I wiped away the weeds & foam. / I fetched my sea-born treasures home... Ralph Waldo Emerson







Friday, April 17, 2020

Little Niggles ~ No Flowers




Hi everyone! Another Friday of isolation here [my week 6] and there where you are too. I can't fix the big stuff --or really even the little stuff. But that won't stop me from voicing my niggling complaints.

verb
cause slight but persistent annoyance, discomfort, or anxiety.
  1. "a suspicion niggled at the back of her mind"
    Similar:
    irritate
    annoy
    worry
    trouble
    bother
    provoke
    exasperate
    upset
    gall
    irk
    rankle with
    rile
    get up someone's nose
    hack off
    get
    get to
    bug
noun
  1. a trifling complaint, dispute, or criticism.
    Similar:
    minor criticism
    quibble
    trivial objection
    trivial complaint
    adverse comment
    moan
    grumble
    grouse
    cavil
    twine
    gripe
    beef
    grouch
    nitpicking
    pettifogging

First of all, though the stores have random fresh produce, there have been no cut or potted flowers to buy since early March. Why is that?, I wondered sadly. Probably...the cut flowers I like are flown in from far away, Europe, UK, Ireland, South America. Flights from those places are banned now [though where is our arugula and avocados sourced?].



No pots of tulips for Easter,



no cut hyacinths to fill the house with the scent of Spring.





The fields of flowers such as these iconic scenes in Holland must be unharvested, left to bloom and wither in place.




Planes in my sky are a rarity now, a sky once filled with dozens of planes and helicopters, too. Mo saw one low flying plane yesterday and got quite excited.

















Above, my flower photos over the years, to brighten our day.
....

And then---lockdown: Stay at home! "I have nothing to wear!". It's cold here and very windy. Heavy clothes in layers are needed. I am out of winter weight  at-home garments now. Two pairs of sweat pants, washed to thin rags; two old cashmere turtlenecks, hopelessly out at elbows and shrunken from too many home washings. I'm wearing what was a beautiful new sweater last Fall, my 2019 sweater, a pale grey cashmere tweed. Its elbows have massive holes, the neck has sagged drastically and has been amateurishly re-tightened.I'm so sad. I was so pleased with how this looked last November, with dark wash jeans and my charcoal wool Allbird sneakers, plaid scarf wound around my neck, pale silver thin puffer jacket on top.


My ugly New Balance walking shoes have holes too. All worn out from overuse; being home and wearing soft utility clothes is the new normal. I ordered new fleece cargo pants finally. They are so big, you all could fit in them with me. I cinch them in and hope for the best, instead of waiting to exchange; they are soft, have pockets, but are too loose to be warm. Yesterday I ordered a season's end blue turtleneck from  L L Bean. I hope it comes soon.


Mo needs grooming but the groomer isn't answering texts. I'm worried.



I'm finding a few things I need on Amazon, but---Lite Salt for 12.oo?, 100 Ziplock baggies for 45.oo? And in the stores one's reusable grocery bags are now banned because of the virus. NY state banned plastic bags March 1st, just as the virus went crazy. They are awful and clog our waterways but they're sterile and clean. Poor timing. Now we are back to large paper bags that we must pay for. Recycling is cancelled, for paper and plastic. I have no answers, but I always had the notion that reusable bags  are germ factories---things like good lightbulbs and plastic bags were invented for a reason.

I am making masks, but when I wear one I can't breathe or see. Part claustrophobia, part foggy glasses. Bad. Elastic for the ears is about a dollar a yard, should be, like ten cents a yard. It doesn't come anyway when ordered, so I suppose it is no issue.

Gone to the Beach masks, made with Goody hair elastics:


And I have learned a [possibly useless] lesson in shopping and gratification postponed. Buy it when you see it; get stuff done now, don't postpone especially for frugality or budget. I put off having the big Coxcombe Quilt's patterns copied at Staples, thinking, Oh plenty of time, don't need til summer. Now I am stuck and a bit flummoxed, how to redraw such large pieces?


I thought I'd get back to Home Goods for the blue pouffe seat and the seaglass beads. Nope, closed. I didn't get new deck cushions and little tables, who buys that stuff in February or March?






I will say Target is a blessing. I ordered my deck cushions and my Triscuits online. They may come..someday soon? here




Trivial, yes, but important. If I worry about the small stuff, I can't also worry about the HUGE stuff  [''are we all gonna die, mom?'']  {"Yes."]

So tell me, what the most annoying little thing that bothers you about lockdown? Not the fear, or desperate loneliness, or lack of hugs, or the pervasive nightmares everyone is mentioning. No, little niggles...like  no milk for your tea, or my No Triscuits jonesing? It's okay, let's share.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach........................



















9 comments:

  1. Well, what's bothering me tonight is the five inches of snow that has accumulated in the past 6 hours, and still coming down, and the plow going by an hour ago on April 17th no less. That, and no yeast in the grocery stores.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Have you got any freezer paper or 'Bake' paper, greaseproof paper? you can use to trace.
    Holland cut all their bulbs down. I saw a picture somewhere because they knew they wouldn't have a market to sell them to.
    It's cold here too. I'm wearing my Merino [wool] skivvies. I just can't keep warm. Its going to be a looong autumn/winter.
    I use cloth shopping bags, as plastic ones were banned last year and I through them in the washing machine. I've got a supermarket delivering some of my groceries and they use degradeable bags, charge us a $1 for them and then I throw them out. They don't want them back and it stops the virus coming into the house. He leaves the groceries on the veranda and then I go out and get them. Works well.
    Keep well.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Life is just All Niggley lately...[here a niggle there a niggle everywhere big and little niggles]
    and I agree, Amazon's prices have gone crazy...
    I miss fresh produce here...pasta shelves
    M-T,too..(niggle niggle) .
    I miss walking on our boardwalk as people are STILL congregating in GROUPS B I G N I G G L E
    what don't they get about social distancing...
    and my mail person--no mask no gloves and trying to bring pkgs INTO my garage next to me!!!!! I mean really...Instacart pushing my delivery date ahead and ahead --and I finally cancelled.....s i g h
    Sorry, I got carried away here...;((((
    Good to get it out though, thanks...
    Stay safe and try Dawn's (at Relaxing Robin) Water Pie recipe for a bit of sweetness...
    ~ ~ ~ in the rain (oh and STILL FREEZING here--niggle) Julierose

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi! I have my good days and my cranky. Tho they are less. I guess it helps being an introvert. Lucky to live in Montana where I can still order groceries and get most of what I need. Tho I did have to buy a bottle of vanilla from Amazon for $11. So life goes on. 😊 Kit

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  5. I can't get my usual extra strong peppermints. I like to keep a roll handy to freshen my mouth. Had to buy a bag of mint humbugs. Not as strong and hard toffee that you have to suck for ages. Must remember not to bite them or my teeth will break.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes! That is exactly the small annoyances I mean. Things that are comforting habits that seem so small but matter in our lives.

      I was so pleased to get a comment from you! I've read your blog for many years, so enjoy it always.

      Lizzy

      Delete
  6. The flower situation is so sad. Our bakery has closed.... and I really miss it! And, I feel like I'm meal planning and doing dishes all. the. time....

    ReplyDelete
  7. I don't know if I have any niggles? I do feel sad when I realize I can't walk over to TJ Maxx and roam for a bit, just to window shop. Or, to pop to the nearby thrift store, just to see...

    Oh, I do hope your dog walker is ok. Let us know if you hear from them. But, while I wish, badly, that we weren't in this situation, I do enjoy the lack of traffic and people out and about.

    Fun to revisit the items you had hoped to go back and purchase. When the time comes, maybe they will be there waiting :)

    Thanks for posting all of the photos of the flowers. Soooo pretty!

    Kel

    ReplyDelete
  8. It doesn't seem that bad here, although being able to go out for a meal is something I'm missing. Otherwise I've kind of enjoyed the slower pace and a lot less traffic. If it wasn't for people missing vital paychecks it wouldn't be so bad for me at all.

    ReplyDelete

Hi! I'm allowing comments from everyone, even anonymous for awhile, to see what happens. With comments moderation. Hopefully the awful porn spammer has gone elsewhere. Or you can always email me! I love to hear from everyone.