Family Mellmann

Outside my office window I have a garden hook that I put a hanging basket on, and a hummingbird feeder.  When I need a distraction I watch out the window for my old friend the hummingbird to come for a visit.  We have had a strange spring so I wasn't sure if it would come back or not, but last evening as I was watching a gardening show and knitting I had one visitor.

One of our international friends (from the crew we get together with for Christmas Adventsingen, Thanksgiving, Easter, and Halloween) came up with a way for us to get together to check in with each other.  Each week we have a video cocktail call.  Bring your own booze (or drink of your choice) and catch up with what everyone is up to. We talk about what we're drinking (if it's interesting), commiserate over the state of COVID-19, catch up with any of the kids (college kids) who call in, or chat about whatever is on our mind that evening (travel...or the lack of, summer plans...and how they're changing because of COVID, etc.).  It's a pleasant way to connect with friends without having to prepare a dish to share or leave the house. Tonight, after dinner, I started a fire in the fire pit and settled into my swing to knit and relax until the cocktail call began.  One by one the friends called in and we enjoyed a fun evening catching up.

The school year is winding down and Spring is in the air. Patrick has taken is last final exam, turned in his last paper, and given his last presentation.  For him, summer vacation has begun.  What school will look like in the fall is still unknown so, while he has registered for his classes, there really isn't anything to do now until August.  All focus is now on how to get something fun and refreshing out of this summer in a country still in panic. Katherine has one more looooong week of school (well, it feels long).  There won't be any cumulative final exams for her, but each of her classes will have final tests on whatever chapters they are working on.  Summer vacation is right around the corner. With the ending of school, we also finally get some nice weather.  We had a hard frost Wednesday night but that was (hopefully) the last one.  With this beautiful sunny weather I have managed to get some flowers planted. For dinner tonight I tried a recipe...

Our days continue to go by "normally".  Patrick and Katherine continue their journey through distance learning as they wind down the school year.  Joerg continues to do his job from the comfort of our home office.  Laundry gets done.  The house gets cleaned (despite the ongoing challenges to find basic household cleaners).  And I venture to two different grocery stores to get the ingredients for meals (that's one more than normal because the supply chain is most definitely interrupted). A local store that provides farm supplies and livestock feeds, as well as more domestic animal products like dog food and birdseed, was declared "essential" (and therefore remains open) in this quarantine environment so I was able to restock my birdfeed supplies.  I have enjoyed filling the feeders each season, but seldom have the time to just sit and watch the birds (and squirrels) come to dine.  With a little more down-time on my schedule these days, I have found th...

With temperatures reaching almost 50 degrees Fahrenheit today and a bright sun in the sky, it was a good day to work in the yard.  Patrick helped me move stones, which we salvaged from Isle LaMotte two summers ago, from the pile where we abandon them to their new home on the east side of our property.  Two summers ago we did a deforestation project removing nearly all of the soldier pines and many of the hemlock from our forest.  In the newly open space, Patrick helped me build a patio space for the fire pit and my swing. Leveling the ground was nearly impossible as we fought with tree roots and buried logs from the logging operation, but we managed to piece together a patio. While I was leveling ground for the stones, Patrick did the ugly work of collecting dead bur plants and preparing them for a fire.  Last summer we were gone for a month which, during the summer growth period, is a really long time.  The weeds took over, and the worst weed is the bur....

It is the end of our third week of distance-learning school and, I think, the end of our fifth week in quarantine/“stay home, stay safe“ (I honestly haven't been keeping track).  Katherine now gets to enjoy one week of Spring Break (Vermont schools were instructed to honor their regularly scheduled vacation plan), but for the rest of us things are pretty "normal" (I use that term loosely); Patrick will continue his schoolwork, Jörg continues working, and things remain constant for me, although with Katherine out of school it will be more relaxed and flexible. I am hoping that the weather is warm and springy next week so that I can spend time working in the yard and garden preparing for the summer.  I am ready for some fresh color in the gardens, birds at the bird feeders, and enjoying leisure time listening to my little fountain. I have used my altered schedule to work on projects that have languished on my want-to-do-list for a very long time.  One such proje...

Monday was our first day "back" to normal.  Normal as in the kids are back to school; Joerg never stopped working, he just stopped walking to the office.   Joerg, working from home.    Katherine, ready for her 8:00 class (Algebra 2) to start.   Patrick,  in his meteorology class. So everybody has returned to "work" and while the execution is different (sitting at home instead of at school or in the office) they are doing what they would normally be doing during the week.  Like Joerg, little has changed for me and I have continued to do my work despite the upheaval in the schooling arrangements (which includes me not having to teach music anymore this year).  But things are definitely different. I tried to do my "Monday Chores" and felt like I was walking on eggshells everywhere.  Joerg needs quiet for telephone calls and concentration.  Patrick and Katherine need quiet so they can hear and participate in their class...

Well, that didn't take long.  We are one week in on what appears to be several weeks of "lockdown", or as the Governor of Vermont calls it, "Stay Home/Stay Safe" and already real boredom seems to be setting in...for some of us. Katherine came to me late yesterday expressing her irritation with having "nothing to do".  It seems that she has read all her books, all the books from the library, AND all the books on Kindle Unlimited, which of course I find highly suspect.  She asked (over and over and over) what she could do so each time I would offer some helpful ideas; go for a walk, help me clean up the gardens, empty the dishwasher, go to the taekwondo gym in the basement and do some kicking, write a letter, write a story...I went on and on but she didn't like ANY of my ideas.  What she really wanted was more screen time. Patrick has completed the school work that he could do without being in class (two projects that will be due later in the sem...

Today Governor Phil Scott announced that in-person instruction has been canceled for the rest of the school year.  Many colleges (like Patrick's) have already made this call, but now it's official for elementary, middle, and high school students across the state as well.  That means that Katherine will finish her school year online.  She is very happy about this. Meanwhile, we are gradually settling into a new "normal".  We are blessed to have a large home that allows us to spread out and have our own space.   With a week of "Stay Home/Stay Safe" under our belt, we have found ways to co-exist and still get things done.  Joerg has the office where he can close doors if he needs to.  Patrick and Katherine can each retreat to their bedrooms if they want, but sometimes choose to hang out downstairs or sit at the dining room table to play on computers.  I have set up my own satellite office in the living room where I can make phone calls without...