It has been over month since I wrote on this site. Sorry, but I have quarantined myself inside my apartment since the Coronavirus reared its ugly head in Florida. I have not been sick, and I hope you all are well.

This virus has ruined a lot of people's lives and livelihood.  I never thought I would delighted that I lived on a small Social Security check, until others in my apartment have either lost their jobs or have been reduced to half time.

In the time I have not written, I have connected with two old friends by phone. In fact, I am on the telephone quite a bit since I do not text. yet. No smart phone in the house. So far all of my out of town friends are fine. I do  worry, though. We are all up there in years.

I have been reading constantly at night since TV is mostly reruns - and on Acorn they are all reruns. I went through a dozen books a friend gave me and have to have someone take me to the library. (I will explain why later on). So I am rereading books from our library at this apartment (I had to get permission to go through the roped off area (virus protection) to get some more books. I remember reading them, but with my age and memory, I do not remember who the murderer is.

My dog, Riley, has been a constant companion and I now have outside ownership of a stray cat. She had kittens a while back, and I have friend checking with the Humane Society to see if I can get her spayed by them. She has adopted my porch as her main home. I feed her and a few other cats who have been dumped here. (I live near a really bad neighborhood).

Persephone, yes, that is the mother cat's name, had three kittens and I, with the help of neighbors, found them homes. I do not think I will be that lucky if she has another litter. That is why my friend is trying get me an appointment with Humane Society (she volunteers there.)
 
Oh, the reason I have another concussion is that I fell on my face about 4 weeks ago. I was "chasing kittens" without my cane and turned too fast and fell. When I fall I am dead weight. We had workmen here and they got Antwan from the office and the chief workman to help me up. How embarrassing. I had another black eye, and a concussion. I think I have used my quota for falling.

I also think all those years of dance lessons taught me how to fall and NOT break bones. I hope this last fall is THE last. I am tired of being homebound. When the virus goes away or whatever it does to make life  better for us, I want to go back to the beach.

It appears my old friends are disappearing, not dying. I am 73 and many of them are older women. One of my “ole” friends always must walk the dog, not matter when I call. I got the message and I do not call anymore. She has not called, and I do not expect her to do so. Others never call and I have forced myself to recognize that they do not think of me.

Why is it hard to accept? Well, I do not have children, and most of the relatives that cared about me are gone. My mother raised my brother and me apart- she always stood between us and we did not learn to be family. My friends were always my family.
I had many teacher friends, but once I divorced my last husband they disappeared. I guess they thought I should have stayed, even though I was supporting him, and he was cheating on me.

I remember they did not go all at once back then – maybe they decided to stagger it so I would not be slammed. I remember when I was in the hospital recuperating from that complete body shutdown caused by my husband, my very closest friend walked out on me (in the hospital) when I said I was divorcing my husband (who actually was the cause for me to be in the hospital.)

So, I only have, and am completely happy about, my new friends here in my apartment. I have located a close friend from 50 years ago, and we have reconnected. She lives in Florida but far away from Pensacola – southern east coast. Another friend and I have reconnected on Facebook. She lives in Charleston, SC.
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My only comment about his new status is that I do miss those ole friends, but I have a few of them left and many new younger friends here in Pensacola.
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Life for during this pandemic is so much fun - I get up at 6AM to walk Riley, the dog, and Persephone, my stray cat that walks with us. When I get back, I do get to fix my coffee before I have to feed and water the livestock.

After that is done, I put up my large purple umbrella to welcome the blaring 6am sun when she rises. She will shine into those metal doors heating up the patio and the living room, causing the air conditioner to kick in way before it really should.

Sometimes, I have to play "purple monkey" with Riley before that first sip of coffee. Once everyone else is content, I get to drink my coffee and watch the nation and world's depressing morning news.

It is a wonder that do not go screaming out into the world in protest. Sometimes, I want to scream, "This is all I get for all those 50 years of working!" But I get over it and bury myself in to TV news, inane reruns of shows until evening when I turn on Hulu and watch reruns of shows and Midsomer Murders' reruns of shows.

Then I retreat to bed to read books THAT I HAVE NEVER READ. What a joy. I have stacks of books by my bed and I have read them all during this pandemic. I might lose my conscious mind, but I can live in these books for a few hours at night.
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Reading at night, allows me to sleep worry free-until the next morning when it starts all over again.
Please stay safe, healthy, and happy, my friends.

Riley woke me up at 12:30 this morning to go outside. Persephone and the kittens were not there and that surprised me because I thought they are always sleeping at that time. Well, when I got up a six none of the were anywhere. It worried me. But figures she might have moved them for some reason.

Then she showed up without them. I became worried then, because she did not seem to know where they were. I followed her and she meowed a couple of time and kittens came running out of the two patios. They followed us back until they passed the huge century plant and went under it.

Eventually they came back and ate some DRY food I had on my patio. It is now raining and they are leaping, running, and playing inside the patio while mama watches the rain outside As they move past her, I notice that they are really growing. The black ones is almost half her size, and the gray is smaller. I have not checked them lately for their sex, but I think the gray one is female. The two black ones play roughly with each other, so I am guessing they are male. I will know soon enough, I guess.

I am sorry this is the only news I have. This isolation, because of my susceptibility to the virus, makes a person bored. All I do is watch TV, read books, and eat. My neighbors have been very generous bringing me books to read. Our library here is closed due to virus.

I have also developed a soreness on my left side in my ribs from my fall. The black eye and facial bruise are fading. My left eyelid is still drooping. I hope it comes back to normal, too.
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Happy Monday to those of you who are retired. My sympathies go out to those of you going to work and even more for those of you who are not working because the virus. I send all of you good health wishes.

I have self quarantined myself in my apartment for  the last few weeks. I have only gone outside to walk Riley or take care of the kittens. 

I fell again on my face and blackened my left jaw and my eye. I was chasing kittens out of my neighbor's patio and turned too quickly. Luckily, we are having our windows replaced and the workmen went in to get help from the office. A senior workman and Antoine, our maintenance man, pulled me up  and walked me to my apartment.

I have been sporting a great black eye since then and a bruised face on my left side. Also, I bruised my chest pretty bad, but do not appear to have broken anything. All those years of dancing lessons when young have taught me how to fall safely.

So far we have not had a case of the virus in our  senior apartment complex. I had to go get a prescription filled yesterday and a neighbor drove me for safety. It was nice to see something other than my apartment complex. Life was going on but on a limited basis. Not many people out shopping.

An update on those pesky kittens. First I told them they are on their own after I fell. A few neighbors have expressed an interest in the babies and another neighbor has a friend who might take the mother cat and any babies without homes. She lives out from the city and has several acres. I wish they all could go. I think they would enjoy it.

I have no other news at this time - not teaching or training anyone on the computer. I hope all of you are safe and healthy. I will try to post again this month, if I can find something to talk about. Life in isolation is boring.

The little kittens are just over 2 weeks old and their eyes are open. They are wiggly and so cute. One is gray (like mama), one is black and white, and the other is black and white with a brownish foot and spot on his face. They are so adorable.

Persephone (mama) has moved them once again, out of the corner behind the fern to a chair pillow I had placed on the balcony for her to sleep in when she showed up. It is more comfortable for them, I am sure.

I was even allowed to touch them. She did not seem to mind since I am her adopted mama. I then pet her and told her she was a good mama.

Any comments on what to expect about their growing up will be greatly appreciated. I have never had a cat, much less kittens, as I think I told you before; so it is totally new to me.

Since there were only 3 babies, I hope I can find homes for them. I have been told that once Persephone has weaned them, she will not be upset when I find them homes.

I plan on getting her fixed. A friend gave me a vet's name who will do it cheaply since she is a stray.

As far as Sebastian, the big black part Persian, is concerned, I have not seen him since he sneaked a look at the kittens. I understand from neighbors, that he sleeps at the gate to my patio at night to protect them. I really want to adopt him and make an inside kitty again. Riley likes him, and Sebastian will roll on his back when Riley comes to him. I think they would get along well inside.

I guess I will sign off and continue my isolation and rerun watching on TV.

I am staying in place because of the Coronavirus 19. I am well and coping pretty well.

I also hope all of you reading this are well and coping. I have been watching an awful lot of TV (reruns) and Roku, too. At night I read. Last night I woke up after a few hours sleep and then read a book. I have to slow down or the ones a friend gave me will run out. I cannot let that happen. I have read most of them already, but with my age, I do not usually remember who the killer is. Christie said long ago that a mystery reader is a positive person - they know it will turn out OK in the end.

So dear friends, I hope it will all turn out OK in the end. I heard that this week it is going to be BAD. I hope it is not bad for you and I plan on doing all I can to keep isolated. with my health conditions, I am a walking candidate for this illness.

I wll try to post often and I hope you and your loved ones stay safe and healthy I notice I have used the word HOPE quite a bit in this post. I guess that is very approriate now.

How quickly things change in a few weeks. I am now housebound like I was when I created this website, only this time it is not my living in the middle of nowhere, but housebound to keep safe and healthy.

I take my dog, Riley, out for a morning walk and see neighbors on their balconies (a safe distance away) and we get caught up. Many have been laid off their jobs, others are retired like I am, and a few are still working in grocery stores, etc. 

I can order food from a local grocery store to be delivered, so far, and my pantry and freezer are full. I have this laptop and social websites to use. It is funny that I am even communicating with neighbors through Facebook, messaging.

Well, this post is to let you know, all you loyal followers that I have renewed for another year and hope to post often. Thank you for reading my site and my posts. I have plenty of time to see if I can expand the pages now - much like I did all those years ago in North Carolina.

I have been having ups and down so much in the last 6-8 months. I read my past few months' entries, and I have not been myself, at all. I am now doing fine and have been for several days. I plan on maintaining this new attitude. 

Update, I did sign a new lease and I am here for at least another year. I have decided to keep home base the same and do more "visiting" with friends, both here and out of town.  I plan on meeting one of my "oldest" (\meaning the longest one have known) friends next summer. We are going to meet halfway since she lives in West Palm Beach. She was my first roommate in my first apartment. I was 19 and Jan was 21.

On the way to Gainesville to visit Jan, I will have to break up the trip until I can do "longer" trips. I have dear friends in Tallahassee and I plan on staying overnight in a motel and meeting them for dinner. I will stay in a motel because my driving companion Riley ( my Yorkie) will be with me. After a break in Tallahassee I will head to Gainesville to see Jan. 

I know this is pretty far in the future, but I have to get ready to go. Remember I am not the younger vagabond I was a few years ago. 

Tomorrow I will start my a Spring favorite of going to gardens centers and picking out new plants for my patio. I have several who have survived but I want a true garden out there now.

Right now I have a pregnant stray kitty about to give birth in my "garden" on the patio. I will wait until that happens to put all the new plants on it. I have a small gate that I can use to keep them in one place until she is ready to let them go.

It should be interesting, since I have never had a cat., much less kittens, in my 73 years. Always wanted one and now I will have a family of them. Once the babies are given away , I will take her and have her spayed. She can remain my outdoor cat because we have several apartment kitties here and all the mice, lizards, etc.. have disappeared. We are pest free. I wonder if we will have any large Palmetto bugs this year.

So I am a bit wordy today - I must feel better. I will be keeping in touch for sure/

Did your March roll in like lion? Our temps here in Pensacola so far are mild days but cool nights. I guess spring is coming. So far no evidence in plants except some beautiful purple weeds in the back  non-mowed area.

I have plants on my patio, but so far nothing is looking different. However, I do feel the need to do some spring cleaning. My life has gone to seed, especially my apartment this winter because I have had to stay in due to some dizziness left over from all of my trips to visit the hard ground. Amazingly I have not broken anything yet. I guess all those years of dancing helped make strong bones.

There is something going on outside, since I am sneezing my head off occasionally. Here in Pensacola, we have a lot of wind so I guess there is something somewhere blooming and it is making me sneeze.

Enough about that. I have started to plan a driving visit to some friends who live in other parts of Florida -Tallahassee and my favorite place to live, Bradenton. I will have to build up my driving strength to do this, I intend to do everything I can to accomplish this. 

Tallahassee is not very far and dear friends live there. Bradenton might take several days if I can not build up my strength to go a long distance - over 500 miles. There are delightful places I can stop to rest on the way. There was a time I could drive that in one day. Oh, well, there also was once a time that I had to learn to walk again. 

Things are looking up. Happy March.