so many people still think this is no worse than the seasonal flu?  Today was supposed to be the SOLO meeting in Elmira.  Sigh, not happening now until the fall.