Staying ready, looking for solutions, hanging in there

It’s Winter again here – at least for a few mornings. The changes in temperature are so dramatic at times that it is a constant challenge to keep up with the preparations needed when we get these overnight freezes. So, for the most part, I leave the freeze protections in place and powered up and just let the faucets and well houses get really warm during the days when those protections are not required. That is the only way I can keep up. I do have to keep a close watch on the new hydrant at the barn because it is being used by the neighbors as they fill water containers for the three heifers they are keeping on that part of our property. They are not overly careful about disconnecting the hose from the hydrant when it is not in use. Leaving the hose connected keeps the hydrant from draining properly so I have to monitor that pretty closely. Otherwise, Mama and I pretty much stay the course through the warm days just to ensure we are prepared for the freezing nights. That is especially true right now when I do not have an abundance of extra energy or focus.

Mama was feeling good enough to help with the feeding today. That is a significant improvement over yesterday. But for the most part, the three of us are lazing around coasting through the day in low-energy mode. Mama has taken up residence on the sectional which provides three ample areas to lounge in while Victoria is confining herself to her bed. She has enough of a fever that the living room furniture sparks shivering when she tries to lay there. I am “working” at my desk in the bedroom. Yesterday I spent the day working from the kitchen table while Mama spent the majority of the day in our bed. Trace is still working even though he has felt a little off for the past couple of days. Though he has made some poor decisions in the past, he has a lot of character.

Mama and I are still getting things placed in the living room. I measured and tried to figure out placement of the sectional in a variety of positions in the living room, but finally came to the conclusion that how we have it sitting is the best use of the space. Mama is against blocking the windows to the left of the fireplace and I am in agreement with that. The one thing that bothers me is a small thing, but we have a corner that looks unplanned, vacant, kind of accidental. I would like to find a way to make that small area look purposeful, but I have not stumbled across anything that strikes my interest so far. I want to avoid creating a new hidey hole for the mice we are battling in the house, so whatever I find will need to be off the floor. That creates a challenging limitation to solutions that seem most obvious. Mama and I will come up with something eventually. We like a challenge.

With the placement of the rolltop desk in the living room, I was forced to abandon the extra monitor I had hooked up to the Mac on that desk. I was loathe to put it into service on the desk I use primarily for work – the antique desk I inherited from my father – but after failing to find a place to store the monitor, I started looking at ways to use in in my work-desk setting. It took several iterations to find the right solution, but I now have two monitors for work – which makes far more practical sense in putting the extra screen to use. When I finally got the monitor placed and in service, Mama came into the bedroom to ask me a question and did not even notice the monitor on the desktop. That was exactly what I was hoping for, something inconspicuous but functional. Additionally, I discovered today that the new glasses I have refused to wear because the middle focal section of the trifocals was not useful for a single monitor, works very well for the dual monitors. In fact, it is perfect to see the extra screen clearly. No moving in closer to focus. That seemed like a double bonus for me.

I am not sure if Mama did the swab of her nose properly when we used the home test for COVD. Mama is not much on discomfort, especially causing herself discomfort, so she did not probe too deeply with the swab. Anyway, the test came back negative. Victoria had had the symptoms for several days when she tested herself while Mama has only been symptomatic for a day. Maybe that makes a difference. At any rate, we can tell people that Mama was negative. Though the symptoms and Victoria’s positive may indicate otherwise, we have only the test results to go by. Regardless, I am still quarantined for the rest of the month “out of an abundance of caution.” That’s as it should be. It would not be wise for me to be around anyone with the cough I still have in this current health over-conscience culture.