Itchy eyes ...

... and scratchy throat. And this is the culprit. 

Plenty of pine trees in the back of our house. Everything seems yellow. For about two weeks we do not venture to sit on our back patio.

Our local weatherman had good info for me on FaceBook:

On a happier note ... I hung this hummingbird feeder up just two days ago and today I saw the first hummingbird take advantage of it. I thought that was exciting!

Well, well, well, our first grandson LOVES mangoes and especially mango cream. He can come. Omi put plenty into the freezer.

Yesterday of course we had to watch TV in the morning. The evening before James had shown me what he had seen reading the (electronic) newspaper. This photo made me think of so many things. All those visits to James' hometown. I love Windsor. It is a charming town. Lovely walking along the Thames. Or doing the walk from the Castle to the Copper Horse. On this map I could show you my favorite pub. Ah, lovely pub food. We miss our families in Europe. 

The big question: when might we be able to travel again? 

In the evening more electronic time. The last Richmond Forum event of the season. Vijay Gupta is an accomplished violinist and advocate for social justice. Only born in 1987 he already had a quite interesting life. He started college at the age of 13, finishing with a pre-med bachelor's; and by 19 he was hired by the Los Angeles Philharmonic as the youngest member ever. But he wanted his art to be of service to the community around him. He founded the "Street Symphony", musicians giving free concert to homeless and incarcerated. The Forum event was called "The Healing Power of Music".

One of William's classes right now is music. Helen had just told me about a report he just had to write.  In my weekly letter to him I wrote this today because he might find it interesting:

He is playing with a violin which is loaned to him by a museum. It was made in the 1700s and very valuable. He told us that there are violinists who volunteer to go to museums daily to play old instruments because they need to be played or they disintegrate (which the dictionary says means: break up into small parts or decay). I didn’t know that. 

_ _ _

Wow, lots of subjects today. But it is time to shut the computer. Wishing you all a great week!

I received a complaint!

Yes, a friend complaint that I have not blogged in a while. Sigh! Sigh! Sigh! Not much to report even though we feel we are busy all the time. No boredom here.  Of course we are very careful in this pandemic situation. James does most of our shopping. When he does he always goes when he thinks the least people should be around. With other words ... we are spending most time at home. The orchid is blooming just at the right time. 

I can report that James' top of his head is healing nicely. At the last visit his doctor was kind of excited how good it already looked. His 'nurse' must be doing ok (ha-ha). We change the dressing every morning and wash his head. I am not scared any more about doing it. The things you learn.

Weather is not so friendly right now. Even with blue sky it is very cold right now. Well, it's winter and wind makes it worse. James still seams to get his 10,000 step walk in every day. I still can not really go on walks since mid-December. I am getting better every day too though. Next week I will start physical therapy ordered by a back specialist I saw last week.

At the beginning of January we had a few really lovely days. The wind was cold but on the sheltered back patio it was lovely around lunch time. As I can't go on walks right now I enjoyed sitting there for a while. With my eyes closed I listened to the "very noisy" birds. 

Saturday the 16th we decided that you can adapt to the pandemic in some ways. You know that we have season tickets to the Richmond Forum ever since we moved here. Of course going to the theater is not possible right now. They decided to have virtual events and they are quite good. We were in our comfortable chairs upstairs in the loft where it is warmer with our feet up and a glass of wine. We listened to the pre-music which was a classical guitarist. He was very good and we even stood up for the national anthem.

The speaker this time was Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Theresa May. It started at 6 pm because of the time difference. It was after midnight where she was when it was finished. She must have had a nap earlier because she didn’t show a sign of being tired.

The PM (Prime Minister) first made a speech and later answered questions from the audience. It was all very interesting. A PM is similar to our President of the USA but there are also differences. She was a MP (which is a voted Member of Parliament similar to our House of Representatives) and still was that when she was also the Prime Minister. So different. Now she is an MP again which means still in politics which our Presidents never do.

Just a few days later (Jan.20) was Inauguration Day in the USA. 

And the following Sunday was Helen's birthday. We missed not being able to drive to Nashville to celebrate with her. I made a birthday card for her and found these photos. I have to share. 

Brrrr, it is cold outside. Our new camellias are trying to put a little color into our landscaping though. Promises. Promises.

I said that we are not bored. I have not made any lace or done any sewing in quite a while but was able to design three new Chrismons, write the patterns and post them on my Chrismon blog. 

And when we are watching TV I work on the Chrismons for the coming Christmas. James as always helps by wrapping them up.

Yes, we are doing really well and are not bored. Now I had better get back to working on the February issue of our church newsletter. It's close to the end of the month.