Laowai

My girls are back to two days a week of in-person school now. Today, after I dropped them off I took myself for a walk at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Since it's a gray day in the middle of January I was blissfully alone. I completely zoned out specifically looking for all the plants that are interesting at this time of year. And there are so many! Everything is clearly labeled at the garden so I can take lots of photos and remember which plants I might want to use in my garden. 

January has set in with all the typical January things.

Things like looking out at the snow from my cozy banquet.

Neighborhood walks and slippery sidewalks.

Surrounding myself with anything bright and cheery.

Giving my hutch a refresh after the Christmas things are put away.

Piling on the blankets so I don't have to suffer cold toes too long.

Baking comfort cookies.

Sewing a new pillow out of a scrap of fabric – because you can't have too many pillows when you are trying to make a warm nest on the couch.

Focusing inward on my house and its details. Scratch that – I do it all year long.

Smiling at this image that Bea made.

Looking forward to Spring with some winter sowing. I made mini greenhouses out of milk jugs and then planted them with perennials.

Grow little plants, grow.

Innovating in the pie making department so the spinach doesn't migrate across the pie equator and offend certain people.  

Filling my windowsills with more flowers. Thank goodness for Trader Joe's and their affordable flowers.

Organizing all my fabric.

Starting a scrap quilt so I can keep my hands busy and make room for new fabric too.

Organizing my fabric by value for the new quilt.

And still the pandemic goes on. How can we ever get back to normal as long as our hospitals are full of Covid patients? Wondering how long it will take us to forget what these dots on the sidewalk are for.

Sometimes I just can't believe how much Brian's life has changed over the last nine months. We were used to having him away from us, traveling an average of three days a week. And it wasn't unusual for him to be gone all week for a work trip. These days he sits in his office all day and I can hear him doing meeting after meeting. It still seems strange to have him around for dinner each and every night. I often deliver a lunch to him on a tray. It feels weird.

And we wonder – what will this year bring. 

Here's how we said so long to 2020. 

We decided to make and burn effigies of 2020. Brian was the star pâpier-maché crafter this time. He made a coronavirus, I made a 3D 2020 and Claire made a face with a mask. Bea didn't want to burn her creation – ha.

Then it was time for a feast and a movie. We watched the first Lord of the Rings movie.

And then it was midnight – time for our own little dumpster fire and some confetti.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! And time to put 2020 behind us.

Time to put away all the Christmas stuff and start a fresh new year.

I cannot tell you how glad I am for our newest family members – Bea's fish. 

Bea completely excels at fish care. We first bought the aquarium in September and she has become an expert since then. She has taught me so much about the personalities of each of her four species of fish. She has found some great fish shops in the area and if you go with her she can tell you the names of every fish she sees. 

Here's a list of Bea's fish. She has five Zebra Danios, four Cory Catfish, One Betta (in his own tank), six Glowlite Tetras (not to be confused with Glofish) and a few species of snails that snuck in on plants. Her favorites are her Cory catfish because they are very chilled out and funny looking little guys. They feed on the bottom and they always look busy with their barbels moving along the sand. 

We got the second (tank for her Betta) in October when we found it along the side of the road (who can resist). Her Betta got fin rot – it's a common problem. She worked hard, learned a lot and and successfully treated him over a several weeks.

Bea has started a web site all about aquarium fish. It's a big project to she has been working on it now and then. If you want to check it out it's called Fish Encyclopedia. I linked all her fish to the pages she created on Fish Encyclopedia above.

I love to walk by Bea's room and see the tanks glowing at night. I often pop in during the day to gaze at the fish – we all do – and it's very relaxing.

Feeding time is also fun to watch. She first drops some flake food in for the Zebra Danios (they are the most aggressive fish in her tank). Then she hand feeds some flake food to the Glowlite Tetras. They are comfortable enough to come right up and take the food out of her fingers. If she doesn't hand feed the Tetras the greedy Zebras will snatch up all the food. And it also works well because the Zebras are a bit too skittish to take the food from her hand. Last of all the Cory Catfish get a little wafer of food that falls to the bottom of the tank. The fish know the routine and you can see them perking up when she comes to the aquarium. And then they are all crazy, zooming around while they get fed. The Cory Catfish nibble at their wafer but sometime the other fish get interested too and they will grab the wafer and carry it across the aquarium like they are running down a field with a football. 

The betta, in his own tank, usually gets fed last. He comes right over to where she is standing and excitedly takes his little pellets. She says he has a personality like a dog. I go into her room and watch the whole scene some mornings – it's like feeding time at the zoo. We sit and she tells me more about the fish or about her plans for future fish.

She really hates it when I call her fish pandemic pets but we did get them during the pandemic. And I think they have been a welcome addition when she can't do activities she would normally focus on in non-pandemic times. I try not to get too grumpy when there are buckets and nets and other tank cleaning stuff left in my bathroom. And I try to manage her expectations when she tells me about her plans for more more more. She plans to turn her 10 gallon quarantine tank into a shrimp tank. I really do love her fish!

When you have cabin fever and your friend invites you to spend some time at her nephew's Chicago apartment you say YES.

The nephew got his apartment a few months ago but he hasn't moved in yet because of the Covid-19 situation. It makes me pity all the young people out there who are waiting for the pandemic to end so they can begin their post-college lives. But he was so sweet and welcoming and we made ourselves at home in his apartment. It was like a mini vacation and it was lots of fun. We went for a walk around the city, we ordered pizza, we played games and we enjoyed the views from the apartment. And then the snow started falling so the city was even more magical!

Thanks Danea and Mabel and big thanks to Sam too!

We had a lovely relaxed Christmas and I feel grateful but… let's not do a 2020 style Christmas again. Here are some highlights.

I got an early Christmas present – we had our French doors repaired. Since we bought the house the original screen doors and storm doors have never fit because the door threshold was changed. So we finally hired a carpenter to fit them and to repair the hardware and to give them a coat of paint. They are so pretty and I can't wait to put the screen doors in this spring and let the fresh air in. 

We had a Lego Christmas Tree building contest. Bea was the judge. I won. Smug.

Brian and I went down to Chicago for an evening. We haven't been into the city at all since we moved this summer. We went for a walk and then got some take-away food at a brewery/smoked meat restaurant. The food was delicious (Brunswick stew for me) and it just felt nice to get out with my husband.

Here's the restaurant scene in the West Loop during the pandemic. Sad.

We got our first bit of cold weather and just a sprinkling of snow. We get pretty frost patterns on some of our old windows. I don't mind.

For Christmas Eve dinner we had fondue. 

There's Brian scraping off the brown bits at the end – it's his favorite part.

I like Christmas morning carnage. The more mess the more smiles.

For Christmas morning breakfast we had Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Chocolate Cinnamon Swirl. It's the most tender coffee cake recipe – but it makes a huge cake so I halve it. We've adopted a couple food traditions from Gramma C. She usually makes pork pie for Christmas Eve dinner and then we have leftovers for Christmas morning breakfast. Well I decided to make the pork pie just for breakfast, I love it with scrambled eggs. And we also had supremed oranges with dates, just like Gramma C. serves. 

I made three felt Christmas ducks this year. Two have flown the nest to my mom's tree and my sister's tree.