Covid Journal, Day 111: A Murderer, and Random Thoughts

71 and muggy this morning, still clear and hot as can be; 93 as I write. Watering continues.

Yesterday I mentioned that we lost one of our meat chickens, and today we lost another. But Larry surprised the murderer--a big black snake! Apparently it killed a chick today and was trying to drag it off when Larry walked in. The snake couldn't get the chick through the wire, which is why it left the one behind yesterday. I'm afraid the snake paid the ultimate price for its deeds. Normally we leave black snakes alone, but not this time. So, we have 5 meat chickens left. I hope that will be the last one we lose.

It even looks white-hot, doesn't it?

I had a bad night's sleep, as usual on a full-moon night, so I slept in a bit longer this morning and Larry got outside early to finish up work on his truck. When he came in for breakfast he was so filthy that I would not let him touch anything! I turned on the shower and pulled the curtain for him so his hands would not be on it. I have never seen a man who can get so dirty in such a short time---but he's a hard worker and I'll take the dirt as part of the whole package. He really is a jewel, even if he looks like a lump of coal half the time.

Today I have been working on furniture a bit, doing more housecleaning and laundry, and mostly staying inside and out of the heat. I did water my potted plants and planters this morning before the sun hit them. Just trying to keep everything alive. I also put the dried oregano in a jar for storage, but that's about the extent of my activity. Larry fixed my kitchen windowsill, which was sagging, probably from the weight of my aloe plants and various vases I like to keep on there. That little job meant lots of cleanup, but I am glad he took time to fix it for me. This house is so imperfect, but we do love it with all its flaws. I don't think too many other people would be satisfied with it though.

I took a bunch of teapots out on the porch and arranged them on a shelf yesterday as I was tidying up the house.

My favorite is the one on the right, with a dragon for a spout, but it's missing a lid. It was a gift from the owner of one of the antique malls. The one on the left is badly chipped inside the lid and on on the rim where the lid sits. I can't sell it, but I might use it myself. Or it might just remain a porch decoration. On the table is the birdseed can--I gave it a quick coat of paint the other day to cover its worn off military green color. This table and corner of the porch collects a motley lot-the flag we sometimes fly, the porch broom hangs here, a basket for egg gathering, little metal buckets for all kinds of uses, big metal buckets ditto. There are a couple walking sticks here too. The gallon jar holds thistle seed for the goldfinches; the jar has a metal handle, so handy. Then I see the striker for my flamethrower hanging there. hidden underneath the tablecloth is a small 2-drawer metal on a shelf, where I keep the charger and batteries for my string trimmer. It's a constant challenge to keep Larry from parking all kinds of tools and odds & ends here in this handy spot by the door.

Remember when the lockdowns and stay home orders began, how people were sharing all sorts of online museum tours, music concerts online, and learning resources for kids? Are you still seeing any of those? I haven't, and I wonder if it's because we're all just getting tired? Or is it because we've settled into new routines? I admit I didn't follow up on most of those links, because I can't spend that much time staring at a screen. Maybe that's why people have moved away from such sharing. I am sorry we didn't get to see Hamilton, though. I guess I'll be waiting on the DVD version since we have no TV service and no Netflix.

Something else I've noticed is that while the percentage of positive cases in our state is highest for the 20-29 year old age group, at 18.9%, they only account for about 14% of the cases. Which makes me think there are many more positive cases among this age group than we know. Us old people tend to get the tests, apparently, while the young ones don't worry about it so much?

This morning's breakfast. Trying to be good after yesterday' totally off-diet day. Below is that sundae we made. Remind me not to let Larry scoop the ice cream--he's very generous!

Food diary: breakfast--soft-boiled eggs, toast, jam, fruit and coffee. No lunch since we ate breakfast at 10am.  Snack--apple. Dinner--3-meat meatloaf (venison, our own pork sausage, and ground beef bought online from a place that delivers, pretty cool) made with 2 of our eggs, zucchini ground up and frozen last year, my homemade bread crumbs, and spices,and sides of sauteed zucchini, onions, and carrots from the garden, leftover mac&cheese. Early dinner at 4pm.

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