Hunkering Down, post 2

The Great Hunkering continues until the end of April. We will be able to do it. The "it" of course refers to social distancing, staying at home, and not interacting with many people. I think one of the reasons why this has not been hard for me is I get to look at this view. We have been social distancing for a third of a century. Said like that, that's a long time. 

The question still exists...how to stay busy with social distancing in place? There's only so much TV to watch; so many books to read; so many chores to do. This week, I'm thinking I'll do some much needed outdoor chores. We need to clean the sidewalks and decks. We need to build a surround to hide the propane tank (after all, the old one burned during the Camp Fire of 2018). There's stuff to do. The question is "will it get done?" Watch this space to find the answer.

Hunkering Down, post 1

I don't know how long we've been on the mountain--but I'm not bored yet. The other DrC might be a little bored, but he's not saying too much. We've both have our "slug" routine perfected. The "slug routine" is getting up late, not doing much except what is needed, cooking, eating, playing games, watching entertainment, and going back to bed. Not exciting, but then, most of the world is doing the same thing.

I've cooked a fair amount. Not the normal cooking I generally do, but more elaborate meals that take planning and time. It's kind of fun. I was going to make bread, only to find out there's no yeast to be found anywhere. I mentioned this to a friend and he's sending me some from out of state. That's a treat! No sarcasm intended.

I made some face masks, and today we deployed them while making a foray into the ghost town we call home. We did our tasks and headed back home. It's rare that we make quick trips to town as a trip to town is one of our major forms of entertainment in earlier times. It makes me wonder what the new normal will be like when this is over. It also makes we wonder when this will be over. Do we have a few more days, a few more weeks or a few more months? Sadly, no one has a crystal ball that can answer that question.

The university where we both taught is asking folks to journal their experiences during this trying time. They are asking folks to write facts and feelings that describe everyday life during this crisis. I clicked on the provided link several times yesterday to find out more information and was told that the "link was busy." Last night I was let into the website and read more information. Turns out, the U will collect journals (if folks want to share them) to have a record of what it's like to live with a national "quarantine" as there has never been anything like this in our country's history. To that end, I'm putting my journal online. For folks looking into a research project for a thesis or dissertation, this is a good one.

On a positive note, staying at home is relatively inexpensive. I received a visa bill today for under ten bucks. I think that is a first! This too shall pass. Hang in there friends and stay safe and well.

The Best Laid Plans....

I thought this would be a good time to figure out a new crochet pattern considering that we are all "hunkered down" for 2 weeks. To that end, I wanted to learn how to make a crochet Kitty, similar to the Teddy Bear, Heart and Bunny that I make regularly. It's good to have variety.

Let me back up a bit. I read several crochet blogs (yes, there are crochet blogs) that share new patterns with pictures, detailed instructions and even videos. I've learned a lot studying these blogs. The trouble is the bloggers NEVER mention how many times it takes to perfect a pattern. All you see is the finished product that is always beautiful.

Today, I'm breaking new "crochet blog ground" and I'm going to tell you about it. (I think this is a crochet no-no.) It takes a lot of trial and error to perfect a new pattern. It took me several days to perfect the teddy bear pattern. For the heart pattern, I stopped counting at 20 as it was getting too embarrassing that I could not figure it out.  On the other hand, the bunny pattern went together as it was planned. Now comes the kitty.

This is a picture of some of my starts...and at least two more are not included as I tore them out and restarted. I finally have the pattern figured out, and--here's the kicker--I don't like it! So it's back to the drawing board. I might not be adding a Kitty Blanket to my repertoire unless I get re-inspired. For now, I'm calling it quits. The best laid plans are always subject to change.

Two Days

Enduring the great "hunkering down" of 2020 we try to look for something different. I know the weather is not different, but we've had a couple of days of interesting weather. The day before yesterday was the definition of a perfect spring day. Warm and sunny, small fluffy clouds dancing in the sky,  a light zephyr to rustle the leaves. To top off the picture-perfect spring day was a golden sunset. 

Then came yesterday. The perfect clouds from the day before gave way to leaden bellies filled with "sturm and drang." The sky grew dark and ominous. Thunder clapped so loud, the house shook. Then, the hail and rain came.

What a difference a day makes!

PS...if the 6 second video will not open, here's a still

In Bloom

The spring rains have brought a lot of flowers. We have lavender

Hawthorne

African Daisies

Another type of lavender

Asters

Photenia

Ceanothus

And the beautiful Rock Rose. I love the spring time flowers.

State Flower

The poppy is the state flower of California

And they are in bloom right now.

We've always wanted poppies on our property, but sadly they just don't grow here.

Grow Your Own

A friend sent this to me yesterday--what can I say? 

It's just funny.

The Shelves are Bare

Yesterday we had to do some errands, so we went to the store. This is what I found. I've only seen a store look like this one time in my life. It was during the summer of 1979 in northern BC. We had just left Alaska and we were ready to drive the famous unpaved road, "The Al-Can" (as it was called then) to Dawson. As we left White Horse in the Yukon Territory it started to rain. After our second day on the Al-Can, the rain was causing floods on this muddy, slippery, road. That's when we stopped at a campground in Muncho Lake. We holed up in our tiny motorhome for a few days eating our supplies down. The rain continued and the lake was getting higher. There were helicopters delivering food and supplies to folks; and the rain continued. One day, after we had our last can of Spam, we decided to take a walk to see the road first hand. We discovered it was not too muddy or eroded, so the next morning we filled the tank and left our watery campground and headed for the next "big town" which was Fort Nelson, BC. Nowadays, Fort Nelson boasts a population of 3000, but it did not have that many folks in 1979. It was a wide stop in the road with a couple of gas stations, a general market and not much more.

We drove all day to Fort Nelson never seeing anyone on the road. It was an interesting drive as we were both looking for washouts and mud holes only to find a relatively easy drive. We found one slick portion of the road, and we drove thru it without incident. About 5 PM we arrived at Fort Nelson. There was a guard at the gate and the guard was facing the town, not our direction. When she heard us she looked at us with incredulity. She said "where did you come from?" We told her Muncho Lake. She said "that's impossible as the road is closed." We told her otherwise. Reluctantly, she lifted the gate and told us in no uncertain words "DON'T TELL ANYONE WHERE YOU CAME FROM!"

We rolled into town and what a surprise. Four or five days worth of traffic and people were stuck in Fort Nelson. Cars, trailers, motorhomes, semi-trucks were parked everywhere. Every facility in town was being used...it was an amazing sight. 

We needed food, so we went to the only market in town and discovered what looked like a war zone. Everything was gone. We finally found a loaf of stale bread, a few eggs and some sugar and that night we dined on some fine French Toast. 

This one is Blue

Teddy Bears must be related to Tribbles, as they just keep popping up. 

Another Teddy Bear

Apparently the heart blanket needed a teddy bear...and this little guy showed up. 

I've not named him yet...any suggestions?

Pink Hearts

In retirement I make blankets. You know that. My sister asked me to make a baby blanket for one of her friends and I asked if she wanted my usual Teddy Bear Blanket or Hearts. She opted for hearts. Turns out, this blanket is a smidge bigger than the Teddy Bear design and fits in a crib very well. It's a cute design so I will probably be making a few more of this design.

PS. Sorry I have not written recently. My blog is not a political blog...or a current events blog...its a light hearted blog to make the reader feel better. I talk about my life and times, flowers and travel. Recently, a lot of "stuff" has been happening, but none of it is fit for my blog. Read the other DrC's blog to stay up to date with those events. That's not my bailiwick.

Pi Day

It's March 14 or 3-14 or 3.14 --and it's also known as Pi Day. Many years ago when I taught elementary school, I had a group of special Halloween lessons where the children would work with pumpkins.

One Halloween lesson, Larry, one of my bright lights in the class, said "Mrs. C...this pumpkin's circumference is about 3 times the size of the diameter"...and I had 2 wonderful thoughts. He understood circumference and diameter AND he had just discovered the constant PI. So I gave him a lesson to see if all circles revealed the same answer. He measured the record player (this was in the 70s) and the records, the round trash cans in the room. He even measured the round pencils and crayons and the answer was the same!

I had him present the results to the class and they were in awe that the answer was always the same. The class then started to measure everything round from tree circumferences to drinking glasses and the tops and bottoms of coffee cups...and the answer was always the same. These were smart fifth graders. I told them that PI always equals 3.14. The class decided that PI was the best number. That was a special teaching day and one I will never forget!

Spring Flowers

Ceanothus

African Daisy

Redbud

Lantana

More are in the offing...I'll keep watching the garden to see how the flowers grow.

This and That

It's been awhile since I've checked in at my blog and I have a good reason. The keyboard on my iPad broke and I quickly discovered that dictation does not work well, nor does the on-screen keyboard. The new keyboard has arrived, so I can write again.

A blanket I made awhile ago, has a new home. My friend really liked it.

And I finished another blanket. I've been calling it Rhapsody in Blue, but from the picture it looks like there's green in it.  Actually it made of 4 shades of blue from very dark navy to light blue. Sometimes color is tricky to photograph.

The best news to report is the appearance of spring flowers.  The daffodils are always first. The redbud came out a couple of days later. Sadly, none of the other spring flowers are blooming. I'll post pictures when they show up.

A Blast from the Past

The iconic trailer of the 1960s was made by Shasta. It was small, easy to pull and had all the mod-cons of the day including "space age" wings on the back. It was always easy to spot a Shasta trailer because of the wings. Today I saw one of those classic Shasta trailers parked at the Lake. All she needs is a 1960-ish station wagon as the pull car and a flock of plastic flamingos to round out the picture. (If it was an Airstream trailer of the same age, it would have been pulled by a Cadillac...but Shasta trailers were never as chic as an Airstream.)

Isn't she a cutie...all 19 feet of her. This trailer has the original awning. She's been cared for too, as she's pretty shiny. 

In case you are wondering, this is a Shasta 1900 Deluxe Trailer.

Here are her "specs:" Propane heat, a 20 gallon water tank, a toilet and a shower (meaning you did not have to use the campground restroom anymore). It had a 4 cubic foot gas fridge, and 3 types of lighting--one that worked with propane! She sported jalousie windows, too. No a/c in those days.

When this trailer was new, she was a first class beauty. And by looking at how well she has been cared for, her people still think she's the best trailer on the block.

Mission Santa Inez

California has 21 old Spanish Missions. They were built between 1769 and 1804. One of the last ones to be built was Mission Santa Inez in Solvang, CA.

Each Mission was built a "day away" from a neighboring Mission, so folks could ride or walk "El Camino Real" with knowledge that rest and refuge was not far way. The 2 closest Missions to Santa Inez are Mission Santa Barbara to the south and Mission La Purisma Concepcion to the east. Nowadays, these 3 Missions can be visited in a day. All of the Missions were connected to the "hide and tallow" trade, using the Manila Galleon to transport goods from the New World to the Old World. Santa Inez  has a fantastic fresco showing  that trade route that is most interesting.

Stretch out the map and look at the a depiction of the known world in the 1700s. The Manila Galleon route is clearly marked in the Pacific Ocean. You can see the line of demarkation that separates Spanish lands from Portuguese lands in South America. This "line" was set by the Treaty of Tordesillas and sadly Portugal got the short end of the stick. The Treaty was signed in 1494 and the true geography of South America was not known at the time. As an aside, look at the top right of the map and you'll see "Las Rusias" and "Tierra del Gran Kan" (aka Russia and China). While these pieces of information don't have much to do with the Mission, it tells of the time the Missions were built. The world was in the hands of the Spanish, a very important nation at the time.

The founder of 9 of the Missions was Junipero Serra. I'm guessing he was a force to be reckoned with as he set the ball rolling in Alta California to expand Spanish domination of the World.

The adobe Mission is highly decorated with frescos. The very colorful interior has been restored to reflect the early 1800s design. 

The long narrow church has a tile floor that shows the wear of the ages. You can almost "feel" the thousands of feet that walked these floors.

You don't have to be Catholic to enjoy the Mission and learn from the Mission. It's a slice of California history that tells a story of this state. Knowing the past helps define the future. 

Just Another Week

A week at the Lake is always wonderful...two months are better. 

Recently, there has been a light fog hovering over the lake in the morning. It gives an ethereal quality to the view. Is it real? 

Folks can camp right beside the Lake, or do like we do...park in the full hookup area and camp with all the "mod-cons"

I'll take the mod-cons any day. It can get cold in the morning in a flimsy tent and outdoor breakfast. Not my cup of tea,

Addendum 2

John loved his blanket. 

Is it Spring?

The lake is still

And the blossoms are starting to bloom

Is Spring around the corner?

Addendum

This blanket has a new home...Lori's 3 month old grand daughter. I'm not sending valentines this year, I'm doing this. It's so much fun.

Solvang

There's a Danish Village in Central California called Solvang. It's quaint and cute and filled with tourists. Yesterday it was not very crowded, so I took a little walk into downtown Solvang and saw some things that were new to me.

Flowers...as you know, I am always attracted to the flowers. And these hot magenta blooms that lined the street were breathtaking. It's wintertime and they don't seem to know it. 

Then I walked past Birkholm's Bakery and discovered a great long sign

You have to stretch this panorama picture out to see it in all it's glory...but it's a list of all Kings and Queens of Denmark

...and all of them are descendants of the first man in the picture, Old King Gorm. I wonder how many kingdoms can say that?

To top off my day I discovered a windmill I've never seen before

There are several windmills in the village, and this one is tucked away off the main street. I need to find out more about it. There's a sign that says it's part of Santa Barbara county, but even when I was in front of the sign, it was too far away for me to read. Watch this space to see if I find out the story behind this strange windmill.