Raincharm’s Weblog

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.

A few of our favorite fathers.

But nothing much has changed.There is graduation. At the UW and local high schools. And lots of other schools, but these are the ones we see most frequently. We do live close to the UW, and I think this past weekend was their main “event.” We saw several gatherings with robes at houses around the neighborhood on our walk. A few to probably 15 folks together, largely unmasked. At least one location had some on-line talking head on their porch.One of Carl’s former kids is graduating from high school too. My how time flies!We continue our daily walks, although there was one day last week I don’t think I left the house. We wear our masks and notice when others do as well. Our immediate neighborhood does not have an especially high percentage of mask usage. But when we walked through the UW business area the percentage jumped to over 50 percent. It was surprising. We were wondering if the general higher density of people was the reason. Or a higher percentage using mass transit, where it is required. I haven’t been on a bus or light rail since early February.And so it continues. Yes, the hair continues to grow. Lunches are always fun.And so are grandkids.
Okay the last picture refuses to post, grrrr.

It was 33 years ago today, Rey came out to play. And now he is playing with his own son.

It’s a bit of a trip down memory lane, but with extremely different circumstances. We just wandered through some old photo albums. We were so young! And so was he.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY REY

Maybe it should be, just one walk. Weather was fine today. No rain, and mostly sun. But unlike the last 2 rainy days, there was work. And 3 significant meetings. And pre-meeting prep. And post-meeting wrap up. And emails with more requests throughout.

At least some of the emails were about which cities/suburbs/neighborhoods were being targeted for protests, damage or both. So we are in the 3rd or 4th day with a curfew. So, technically, by the time I was off work, I wasn’t supposed to go anywhere. For tonight that means skipping the evening walk. I am so tired, I am not even going to try and figure out whether we should. Today’s damage did include one of our regular shopping areas. I don’t know if there was also a protest. The neighborhood grapevine is limited.

On the positive side, we did get our regular lunch walk in.

Loved this grouping. Enlarge for the detail.

California Scrub Jay

Many different blooming stages

Before, notice the corona.

The tools.

Pre shearing

Post shearingNot too many tears were shed. Not even in howling laughter.

I don’t want to be anywhere close when a trained hairdresser gets hold of him.

The last two days have had glorious weather. Sunny and warm. Yesterday I did not get even one walk in! We took the Corolla in for a safety recall, and those 2 trips to deliver and pickup took the time usually reserved for exercise. Not that the car is being driven much. We have to make an effort to make sure it gets a few miles every few weeks. But it seemed like it would be easier to schedule. It was! When was the last time I got non-emergency service scheduled in under 2 weeks, this was the next morning.

Today started with thunder, lightning and rain. Thunder and lightning are not frequent visitors, so that was fun. We had an errand to run, so we headed out into the wet on foot. Mind you we were back to just rain or dripping from the trees. It wasn’t really raining when we left.

The focus of today’s errand was hair clippers. Carl has had enough. 3 months without a haircut is fairly long for him, and it may have been 4 months. Hair salons are still not allowed, and not sure we would want to chance them yet, if they were allowed.

I watched a few YouTube videos on the subject and decided I could give it a try. What could possibly go wrong?We have a beard trimmer, not that it has been used, that I thought I could use. But the lengths included seemed short. The close buzz was not my vision. So we set our sights on an inexpensive version with hair attachments.

There are three Bartells within walking distance, and we always need walks.

As we were preparing to leave, Carl noticed our neighbor’s dog wandering in a yard across the street. I rushed outside and called Brandi back and put her back in her yard. Then I texted her owner, just to make her aware of the escape and return. Finally we set out. After a bit we passed another walker and I realized I did not have my mask on! It had been forgotten in the Brandi diversion. We hesitated and decided to continue, figuring we could limit entrance to the store to 1 person.

The website said supplies were limited, so we knew our chances were also limited. The first Bartells was Green Lake. I took Carl’s mask and went in. I found the shampoo that had been added to the list, because we would be there, but the clerk said somebody else had snagged the one hair clippers package they had. Next up was the Roosevelt Square Bartells. Nothing on their shelves, so we decided to go home. It was starting to rain and we could get the other mask.

Instead of just heading out to U Village, I checked the website. That store said, “out of stock.” On a whim I checked Target. The large Target was out, but the relatively new, smaller, U District Target had them. So bought for pickup. This walk was in the rain for the entire time. But it was successful, and I am almost at 10,000 steps.

Apparently the first charge should be for 8 hours, so the actual attempt to bring the locks under control will be tomorrow.

Now to relax, or maybe work for the rest of the day.

And I must share a grandson pic.

Love this kid.

Not here.

Not even close. But there are signs that we are looking forward.

First toilet paper started to reappear. A roll here or there. Then a pack, and even 2 brands to choose between. Then a Costco case.

Sanitizing wipes were next, though still scattered. It felt like you had to be in the right place at the right time.

And finally, the return of our most limited commodity, hand sanitizer! Only two per customer!

Delivered to our doorstep a few days ago. Held in isolation within the cardboard box for a few more days, and now available for use. We weren’t quite out, but I don’t feel like I need to hoard and consider whether each squirt should be used.

Purell’s are old, Germ-x new.

Life’s focus in these strange times.

On the, this is going to continue for some time vein, newly acquired skills: While wearing a mask I can scratch my nose by moving my chin.

We drove to Maple Leaf for our post work walk. After one half of a lap around the park we exited to the neighborhood sidewalks instead. Too crowded. Many kids on bikes and scooters, hardly anyone else with masks. I used to notice if they were wearing helmets. On the streets there are fewer folks and it’s just easier to make space. Keep our bubble. We are not perfect isolationists, but we do make an effort.

A good walk, and now it’s time to relax.

A bit of this, a bit of that.

Work on one of those things you just want off of your plate. As a government employee we are required to answer to requests from the public. But sometimes those requests almost feel like harassment. Too many, too often, and regarding a subject that is under another agency’s jurisdiction. I got a good start, but did not finish my mini-project, which is aimed at putting an end to the current requests focus.

Out for a walk to a place where Carl regularly works on keeping some vestiges of baseball form alive.

The wall is relentless

Luckily we got there before several others looking to use the wall arrived. Over the last many weeks Carl has become acquainted, a nodding acquaintance, with others who use the space.

The total walk was a bit over 3 miles.

A repeat neighborhood artwork

A long enough walk for good exercise, but not so long as to wear us out completely.

Post Walk Covid Hair

So next up was raspberry patch maintenance. The structure that pretends to contain the patch was the obstentious focus of the chore. The structure did need to have one bamboo piece replaced, but most of that work was on readjusting the old bits. Then the real work of weeding between the canes began. Especially trying to eradicate buttercup. Major inroads were made, but the chore was not completed.

Lots of bees and bumblebees, not visible in this picture

Our orphan, often overlooked rhododendron in the side yard.

Finally it was time to stop the physical work and focus on family arithmetic. And dinner.

It would be nice if tomorrow is as productive.

We risked our lives yesterday and went to a store. The primary goal was to get some tomato plants. And some envelopes and turkey burger. Based on the wide variety of items we settled on Fred Meyers. We managed to find the tomatoes in the outdoor section without too much difficulty, and put them, 3 of them, in the car. Then it was into the indoor building. The envelope hunt was pretty uneventful, except there were no envelopes. Back up to the grocery section. This was where the risking was all over the place. Masks – only about half, distancing- about the same. We did the self-checkout, where the line was distanced as were the checkout stands.

Today was the day to get outside and plant. Three tomatoes shouldn’t take too long, except in my world it’s never that straight forward.

My garden gnome

I wanted to add some soil amendments before planting the tomatoes. The bag of soil amendments was way too large for the raised bed, so I/we needed to weed the backyard beds and then use most of the amendments in that area. And I needed Carl’s help to lift the full bag.

A few hours later the beds were weeded, amendments added, and tomatoes planted. And pruning of the camellia started.

One cage short

The camellia pruning is a project that needed to happen. It is growing into a rhodie and is way too tall.

Pruning started. The rhodie is getting leggy, and will be pruned too.

This project did not get completed, but it was started. I wimped out, am out of shape and needed food. So I will attack it again another day. Maybe tomorrow.

Post yard work hair, pulled back because it is long enough!

We did manage to add a walk in as well, on this rainy sunny day. The following is one of the many rhododendrons we passed. I think this was the most striking for colors.

Tomorrow it’s back to the grindstone.