News From the Ranch, Episode 1772

Posted on March 18, 2020 by prairiemoonquilts in Prairie Moon Ranch

Well! Aren’t things in quite a mess right now?

I was really looking forward to spring, for flu season to die down, and being able to get out and about again, but with all that’s going on, that’s simply out of the question.

Oddly, the COVID-19 pandemic has not changed too much for us here on the ranch — yet. I’ve pretty much had us in isolation since the end of last October because I’m scared for My Cowboy to catch even a cold, or especially the flu.

With all his various health problems, and his recent diagnosis of congestive heart failure to top things off, any illness could be very, very bad for My Cowboy.

When I made my trip to California in January, I was super nervous the entire time about bringing something home to him, and thankfully, I didn’t. Indicators say that the flu risk is still very high in our area, so up till now, I’ve been worried about that. Now I have something more to worry about.

Other than some extra stocking up to avoid having to go to town at all, we’re still here, staying put, still waiting for spring. And I’m guessing we’ll be keeping our warm weather activities right here on the ranch this year! But believe me, we have plenty to keep us busy all the time.

I am very lucky that I get to work from home. Aside from it being the perfect situation for my anti-social  introverted self, it’s a very good thing for our current situation. I hope that you are all able to socially distance yourselves as much as possible, and if you work in the health care profession, my thoughts and prayers are with you daily. My oldest daughter is a doctor — in Los Angeles — so all those people in the line of fire are always on my mind, and I have the utmost admiration for you and the work you do.

My younger daughter runs a tech company in Orange, California, and her employees have been working remotely for a couple weeks already. So much extra work goes into putting together a contingency plan for companies such as hers, and this is happening all over the country. Sadly, some businesses won’t survive it.

I know this ordeal is super disruptive to so many of you. I can’t even begin to count the ways, I’m sure. I do know one thing for sure, tho — keeping a good attitude can really help, in the meantime — so I hope you’re able to focus on the good things and not let the worries weigh too heavy on your hearts.

I’m avoiding the news (easy since we don’t have TV), listening to my favorite music, quilting away, staying in touch with my friends through emails and texts, reading, knitting, and cuddling all my animals. I hope you all find your best ways of dealing with this.

I’ll try to post some fun, cheery, and useful quilty stuff for us over the next few months (and goats, too!), so you can always check in here if you need a pick-me-up.

For instance, we have four little babies here, who have no knowledge that anything at all is wrong with the world! Here are the two newest ones, Coco and Edgar, who will be one month old next week:

And there will be more in early April!

We’re also babysitting a little calf who lost his mommy, so we brought him here from the big ranch to be with our babies his same size. I’ll have to get some pictures of him for you. He’s had it rough, so he appears a bit bedraggled, but he’s getting better every day. All the mud we’ve been having doesn’t help, either.

I’ll be back soon with our organizing task for this month, links to some recipes I’ve been trying, and I have some quilts to show you, too!

So keep your chin up, stay in, stay well . . . and happy stitching! (Oh, and don’t forget to wash your hands — haha! That’s never been a problem around here — we’re OCD hand washers — because we’ve never been big on using manure as a condiment!)

20 responses to “News From the Ranch, Episode 1772”

  1. Sandy says:

    Cash had surgery for a torn ACL and is confined to the utility room for 8 weeks. So we are even socially distancing from each other. We could both use some cuddles.

  2. Marcia in TX says:

    Your babies are so pretty. Thank you for that. Praying for you and your Cowboy. Hugs.

  3. Paula m says:

    Have granddaughters home till week following Easter. Last bit of food shopping yesterday…picky eaters! Today did bit of writing, drawing, charades ( 5 year old just kills me! ) stay safe !

  4. Janet Smith says:

    Yes, very different times. Good to hear so
    Far so good there.
    These two “ older folks “ are staying in
    Kids bringing our needed groceries, we
    Are stocked, except weekly items.
    I too, know about hand wash, but keep
    Preaching. I worked 1968-69 Hong Cong flu,
    While pregnant & we certainly didn’t have available
    Medical technology as today. I applaud heath care
    Workers today.
    Keep taking care. ❤️

  5. Rose Marie Smith says:

    Went shopping this morning to stay stocked up. But there is not Kleenex, TP or paper towels at Hy-Vee in Kirksville. Good thing I’m not out. Yet!! I may start keeping tons of this in storage after this pandemic……….just so this can’t happen as easily! Yikes. Just think we used to think about quilting. I do have a binding to stitch down. I’ll post pics later to you.

  6. Cindy@liveacolorfullife says:

    Those babies are adorable! Stay safe, Shelly. And good for you for keeping Cowboy safe. I PRAY we can still see each other in July!

  7. Marlene Clausen says:

    As a professional technical wtriter, I loved it when our industry shifted more and more to “work at home.” No putting up with all the office interruptions. Writing is solitary work and distractions are bad! Family and friends learned very quickly to not call, come by, or open the office door unless someone was dying or the house was on fire. I’m one of those who can work despite a house that is a mess (that is for the weekend). Only dogs and cats were allowed to demand attention. That, plus many years of Iowa winters that made sure I never had cabin fever makes staying at home for 2 – 4 weeks happy time!! Take care, the virus can strike fast and hard. A young member of our family is already in the hospital on a ventilator fighting for his life.

  8. Carolyn says:

    I am self quarantining myself because of my age and I also take immunosuppressant drugs. Better safe than sorry. Praying for you and your cowboy. Hope you both weather this crisis.

  9. Beverly says:

    Thanks for the update. Always good to hear something positive. Had our youngest granddaughter overnight and day last week, so we made a little quilt for Barbie. She is six. She picked material from my scraps, cut out and ran the foot petal on the machine. After chain stitching, she cut them apart. By the end she was removing the pens while sewing. Great time by both and she loved her quilt. She wanted s’mores so she made s’more brownies. They were delicious. She learned sewing and cooking skills.

  10. Elaine Walker says:

    You goat babies are so cute. Thanks for sharing your pics. My husband and I are staying home. At our age you can’t be too careful. Thank goodness for daughters and grand children who will bring groceries when we need them. I am sewing on a couple of UFO’s
    now and will “get” to start a new quilt top when they are done. Take good care of yourself and your Cowboy. Blessings😀

  11. Judy S says:

    Take care of yourselves. We are staying in except for pharmacy drive thru and Walmart pickup. Our daughter will bring us anything else we need. My hubby is over 80 with diabetes so is considered high risk, although seems pretty healthy overall. No respiratory issues. It’s scary times, but we will get through it. Americans come from sturdy stock.

  12. Kate says:

    Being an individual with underlying medical issues i have been working from home. My school district is closed. That said i was still asked to come in to be re receptionist at the office. After much thought i had to decline because of the med concerns. It was very uncomfortable to be forced to disclose that i have serious issues. So i work all day and sew after to avoid the constant fear of all the news every day and pllitical bickering. Trying hard to stay positive.

  13. Sandy says:

    Love your ranch photos! We live in a rural community on 5 acres with 3 horses and our dog Barney. (Inland San Diego County) Hoping people regain their senses, or at least run out of storage , so we can get the necessities when we run out! (Grocery stores have been wiped out of everything!) In the mean time, watching movies with my daughter who’s home from college and quilting. And taking walks outside in the wide open spaces.

  14. Celia says:

    Thanks for sharing pictures of the new babies. We can all use a smile about now. I had already been told by my doctor to stay home so I have started a list of what I really want to work on along with packing for my move, which keeps getting delayed . What an opportunity to sew with no outside interruptions.

  15. Kathi B says:

    Thanks for the update. Your babies are cute! I’m retired (thank goodness – I worked in the hospital), so I’m happily spending time in my sewing room. Stay healthy!

  16. Darlene says:

    Shelly, thank you for the pics of newest additions! Hoping you & your Cowboy stay healthy. Have been working on a few different blocks using up some 2.5 strips w/ Pat Sloan traffic jam. Happy sewing.

  17. Candice says:

    Thanks for the baby goat pictures – they cheered me up. Believe it or not, almost all New Jerseyans are being sensible and self-quarantining. As bad as the constant virus news is, what is worse is constantly being referred to as “elderly”. When the heck did I become elderly??? I finished my Hazel’s Diary quilt. WHEW!!! Now starting on a baby quilt – they are so much quicker!

  18. Angie in SoCal says:

    Good to hear your positive report, Shelley – prayers being said for you both. Those darling goats! I use to love when we had new babies at my Grandmother’s farm. Such fun. You are being very sensible and that’s good. It’s strange not having the kids over, but I’ll get use to it and get a lot more quilting done. Blessings,

  19. Kate says:

    Went to a store for water. There was a note on the door. “Closed for stalking.”

  20. Pam C says:

    Loved the cute goat babies picture! When the kids were younger, we always had a baby critters of some kind around to care for.
    The kids have put us under mandatory lockdown!! Said they would get whatever we need! Don’t feel elderly, but do feel their love!
    I am working on 5 throw-sized T-shirt quilts for customers. Have a binding job to do, and hope to get the borders on my Underground Railroad quilt.
    Anxious to fire up my longarm again!
    Don’t think I will get bored at all with so much fabric downstairs!
    Take care, prayers for all during this hard time!

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