Masks, staying at home and the arrival of Spring!

Last time I was preparing a blog posting it was in the run up to FLoF! and immediately after that the whole world got a lot smaller, very fast.  FLoF! was nearly cancelled but did go ahead but since then life has been very different indeed.  Thanks to Penn State deciding early on to postpone and move classes online after Spring Break we in Centre County PA have been very, very lucky  to be touched only lightly by the Covid-19 pandemic.  Not that it hasn't impacted us, it has, but we have largely been spared tragic outcomes.

Our younger son made the trek back from university in Socorro, New Mexico leaving there on Friday 20th March and getting home in the early hours of Tuesday 24th March after an epic trip in his 1997 Land Rover Discovery.  His spring break was extended to 3 weeks followed by all classes and finals handled via the internet.

Our elder son is supposed to be graduating from Swansea University in the UK this summer, but the graduation ceremonies have been cancelled, the classes have gone online, the campus is closed and he has been a lonely bunny in his empty student house working on his final year project and dissertation, again his last exam will be online.  He spent two weeks in quarantine after a friend exhibited C-19 symptoms, but the friend recovered in due course and our son stayed well.  He flies home this week and I will be a much happier parent once he is back here.

As with many quilters and sewers the main creative thing I have been doing is making masks - for healthcare workers, friends and family.  The last handful are in an envelope ready to head off towards the West coast tomorrow.  At the moment my tally is 108, but I am sure it will still continue to creep up in the coming weeks.

My creative concentration is all over the place at the moment, but I have managed to sandwich some doll quilts for our local Toys for Tots group and my One Monthly Goal for May is to get them quilted and bound - here they are all held together with safety pins.

Weatherwise April brought us a final dollop of white stuff falling from the sky, followed by cold rainy weather, but the couple of weeks have been much improved and spring has arrived in central PA for its fleeting annual visit before the heat and humidity of summer hits us.  I have played hooky from my sewing in order to get out in the sunshine, tidy up in the garden and get some spring and summer colourful plants ready to give me and passers-by visual pleasure.  Who would think these photos were taken on consecutive days?