North Idaho spring

The first day of spring is here.  We welcomed it with gigantic snowflakes falling on the ground.  Just enough to cover everything with a white blanket.  That's how spring comes in around here.  

It's the time of the year that I really want to see flowers blooming which always makes me buy a primrose or two, or three.  This year I just want to have some fresh, bright flowers around and right now that means a bouquet of painted daisies.  They are so delightful to look at.  

It makes me happy.

We had visitors stop by!  Cousin Ruthann Nordgaarden and daughter, Kiersten Ogbeide were out for a ride on their four-wheeler and decided to take make a stop at our place.  Yay!  We have all been vaccinated so it was our first visit with anyone inside our house.  It was so great to see them.  

I didn't get a photo of them so I stole one off of Kiersten's FB page.  I have no shame.

The last few days of warm sunshine were wonderful.  I have made a walk around the yard and garden to survey what needs to be done.  Boots are still necessary since part of the ground is still covered with a layer of crusty snow.  

It's time to prune the fruit trees and will be time to clean up a couple of flower beds soon, but not yet.  

In the meantime, we are watching the first round of March Madness and of course, we have our usual pool.  All I can say about that is my bracket has a lot of red x's on it.  I have more losses than wins from the first day.  I'm good with it though.  

The excitement of watching the games and seeing the underdog pull out a win, or watching a player toss 3-pointers over and over again, is just so much fun.  I don't care who wins.  Except, of course, the Zags.  I do hope they win.  It's been a long time coming. 

(It's still snowing)

Our weekend plans.  Watching the games, doing a lot of reading and I will probably play some music. I have fallen in love with playing my electric guitar which is keeping me away from working on my songs on the keyboards. 

Retired Mountain Man says I am throwing my life away playing the guitar.  

The tip-toe

 Is it time to get off the bench? 

Yesterday was my first day of doing something "normal" since September of 2019.  For me, the quarantine began that month since it was when my hip replacement took place which was then followed by another hip surgery after I broke my femur in my hip replacement leg in November.  I was finally returning to a normal routine when the pandemic hit in 2020.  

I would say fast-forward to the present day, but it has been more of a very slow walk.

Yesterday, March 9, 2021:

I went to my first exercise class at the Community Center in Hope and met the new instructor, Jenny.  Plus, three of my friends were also in the class, Susan Howard, Judy Butler and Michelle Brooks.  

The pure joy of meeting friends in person, is just hard to describe.  

The class follows the CDC guidelines and everyone wears a mask although some remove them when exercise starts.  The windows are opened for air circulation and we stay at least six feet apart during the class.  Afterwards we each wipe down our chair with sanitizing wipes.  While many of us have been fully vaccinated, there were some people who haven't received theirs yet. 

I felt safe and will do my part to keep others safe.  The class exercises were perfect for someone who has spent almost a year and a half without any organized exercise.  

Afterwards, three of us went to the Davis Cafe in Hope for lunch.  Again, my first since September of 2019.  It seems like it has been ten years instead of just a couple. 

Retired Mountain Man and I have been fully vaccinated for more than a month, but we are tip-toeing back into normal.  We still wear masks, social distance and wash our hands often.  There's still hand sanitizer in our car along with dozens of masks.  I also have a mask in every coat pocket - just in case.

There are now lots of "to-do" things on our list.  Dentist and eye doctor appointments and also an audiologist appointment at the Spokane VA hospital for Jon.  

The same goes for Maggie.  

I'm posting some photos of Maggie from March 2014.  She's scheduled for her early spring, mud season, grooming tomorrow.  

There's a lot of good news starting to filter in and after so much bad news for so long, it's hard to actually FEEL good things.  

The vaccine rollout is improving every day.  We will finally have a Covid Relief Plan that is going to help us get out of this mess. 

I truly appreciate that both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are a miracle as there has never been a mRNA vaccine prior to this.  Science is incredible. 

Gonzaga won last night. Both the women's and men's teams.  We will have March Madness this year!

Retired Mountain Man has had a successful shoulder surgery and is really getting back into his usual routine.  He loves spending time outdoors, making firewood, cleaning up his forest and splitting firewood.  Thank you, Dr. Cipriano.

Coming up this weekend we will spring forward with DST.  It's always an adjustment, but so wonderful to have finally reached spring on the calendar.

I have planted my begonia tubers and they are beginning to sprout underneath my gro-lights.  Although I am not certain I will grow tomatoes and peppers in my garden this year - due to allergies - I think I will start a few just in case it turns out I am not allergic to them.  

Have you seen our forecast for the weekend?  A high of 56 on Sunday!  

It's time to check the electric fence and get it turned on.  Prune fruit trees and get outdoors.  Maggie will be the supervisor.  She is also hopeful that someone will toss that ball for her.