Mrs. Patmore and a Lack of Drama in Everyday Ramblings

From a couple of days ago. It helps to know where to look for these signs of spring. We are heading into a long cold wet stretch of weather, so these glimpses of the abundance to come are useful and good.

Yesterday before class I made the Blueberry Cornmeal Buckle from the One Tin Bakes book. It is gluten free and took me a week to gather supplies for. It has three cups of almonds and a pound of blueberries and oat flour and used a whole bunch of bowls. As I was stirring the eggs in, I felt like I was channeling Mrs. Patmore from Downton Abby

It is like a coffee cake with streusel on top. I was worried about grinding the almonds too fine and didn’t quite grind them enough and it is quite moist, which makes it a bit more like a blueberry crumble than anything else, but it is yummy. I am awaiting reports from my walking crew this morning.

We are below freezing now but it is dry. I think I will take my companions on a visual journey of signs of spring in the neighborhood, before we go a little further afield. Mrs. Sherlock had the chance to do some work in her beloved garden yesterday. Snow keeps appearing and disappearing in the forecast. Precipitation, in some form, is on its way, however.

Having a dark cold week might inspire me to get my web site set up. I have been procrastinating on it but for the folks participating in my classes I want to be able to offer them one place to go where they can look at the schedule, get links, watch recordings and pay.

The money part of the change-over to a subscription model is going okay, but the communication part has been a bit of a hitch. I went from basically sending everyone 4 emails a week to one. And then on top of that I accidentally toggled the authentication button in Zoom setting up my big Monday class this last week creating consternation beforehand for a number of participants with older computers or a little less tech savvy. My bad.

We’ve all had to do so much adapting over the last year.

Speaking of adapting, here in the United States, the graphs we are all closely following of cases and deaths start as of February 29th 2020. Our state released yesterday for the first-time dates where someone over 65 will be able to get a vaccine…February 28th 2021. It is amazing when one thinks about it, a year, but also frustrating.

We are one of 5 states vaccinating childcare workers and K-12 teachers before people 65 and older. Kes, Mrs. Sherlock and Charity will all be able to get their first shots a week before me and Mr. Sherlock will be able to get his week after next. I will be hugely relieved when all my beloveds get their shots!

In the meantime, I got some new masks that are warm and highly rated for the ability to wear them and talk. I try so hard not to touch my face ever after I leave the house and that means not touching my mask.

When you are walking for two hours and talking…I also have given up on wearing my glasses with a mask on. I have masks where it works if I am indoors and not exerting myself, and one can tape the top of the mask like they are doing in eye clinics but once walking… Forget it. To say my impression of the outside world right now is a bit blurry would be accurate.

Have you noticed the lack of drama in the air lately? The manifestation of competence? The possibility of letting one’s guard down slightly because one is not braced for the latest outrage. The change is palpable.

I am considering the possibility of maybe starting to work on a series of poems. For obvious reasons poetry is a hot topic right now. :) We had a very interesting discussion about it on my weekly Yoga Teacher’s call on Thursday. The intersection of art and teaching and the process involved in learning to express oneself poetically.

In spite of the fact that group dynamics are a minefield for me, this community and these weekly calls have been so helpful for getting me through what has basically been 10 months in isolation.

Kes and Most Honorable and me are planning another trip to the beach in April and I am looking forward to that very much, especially now that Diego is doing much better.

But first the rain, the cold and a mission driven hunt for a vaccine appointment.

Last updated January 23, 2021