Do not let spacious plans for a new world divert your energies from saving what is left of the old. ~ Winston Churchill

Wow, what a week! Some places now have curfews this week to discourage rioting and looters. I fully support peaceful protests, but violence is not the answer. Our stay at home orders expired on Sunday night, but we haven’t exactly moved forward. As of Monday, 27 out of our states 39 counties have moved into phase 2. The remaining counties can apply for phase 2 or some modified version of phase 2. Naturally, I live in one of the highest population counties that hasn’t moved forward yet. What does that mean exactly? Well, it’s going to be some time yet before I can get a hair cut. And as of June 8, all workers will be required to wear masks at all times unless working alone. I think it’s going to be some time before I’m able to enjoy my yoga studio or a Guinness at the pub. On the bright side, now we can meet in groups of five outdoors!

This past week we had our first of three vet visits. Normally, all three kitties have wellness checks done in the same visit. We all make one family trip to the vets. With the COVID-19 changes, we thought it would be less stressful to take each cat on their own. The human portion was straight forward, intake was completed over the phone in the parking lot while Gracie meowed her protest from the back seat. Masked and gloved, we then took Gracie to the front door in her carrier where we could see the vet tech inside. We placed her on their stoop, went back to the car and the vet tech took Gracie inside. Hardly an interaction at all. The British Hubby and I took advantage of the down time to relax with our adult coloring books. These are more calming than I expected.

While we weren’t expecting any issues, Gracie needed to have a senior panel run again this year. Fortunately or unfortunately, Gracie’s thyroid level is much too high indicating hyperthyroidism. I say fortunately because she’s in the very early stages with a T4 level of 8.3, and she’s actually gained weight from last year. A normal T4 level is below 4.8. What that means is we’ve caught it pretty early. Much earlier than when Ernie had it a few years ago. His T4 levels were in double digits, and he had already lost several pounds. We had noticed Gracie eating a bit more, and she’s certainly much more talkative, but we put that down to WFH and COVID-19. She was just happy her humans were home more. Funny, I know.

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We had some gardening mishaps this week. First, the romaine lettuce went completely brown over night. I forgot to take a photo before it went in the compost bin. Maybe I forgot to change the water? Then, Ruby and Barb took a turn for the worst. Starting rhubarb seeds is harder than I expected. It’s possible I over watered them. If these don’t work, I’m going to wait a bit to try again or maybe a local follower would have a cutting I could start?

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I added more dirt to my avocados. The spots are definitely getting bigger. I’m taking that as a good sign.

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Sally the slow poke is making progress. She has two fully formed leaves. I’m going to wait another week before planting.

The celery, Cecilia and Bertha, seem to doing okay. You can see two pots in the back. The pot with dirt in the front is an onion bottom. It’s been about five days since I planted these. I think I have at least two more weeks to wait. The sunflower seeds are in various stages. A few are probably about ready to be planted in the ground. Seedlings are in their starter pots. And I have a few more seedlings going below. I am so very excited to see these all bloom! I have three more varieties I want to try, but I need to see how much room I have first.

I started the next drop stitch scarf. Wow, are these addicting! I have the pattern completely memorized now, and I can even manage it with a few drinks in me. Here’s Autumn Rose scarf. Burt is the official model of this scarf.

Want to support the protests, but can’t make it in person? Support Black Lives Matter.