Week 7, Prawn casserole

Week 7 went by as fast as the wind that was blowing whole week. I have no idea how this is possible; days had just as many hours as ever.

We managed to put planks on the wall of ys's room. I also treated plastered walls with dust binding substance. There's 2 drywall walls, and ys wants them to be metallic. Fiiiiine.

Thin lines are strings we put to line up screws

Wood (spruce) was treated first with strong tea, and then with iron soaked vinegar (I put rebar bars into vinegar and let them soak for few days - the longer they stay, the darker the shade). If wood has tannin itself (like oak), tea treatment is not needed.

 Many people has been telling how they have been eating rhubarb for weeks now.

My rhubarb is finally growing

 At least I got something from my veggie patch (actually from one of the cold frames):
 

These are the very last parsnips!

 Because we can't (or want not) go to fast food places, I'm trying to get fun food for kids. Last week I made home made hamburgers (I found few bags of hamburger buns from freezer) and kids thought they were great, not like McDonalds but good.

I also made doughnuts (os can't eat store bought because they have cardamon)

I'm still trying to make meals from pantry and freezer. I found handful or frozen prawns and after toying with several ideas I settled on prawn casserole - kids don't like it but I do. I didn't have any tinned tomatoes (turns out i do have, but couldn't find at that moment), but had passata. I had some aubergine left, and instead of garlic I used garlic scapes from freezer. Last bag of spinach from the freezer was aslo used - and I have to say concotion was delicious!  A mighty great achievement considering I had no idea what to make when I took the bag of prawns from freezer.

Nature is aiming towards summer no matter what. We don't have here bluebells or wild garlic, instead we have all kind of poisonous plants:

Mezereon

False morel (Gyromitra esculenta)

Liverwort (anemone hepatica) trying to be a wood anemone.

 Of course there's other signs of warmer season. Somehow we still have a pair of swans, they usually leave after two weeks, now they have been here for five-six weeks? I don't think they are building a nest, maybe next year?
And then we have a pack of leverets of european hare. We have both mountain hares and european ones here, but I think mountain hare leverets stay more in the woods, and those european hare leverets stay on fields. I think mountain heres are pretty, european hares are a bit... I don't know, bony? This monday I counted 8 leverets in one group! They are not fully grown yet, maybe they find big numbers more safe? Because..
We have a fox visiting our yard - not very nice because our three cats. But hopefully it has enough food without trying to hunt out pets.  She will no doubt eat some of the leverets.

In two weeks kids will be back at school (or two youngest will be), but my orders to work from home might continue all throught the summer.

Today I might try to feed kids carrot and parsnip soup with toast. We shall see.

Week six

My co-worker counted on wednesday we have been working from home for 43 days (inculding weekends and easter days off). So now it's 47 days. And children have been at home even longer, d for 50 days (they stayed home before this lock down came compusory, because school was needed for those doing their final exams) and sys and ys for 48 days.

Sys's school project -  and as you can see, everything is WIP.

It's fine. I go shopping once a week if there's no special needs. Like next week, my car is due MOT and I need some soil bags for my veggie plot and my aunt need gardening gloves and my mom wants me to check if there's any leftover goodies from shops. Old man should eat much more, he's losing weight and he's already bag of bones. Pity he can't eat anything healthy or fatty (and everything must be cooked to oblivion). No full corn anything - with exception of oats.
Here is no restrictions to go outside or working outside (just recommendation for high risk people to stay at home and away from other people - however they are allowed to go shopping etc if there's no-one to help them) , but no public meetings over 10 people are allowed, no restrictions on shops or supermarkets (or megamarkets).

So because he doesn't do shopping anyway, he decided our wood needed cutting. Wearing overalls I got him almost 30 years ago. If you want to find a thrifty person, old man is one. If there wasn't corona, I would have been there splitting the wood while he was cutting it.

So, because people are trying to avoid other people, they are flocking here.

And of course they parked right in front of our back gate. Which hasn't have an acual gate ever.

Somewhere behind all those bushes are those old (more than 100yrs) fish ponds, which nowadays might have some frogs, a pair of cranes nesting (they have laid eggs already) and two pairs of swans (which will fly away in few weeks, they will not nest here). It was magnificent park once, a very popular place for walks while in honeymoon in the manor house (it was very popular hotel at the time, even after the WWII). Old people still remembers that and NOW they want to see them again. Or their children. Or people whose parents have worked either in the manor or hotel or those fish ponds. Since then land is split and sold to several other people (part of it belongs to a country house which was spilt from the original manor), fish were harvested with dynamite and all buildings were either relocated or demolished (again using dynamite - you might think people nowadays are stupid, but think again, after WWII all kinds of stupidities were done all the time!) Pump house is gone (dynamite), caretaker's cottage is gone (relocated) as well as gamekeeper's hut (relocated, it was moved only few hundred meters and is now our closest neighbouring house, and it is empty now). Our grounds are part of that original fish pond area.

Rush hour - I haven't seen more than one plane in weeks before that and not afterwards either

 

Another uninvited visitor. We had snow for a day.

 No more snow. I put on that strawberry plastic to keep weeds on bay until soil is dry enough to plow. Might take some time, because ground was still frozen a week ago. Hopefully lack plastic warms it.

Salad!

I just had to get something in to the polytunnel, so I sowed some salad seeds. Now there is also radishes, more salads and perpentual spinach (new zealand spinach). In one of the cold frames I sowed carrots. Inside I have peppers, chillies, aubergines, brassicas and so on. I had parsnip seeds from last summer, and knowing how poorly older seeds might germinate I wrapped them on moist paper towel to see, if any seed will sprout.

Hb has been working on my car since Friday, and he might finish with it today evening. It will not pass MOT and keys are not working, but I have to take it there anyway, otherwise I can't do it at all.
I've been looking for a replacement, but haven't found any yet. I can borrow old man's car, but he needs it occasionally, when he has to go for blood tests or treatment or such. No longer taxi drives for him, too hig risk for infection.

I have made several face masks, this was the first one (instructions from New York Times, not good). I won't use this pattern again.

It is easy to us to stay at home and not to meet other people (Number Two excluded). D has it harder, she actually has friends now, and had realized she misses their hugs and closeness. Boys have a great time, they are only worrying if they have to go back to school before summer. I doubt it will happen, but you never know nowadays.

I have less freetime than before. My days are filled with cooking, walking with 'Suma, doing dishes, washing, gardening, helping children with their school - and yes, I have to work eight hours a day on top of all that.  (I cook at least one big meal a day, usually two, I make lunch for hb to take with him to work, and then there are breakfasts and snacks). I don't bake much, on Friday I made buns and one loaf, I got the loaf out of oven 1am.
There's been some very nice days, and some very difficult. But overall, we are doing fine.

Weeks 3, 4 and 5, i think

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!

Helping families in need

Whole society is kind of paralysed. Restaurants, small shops, hairdressers, physical therapies, spas, pools... if it's not neccessary, it's closed. And that means people are loosing their salaries.

Municipalities have trying to help people. First they told that schoolchildren will get their "food rations" (children get free lunch at schools) once a week: not ready made meals, but ingredients to make five meals per week. And this week they begun to hand out bags of food to families/people, who are suffering loss of income.

I was asked if we want food for our school children (we have three kids at school, all of them get free lunch every day when in school) but I declined. I think there are families in much more dire need at the moment - we on the other hand are lucky ones, hb is working in food industry, and even if their products are not considered most basic food products, production is still on.
And I - well on monday I'll start working on a new project in which we try to find ways to handle things when all this begin to return to normal.

I saw what one local munincipality is handing out to people. Depending on size of family, portions vary, but there was just essentials. What was striking to me was lack of ready meals, tins and highly processed products. There were:
-ground beef and ground pork
-chicken fillets
-eggs
-oats
-cheese
-sandwich ham
-spread
-rice
-potatoes (which were not pre washed, so they were still having dirt - they way most potatoes are sold here)
-bananas
-apples
-cucumbers
-tomatoes
-rye bread (essential here, made of full corn and only few% of wheat)
-crispy rye bread
-milk (non-fat lactose free)
-berry soup
-plain yoghurt
-coffee
-toilet paper

I think they was suprisingly well thought  items - you have to remember they have had only few days to plan and act.

Food banks are in trouble, because most volunteers are over 70 or otherwise in high risk. Therefore they are not handing out food at their food banks, they are now delivering parcels directly to people. Food banks here don't need food now, they need volunteers from non risk groups and money. Many restaurants have donated their stock to food banks, otherwise it would have been wasted.

But if you are not in financial crisis, you can buy help: taxis are doing peoples food shopping and delivering medicines, animal shelters are helping people to take their pets to vet, garages are picking cars from home, fixing them and returning them and sanitizing them before handing them back.

Right now I think people have realized this is the real thing. Most people try to be in that part of society that helps stop this epidemic.

Physical distance - week 2: This will get easier, right?

This is week 2. Now we are talking about physical distancing. You are not supposed to be a hermit, but to use social media to connect with others.

Soon people are not allowed to travel freely, borders between countries have been shut already and soon towns and districts will be isolated, too. My brother is on the other side of the border, so we might see each other in summer. But luckily post is still working, thye send me a parcel with goodies (cheese, sausages, olive oil, all kind of spreads...) I have eaten first jar of Salsa Tartufata.

Children are adjusting, slowly. D has problems in math, and I think she have to star again next term. But if schools are closed until summer break, I think there are few others, too.

Yesterday I went shopping again, I spent 5 hours going through stores and post office and pharmacy. I've never been so drained out after a shopping spree! You'd think it's easy to buy things if you have a list in your hand. Nope.
First of all, I hade three other lists and then mine. I decided to do my own shopping separately, so I had only three lists.
Secondly, other people eat different foods (different from my family's menu and different from others). I had to go through the mega store from one end to another several times, because I just didn't have any idea where would I find things. Yes, tiny plum tomatoes were easy to find, but where are protein drinks? Is protein drink the same as protein shake? How many pears I should take for two people? There isn't any 8roll pcks of toilet paper, do I take 6roll pcks or 12 roll pck? Where are mocktails? What are moctails? What does mean a sandwich ham without ham? (it was sandwich beef). There's no organig sausages, but there's organic hot dogs, will they do?

But I love to visit our local pharmacy, there's only one or two other customers and everything goes so smoothly: Old man's medication has to be ordered a day before picking it up, so he phones them. I had only his ID with me, and got the medicine and instructions in less than five minutes. And paid for it, too, 4,50€ for a medicine that's priced over 900€ per dose - thank you national health and social service system.

Tomorrow is d's 17th birthday. She wanted to have a nice evening with her friends, a movie night and hamburgers, perhaps. Now they are planning to use netflix's party app to watch a film together miles apart. But it's not the same. We had planned a shopping trip to capital next weekend (as her birthday gift), but we can't travel there at all. I'll bake her a cake and make pizza muffins, and she'll have her presents, but it's not the same.
but it's easier for a 17 year old to understand all this, my co-workers daughter has her bd on monday - there will be no friends to play with, no balloons to give them as gifts... She's been planning her party for a long time.

We are all lucky. We still have our jobs, and have been paid. We are healthy, we have homes and food and families. My wrecked nerves because of home school are absolutely nothing to think about. I'll have another piece of chocolate, maybe some salsa tartufata with french bread I have in freezer and then I'll start cooking kids supper. Salmon and potato fritters/rösti.

Social distance - week 1: Working from home and homeschooling

Oh, it's here. Covid-19, coronavirus. Whole Europe is shut.  Our children are at home, been since monday. I was at the office on mon and tue, I had to sort out my laptop which wasn't connecting to net. My office is told to work at home at least until April 13th -  as are kids homeschooling, too.

So this has been the first week of isolation (I'm not talking about social isolation, which is mostly the norm to us).

On wed I woke up at 4:30, just because I couldn't sleep anymore (hb wakes up at 4.15). Ate breakfast, checked emails, read all new info and, finally, when there was enough light, took 'Suma to walk. Then I put linens to washer, fed cats and read some more news. I let kids to sleep until 7.30 (usually I wake them up at 6.30) and fed them cereals. Nice slow morning.
Ys's teatcher had some papers for his class, so we had to fetch them - at 8.20 we were only ones at school (excluding staff).
So, the very first day of home schooling (not really home schooling, if all children in the country are at home and teatchers are teaching them via Internet). I was suprised all systems worked. I had trouble to go on with schedule - three childres all in different schools and of course they all have lunch breaks at different times - had to make quick lunch which was quick to eat. Tuna and pasta (a school lunch I have never made before...), at least I got one tin out of my pantry ;-)

Thursday was a challenging day, because I had compulsory training via skype - my lunch break wasn't at same time than kids etc. But we made it, and will make from now on. This is really a minor inconvenience.

Friday was another first: I was doing groceries to my aunt and Onld man and my mom. It took ages to find all things on shopping lists - there were plenty of everything, but I just buy different things. I had difficulties to locate them! But yes, I got all items. Also got medication for Old man, no problems there either. You can buy only one package of basic pain medication (30 tablets). Not because there isn't any, but because this way all people who needs it, will get it.

Shops here are in normal state. Toilet paper was missing from the shelves few days because staff was too busy to replenish them. Now there is mountains of toilet papers. Only shortage is hand sanitiser, but that will be solved next week, when basically all local breweries have set up their production lines for it.
Oh, yeast was missing, too. It is fortunate that there is at least a one yeast factory in this country (they produce CO2 for greenhouses, too) so this shortage is shortlived. I have both dry yeast in my pantry  and old fashioned block yeast in my freezer, it's that kind you can freeze (not all yeasts can be frozen).
Oh, cheap tomato tins were also missing, now that I think of it.

But mostly shops are like thay have always been. Salad bars are closed, staff have so much to do they don't have time to disinfect anything extra. Salad bar is nor necessity. There was actually a lot of reduced milk!
Prices have not gone up, at least I couldn't find anything with inflated prices.

Now they are talking about isolating certain areas, because people don't behave reasonably. I think there will not be curfew yet, but they might stop all travelling from capital area, and maybe other big cities.

I have only one more bigger issue: my car is due MOT very soon and it need some fixing before i can take it to MOT. but now I don't feel comfortable (or safe) to take it to garage. So - I might be buying a car in near future (not a new car, but one that has it's MOT done recently).

I have enough work to do for the next three weeks, so I will not worry that yet. Hb may have to stay at home some point, because he can't do his job from home and their products might not be considered essentials. I will worry that if it happens, and there's not much to worry, then. There's nothing I can do to prevent it.

Oh, I gave my name as a volunteer shopper/doing errands for those who are quarantined or isolated, our commune started to organize volunteers last friday; they also have staff at library if someone needs help and can't find anyone to help them. I can't work as a coordinator, because our poor phone signal, but I'll do what is needed.

Tomorrow is the first day of week 2. Ys will be baking cookies at home economics (or just at home), they all have video lessons or chats during the day. I have two skype meetings...

Keep safe, wash your hands and take care of those who can't do it themselves.
We will get through this, together.

A new normal?

I'll write longer post later. I hope. Have trouble with connections, my laptop won't work without wire and whole house is planned to work wireless.  So my ethernet cable is running through house and two floors and it has a very veird language settings. Three kids homeschool and I think English teatcher was having a mental breakdown. She sent a message at 8pm today....
We have enough food for a month or three. Yesterday I did shopping for three families, no missing items on shop - well, hand sanitiser was no show (but you can order it fron a local brewery) and you can buy only one pack of pain killers ( ibuprofein paracetamol etc).
And NOW we have snow!