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.

It is 7:45 Am and I am exhausted already - breathing hard, etc. One reason is a health problem that I need to take of, but mostly  it is just getting older.

My chores in the morning involve getting my clothes on before coffee, walking my dog, taking my numerous meds (I refuse to put them in one of those containers for the week so I must measure them all out,) making my coffee, etc. I am up 45 minutes before I get my first sip of coffee.

Although I do feel old, the coffee helps mask the symptoms. And now I will watch the Morning News shows, check emails, post on Facebook, and on occasion post on my website. Then I am ready to face my day, whatever it brings. BUT COFFEE FIRST.

I am feeling trapped and this is ridiculous. My health is better and I can leave anytime. I might have to if they do not lower my rent soon. But anyway, I am not sure I want to keep living here.

Several residents are moving to other facilities which are closer to relatives or provide something they do not get here. One is a friend I have had since moving here. I will miss her.

I want to move, too, but I have to figure out where to go. I will not go back to any place I have lived before. I did that in Memphis and could not believe how much it had changed. Soooo, I need to locate somewhere new. and It really should be in the south somewhere. 

I have not really gone to the beach much lately so I really do not have to find a beach city. I just need one to have the stores I use, the temp I like (no snow) and some things fun to do for seniors, like sightseeing.

I have until April before I need to move so I really need to start looking. And it is possible I will stay here another year, if I do not find just the right place. I have been here in this apartment for almost 5 years and that is a record for me since leaving Memphis.

I will let you know what I am going to do and where if it changes.

My New Year 2020 is already looking better. I have been battling repercussions from a fall several months back that hit the back of my head fairly hard. It was on concrete, too, not grass like before. I do not know if I had concussion since I did not pass out and felt dizzy, but OK. I asked a neighbor to sit with me to make sure I stayed conscious.
So, with that background I have felt different – not really myself for several months. Christmas I really felt awful and just laid around on the couch. I did not start to feel better until last weekend. I went out yesterday to do a little shopping and I was fine driving and shopping.
My point is, I am finally back and preparing dinner for myself today AND preparing to start living again, really living. My feet are itching for the first time in a while and have started imagining a trip somewhere soon. So, my dear friends, who follow me on Miss Maudie’s Menagerie, should expect some new adventures soon.
I will start slowly since I have not done this for a while, but I am going somewhere, with Riley, my Yorkie, in the front seat, soon.
‘

Christmas is almost here. I am ready for it to come, with the exception of my well-being. I have been having some problems of late and feel kind of dizzy and groggy most of the time. It all started with just "not feeling right" and has progressed to several days in the house resting and doing nothing. I had to cancel  Christmas dinner plans with a friend because I did not think I would be able to cook it.

I am having another friend drive me today to pick up some prescriptions, because I was not sure I am up to driving just yet. I cannot stand this feeling of not feeling independent. I hope it passes soon. If it does not I am going to see my primary physician, so do not worry about me.

It could be my blood pressure or any other of the assorted "conditions" I have. I have controlled them this long and I intend to keep controlling them. Today I feel a bit better and was able to come to our computer room to post this. (My laptop does not have enough memory to do much other than play solitaire.)

Although my Christmas will be a bit lonely, I can watch all those wonderful TV movies on my Roku. Riley will love snuggling with me while I watch them. It does feel funny, though, that for the first time in a while I will not be cooking. Maybe I will feel better by the New Year and can "cook" then. I do feel much better today and have each day so maybe by then I will be my normal self.

Have a wonderful Christmas, my dear friends and a very Happy New Year.