April 12, 2020 thought for today: An arrow can be pulled out of a wound, but a hurtful word stays forever in your heart. Persian Proverb

I watched two Easter church services this morning. The one Catholic service was on Channel 4 here in Columbus I watched it. It was very nice. It was good to see the inside of the chapel (it was the same chapel that I received my nursing cap from, “graduating from “probie” to student nurse). The accompanying music was beautiful, mostly by one lady who did the singing (I imagine in place of a full choir). There were about ten people participating in the service.

For the April 11 month-of-gratitude theme photo I picked this one of my son mowing our lawn. There are several things in the photo that I am grateful for. One, gratitude for my son, then that I have a yard to mow and then that I have someone who does it for me.

My pastor was giving his weekly sermon on facebook live at the same time so I had both on at the same time. I would mute the one while it seemed appropriate, back and forth.

Before the services started, I made our “Easter basket”. It consisted of supplies I had on hand, a paper plate, topped with torn newspaper for “grass”, five hard-boiled eggs colored with food color and a few M&M pieces.

I need to modify some of what I said from my “soap box” in my last blog. I tried the Kroger curbside pick up and picked up the groceries Saturday. I had a bad experience with the try at delivery service and whined about the possible problem with the curb side service possibilities. I had heard of several problems with it. Anyway, it was ready the minute Bob got there. I am going to give it a second try. We sill have to wait a few days to be able to pick it up. If it works as well, I will use a combination of senior hours at the store for frozen and fresh and the curb side service for canned, boxed, etc.

I added another project to my evening crocheting sessions. I am making my own face mask. It will be lines with shop towels. I can’t get use to buying things like the masks and gloves, using them a couple of times then throwing them out. I am from a different generation I guess, we use things until they wear out. And it is especially pertinent not when there aren’t enough mask and gloves to go around.

There is nothing on today’s agenda (except for old “back burner” stuff long forgotten).  I got the refrigerator cleared out and loaded the dish washer. Other than that it’s “follow my nose” for things to get done.

The word is fear. We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality, Seneca the Elder. Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Fear is not in the habit of speaking truth, Tacitus. He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life, Ralph Waldo Emerson. I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship, Louisa May Alcott. If you look into your own heart, and you find nothing wrong there, what is there to worry about? What is there to fear? Confucius. And having thus chosen our course, without guile, and with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God, and go forward without fear, and with manly hearts, Abraham Lincoln. No one reaches a high position without daring, Publilius Syrus. Father, O father! what do we here In this land of unbelief and fear? William Blake.  All infractions of love and equity in our social relations are ... punished by fear, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Where fear is, happiness is not, Seneca the Younger. Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out, Benjamin Franklin. Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil, Aristotle. We promise according to our hopes and perform according to our fears, Francois de La Rochefoucauld. He who loses wealth loses much; he who loses a friend loses more; but he that loses his courage loses all, Miguel de Cervantes. Men are moved by two levers only: fear and self interest, Napoleon Bonaparte.

My photo challenge for today is a quick Easter basket that I put together. I didn’t have “formal” supplies on hand so I “winged it”. I used a paper plate (actually a foam plate). I tore up newspaper ads for the grass. I dyed the hard boiled eggs using food color instead of the “fancy” Easter egg dye. To add a further touch of elegance I added a few M&Ms that I had on hand. Love the colors and shapes, don't you?

I was hoping with this article to give a little bit brighter side to all that the news is covering these days. This article is about how gardeners are adapting to online sales and all that goes with this keeping a distance that we have to practice right now. Garden centers and retail greenhouses are considered essential due to their place in food growth and production. One of the local greenhouse owners closed his business when the restrictions were passed down because of the pandemic. He was able to reopen them a few weeks later when the decision was made that they were essential. He is following the rules of no more than a certain number of people in the business at a time and wearing gloves and masks. He also encourages curbside pick up and on line orders. He has been trying to make adjustment to get as much on his online site as he can but he says he needs to learn more about what he thinks people want. One of the problems of setting up for the on line orders is that a description and photo are needed for the items for sale. Some nurseries are doing delivers as well as the curbside pick ups. One reported that sales are actually higher than this time last year. One of the places that is doing deliveries is using a school bus that has been converted to accommodated plants. One of the nurseries states that it is more work to fill online orders and curbside pick up.

I think we are having chili mac from the left over chili from last night’s dinner.

Joy