Interestingly, over the past 2 weeks I've had three people whom I had never met contact me to take online dulcimer lessons.  None of them are within 2 hours of me, and one is in another state.  Perhaps people are becoming more comfortable with distance technology or perhaps people are just deciding that they might as well learn an instrument while sheltering at home.  I don't know the reasons, but it's nice to be able to share music at this time.

@Cindy-Stammich, we've been buying groceries for my mother-in-law, too.  She tells us what she needs and we leave it outside her door.  Once or twice, just to get out of the house, she has driven over to our place for the pickup, and yes, it is so hard not to hug her, but she is so vulnerable that I would never forgive myself if she got sick because we were careless in our contact with her.  I want her to be around when we get a vaccine, or enough tests for everyone, or however this ends.

Thank you Lisa!  I know my mom would disagree with me, but when I say the blessing is all mine....

i truly feel that way!

Cindy that's great that you are able to support and help your mother this way.

My uncle was 95 when he passed away this past December, and all the way until his last year or two, he and my aunt took a one or two mile walk every day.  A great way to stay active for older folks especially!  They always called it their 'hike' even after it had slowed way down as they got older.   :)

I have been working from home (a real challenge - and I don't even have kids under foot).  Early Tuesday mornings I do our grocery shopping as well as my mom's.  I deliver her groceries (only to the front porch).  Then we walk.  It's amazing that we haven't missed a walk in all the weeks we have been doing this!  She is 87 and still walks a mile every day!  The hardest part is leaving without a hug!

When the weather's been nice, I've taken my 1.8 mile walk around the neighborhood, brisk, with walking sticks for upper body movement (otherwise, I use the elliptical downstairs).  While there have been other people walking around, it's not been a mob, and everyone's been good about stepping aside or even crossing to the other side of the street to make space.  However.  We have some neighbors across a creek/crevasse from us who were having a big loud party over the weekend with a bunch of people.  Somehow I doubt they were social distancing, from the sound of it.  And yesterday, I took the afternoon off from work to sit on the deck (was my birthday, after all), and I could hear a bunch of screaming kids (sounded like they were mixing together, not from a single family) out playing, then creeping down into the crevasse, which was either actual or very close to trespass onto our property.  Some people...

Dusty, the jam with your friends sounds like a lot of fun and that's not something we're allowed to do, yet.  ALL of our parks, playgrounds, state and national parks, arboretums, natural historic sites, etc. are closed.  When you see people out of their houses, they tend to be in their own yard (no other people allowed) or walking down the street/sidewalk.  The one big "park" they haven't closed is the city's cemetery--that's always been a go-to spot for walking, bird-watching, and nature observing in general.  It's a couple hundred years old, so there's lots of history to enjoy there, too.  For the most part, the majority of people are following the restrictions as best they can.  I'm really hoping that we'll be able to open up more businesses in the next 2-4 weeks, so more people in certain jobs can get back to work.

Dusty I guess if/when we get those old fashioned in-person things back again, we'll appreciate and savor them so much more. FWIW, I think your 10 foot distance with masks was smart behavior.

On another note, I tried a different chocolate chip cookie recipe out today, since my last attempt came out disappointingly mediocre, and were a bit of work.  Strangely, this new recipe was way easier to make (no chilling of dough) and the results were incredibly good:
https://www.thewholesomedish.com/the-best-easy-chocolate-chip-cookies/
I should mention that I changed a couple things: -->unfortunately I had no vanilla (it's coming in two weeks) so i left that out. -->I first browned the butter as opposed to simply melting it (giving it a subtle caramel flavor), ...and -->I reduced the choc chips to 1.5 cups instead of two cups, since I wanted to conserve our precious chocolate and i don't care for cookies that are practically solid chips anyway.  Oh, and --> I used Ghiardelli Dark chocolate chips, which is an amazing chip. 

Man, these cookies are out of this world good!  (or as my mother used to say "OTW!"...lol)  You can taste the caramel-y browned butter flavor.  It yielded a generous 38 cookies of 3" diameter.  I'm glad i reduced the chips, because they came out perfect with plentiful melty chips.
Brian said this was called "stress baking".  Ok, whatever.    He also said they were the best cookies ever.  He almost went ballistic when he saw the price of chocolate chips nowadays- we had to order them on Amaz, since baking supplies are a little scarce right now. But now he has 'seen the light' for having the ingredients for cookies. My stress baking alleviated some stress for both of us.

It's crazy that parents would let their kids run around with other kids, as though there were no social consquences to those kinds of interactions.  Some people just don't get it.  I've been going for a short (and slow) 3-mile jog with my daughter most days.  We jog to a large park and in the park do indeed see other people out and about.  But for the most part people are respectful about keeping their distances.  When other joggers approach from different directions they both move off to the side to ensure sufficient distance between them.

On Sunday my neighbors invited me to play music with them in their front yard.  I brought my own chair and my own water. We sat about 10 feet apart and even wore masks.   We did talk about the fact that since we were far enough apart the masks weren't necessary, but we wanted to model behavior for our kids.  It was fun, and my first real (in-person) interactions with non family members, although it was hard to hear the vocals underneath the masks.  We did a few John Prine songs for obvious reasons, an old Ray Price tune to which Ian & Sylvia Tyson added some French lyrics, and one of my favorite Iris DeMent tunes, "Sweet is the Melody."  It was fun, but also sad.  Barbeque season is starting and we won't be able to have those neighborhood parties with people grilling food, kids running around, people grabbing ice-cold beer out of coolers, a handful of musicians keeping the melodies floating around, horseshoes, water balloons, and watermelon seed spitting contests.  Now I'm getting nostalgic for the innocent pre-virus days.  It's hard to hug people when you meet in Zoom. In fact, that last sentiment is a line in the DeMent tune I just mentioned: "An arm's just an arm 'til it's wrapped 'round a shoulder."

Finding places to exercise outside.
My husband and I used to drive to our county fairgrounds to do fitness walks for the first few weeks of covid isolation.  It's open to the public and much like a pleasant park when the fair is not on, with asphalt paths everywhere.  It was a great place to walk and not get close to people! In pre-virus times we used to sit and eat ice cream cones there.

Unfortunately, it's now become crowded, with everyone in town now having 'discovered' it for exercise and for getting out of the house and socializing. Very hard to stay far from others. No matter what time or day we go there, the paths and even the grassy areas are sprinkled everywhere with little kids on bikes, dog walkers, moms with strollers, joggers, roller bladers, and walkers. People tend to just whiz right by you at close range. It amazes us to also see groups of moms with babies, standing like 4 feet from each other yakking away, no masks, while their kids are all randomly running around them and playing together, touching. These are not just one family. Yikes, I want to stay well away from them!  The fairgrounds became too stressful for us to walk there.

Anyway, we tried walking on a lovely country dirt road yesterday just out of town, but again people were jogging, biking, dog walking, and even standing around in the middle of the road talking and socializing. Meandering all over the road so it was hard to avoid them when you pass by.  :(

So we are going for fitness walks now at the high school.  We look over the situation when we get there and choose one of four large outdoor loops we could walk without bumping into groups of people:  looping around the softball field (in the grass), around the circumference of the football field, around the huge parking lot, or going around the running track. Making several loops around any of these gives us our 2 mile goal.  I wear my pedometer so I can keep track of our distance no matter where we walk.  So far so good, there's always at least one of these four choices that has nobody there at all.  :)

Funny how we have to plan such elaborate strategies now just to go for a walk and feel safe.  But we have various choices... I really feel for people in the cities who have few choices. How do they manage to exercise safely now that all the gyms are closed?

There's a lot to be said for those generic lovely blank cards, Dusty. This sounds terrible, but the last time i bought a sympathy card, I bought like four of them so I could avoid the ordeal of picking one out the next few times someone I know passes away.
As we get older, more people we know pass away and this was true in general, long before Covid19 times.  Having some pretty cards with blank inside just makes sense.  I have some with Japanese paintings of birds and branches.

Jan, I'm glad your test came back negative. At least there's that.  It really seems like your friend is in a tough spot.  As for cards, I honestly find it so time-consuming to pick out a pre-written card that's right (male cousin, mother-in-law, step-grandson, ARGH!, then Valentine's Day, Birthday, Get Well, Condolances,  ARGH!) that I just have a collection of cards with pretty phogrphas (close-ups of flowers, a peacock's feathers, autumn leaves reflecting on a lake, etc) and nothing written inside.  I prefer those to the pre-printed ones that try to idenitfiy the event and the relationship of the recipient.

Jan that's very sad about your friend. I assume you've been phoning or writing/emailing to her? Very dismal, but it's good she has someone like you who touches base with her.

Our banks and pharmacies are closed, but you can use their drive-throughs. You can make an appt or order if you need something or service in particular, but you can't just walk in anymore. Maybe I can make a potato stamp card to send to my friends if I need to!  And then eat the potato of course, because no wasting.   ;)

I am glad your covid test came back negative Jan!

After not leaving the house in the past 6 weeks, except for medical issues that couldn't wait, my "errands list" had really grown!  My husband, Craig, does the runs to the grocery store and hardware store; most everything else is handled online. Today, with the sun shining and temps in the mid-50's, it was so great to take an hour, drive through streets with flowers and trees in bloom, take take of business at the bank and pharmacy, use curbside pick-ups at a store and a restaurant. 

I went inside at the pharmacy and was glad to see there were only 3 people inside, so it was easy to practice social distancing.  I was there to select a birthday card for someone I love very much who is very sick at home, totally dependent on the goodness of the few people she knows who have any extra funds to help her and her child survive this.  This is someone who has fallen through the cracks of our society, been wrapped in miles of red tape, and left to fend for herself. She and her daughter have both tested negative for COVID-19, but are ill with other conditions.  The mother, herself, is on-hold for 3 operations that are greatly needed, but cannot be done at this time.  She's battling cancer--and not for the first time.  She's had severe back injuries from both car accidents and other bodily trauma. She's working on her third appeal to be declared disabled; so far, she's gotten nowhere with that.  No food stamps.  No unemployment payments.  No government help with rent or bills.  The list of rejections goes on and on.  And she's one of the nicest persons I know. 

So how do you find a birthday card for that?  Nothing sexy or off-color--or just plain wacky or stupid.  Nothing for a "wonderful daughter" or niece or sister.  No point in wishing her a day full of friends, family, food, and fun.  She's not going to have a "fun day"...if she keeps down some food and gets some sleep it will be a "good day".  There are no wonderful bright days in her immediate future; survival is about the best she can hope for; she has a deep faith that is helping her with that. 

I was finally able to find a very pretty card that did not refer to any relational connection.  A card that expressed love, asked God to bless her, and said how pleased I was with the person she had grown up to be--words that I echoed in my own handwriting along with the hearts, X's and O's I placed near the bottom where I signed my name. There will be no visitors, nothing special to mark her birthday on Sunday--unless my card gets there by Saturday!  I have not been well enough to travel the 100 miles to her home, although I finally tested negative for COVID-19 this week, as well!

So this is my reality.  And hers.  And although neither of us is actively ill with the coronavirus, it has impacted our lives.  I am grateful to not be needed on the front lines with healthcare providers, funeral directors, ambulance drivers, truckers, grocery store employees and all the many others who are working so hard to keep us healthy and alive.  But my heart aches for a mother celebrating her 42nd birthday so close to death, knowing she can't provide for herself or her child, and wondering what these next few years will bring, if she manages to survive these present crises.

Feeling so grateful to the two little stores in my town that are offering contact-free curbside pickup of groceries.  Feeling sooo grateful to have been able to go pick up some fresh milk, apples, eggs, and produce today without having had to navigate a crowded supermarket.

One of the 1/2 gallons of milk i got today is earmarked for me to make it into yogurt tomorrow. I've enjoyed learning that new skill and I love the resulting yogurt I've made so far. It really helps my digestion when i eat a little yogurt every day. My fave is to chop some apple into a 1/2 cup of yogurt, and throw on a handful of granola and nuts, maybe a couple of chopped dates or raisins... and then drizzle honey on it before eating. To me that's a Heavenly meal. 

Yesterday I made some chocolate chip cookies from scratch, which I haven't done in years.  I lacked the vanilla, used the last of my brown sugar, and had to ration the choc chips down to three per cookie   but they came out well enough and taste good- satisfying our sweet cravings.  We figured out that if we each eat only three cookies per day, they'll last us three whole days. Oh boy!

I had a funny thought today, inspired by how giddy i was when I got home with fresh apples and such.  I'm imagining a Christmas 2020 where it'll be like a throwback to the 1880s again- with little children being thrilled to find an orange or tangerine in their Christmas stockings.    Not bloody likely, but the thought made me laugh.

Here in my little corner of the UK the sun is shining, the birds are somehow louder and more melodic and the Red Kites wheel about in the skies. There are no planes above and little traffic passing. The air, even in this rural area, is noticeably sweeter. This is how it used to be, back in the days before fossil fuels when, of course, they had plagues and pandemics! It’s hard not to get dragged down by the daily death toll and threats of economic disaster, but there is also a wealth of selfless heroism and much kindness between people. I hope we don’t forget that, once this has passed. I felt guilty that I was not contributing more ( waiting to be called back in), but having cleaned, decorated and gardened myself half to death, I finally picked up my dulcimer and guitar again. What a blessing! My teenage son, unable to go to school, has no such qualms, playing guitar for hours each day. Man, can he play! <snip> Stay safe everyone, this nightmare will pass.

Funny song, Lois!

Amidst all the horrific news of increasing infections and increasing mortality, it is indeed heartwarming everyday to see people looking out for one another, a testament to the caring nature of the human spirit.

I braved the grocery store today for the first time in a couple of weeks and was so glad to see the shelves filled with eggs, meat, and bread.  Those three items had been hard to get for about a month, so maybe the panicked buying (that was causing me to panic) has subsided. 

Strumelia, I've found that living in my small town it is the same.   I'm so grateful to live here.  Someone heard we were out of firewood and brought over a big bunch and we're more then warmed by it.  and Lois, what a crack up of a song.   THANKS.   aloha, irene

I like that in my small town, people seem to be checking on each other more.  I'm 65, but I've phoned my next door neighbor a couple of times now- she's a widow who's 80. I've been in touch via text with my neighbors across the street (two public school teachers now teaching online). Then just this morning the owner of one of the cafes in town (around aged 50) emailed me asking if my husband and I are ok. It warmed my heart. 

I've  been testing my very beginning skills of arranging with Paul Simon's "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" when this parody I call 50 Ways to Beat Corona came my way.  It's by Marge Bailey as the Sweet Adelines are sharing humor.

Stay away from the pack, Jack
Don't visit your Gran, Stan
Wipe down the toys, Roy
To keep virus free.

Don't hop on the bus, Gus
Don't listen to Don, Ron
Don't hoard the TP, Lee
Just stay virus free

Sneeze in your sleeve, Steve
Don't touch your face, Grace
Keep back to 6 feet, Pete
Heed CDC

Use the Purell, Mel
Keep wipes in your purse, Nurse
Take care of your flock, Doc
You need PPE

This isn't Spring Break, Jake
Stay home if you're sick, Dick
As COID leaps, Peep
Just Follow the rules, Flo
And stay virus free.

A bit more about my own efforts is that the version I'm working with is clearly for guitar. SMN lets me figure out melody & chords.
It's still clunky, definitely gives me a project (in addition to the MobileSheets one mentioned elsewhere.)

@Lois-Sprengnether-Keel, feel free to contact me directly for questions about the Berkeley Dulcimer Gathering. We are on the verge of officially announcing the virtual version, and when that happens I'll update the event listing here .  The original plan for the virtual event was to do all the same workshops.  We're working on revising things (and reducing the price) for on online gathering, so check back with me later on and I should have more definitive information.

I think the hammered dulcimer workshop was only on Sunday and everything on Saturday is for the mountain dulcimer. 

@dusty-turtle

Looking forward to seeing the update on the Berkeley Dulcimer Gathering!  I just went to the online description of workshops & am impressed!  That's what really grabs me in a program. 

BTW I saw some things about hammered dulcimer, now I don't care to get hammered, but have at least one friend who would probably be interested.  Could the descriptions make it clearer which are for us Mad Dulcimer players vs. THEM!?!?

You're right about it letting people join who could never make it in person.

It's too bad so many dulcimer festivals and concerts are getting canceled.  We are going to try to do the Berkeley Dulcimer Gathering entirely online.  Let's see how that goes. That bad part is that we won't be able to all gather together.  The good part is that people from around the world could join. Maybe it will be a new way to get together that we'll want to continue even when sheltering in place is no longer necessary.

The Berea Traditional Dulcimore Gathering has just been cancelled due to the COVID-19 bug.....now I feel like I'm all dressed (or, should it be dulcimore'd) up with no place to go!

But... super short bangs are so ... French!  

@dusty-turtle, you crack me up!  My longtime stylist retired a couple of years ago, and I was trying to find a new one I liked enough to stick with.  During that time, I visited one who cut my bangs to about 1".  It was like, where are my bangs???  It was hideous.  I wanted to hide for a month (thank heavens my hair grows fast).  I found someone I liked since that debacle, but of course the shop is closed for who knows how long.

Ken, your guitar looks amazing!!!!  Great work!  It is beautiful!

That's a really nice looking Fender Strat. The Champion 20 is great amp. Here is a photo of guitar I built. I use it with a Fender Mustang LT 25.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

IMG_3941.jpeg  •  1.1MB

What a cool guitar, @lisavb. I've been eyeing some guitars recently, but since I hardly play the ones I have it's hard to justify another purchase.

For the record, I also cut my own hair recently, which is why no one will be seeing any pictures of me sans hat.

This is what it looks like.  That's tortoiseshell on the pick guard.  So retro!  I got a Fender Champion 20 amp to go with it.  Does a lot for a little amp.  Just right for me.

LisavB, I'm glad to hear your are using your stay-home time well. I'd love to see your pick Fender Strat. Last summer I built a Fender Strat look alike from a kit. I painted it emerald green. It is my first and only electric guitar. I bought a cool little Fender amp to go with it. Haven't tried cutting my own hair yet, but that may be in the future.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

They extended our stay-home until 5/4 now.  I succumbed to temptation and ordered a shell pink Fender Strat--it arrived earlier this week.  I've never in my life played an electric until now.  It's a new trip, for sure!  I'm working from home, so haven't had a huge amount of time to play during the week.  Planning to sit down with all my stringed friends (dulcimer, Fender acoustic and my new pink wonder) and play, play, play!  (And attend my Zoom yoga class, of course!)  If the weather is sufficiently decent, perhaps I will take my dulcimer and acoustic out onto the deck to enjoy...

I have also had to cut my own hair...so far, not bad!  It's layered and naturally curly, so it hides errors well.

Tom-g -- I recommend you NOT use a coping saw to cut notches in the nut/bridge.  Most of us use a small triangle file to make notches not much more than string diameter deep.  If the nut/bridge needs to be seriously lowered, we remove it, and sand the bottom on a piece of sandpaper on a hard flat surface.  The Nickel/Dime technique is a good place to start.  First lower the nut, the strings should just touch a dime placed next to the first fret.  Then lower the bridge.  The strings should just touch a nickel balanced on top of the 7th fret. 

Thanks for the information.  Luckily the fretboard is pretty straight.  I just have to go slow with my cuts to avoid buzzing.  I added a picture of the abalone markers that I got on Ebay also.  Those I installed with a 1/4" Forstner bit cutting a little bit at a time.  I put them at the usual 3, 5, two at 7, and 10.

@Tom-g, our schools here closed just around that time, too. It's great that you are able to use this time on such a rewarding project.  Action on older dulcimers was often high because those playing with a noter don't need the action as low as those of us who use our fingertips.  The dulcimer sure looks lush and beautiful in the picture!

I am from Albuquerque, NM and work for the public schools here.  Our governor shut our state down very early, March 16.  About that time I bought a 1984 FolkCraft dulcimer on Ebay to add to my collection.  It looked un-played when I got it but since I had spare time, I decided to refinish it and put abalone fret markers on it.  I spent a couple of hours each day for a couple of weeks removing the old finish, fine sanding it and putting on a new wipe-on poly finish.  It's a nice looking instrument, all walnut and book matched soundboard.  I've got it all assembled and strung now but the action is too high.  The bridge is uncut, which seemed rather odd.  So I will have to use my coping saw to cut the bridge for each string.  It sounds pretty good.  A little small and bright for my taste though.

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Steve, I think we are all tending to appreciate our neighbors more during this virus thing.
I had a new neighbor buy one of the houses adjacent to ours at the beginning of Winter, but it being winter I never saw her or had a chance to even say hello and introduce myself.  Today was beautiful weather and i finally saw her outside putting her garbage out, so I went to the edge of my property corner and we talked for about 20 minutes catty-corner across the embankment that separates our houses, and got to know each other a little from twenty feet away. It was nice. She lives there alone with her dog so I'm sure she was happy to meet a friendly neighbor.

I wanted to spend some time out in the sun, so I pruned our blueberry bushes some more, nipping off some dead and crossed branches.  And I planted some more lettuce and radish seeds.  Last week's seed is now sprouting up. I love to look for the seedlings poking up.. it's hard to know which i like better: planting the seed and watching for the baby sprouts, or harvesting and eating the results.
I took the little window box outside of Brian's office window that I usually plant with flowers in the Spring, but this time I instead planted it with a seed mix of baby mesclun salad greens. 

About 5 weeks ago when all this virus crisis started, I had a half tank of gas and figured I'd fill it up when it went down to a quarter tank. Over the past five weeks I've used it to go to pick up food in town twice, gone for medicine once, and driven to a good place to go walking about eight times now. But it still shows a half tank. Must be magic gas. 

Last night I had a virtual happy hour (the beer was real) with a few friends from college.  We were spread across three time zones but got together online to chat for a little while.  It was nice to catch up with them and their families and to share some laughs and nostalgia.  Under normal circumstances we would not have done this, but it's a good example of how collectively confronting this pandemic can bring people closer together even while we engage in social distancing.

Good song, Dusty...good playing and singing, too!

@dusty-turtle  Very nice! Adrian and I enjoyed listening to your song. I liked that it made you laugh while you sang it. 

Adrian and I were just talking about our 6-9-month plan and how to move forward. Our group accommodation business is probably on the way out. We are discussing our options of renting to long-term tenants and happy to have options in that regard. 

We are following the safer-at-home rules and only getting out in the world for groceries - using sanitisers and gloves trying to wash or remove packaging before we put groceries away. The Victorian government has limited gatherings to two people except for work or members of the same household.

On a more positive note.....I have been knitting for our grandchild and just had a safe-distance-visit in the garden to deliver a knitted gift. It's autumn here and currently raining, so the visit was awkward, not inviting family members in to our home, yet still exciting because we got to see our son and grandson.

Also, we normally spend 3 months here and 3 months in the U.S.A., so we don't normally keep a big pantry of groceries in either place. We actually have more food on hand than we normally do and that feels good. 

I hope everyone stays safe and well!

Here's a little tongue-in-cheek silliness.  I put new lyrics to the old blues tune "She Caught the Katy and Left Me a Mule to Ride" and came up with "She Caught the 'Rona and Left Me in Quarantine."

I just love reading all that has been written here.  SMILING.  Today watched the first barges on the grand Mississippi.  drove into Nauvoo to have someone put in my car 40# of wonderful fresh chicken breasts.  I'm canning all that now.  I'll save the last batch for tomorrow.   whew.  On that dulcimer, not worth saving.  but is sure has me thinking how I might make a box dulcimer out of aromic cedar wood.   I know it has a tendency to crack....so I'd reinforce the inside of the top and the bottom.  hummmmmmm. creative juices are COOKING like my canned chicken.  ha ha.  Lots of wildlife around here too and I sooooooo love the froggies and critters making their orchestra in the little marsh in front of my house.  I'm making this into a good time....as best I can.   Still miss being with friends and making music together.  aloha, irene

In my self-quarantine, I have gone far beyond talking to myself...I'm now arguing with myself...and I'm not winning any of the arguments! I'm also finding it rather difficult to keep a safe social distance from myself, but, I keep trying. I wash my hands often, especially since I'm in direct contact with myself a lot of the time. Since I don't have any facemasks, I've taken to using clear plastic bags over my head...they make it a little hard to breathe, and they fog-up pretty quickly, but, they sure work in a pinch! But, the question if the coronavirus is affecting me?...No, not really!

I made a quart of yogurt for the first time yesterday.  To make it i used a quart of milk that was nearing expiration, and for the culture a 1/4 cup from the last of our store bought yogurt.  I incubated it for 12 hours in a cooler that contained a jug of warm water. The result was pretty much perfect yogurt.  Drizzled some of our own honey on our new homemade yogurt, with a chopped half apple and some granola and we had that for breakfast.  :D   I used to make kefir years ago, but I like this yogurt making even better, so looking forward to making more yogurt as soon as I can get hold of some more store bought milk.

For dinner we ate sandwiches with a frugal amount of salami and cheese, but with plenty of fresh alfalfa sprouts Ive been growing in jars in the kitchen.

Last night we watched Burt Lancaster in Birdman of Alcatraz... an excellent and fascinating movie that I remember from my teens, based on a real man, Robert Stroud.  It reminded me of 35 years ago when I used to raise canaries as a hobby... and back then I had a copy of Stroud's book of bird diseases.

This started out as a response to what @dusty turtle said, but then the floodgates opened and much more spilled out, some of it even musical!  Since that's what mainly is of interest here I did a Cut of the computer-related information that came 1st, planning on re-pasting it at the bottom.  Got busy putting in the links to 3 members here & accidentally deleted it !  That segment is where the bulk of my time has been spent, so in the interest of at least some honesty will be attempted again near the end.

@dusty turtle said:

hummingbirds, bluebirds, and bees

frolick among my citrus trees.

were it not for these

and the frest spring breeze

I'd be panicked about

this dreaded disease.

Dusty, I'm so glad to hear it as those pollinators are critical, also butterflies.

I have dulcimer songs I've played to keep advancing.  It includes the June theme we might actually get to use at our local folklore group, assuming we're meeting by then.  May is already canceled by the place where we meet.  It's a tricky jig combining Little Liza Jane & Old Joe Clark in an arrangement by Larry Conger.  The theme was Youth to Old Age.  There's no way I can play Old Joe Clark at the pace of my banjo playing husband, so this 6/8 jig time does exactly what I need.  My own version of this is, after playing 1st LLJ, then OJC, I bring her back & softly play the melody string of LLJ as I figure she wants the last word!  I'm also working on my plain Jane TMB (thank you, John Knopf ) the song to the tune of Yankee Doodle naming the presidents -- it goes up to Hoover, but I use it only up through Wilson as it's part of a one-room school teacher program I do.  I've got one scheduled for September, but do the program often enough I really need to learn the song.  I asked John to make something very basic a teacher might have carried.  This was after getting hooked on the TMB by the lovely, but too beautiful for this use, TMB I bought from Irene after admiring it last year at the Berea Gathering.  I'm also playing the parody of The Sloop John B that I mentioned here.  It's called the Sloop John A & I'm sure the folkies at our local group will catch the sly humor.  My biggest problem is getting the parody words right as I played the original apparently way too often on my guitar & tend to give the original.  Love calypso rhythms (I'm also playing Jamaica Farewell just for my own amAsement), so it tend to creep into whatever I play after that.

My solo rehearsal of songs, dances, & lines from the 2012 version of Godspell -- a much more complicated vocal version -- should be happening, but knowing the show's been re-scheduled for mid to late July hasn't been very motivating. (I switched from Alto to singing Tenor with the guys as the Alto arrangement had too many high notes to sing constantly.  I can reach them, but knew it was asking too much for too long.)

Fortunately shelter in place doesn't forbid my every other day hikes with my beautiful Beast.  I posted pictures of him at the end of my weekly blog .  Last Saturday, March 28, I also included my gradually petered out attempt at singing a pre-chosen Song of the Day -- a local radio station posted the selections and maybe it would have worked in a suburban area, but not in this place of acreage with few people close enough to hear anybody else.  Didn't want the Italians to have all the musical fun.  I guess for this group I should revise ever so slightly the parting message on last week's blog to read: If you self-quarantine for your family's safety, please be smart.  I can't afford to buy 15 musical instrument baby shower presents in December.

As for my computer projects, it's like cleaning up the sands on a beach, they never end.  Of course the death of my very old computer (WIN7 upgraded to 10) at the end of last year didn't help.  I'm a "belt and suspenders" type of person, using automaGic online backup from Carbonite + an external hard drive.  The only problem is original programs are something techies tend to back off from installing and getting running again because they might not do it right.  A perfect example was my AzzCardfile program.  I have well over a 1000 folktale anthologies on it (can you tell I'm both a librarian and a former indexer?), but when I discovered I now had a program missing the purchases of the last several years, I started re-inputting (those suspenders I mentioned came in handy for knowing what was missing).  The only problem was I kept doing dumb things that made it crash!  AARGH!  Miss working regularly in a library where techie teens could give suggestions.  (Nowadays I just sub in a library . . . at least when it's open.)  O.k. back to the inputting, crash, re-do it until finally I got the bright idea to check that external hard drive & found MY COMPLETE FILE!  Decided the more recent inputs were worth incorporating.  Learned how to put that information side by side on the screen.  It's now the renamed (to make me know which is the improved version) catalog which includes some of that improved information on contents. 

I also have Thunderbird as an email program where I archive my email to help me find past venue information & potential gigs; an email list for storytellers (yes, it's available elsewhere, but, in the past, when a host dropped it abruptly it showed how a personal archive could help); other family information; various other stuff I'm not ready to lose.  The problem was in the past several years I started using the webmail provided by the host for my website while on the road.  The only problem was it had a data limit -- high, but not the unending archival limit found by storage on my computer.  I eventually had stopped going over to Thunderbird & making use of my folders.  The last several years have now been somewhat filed & I discarded what has no obvious need to be stored.  Is there more I should do?  Dunberidiculous!  

As for home-related projects. . .I'm mainly putting things off until I can open windows.  Can't breathe dust and I long ago freely confessed to dual church membership where I am the Chief High Prophetess of the Church of the Unholy Mess.

As for storytelling, since I do "run my mouth for fun and profit", right now this has switched to my weekly storytelling phone calls to a family member's two daughters ("Who are these children and why are they calling me Grandma?").  I let them each choose a type of story I will tell & then we also make up a story together.  Long ago I also became a Talking Book to my husband while we're on the road, so now it's being read in place.  I usually try to alternate a modern setting with a historical mystery.  We just finished one of the Lady Ginger Gold mysteries set in England during our own Prohibition era (she's just moved back to England from being raised in the U.S.), so I read one of the tons of e-books waiting for me to him.  This was a novella about a detective solving a case involving a valuable missing bubble gum baseball card.  I had pre-read it & knew how to do it justice as my husband had enjoyed the wisecracking style of the Golden Era Hollywood detective, Toby Peters (hate it when an author has the nerve to die so the series ends!), & Elvis Cole (the author started getting too gritty eventually).  Looks like this new series will work, so it's 1st full-length book waits while we read more about turn-of-the previous century New York with a mid-wife & NYC Irish police detective, a series with tons already read, but even more waiting on the shelf or yet to be purchased.  I've purposely skipped vital information about authors as the librarian in me would love to hook you on something new to read.  I hope you know that, whether from your library's own online book provider or by your buying them, there's good reading available.

Like most others I know, I've been in various web meetings; have prowled Facebook; checked here.

That's way more than you probably cared to know and I promise it doesn't really say everything .

As a storytelling friend likes to end her emails: There's always a story, it'd be a shame not to tell it.

I am enjoying our wildlife friends in the back yard. Whitetail deer, Canada Geese, squirrels, racoons, possums, 10 or 15 species of birds including a really large specimen of a redtailed hawk we call Chester.

Also I am getting in some time trying to learn Tabledit, playing my dulcimores, and tabbing out some hymns and other songs.

Yard work will be calling soon as our grass is greening up after its winter dormancy. I'll plant a few things in my vegetable patch by the 8th or 10th.

Stay well all. We'll be past this after awhile.

hummingbirds, bluebirds, and bees

frolick among my citrus trees.

were it not for these

and the fresh spring breeze

I'd be panicked about

this dreaded disease.

Irene--isn't that bum dulcimer worth something as a wall-hanger?  I often see these as part of the decor at a home or business.  Some don't have strings or tuners, but are still interesting as folk art.

Looking forward to your video, Dusty!  Humor helps a lot!

I'm in week 9 of staying at home 99.99% of the time...and full time for the last month.  I was tested for COVID19 last Wed., but don't have the results, yet.  The governor said tonight that it might take 10 days or more if our test was sent to a private lab.

That's pretty good, David.  I had a similar idea.  I put new lyrics to the old blues song "She caught the Katy and left me a mule to ride." My version goes "She caught the 'rona and left me in quarantine."  I played a few verses at the virtual version of my local dulcimer group last weekend.  I originally intended a serious song, but there are a lot of funny words to rhyme with quarantine and I just had to include them, so it ended up pretty silly. If I get a chance to make a recording I'll post it here.  

I am now telecommuting and as a result getting a little cabin fever. Bobby Ratliff has got some of us learning Waterbound. It's a nice little tune and the lyrics are fairly simple (it's one of those songs that has a lot of versions for the lyrics). Because of the simplicity I took a quick stab at making my own lyrics, and changed the name to Quarantined.  I haven't checked to see if the words/syllables match the measures/beats of the music but you get the idea.

Quarantined

Quarantined and I can't leave home, Quarantined and I can't leave home,

Quarantined and I can't leave home, Down in Alabama.

1. Teleworking in the backroom at home (3X)

Down in Alabama

Chorus

2. David and Karen must stay home (3X)

Down in Alabama

Chorus

3. Social distancing sounded like fun at first (3X)

Down in Alabama

Chorus

4. Wash your hands and please stand back (3X)

Down in Alabama

Chorus

5. Toilet paper is in scarce supply and I don’t know why (3X)

Down in Alabama

Chorus

6. COVID-19 sounds like a bad horror movie title(3X) (OK that's pretty bad)

Down in Alabama

Chorus

I have now been home for 2 weeks and 2 days.   Missing friends and such, I have my sweetheart.   I had someone come and light the pilot light in my shop so I could create in there without freezing out.   I have an all cherrywood dulcimer under the varnish now and tomorrow I'll "steal" 4 banjo machine pegs from a junk dulcimer.  I think I'll do as Bob Gerard did....burn it.   I paid only $40.00 and it's not even worth that.  ha.  I'm always excited to create things and to have more time to do this is GREAT.   My mother used to sing some ditty of a song to me and I just thought she made it up...till I found that it's a real song.  "Accentuate the possitive, eleminate the negaitve, latch onto the affirmitive and don't mess with Mr. Inbetween."  Her age went through the great depression.   We may too, I think I'll look at those old songs on youtube again as some of the best positive lyrics with great music came from the depression era.  Prayer can get us through anything.  aloha, irene

I am sending out music videos to family & friends - Music is not on lockdown  - Stay Safe 

Dusty for social distancing, you'd have to get someone who has a six foot long pair of scissors...

I have a medium-sized bottle of Purell which I would gladly give someone if they came to my house to cut my hair.  We could just do it in the front yard.  If you see me wearing a hat, it's not for style; it's just hiding the gray jungle underneath.

Jan, I hope you are able to get an accurate diagnosis whether COVID-19 or something else!  

I'm glad you were able to get tested, Jan.  Good luck!

I'm happy to report that I was finally able to get tested today! I waited in a line of cars for 2.5 hours, but was able to talk to a friend on my cell phone for most of that time. Beautiful warm day, and the first time I've been out of the house in a week! They said to expect the test would come back negative, but they did document that I currently have bilateral lung involvement--8 weeks since I first got sick!

Still at work. Glad to be working.

Still go out to stores as needed. I take extra precautions and when I get home I "decontaminate" myself and wipe down my purchases.

Glad I can help out other friends who need groceries, etc who can't get to the store/ who are struggling financially.

A friend has chickens and just today dropped off at lunchtime 22 dozen beautiful eggs (organic feed, free ranging). They taste delicious and are for myself, friends and coworkers.  So you have every right to be jealous! These eggs are very pretty too, being all different coloured shells.

Life is interesting at the moment but good. We can do much good to reach out to others. :)

My usual activities were shut down (church & church activities, volunteering, playing music with friends, going to a festival at the end of March) but I can still garden and play music at home. If I get the time! Work is busy, getting stuff done under the threat of a shutdown, who can foresee what will happen, but it's all good.  I have my worries for others, but I do not worry for myself unduly.

Church attendance had been a big part of my life and music but all physical churches are closed in Allegheny County PA (Pittsburgh). I went hunting and was delighted to find many churches have picked up the challenge and are worshipping digitally. I am Eastern Orthodox and found a local monastery of nuns (Transfiguration in Ellwood City PA) are You Tubing all their services, actually looks like they have been doing it for some time. What a blessing!

God bless you all and keep you safe,

Barb

It's been two and a half weeks since I went food shopping anywhere. I found out my favorite restaurant/deli/bakery has put up a website offering "contact free purchasing"... you pick out what you want and pay online, then the next day they email you when your order is ready and you drive there and pick up the shopping bag with your name on it, left in the vestibule with no one else around.  I made an order yesterday. When I get it home I plan to immediately transfer all items into our own bags and containers just to be extra safe. Waiting for the email sometime around midday.
I am sooooo looking forward to a couple of fresh baked croissants, loaves of multi grain and rye bread, and fresh farm eggs this afternoon... it will be such a huge treat!!  Before the VirusTimes, my husband and I would savor going for breakfast there every saturday and sunday. It was our big weekly treat and I'd dream    of their wonderful croissants.  It's been weeks since I had one, or had bread that hasn't been frozen, thawed, and refrigerated.  :)  
I know we are lucky to have food at all , of course. But this is such a nice pick me up for us during this time of endless days at home while slowly going through our supply of perishables.
Can't wait!
I feel your excitement over the fresh eggs and chicken, Dusty! 

The CEO is buying us lunch today!!!

Over the past lotsofyears, I've been shifting books that I find here and there about the house, over to a bookshelf (several, actually) for "books I intend to read someday."  I'm a retired LIBRARIAN, so I don't just willy-nilly go out and buy books.  They seem to come to me anyway....For many years I have been unable to sit and concentrate on a book, so I practically wear out the pages by going back and reading and reading through, once again, what didn't "take hold" the first time.  Or second.  Or third.  I don't listen to audio books for the same reason, and I find kindle, etc., aggrevating when I try to find my zoning out place.  Over the last month, I've read 4 books, which is remarkable for me.  I've read 2 memoirs, a novel, and a book on writing.  Now I'm turning to "Fifty Things That Aren't My Fault", a book of essays by Cathy Guisewite, creator of the cartoon "Cathy."  Time for a some much-needed humor.

I felt like a conquering hero when I returned home this morning with a couple dozen eggs and some chicken.  Neither had been available anywhere nearby for some time.  I got the last of the eggs and the grocer admitted that he was having trouble getting them.  Doesn't make sense. Restaurants are closed or only serving take-out and the farmers' markets are all closed. You would think there would be plenty of eggs available for retail sale.

@Mary-z-cox Your lemon tree reminded me of the four or five quinces that the cockatoos have not eaten. I need to go grab them and make quince paste! I'm not usually here when they are ripe, but this year is different.

Tallahassee is pretty shutdown--FSU gone remote, public schools closed, bars, clubs closed, restaurants--take out only. Groceries open but shelves getting empty.  Spending a lot of time cooking, writing a new mountain dulcimer book, getting ready for a new mountain dulcimer recording, learning some new tunes and songs.

My local gym is closed--so I've become the fitness director for Elvis (my 15 yr old basset hound) He walked 4 miles yesterday --but only 2 today.  I miss my zumba classes--so have a plan to teach him zumba in the kitchen while I'm cooking.

Yesterday--I made Meyers Lemon marmalade--because I still have lots of Meyer's lemons on my trees and it turned out wonderful.  :)

Trying to update some of my profiles on pages that haven't been updated in years & updating pix.

Zumba??? Now you want me to Zumba? I'm not going to pose with that dulcimer again--not enough milk bones in the world for that :) If you make beef stew again--can I lick the crockpot ?

90316733_10158336726927608_3896436352891224064_n.jpg  •  159KB

Yeah, there is some serious stay-at-home action going on everywhere now.

My husband and i are now planning every meal with much forethought and care.  It's really making us appreciate and savor every egg, apple, quart of milk, or fresh banana that we still have. After all the fresh perishable stuff is gone, we'll be digging into dried, frozen, and canned stuff, but that can taste good too.  Made rice and beans on tortillas tonight, with some pan-seared raddichio tucked in.

We take a brisk 1.5 mile walk around the mostly empty county fairgrounds several times a week- it's pleasant and is only a half mile from our house and is open to the public. It's got lots of paved asphalt paths and loops. Only a few scattered people are there at any given time, walking their dogs or with baby strollers or jogging. 

It's such a strange thing to look at a practically empty calendar devoid of 'running out' for various errands, shopping, appointments, or meetings. 

Stay well dulcimer friends! 

Just yesterday afternoon as I was cancelling my monthly dulcimer group, county officials issued a stay-at-home directive.  We're allowed to shop for groceries or go to medical appointments, but everything else is on hold.

@Dan, you're one of the few among us whose work is genuinely necessary right now.  Keep on trucking!

For those of you traveling like @Irene and @Norm3206, I hope you get home quickly and pass through as few crowded spaces as possible.

I certainly applaud your efforts, @Carla-Maxwell, to postpone festivals and decline gigs at the moment.  

@Jan-Potts, one tip you might try if you have trouble getting groceries.  One of the closest supermarkets to our house offers a curbside pickup option.  You order food online, they give you a pickup time, and they bring the bags right to your car.  Aside from being able to avoid crowds, my wife discovered that this option gives you access to food that has not reached the shelves.  So inside the store there is no bread or chicken on the shelves, but she was able to order both online for pickup.  Some of you might investigate that option for replenishing your larder.

For years I've been using a farm-to-table delivery service for fresh vegetables and another for frozen meat.  I'll be expanding my use of both of those for the foreseeable future.

Stay safe, people, but keep playing music!

I work at a Medical Supply Distributor and when face shields or goggles come in we all stop, process them and right out the door they go! Other than that, blessed to be in the right job at the right time.

On our way back to Canada about 3 weeks early.  Crossing the border tomorrow so hope all goes well.

Feeling good and hope to stay that way.

We just got back from Hawaii on Friday.....(wonderful time, we were there for 4 weeks)............and went through 3 very busy airports.  Picked up our van Friday morning and it started right up in St. Louis, MO.  Drove to Keokuk, Iowa and did some shopping...and yep. Both of us feeling very very good!!!  (gonna make more fermented foods, sauerkraut stuffs) They were out of all sorts of stuff, but not the fresh foods.   That is what I was  there for.  We are self isolating just because it's wise after so many airports.  however, no CV-19 gonna keep me from voting.  quick in and out and back home.  washing hands etc.   I split a bunch of wood on my electric log splitter and my husband chop sawed a bunch of dry drift wood from the Mississippi banks.  A beautiful sunny day.  I'm looking forward to playing more music (made 2 dulcimers in Hawaii)....gonna work in the shop....get to some wonderful books on my shelves....oh so much to do.  I love being home, smack on the Mississippi.  I found out that #56 grandchild coming....so gonna look at making a quilt......... Looking forward to the big barges going by.  Trains are running over in Iowa and I hear and see them.  I miss seeing my friends, dropped off some bread I made yesterday so I could just wave to them after I ran the doorbell.  Lost in Scrabble tonight....going to beat him good tomorrow night!!

I love this thred and enjoyed all that you folks wrote here, from all over.  

aloooooooooooha, Irene

HI Folks, I hope you're well. I don't usually get into the forum discussions, and I apologise for that. I am thankful this website is here, especially for times like this. Thank you for creating the conversation @dusty-turtle.

I'm in Australia and staying here for the next few months, after canceling a planned 3 month stay in the U.S.A. and canceling my daughter's trip back to Australia with me in June.

My husband (Adrian) and I are not sick but we are in the high-risk category, so we have chosen to self-isolate. Our business of group-accommodation here could be shutting down, partly because the customers have canceled through their booking agencies and partly because we canceled -- not wanting to bring extra people into our small town and, more importantly, our home. There are two grocery stores in our town here, and Monday morning they were chaotic environments with half-empty shelves. Yesterday, Adrian had to visit a medical clinic for a prescription, and its computer system was down. The doctor said he could not retrieve Adrian's medical information to make a hand-written prescription. We went back home and returned to the clinic with the medicine so the doctor could write a refill prescription. I stayed in the car during the doctor visit and we were diligent with hand-sanitiser before and after visiting the chemist and another shop.

Adrian and I are watching the world-wide news and seeing changes that are occurring hourly and trying to make the right choices. Yesterday we were asked to play at a pub this coming Thursday, and we declined. Our dulcimer event in April has been rescheduled to November. We were hoping to get out and attend dulcimer activities in the U.S.A. during April, May, and June this year, because we haven't been able to for the past 10 years. It looks like that will be postponed until later in the year or for 2021.

Our bars and restaurants are only open for carry out (they bring it to your car usually) and home delivery; no inside seating.  Churches closed, although that's somewhat voluntary, I think. Ours streams the service every Sunday anyway, but now they are trying to make a lot of classes and studies online and interactive.  My husband's working on that project along with some other tech geeks.  Many stores are doing online only and the grocery stores and Walmart, etc., have cut their hours back.  Pharmacy drive-thru still open.

I'm pretty much a homebody, so I doubt I'll get cabin fever.  Still, I was very disappointed to have to miss the Ohio Valley Gathering last weekend and the dulcimer retreat for this coming weekend was cancelled.  We can't be in groups of more than 10 people, so all entertainment venues are shut down.  I'm very very disappointed that the Road Scholar program had to cancel the spring Dulcimer Rendezvous in April in southern KY.  That's always so much fun -- Susan Trump usually teaches the more advanced players, although Anne Lough did a great job filling in for her last year.  

I'm disappointed, too, that the college basketball tournaments got cancelled since I usually watch most of the games...usually in my recliner with my dulcimer across the arms!  Fortunately my playing softly doesn't annoy my husband!

We haven't stocked up on anything, yet, and that does concern me.  I'm trying to cut back on the amount of toilet tissue I'm using, and that's good for the environment anyway!

Overall, we find these restrictions tolerable. Most of my energy is for healing up from the respiratory illness I got at the beginning of Feb.  I don't want to be in germy situations anyway!

@UserNo4, that sounds like life here in Northern California.  I have been working from home for about 10 years, so my work is not affected. But otherwise . . . The schools are closed, although my daughter is already working with her teachers in Google Classroom.  The churches are closed and offering some services online, but that doesn't help elderly, tech-ignorant folks like my mother-in-law.  My wife is working (mostly unsuccessfully) from home as are most other state workers. Bars and cafes have been closed. Restaurants have been asked to reduce capacity by 50 percent, but most are closing as few people feel safe in such establishments.  Many retail shops have closed, including some music stores.  Gyms have all closed.  My daughter's soccer club has suspended all games and practices. 

It had been raining for the past few days, and I'm happy to see some sunshine today, for at least we can get outside for a stroll or some yardwork.

I think I have no choice but to cancel my monthly dulcimer club. The music store where we meet is trying to stay open, but since we have been told to hunker down in our homes, I don't want to give conflicting advice and suggest we all gather together.

1. All in-person church activities cancelled, including our small group meetings. It's on-line, which ... well, is better than nothing.

2. I participate in two music groups, one where I take a hammered dulcimer and one where I take a mountain dulcimer. The venues of both have shut down / shut us out.

3. My wife started working from home today. Daughter's school is out for two weeks, officially, but I expect it to be out for the rest of the year. In two weeks, she will probably start some sort of distance learning.

4. I like to go skiing and snowboarding. The season ended at least a week early, perhaps two.

5. I work at home, remotely, as a contractor. In late April, the client is having an all-staff retreat. Well, it was. Not anymore. The cancellation makes my life easier, but it also means I'll go at least four months before I see any of my colleagues in person.

6. Sigh. I'm an introvert who over the last couple of years has become less introverted. Guess I picked a bad couple of years to start that transition.

That's just a start. There are other things.