Here we are at the shortest day of the year. We must remember that they get longer from here on.


If you'd like to look back at where we've been, you'll find the Autumn thread at:
The thread "Support for a Healthy Lifestyle in Autumn 2020" in Sandbox forum

Thanks, Ann. And I think we'll appreciate the increased daylight even more this year.

Karen

Judith, before you joined, I mentioned taking CBD oil to help me sleep, with the added bonus that I have fewer nightmares and none of the nightmare residue when get up in the morning. They haven't thrown me out yet.

Well, I'm glad that cannabis isn't a forbidden topic - I'm a true proponent of it for medical reasons - I
have no need to get high. I grew 10 plants a year ago, and still have some of it now. I bought 10 seeds and, thinking that some of them would be male and therefore not desirable (not making a philosophical statement here!) All of them were female and produced well - I did get special fertilizer from a grow store and diligently fed them every time I watered.

Funny story on myself - a couple of years ago I joined the local garden club and the first meeting I went to was their Christmas party. I was sitting at a table for 6 - all older women. As I listened to the conversation, which was on growing stuff, I realized that they were talking about growing marijuana!! It's legal in my state, but I was still very surprised! One gal said, "if anyone needs some, let me know, I've got plenty." I did take her up on that and have become good friends.

I have not gotten much exercise as there is so much snow on the ground that Lily and I have not been doing exercise walking. I want the snow to melt so we can return to our normal routine.

Easy to forget that a lot of today's old people are ' children of the 60s'

sallyg said:Easy to forget that a lot of today's old people are ' children of the 60s'

I was thinking the same.

Karen

Judith, it's legal here too, I should try and convince DH to try it, he is awake most of the night, just an hour or two of sleep here and there. I could use it too, seeing as he keeps me awake.

Sad news everyone, our dear neighbors have the Covid, brought to them by their son, he came to visit them a week ago from a different area, stupid man. DH said the ambulance was there at 5 am this morning. She is about 79, and has health issues, he is 80, in better shape. They are the first cases in our area, I am so sad about this, they have been great neighbors for close to 20 years.

Margaret, I'm really sorry to hear about your neighbours. Stupid man indeed to have visited them.

Is anyone else using the grocery pickup service? Both the Kroger and the Safeway in this town offer it and I've tried both. Works pretty well - and I spend less than cruising around picking up things not on the list. It surely is safer than in the stores!

ViolaAnn said:Margaret, I'm really sorry to hear about your neighbours. Stupid man indeed to have visited them.

I'd sure like to try the CBD oil, but cannot risk losing my CDL and HAZMAT endorsement over it.

To put in another point of view regarding the visit that resulted in his parents getting sick. My son-in-law's grandparents are about that age and are throwing an absolute fit about children.grandchildren and great grandchildren not visiting for the holidays. They have actually said they don't dare about getting sick and if their family loved them they would be visiting.
My son not visiting us this year had more to do with his concerns than ours, and we didn't push it, if something happened he would feel awful, as I'm sure your neighbors' son does.

Pyrpup said:Is anyone else using the grocery pickup service? Both the Kroger and the Safeway in this town offer it and I've tried both. Works pretty well - and I spend less than cruising around picking up things not on the list. It surely is safer than in the stores!

I used them from a while , worked pretty well. Then I joined Instacart. I get groceries delivered to my home, at my convenience. The shoppers seem to generally do a better job than the Kroger shoppers did. Your mileage may vary.

About visiting old folks---- keep in mind, all families have their own special circumstances. Our son came from Seattle to stay for 6 weeks, because my husband had major surgery for cancer. Son wanted to be here, and I knew son would be a major help to me. I was SO glad he was here when the life squad had to take my husband back to the hospital, and I wasn't allowed in because of Covid. So remember, families have their own individual needs. Sometimes us old folks just need help, and we have no family here. And our friends are in their 60s, 70s, and 80s. We knew there was a slight risk with our son coming to help, but we were willing because the potential benefits outweighed the potential risks.

Our son came for 6 weeks, is working from here. Bought himself lots of new computer equipment to do it. I guess he spent lots of money. Arrived 2 weeks before my husband's covid test. So... maybe don't jump to judge other's actions. Sometimes we have to make calls as things develop. Some of us old folks have our own special needs, and outside the family others might not be aware.

Karen

I agree with you Karen. Everyone's situation is different and we should keep that in mind. We haven't done much but we do go to the post office to get our mail, the grocery store, and the bank. We always wear our masks. But if my son was able to visit and we got the virus, I would tell him we got it from somewhere else. I would never let him live with that for the rest of his life.

My friend's niece (a nurse) in Los Angeles got covid, maybe from the hospital. How do you know for sure where you might have picked it up from. It was 10 days later that her husband and son tested positive. After 10 (or was it) 14 days off work the hospital she works at told her to come back to work, while her husband and son were still positive. I don't understand that. Is that normal?

I don't know. If she had it she should be immune for a while, though I have read about people getting it twice. I guess a swab test would show if she's still shedding virus. Hospitals in a lot of places are stressed, running out of staff to care for patients.

Karen

Good morning. We had cloudy weather last night so couldn't see the "great convergence". Doesn't look as though it will be any better tonight while they are still close together. Yesterday was very mild and sidewalks were clear; so we took a longer walk than usual. Today, still above freezing, but just barely and overcast and it will be slippery. I find doing even a shorter walk with the penguin walk is a bigger workout.

My son came to visit for TG, but he did self isolation for 14 days before arriving here.

Karen, you really needed your son to visit and help take care of his Dad, no disputing that.

Si far my exercise today is doing laundry. Specifically sheets. After I get the laundry hung out I intend to try an exercise walk with my dog. Still plenty (and way too much) snow on the ground but Lily and I are both going stir crazy stuck in the house.

Did my time on the treadmill. Still slowly, and I mean slowly, increasing time and speed. Up about 0.3 mph and 5 minutes over about 3 weeks. I am feeling much stronger.
Will finish wrapping our Christmas gifts to our granddaughters and clean up. Reminder to self, do not buy any more wrapping paper, even if on sale! I didn't even break into the paper I bought last year. We are cutting down the number of people we buy for and a roll will last a long time. This year I wrapped on the kitchen table and found it to be much easier on my back. Knock on wood I haven't had any back pain in a few weeks!