I Got It

Yep It finally hit my household. Covid.

I can no longer say I have never caught the virus. Non vaccinated and unmasked for over two years and me and my husband have both been lucky not got to get sick. I have been around people with the virus many times and still, no sickness. 
But now it’s my time. 

My husband brought it home from his job. 
He worked beside another employee who had a nasty cough and did not cover her mouth when she coughed. It went on all day.
Two days later he began to run a fever and had a deep chest cough. He took a home test and was positive. Two days after that, I woke up in the morning mad. I felt like a truck had hit me and I was running a fever. I stormed into the kitchen looking for another covid test. I knew I had it. I called the doctor to get it confirmed and get some meds started. He put us both on antibiotics and a Covid medicine called “Paxlovid”. 

That employee? She ended up testing positive for covid she has also had all her vaccines. 

Luckily, we did not get a bad case of it. But again, what is a good case? Either way, it’s nasty, and painful. Here is how my covid experience went for those that wonder what it was like for me. My husbands symptoms were mostly the same as mine. 

Day one: Woke up feeling like I had the flu. Running a fever off and on all day. Weak and foggy headed. 
Day two: Woke up feeling fine. Like nothing ever happened. No fever. But can feel a tickle in my chest like something was in there. 
Day three: Still feeling ok. But whatever is in my chest now wants out. I try to cough but its not working. My chest now hurts like I have chest cold.
My legs keep drawing up with cramps. My arms muscles feel like noodles. They are weak. 
Day four: Still ok with all the same symptoms as yesterday. Nothing worst. I think I am now on the downside. 
Day five: Getting stronger. Chest still hurts but phlegm is finally coughing up. I took my last dose of that nasty medicine tonight. Learned that all of my cramps and icky feeling the past couple days are side effects of the medicine.

I’m suppose to go back to work tomorrow but I asked for one more day out of the office. I want to make sure these side effects are gone before I return which also included some lightheadedness. I do have the privilege of working from home so I only lost a few hours work on the first day of sickness. 

Did this change my mind about the vaccine? Nope. Still will not do it. 
Did this change my mind about wearing a mask? Not really. I feel like if you have a cough, you should wear it around people so you don’t cough on them and spread germs. But I am not convinced it protects against getting Covid. 
I just give my healthy immune system and God all the thanks. 




Gourd Art

We have friends from the beach campground that we met years ago. We usually will see them one or two times each year when we go. I heard he had lots of gourds that were ready to harvest. I have always wanted a gourd bird house so I asked him for a couple. 

We did not see these friends the last time we were at the beach but he informed me that he had brought me three gourds and the were with some other friends of his. He told me which site they were at and I went and got the gourds. I did not know what to expect when I first saw them. They were rough and messy looking. They were just plain ole ugly.


When I got home from the beach, I immediately took them out to the patio. I kept looking at them for a few days and thought “this is going to be more work than I thought”. Then I finally tackled it and with a little sand paper and washing, they started looking more like something to work with. My sister took one to paint leaving me with two. 

A couple more weeks went by before I decided to work on a design for the bird house. I wanted something natural looking and did not want to use paint or stain. I ended up stenciling a boho floral pattern and burned it into the gourd with my little wood burner. It was not an easy task and my wood burner was not that great. It was ok though. I do not think any birds will complain about it. 


Next, I had Nick cut me a hole for the entrance. He could not find his hole driller bit so he had to make do with a drill. Again, I do not think the birds will care. I actually like the imperfect look. He also drilled some small holes in the bottom for drainage and a couple at the top to thread a piece of leather through for hanging. I finished it off by rubbing it down with some coconut oil. I can not wait to get it hung next Spring. I hope I have some renters. 

With the other gourd, I had Nick cut it so I could make a bowl. I left it natural as well. I think it will make a great out door planter or decorative bowl for a patio table. 


Cleaning the gourds out was easy. The inside was not as nasty as I thought it would be. There was a white webbed substance that felt like soft toilet paper. I didn't worry about getting it all out in the birdhouse gourd as the birds will actually use it for nesting. The seeds just fell out. 


If you would like some gourd seeds, just let me know by leaving your email in comments 
and I will get back to you.
You will get 25-30 for $5.00 while supply last. 
This just covers shipping and handling.