A walking glance through some of the stained glass doors, window shutters and windows of a house that the home-owner over a prolonged period of time designed and created himself to personalize his home to reflect his aesthetic sense of decor and beauty. A work in progress.

That's just the way it is, every now and again one of those weather days pops up when there's no break in the heavy rain and you must sit it out, at home. Either drumming your fingers in boredom, or finding plenty of other things to do at home. If you're a little dog it might be the former, and if there are two little dogs and you're looking out from the inside of a snug, warm and dry house, failing to comprehend what's happening when you see a visiting raccoon come along before noon so scarf up the last of the morning's wildlife offerings you're left really puzzled. Why him and not us?

On a more sobering note when decrying inconveniences, a message from one of my old Toronto high school friends put matters in stark perspective. We may be grateful for our daily getaways out of the house at a time of world-shattering shutdowns in fear of a viral disease that has struck the globe, but there are those for whom a personal loss has been utterly devastating. Like my friend, who mourns the fact that she will never again hear from, see, embrace and take pride in the oldest of her grandchildren, a doctor practising in New York, who died last month of COVID-19.

As the morning's light rain became a relentless heavy downpour and the house grew progressively darker, it wasn't hard for my husband and me to find things to do. He's been deep in research, looking for a depiction of a peacock as a model that he can use for a drawing to inspire his work on a new stained glass door for the house. He's produced quite a few such doors over the years, each one unique. And he feels like making another. He long ago put the door itself together, then set it aside. Now, after having completed a set of stained-glass shutters for one of the upstairs bedrooms he feels inclined to finish that door. It will take months of puzzlework, putting all the pieces into place, but first he needs to  produce a cartoon, then inflate it to the size that the coloured glass will be cut to.

And that's what has been absorbing his attention for the past few days. Looking through various magazines. Looking through the Internet for inspiration. Oddly enough he found what he was looking for in our own bathroom where black lacquer coromandel panels of a screen have been hung on the wall, and in the middle panel there's a pair of peacocks in hardstone and mother-of-pearl, with precisely the conformation my husband wants to achieve.

As for me, the usual cooking and cleaning up the kitchen. I had decided to bake coconut cupcakes topped with raspberry jam and flaked coconut. So out came the ingredients, the eggs, sour cream and margarine to reach room temperature before I started, resting on the counter while we had our breakfast. I always use cake and pastry flour for tender cupcakes. And I bake a batch that will make a half-dozen large-size cupcakes. I just draw the ingredients and amounts from my head, reflecting long familiarity with baking, and it takes no time at all.

The batter is simple enough, equal parts granulated sugar and Becel margarine: 2/3 cup of each. Two eggs, a half-cup of sour cream, 1 tsp.vanilla, 1/2 tsp.coconut flavouring creamed together until smooth. Then I sift 1-1/4 c.flour with 1/4 tsp.salt, 1-1/2 tsp.baking powder, and gradually beat the dry measure into the wet until smooth. Last, I added 2/3 c.shredded coconut, noting that when we next go shopping I'll have to bring home another package of coconut. The batter then spooned into waiting cupcake papers in a cupcake baking tin, they baked for 28 minutes at 350F. Cooled, I swirled the tops into a bowl containing room-temperature raspberry jam, then dipped the tops into a second bowl containing more shredded coconut, and the finished product now awaits dessert time after dinner tonight.

As I went about the house, Jackie and Jillie followed me rather disconsolately, at the very least pensively wondering what the remainder of the day would consist of? Some tummy rubs, and discussion about how inclement a day it is, and tomorrow will be much improved enabling us to resume our usual outdoor activities, though it's doubtful they came away convinced.

Jillie

Unlike us, they never developed a reading habit to take pleasure in the relaxation and entertainment that reading good books proffers. And nor have they ever taken with any measure of enthusiasm to using a computer to scan the news, look about on Twitter, or write entries in a personal blog.

Jackie

It's early spring and it's April after all. As the old song goes, April rain brings May flowers. We've had quite a few days of rain this month. But when I look back over entries in my daily diary from years back it's simply a repeating pattern. We may not recall from year-to-year what the weather has been like in specific months but usually they balance out. Last night I riffled through my current diary and found some 18C days last April but then days later, cooler temperatures and snow flurries, just like we've been experiencing this month.

And full days of rain as well. Just as occurred yesterday. From the time we woke in the morning to the time we went back up to bed last night, it rained, at times heavily. Leaving Jackie and Jillie with little appetite to venture out-of=doors other than for quick spurts when they really had to go. In every sense of the phrase.

As for we two, we had plenty to do in the house. My husband finally completed the second half of the latest window covering he had begun -- well, quite a while ago. This season of the novel coronavirus that sees everyone in lockdown for the good of their health in trying to avoid becoming infected with that highly contagious SARS-Cov-2 virus has provided ample opportunity to finally get back to completing things never quite finished.

With all this indoor time I should be involving myself in spring cleaning, going through all the kitchen cupboards, the bathroom vanities, shelving here and there, clothes cupboards, cleaning areas of the house that often get ignored. But I haven't been able to work up any enthusiasm over beginning, though this is the right time to get started. And anything I would want to discard or send over to the Salvation Army thrift shop just can't be done now. They're closed just like all other places of business.

My husband went down to his workshop every day for the past month to complete the last of the pair of windows he designed. Its mate was installed a year ago and sat there awaiting the second  half. Somehow, other things of interest always seemed to intervene. This time, though, my husband decided he'd get going and finish it, and he did. All the fiddling small pieces that had to be cut fitted into the pattern, took forever. But it's done, and yesterday he installed it.

It's actually supposed to be a capture of a small part of the garden at the front of the house. Familiar garden pieces are represented, as well as a rough sketch of the garden layout. There are some resemblances readily recognized by us, but anyone seeing the real garden then comparing it with the stained glass window might have a bit of trouble. Regardless, it's yet another bright, insouciant and colourful focal point in this house that has so many. Come to think of it, there is now only one window of the house without stained glass.

So this morning dawned bright and sunny, albeit cold. The temperature plunged to -4C last night and was still at -2 when my husband took Jackie and Jillie out to the backyard this morning. It slowly warmed up thanks to the fierce brightness of the sun, and I hurried through the Monday house cleaning so we could get out a bit early in the afternoon for a long, leisurely ramble in the woods.

Increasingly, we're coming across the presence of greater numbers of people, most of them new to the forest trails. Some clearly appreciating the natural surroundings they find themselves plunged into, others with surly expressions on morose faces, as though resenting that this is what they've been resigned to, rather than exercising at a now-closed exercise club of their choosing. All non-essential services have been shuttered during this time of social distancing, so everyone is getting sick and tired obviously of being cloistered at home.

Jackie and Jillie had the opportunity to re-acquaint themselves with several dogs they've most recently met in the ravine through these new societal arrangements. So they had a full agenda during their hike along the forest trails, muddy and somewhat slippery in places uphill and down thanks to all the rainfall. Mud is something that doesn't faze them terribly, however; Jillie usually finds a way
to get around it, and when she cannot, she girds herself and bravely trots through it.