Things I Never Noticed About the Cats

Life in close proximity to your spouse and fur-kids can be fun, but also a little disturbing.

For instance, I never knew George had this  ability before...but here he is giving Gracie a deathly laser stare.

I'm not sure I'm going to sleep well tonight after seeing this.  I recall a movie when I was a kid that my cousin Bonnie took me to see (and shouldn't have!) called Village of the Damned.

The children in the movie had these freaky eyes and could cause all kinds of sinister things.  I really was too young to see it, but apparently she was stuck babysitting me and she wanted to go...so along I went.  I had bad dreams for a long time.

And now I find out I have a demonic cat.

Long Live (Please!) the Queen

Little Tote Bags

One of my favorite things to make are these little tote bags. They are a nice size for carrying a few things to meetings, in the car and such.

I had a bunch of the material cut out and packaged ready to go from the last time I worked on them, so it was full steam ahead!

Pretty soon I ran out of the Pellon for the inserts and that project came to a halt. So it was off to JoAnn's for supplies.

With their new social distancing policy only ten people are allowed in the store at a time.  So, I arrived at 9:30 and stood with the others in my early group for half  an hour.

The first thing was the rush to the cutting table for elastic.  I was told they'd only give you one package...but they didn't have any to give.  So I went in search of the Pellon needed and was prepared to purchase the entire 10 yard bolt but there was a two yard limit.  Apparently interfacing is used in some of the masks people are making, but this would be too heavy for that.  But...I didn't want to argue, these people are working hard in this strange time to accommodate people.

There is a wonderful woman in our park who is making and giving away masks and I went to see what hers looked like.  They were much more time consuming than what I was doing and she had a list of about 60 people waiting for masks from her.  It's amazing how many she's done for our residents.

Long Live the Queen

It Was a Quiet Day in Lake Mesa-begone

Everything is shut down due to Covid-19 and people are entertaining themselves by walking and biking.  I've even taken the cats out for a stroll just to move my body a little and soak up some fresh air and sunshine.

The pool is pretty sad looking with nobody there.  Oh wait, there was someone in there yet when this was taken.  Well trust me, it's empty now.

The hot tub is the little square in the back.

The bump out area is where we play water volleyball.  I miss that the most right now.  It's so much fun...just a lot of laughter and silliness.

This shot was provided earlier and I just had to work it into a blog post some how.

Long Live the Queen

Everything's coming up roses

I had a pleasant surprise when one day my neighbor came riding up in her bike with a basket full of roses.

Our mutual friend, Delrae, has a lovely rose bush and she granted permission to cut them and distribute to friends.

They were lovely to enjoy visually and had a lovely scent as well.

Long Live the Queen

Living the life

The cats seemed to have noticed that something is off kilter.

We've never been home this much before and I'm not sure if they are enjoying all the extra time we're here or resenting our intrusion into their routine.

They seem to like all the extra lap time, but now the weather is getting warmer and they seem to prefer the floor or windows more.  Or maybe they're getting tired of us.

We feel that we are becoming more in tune with their life.  We sleep more, eat more and lounge around a lot.  It's not a bad life.  I think we're on to something here.

Long Live the Queen

Views from the mountain top

In a desperate attempt to get out of the house for a while we took a drive in the convertible to the top of South Mountain.

Here is a view of Phoenix from the mountaintop.

There was also a para-glider floating among the thermals.

Long Live the Queen

Puzzles...what else

I spend most mornings out on the deck working on jigsaw puzzles.  It's a pleasant way to spend the morning and it lets the cats enjoy the deck.

Here's one of the harder ones I've done - 1000 pieces and lots going on.

Hey...it keeps me off the streets.

Long Live the Queen

Dealing with the jack-asses in our lives

There are those in our resort who resent having things shut down without their permission and will expound (quite loudly) that "they are adults and can make their own decisions!"  I always have a mental image of them stamping their foot while saying this.

However, it is my belief and apparently the belief of several others that these are the people that would continue life as normal and be a threat to the rest of the community.

When I saw this cartoon, it summed it perfectly.

Long Live the Queen

Puzzles are the new hot activity

One of the kind ladies out walking asked if I'd like to borrow some of her puzzles and I agreed wholeheartedly.

She stopped by and gave me a really run looking 1500 piece puzzle to do and so I gave her the 1000 piece one I finished.

It was like doing a bunch of mini puzzles.

It's good neighbors like this that  keep us going during our stay-cation.

Talking to Myself...and the Cats

I'm enjoying the extra time to be able to cook and bake, but there seems to be a lot of additional snacking going on as well.  

I made the mistake of stepping on the scale and it said "due to social distancing...one at a time please".  I was hoping that Left Brain or one of the cats was applying extra pressure behind me but no...it was me.  All me. 


I'm starting to feel I can communicate more and more with Gracie.  Here she is clearly telling me to find a pattern from my newest book.

Long Live the Queen

This is puzzling

I really should be cleaning the house or something productive, but these stupid puzzles are so addicting!

It seems with the quarantine that doing jigsaw puzzles are the new hot activity.  Who would have ever thought I'd be a trend setter?

I like using my over sized cutting mat to work on as it allows me to turn the puzzle easily as I work on it.

This is the last one I finished.  It's my version of working on the garden.

Ironically, while enjoying all this quiet time and doing garden puzzles my plants in the planters seemed to have fried from lack of water.  Ooops.

Long Live the Queen

Here's one way to dine out!

I've been enjoying our quiet life, but do miss eating out and going to the movies.  But these are minor interruptions.

My neighbor Wanda found a way to actual go out to eat recently.

Here are some of the lovely entrees she enjoyed lately.

All she had to do was drive herself to the hospital at 2:00 AM and have her gallbladder removed.

Boy, the things people will do to have a vacation during this time of "stay at home"!

Long Live the Queen

My talented granddaughter

Time to brag a bit.  My granddaughter, Kiersten, is a very talented artist.  She did this recreation of Raphael's angels to bring them into the current age.

Here is the original:

Here is her rendition:

It's hard to make out the details, but keep in mind this was completely done with colored pencils.  The details in the hair is amazing.

She also did this Picasso style rendition of Rosie the Riveter.

Long Live the Queen

My new social life

Since we are to stay at home and remain six feet from each other, my social life has changed a bit.  Now I work on my jigsaw puzzles outside on the deck, something I have not done much of before.  This is my version of being social but staying at a distance. 

This 1000 piece beast didn't have any picture of the top part of the puzzle, so it was a bit trickier.  At least that's what I thought.  The lady I passed it on to said it was shown on a different part of the box.  Apparently my eyes aren't that good.

Left Brain often sits outside and I have tended to just be indoors. With all this new free time I've found I enjoy being outside.

It's fun to talk to people as they walk or bike by, often stopped to chat for a few minutes.  Of course, the downside of that is having disgruntled people who have more than a few words of advice for those of us on the board.

One of my neighbors from further down the street stopped by today to give her condolences for the earful I received a couple of days ago.  I knew the lady was heated, but had no idea that her rant could be heard several houses away.  Just some of the joy of being on the board of directors.

Most days it's pretty calm and Left Brain and I are embracing this quiet down time.

Long Live the Queen

Who was that masked woman?

We decided to start using face masks when out to the store.  It seems to be something many are opting to do; and so another sewing project was created.  It's yet another way to use up those smaller pieces of fabric that seem to keep growing in my stash.

I found a  very complicated pattern online and then found this much easier one.  Luckily I had some 1/8" elastic in my supply box since this is getting to be as hard to find as toilet paper. I made as many as I could until I ran out of elastic.

Elastic has become the new Toilet Paper - you can't find it anywhere.  I called JoAnn's and they said they had it, but it would be gone before I got there. There was a line waiting to get in as they only allow ten people at a time in the store.

Then I thought I'd be clever and order some online.  Found some for 99 cents and free shipping on E bay.  Whoohoo!  Ordered it and then saw it was coming from China and would arrive mid June.  Found other options in Amazon, but it wouldn't arrive until after May 22nd.

I plan to wear my mask and hit JoAnn's early in the morning to see what they might have. 

They're fun and easy to make and I found that the batiks are a nice heavy material for this purpose.  I figure we might as well be stylish when we venture out.

Long Live the Queen

My my my...corona

Well, it's been a long time since I've written in my blog. Mainly because I'd been so busy with being on the board of directors, playing pickleball, playing water volleyball, working in the Activity Office and overseeing the Patio Grill.  But that all came to a screeching halt with the arrival of the corona virus.

Suddenly I was thrust into a strange new world where things started to shut down bit by bit until the whole world seems to have come to a standstill.  The irony that my plantar fascitis was just starting to allow me to play pickleball again when the courts closed proves that G-d has a wicked sense of humor.

Since my blog is called "Life in a Canned Ham", it seemed appropriate to examine how life really is INSIDE my sweet little tin-dominium.  How does a couple cohabitate in 700 square feet? Well, we're about to find out during this "stay-at-home" order for Arizona for the month of April.

Oddly, Left Brain and I have both felt like the hours and days fly by quickly...even without anything to do.  He goes for his bike rides, motorcycle rides and convertible rides for his outings.  I've been very comfortable staying inside and playing with my sewing.  While I mourn the tragedy of all the lives in peril and people suffering I can't help wonder if the world hasn't needed a major reset like this. 

To pass the time of day, I dragged out the sewing machine and started working on some things. My first project was making baby burp pads.

No, Left Brain and I are not expecting.  A man in our Creative Stitchers group collects baby items for the families of those in the military.  I found a nice pattern online and proceeded to use up left over quilt blocks and scraps to make a bunch of these.  Of course, I had help as you can see below.

Having this down time has also allowed me to clean out some closets and shelves and get things organized. However, overall I'm finding that cleaning is no higher on my list of things to do than when I was busy.

Long live the Queen