Stones

It has been a simple quiet Christmas for us this year. No one to visit only us and gifts sent out to friends and family. The farm still needs to be fed even in the 10 degree weather. Hay, horses, poultry and an older shepard. She wears a dog diaper when she is inside. It keeps my work a lot simpler to clean up after her. 

We also have an older cat that has her own room, heating pad and litter. She comes out during the day but is put in her room at night. She is a lot happier with that. The only downside is our guest room is occupied for a while. But as this is a pandemic, no guest have stayed.

But I have installed led and solar lights in our coop and kennel. Heating pads for the outside pets. Inside we have warmth and plenty of food.

We watched Christmas Mass on line for the first time ever -not going to church. It was strange but that is the motto of 2020.  We had some cooked ham and plain yams, a simple dinner. As December comes to a close I have jury duty, doctor appointments for my husband and an odd feeling things are not getting better in 2021. This has been the Lentiest year for us.

But I have prayer and hope and that should be enough but it is hard. Winter is a hard season for me. I am looking forward to springtime and getting into the garden again.

 

Papa Noel in Louisiana

One of the cool things about life in Louisiana. It does not get very cold and rarely snows and Papa Noel and his white flying alligators. This year Mardi Gras was cancelled because of Covid. But this statue  was set up way before the virus in Morgan City.

Just a neat well done thing I had to share.

 

Are you Obtuse or Acute?

 If you want to know why people do NOT wear mask here is a good read from the Atlantic.

A very good read about how/why certain people do not wear a mask and will continue to be obtuse.

I posted this on facebook and have gotten a lot of response from both sides of the masking issue. And my observation is this is a great article to cull out the idiots in my life. I already knew who would, one of the perks of getting older, reading people.

Blue Bah Humbug?

This is not my cat but I can relate.. This is a 2020 Christmas cat. I had Jury duty (4 months)and still do until the end of this year, yay. We are driving to doctor appointments now to find out what my husband had going on. We have had no visitors and no travel plans for the entire year, we were going to Japan this year. But on the bright side, we had a bumper crop of vegetables, we got to stay home the farm, we both can work from home, our animals are healthy and it has been peaceful here. We have enough firewood chopped and stacked to get through the winter and we have enough hay for our horses as we slow feed them now. I had a quilt client whose husband lost his job and they have a large family. They could not pay the remainder of the balance due, but I let it go and sent the quilt. One less burden for them to bear. 

I have been working on other artistic endeavours and have not quilted for a while.

I have learned all about laser cutters, resin work, and LED illumination creations. So many unique new forms of art and technology out here these days. And you can watch how other makers thanks to internet and youtube. It is very exciting. I hope to master some of these new skills. 

So this year the has been quite the wild ride. I look forward to life without masks and getting close to humans again. I hope and pray people get healthier again.

 

De-Liver us

So 14 months ago something happened to my 47 year old husbands health. Overnight, his belly swelled up, he lost weight became tired and was very pale. Took him to the clinic multiple test and scans revealed normal but enlarged liver. Nothing was given and nothing was done, no referrals. Then the Covid arrived and we stayed away from hospitals. Then again the pain in the belly, lethargy, pale gums swollen belly trouble digesting or not even hungry started up worse. We got a referral from our vet, our horse vet,to see a DO versed in digestive issues. Test came back all normal but enlarged liver and elevated blood work. Finally got a referral sent to a specialist in Springfield, MO. We are waiting for that. It is December, virus is bad and hospitals are full. We have no choice he is not getting better. So, hopefully we will get an appt. sometime this year, maybe? Very frustrating dealing with an illness and no answers. Everything is a shot in the dark. But I am not giving up. 

I will be giving him milk thistle, pearl probiotics and see what works. The Lysine and the Essiac helped at first, but now seem not as potent. The DO seems to think it might be an food allergy or intolerance from a tick bite reaction back in 2019. My husband reacts badly to any chigger or tick bite. Just have to wait and see. I thought it might be cancer as this seems to be prevalent these days. He will need to be endoscoped to find out more. 

On thing of note here in the Ozarks they have a traveling doctor who endoscope several people at a time without anesthesia at the hospitals and clinics once a month. For this procedure you need to be asleep otherwise you risk movement and a tear and the procedure is very painful. People are being endoscoped here in the Ozarks for years now without being put under. Yes, really. We will be going into the city hospital for the right care and the right surgery.

I had some uterine scarring that had to be chemically burned from my uterus, no anesthesia was given to me, no numbing. It was the most horrible pain I have ever had. The nurse seemed to not care. She was very lucky I did not tear her head off as my husband was with me. Turns out I was supposed to have been numbed.  Ozark medical care- one step above veteran care.

Puff and whale

We got a chance to stop in our local art gallery/bakery this week. They sell locally made art and homemade goods for reasonable prices and the artist get 90% of the money from the gallery. It is called the neighborhood tribe gallery in Mountain View, MO.

They make the best soaps and scrubs and more. They also make bath bombs and other sweet seasonal bath delights. They sell mittens, stuffed toys, photos, jewelry, bowls, art you never know what they will have.

I bought gingerbread body scrub and I kid you not it was like bathing in a gingerbread house. Delightful and nothing artificial. Good enough to eat. Everything in make by local artists.

When I came home our cat inspected a hand crochet whale we bought. I love stuffed animals and especially sea life. It was just so nice to sit and take in the wonders of this store. Calm and peaceful and relaxing to shop. It is small but has a ton of seating, plants and things to see. And it is like this all year long.

 

Serbia the new Williamsburg

I read this article by the New York Post about new yorkers moving out of the US and to Serbia. I feel sad for the poor Serbians. They have to wear masks and live with the New Yorkers. Now the rest of the world can have more reason to not like Americans. The Yorkers are happy they do not have to wear masks and how cheap everything is in Serbia. They are calling it the Williamsburg of NY. I wonder if they will shoot the slow horse buggies over there like they do to the Amish in PA? But with all the crime and violence they have in Serbia I think things will even out with the new money moving into Serbia.

The "welcome to Serbia stick"

Seems our world is changing in ways I never would have imagined.

Meanwhile over here in Missouri the virus is raging. Hospitals are full and with the holiday seasons beginning things are going to get messy. But Missourians are dead set against mask wearing. Our town is proof of that. It is so bad here that the big MO city hospitals are no longer taking any patients from rural areas as we are 75% of the covid carrying cases they see. Our small church no one is wearing masks and they are carrying on as normal. At least 4 people out of 20 got the virus last month from our church. Yet they want to still carry on full steam ahead like normal. I am grateful I am married to a man who thinks hey we need to stay away from these situations. I do miss church and all that but I am not willing to chase the past. I hope people would come around and say hey I might need to wear a mask and not sicken my loved ones, but that is not happening. Everyone seems to just not care and wants to live their life unchanged.

Pfizer me, no Pfizer you!

So Pfizer pushed the virus vaccine out faster than shit out of a duck. This means it was not tested as it should have been. What are the side effects? What are the reactions? 

We do know that it is only good for a short time. You can still get reinfected.

I know some people want life to return to normal ASAP, but what part of pandemic do they not understand?

This means humans could have reactions or lifelong health issues using this vaccine. Does this mean it turns people into zombies hardly, but it is 2020 so who knows.

What I have learned that many families have lost jobs, school time and family members. Everyone has been affected by this virus in some way. Either from lack of TP, mask rashes, lost income, lost loves, and lack of human contact. We have heard so many stories that will never make the news. I'm a glad we live out in the woods away from people. But our friends and family live in big cities and have to deal with this new normal more than we do. Between the violent politics and the health issues our country seems to be falling under the bus.  

It is sad we can't all put on our big person undies and help each other instead of fighting. 

But if we each try to do some small good each day; we can make the country a bit better.

Fall Sunset and firewood

Sunset on Friday after a cold front came into the Ozarks.

Husband and our horse, Bean, watching as he cuts down a walnut tree. This tree was dead and we took it down for firewood. It was very dry and perfect for firewood, no seasoning required. It took two days of cutting, splitting and hauling out of the pasture. We got our workout last week. 

 

Parsley, peppers and celery, oh my!

This is a 1 gallon bucket of parsley in my sink. We got a ton of late season herbs. Using garden fabric kept the roots warm and hardy.

I have been pulling up the dead plants, t-posts, fabric and irrigation to put the gardens to bed for winter. I was blessed with celery and more peppers. Even a few tomatoes were still on the vines.

 So today I am processing all these tasty veggies when I thought it was all done. A nice blessing to have.

 

We are number 8 it ain't great

Current map of Missouri and the deaths so far in each county. Our county is at 8 but I know for sure it is double that number.

Oh and look at that upswing in those cases. I have to say that in our small Missouri town we are the only pair out of 500 wearing mask. We social distance and we mask up. But we are stared at and asked if we are feeling ok. And the deaths are happening. I never thought such God fearing gun loving people would be this stubborn about a virus. The Bible mentions that people we seek their own truth and seek teachers and leaders of the truth they follow. I never thought people would try to act normal in a pandemic and ignore what was happening around them. 

I got depressed about this whole thing and then got jury duty, I kid you not. Part menopause, seasonal affective and just great sadness. But I snapped out of my funk, took some D3 vitamins and got lots of supplementary light and got back to work. Cleared up my coop, summer garden and studio.

I am learning how to make resin and sculpture.

I am so happy my garden provided us 8 months of food and more put away. I am happy I have my poultry laying again thanks to LED strips, I am happy we are healthy and living here in the Ozarks.

I hope masking up makes this virus go away faster. I am looking forward to 2021.

 

Merde frappant le ventilateur

We live in a small town of less than 500, Summersville. The case have been 0 since Feb now we have 18 listed. I know triple over that number have it. They do not report it and they stay quiet. All that anti mask bravado is quiet and fighting for its life here. Everyone wants to stay healthy for hunting season. Kids are being sent home teachers are using subs and it has been quiet in our town. The hospitals are full and still want to encourage regular doctor visits?? WTF? Basically people want to act like life is normal in the mists of a pandemic. What part of pandemic do they not understand? And as the weather turns colder they congregate indoors. The VA home on lost 56 veteran lives from the virus. 

Luckily most of the locals I know are still going strong. But they are teachers, cooks, bakers, nurses, bankers, health care givers, grandparents and people exposed to the virus on a daily basis. I hope it moved swiftly away and leaves us soon.

 

Goodbye noise, hello quiet

Last week I had enough of the crowing and fighting among the nine roosters born in February of this year. They were old enough to eat or move along. I did not need more meat in my freezer so I offered them for free, but no takers. So I got busy making 3 triangle cages for these bullies to take them to auction.

They were all hatched by my broody game hen. They were very pretty and good roosters but I had too many. They chased my hens off their nests and it was very noisy on the farm with all the in fighting. The night before the auction I went into the coop to take down the sleeping roosters and put them in the cages. This usually goes very easy. Not this time. It was screaming, fighting, pecking and a throw down in the coop by the big white roosters you don't see. I got them put in the cages and got the rest caged, but wow what a pain. Never in my 11 years of poultry raising have I had this much rooster drama. Not even when I had mean roosters. Turns out my roos had a bit of asshole in them, from their game hen mother. So this was the right choice to remove them from our farm.

 I kept a French, a banty and a small game roo for my hens. The French roo is a great one for our farm. He is descended from a long line of mixed roosters we raise on our farm. We raise pretty and kind roosters that walk all over the place hunting for food. We cull the bad ones even if they are pretty. The hens we keep until they die. Hens will keep laying even in old age. I feed a mix of scratch, scraps and protein to keep my hens plump. And we have solar lights in the coop for the shorter winter days, keeps they laying all winter. 

I just redid our coop to keep the birds away from the ceiling (fronty combs) and a bit lower in the coop. I also removed nest boxes they were not using. I cleaned out the old summer mess and put in fresh bedding and straw. We are all set for winter on our farm.

 

Giants and minis

These are marigolds I grew from seeds I bought from the Ukraine. I bought them on Amazon but they arrived in a hand written envelope from the Ukraine. They were viable and grew into huge bushes with golden flowers of palm sized marigolds. Heavenly scented and thrived even in the drought. I planted too many and had to give away some. Our donkey loves the flowers and gets them as a snack. These were a pleasant surprise for me to grow. I am looking forward to planting them around our farm as they bloom all summer until a hard freeze in winter.

This is a vole the size of my thumb. Our cat left me this rug snack on our outside deck rug. You can see the two puncture marks on the hip and shoulder. Voles are very active at night when our cats hunt. They make tiny holes in the ground and nests.

 

A true self made woman, Violet Hensley

 

I had the privilege of meeting Violet Hensley at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri. She was selling her handmade violins and fiddles. She handed me her personal fiddle and told me to play. Right there in the middle of a crowd. It was wonderful and her violins are so unique sounding. I wish I could have bought one there. Violet is 104 today and still teaching and playing. Very kind self made woman living here in the Ozarks. I feel blessed to have met her and gotten to experience her skills.

 You can learn more about her here: http://www.violethensley.com/

Yup, it is 2020 and it sucks

 So we have been home isolated since Feb. No church, no vacation, no friends over, no shopping  and rare grocery delivery/pick up. We went to a wedding but stayed outside and left after it began because the church was too crowded. It was so nice to get dressed up and see our friends and sad to leave.

So out of the blue I got a jury summons. Really 2020? The only place I have been close to people was at the dentist. So fillings and jury duty - just a great year.

The Ozarks are in deep virus now. Death is has come in October. Some children are in quarantine, and in a town of less than 500 it is scary. But we have had a lot of practice at our farm. But so many refuse to wear a mask and think this will blow over. But our tiny hospital about an hour away is full. With kids home, parents home and people in denial the virus is ramped up here. Even the Missouri governor has the virus now.

We personally know 3 people who have/had the virus and tested positive. One is now dead. The rest are back to normal life? This week we found out 2 more have the virus. And these are friends that tell us they have the virus. Many folks keep quiet and do not say anything about having the virus. They just stay offline for 14 days and then act as though life is fine. One family has a young grandson tested positive at school and is staying at home with his grandmother who has breathing problems. 

People are being exposed and lives are changing whether we deny it or not.

Our local mortuary used to have maybe 5 funerals a month. Now they have 5 week. Most of the deceased are being cremated with no ceremony. The ages of the people are 80s and 50s. Let that sink in.

So I will be taking my mask and going to a storm shelter and performing my civic duty. I will be in a huge room with the most people I have been around since before February. This year is full of surprises. 

Doll recovery

Many have asked me questions about how I repair dolls. You can e-mail me, just click on my about me and under my photo you have contact me, click on it for my e-mail link.

Basically, I triage the doll and then hunt down supplies I might not have on hand and work up a price from there. They still make the pattern for these dolls and the clothes you can find on line. The hardest was the yarn hair. The hair is a certain fiber and color. I was able to locate a good bit of thick red cotton yarn. After I find what I need, I have to fix fugitive inks and dyes. Then I take apart the doll,remove the stuffing and breakable parts, hand wash everything then I can build the doll back again. In the careful process of washing things can tear. But I can fix most all fabric holes thanks to photos and printing on fabric via a printer. Wedding tulle is very useful for moth holes and hidden repairs, it comes in all colors.

The hardest thing to find can be the doll eyes. But I can make my own replacements now thanks to mold making, silicone and resin. 

Putting the doll back together is the fun part, like a puzzle. Once the doll body is fixed I make a pattern and sew up the new dress. The exact prints are hard to locate in a quantity enough to sew up a full childes size dress for a good price (fabric print set ups $$$). So I let the client choose the prints I can get hold of at a reasonable price. Fiber dolls are my specialty.

 

The hours of sewing, repair, painting, tacking and restoration are worth it. This doll had been stored in plastic bag in the attic. The client had washed the doll in the washing machine and dryer. Major destruction of the stuffing and the hair. Client was very happy to have the doll fully restored again.

I am Forrest Gump of the Tomato

 

Well it's almost October and I have canned, juiced, dehydrated, diced, peeled, boiled, skinned a ton of tomatoes this year. I waited very late spring to put in my starts from seed I saved. Italian, mini, German and some home grown mixes. I had plenty to share and plenty to grow. I will never ever plant mini tomatoes again, they took over the garden and they drop at the slightest breeze and were tiny. My hybrids loved the drought and stayed on the vines. Garden fabric was great for weed prevention and drip irrigation is the best thing ever. Ours we placed on top the fabric, much easier to deal with.

I have to pull that up for next spring planting. I have canned all month and froze extra tomato I do not have time for.

It has been an abundant harvest this year for us. My kitchen is full of veggies for winter. Now I have to take care of the celery, okra and lettuce.

Why Missouri is getting worse

  

From Matt Halloway, local keeping track of the virus in Missouri

Good evening! Here is my Missouri COVID-19 Update for 09/16.

I was able to identify 1,517 cases from 90 jurisdictions and 23 deaths today.

Two things tonight, and a super long narrative:

Thing 1: Here is a link to the results of over 3,600 RNA sequences, submitted from 55 countries, quite clearly documenting that SARS-CoV-2 was not made in a laboratory.

http://www.ijmr.org.in/article.asp?issn=0971-5916;year=2020;volume=151;issue=5;spage=450;epage=458;aulast=Biswas

Here is the “report”, published directly from Dr. Li Meng-Yan, that claims to have evidence that the virus was created in a laboratory:

https://zenodo.org/record/4028830#.X2LX12hKjIX

I didn’t actually see any differences between what has been found thousands of times and what Dr. Yan found. What I do see is a whole slew of unsubstantiated claims, and a great deal of speculative information without a source. It’s crazy that people have tried to silence me when I am just regurgitating data that is publicly available and sourced, but will believe this story because it was on TV.

Regardless, I’m not here to tell anyone what to believe, really. “Facts not fear”, right? The facts are, quite literally, right there… But for those of you using this phrase with a negative connotation, be warned; you’re going to be super pissed when you find out that you are supposed to use actual facts to validate your claims.

In light of my news feed’s sudden uptick in ridiculousness, I would like to offer up some solutions to problems that seem to be more of a concern than COVID-19 itself.

If “the news is fake”, stop watching it, stop sharing it, and stop believing it.

If “Facebook is censoring the truth”, log out, deactivate your account, and uninstall the app.

There. The world’s two biggest problems solved, in only two sentences. I will sit here in my underwear and wait for a number of prestigious humanitarian awards to start rolling in.

..

Thing 2: [UPDATE --- I am working on confirming some information that was shared to me regarding tree he possibility of this guidance being rescinded, and will update this with additional information as I learn more]

Here is a letter from Larry Bergner, the Newton County Health Department’s Administrator, dated September 15th, as it reads from the Neosho High School website:

“Dear School Administrator

Last night, the Newton County Board of Health gave authorization for me to make changes that allow more flexibility in how we deal with contacts to a positive COVID-19 case in our Newton County schools. This will demand a high level of cooperation between parents, school districts, and the Newton County Health Department. Currently, a contact to a positive COVID-19 case is sent home for a 14-day quarantine and is unable to return to school until the quarantine time has been completed. I believe this can lead to many lost learning opportunities along with at-risk children not having their nutritional needs met and perhaps being in an abusive situation at home. Mental anguish continues to be a big issue during this time of pandemic, and I believe children have better health outcomes given the opportunity to attend school and participate in school activities. Therefore, at your discretion and upon your time frame, I, as the local Public Health Authority, allow contacts to a positive COVID-19 case to continue to attend school and school activities with the following conditions:

1. All contacts must always wear a mask/face covering except during a time that proper social distancing can be observed, specifically the ability to have at least 6ft between the contact and others. This includes during sporting or other extracurricular activities. For activities where masks are not feasible, contact must have a negative test for COVID-19 within 36hrs of activity start time before being allowed to participate in the activity.

2. School personnel and parents must monitor the contact for any symptoms of COVID-19 and must isolate the contact from others immediately upon any symptom development.

3. Contact must adhere to the conditions of quarantine in that he/she may attend school and school activities but must remain in quarantine at home at all other times until the 14-day quarantine has been completed.

4. School personnel must continue to identify and report those individuals who become COVID-19 positive and those who are identified as contacts of those individuals to the Newton County Health Department.

5. School personnel along with the Newton County Health Department will monitor closely those positive cases and the contacts and will immediately move to a more strict policy if the data shows a substantial increase in the number of positive COVID-19 cases within the school districts.

Each school district can enforce this policy or a policy that is more strict if you so desire. This more flexible policy, if you choose to adopt, will go into effect at a time and date of your choosing. Keep in mind that these contacts will continue to be monitored. The only difference being they will be allowed to attend school and school activities. My hope is that this more flexible policy will protect all aspects of a child’s health, both mental and physical while at the same time allowing healthy children who happen to be a contact to a positive case the ability to continue to experience and benefit from all aspects of our exceptional educational institutions in Newton County. Also, be aware that if conditions warrant, one school district may be adhering to a more strict policy while another school district follows a more flexible policy. These decisions will be based on specific daily data which could differ by school district or even within the school district itself.

My decision to ask for this flexibility arose from close observation of data, specifically a comparison of positive cases within school districts compared to number of contacts within school districts along with overall county data pertaining to COVID-19. Please contact Larry Bergner, Administrator, Newton County Health Department at (417) 451- 3743 for more information.”

Keep in mind here --- this hits close to home for me, because… well, I spent the first 18 years of my life as a Newton County resident. I graduated from Neosho High School. I am still very much invested in the community. I compared this against both local and national guidance. I spoke with a number of health department administrators across the state. I consulted with some local leaders who I have come to admire and respect very much over the years. I have known employees at this particular health department for years.

And one other thought to offer a glimpse inside my wild brain… Candidly, this project has had me mentally circling around the idea of a career change. Yes, it has been mentally gruesome. A pandemic is like a psychological shadow that’s always following everyone around --- in the news, in your day-to-day life and the decisions you have to make, worrying about loved ones’ overall wellbeing and risks --- but when you have a miserable response to it, that darkness turns everything pitch black. Even so, I can’t disregard that notion entirely, because I’ve got that thing… that thing where you want to help people. For me, it’s been helping people to best understand the situation and enable my neighbors (close and far) to make rational decisions about what’s best for them. It has enabled me to do that, for my family, as well.

I’ve thought a lot about how to address this situation. I can think of at least five people who are going to smirk as they read this, and a few others who probably won’t have anything to do with me. With those things in mind, I am moving forward with what I feel like I need to say about this particular situation, regardless of the consequence.

This does not align with any CDC recommendation.

This does not align with any WHO recommendation.

This does not align with any DHS/S recommendation --- in fact, it seems to be the exact opposite of recent, regional communication from regarding ensuring families of students have a good understanding of what a quarantine actually means.

This does not align with any (ANY) other health department in the state, and with a quick scan, I couldn’t find any national entity that it aligns with, either (although I spent maybe a total of five minutes looking). Sticking to strictly Missouri, this will (in fact, it already has) created additional work in the form of fielding angry phone calls demanding the same policy be adopted in their areas.

This absolutely does not align with the expressed mission of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services --- it does not promote, protect, or partner health in any capacity, as far as I am concerned. Lunch this year is free to all students whether learning is in-person or remote. It’s literally on the same Neosho High School website that this press release can be found on. Plus, the release clearly states that the decision was not made using any type of statistical data regarding the claims of malnutrition or abusive environments.

For me, this does not reflect the best interests of public health. For me, this promotes a particular person’s or a group’s interests. For me, this is maybe the first time in my life (and yes, it literally happened in talking with someone tonight) where I had to give a “yeah, that’s where I’m from, but we’re not ALL like that” response.

To date, I have repeatedly supported local health officials across the state in believing that they are capable of making determinations about what is best for their own communities, based on a comprehensive understanding and consideration of the individual situations they face. After reading this press release, that offers no foundation for the decision being made, I can’t help but believe that the backbone that should exist to protect the community I grew up in has been compromised.

Given the fallout that this has already and will continue to create, both for the health of the residents in Newton County, and the contributions to already high levels of divisiveness in other communities across Missouri and potentially the US, it seems clear to me that whatever is going on in Newton County has reached a point that they have turned their backs on the people they serve.

With this development, the responsibility of looking after public health has fallen onto the shoulders of Diamond, East Newton, Neosho, and Seneca school districts. Diamond was currently in a week-long remote learning plan after reaching a certain threshold for required quarantines, but will be returning some students sooner with this new guidance --- except for those students who live *outside* of Newton County, which those students will be required to follow their own county’s regulations. The Diamond school district is rolling things all the way down to their lowest phase of COVID-19 response, and the press release from them issued tonight says it is specifically due to this guidance.

I can’t imagine that whatever is driving this seemingly rogue decision could outweigh the documented risks associated with congregating students who have been exposed to COVID-19 inside of classrooms. My heart is heavy for these educators and school personnel who are being sent back into a literal hell, and I hope someone with the authority to make this situation right realizes what they’re asking of the residents in the communities that they serve. Your public health officials are failing you.

[Trends]

- We are now at our second highest total ever for the moving 7-day average of deaths, contrary to the governor’s bit on COVID-19 today. It is no secret that the state’s data lags behind on deaths, in some cases by upwards of a month, and even my data lags. He made some bold statements related to deaths, which I would caution anyone to do without giving the state time to process those.

- Our 7-day moving average has increased again, representing a new all-time high.

Re Org time

 So now that the huge quilt is done, I need to reorganize my studio. I am going to try resin and leather crafting. This means I need a leather station and a resin station set up. I am taking a break from sewing quilts and will make room for sewing leather. Since no one is wearing masks in Missouri, I will stop making masks for a while. put fabrics away and get the studio ready for winter. The wood stove is in my studio and needs to have space around it open.

I am really into cephalopod  

these days.  Octopus and the sea in leather. I am drawing out ideas to try and make.

The harvest this year was great and most everything got canned. So I need to get the garden ready for winter and rest. We stay home most of the time and only go out for grocery pick up and feed store. The virus is hitting Missouri hard in our area right now. While the rest of the US is getting over it, Missouri is not 4th in the nation. And MO has smaller population and higher numbers. That stubborn stupidity is taking no prisoners here. So we stay away and keep away and mask up. Hopping things get better next year.

The Big Finish

Last year I was given a bag of cherished baby clothes from a mother of four. She lives in Chicago and has been longing for a queen quilt with these clothes on them. Her mother is a quilter but she just could not manage a project this big. I was given the clothes and color request of red, white and blue and all the clothes left whole, not cut up. I have done several t-shirt quilts where I cut up the shirts. This was my first foray into baby clothes.

And the finally quilt was 83 x 106 inches queen size sewing machine quilted not long armed. It is very heavy and quilted all over. Some clothes were stuffed for a 3D effect. The quilt was so big I had to baste it on my living room floor. After the quilt was done, We used our drone to shoot the photos of the finished quilt. That is my roof line on my black king sized photo frame. I had to add extra tables into my sewing studio to hold this quilt up for quilting. I also used every sewing foot and clamp I could find to keep tension while quilting. We just do not have the space for a long arm quilt machine. And I can easily quilt smaller ones without a long arm machine. But all in all this turned out very nice. The client is happy and that is what counts. I used heavy magnets wrapped in white gaffer tape to hold the quilt on the frame for the photo shoot.

 

Missouri Virus Update, not looking good here

This info is gathered daily from Matthew in Missouri. He does this as a father and a volunteer to share with the people of Missouri.

Good evening! Here is my Missouri COVID-19 Update for 09/02.

I was able to identify 1655 cases from 95 jurisdictions and 23 deaths today.

To submit cases or deaths, please use the new submission tool located here: http://MOCOVID.info

[Trends]

- 81% of counties added at least one case today (95 of 117 jurisdictions), which is a new record for the state.

- At our current pace, we will reach 100,000 cumulative cases on 09/09. I would say that this seems unrealistic, but the numbers keep proving me wrong.

- We are now averaging over 1,400 cases per day added over the last 7 days, breaking yesterday's record high.

- We’ve added 1,500 or more cases only four times during the pandemic --- 3 of those instances have been in the last 21 days.

[News]

- A collective warning has been issued to Kansas City residents as the metro area is on the cusp of a very dangerous situation. In an online event, the group comprised of health care and city leaders shared that Kansas City is averaging 90 new hospitalizations every day for COVID-19. There are some great statistics shared in the article which is here: https://www.kcur.org/health/2020-09-02/top-hospital-doctors-warn-kansas-city-is-on-the-verge-of-uncontrolled-coronavirus-spread?fbclid=IwAR0fVs1PQ4GnqJaA_WqLz4OiEQqvZN5XiRlGwPSRjNjvVHwY5Onlextd-T0

- Oxfam has published their rankings for the best states to work in during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each state (plus DC and and Puerto Rico) has been placed into an index based on employee precautions (45% weight), unemployment support (35% weight), and healthcare (20%). If you’re looking for a way to quantify the miserable response we’ve had, you can add this to your argument, as Missouri ranks #51 out of 52 on their list.

https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/issues/economic-well-being/covid-map/

- Believe it or not, I have good news. A new set of pooled research pieced together from the World Health Organization suggests that patients who are severely ill due to COVID-19 can reduce mortality by individuals on a ventilator by up to 35%, and individuals who are on assistive oxygen by up to 20% (from an Oxford study back in June) by using dexamethasone, a corticosteroid that is widely available. The National Institutes of Health has revised their US treatment guidelines to include using steroids, but only for individuals who are on supportive oxygen. If I am remembering correctly, MERS and SARS reacted poorly to steroids and had a tendency to prolong the presence of the virus.

- Even more good news, during a press conference today Dr. Fauci publicly stated that he feels comfortable saying that a safe and effective vaccine will be developed by the end of the year, given the current status on a number of vaccine trials. That does not mean it will be widely available, but it is an encouraging sign nonetheless. He did not address rumors of having vaccines ready to ship out by November.

- The first death linked to the Sturgis rally --- a man in his 60s --- has occurred in the state of Minnesota, per the state’s infectious disease doctor.

- Thailand has officially gone without a new localized case of COVID-19 for 100 consecutive days.

- I once jokingly referred to those who were refusing to wear masks on the basis of makebelieve science as sociopaths… as it turns out, a study has been published from Brazil of almost 1,600 individuals were assessed on maladaptive personality traits, empathy, and compliance, and found that individuals who were less likely to comply with mitigation strategies greatly exhibited more characteristics associated with sociopathy. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886920305377

[Deaths]

[14] St. Louis County

[2] Jasper

[1] Audrain, Buchanan, Cape Girardeau, Cole, Jefferson, New Madrid

[Cases]

- Someone caught a typo on Howard County’s total, yesterday they read 151 but were and still are at 161.

- No decreases were reported today.

[College/University Cases]

I just want to issue a reminder that this is something that was asked of me from several people. I really, really don’t have the time to independently look up the numbers each and every day. I set up the submission form, and the only way I can keep providing it while maintaining the rest of my stuff is by collecting crowdsourced data and verifying it through screenshots.

I am in contact with someone who collects this data in a far more comprehensive manner, and I hope to be able to maybe collaborate with this individual at some point in the near future, but asking me to start running down cases per capita based on admission and tracking daily changes and where the individuals are being isolated… I hate saying no, but, it’s just too much for me.