Well…what started out as a pretty easy day has turned into a busy one even though I didn’t plan it that way…after getting up a little after 5…I vegged and read the news for a while and then got after the downstairs project by 6:30 and that took until around 9 to finish up and it isn’t really done yet…have to clean up but I’ll do that tomorrow after I get the veggie seeds planted…watched Perry Mason for a while and then dug the ham out of the freezer and got it thawing out under pressure in the instant pot and then worked on making soup for the next hour or so…okay, I know I say this every time I make ham soup but this batch is the best one yet…I’d pay 2 bucks a can for it since it came out so good….and I think part of it is that I used a Cook’s spiral sliced ham that I put the brown sugar glaze on when I cooked it and that just added some depth to the flavor…it has a sweetness on the front end and then the tomato and other vegs come out with the ham…and it has a brightness to it when you’d think with all that ham and potatoes it would be heavy….and I have 3 full 2 quart containers of it to enjoy over the next few weeks…if they ever lift this quarantine, I need to save one of these for Tom since it is the best one yet…after lunch, I got out for a bike ride and did 12 hard miles that I just got back from….so, working from 6:30 til 1:30 is enough for the day and I am taking the rest of the day off….maybe….

Well…that was a little bit weird of a night last night…just sitting here vegging and watching some tv and noticed that I wasn’t coughing at all and my head was clear…and that hasn’t happened since last year and it has me a little confused since even when I take my allergy meds, it’s never that good…so, I decided to wing it last night and not take any allergy stuff or ibuprofen since I am trying to make the allergy stuff last without being able to get more right now…and I’m not too bad right now so I have hope that it will continue all day…and I got almost 5 hours of sleep last night which is an improvement over the past few days…okay, I’m coughing now and my head is plugged up again…damn…I did get a nice ride in yesterday but there are too damn many people out on the trails who have no damn idea that there are other people out there, too…I can’t count how many times I had to slow down and wait as they had their dogs and leashes spread across the trail…aargh…I have been watching a new nest that is being built along the trail and it is pretty huge….must be some kind of raptor like a hawk or kestrel and I can’t wait to keep watching it to see if their are hatchlings over the next couple of weeks….didn’t get a lot done yesterday without much energy but I do have lots to do on the downstairs project today that will keep me busy all morning…need to make room for planting my veggies to get them started and ready for the final frost so I can plant them outside…I think I’ll do two of everything in pots and then add more as I can plant outside so I’ll have veggies right through the summer…bought some sunflower seeds that are supposed to give me plants that are 15 feet tall and I can’t wait to see that…and, reading the packages, both types I have yield edible seed so that will be cool when they finish….more later…

Well…just got back from Meijers with no groceries after trying the senior hour shopping…and it they think that this is a good idea, they are nuts…there was a line of over an hour long outside the store since they were only letting a few people in the store at a time…but, in the line outside, people were standing next to each other with no semblance of the 6 foot distancing that is necessary to prevent spread of the virus…so, I said the hell with that nonsense and just got back in the car and came home…I have enough supplies to last a month or so here but the birds are going to be out of luck next week…this segregated hour sounded like a good idea at the time but with the execution, they made it worse for everyone involved….oh, well…

Well….that really sucked…again…tried to go to sleep at the normal time last night at 11 but after an hour I gave up and got back up til almost 1….and then up again at 4:30 for a grand total of 3 1/2 hours for the night…and I am feeling it right now…going to use up all my energy doing the grocery run here at 7 for senior hour and then I’ll be back here for the next 3 weeks….not sure how long I can sustain this insomnia, though…will probably have to take a nap later today but don’t want to impinge on the ability to sleep tonight so I may have to just power through the day…I do want to get out on the bike today since the temp is going to over 50…but I won’t be in shorts no matter how warm it gets….since I’ll be out early enough that it won’t be that warm….didn’t get a lot done yesterday but I am going to try to finish up cleaning the kitchen and putting the rest of the materials and tools away…it has started to look good with much less clutter everywhere and I do need to extend that to the rest of the house….need to get the trash out and the box that the new bike came in is still sitting in the living room so that will be done today…I did get some dusting done yesterday with a microfiber cloth I got at HF and that worked like a champ and I’m glad I got a bunch more of them the last time I was there…..I think today is going to be a low key one after no sleep last night and I am not going to beat up on myself if I take the day off….more later…

Well….things got even more real here in Michigan today when our governor ordered everyone to stay home for the next 3 weeks and closed all non-essential businesses…that basically leaves only grocery stores operating and health and food are the only two reasons you can go out…I am going to test that tomorrow morning when I am going to take advantage of Meijer’s 7 am old folks grocery hour to see what will be there after the panic buying that I’m sure is happening right now…at least they will have all night to stock the store and we old folks will get first crack at it in the morning…but, I’m sure there won’t be much there to buy…I have a few things to get but then I will be in for the three weeks…have plenty of food and maybe enough for cocktails for a couple of weeks so I’ll be okay…I did make it under the wire to get out to get stamps and all of my vegetable seeds for the garden that I am putting in after the last frost…but, I am going to start them downstairs in the next couple of days so I can get early tomatoes and peppers…and I got two varieties of huge sunflowers to plant along the fence just to get some seed for the birds…and maybe to eat if they are any good…and I got two varieties of big tomatoes along with cherry tomatoes and green onions, green peppers, and jalapenos…I forgot to get beans but I can try at Meijers tomorrow…the whole bunch of seed packets only cost 9 bucks so that was pretty cool…so now, I keep doing what I was doing anyway…not going anywhere or doing anything…but, I can still ride my bike so I can cope easily….oh, and I’ll go over 600 miles for the year tomorrow so I did make it before April…yay!

Well…damn…woke up to snow on the ground for I hope the last time this morning but I am a realist and remember when I was young that we had snow days in April so we’ll see…and my allergies are really bad this morning so I am miserable and will probably be that way all day…but, I did sleep okay for a few hours and this feels like a normal start to the day…I did do some cooking yesterday so that won’t have to be done today…the turkey soup came out good but I used black olives on the pizza that don’t taste like anything and that was a little disappointing…I think I’ll put some green olives on top when I heat the pizza later and see if that helps…and maybe some parmesan, too….I think I’ll probably go back to regular flour, too since bread flour is more expensive and I don’t notice any difference…it did come off the pizza pan easier without sticking but that may have been that I let it bake longer to ensure that the crust was done….I think I’ll make ham soup after this turkey container is done just to get the freezer filled again…I do have chicken that needs to be frozen but that will mean that I can’t buy any protein this week even though Aldi’s has chicken for 49 cents a pound again….oh, well…not much to do today…I think I’ll just wing it this morning as I wait for the temp to come up enough to go out on the bike….think I’ll probably have to make more coffee with the way I feel right now….I really wish they had jump starters for people…I could sure use one right now…more later….

Well…running about normal for a Sunday morning and that makes me a little late…yeah, I get it…that doesn’t make a lot of sense but I don’t make a lot of sense at times…I did sleep okay last night and stayed in bed until after the coffee started….it is a little weird how quiet this house is and that I don’t need ear plugs to sleep anymore…and that a coffee maker in the kitchen is loud enough that it wakes me up now…with the social distancing stuff going on now, the traffic on the street has gone down by a huge amount and that is much quieter, too….that is something I would like to continue but I know it won’t once things start to go back to normal…my allergies are just damn ridiculous right now and I really do wish I could take something for them during the day….I am so tired of coughing and having a stuffed up head and it is wearing on me….I did get some stuff put away yesterday and will finish it up today if cooking doesn’t get in the way…I did get a bike ride in yesterday, too and am going to try to do that again today but I need to do it before 1:30…napcar is trying out I racing with video games on the tv this afternoon and I understand that it is pretty realistic…they are even going to have live announcers for it and I need to see that…should be funny and something to do anyway….I am going to cook today with making turkey soup and a homemade pizza…decided on turkey soup since that will free up enough space in the freezer downstairs to freeze 3 of the containers…will make ham soup next week to use up the celery and carrots before they go bad…and I am going to try bread flour to make the pizza today just for the heck of it…not sure if it will work better but trying new stuff cooking is always fun…I’m sure it will be edible and that’s all that counts…more later…

Well…running a little late today and it’s another one where I just can’t get started…slept okay last night but I think I’m still making up for the sleep deficit I’ve had over the past week or so…still feel pretty worn out and my allergies are in high gear…was miserable all day yesterday until I took one of the remaining allergy meds…I do still have 24 of them so I can get by for almost a month but I’m going to be miserable again when those are gone…and it would be nice to not have to feel like crap all day…I did get out to get some supplies for the downstairs project yesterday but I still need to get out to get the tomato and other seeds I need to plant the garden in the spring…I’ll do that Monday but then will be in here for the duration…didn’t get out on the bike yesterday with the wind being so high and it looks like I won’t be able to get out til late in the day today with it being so cold out there…damn, I am tired of the cold…I really need to have some warm weather soon or I think I’ll be pretty depressed….I mean it’s almost April so come on weather….I am going to get to some work here today and get all my supplies and tools put away so I can clean the kitchen and make it look less like a construction area….but that will probably be it for the day…unless I get a burst of energy and that looks pretty unlikely….more later…

Well…man, I just can’t get started this morning…okay, just poured the first cup of coffee so that may have something to do with it…I did sleep better last night but I think it will take a couple of days to fix the sleep deficit I’ve had lately…it rained so hard around 5 or so that it woke me up and just did it again a few minutes ago…and that is a new sound that I haven’t heard yet since I’ve been living here so it will take a while to get used to it…I can see myself sitting on the front porch watching the storms if I’m still living here this summer…I did get some good news yesterday that I have been waiting for quite a while for…got my checking account up over 10K with the latest deposit and that makes me feel a little more secure than I have in a while…I know there will be loads of cash going out in the next month that will deplete it some but the fact that I got there by being careful with spending just makes me want to continue it…so, I will…didn’t get much done yesterday but the grocery run but I forgot almost all of the stuff I need to make pizza so I’m going to run out again this morning and that will be the last time I’ll need to go out for a month or so with the virus getting much worse…Meijers is going to make Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 7-8 just for us old folks to get our grocery shopping done and I am going to take advantage of that next week if I need to go out….but, I’m hoping that I will not need to…they are doing a good job of cleaning the carts, etc. but I am taking my homemade sanitizer, too just in case….not much to do today….just cleaning and putting tools away and maybe a bike ride if it stops raining long enough…more later…

Well…yeah, it looks like this is not going to be a series after all…there just isn’t enough happening to support it…but I will come back and do more of them if there are any developments…but, let’s get to today…I did make a run out to Meijers to get some more groceries to support the menu that I want to do over the next couple of weeks…and it looks like they have a handle on the supply problems they had from the run on paper products and some perishables and the shelves are starting to fill again so it looks like everyone has filled up their storage and are starting to get the idea that there will be tp and food available….and they even had a person disinfecting the shopping carts and getting them ready for people to use…I did bring my own bleach soaked paper towel just in case and I used that to wipe off the buttons on the ATM that I used to get some cash out and to do my hands after I finished…I am going to be careful since I really don’t need to get sick…I think I’ll make sure to take that with me whenever I go out….made up a quart of bleach/water and put it in a spray bottle so I could do the door knobs and handles here after I was done with the groceries….but I don’t think I need to go out after tomorrow since I forgot a green pepper and pepperoni and I want to make a homemade pizza next week…even got some bread flour to try out the bread maker sometime in the future, too…I can now do at least a month here without going out for anything other than to ride the bike…I do hope they send a thousand bucks to everyone to try to stimulate the economy since I can use that to pay for my new bike, new tires for the car, a big new air compressor, and a weight machine and still have 50 bucks left over…and they may do it twice…that would be cool…