04/2/2020

The warm days are bringing Painted Lady Butterfly’s by the droves. Last winter we had a lot of rain, a super bloom of flowers and Painted Ladies by the millions. Not exaggerating, millions…they floated, swooped and swished past our coach for days on end in March. This year we have had some rain, some flowers and now some Painted Ladies. They are late this year, here it is April and we are finally seeing them float through, coasting on the winds and headed for who knows where they finally land in their migration. While we were doing our resort walk today we passed by a lantana bush that was attracting dozens of these beauties. They were taking a break on the flowers, enjoying the nectar then moving on. Like they were visiting a coffee bar… I can kinda remember what that is like.

So here is how day fourteen of our sheltering in place went:

• Wally and I walked the resort looking for notable fruit producing trees. We took a spin through the orchard and came home with our pockets filled with Mexican limes. These tangy little numbers are growing in the middle of our orchard, surrounded by grapefruit, lemon and orange trees. We discovered them last week when we walked through but this week the ground was littered with them. So excited… I just used the last of my limes so these are a welcome addition to the kitchen. They start off green and are actually supposed to be yellow when they are ripe.

• Spent an enormous amount of time online looking at my mothers lab results, texting with my nurse friend Jane in Portland and trying to figure out how to get her prescription delivered.

• Sucia got a mani – pedi today. Sorry no pictures of that …its kinda hard to photograph this kitty spa treatment. She required two human attendants. I administer the spa treatment while Wally stuffs Temptation Treats in her mouth. The treats keep me from being handed my ass on a platter.

• Not doing much cooking today with my diced finger…Wally made eggs and toast for breakfast and then smoothies for lunch.

• Puttered around outside…it was really breezy today and my allergies are off the chart. Extra allergy meds, nasal allergy spray and hopefully some allergy eye drops that are in the Ralphs grocery delivery will do the trick.

• Met friends for golf cart cocktails in one of our big grassy common areas. We all parked 6-10 feet part, chatted, sipped beverages and played trivia.

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• Wally make Cubano Sandwiches with the left over pork tenderloin from last night. We had some coleslaw on the side so it was a tasty, simple dinner.

• We sat outside after dinner and Bentley entertained us with his new zesting skills. You have seen him in action with lemons but tonight he really put a hurting on a pink grapefruit and a small orange. He had us giggling with his “fruit” face but what was really impressive was his lovely citrus breath!

• The fridge is fat and happy …Alexis, our Instacart shopper came mid-afternoon with a order from Ralph’s Grocery store which is in the Kroger family of stores and is very similar to a Fred Meyer. I love this service and may honestly never shop again!!! We did give her a very nice cash tip in addition to the pre-assigned tip on the Instacart app.

• Worked on this blog post and thankfully I didn’t need my thumb to type.

Day fourteen. – WHAT – was fairly uneventful. I am really missing our hikes and day trips around the valley but am satisfied to stay home if it helps keep our little valley healthy. Wondering what all ya’ll are doing to stay healthy and sane? PS.. please tell me you are staying home too???