60s expression, Mending, Patio Dining ,Taxes, Whimsy

I am no longer, frequently using the 60s expression..."Life is what happens as we make other plans." Odd as it sounds, I felt I was a jinxing myself.

I was downed by a small oil slick on my morning walk a couple of weeks ago. Lucky is my best word to say here.  I am mending. This spill took me to Urgent Care for X-rays. Normally, no big deal but they are a Covid testing place. I'm going to use that word lucky again. I know the man who runs the center & I was able to go in the back door & out the back door pretty quickly. A shatter but no broken bones.

A make-shift sling. My March tax appointment was cancelled & not rescheduled so I did my own taxes online with one arm. First time ever & a new accomplishment for me. Good self esteem building for the Inner Child.

This last Tuesday (oh, 3 days ago) a friend & I went out for a nice fish lunch to a nice restaurant. Sat on a nice patio. 'Nice' stops there. No social distancing of tables. Period. This was our first dining out since March. 

Numbers, not the ones you want are going up here.  I do watch them.  The next patio dining experience will be in the City of Long Beach.

Photos: Whimsy post of a (WC Fields?) wine opener.  4" long. Lots of character in that face. Available in my Etsy shop, link up above.

Stop back between now & July 6. I'll have something fun to post.

Order, Prep, Cook, Cleanup & More

Since the lock down began, I feel like everyday I get a "Chopped" basket.  Especially when the groceries are on the wane and time for a new order. It is challenging my creativity but I'm a home cook not a home chef.  Nothing wasted.

This last week, I have spent hours and hours trying to get an order through on Amazon & Ralphs. I've given up on Instacart. I start a week ahead from when I actually need the groceries. Yesterday, I got a Ralphs pick up time for next Friday. This morning, I got an Amazon delivery time for Monday.  After you successfully order, you need to allow extra time for delivery or pickup date.
My experience three weeks ago at Ralphs was I ordered about $100 worth & I got $58. Not being proficient at this yet, I found that out at the car from the employee. Because of the time lapse, items are out-of-stock and logical substitutions are out-of-stock too.  Amazon, I got about 3/4 of what I ordered.  So this time, I am keeping both orders.  Not duplicates per se.  It would be nice if I could stock up for a month. I'm not a hoarder but it averages about 10 hours on the phone/computer trying to get these orders through.

The romance of it all escapes me. I do like the cooking part & the eating part.

We now have local restaurants (3) that are pop-up markets with basic essentials so I can get fresh produce. I went on Wednesday and I was the only one there at the time. I did wear my mask, gloves & long winter sweater. I carry wipes, disinfectant in the car & sprays.

When I get home, I wash the clothes I was wearing immediately. Spray the bags & items that I can. Wipe down contact surfaces. Now all veggies go into a big tub with cold water & a drop of Dawn for 2 minutes & then rinsed thoroughly. Dried. I heard this from one of the doctors or scientists on TV.

Sometimes, the pop-ups have TP (gold) also other non-food items.  They buy from their suppliers to help keep us all going.

This week it is hard to get eggs.  Easter is coming and a good family activity is to have the kids dye eggs and do an Easter egg hunt on Sunday.  Deviled eggs are also popular.

Items that seem to fall off my list before I get the order are chips, sodas, pasta (I can't get plain pasta, any pasta) and dry beans.  Even when people shop in person, come home and leave a post on NextDoor...the neighbors go right away and items are gone.  It changes fast.

Our experiences are different here depending on where, when and how you shop.

I am taking the weekends off .  It might appear that I have the week days off too.  The weekends I have "more off."