Quiddity: Just Another Day in Paradise

We’ve had typical Spring weather this week - warm and sunny, then chilly and rainy. Last night, a big wind swept through, knocking the power out for about two hours. I pulled out my headlamp and finished penciling in a drawing I’d started just as the room was plunged into darkness while listening to my Audible book through ancient iPod and portable speaker. Not too bad, actually.

I’ve been spending these quarantine days eating too much junk food, watching too much tv and YouTube, and spending too much time online. But I’ve also found time to knit and paint, so I’m not being a complete slug. I am badly missing my strenuous morning exercise of riding, not to mention both my barn friends and yarn friends. I’ve managed to stop to see Gracie on Fridays when I go out to drop something in the mail, and even though it’s pretty clear she’s mostly happy to see the treats I bring, I’m very happy just to see her.

This week, I finished a simple shawl pattern, perfect knitting for these complicated times. It’s called Storm Shawl. I bought the pretty pink and green yarn at a shop in Colorado Springs a few years ago and it was perfect for this pattern.

Today, being April 30, is the last day of this month’s Doodlewash prompts. I’ve enjoyed this exercise and have been shocked most days to see what I’ve been able to not only come up with, but actually produce. I’ve written down the prompts for May, which look intriguing and certain to stretch my skills even more, so hang on for more little drawings. Have I mentioned that each is credit card size? I saw that idea online somewhere and ran with it for this exercise. I’m also signed up for two workshops in May, so there is definitely a lot of drawing and painting ahead, as well as knitting, of course. Oh, here’s the last three days of Doodlewash.

Today, I took a long drive around town, just to get out of the house and then ventured out to the small market a few blocks from my house. It’s not Publix, but it has almost everything I need right now and is a lot less fraught with peril since there are generally few people inside (they limit it to 5, but I’ve never encountered more than one or two others). I’m being very, very careful because of this virus, so I don’t know when I’ll feel safe going out much farther than that, but one thing for sure is that even if I feel bored sometimes, I actually do have quite a lot to keep myself busy. What do you do these days besides any work from home duties? Have you learned a new skill or continued an established one? I’d love to see what you are doing in your own quarantine!