I've been busy. It's the beginning of gardening season, even if we have had three weeks of snow, sleet and frosts. It's April.
I put up my polytunnel two weeks ago, and I have sown first seeds there already, salads, radishes and swiss chard (if I remember right). I hope I can get some harvest before I can plant tomatoes and peppers (and chillies) there.
I bought plant light few weeks ago (it was just before this shut down started) and now my peppers, aubergines, chillies and some other seed have sprouted, so I rigged it with a plank and windowsills to hold it on place. 'Suma is no longer a menace, so I can keep my seedlings in a plastic box on floor.
Second lot of seeds are sown and put up on a tall freezer, I hope I remember to check on them occasionally!
Mental breakdowns are fewer and fewer. Ys has one every now and then, but so far I have managed to get him over them with ease. He thinks he has too much to do (at home school). I don't think so, but my kids always blame me for being too demanding. Last breakdown was because he had to make a totem pole (out of kitchen towel cardboard tube...), he wanted to draw and it was supposed to be made with different papers... Oh dear. Ice cream, tissue to blow one's nose and pep talk later all was well and he spent two hours crafting a pretty totem pole.
Oh, there was Easter. We had roasted lamb leg (it's rarity here, but kids love lamb/mutton so I try to get some for easter), chocolate eggs and other easter stuff to eat. We don't celebrate it as such, it's more like a spring time feast for us.
Work might not have been as busy as it could have been if I was working in office (and I have few days off anyway before easter). Meetings via skype and teams.
Ys's room has been under construction, I've plastered outer wall (with window) and that moster block of concrete that lies in that room (it's in extension which is a half floor below the old house, and because we have non-solid gorund here, we had to make some weird stuctural solutions in order to keep old house solidly in place). One wall is waiting for planks (I'm treating them atm, first treatment is strong black tea for tannines, and next treatment is mixture of vinegar and iron (rebar bars I had lying around). I will not produce even colour, and that's the point - it might end up with very dark brown, or just light greyish. I'm aiming for lighter greysish tones as ys has asked for that, but... You never know, when playing with natural material and not so accurate measurements. We cut the planks and now we only have to wait for that first tea treatment to dry so that I can put that vinegar concotion on, but it will probably have to wait until tomorrow.
(we have mostly spruce as buiding material here, and it has no tannin unlike oak, so in order to get some colour out of iron-vinegar mix I have to treat the planks first eith tannin, I could buy it, or use crushed acorns (didn't harvested then last autunm) or even use red wine, but I opted for strong tea).
I've managed with one weekly shopping, occasionally I've run out of milk or spread a day early, but then we have had just cope without for a day. I've been (my own opinion) successfull so far, even if I don't have a set meny for the week ahead. I have some ideas (like hot dog casserole hb asked for) and then I'm just playing along.
Freezers are not actually emptying, because every time I go shopping I buy stuff I put into freezer: bread, meat, chicken, fish, chips, veggies etc. But I have used some odd items now and then, I hope that in summer I have enough room for berries.
I've sewn four masks so far, I think the last one is very usable, it fits nicely (not too tight). I think I should be doing several now, I'm using them when I'm shopping. Yes, people look me weirdly, but I don't care, I don't want to be the one who spreads covid-19 around. Self-made mask will not protect me 100%, but it will protect others, if I happen to have infection!
I'm really missing number two, I so long for holding a baby. My sister sends daily messages, pictures and videos, but I can't hold her or smell the wonderfull smell of a baby.... My kids are so bid they are not good substitutes on that - teenager boys don't smell like babies...
People are telling in social media how they are spending their extra time now in isolation. I mean what extra time? I haven't had time to write to my blog in three weeks!
My alarm goes off at 6am, then after brushing my teeth I'm off to 'Suma walk, back at 7am, waking kids, eating own breakfast and it's 8am, then logging in to work, doing that until just before noon, making lunch for school kids, back to work, then by 3is pm getting out for another 'Suma walk (into the forest so only max 30mins) if kids haven't done that, laundy, dishes, another cooking time, more work (need to get not only my hours but also my work done), some building/gardening/crafting stuff and then I'm finally sitting in front of telly, and its half past eight in the evening!
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