I'm delighted that it's spring and have been enjoying the walks outside. My kitty follows me around like a puppy dog and loves to go down by the pond or by the waterfall, so we've been doing that when the weather is nice. I've been meditating more and have been making an effort to catch up virtually with friends and family I haven't seen in awhile to make sure they're doing ok. I also don't miss the time, commute and buying gas to get to my line dancing class, though I have to admit live streaming is not as much fun as being there. I also don't miss the commute to weight watchers which is now using zoom for their meetings....much more fun to sit on the couch with the kitties drinking coffee than having to get up and dressed and drive and get there. I'm also most grateful that we don't have to worry about pets getting this disease. Distancing from other humans is hard enough, but if we had to distance from our furbabies...that'd be too much.

I'm retired at home anyway, so what I like varies from day to day. I am having a lot of fun with my various baking adventures and experimenting with different flours (I'm just starting with the flour experiments but there are so many kinds so future adventures await). Today I am totally delighted with the frogs I just received for my aquarium, so cute!

Well.... it beats being in the hospital that's for sure!

I've always been a homebody although this is extreme even for me. I enjoy the space we have - for the first time in our lives we have acreage and a beautiful creek so I am not lacking for fresh air and nature. I'm enjoying our multi times/week skype sessions with our sons, DIL and DGD though of course I miss them all terribly and can't see clearly to a time when we'll see them again yet. Lot's more actual phone calls (remember those?) rather than quick texts with girlfriends from back home. Almost like our regular coffee dates after the gym - almost.

samkarenorkaren, Why do children scream like that when they are playing? I don't remember ever screaming when I was a child, but I was very quiet and thoughtful. Besides that, I did not have friends to play with outside of school, and I only played with other quiet children. We did not have any close neighbors because we lived in the country and our farm was so large that the only children living close to us were the ones whose parents worked for my father, and then only briefly.

I'll start a different thread about what you don't like about SAH, as I do not want to get into that here, as this is supposed to be a happy thread!

In the current situation of Stay Home, I really like knowing that someone isn’t going to stop in unannounced. (Is that bad?)

...and no make-up, for weeks.

DH and I are both retired for 5 years now, so leisurely hours at home are very enjoyable, but not that different :-). What is different is how relaxed the neighborhood seems, with more people than usual out gardening and walking -- and I like the consideration people are showing at keeping a goodly social distance, yet calling out a greeting. I love seeing families with kids walking together. This is a bit selfish of me, but I like the lack of school buses -- the noise tends to stir up the dogs. I like less traffic noise, fewer sirens.

Since I'm no longer going out for lunch or dinner, shopping, to the local pub, to shows, the casino or taking weekend getaways, I think I'm really going to like the VISA bill for the next few months. The only thing I've spent money on is groceries; heck, I haven't even had to put gas in my car.

nickel, I so agree with you about how quiet and peaceful things are. This virus is taking a terrible toll on people, but as a society and as individuals we may find that it gives us some positives too. We are going to become much more self reliant and our priorities may change for the better.

We're retired and accustomed to being very busy and active with our grandchildren who live down the street. Since all of us have been at home for 3+ weeks, it's safe enough to visit and play board games, video games and make food together. We also take long walks together.

Today is my son's birthday. Since he's in Canada, we did a family face time birthday celebration for an hour. That was more fun than we planned. 12 people on face time. You have to try it!

This week I'll be edging landscape beds, pruning and mulching. I love that kind of outdoor activity. When my shiplap lumber arrives later this week, I'll install that in the guest bedroom and start looking for something else to do.

I have to admit the grocery delivery was a bit awkward. We're taking precautions by wiping everything down prior to storage or use.

Dawn, (speaking of pubs) our local craft brewery is offering porch delivery when prepaid. I'm supporting them. :)

We are really loving experiencing our grands on a dawn to dusk schedule. Yes it is grueling but it is only for this little space in all our lives. My 28 month old granddaughter LOVES her Dammies flowers ! We are in the " darden" every day smelling and touching and tasting . She is a sponge for the names of everything. We talk and laugh and hug. My DH has " assumed" control of the 6 month old boy and they have really enjoyed " roll over" and laughing and learning to eat all kinds of foods.

Our daughter arrived a few days ago and it has been a great experience to work with her to make this time helpful and not intrusive as she and her DH try to figure out what to do. With no child care and they both work from home and have to make calls all day it is a challenge if they were at home without help. Instead they have chosen to be apart. It is hard but we are working on all of us figuring it out. To complicate matters he has a son who is 10 and is in his custody every other week. It is Spring break now in his school so they are winging it alone. How do you keep your " stay at home" when you have custody issues ????? It is all tough but we are all learning as we go.

I bake bread and garden and try to sleep when I get a chance. DH has his music and DD walks and chats with friends and everyone gets naps !!

Thank you for a great topic !! c

Another who is retired so it's not so terribly different for us (my husband works from home). I am a "social homebody" if that makes sense. I love being home and am a bit cranky if I do not get enough home time. I love my friends though and especially our best friends (we always say we are going to build a duplex in our old age and take care of each other LOL). Today I enjoyed an hour-and-a-half phone call with my bestie! I guess mostly I am enjoying the slowing down of things and almost no obligations! Thankful this is happening in the spring, which I love and we are spending lots of time outdoors.

Reading,baking, quiet, being with my own thoughts whether day dreaming or project planning. Sleeping and eating whenever. No appointments to meet. Having time to connect with old friends by phone and online.

" We are going to become much more self reliant "

How so? If anything, as this thing gets entrenched, it seems to me we're each far more reliant on one another and on our governments and community institutions than normal.

I am pretty much a homebody so this is nothing drastic to me. I don't have kids to drive me nuts or neighbors to make trouble. Well I have one,but she is in her 80s and doesn't bother me at all. (Unless you count the time she sent her pastor 3 separate times to our house to try to nag us into joining their church) No real changes for me,other than buying more at the store rather than going every few days. I enjoy my life as it is normally so I guess that's the answer.

We are retired, so some things haven’t changed. I have enjoyed some leisurely days with nothing pressing to do or place to go. I have done more cleaning of closets, storage room in the garage, part of the garage, purging, sorted through some junk in the attic and got rid of a lot. I feel more organized about some things. Did some painting in one room. Caught up on a couple of movies and still have some to watch. It’s a nice time of the year outside most days so great for taking walks.

I’m cooking better than I have in the past 16 years since living on my own. My entire outlook and approach to food and meal preparation have changed overnight. I’m inventive with ingredients. Food tastes better,

Despite the fear and hardships gifts are to be found.

Talked to DD. We agreed that folks with a long commute are likely to want to keep 'work from home' as an option when this is over. That would be a good thing for many people, think of all the time and resources it would save.

I love staying home. We have had quite a bit of company since moving here and it is nice not having anyone here for awhile. I have spent a lot of time outside checking out my roses and waterlilies. The fish are very active now.

I was thrilled that we have Eastern Bluebirds here...and they have made a nest on the metal I beam on the leanto of the new barn.

Lars, I don't like screaming kids or noise in general. It is very quiet here. For the first time in my life, I can't hear highway noise or trains. I do hear coyotes every night, and birds all day.

I have some books I want to read, but I fall asleep before I get very far into one. I have a hard time watching movies for the same reason.

I stalled Rita, one of my fillies, to start working with her. Will keep her up at night and turn her out in the mornings after I spend some time with her. Primo, my new kill pen horse, has gained weight, and looking good.

I have gained weight too...not as attractive on me as on the horses. Too much snacking.

But, we did find tp for sale at the little local Dollar store. I hope that is a good sign.

Marilyn, I don’t know where you are. I’m in California and have darling Western Bluebirds nesting in the bird box in my front yard. They visit every year.

I am in east Texas. About 20 miles s/w of Lufkin.

" We are going to become much more self reliant "

How so? If anything, as this thing gets entrenched, it seems to
me we're each far more reliant on one another and on our governments and
community institutions than normal.

My meaning was that if some of the things we now see happening continue, people will find that they have to come up with solutions on their own and rely on themselves.

For instance, my local grocery store has been out of TP for nearly a month. I check the shelves every time I go (no pun intended) to see if there is any TP available. At the moment, we have a decent supply as we bought one of those Costco 36 packs not long before all this started. I'm not feeling TP insecure yet, but I have started to think about alternatives, such as paper towels or tissues. Those can't be flushed, but they could be disposed of in other ways. Somewhere around here there was an entire thread about TP alternatives. Finding a solution to the TP shortage rather than continue to wait for the store to stock it is a form of self reliance.

A few other simple examples of self reliance that I've seen discussed lately are starting a veggie garden in order to be less reliant on the food supply chain, learning how to make one's own mask because they are now so difficult to find, and for those who eat out or order take out most of the time, learning how to cook their own meals. Learning how to make simple home repairs when repair people aren't readily available is being self reliant. All of those are things that make people more self reliant, and in my opinion, also more confident in their ability to take care of themselves.

Yea, sure, one way or another, many of us will also need to rely on our neighbors, community services and govt services My comment was more related to how this is an opportunity to develop the skills that will allow people to rely less on those services when they aren't available or are falling short for whatever reason.

Michael, if we had curbside growler delivery available, I'd be all over that like a bee on honey. Support the local brewers? Heck, yea! ;-)

Well, I did start another thread about the negative aspects, but I'm not even going to read that one. I was more interested in the positive experiences that people are making out of a bad situation. I might read it later, but for now I am trying to focus on the good.

Not having a commute 30 min each way each day. Hands down, that's the best. And my commute isn't even all that bad compared to many others in this region. Air quality across the country has increased due to fewer people commuting, so it's been good for the planet at least in that small way.

Reading, TV & catching up on my cleaning so far.

Bestyears, the bread looks delicious.

I have enjoyed reading such a (mostly) positive thread. Like Lars, I don't want to read the other thread with negative aspects, but then I might need to vent one day and post. LOL

I was wondering if those now working from home will decide they want to continue doing so, and how employers will react to those requests. I have always worked from home, until we built twin office buildings and had an actually office somewhere. I went in one or two mornings a week for a couple of years, but stopped when we moved further out. We've sold everything that takes day-to-day attention, so mostly retired. I am glad DH had time to adjust to not working before now.

I wish I had not gone through so many drawers and closets a few months ago. Most days pass quickly, but a few have dragged on. I am a homebody and an introvert, so being here for 3.5 weeks to date has been easy. DH is waiting to walk after I get up so I have my quiet time. I need my daily quiet (alone) time each morning and before I go to bed.

I enjoy watching the birds at our feeders on the kitchen deck. I enjoy taking care of my orchids and watching the spikes form, anticipating the blooms. Spending more time outdoors with "the girls," our two dogs. Cooking more, but not overeating.

I enjoy living closer to town now and being able to get grocery deliveries.

ETA: I am also enjoying growing out my hair. Length, not color, but I haven't colored yet. I can really see how much gray there is! Had thought 85%. It's more like 95%. I'll turn 60yo this summer, so not ready to give up being a brunette just yet!

@Bestyears isn't it just the best thing to have that kind of time with your adult son? It is something you will treasure forever. No one has to get in the car and leave after dinner, you get up in the morning and can have coffee together - or not ....and even those moments where one of you is cranky are a blessing because you are operating on an equal adult playing field now, not parent child so the resolutions are meaningful and lessons for all. And I know how empty it will feel when he leaves. Give yourself permission to be as sad as you need. Both our adult sons (and a girlfriend who is now DIL) came to live with us when we moved to NC and began building our house - one for 6 months the other for 18 months. They were 30 and 26 and that was the first time we had them both with us under the same roof since our oldest left for college at 17! That time is so precious to me , never to be recreated so I treasure the photos and memories.

I think what I like best about SAH/sheltering in place is the lack of guilt I feel :-) I am also a bit of an introvert and more or less retired (just my small design business and I am not taking on as many jobs as I used to anyway) so staying at home and doing whatever I want whenever I want I am finding very appealing. And no excuses required!!

The timing of this as it relates to the gardening season is really almost ideal. I am typically involved with other peoples' gardens at this time of year and mine gets neglected. I just recently completed two smaller design projects and they are now in the hands of the clients. I do have another larger project pending but currently on hold as it is a good 70 miles away and I am NOT venturing that far afield!! So that frees up my time to play in my garden and I have gradually been tackling jobs that have been put off too long.

I do miss spending time with family and friends but we talk and text often. Other than lacking the freedom to pick up and go and grab a bite to eat out or swing by the shops or the nursery whenever the mood strikes, I am not finding this onerous at all. Grocery stores here have pretty much everything I want or need, I have books to read, stuff to stream, projects to complete and the dog to keep me company. And I can visit the nursery if I want.....I just need to call ahead and make an appointment!! I did that last week to pick up potting supplies and some seeds and that was a great and quite safe experience.......I will do that again.

ps. I loved filling up my gas tank for less than $2 per gallon!! I can't remember the last time that happened :-)

No commuting in traffic! Kitty keeps me company while I type away. I've secretly wished I could take her to work many times. Not so secret anymore ;) Cheaper on the budget since I'm not using gas, wearing out my good clothes, going out to eat. Less stringent time schedule. I can get a hug anytime I want, unless my son is in his "office", Zooming class. If I want to go out in the garden and work from my phone, I can. Lab meeting takes place on my TV and it's really funny to see everyone in their home environments. We're trying to figure out how to celebrate boss' birthday in a couple of weeks, and I think we've decided to have a treat on hand at our own homes, and send him one at his house. It'll be fun!

Nothing!!!!!!! :-))))

Actually, I love people helping people. So far, it's working here.

The context is truly horrible, but I like that the whole family is working on one big project together. This is what life in the old days must have been like when several generations lived and worked on a farm or work shop together.

I’m still working FT from home, which is outstanding in every way, and if one good thing comes from this pandemic, I hope it’s that businesses realize WFH is good for employees, the environment and the business. I like no commute, even tho mine is pretty much traffic free, I like being able to fix lunch in my own kitchen, taking a walk at noon, cranking my music (when not on a conf call) and enjoying the new dog we adopted last weekend. I don’t ever want to go back to the office.

I can't do much in the way of gardening here - mostly my brother just pulls up the occasional stray weed in the front yard, which has desert landscaping, but if it rains, a weed might grow. I did bring a few plants with me - two epiphyllum, five orchids, and one bromeliad. Most of my bromeliads are too large to move easily, but one of my favorites happened to be blooming nicely, and so I wanted to have it here.

No deadlines.

i love to garden, but here in the mountains of Northern New Mexico not much is growing yet, so I’m enjoying nurturing along my many pots of geraniums and herbs inside for now. Many will be able to head outside in about a week, though.

My allergies are not as bad this spring. I think maybe the reduced air pollution has something to do with it. I've been getting a lot of walking in that I've been avoiding. I only walked two miles yesterday because of the rain. I'm probably good for five miles today.

Stay at home hasn't really affected me much, as I've become somewhat of a hermit over the last 7+ years since my husband passed away. One of my grandsons says I am 'using' the SAH order as an excuse for my normal behavior. He may be right.

I agree with what Dawn wrote about becoming more self reliant, it would be a very good thing. And I hope that the current 'trend', if you will, of caring about and helping others will continue after all this is over.

Rusty

We have been very content being confined to home. Spend lots of time just sitting on porch watching dolphins frolic in ocean. Prior we have seemed too busy in the house or yard to just stop and really see what is around us. Watch the ISS come over each night when we have a few minutes viewing. Our grands call us and we see who spots it first. Both of us are in our eighties so we have more time to bask in our memories. Feels great slowing to stop and smell the roses.

I purchased the movie Jumanji The Next Level. I would love to watch it while on the treadmill, while it's snowing outside. I purchased 16 tiger lily bulbs that need planting. A book: Night Without Stars. I have a cozy wingback chair, cup of tea, kitty cat in my lap asleep....aaahhhh.....wishing we were done working.....so I could try one of the above!

And family time! My physician DH is newly retired. Our 26 y/o DD has driven down here from Colorado and is thankfully able to work from home here online. Tonight it’s finally nice enough that we’re having a fire in our front portal (outdoor) fireplace and we’re able to sit outside and enjoy our wonderful mountain evening. I am so glad that DD was able to come back here to work, to “shelter in place”, and where we can be all together.

Except for not being able to invite anyone else to our house, the way we are living now is how I always imagined holidays with our grown children. My hope was that they would all come home for holidays, the same way my family always returned to my Dad's family home. Older DD, SIL, and two grandsons live with me, and younger DD moved here for the duration of shelter-in-place, to help with childcare/home schooling, and just to be with the family. She is working from home, and everyone has m/l worked out his/her own schedule. We leave only for necessities, or to check on my father, so they are here all the time. I've been doing all the cooking--a big meal in the evening, then leftovers for lunch the next day, and repeat.

My paramedic son can't be with us, and that is a huge worry for me, especially since there are more covid-19 cases in his county and surrounding counties, but we keep in touch. There are other things to worry about, too--how long will TP hold out, and when will SIL's unemployment checks start to arrive. DD#1 is off work, but still being paid--at least for now.

I also imagined that my late husband would be here to share the holidays, and now that the kids are home, I know he would have enjoyed that part. He worked in the medical field, but could have mostly worked from home.

I'm happy to know that we (and you all) are able to have pleasure during this horrible time.

Looking forward to my husband's daily car counts is a highlight. Yesterday 18 cars passed the house between 3PM and 4PM. But there were 43 between 5PM and 6PM. And where did I think they were all going?

I told him I had no idea, I hadn't noticed. Who counts passing cars?

What the heck?

As a child, I used to try to count railroad cars when we were stopped at a railroad crossing.

Nicole, I have the Jumanji Board Game, and we have the first Jumanji movie on DVD, but we did not bring either of those with us. I bought the board game at a thrift store for a couple of dollars, and it had never been used.

Hey, who doesn't count railroad cars! I believe freight trains can go no higher than 100. Got kind of dizzying, but I did it too.

Speaking of counting cars, I do think that the increase in traffic here was folks taking a ride to see the lakes and get out of the house. I think it harms no-one and is good for one's mental health. I see the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania disagrees with that:

https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/coronavirus/2020/04/stay-at-home-guidepost-sunday-drives-are-not-essential-travel-in-age-of-the-coronavirus.html

Being retired and having my pensions arriving, I'm fortunate to not have immediate financial concerns and having lived alone for years, I am used to that.

Our church is providing daily inspirational messages and provides a partial Sunday service on their site and gatherings of several on various occasions on Zoom.

I've been working on developing telephone trees with them and family and friends. Also wondering about taping a message on various stranger's storm doors in a local neighbourhood asking if they have become stir crazy yet ... and might be interested in talking to an old guy from the 1930s whose telephone in childhood on a farm nearby was a big box on the wall with a stem like a tulip sticking out of the front to take one's talk and a listening tube on a wire that hung on the side of the box. One rang a series of long and short rings to call local neighbours and there was a signal to call a central operator who would call people at a greater distance.

A question for you gardenweb friends - have you thought that someday you'd like to develop some latent interest lying unpursued in your psyche?

Maybe this would be a good time to rouse it from slumber.

Also give some thought to evaluating your life: as you look at yourself in the mirror, are you reasonably, quietly and rather humbly pleased with the person that you see?

Maybe to consider improving some errors or defects, putting things right with friends where you feel that you had done them some wrong?

I hope that you can exit this period a better person than the one who entered it.

Good wishes for your journey through this time and as you participate in the "new normal" after.

ole joyfuelled

Joyful, you really do seem to live up to your name. Delightful! 🙂

That was so inspiring Joyful, you are a wonderful soul.

DD called from Texas, the D/FW suburbs. She is loving this down time with her family. Her DH is able to work from home, and is extremely busy. But he doesn't have to commute now. Her 10 and 13 year old sons are good friends and are learning online through their school. She says she loves being able to follow their lessons so that she understands exactly what they are learning and so that she can help them more intelligently when it is needed. She had projects that needed attention since moving to this home 2 years ago, and has sorted through crates to organize and store hand me down sets of china and silver plate platters galore from her in-laws so that they can be used. She loves the huge, oversized cotton napkins (14x22) that I had sent her and which till now were used when they entertained on the patio because they wouldn't blow away in the breeze. Now that she cannot buy paper napkins, she has sworn off paper forever and loves using cloth for meals in the house as well, and bought a few more sets. She and a friend loved the story of our use of silver plate family napkin rings when I was a child and would like to find some for them too. Wish I had them to give to her. She loves the family time of bike rides, the boys fishing in their catch and release pond abutting their property, and playing in their pool. I was so pleased for her and her family and loved such a happy phone call during these times.