Friday bullets, April 24, 2020

At least I think it's Friday, is it Friday? Some days I'm not entirely sure what day it is and have to stop and think for a moment.

• L. has continued working on her pull-up skills and is now able to do three pull-ups in a row.
• I had been asked about our geese, whether they are territorial or not. Our geese are African geese, and our friends bought them because they were loosing a lot of chickens to predators and this breed were supposed to be great watch dogs. (Watch geese?) They do seem to pay attention to their surroundings and will honk at anything, but I'm not sure they are terribly concerned about keeping the other birds safe. While they make a lot of noise, I find them to be pretty friendly. Some children seem to think they hiss a lot, but I've never had one hiss at me. My biggest beef with them is their mess. It is far greater than either the chickens or the ducks.
• Both J. and I are feeling a little done in this evening. R. was up at 2:30 last night, and while it wasn't an out of control psychotic episode, she also spent the rest of the night making small noises in the make-shift bed she was using in our bedroom. As J. pointed out, compared to where we were this time last year, this was not horrible. I'm still tired, though.
• Look what came in the mail today!

It's my new pressure canner!! I cannot wait to try it. 

• I also had something else exciting come in the mail today.

It's to make chicken mole, which I have been craving. I think I may totally veer off my pre-planned menu tomorrow and make it. I love a good mail day.

• L. announced to me earlier this week, that because she finds it difficult to pick her next book to read off her extensive reading list, she came up with a new plan. She chose her top three choices then showed them all to Kenzie. Whichever book he was most interested in is the one she would read next. Kenzie's choice yesterday was Call it Courage which she plowed through by the end of the morning, loving every minute of it. She then passed it on to G., who finished it by dinner time. It is a good book.
• This afternoon I decided that I finally needed to make some masks since on May 1 they will become a requirement. We won't be able to get by with just the few we have. I've made one to see how everything goes together, and have eleven more cut out that I will sew together tomorrow. I'm feeling pretty good about my well-stocked sewing room at the moment.

• You can hardly see where Java's stitches are now (well, except for the actual blue stitches), they are healing so well. I think we can take them out next week and she should be good to go again.
• I found a place that is selling packets of bees for half the price that Farm and Fleet was. B.'s hive didn't survive the winter, so was looking to get more, but at this price we can get enough to fill two hives. They arrive on Wednesday.
• The neurologist appointment went fine earlier this week. Having it over the phone certainly saved driving time. I'm glad I've been seeing this doctor for over four years now, because otherwise I'm not sure a phone appointment would work at all.
• We had it over the phone because I've made a blanket decision to use Zoom as sparingly as possible. I know to be able to do this is an incredible place of privilege. I find using it to be utterly exhausting and stressful. The only time I don't feel this way is when I am talking with people I know extremely well in purely social situations. I truly feel for people who have to use it daily and have no choice. 
•  The weirdness of life at the moment has brought out so many emotions from various people. So many emotions. It's exhausting.
• Settlers of Catan seems to be pulling ahead as the favorite quarantine game. It's been out at least every other day if not more. Since I actually love it, though rarely win, I'm not too upset about this. Y. and K. have played the most games so far.
• Nearly all the seeds I planted first are sprouted. I'm looking forward to fresh lettuce from the garden. The next set of seeds are starting to come up, mainly the bok choy. I'm hoping the rest start coming up soon.

Oh my goodness, look at the time! There was an interruption in writing due to R. having some (more) difficulty, and now look. I need to get some sleep.