So the last week started with having to dig a tick out of the side of my neck...TMI? I won't share the pictures.

Of course the virus is dominating our lives now. We are playing by the mandated "shelter in place" rule from the State...just how bad could that be. I have plenty to do. We're actually taking the time to fine tune a few bits of our business process. Most of the tune ups are on the computer side of our lives. Once upon a time...I've been doing this so long I could say...BC...as in before computers...a photo I took went onto film and took a week or so at a film processor/developerto get it back...to actually see what you had taken. It was expensive and many many of the pictures were trashed (I'm still bad at photography but it's cheaper now). All that has changed of course and now the biggest investment is in the time it takes to learn to take the picture...and about now, thanks to the virus, time is a cheap cheap cheap commodity!

But taking this time to shore up some processes and to work on some ideas that I didn't have time for will be a good thing. I just hope that the good thing doesn't last too long...2 months is okay...3 would be pushing it...4...I'll be mush by then...mental mush...mushier than normal.

I've got this sick feeling that 2020 will be a year that many businesses don't survive...dreams that folks have nurtured for a lifetime...and the survivors will not be but a skeleton of their former selves. A friend has let 13 people go this year...she is down to she. The virus has come on the back of a shaky economy for many people.

But...I know that Brenda and I are not alone in this isolation. Many of you are in the same situation. Many have contracted the virus. Some will not survive. We're doing our part to contain this virus and appreciate that other's share our concerns and are participating in the containment.

Now...a not so funny "funny"...Brenda made an appointment to pick up groceries. She won't let me go with her...something about my compromised health (yeah I check a lot of boxes). The Feds...the State...and Brenda have me on lock down (or lockup, depending). Who do you think I'm listening too?

You know that old saying, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade"...well we gave it twist..."when life gives you lemons, make a lemon slushy"...I mean, just look at the pictures.

Some pictures are pretty and some are fun but there will be damage from this snow. We know that the Eastern Red Bud, one of the foundations of the yard is going to suffer this year, loosing two significant branches. The tree which we used this past Christmas for outdoor lights is bent in half as is the pear tree...the pear is 20 feet tall in good weather and this morning the top is touching the ground. We have a half dozen trees in jeopardy.

The snow is wet and heavy. It has come straight down and it piles on the tiniest of branches. Very dramatic, but there will be consequences.

But the flamingos are doing fine...a bit perplexed right about now...thinking: why here...why not say...Palm Springs? The Head Flamingo (we'll call him Jeffery, not his real name but we need to protect him from flamingos across the nation lashing out)...Jeffery picked this spot to land the flock a couple of years ago. He's taking a lot of heat for being this cold. He's not too bright...but it's obvious on a day like today.

Of course, last week it was in the mid-seventies and "Jeff" was the hero of the flamingo flock...the sculpture was spinning in the gentle breezes and I was considering removing the snow tires.

Oh my how the situation has changed in just a week.

But...I can get to the studio just fine, so "work" will continue. Brenda is in the office with the heater at her feet...toasty and talking. We are enjoying the Slushy.

We're tucked in for a few days for sure...and it's not mandated by the government or a virus...our sequester is mandated by a much MUCH higher authority.

dThis past week has been "interesting" to say the least...shows cancelled...shows postponed...shops closed...and the plans for Spring and Summer were changed almost every day.

The weird thing is...and this is weird...I'm very comfortable with working at home for two of three weeks at a time without leaving the property and I do this "stay at home" routine all the time. But now that I'm told I can't leave I feel trapped.

I've been waiting for a part to come in for my new-to-me pugmill. FedEx brings the part and I need two nuts for two bolts for the install and of course I don't have the correct size. I can't justify going to the hardware store for just those parts. I'll live. The machine isn't going anywhere.

Of course the electrician didn't come by to hook up the new kiln (it's complicated for me) so the kiln sits and waits for a while longer.

But things moved forward on the keyboard. I think by the time the shelter in place thing is lifted I will be so so very tired of processing photos. Luckily the photo work revealed some pieces that I need to complete and photograph for the catalog. I will get some comic (cosmic?) relief from photos to make more stuff...to photo. Some cycle huh?!

Meanwhile the cold and snow abated and sun came out for the weekend and then the weather flipped out and went back into winterish gibberish for this week. But that means TICKS...I was thinking just yesterday about how I haven't picked one up in a couple years...until...well, my first one in a couple years.

Oh!!...and how can someone without style and has no life take "lifestyle" photos? Asking for a friend.