Taste Like Chicken Wednesday 4/8

Chele, How's the ear and the gut today? You have definitely had back-to-back-to-back ailments recently. You are probably right about the GI issues being related to the apocalypse we find ourselves in right now. Business as usual is a long way off, so I hope things will ease for you soon. I can tell a difference in Liz every time I hear from her. Our cases are going up locally but we aren't even close to the magnitude of NYC. I hope your DN will be able to avoid symptoms if he does get infected. My friends who had it were officially declared as recovered at the beginning of the week, so that's a relief. Can you believe WI held a primary yesterday? And all for political gain. Did you see the speaker of the house decked out in full protective gear proclaiming how safe it was? How pathetic! Most people waiting in the long lines did have masks on, so I hope they were successful in avoiding germs. I haven't heard about car insurance, but we should get the bill next month so I guess we'll see then. You're right about the expense of Demeyere, but you get what you pay for. Fortunately, I found a really good sale. I got several stainless saucepans and stock pots when Chefs Catalog had their own line and still have DM and DMIL's Revere Ware collections, which were so extensive that half of it went to DSIL. I think some of the MGs are more concerned with making sure all the plants we have been growing go to good homes. People are being compliant about staying home for the most part, but remember our governor isn't as proactive as yours.

Did you get your money's worth on PT today, Becky? It's good that you can get generic Zyrtec for Scooter. We had a better night last night, but Arya woke up scratching around 5:30, so we were up early. It wouldn't be so bad, but she apparently nicked her skin with a rough toenail and it bled and scabbed over. We're keeping salve on it, but it's healing so it itches.

Kathy, we don't seem to be getting much on sale right now, so I hadn't thought about substitutes for BOGOs driving up the total cost. I guess it could be both good and bad that the FL site updates twice a day. Once a day is depressing enough, but at least you can see trends developing. You may be right that we wouldn't have many people willing to pick up plants in April, but sometimes people here surprise me.

How much pollen do you think you get out of the blankets by running them through a dryer cycle after having them out on the line, Linda? We talked about putting up an outdoor clothesline, but with all the trees around us, the pollen is too bad to consider it. You should see how much pollen was floating on the lake when I was kayaking a couple of days ago. How did the hot cross buns come out?

It's a gloomy day but temps are in the upper 60s, so it could be worse. We are expecting strong storms this afternoon through the over night. I cleaned the portable sewing machine yesterday and got it set up. I was planning to try to make a mask this afternoon but Dale said something about watching movies, so that may not happen. I have no plans to go out any time soon, so if I don't get a mask made today, it's not a big deal. I would love to do the grocery shopping next week because I prefer to go to a different Food City that I know will have some things Dale couldn't get at the one he prefers. But he has been pretty adamant about doing the grocery trips because of my asthma. My knees are bothering me today, which may be weather related. I did some bike time but nothing else planned. Might put heat on them later. Happy Hump Day!

Karen, I really miss going to the store and picking out my own things. I probably wouldn't make some of the substitutions they make, but they've been pretty good overall. It's good that Dale can go for you, but I know it's hard when you want to pick out things. I don't check the virus numbers that often as it is too depressing. Our new cases seem to be trending downward, so I hope that continues. My zip code is still in the 5-9 range. I have one of the buff headbands coming this weekend, so I'll try that out. I'm hoping I won't actually need to wear it since I'm pretty sure any mask in this heat is going to be really uncomfortable. I also seriously doubt that this kind of mask is very effective. They said if you sweat in it (which is highly likely here), it can make it more likely for the droplets to come through. Liz has to be worn out mentally and physically. DS and I convinced DM to postpone the lab and doctor appointments for now. As DS said, that's a hard no on her going right now.

Chele, you have been having a rough time lately. I hope the ear pain improves with the meds. I keep meaning to mention the bird in your picture. Nice shot! I never see any gold birds around here for some reason. Is that a goldfinch? Along with the lines in WI, did you see the lines in FL for unemployment? One of Rick Scott's legacies as governor was to gut the unemployment system and make it so hard to use that few people actually got benefits. The site just crashes on people, so they are resorting to handing out paper applications and long lines queued up to get them. Some people trying to use the website got error messages telling them they needed to be using Netscape! Others got as far as the final page only to be told they needed to fax their information. Unbelievable.

Waving to all and hope you have a good day.