Seven Quick Takes: The End of the Lockdown

 

1. Wednesday was a huge day for us!

Green for St. Patrick, and 3 gold stars for the Trinity

Yes, it was St. Patrick's Day, but it was also the first day of full immunity after getting our second dose of vaccine.  I credit St. Patrick with making it happen!

With 10 people in the house including my medically fragile parents, we qualified as a group living situation and we all (except our two youngest) got the Pfizer vaccine and had no problems.

We went to Mass in person at a parish for the first time in a literal year.  I can't even express what that was to us, but may I never take Mass for granted again!

2. We couldn't cook for the homeless for St. Patrick's Day, but we were able to bring some corned beef and cabbage to some folks we knew, and that was super fun, if we couldn't be together for the meal.

For one friend going through a rough time, I put together a bouquet of almost every kind of flower I have blooming.The big ones are double Lenten roses which I love!

I also have crocuses, but I've never figured out how to use them in a bouquet.

 

 

3. Speaking of the garden, I noticed that my metal blue herons were getting rusty, so I repainted them.

I first painted them white, but then I thought they looked like storks... twin storks.

And, as menopause continues it's weirdness, I just couldn't!

So I added some blue and they ended up looking rather sky colored.

So I decided I liked that and moved on!

I had actually started out repainting white wicker baskets for the parish Easter decorations, so this was a side project since I had the spray paint in hand.

4. And speaking of the parish Easter decorations, my library looks like a jungle.

A jungle where a plane carrying books and legos crashed.  But landed in a pile of laundry, so all the people escaped unscathed.

This is partly because the plant prices at my usual plant place have been crazy (seriously $14 for a single small Easter lily?!), so I've been buying plants hither and yon.

And partly because I was sure that I had room to start my dahlias in pots this year.

And partly because I started my seeds too early and had to put some of them in pots.

I actually did have room for any one of those. 

5. Which brings us to the lily debate.  

I am quite allergic to Easter lilies, but my mom is dangerously allergic to them - the reaction gives her heart problems, and she can't attend Mass where there are lilies.

This, combined with the ludicrous lily prices made me think about going with calla lilies this year.  

So I polled the Hyatts hive mind (an email group of over 100 women) about how essential the trumpet lilies were to their Easter experience.  The answers all came back that they didn't need the lilies, especially if there was an allergy issue. 

 I realized that, after that response, no one would want to come out and say the lilies were really important to them, so I invited people to email me privately.

I got exactly one private email, which I opened with great trepidation, but it said: "Actually, they smell like cat pee to me, I'd love to skip the trumpet lilies!"  

6. Another advantage to vaccination, the boys went off and got actual professional haircuts!

I've been cutting 10 heads of hair for a year. 

I used to cut all the kids' hair before they hit their mid teens, so I had some experience, and I definitely got better over the course of some 40-50 haircuts, but...

They weren't looking as stylish as this!

7. THANK YOU!  I know that a number of people who read this blog, even if only through the Quick Takes, have prayed for us.  Having my parents (and the rest of us) make it through the pandemic safely had been a huge strain and a humbling experience in a lot of ways.  Thank you for your prayers, and please know that I am praying for you and yours until we are all safe.  God bless you!

More with Kelly!