Random Quarantine Pictures

Happiest of Wednesdays to you all!

Enjoy heading over the hump to Friday today!!!

This is going to be a totally random post of pictures from quarantine. 

I think I will be catching up on posts for months to come.

I spent a TON of time snuggling with my cuties these past few months.

I saw this on Instagram and it is so fitting!!! I have survived so many things in my life and I could totally relate to this post! HA!

More snuggle time...kitty butts on your cold feet are the best!!!

Even more butts HA!!!

One of the cats started doing this every time I left the house. I have no idea which one but I should have tried to turn on the camera and catch him/her. Its all my slippers that I have in a basket at my door and they lay them out down the hallway. No clue what this means! HA!!

This is a photo from the first weekend we saw my parents. My sister and I were in Florida with them when the quarantine hit but when we all got home we all stayed away for about a month and then started going up on the weekend to visit but not staying overnight. We did not start hugging them or staying over the weekend until June. Right or wrong; at this point I think we are just over it.

The kids were so happy to be outside fishing!

I think my Dad (Poppy) was too!

You can see Mom was!!

I warned my nieces and nephews of this. Once we were allowed to hug it was a struggle to let go!

My Dad volunteered to cut my nephews hair - he did a great job. There were no other takers....HA!

The cats had a ton of catnip parties!!

My and my parents went over to my Aunts house to stain her deck. My Mom power-washed the weekend before and then we spent the day staining it. This is the deck before staining but after power-washing. Little note here - my dad built this deck for her. He is a retired engineer and his building skills are amazing!!

That's Dad!!!! Left side of the picture is after stain...

There's Mom! She is an unbelievable worker at 76!!! Both of my parents have stayed super active and that is why they are so healthy now. Fingers crossed they will be with us for many more years!!!!

More snuggles...

We also played a lot of games at my parents house! LOL! So much family bonding fun! That is my little sister in the lovely hat! HA

And lastly, big cat in little house! LOL!! HA!!!

Hugs to everyone!!! Happy Wednesday!!!

Grandma Wells' Homemade Bread

Happy Friday everyone!!!

So happy to have made it to the weekend!

I will be heading out tomorrow to spend the weekend with my parents (and sister and her kids) on their lake!! 

On of my very favorite things I did over quarantine was jump on the baking train.

My Grandma Wells used to bake us homemade bread and we looked forward to it every time we went to her house!

My father watched her bake it one time and wrote down the recipe. After she passed away a few years ago, my father started baking the homemade bread and it is perfect and tastes exactly like hers.

So, over quarantine I decided it was a good time to try baking it myself. We do it like my Grandma Wells did it; the old fashioned manual way - no bread baking machine needed.

So, before the baking part - let's meet my beautiful Grandma Wells!! She was always laughing and joking and was soo loving and sweet!!

This is her at a family picnic in the 80's...

And this is her with her sisters. She is on your left and the my Aunt Martha was in the middle and Aunt Laura on your right.  They are all departed but sooo very missed everyday!

So, here is the Homemade Bread recipe. My Grandmother said she learned how to make it from her mother and she came to America from Switzerland so I am guessing this is how the Swiss make bread. Sorry for my crappy writing. If you decide to try this recipe and have any questions because of my terrible writing; just email me and I will clarify it.

This is the first time I have tried to make bread so it was neat watching the yeast get all foamy...here I am ready to go with my foamy yeast and dough hook on the Kitchenaide (So I guess it was not all manual as I used the mixer) but my Grandmother did all the mixing and kneading by hand.

After the dough is all mixed; you put it in a bowl and cover it and let it rise until it doubles itself.

Then you cut the dough in half and put it into your baking pans and cover them and let them double again.

Then you bake it! Simple, right?!? It turned out sooo yummy!!! I made it a few times and shared with neighbors but then had to stop baking it as I was eating WAYYYY TOOO MUCH myself! HA

Thank you for the memories and recipes Grandma Wells! Every time I eat or smell her bread (no matter who bakes it) I am transported right back into her tiny kitchen that I remember so fondly from my childhood! It was packed with people, love and delicious food and hugs!!

I love you and miss you daily Grandma Wells!!!

Did you bake during the quarantine? Do you enjoy baking? Ever bake bread? Do you have a food or smell that reminds you of someone special in your life??

Hugs to you all!!!!!!! Have a great day!

Liberty Rocks

As I mentioned in my last post; I came home from vacation after the quarantine had already begun and he hoarding had already begun in Pittsburgh, PA.

I found groceries and staples and then thought it would be nice to get a few puzzles. So, off I went to target and there were NONE left on the shelves!! People had hoarded puzzles also!!! I was out of luck!!

I went home and tried to find one online and on Amazon and none were left ANYWHERE!!! 

The I thought maybe I could find a different kind of puzzle.

So I went back to Target and bought the one of the only Lego sets that was left!! HA! I think it was left because of the cost but it was sooo much fun to put together!!!! I am now addicted to Architecture Legos!! I put this together and took it apart multiple times. I think I completed it a total of four times and then I took it apart again and gave it to my nephews so they could put it together too.

Here it is in steps...

Like I said, it was super fun to build and it is so life-like in the end! Awesome!

During quarantine I also spent many many hours snuggling with all my furry babies. I think they are really going to suffer when I have to go back to working in a building and not at home. We have all become super tight through this quarantine.

Another favorite thing during my quarantine time was swinging on my porch and staring at this tree. It is sooo beautiful in the Spring...this picture does not do it justice!

Closer.....

Just a couple of my snuggle buddies...

Sooooo cute!!!!!!

I hope you all are having a great week!! 

Did you puzzle during the quarantine? What were your families favorite activities to spend time? Are you still quarantined or have you go back to work and you "outside" routines?

HUGS to everyone!!!!

Florida 2020

So first let me say....

A HUGE thank you to everyone for not giving up on my blog through my Corona virus silence!!

I can not begin to express to you guys how wonderful it was to see and read all of your comments and know that you did not all give up on me through my silence!!

So, let's rewind back to March and I will now share with you my trip to Florida to visit my parents.

Every Winter my parents rent a house in Florida and each kid goes down to visit with their family.

I usually try to overlap a few families so I can spend time with my nieces and nephews as much as possible.

So I flew down on March 10th right as we started hearing about the corona virus or Covid 19.

Here was the first day at The Villages. We went to a community pool and it was packed with people and the weather was perfection!  (Not joking, the pool was packed although you cant tell in my picture below as there was no one in the chairs in front of us.)

I got to spend a lot of time with these adorable children. Love these kids more than life itself!!

More pool time with the kids and Mom and Dad and sister...

Thinking about my babies at home and hoping they were safe. I had a cat sitter going in everyday and with all the conflicting stories I was just praying they were safe from this Corona thing.

As you can see, entertainment was in full swing at The Villages every night until a few days before we left. It was like being in a different world from what every back home was texting me was happening there.

Got a lot of golf in with my Mom and Dad. I suck but I really love to play!

We played this course in The Villages a lot as it was close to our rental house.

Another packed night at the town square...

More golf and sunshine!!!

Saw this little turtle on the golf course....sooo cute!

He did not want to meet me; as soon as I got nearby he ducked in his shell! HA

Crammed in the car and headed to the pool again....YAY

Love these kids; they go along with all my crazy dress up ideas!!!

The whole family dressed up and went to the town square for St. Patty's Day!!

My sweet niece and Godchild Kyleigh...

Sunset on the pier...

Another without the kids...

Saw this super cute exterminator car in a parking lot!!! LOL

We spent a lot of time at the pool; the kids were at school from home by the time they came down so they did homework at the pool many days.

But they did also have their fair share of relaxation in between studies...

We found this crazy bird that the kids nicknamed "red-headed chicken duck". HA! If anyone knows what it is let me know...

Quick picture while walking one morning of my Mom, sister and nephew Ryan.

This is my niece Aly pretending to be mannequin....I think she did great! Can you find her?? HA 

Around March 18th the Corona craziness hit The Villages. As you see in the picture below NO ONE came out to the square and entertainment was shut down.  We went to walk around after dinner and there were only a few people out that brought their own music to dance to.

Got a little St. Patty's family shot!

We played a lot of outside sports other than golf too. The kids loved shuffleboard, tennis and boccee. This is Kyleigh and I on a shuffleboard break....

All of us outside playing...

Aly and Ryan asking tennis anyone???

More shuffleboard fun....

A little Gecko came to hang out with us in the shuffleboard courts...

Another shot of the red-headed chicken duck...they kids fed him a lot. They were worried about him.

Here is a closer photo of this odd looking creature.

It was time to fly home on March 20th so we all headed to the airport together. My sister's family had a flight about an hour before mine so i shot this picture of them waiting to board the plane. At this point many people had masks. We did not... 

So the visit was great but strange at the end and it was very nerve-racking flying home no knowing if it was safe or not.

I arrived home March 20th around 8PM. I had no stock of anything and no food as I was to be gone for 10 days. I tried to go grocery shopping but everything was closed early due to Corona (including our 24 hour Walmart!!).  So, March 21st I went shopping and found no paper towels, toilet paper, sanitizing wipes or sanitizer. Also, the ground chicken and meats were almost empty!!! CRAZINESS!! I got so angry that I could not even purchase anything that I would need. My neighbors were wonderful and shared TP with me but the whole experience of the level of hoarding here in Pennsylvania gave me no hope for society!!! I think I all of the sudden went into shock mode and stayed there for the past three months. UGH!

So far, no one in my family or extended family has been diagnosed with the virus. We all have had symptoms like headache, cough or achy here or there but nothing confirmed and no one has gotten SICK sick. 

Is it possible that even through all of that travel and activity that none of us were exposed? My parents are both 76 and healthy...I do not know what to think. Here's to hoping that we were already exposed and have the antibodies we need to stay healthy should this virus make a comeback in the Fall.

Does anyone know anyone personally that got sick? How did your kids adjust to all the changes? how did you adjust to all the changes? Did you have hoarding in your area?

HUGS to you all!! I missed you all so much!! Have a wonderful day!!!!