And a very happy little teapot indeed, dear LIN.

Good afternoon. It is of course the 1st of the month and I have online banking transfers to process. And how exciting, I did get a little grocery order this morning. I did not order much, about half of the items I wanted. Most arrived. Wahoo! Will try another order later in the week.

We did have rain here this morning. It didn’t last too long but it has been mostly overcast today. It hasn’t even reached 70 degrees F yet. It will warm up again later in the week.

I have placed a number of orders today as items I use are on sale. I was so excited to see sprouting seed on sale—broccoli! Yes, yes, I ordered my winter supply.

Also I was fortunate to exchange a couple of messages with my friend who had
breast cancer surgery yesterday. She said little except she was doing pretty good—-due to the pain meds. I was just glad to see her tapping out a few words.

Sandy, I hope all goes well as you sit with the kiddos. Sorry about Babe, but you know why he isn’t in touch.

Patsy, we will all endure as best we can. And I too am thankful for a group of friends who are lovely and kind, things in short supply out there in the wild.

Jackie, thanks for the lovely tree. ❤️

Anne, ouch, sorry your finger is bothering you. When my finger was bothering me on a daily basis, I tried a bit of soaking in Epsom salts water and I thought it helped a little but the best seemed to be soaking a cotton ball in Hydrogen Peroxide and holding it on my finger for a little while twice a day. I hope your finger I s better today. And yes, garden gloves! I got a pair this spring and they are the best I have ever had. They stretch on for a nice tight fit. I can try to look up the brand if you’re interested.

Good day Buzz, Bob, Barbie and all other Sneakers.

Wishing everyone well.

Lin
❤️❤️

A pleasurable day for me with a long walk in sunshine first thing then tidying up as best I could amidst the current chaos. After lunch I drove to the allotment to meet up with my neighbours and get more weeding done and although I only planned to spend a couple of hours there, didn’t get away until 4 hours later. I don’t like to leave the dogs that long but in fact their long walk had tired them so I think they probably snoozed for the most part. Our red onions have been platted together and hung in my garage to dry out and for my evening meal I steamed more allotment runner beans.
On the first of each month I speak to an old school friend and we catch up on each other’s news so tonight has been spent on the phone. It’s nice because we are complete opposites but get on so well and had a laugh about a note I typed and gave to my mother when we were about 15 that she had kept tucked away between pages of a book. Clearing a few inherited cookery books off the shelves recently I found the note looking frail and flimsy and was amused to read about how I was waiting in the form room for my friend Anne with an ‘e’ so we could walk home together. Also mentioned that I planned to move to America to live so I could vote for Bobby Kennedy to be President! Funny how she kept it!

Time for bed. 😴
Jackie

Probably too late now Anne but you need to ensure the sting has been removed. If you can see it drag a finger nail across it and pull out sideways. A good way to ease the sting is to place a copper coin on it and keep pressed for a few minutes. Something in copper creates a reaction in the venom! Question is are Canadian coins similar to our pennies in content? I worked for a metal trading company in Toronto all those years ago and think they contain a mix!

Busy day for me again. We've walked so I'm now sipping a coffee before heading out for a couple of stores.

Jackie

Thanks for the tip, but JACKIE do you know we no longer have pennies (1 cent)..? They disappeared a few years ago and our currency starts at 5 cents, I think I got everything out of the hole, but feel much better knowing what did it! The sting was very painful and I swept the critter off my finger and straight into the garden waste paper bag. I wasn't about to try and find it, but it was round, fuzzy and black. Not so exotic as a black widow spider. Lol. And thank the good Lord for that! Apparently most people get over bee bites in seven days, today's my third day.
So, three weeks ago I had the molar out, two weeks ago Jilly had heat stroke and today I'm looking at an interesting throbbing thing masquerading as a finger!
Did I tell you Mark passed his kidney stone in the middle of the night?
All minor stuff, but annoying.
Annie, feeling much better with knowledge! 😀🐶🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🌸

Yesterday was a “fun” day. We went to the New York State Fairgrounds for Jean to make her American Red Cross blood donation. Jean LOVES the NYS Fair and her #1 eating treat is the fried dough at The Villa Pizze Fritte (they have had their booth for 60 years). Last year total Fair attendance was 1,329,275 – this year... it was Jean and me! So we entertained ourselves. Here is a link to a 1 min slide show. LOL.

https://youtu.be/8doPwfcxnxM

Jean is at her uncle’s house delivering some overflow tomatoes etc. She plans to call when leaving so I can meet her half-way for a walk. I did the gym this morning, but like the extra steps. Today is a mix of clouds/sun and high about 80. Yesterday, I had f/u blood work because of a few outlier results – will wait and see.

Sandy – I hear you on the report and being “uncomfortable.” I think all of us over 65 yrs old with comorbidity factors need to make individual case-by-case decisions using common sense. If I was 20 or 30 something my assessment would be different. As for windows and fan – I love a nice breeze, but often have a fan going (my childhood a/c) I like a fan at night as “white noise” – Jean – not so much. LOL Sorry about all the Babe issues. I was once in a similar situation and that person simply wanted to avoid the stress of dealing with the family members… we visited “off the record” when it was “safe”. Sad in some ways.

Anne – Ditto on laughing about the masks. Feel really bad for the kids missing so many events. Your right on the obesity / covid numbers – even the news can be slanted for sure.. the old “if it bleeds it reads” so they will say someone was 25 and died but leave out the part that the person was 100 lbs overweight etc. Obesity is one of the biggies based on data. While feeling sorry for kids, I also feel bad for “old folk” we only have so many years left and each month seems like time lost (in some ways). Then there are the people in nursing homes that is another level of suffering for the confined and family members.

Your “photo of a young man playing his violin in the archway” with McDonalds sounds like it would have been a great pic for a story about changing times.

Lin – Thanks on the apple photos. It has long been a family/friends annual tradition to enjoy the Beak and Skiff Apple Orchards Festival – they have been in business over 100 yrs and 5 generations. It is a huge event. This year there will be no rides to the orchards, masks required etc. I agree about Jean’s blood donations and wish I could do it too…

Anne – you have a way of expressing things so easily with a poem. I must say those last 2 lines are powerful.
Time to get ready so I can “boogie” when Jean calls.

Have a great day and stay as healthy as possible. Bob

Great slideshow Bob. 👍🏻🙌🏻👍🏻

Hello Sneakers, before I go for my shower just want to say one last word on bee stings. I've had numerous wasp stings but nothing as bad as this bee sting. Spreading out my hand my middle finger is/was squashed between the fingers on either side it is/was so swollen. A little reduced in size today. Red, painful yet at the same time itchy, and constantly with me. I would rather have another molar out than this. So......PLEASE dear Sneakers keep well away from bees! No wonder JACKIE and all other bee keepers go around encased from head to toe!
I read the worst place to get stung is on the nostril, shudder!
Off for the shower then will take the Bean out keeping well away from flowers and especially sniffing them!
Anne - having a little poor me time! 😳🐶..................🌸🌸🐝🌸🌳🌳

Footnote: buzzy bee, buzzy bee, buzz all you like but don't sting ME.

Hello everyone. A thick mist and low cloud was hanging over us first thing so I opted for a kitchen morning after a short walk with George and Betty. A fresh batch of George’s raw meals then I scrubbed some rather large beetroot from the allotment, wrapped them individually in foil so they’re now baking slowly in the oven. Next is courgette soup for the freezer and that recipe will be made up as I go along!
Hopefully I’ll pull off the last sections of wallpaper after lunch then it’s a matter of waiting for the electrician to make contact.

Anne, I’m sorry you are still suffering. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from beekeeping it’s to remove the sting as soon as possible and that means in seconds because that is what holds a tiny sack of incredibly painful venom that slowly releases. Too late now I know! 🥺

Lin, yesterday’s teapot was amazing and had me wishing I had been around to visit those incredible exhibitions. The tens of thousands of visitors must have been in awe of the inventions and new designs back then. Today’s teapot is very cute 🐒

Bob, your video is so entertaining I loved it but poor Jean didn’t get her dough treat!
My photo of the lad in the archway is buried in the depths of my old desktop and although I can find it with a lot of searching, the MFP search box can’t come up with it!
Certainly these past few months have flown for me but talk about busy doing nothing and I’m sure there are many of all ages now dealing with mental health issues after being shut away on their own with no chance of socialising. Hooray for the internet! Our NHS has come up with a plan to get as many diabetics as possible on to a diet that aids weight loss as that has been proven to reverse Type 2 for many. As we know, that’s not always easy!!

Thanks for the information about one cent pieces Sandy. Our coins seem to change in size and shape regularly but I’m sure gone are the days of a solid silver sixpence or shilling. The company I worked for in Toronto sold raw metals for a mining company in Saskatchewan and even back then they were mixing them to make coins.
I’m so sorry you aren’t hearing from Babe but he must be in a frame of mind to go with the easiest and least upsetting option. We all know talking with you should be his priority but sounds like constant brow beating had worn him down.

My neighbour just dropped in some glass jars for the pickled beetroot and had a play with the dogs but I still have to make soup then attack a few walls!

Take care out there everyone.
Jackie