Thursday, April 30, 2020

On the Move Again

4-30
Fiorella's life is picking up speed in regard to Lolly's story, the new writing blog, and obtaining a mask for her few outside ventures, but she's still lagging when it comes to the 2019 taxes, which she always seems to find a reason to put aside till "tomorrow."
*
Sonia Dog took Fio on a walk along the  north side of the property yesterday, and one thing Fiorella can guarantee whomever buys the acreage is that they will never be at a loss for seasoned firewood.
*
Nothing like getting together with Friend Cheryl, who not only writes romances, but knows everything there is to know about a computer. She's the one who's putting together Fiorella's new blog, which will probably be a once-a-month newsletter...for now.
*
Fiorella's also heard from Friend Jamie, who has sent her some of a new book. Fio's looking forward to reading her pages, but will have to run them off on the printer first.
*
A-a-a-a-n-d, the whole time Fio has been trying to write, Sonia Dog has been sitting by her side, panting hard and making whimpering noises as if she was dying of starvation, which, Fio assures you, is not her usual practice with beloved pets.

   

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

From Nostalgia to Chocolate

Girls wore dresses when Fio went to school, and it being post-war, their mothers made most of them. At least, Fio's mother did, and she did a good job of it. In fact, when Fiorella went off to college, her party wardrobe was entirely de la Eileen. Fiorella herself had learned to use a machine when she was fourteen, and made a fair number of her own dresses in high school and also after she was married. It was a creative thing for her rather than a necessity, and she enjoyed it.
   Nowadays, although she still has a few old dresses in her closet, Fio always wears pants--slacks or jeans. They're more sensible for anyone who lives on heavily wooded acreage, and--she'll admit it--her current body shape is better concealed than put on display.
 *
Have you noticed how politicized Facebook has become? Farewell, family photos and cute doggie pictures. Maybe it's the virus or maybe it's the upcoming election--we're all on edge.
*
Your girl is going crazy trying to get one of her domains changed to another name so she can use it to talk about life as a writer. Actually, with the help of friend Cheryl (translation: Cheryl did all the work) the change-over has been completed, but stupid Fiorella doesn't understand how to get into her new blog.
*
Congratulate Fio! Despite having a very nice supply of chocolate in the refrigerator, she didn't eat any of it yesterday, not even a bite. Applause, please!


   
  


Tuesday, April 28, 2020

From Sprinklers to Korea (denuevo)

How about having your sprinkler system repaired, your new domain being put out on the web, adding about two thousand more words to your new romance, and losing your payments ledger--all on the same day and without leaving the property. Yes, when it comes to celebrating, Fiorella does it with a bang.
*
Your girl is toying around with watching morning shows en espanol in to get her language acquisition going denuevo, but she never thinks about it till the evening, when it's a little too late. The current Spanish-language nighttime shows are not to her taste.
*
Fio is happy to report that the jasmines she'd planted as borders to the flagstone walk last fall are really taking off. Just hope they will live up to their bad rep as plants that will conquer the world if left unattended.
*
When people lightly say that the coronavirus is like the flu, that it will pass, they don't realize that influenza was a death threat until the inoculations became available.
*
Still wondering about Kim Jung Un. Maybe he got the virus and his pal Trump suggested trying to cure himself with Lysol.

Monday, April 27, 2020

From Sonia to Korea

What's wrong with Sonia Dog? She's been horribly whiny and clingy all day--maybe she thinks Mommy is spending too much time bent over la computadora or maybe she's going stir-crazy from being inside so much of the time.
*
A little known fact about your Fio: every time she hears or says "maybe," her mind automatically pulls her back to Russian 101 and she whispers mozshet-bweets to herself.
*
Fiorella doesn't like being thwarted every way she turns around. She wants to clear out the house, but it's impossible for her to handle everything by herself, and, besides, she still has to live here for the time being. She's also upset that she cannot consult the nice computer people in the local library about her technological glitches. And then there's the problem with getting Sonia dog to the vet for her yearly shots and Fio somewhere that she can have her blood-thinner checked on a monthly basis.
     On the other hand, neither Sonia nor Fio have come down with the virus yet.
*
What will things be like in a couple of years, when the plague passes? Guessing there will be a labor shortage, if nothing else. The US will have to build itself up all over again....if it still exists.
*
Hmm...what's going on--or NOT going on--in North Korea?

Sunday, April 26, 2020

Orthotics, Domain, Mask, Lolly, Sonia

After spending half of sabado in pain, Fiorella finally took off her left shoe to see what la problema was. As it turned out, Fio, her usual brilliant self, had tucked two orthotics in the same shoe.
     How did that happen, you ask. Well, your girl likes to set up time-saving systems, and one of them is that, after she dresses in the master bathroom each morning, she grabs her shoes and sticks her socks in one of them and her orthotics in the other, then runs downstairs to dress her feet in the living room, but yesterday, she transferred the socks correctly, but left the orthotics in the same shoe. Yes--your girl hoisted herself on her own petard.
*
NEWS FLASH: In about a month, Fiorella will be using one of her dormant domains to talk about her adventures as a romance writer. Look for it--she'll be using the name Jerusha Bolton.
*
Have you made a mask yet? Fio, who sewed up a storm in her salad days, is pulling fabric and pin cushions out of storage to construct a bright red face-cover. (She got tired of wrapping her face in a wool scarf or silk handkerchief when she had to go out.)

*
How is Lolly's story going, you ask--or maybe you don't, but Fio will tell you anyway. Another chapter and she'll be halfway through the book, which means she'll have to put on her thinking cap and figure out how to make the rest of the story behave according to her original outline. That's not as easy as it sounds. Stories have been known to go off on their own and never be seen again.
*
 Whew! Fio was worried about Sonia Dog having to adjust to different brands of food than she is accustomed too, but so far, no problem--especially when Fiorella puts some of her own food in the bowl as a topping.

Saturday, April 25, 2020

Happiness, Armadillos, Typing, Writing, Taxes

Fiorella is bouncing with happiness! Her bills are paid, her refrigerator is full, the sun is shining, she has cleaned up the den (sort of), she's added another chapter to Lolly's story, her doggie loves her, and she knows she looks dang cute today--gray slacks, gray socks and tennis shoes, baby blue tee.
*
Monday is the day that the guy from the sprinkler system repair store is scheduled to come over to give Fiorella an estimate. Dang those armadillos!
*
Fio wishes she could hire someone to sit beside her as she writes and advise her on her how to better use her computer, but she knows that the first thing she'd be told is to learn the Touch Typing system. Yes, Fiorella confesses that, although she can get a good speed going, she is a hunter-and-pecker.
     (When she was a kid, Fiorella played around on her mother's ancient typewriter and learned the keyboard well enough that, as an adult, she passed a typing test and picked up a few shekals typing up papers when she was in college, but the times, they are a-changin', and your Fio ISN'T!)     
*
Is something wrong with your girl? It amuses her to write sex scenes, and the sexier they are, the more she giggles.
*
 After a bad couple of weeks in lock-down, Fio seems to be settling down into her solitary existence.  But, although she's and making headway with the house and the book, the tax forms are still sitting on her desk and giving her the stink eye.

















Friday, April 24, 2020

SHELTER

Fio is doing the "shelter" thing. Her food is delivered and she stays ten feet away from any neighbors she sees when she picks up her mail. She's also made a mask to wear when she has to drive into town to fill up her gas tank or pick up prescriptions.
     At first, the sheltering was sort of boring. Then Fiorella suddenly realized that, at last, she had the time she'd been whining about needing in order to finish off the romance she'd had lying around for four years--and now she's writing four hours a day. She also spends a lot of time going through everything she has painted or designed  that she can decide what to take with her when she moves out. Another self-assignment is, of course, putting the house and the acreage in the best shape possible.
     Another plus is the increased number of phone calls and emails from friends and family--nothing like imminent danger to pull people together.
     Fiorella also now has time to contemplate the political scene and comment on it in places like Facebook. She's just one voice, but it's always been a loud one.
     Sheltering has also given Fio time to find a company that will print her DUMP TRUMP design on buttons cheaply enough that she can give them away by the bagfuls. Wish her luck--better yet, if you know people with a button press, send Fio their phone number! 😃
    

Thursday, April 23, 2020

Taxes, Romances, Doggie, Trump, Tranatlantica

Fiorella is at a rare place in her life in which she's up to date on her assignments--except for the taxes, of course--which means she's backed herself into a corner to clean up the den and, once again, go through her various piles of papers to find her missing romances. 
*
Speaking of romances, Fio is coming along well with her reworking of Lolly's story. She's spending three or four hours a day on it now and is hoping the story will be finished in a couple of months--but then she will have to figure out how to get it on the market, and salesmanship was never one of your girl's strength
*
Fio marvels at how well Sonia Dog has trained herself. She always waits for Mommy to go down the stairs first, will let Mommy know if she has done anything out of the usual routine, and seems to know the times of day--or at least the times of day that her food bowl should be filled.
*
 Oh, another thing Fiorella wants to catch up on is her DUMP TRUMP buttons. She's been searching her computer for companies that will put her design on buttons cheaply enough thats she can spread them across the nation, although now, Trump's doing a pretty good job of dumping himself. 

Hooray for transatlantic communication! Fio had a nice visit with friend Suzy in England yesterday morning. She's the one who posts pictures of her Great Dane on Facebook.
   

    

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Information and Reflections

Don't laugh, but Fiorella is teaching herself how to whistle again. Somehow, she, who was a crackerjack whistler in her earlier years, has forgotten how to pucker up and blow.
*
Fio likes to watch the zoo shows before she goes to bed because the keepers so obviously love the animals in their care. If only people could have that kind of relationship with each other.
*
Fiorella always tries to do the right thing, which sometimes, alas, turns out to be the wrong thing. Nevertheless, she totters on.
*
Your girl, who hasn't gotten to her hairdresser in at least six months, is thinking of binding her uncut tresses up into a pony tail--although, at this point, it would be more of a bunny tail 😁
*
Can't understand the blockheads who think everything will return to "normal"if they yell loud enough. The past is the past, people.  Now we need to plan for the future.
*

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Stupid Protesters Blocking Hospitals!

  Your Fio is at the boiling point. Now those stupid protesters are blocking hospitals to prevent sick people from getting diagnosed and treated. Apparently the idea in the protesters' sodden little heads is that the virus is a fake made up to embarrass Trump.
     Fiorella's way of handling the situation would be to send out ambulant patients with instructions to walk around and cough at the idiotes holding up misspelled signs and wearing MAGA hats. If that doesn't work, she would suggest wheeling the bedridden patients into the parking lot and telling the protesters it's their turn to empty the bedpans.
     But, Fio's anger aside, what the heck is going on here? One cannot stop a virus with a gun--of which several were in evidence--or with threats or swagger. We know that Trump has been encouraging the violence, and we know that Devos has been organizing the funding for at least some of the protestor gangs, but WHY? This is a time for the country to work together, for Trump to prove he is a true leader who cares about everyone in the country, but instead, he's gone in the opposite direction. Is he trying to please his basest base? Has Putin told him it's the thing to do? Is he trying to minimize the number of annotated infections by refusing hospital care? Or is it just plain that destruction is his nature.
     Whatever, your Fio will keep writing and fighting as she tries to save tomorrow for her kids and everyone else's kids. See you tomorrow.



Monday, April 20, 2020

Teasers

What can I say about Lolly Redlander, my current heroine except that all her swains commend her? She's not as tall as she'd like to be, but she has baby-blue eyes, curly blonde hair, and a gorgeous figure. She's also rich and headstrong, and the guy she's set her heart on is Cotton Bogart, her anthropology professor.
     Yep, this time around, your Fio is using a forbidden love trope. Here are a few exciting excerpts:

                                                           ********
Cotton gazed into the long mirror behind the bar and his eye was caught by a foursome of girls sitting a couple of tables behind him. They were staring at him in twos and threes, giggling then putting their heads together and giggling again. What was their problem? Didn't like his sweat? Sorry, sweet things--that's what a guy looks like when he's been working ten hours straight in hundred-degree Texas heat.
*
Lolly trudged down the short hall to her room, changed into her night clothes, and crawled under the covers, but her stupid brain wouldn't let her sleep. Instead, it kept rerunning the ride home with Cotton.
     What a night. Her date had left her in the lurch, and she'd been rescued by the last person on earth she'd ever expected to come to her aid. Cotton wasn't obliged to give her a lift, and she was pretty sure he hadn't wanted to, but he did anyway. There were no two ways about it--Cotton Bogart was a gentleman.
***
 Lolly carefully punched in Cotton's number, keeping an eye on her door at the same time.
     "Hello?" His voice was thick with sleep.
     "This is Lolly. I--I need help. I'm alone in the house with Uncle Keith, and he just--just groped me. I've locked myself in my room now, but I need to get out of here before he sobers up enough to remember there's a household key ring in the cupboard. Can you come pick me up?"
     "I'll be there as fast as I can."
***


    



Sunday, April 19, 2020

Havoc

Aha! Whining worked! Fiorella received three important bills yesterday, and she'll put the checks in her mail box tomorrow. On the other hand, she still can't find those two missing romances. 
*
Your girl had a really scare this morning--the charge cord of her computer wouldn't work. She tried all kinds of maneuvers, like moving the cord to another outlet, but nada. Fio was especially concerned that the offspring would be worried about her not posting her usual morning greetings (to let them know she's still alive) so she called them on the phone, assuring them that she would figure out a way to get a new charge cord. Before Fio had the chance to do so, Elder son got her on the cell phone and figured out what had gone wrong--a STAPLE had wedged itself in the charger, make it impossible to connect to the computer. WHOOPIE! Fio is in one piece again!
*
Come to think of the whole sequence, it's scary how dependent Fiorella has become on her laptop--to keep up with the news and her friends, to look up info, to record her literary endeavors, and to stay in touch with you, dear readers.
*
So what will Fio do with the rest of today? Well, there's a family Zoom thing at 11:00, and then your girl will be working on Lolly's story again. She'll also take a few walks around outside to see what affect the rain had on her so-called lawn.
*
Did she tell you she's been hauling in firewood from a pile someone dumped at the far side of the property? Such wastage!

Saturday, April 18, 2020

GRRRRRRRRRRR!

Chomping away on a large chocolate Easter rabbit, Fio spent twenty minutes canvassing every box she had filled with "storage" to find two of her earlier (unpublished) books that she located last week and put away somewhere for safekeeping. Where the hell are they now? GRRRRRR!
*
Fiorella's yard man showed up, took care of the fire ants, and clipped the dead rosemary branches, but, as she found out later when she checked out the stack of bricks hidden in the woods, he hadn't understand that she wanted the bricks, including the ones already there, NEATLY stacked. GRRRRRR!
*
Fiorella is paying more than $80 for her monthly garbage pick up, which was just fine when Husband and she filled our trash cans every week, but seems like highway robbery now that she, alone now, puts only a bag or two in the can every other week. GRRRRRRRR!
*
Can you believe that, in this time of crisis, the post office is running late, and Fio still hasn't gotten a bill for credit-card purchases that she's been notified she's PAST DUE on? GRRRRRRRR!
*
Fiorella planned to write a light, clever blog about her childhood this morning that, she hoped, would give us all some respite from what's going on around us, but such was not to be. GRRRRRRRRR!

Friday, April 17, 2020

Loaded

Fiorella is heavy laden. All by herself, she has to get the sprinkler system repaired, the back-yard erosion fixed, the taxes figured out, the inside of the house painted, the doors and cabinets brought up to snuff, and figure out what she can hire her yard man to do so his family can eat regularly
   She's also having a problem with being alone all the time. It wasn't so bad when Husband died because she could drive out to grocery shop and visit with friends, but the virus has changed everything. Fio's only face-to-face contact now is with her children when they bring groceries to her front porch every two weeks--and it's hard to carry on a meaningful conversation through a door, even though it is glass.
   Social media doesn't help. Fiorella is on Facebook every day, but its major topics seem to be the virus and Trump, neither of which she is fond of. TV doesn't help either. News shows just echo FB, and she's yet to find an entertainment show on the level of Big Bang Theory.
   You'd think that, with nothing to disturb her, Fio would be cranking books out like sausage, but actually, when left totally alone, she spends most of her time reviewing every dumb, stupid thing she's ever said or done in her life--which are multitude.
  
   .
    

Thursday, April 16, 2020

From Brooms to Computer Bugs

Yesterday, for the first time in--what?--maybe thirty years?-- Fiorella swept her own house. Yep, the accumulated dog hair and kitchen splatters were finally too much for her. Not that the floor has been nasty-looking up till now. On the contrary, la donella de Fiorella mopped and cleaned the whole house like it was her own, and Fio is hoping to welcome her back after the coronavirus runs its course.
*
Speaking of the virus, Fio has GOT to make herself a couple of masks. She doesn't get out often now, but when she does, like every female woman, she's wants to look good.
*
Speaking further of the devil virus, Fiorella is amazed at how many people take such a cavalier attitude toward it, like the bug can't strike them. Get those masks on, people, and stay away from large gatherings, even of relatives!
     Especially stay away from those VERY large gatherings, as in churches--God does not like to be teased.
   On the other hand, maybe a light dose of the virus would put a little sense into the heads of the parishioners who worship those self-serving "pastors."
*
To change the subject, Minnesota son is trying to fix Fio's TV up so she can see the Miss Fisher movie. Fiorella saw a couple of the shows featuring the flapper detective years ago, and would like to see more.
*
Back to yours truly again, your girl wants to order and pick up her groceries herself, but can't figure out how to do it on line because her computer, a MacBook Air, won't let her contact anyone who hasn't contacted her first.

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Frustration Day

Fio's yard man didn't show so the fire ants had yet another day in which to build their monstrous  hives, none of the many bricks in the yard were not returned to the stack hidden on the grounds, and the grass was not mowed. Where was Fernando? Is his family okay? Horrors--does he have the virus?
*
Nothing was going right for Fiorella so she started pushing boxes around and got a fair number of big, heavy ones into the garage, which made her feel better because  (1) she had uncluttered the house somewhat and (2) she had enough muscle left to do it.
*
Where, O where, are all those important receipts that Fio packed away somewhere to reduce her tax load for 2019?
*
Your girl decided to work a jigsaw puzzle to get her mind off her concerns, then couldn't find one anywhere in the house.
*
Fio is having some problems with the ending of Lolly's story. We'll see.



Tuesday, April 14, 2020

ANGER ANGER ANGER !

NOW YOUR FIORELLA IS REALLY MAD!
     Trump has swept all the medicine my friend needs to treat her lupus off the shelves to fuel his fake coronavirus med, which I am sure he and his cronies will sell at monstrous prices. MY HUSBAND DIED FROM LUPUS, which is a horrible condition, and I will not let my friend do the same!
     YOU WHO READ MY BLOG REGULARLY, JOIN MY FIGHT! If Trump can put my friend's life in danger, he can do the same to you and your family--to the whole country, in fact. Not that he'll ever get his own pudgy hands dirty-- he has soulless minions who do the dirty work--but his is the hand inside the bloody glove.
     I'd like to say that we can can combat Trump with our votes, but he has built up such a crew of yes-men and thugs that I don't trust the integrity of the ballot boxes anymore. I shudder at the idea, but it may be time for a second American Revolution.
     Think about it!
    

Monday, April 13, 2020

All Around the World

Fiorella is so fickle. All it takes is a bright sky and a rushing wind, and she's on top of the world again.
*
 Guess what? Fio has finished rocking the boundaries of the inner driveway. Now to cut out the dead rosemary and have her yard man gather up all the stray bricks around the house and stack them with the ones in the deep woods off the driveway.
*
Interesting that Sonia Dog, who usually barks like Mars is invading when a car comes down the driveway, did not react at all when Daughter made her food delivery on Saturday. Yep, Doggie knows who her people are.
 *
Looking at the things she's pulled out of cabinets and dark corners while emptying the house has made Fiorella realize that she's lived quite a life so far... and encourages her to throw herself into even more ventures.
*
Wondering if Putin laughs himself to sleep every night at how easy it was to manipulate Trump into destroying the US. All Russia had to do was rig the 2016 election, and Trump's greed took it from there.

Sunday, April 12, 2020

The Build-up

Fio's Saturday did not start out well. She was in deep depression and no wonder--she is the one who has to pack everything up, get the sprinkler system repaired, take care of the erosion problem, figure out the taxes, find someone to fix the doors and cabinets, and, when the house is empty, contract someone to paint the inside. Fiorella understands that no one can help her physically right now because of the coronavirus, but the situation still sucks.
    The day started getting better when Minnesota Daughter-in Law guided her through the steps of communicating with the whole family through Zoom for today. Fio's next upper was Daughter, who brought over groceries --including a big chocolate Easter bunny (which has somehow mysteriously disappeared. 😇)
     Then she received a nice checking-up telephone call from her neighbors on the north. Afterwards, she called her yard man and asked him to come over next week to kill the fire ants that are popping up everywhere, then went outside to survey the eroded areas again, then came back in and worked on Lolly for about three hours, then packed away a big box of table linens which, of course, no one uses any more.
     Today, Easter morning, Fio woke up to a new dawn. The storm is over, the sun is shining bright, and she's anticipating a good day. Thank-you, God.
 
    
    

Saturday, April 11, 2020

Coronavirus Is Running My Life!

Is that Easter I see sneaking around the corner? I THOUGHT IT WAS NEXT WEEK! But with everything that's been going on and not going on, it's no wonder your girl has lost track of time. Like everyone else in the world, she's been on high alert regarding her and her family's own health and well-being.
   P.S.: This will be the first Easter for several years that she hasn't delivered holiday chocolate to her computer-repair pals, her friends at the bank, the guys at Mazda, and her neighborhood friends.
 *
Hey, hey--after a month of tossing around ideas about the back-yard erosion in her head, Fiorella finally came up with a workable solution while she was napping on the couch.. She leapt up immediately, of course, grabbed a handful of metal staves some from the garage, dashed out into the drizzle, and laid her markers in the back yard to teast out her idea, and IT WORKS!
    Now to turn it into action. She'll have to get accurate measurements,  move part of the fence to allow for another door to the back yard, and hire someone to not only replace the old drain spouts, but pound in the metal edgings which are part of her plan. The project will cost $$$, but not even half of what the original quote wood have.
    Her  immediate problem is coronavirus, of course. How can Fio buy the makings for her project and get them hauled to her house without leaving said house?
*
This is such a small thing, but it really aggravates Fiorella--her hair needs trimming and, like every other smart-thinking personal service provider, her stylist has shuttered her doors for the duration.



Friday, April 10, 2020

Personally Speaking

How nice it would be to spend the rest of my life with pen or paintbrush in hand and a tablet of paper or a piano beside me. Of course, I'd like to have my collection of dictionaries of foreign languages there too.
*
I received an invitation to post my favorite "calming" poem on Facebook today, but, unfortunately, I don't have one. I appreciate the motive of the person behind the curtain--to soothe us in these horrible times we have been catapulted into--but, frankly, I'd read poems that go on attack right now.
*
Pray for me. I'm going to be hiring a crew to come repair the sprinkler system that the armadillos have torn apart. My biggest fear is that the whole thing will have to be replaced, and you know what than mean$.
*
I don't know about you, but Colbert without an audience doesn't work for me.
*
When it comes to fiction, I've noticed that male writers concentrate on the action while female writers concentrate on the emotion.

Thursday, April 9, 2020

More and More and More

Fiorella spent half the afternoon searching out tax statements for her accountant, and now she can't find where she put them down. Oh well, if she eats enough chocolate kisses, they'll turn up.    
     Her morning, she should add, was spent paying bills, tending to Sonia Dog's needs, harvesting rocks to place on the edges of garden beds, and checking out whatever was happening on Facebook. Now she plans to settle down to business and work on Lolly's story. 
*    
Two hours later, and your girl has Lolly's story all blocked out. It's not that Fio didn't know where it was going from the day one, but that now she knows how the various challenges she has put in the lovebirds' way will not only deepen the plot, but be overcome.
*
Some day, Fiorella hopes to get the rights to her first-published book back, and she'll immediately work the murder back into the plot. Her editor had her drop it, probably because it involved a drug deal and the category that her publishing house had put her in didn't deal in drug stories. Fio, though, wanted it in there for the sake of reality because she knew that small-town Texas, where the story was set, had become drug heaven.
*
Daughter went overboard with the  yellow legal pads that Fio put on her grocery list, but you don't hear any complaining from this direction. Fiorella goes through these things like water.
*
How did Fiorella, who is usually well-organized, get to be so disorganized? It doesn't have anything to do with her having to deal with IRS, a ranch problem, paying taxes, clearing out the house, working on a book, and handling an erosion problem and a sprinkler problem at the same time, does it?

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Not a Happy Day

Yesterday was a hard day for Fiorella. She spent most of her morning gathering together all her blog print-outs, then hauled them downstairs and scoured the house for loose-leaf notebooks that could accommodate them. Then there was the problem of finding a box just the right size for so many notebooks. The box now is now very heavy, but, then, Fio won't be the one lifting it.
*
You'd think that with all the tension about the virus in the air, we'd get a break with the weather, but nooooooo, it's been dark and dismal in central Texas for the past couple of days. Your girl did get out and harvest some rocks for edging her garden areas, but couldn't get much joy out of it because she was so depressed.
*
 Fio got a scolding from her kids about leaving the house to get milk. To tell the truth, it was scary for her too.
*
The worst thing about moving is that you are pulling everything apart and trying to maintain a decent living space at the same time. Also, everything is out of place.
*
The worst thing about the pandemic is that one must stay away from other people, which makes Fiorella more lonely than ever. It isn't that she needs a crowd around her, just a few good face-to-face friends she can pretend to be human with.

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Three Excerpts

How about a reading from one of Fiorella's romances to start your day?

   "I stink like he''," Jase said, wiping the sweat off his forehead as he came through the back door. "Been checking out available land from here to Waco and back." He slapped his hat down on the counter and looked around the kitchen, then at the table, innocent of all but a napkin holder. "What about dinner?"
   Laurel would never have guessed she'd be so turned on by the stench of honest labor. Her first impulse was to yell "Catch me, catch me if you can" then take off up the stairs  with Jase in hot pursuit. Instead, she pulled the belt of her terry cloth robe tighter and frowned at him.
   "Go take a shower in the bedroom across the hall, then give me twenty minutes. "We're eating in the dining room tonight."
   He paused, looking her robe up and down, and his voice lowered to a growl. "I hope you don't have anything on under that."
 *
   Was he rushing her? He skimmed his mouth across her fevered cheeks and let his breath whisper in her ear. "You okay? We can slow down."
   "No, don't slow down. " Her voice was husky. She ran her hand up under his loosened shirt and buried her fingers in his chest hair.
   His brain rocketed into outer space and he took her mouth again, releasing the hooks of her bra at the same time.
*
It was full dark now. The smell of honeysuckle was on the heavy summer air, votive candles in silver dishes floated aimlessly in the pool like enchanted lotuses, and the helium balloons glistened in the moonlight. Further back, Laurel could see the silver-bowed hurricane lamps that marked the edge of the turf to warn guests away from the dangers beyond, and above the lamps, thousand of tiny lights strung in the wide-armed oaks extended the horizon into the stars.
   She could almost pretend they were lovers from long ago, united at last on some supernatural plane of existence. In a way, that was true. So many years lay between them, years of pain and denial. Years that they had the rest of their lives to make up for.



  

Monday, April 6, 2020

From Gallons to Pounds

Fiorella scored two gallons of milk yesterday, one at Walgreens and one at Wag-a-Bag. How strange that she is now buying her lactose from pharmacies and a convenience stores. Maybe next week, she'll patronize CVS and Texaco.
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Hooray for Bastrop son! He arranged for Walmart to provide your girl with two uncut salmon lengths that she has now sliced into nine pieces apiece, which will last her most of the month.😃
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Did Fiorella tell you she is now wearing a face scarf when she goes out? It's one of Husband's old silk hankies, and it fits in with her wardrobe quite well.
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Sonia Dog has been depositing her130 lbs in Fio's lap more than usual these days. Fio thinks she senses the tension in the air and wants to keep Mommy safe...and herself.
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Fio's started lifting weights recientemente for the first time since Husband died. She had been thinking about moving up from six-pound weights to nine-pounders back then, but is now quite content with what she has.
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Sunday, April 5, 2020

Running Out of Steam

The next time Fio has to pick up her prescriptions at the pharmacy's drive-through, she'll take a frying pan with her so the clerk can drop the bag in the pan instead of handing it to her. Then your girl can take the Rx's home and wipe off all their bottles with whatever is recommended.  This coronavirus stuff is all so COMPLICATED!
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it's wet outside and the electronics in the house have gone crazy. The land line has given Fio four emergency calls so far and the giant roll-out piano that elder son gave Fiorella for Christmas has started sending her mis-chords from hell, each more grotesque than the last. Fio is currently waiting for the TV to turn itself on and send a death ray in her direction.
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Fiorella, clever girl that she is, has decided to scoot over to Walgreens later this week and try to buy Easter treats at the drive-through. Her usual distribution is two bags of chocolate for her pals at Chase, three at Mazda, and four bags of nuts for Click, where the guys are supposedly on a diet. On the other hand, she'd better check to make sure her friends haven't locked their shutters for the time being.
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Where the heck is Sigrid's romance, a finished manuscript that Fiorella wrote about five years ago. It did quite well on the contest circuit, and Fio would like to see what it would do in the marketplace.
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News of the day: Fiorella's good watch, the gold one that Husband gave her on their wedding anniversary, lo, these many years ago, has stopped working. It has a lifetime guarantee so all your girl has to do is hop down to her local jeweler to get a new power ball inserted, but she's not about to sashay round and about at this time. Besides, she also has a nice silver watch she can wear (another gift from Husband) that is working just fine.

Saturday, April 4, 2020

Sabado con su Fiorella

Coronavirus--it's the only thing Trump can't buy off, but he's still trying to make a killing on it.
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It's hit home with Fio. Her kids can't fill all of her food order, which means her milk and Shredded Wheat will have to be rationed. Looks like your girl is going to go on a diet despite herself.
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Hey, hey! Fiorella drove over to Walgreen's to pick up her Rxs after a telephone row with whomever discontinued her warfarin and--using the drive-through, of course--picked up not only the prescriptions, but two bags of chocolate! Hmm...wondering if she could buy milk there too....
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Fio must forgive those who have wronged her because she hasn't been perfect herself--and regrets it.
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Fio is determined to find those three missing book-size stories she wrote, lo, these many years ago. Even if they somehow got lost when she switched computers, her darlings should exist on paper because Fio, not trusting technology further than she can throw it, always makes copies.

Friday, April 3, 2020

Viernes con su Fiorella

                     Quiet as the Grave
Quiet as the grave that holds me fast
When death has dumbed the drumbeat of my blood
Beneath the soundless soil, still at last,
I'll sink in silence toward the muffling mud
  But until then, I'll clatter through your halls
And shout hello to friends and wail goodbye,
Laugh aloud within your stately walls,
And shriek my anger to the sombre sky
  The dead are not notorious for their noise
So I will lie a long time quietly
So until then, I'll use my loudest voice
To make the whimpering world resound with me
  And when at last I'm muted by the all-absorbing ground
  My unaccustomed silence then will  deafen you with sound

Thursday, April 2, 2020

Thursday with Fiorella y El Espanol

Fiorella is very happy--los piedras are talking to her denuevo! Your girl thinks it's porque instead of picking up after los arboles, she's been going out on the acreage and harvesting piedras for use as edgings around her front-yard jardins. (Los piedras esta muy sensible, and Fio is half wondering if that fall on la entrada de piedras pequenas she had a while back was their revenge for her spending so much time defending los arboles from the County Commissioners.)
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You may have noticed that Fio's been using mas espanol in her blogs denuevo. She's trying to catch up on last anno, when everything went blank.
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Fiorella y su vecino had a hard time trying to talk to each other over the fence yesterday especially since they were standing at a ten-foot distance and her pero and his tres peros were barking at the same time. Might have to use the phone next time.
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Okay, Fio admits it--one of the reasons she likes writing romances is that it makes her laugh to devise--uh--challenging situations her heroines.
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Trump's Appearances --
    Lights, cameras, action
    Let the show begin--
    He gets high on the crowd
    And the crowd gets high on him

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Fiorella on Wednesday

Fiorella and Sonia took a walk in the woods this afternoon, Fio to pick up rocks to complete the border around her front garden, and Sonia to chat up her dog pals to the south. The rock hunt was quite productive, although Fio overloaded her bucket and had to dump half of her finds where she could (hopefully) pick them later, and Doggie only found one of her friends out, probably a boring one because while the other dog yapped its heart out, Sonia slept.
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Earlier in the day, Fio gave her grocery list to sweet daughter. Yep, the milk and Shredded Wheat are getting low. How long will this isolation last? It's giving Fiorella more time for herself, but it's also DRIVING HER CRAZY!
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Speaking of groceries, Fiorella boiled six eggs from the carton Daughter bought for her in her first grocery trip a couple of weeks ago, and they were the best egss she'd ever had. None of the shells broke, all of the shells came off easily, and the taste of the eggs was out of this world!
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Whew, Fio finally heard from her only cousin on her mother's side, and everything is okay in her neck of the woods, or at least as okay as it can be with the coronavirus ruling all out roosts.
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Fiorella's doctor is going to give her a six-month check up  over the phone in April, which should be interesting. She'll tell you if there are any surprising result, like, "You're pregnant!"