For lunch today.
Tuna glop
Roasted Potatoes
All enjoyed in the sun, on the deck, before tearing myself away and back into my meetingful work day.
Sunny lunch work attire, and fruit of the day, fresh from the raspberry patch.
Note the wispy Covid hair style of the day.
This has been another weekend with video chats. What was, and still could be Skype, has changed to zoom and video calls (if you happen to be a fellow android).
Yesterday we got together with some far flung friends.
It’s a bit funny where everyone is focusing on, depending on the screen to camera difference, and if something else is being looked into.
This morning was time with our favorite grandson. He is usually occupied with whatever takes his fancy, but for a few moments today he was intrigued by his grandpa and the popping sounds he could make with a finger in his mouth.
Rey explained that when they left Becca’s parents last week they explained, “Yaya (Grandma Chen) is going back in the box (phone).”
We have also managed to squeeze in a few long walks, and have started another puzzle. This one is 1000 pieces and butterflies. It is challenging.
The weather has been great for long walks. Warm to hot by the end, but not sweltering. And good for the garden. The raspberries continue to produce, the tomatoes are coming along, and we harvested some kale yesterday. Sauteed and steamed with some garlic. The amount we picked was only enough for a few bites each. We will try more. I am still a bit unclear on all things kale.
After the rare appearance at the office, I am home again. Nothing too notable. I didn’t work on the items I intended to work on, but put out little fires instead. Of course that happens when I am at the office too.
Today’s fun is here.
And, a walk, in spite of a very swollen ankle. There is no ankle injury, this is due to a baseball to the shin deep bone bruise.
Not quite true, as I have been working steadily through the Change. But I went and worked in my office for the first time in 4 months. 4 MONTHS!
Just getting out the door this morning was interesting. Trying to remember to take the right things,like my badge. And to do the new things like the health check in before entering the building. (I did it from home, before I left.) And wearing my mask. I did pick up a District issued mask as well, so I have one more option.
My wakeup alarm went off as I started to back out of the driveway. And I found 2 closed roads trying to get to the freeway. And there was traffic, but much lighter than before the Change. There were 3 new big buildings rising as I drove through downtown.
I had 4 items on my list to be addressed while at the office. Badges for new workers and on old worker whose badge just up and quit a month ago. Looking through files for information not in the digital version. Both pieces for 2 vastly different projects were found. One hard copy report from 1999 and one handwritten list from 2005. Not tremendously old (jeesh, 20 years old), but squarely in the period when not everything had digital versions. In the end, 3 of 4 items were crossed off the list, and I have what I need to complete the 4th.
I was going to return a phone call and realized I couldn’t remember how to get an outside line on the new phone system we got just before the Change.
Went through the hard copy in-box that had been gathering dust. Recycled a lot and filed the rest.
And rescued some plants from the one locked office in our office, and put them where they have a fighting chance of getting watered.
I had enough to do that I spent the entire day at the office, which meant eating lunch. Since Carl wasn’t there to provide me with face food, he settled for face food text.
Yesterday
Today
All in all it was interesting to be back in the office, and get to say hello to a few co-workers in person, with masks, from a distance.
I also scored a few new jigsaw puzzles, and handed off one of ours.
Two years ago
See the changes two years can bring.
We are so proud of all they have accomplished.
Happy Anniversary
3 days in a row we hit 10,000 steps plus. I guess that’s what a 3 day weekend can do for us. For today’s walk we built around our special meal. For most takeout we go to places within quick walking distance. Today we splurged for our celebration, with Ivars Salmon House. We can walk to Ivars, but the food would not be warm when we reached home. So we drove to Ivars, 2 hours early, and walked out for an hour then turned around to return in time for the pickup.
We went through Gasworks Park on the way out. There were many people, but distanced for the most part, and a fair number wore masks.
We ran into a friend on the return trip and caught up on life in the time of Covid. The sun was out in full force, but luckily the temperature was only in the 70s. A generally pleasant walk, but we were tired and in need of nourishment when we got back to Ivars.
Dinner was so tasty. It would have been a treat to eat at the restaurant, and it was possible, but a risk factor we just didn’t need to add.
Ceasar salad, clam chowder, blackened rockfish tacos, grilled sockeye salmon, cornbread pudding, grilled asparagus and beer/wine. One of us had our chocolate decadence cake with raspberry sauce dessert. The other is holding the carrot cake with caramel sauce for later.
It’s now early evening and the exercise followed by a lovely repast means I feel like a nap is in order.
And don’t forget that it really is Sunday now, and the garbage does need to get set out.
I do know the date, I just don’t know the day. Since yesterday morphed into a Saturday, it only makes sense that today is Sunday. I keep having urges to do Sunday things. Like putting out the garbage. And doing the Sunday crossword puzzle, which I did do, only from a several week old paper.
We took a long walk. I do try to have at least one 10,000 step day a weekend, so which day it is/was, doesn’t really matter. I even picked up a book out of one of the little free libraries we passed. I hand sanitized after retrieving the book, and sanitized the book itself after arriving home.
The chores for the day focused on the garden. Raspberries picked, watered those, kale and tomatoes, and staked the tomatoes, again. When I bought 3 plants I only had 2 cages. And then I waited too long to get a third, as the plants grew to big to fit the traditional cage over. So I bought a few put-together versions that allow building around the plant, and putting the crossbars where they are needed. They come with three stakes to build as a triangle. A review I read said they would work better as a square, so I bought 2. I am glad I did, because now I have 2 extra stakes to help manage some wild branches from the plants in the traditional cages.
All three plants. Pink traditional cages, and green added structure.
Close up of some cherry tomatoes forming.
But the most fun of the day was hosting a family zoom with almost the whole family on my side and significant others. Most significantly absent were my Dad, and I realized we never saw Allen, although Theo made a cameo appearance. We discussed the normal family issues; squirrels, bees (bumble not murder hornets), boats, cars, middle fingers, computers and kittens. Of course the free 40 minutes goes by way too quickly- as did the second version.
I have heard one large boom this evening, several hours before the sun is down. Sunset is at 9:09, and it stays light for quite a bit afterwards. It is likely to be a loud night, but we can sleep in tomorrow.
It’s not quite 3, and we have reached 10,000 steps, each. So I guess I can relax. The day started feeling like a Friday, alarm and all, but has morphed into a Saturday, with a long midday walk. I should be thoroughly confused by Monday.
One of the first things I did this morning was watch a video about a glacial erratic put out by the local natural history museum. Wedgewood
Then after some future meeting negotiations and a bit of work we donned our masks and stepped outside. First stop was a mailbox, then drugstore, bookstore pickup, park for ball vs wall time and then a walk to go further just because.
And Carl said, do you want to go to the rock? And so we went. Cruising north Seattle neighborhoods, heading to Wedgewood.
Along the way we passed a lesser known site,
And finally, the Wedgewood Erratic.
Almost as exciting, we found a non-motorized cut through short cut. In Seattle these are usually steep right-of-ways with stairs. This one started with about 5 steps, but was a gentle slope, paved halfway with dirt path the other half.
Breakfast was a face of fruit.
Apple, pear, strawberry, cherry and grapes
Not to be confused with a fruity (blackberries) face.
And of course, this bounty of backyard raspberries.
After a full day of work, it was time to relax and check in with the kids. First up was a zoom with Rey and Becca and Corwin. There are a few videos, short, but isn’t he cute.
Next up was Ashlan and Allen, although they didn’t actually make an “appearance.” They were out on a walk, and came across these.
I said it wasn’t the 4th yet, or even the 1st (Canada Day). Ashlan explained that to discourage large gatherings the City is holding smaller fireworks events, on successive days. But they don’t say where each day’s will be, until a few hours before they start.
Sounds like a creative approach.
Another work week in the books. References to the movie Groundhog Day abound. I think it should be Groundhog Week, or even Month. It is increasingly difficult to remember when things happened, specifically. I have only been to my old workplace once since the stay at home order, and really from before the official order because our office was forward thinking. And the only time I have been in, was on a Saturday. Our office maintenance guy was there, but that was it. I have several things waiting for me at the office, but none are essential. I should probably go in just to clean up my office to the point where it could be used by someone who does need to be in the office. And sort through all of the debris in the non-digital in-box. Anything official or potentially significant is scanned and emailed. There will be significant filing to be done, eventually.
Still finding beauty on our walks, enjoying the warmer weather, and logging more consistent miles than before.
On the home front, the raspberry patch is producing. It’s not at its peak yet, but again, consistent.
This morning it’s a bit damp, but not raining, yet. Must be the weekend.
