Last Thursday, 3/19, Veronica went to work as usual. The day did not continue in the usual fashion though. The store never opened to the public and Veronica spent several hours closing up the store in preparation for a company wide store closing that is supposed to last until 4/6 at a minimum. So she has been home almost a week. Her company is treating their employees extremely well as far as paying them during these unusual times. The best news is that at this time we are virus free or should I say that we have shown no signs of having the virus at this time. We won't feel safe until we have made it to the 14th day of Veronica being home, which will be on 4/2. We have not been out since she came home that day except for a quick stop into a quiet grocery store for some last minute provisions. Previous to that I had been to the bank and a grocery store on 3/16. I went there load with antibacterial wipes and liquid sanitizer.
So the bottom line is that hopefully we will get to 4/2 without any signs of having the virus. At that timer we can breathe a sigh of relief but we must still remain vigilant and protect ourselves.
This time off gives Veronica some time to rest and relax and to get some sewing done. I meanwhile spend my days cleaning house, mowing the yard and soon I will be getting several shipments in of flowers and plants. Once I get all of the plants and day lilies planted I will order a pallet of mulch and get all of the garden spaces mulched.
I really don't like being cooped up in the house and the yard work and landscaping allows me to get outside, get some fresh air and still remain somewhat quarantined from the outside word.
Numerous Travel Plans Foiled
With the upcoming Spring season upon us we were supposed to be going to Venice, Italy. Those plans ended abruptly with the corona virus issue.
So we looked into plan B which was a "traincation" in Switzerland. Unfortunately that wasn't going to happen due to the fact that one of the numerous trains we would have taken went through a section of Northern Italy. European Vacations by Rail changed the itinerary so that instead of a train going through part of Italy that was shut down at this time due to the virus, they would bus us to the next destination and not go through Italy at all. We decided not to do that itinerary since the main reason for going was to be able to ride all of these different trains throughout Switzerland. So we decided to put that option on hold until maybe next year. All of this was at the early stages of the corona virus hitting Europe and the U.S. So option C was created...a return trip to Budapest and Prague with a train trip between the 2 countries. So we made all arrangements for flights, hotels in both cities and obtained the rail tickets too. We even ordered foreign currency for both countries. Within 12 hours of us speedily putting together this vacation it all fell to pieces. We heard that all travel from the U.S. to Europe and vice versa was banned. This was before they delivered clarification on the ban. Either way we decided that this was not the time to push our luck on travel. So we cancelled everything.
As it turned out Veronica's employer closed all stores for at least 2 weeks so we are currently staying in our house and basically isolating ourselves from the outside world as much as possible. I just wish everyone would do this for a couple of weeks. But unfortunately there are those that feel the need to go out and about needlessly without a care in the world.
I will use this time to do so gardening as I have a couple of shipments of day lilies arriving and some other plants. After I get all of those planted I will have Home Depot deliver some bags of mulch and get that spread in the gardens. So within a 3 week time period I will have almost all of my gardening for the year completed.
We are all stocked up here and will self quarantine within the confines of our house and yard without any contact with other people other than a quick wave to each other.
So we looked into plan B which was a "traincation" in Switzerland. Unfortunately that wasn't going to happen due to the fact that one of the numerous trains we would have taken went through a section of Northern Italy. European Vacations by Rail changed the itinerary so that instead of a train going through part of Italy that was shut down at this time due to the virus, they would bus us to the next destination and not go through Italy at all. We decided not to do that itinerary since the main reason for going was to be able to ride all of these different trains throughout Switzerland. So we decided to put that option on hold until maybe next year. All of this was at the early stages of the corona virus hitting Europe and the U.S. So option C was created...a return trip to Budapest and Prague with a train trip between the 2 countries. So we made all arrangements for flights, hotels in both cities and obtained the rail tickets too. We even ordered foreign currency for both countries. Within 12 hours of us speedily putting together this vacation it all fell to pieces. We heard that all travel from the U.S. to Europe and vice versa was banned. This was before they delivered clarification on the ban. Either way we decided that this was not the time to push our luck on travel. So we cancelled everything.
As it turned out Veronica's employer closed all stores for at least 2 weeks so we are currently staying in our house and basically isolating ourselves from the outside world as much as possible. I just wish everyone would do this for a couple of weeks. But unfortunately there are those that feel the need to go out and about needlessly without a care in the world.
I will use this time to do so gardening as I have a couple of shipments of day lilies arriving and some other plants. After I get all of those planted I will have Home Depot deliver some bags of mulch and get that spread in the gardens. So within a 3 week time period I will have almost all of my gardening for the year completed.
We are all stocked up here and will self quarantine within the confines of our house and yard without any contact with other people other than a quick wave to each other.
Life Goes On
It has once again been awhile since my last blog entry. Time seems to be flying by even though it has been a long long Winter. But with Spring slowly coming our way and hopefully with the warmer weather, things with pick up and I will get out and about more.
I decided that I would start mowing our yard starting this season rather than paying someone else to do it. The exercise will do me good. I went out and got myself a top rated Honda mower that has electronic start and is self propelled. This thing is a beast...very heavy duty and the self propelled system takes a little getting used to. It will give me a good workout in the Summer. I had to a new grass trimmer and a new grass edger...both of which are battery operated. I had previously purchased a battery operated leaf/grass blower. Now I have all of the tools needed for the yard upkeep.
I cleaned out the shed so that there would be room for all of my outdoor tools and equipment.
This upcoming Spring season I will be busy landscaping. I had a ton of plants coming in before the end of April. Last year I planted some peonies and quite a few are already showing signs of life after the cold of Winter. I will be planting a lot of daylilies. I chose many different types and colors. Daylilies are very colorful and easy to grow. They need little care and at the end of the growing season you just cut them down to the ground and they will easily return the following year. Once every 2-3 years I might have to separate and prune them out since they tend to be prolific growers and spread out quite a bit. But at least they will fill up the gardens that I have.
I have decided to not grow any vegetables this year. So this year there will be no fresh tomatoes, corn nor sweet peppers. I want to focus on planting the flowers and new plants in the garden and get them growing well.
Maybe next year I will get back to the vegetable gardens.
We were supposed to be going to Venice, Italy in a month or so but unfortunately with the corona virus Venice has been closed off to the outside world. We are looking at alternative destinations that will be somewhat safer to visit. No decisions have been made as of yet but we are researching a couple of possibilities. We will save Venice for the Fall, at which time hopefully the virus will have run its course.
I decided that I would start mowing our yard starting this season rather than paying someone else to do it. The exercise will do me good. I went out and got myself a top rated Honda mower that has electronic start and is self propelled. This thing is a beast...very heavy duty and the self propelled system takes a little getting used to. It will give me a good workout in the Summer. I had to a new grass trimmer and a new grass edger...both of which are battery operated. I had previously purchased a battery operated leaf/grass blower. Now I have all of the tools needed for the yard upkeep.
I cleaned out the shed so that there would be room for all of my outdoor tools and equipment.
This upcoming Spring season I will be busy landscaping. I had a ton of plants coming in before the end of April. Last year I planted some peonies and quite a few are already showing signs of life after the cold of Winter. I will be planting a lot of daylilies. I chose many different types and colors. Daylilies are very colorful and easy to grow. They need little care and at the end of the growing season you just cut them down to the ground and they will easily return the following year. Once every 2-3 years I might have to separate and prune them out since they tend to be prolific growers and spread out quite a bit. But at least they will fill up the gardens that I have.
I have decided to not grow any vegetables this year. So this year there will be no fresh tomatoes, corn nor sweet peppers. I want to focus on planting the flowers and new plants in the garden and get them growing well.
Maybe next year I will get back to the vegetable gardens.
We were supposed to be going to Venice, Italy in a month or so but unfortunately with the corona virus Venice has been closed off to the outside world. We are looking at alternative destinations that will be somewhat safer to visit. No decisions have been made as of yet but we are researching a couple of possibilities. We will save Venice for the Fall, at which time hopefully the virus will have run its course.
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