I’ve had a headache the last few days. It’s probably pollen overload with all the leaves opening on the trees. I’m also getting minimal sleep, well, at night. I sleep great from about 6-10 in the morning, coincidentally when The Husband gets up. Overall I’m still functional but just barely. I’ve cut back on caffeine and increased water. The next thing that has to go is about half the sugar I’ve been gobbling in the form of treats. It’s always something here with the self-improvement stuff.
How about a random Q & A? Feel free to answer in the comments or leave a link to your blog if you’ll be answering there. Here we go:
- What one thing has kept you from losing it entirely the last couple of months? It can be crafting but feel free to step outside that box.
- What meal is your absolute favorite? Be as vague or specific as you wish. Include an appetizer, dessert and drink if you wish.
- When you think back to your childhood, what is your fondest memory? Again feel free to be vague or specific.
- Do you plant a vegetable garden or a flower garden (or both!)? What is your favorite thing to grow? Do you ever experiment with what you grow? What was it?
Here are my answers.
- I have a few things that are making this pandemic time tolerable. First it was the fudge covered Devil Dogs. Then I moved on to Fritos and now I’m treating myself to Little Debbie Nutty Buddy Bars. Overall my eating habits have taken a nosedive.
- I have so many favorite meals. It depends on my mood, the season and whether I’ve eaten it recently. My death row last meal would be prime rib, baked potato, salad with Italian dressing, soft squishy white rolls and butter. If I’m cooking it myself I would say a turkey dinner with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, butternut squash, green beans and apple pie.
- I remember going on vacation with my mother, grandmother, cousin and aunt. We had so much fun. We went to the beach every day. One day we took the train which might have been the first time I’d been on a train. In the evening we sat on the screened porch. The week went by so fast.
- I used to garden. We have perennials and some bulbs that flower. We used to have a good size vegetable garden. My favorite flower to grow is zinnias. I am not great at growing them though. We used to have a small bed of asparagus but the rabbits always got to it before us. I hope to do some container gardening this year. I’m thinking a couple tomato plants on the patio. Maybe a pot of zinnias on the front steps if I can find some at the garden center.
Again, feel free to answer in the comments or leave a link to your blog.
NothingButKnit 
I think watching an episode a day of The Office (US version) is the 30 mins of the day I forget about the world.
My favourite meal hmmm perhaps if I have no after effects Insalata Caprese (buffalo mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, basil and balsamic vinegar glaze with garlic bread. For dessert a huge gelato sundae with Ferraro Roche gelato, chocolate orange gelato, mango sorbet, chocolate sauce, toasted hazelnuts. Dairy and tomatoes don’t agree with me.
I much preferred my 20s to my childhood, so it’s hard to think of anything special. There must be something but right now my mind’s blank.
I have 6 raised borders, 2 for flowers and 3 for veg and one has rhubarb and lupine in! We have borders with shrubs in and there’s a fruit border with 3 x blueberry bushes, 1 jostaberry bush, 1 rhubarb and a honeysuckle.
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I like the sound of your meal.
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I handed in my notice at my job before Covid-19 really hit (wrong job for me entirely) and when I finished on the Friday we went into lockdown on the Monday. I’ve definitely had days where I feel rather lacking in direction, but no danger of losing it yet; in fact, it’s been more a period of finding myself again. However, that process has been aided by beautiful yarn from Noodle Soup Yarns and John Arbon Textiles, and all the pens and inks and paper my heart can contain.
My favourite meal would be my dad’s sausage pie (sausage, tomato and onion topped with mashed potato), but it would have to actually be made by either my dad or mum to be perfect. It’s filling, so doesn’t need any pudding, but I would follow it with a cup of tea and maybe a couple of Thorntons’ chocolates.
There was a day when I was probably eleven years old, sitting by a loch in Scotland, a light rain falling, just playing with twigs and daydreaming for hours on end. That is a particularly fond childhood memory.
My dwelling is a first-floor flat, I have no garden, I have no green thumb. My feeling is that in this life I have two sisters for gardening, I don’t need to do it myself! No kidding – one of my sisters plants extra tomatoes in order to provide me with the green tomatoes I need to make chutney. I love my sisters (and my brother, although like me he avoids gardens) dearly.
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I am sleeping poorly too, keep planning to cut back on coffee (have switched to decaff anyway), and chocolate/treats and drink more water too. Planning …. not sure how it will go. Hard to drop something I get such pleasure from!
Random Q&A answers:
Crafting has definitely kept me sane – raiding my stash of fabric and yarn has been quite cathartic at times.
My absolute favourite meal – that’s a difficult one – I love food!! My ‘go to’ meal from childhood and now definitely my comfort food is beans on toast.
My fondest childhood memory – maybe not exactly memories, just a feeling of snuggling up with my mum, feeling loved. Or perhaps times spent with my Nan and Grandad in their little cottage, not specific visits, just the sense of being there (toasting bread over their kitchen fire, opening the fridge and smelling the open tin of cat food and Nan’s ever present chewing gum sticks!)
My garden is mostly shrubs and I love the evergreen-ness of it year round. I have had successes in the past with the most wonderful aliums and every year I have a plethora of wild bluebells.
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I had a grandmother that always had Juicy Fruit gum. Just remembered from your post!
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Funny how some memories from a while ago pop into your head, isn’t it! I can also remember the smell of her little cottage – probably woodsmoke from the real fires mostly, but also rice pudding with the top overdone (burnt!) and Pears soap in their bathroom. Now I am reminiscing. Ask me what I ate for dinner last week – can’t remember !!
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I am also on the self improvement wagon.
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The one thing that’s kept me going? Hubby.
I love my garden. Flowers, shrubs and herbs. Good for the soul.
Worst thing – uncertainty about life in general, and pain in arthritic hands which slows me down and sometimes prevents me from knitting – gaaaagh!
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Crafting, baking and sewing. I completed a beaded embroidery that took lots of concentration, especially since many of the beads were in an assortment pack, so I was separating them with tweezers. Lots of bread baking, trying to avoid too much dessert making. And progress is being made on a quilt for my daughter.
My favorite meal is spaghetti with hot sausage sauce. Comfort in a bowl. Anytime I’m on my own for a meal it is always pasta.
So many good memories of my childhood. That is one advantage of having a big family, always something going on.
I don’t garden, I leave that to my husband. He loves doing it, and I don’t. I appreciate the results immensely.
Hope you sleep better, it is awful to try functioning without enough sleep.
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I have the best quarantine buddies. My home is quiet and my son, husband and dog make for great companionship. Of course I have a deep faith so I spend time in prayer. My knitting and cooking are great activities.
I love soft-shelled crab and lobster. I don’t prepare them since my husband is allergic. I would have to say a meal of shellfish would be my zen meal!
I have such fond memories of helping my daddy around the yard. Being in the garden, or working in the woods with him…I even helped him build a shed. Yeah, being with my daddy are my best childhood memories.
We keep expanding on our vegetable garden each year. I also have a number of perennial beds too. There are planters and big pots that I put my annuals in.
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Okay, I’ll do the Q & A
What keeps me sane? Honestly, it’s all the sharing on this blog. I’m so happy to have found people who enjoy looking at and discussing arts and crafts.
My favorite meal is dinner! We make a point to take turns cooking, and it’s always a highlight of the day. But if you ask me what dish I like the best, it’s Chinese stir-fry. I like preparing it with lots of vegetables and Asian seasonings.
Memory: Summer days spent at Silver Springs, the local swim club. The lake was oval-shaped, with a ring of sand. A large central dock held two tall slides and some diving boards. Even just lying on a towel in the sunshine made me happy.
I have been growing vegetables for about five years. My favorites are spinach and garlic. Both are planted in the fall. The spinach is ready to harvest by mid April. Delicious stir-fried with onion and bacon.
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What one thing has kept you from losing it entirely the last couple of months? It can be crafting but feel free to step outside that box. Absolutely sewing, and making a deeper connection with a quilting friend, we usually end up talking or texting every day. But also, I have not completely quarantined, so I have traveled back to the hometown, or just been out and about running errands.
What meal is your absolute favorite? Be as vague or specific as you wish. Include an appetizer, dessert and drink if you wish. Gosh, everything? But I would say Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans!!! Or, Pizza!!!! Well, and Steak, baked potatoes, and baked beans. But then again, Honey peppered chicken and 3 cheese pasta!!! OK, I told you, everything!
When you think back to your childhood, what is your fondest memory? Again feel free to be vague or specific. Christmas, Thanksgiving, or any time my Dad’s family was gathered. 9 sibling/cousins spanning 10 years of births, so we were almost stair-step, living their best life at all the family holiday events.
Do you plant a vegetable garden or a flower garden (or both!)? What is your favorite thing to grow? Do you ever experiment with what you grow? What was it? I grow bacteria? Dust bunnies? Piles of UFO projects? I have no green thumb, so I don’t bother.
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Nice blog
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1) I am at home with my husband. We have been watching 1 episode of Outlander every evening. We just finished season season 3. I started reading the first book now.
2) I can’t say I have one favorite meal because there are many, but I love bread and have been making that with our breadmaker, Also I am addicted to my daily morning hot mocha.
3) Again, I can’t think of only 1 favorite childhood memory above others, but at this moment what pops in my head is spending time at our family cabin. That is still my happy place. We used to get old sewing pattern books from the fabric store and cut out paper dolls and clothes from the pattern photos.
4) I am not much of a gardener, but we are living in a new place now with a small garden that we will continue with rhubarb, raspberries, and green beans.
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I’ve been crafting like crazy. Steak or Chicken Alfredo! I had to chuckle about you getting more sleep after your hubby leaves. I’m totally guilty of that. I just got up from my morning nap and I’m not sorry. I hope you are feeling better soon!
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Great questions as always, I will answer on my blog 🙂
I’m so sorry you aren’t getting good sleep – that really messes everything else up! Also, they aren’t great for you, but those Little Debbies are pretty darn tasty. Container gardening is a good way to do a little bit of gardening, especially if you have rabbits and so on that make regular gardening challenging. At our house in Pennsylvania, it was the deer that got to everything 🙂
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1. I’m way ahead of most people when it comes to self-isolation; in a way things are nicer for me right now because the neighbors are home. I have tons of things to keep me busy, but the one thing that is saving me is…Amazon!! Seriously, anything that I need comes flying on from Amazon to save the day. 🙂
2. My favorite meal is a huge pot of soup. Right now I have green chili cooking and I’m looking forward to days of leftovers. The chilies are the last of my fire roasted local grown, so the new crop can’t get here fast enough!!
3.Going to Disneyland!! We lived on hour away so we went there every year. I loved running wild on Tom Sawyer Island!!
4. Roses and orchids!
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What one thing has kept you from losing it entirely the last couple of months? It can be crafting but feel free to step outside that box.
I spent the first part of the lock-down going to Baltimore, as the only family member available to get cousin to medical appointment that cleared her to put weight on her leg for the first time in three months. Then to NC for a couple of weeks with cousins there, and Easter. Then back to Baltimore, to get cousin’s apartment more handicapped friendly, so cousin could get home from assisted living. So not seeing a lot of people, but keeping really busy with lots of things, including kayaking, sewing masks, knitting.
What meal is your absolute favorite? Be as vague or specific as you wish. Include an appetizer, dessert and drink if you wish.
Brie with whole grain crackers or apples, and a frozen margarita. Grilled salmon (dill and sugar coated), sweet potatoes, mashed with citrus or ginger; asparagus, salad with lots of tomatoes. Something chocolate, maybe mousse.
When you think back to your childhood, what is your fondest memory? Again feel free to be vague or specific.
When I was 12, I think, my grandparents invited their four offspring and spouses – and me, the oldest grandchild – to Atlantic City, MD for a week of bar association meetings. The boardwalk, the beach and waves and swimming, being made much of as the only child in the group, something that did not include my siblings!! And then I was invited to go home with an aunt and uncle to spend another week with their two children, close to me in age, swimming at the local pool and racketing around the neighborhood on roller skates.
Do you plant a vegetable garden or a flower garden (or both!)? What is your favorite thing to grow? Do you ever experiment with what you grow? What was it?
I go for perennials, especially daffodils and natives. If they don’t naturalize and thrive, I can’t be bothered. I used to do a small veggie garden, but always was away when the peas came in and the tomatoes needed watering, so I gave up. I may do something this year, as I’m not likely to be on the road.
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I’ll blog my answers tomorrow. I really want nutty buddies now.
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1. Walking the local lanes and woods, crafting almost any and writing and reading the blogs.
2. Mashed potatoes, leeks and cheese. I like Hommity Pie too, but it is a carb fest. Most chocolate dessert, but I would settle for a creamy rice pudding or a sticky toffee pudding. A good glass of white wine or a large G&T.
3. Getting a puppy. He was a lovely dog and would go to each of the family for different things. Me, I was the one that let him sleep on the bed.
4. Yes to gardening, although only tubs this year. Otherwise, I would normally grow various veg. I grew some cucamelons once. They were odd.
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1. I’ve teaching nonstop, so it has been sort of normal, just more tired from trying to communicate! Crafting and reading have been welcome distractions.
2. Favorite meal? Probably New Mexico style been enciladas, with frijoles and fresh salsa on the side, and ice cream for dessert…not that I could ever manage to eat all of that in one meal, but it sounds good!
3. Fondest childhood memory…nothing really sticks out as the one thing. We worked hard together on the farm, and I always felt secure and loved, that seems enough!
4. Giant vegetable garden here!
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Pingback: Q & A and Enabling – Backstage Knits
Hello! That’s for the Q&A I answered over on my blog:
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1. My knitting stash is always calling and now, I have more time to think and knit than usual. Also, sewing masks. I’ve made hundreds.
2. A fond childhood memory? Camp Sprucelands. When I want to think about what heaven might look like or want to relax or calm down, I recall those wonderful summers at that horseback riding camp.
3. I used to plant a vegetable garden but it has been years. My current ‘thing’ I want to grow is the ability to use my coming-soon tripod for iPhone. I’ll be writing about my experiences/experiments with it soon.
4. Oh, dear . . . I’m not a foodie. I might answer any meal that is prepared for me.
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Well, trusting in the Lord and life experience keeps me sane. He has gotten me through everything and I am confident He will get me through this also.
My favorite food is spaghetti. My favorite drink is strawberry cream soda.
I have several favorite desserts. I go between them.
I like Death by Chocolate ice cream. I really like my friend’s banana pudding though.
Some of my fondest memories were spent at my grandfather’s house. I remember falling asleep listening to the rain on the tin roof. We would stay with them while we were working on our new house. My whole family was together then.
My parents had a vegetable garden that I would help out with. I tried to grow flowers. I only had a few spring up. I have a rose bush.
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What one thing has kept you from losing it entirely the last couple of months? It can be crafting but feel free to step outside that box.
Well, I’ve been switching between knitting, sewing, & cross stitch. I’m still having issues with my tendonitis. I have to see a doctor but would rather not go out until the shelter-in-place is lifted.
What meal is your absolute favorite? Be as vague or specific as you wish. Include an appetizer, dessert and drink if you wish.
I like anything that tastes really yummy! Maybe seafood and chocolatey or lemony desserts.
When you think back to your childhood, what is your fondest memory? Again feel free to be vague or specific.
I know I played with many a Barbie and all her clothes and heels.
Do you plant a vegetable garden or a flower garden (or both!)? What is your favorite thing to grow? Do you ever experiment with what you grow? What was it?
Would love it; maybe when we get our backyard fixed up. Husband has been getting estimates for both yards; the front has priorty because the whole hood sees it, LOL.
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1.The puppies are getting me by, everyday I’m so thankful I got them just ahead of this pandemic.
2. I’m totally with you on the Turkey dinner. Absolute fav. Just add cinnamon cranberry sauce homemade and substitute popovers for the rolls, oh and pumpkin pie.
3. Childhood favorite memories are when our family took weekend trips to my great aunts cabin in La Honda, California. It was only a 2 hr drive away but the place was magical with a forest to play in and secret huts we found tucked in the branches of fallen trees. Playing by the little stream and pretending to be pioneers and pan for gold. The memories are the gold.
4. Since I live in this country club there is nothing but landscaped garden. I do smother the deck with flowers and this year I’ve relegated the large pots for tomatoes, zucchini & cucumbers. I always have had herbs in pots as I use a lot in cooking. This year I’m also finishing our rainy side yard with steppingstones, Irish moss and pretty rock garden plants along with hostas. It’s very shady and I look out at it from my kitchen.
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