Stinking mayhem

We had a bit of a situation this morning.  Someone (I know who) left Big Brother in bathroom/sauna. I had some clean dry laundry left there, because... anyway. BB needed to pee, and no-one opened doors for him. So he peed on my clean laundry. No big thing. But, he's a big boy and does a big pee, so... someone's got to wash sauna seats now (they are made of ashen).

And while BB was making a lot of mess on bathroom, BabyBrother got scared and peed on sys's bed. And then sys found BB and let him free but didn't realize there was a pee in the sauna. And I only went to check later, so now everything (laundry baskets, sauna and bathroom) stinks of cat pee and shampoo, because BB also knocked down every bottle from the windowsill and some of bottles leaked, because they weren't thightly closed.

Sister's cat made a poo behind a tv-set this morning.

Sand dunes of Sahara

We had a sandstorm. No, not that Sandstorm  This one came straight from Sahara!

As we are heading towards spring, this orange dust will thaw snow faster. A week ago we had something like -25C, today we had +5C. I'd like to have slower changes, but no-one asks me.

D and sys will be at school tomorrow, and then they are home schooling again another month. Ys will be at school  for time being. 

Was that it?

 Brothet just messaged me saying that's it for the winter. I disagree, but he's living near sea and we're inland. Yesterday morning it was -10C, and by midnight it was raining. Water. 

But I still don't think os needs to mow next week

I haven't done anything towards sowing seeds yet. I'll need to check my chillies, they need longest time. And warmest place.

Tomorrow I'll take my car to garage, one of cooler lines needs replacing ( things happen when it's really cold) and changing oil might be a good idea. Have no idea how to get d to school in the morning and back home at noon, but it'll work out.

Wow, ok, I'm not complaining

We have a winter here. But North Amerikan has THE Winter. 

My knees might got frozen this morning while on really short 'Sumawalk, just about a mile, but they'd thawn once I got inside in my warm home with power on and thick insulation all over. I have specific clothes to protect me and my children got to school in warm school taxi. Our water pipes will not freeze, and even if there would be long power cuts, I'm able to keep our house warm safely with fireplaces, which don't let carbon monoxide inside. All our cars have specific winter tyres so we can drive safely, and roads are well maintaned and clear of snow (because we have paid my cousin for doing that, he has equipment to do that).

I have fridge full of food  and freezers, too. And in case of power cut I can just put stuff from freezer outside, they keep well there in - 27C. I know how to cook with my woodburning stove. I know my relatives are all safe.

I'm lucky one, in so many ways.

Winter chores

Than you Fiftr for you thoughts. I really have had a fun figuring out how to use some products from D's school lunch bags. Those ready meals are kind of Ok, they are basic and as healthy as they would be if you would make them at home. So sometimes not so healthy😋😋😋

We do have just as much junk food in shops that any other place in the world. But we don't have so called food deserts (where only junk food is available, no fresh products or even basic ingredients). In every grocery shop there's plenty of choice. Food is expensive around here, even junk food, partly because we do have so much to choose from. Most people know how to cook (if not taught at home then learnt basics at home economics at school - at least they know how to cook pasta and bake oat rolls).

But they don't teach you to cook with wood burning stove at school.

Our cold is dry cold. Wet cold is so much worse to cope. And we usually have only mild winds, because we live inlands. My brother lives near seashore, and they do have much worse winds all through the year. So it might not be as cold as we have, but I'm absolutely sure I'd freeze and be miserable with moist sea air and few minus degrees too. It's easier to stay warm without wind.

This week was maybe the coldest week of this winter. Two mornings in a row I had to cut 'Sumawalk short because just didn't want to get freeze burns on my knees or cheeks. - 26C, thank you but no thank you.

But it's been breathtakingly beautiful.

About 8.15AM sun is not yet above treeline. It is even more pink in real life, could't change settings while taking pictures  fingers and screen wouldn't work if exposed too long to below -20C temps.

Number Two had her first birthday, my sister set up a little garden party. It was fortunate it was only -10C that day! 

I sew her a dress. 

I thought the pattern looked a bit big for a tiny fairy like Number Two, so so I made a practice dress first. I had this cute cat print, and I knew my sister would like it (she's a bit picky like all little sisters) and I was right. On both. Cat dress is too big, but with few alterations it's perfect. And sis loved the fabric!

Finally, the birthday dress. This is the back, front is without buttons, just like in the cat dress above.

I bought this grey linen  online, but ordered a sample first. Sis approved it so I had the right fabric. Then we spent three hours chosing right buttons, not an easy task if you can't visit the house...

First time in ages I had serious trouble with buttons. I think I sew every button at least three times. But now they are on and it's sister's headache to iron wrinkles! She wanted linen, sho got it, and she deals with wrinkles, too!

I know other people go to house parties and restaurants and visit friends and family, but we don't do any of that. Old man is still a high risk one and we really really want to have him with us much longer. So not only my parents stay away from other people, but also we who see them try to stay away any situations we might get infected. And by seeing them I mean we meet them 2m apart outside or leave their groceries on their porch without going inside. My aunt visits them, and that means we don't visit her, we only talk through open door/window. 'Suma is the only one allowed to go inside her house (and she hates furry animals but for some reason has developed a soft spot for our cats and dogs. She has dog treats and asks 'Suma to come in to eat them! She'd never ever allowed dogs inside her house before our Blackie!

School meals at home?

D is at home for three weeks, before that they were alternating home and physically at school every ither week. She's not coping well schoolwise  but socially Ok.

I've picked her school meal packets/bags every week now.

So in three weeks she has got:

3kg potatoes

2kg carrots

1 tomato

1 orange

1 iceberg salad head

2 sweet papricas

1 container potato salad

1 bottle of salad dressing

400g pasta

1kg rice

1kg porridge oats

1 jar strawberry jam

1 jar salsa

1 jar sweet'n sour sauce

1 tub spread

1l milk 

5 cheese rolls

400g crispy rye bread

1 packet soft rye bread ( sourdough)

10 eggs

400g minced meat

150g shredded cheese

1 bag prunes

1 tin tuna

Taco shells

1 tub cheesy dip

1 packet sausages

1 packet chicken nuggets

2 packets pancakes (spinach and plain)

1 bag chicken meat balls

1 tin split pea soup

1 container creamy vegetable soup

3 bags pasta meals ( just add water. And flavour)

4 microwave meals (lasagne, chicken soup, salmon casserole, ham casserole)

I'm actually a bit confused, this is SO much! I'm also very thankful. This is by no means "free" food, I've paid it in my taxes, but I have to say I've really got my money's worth! I'm not going to complain lack of fresh fruits ( it's winter) or amounts of processed meats (this needs to be edible for teenage boys, and they need their meatballs and sausages -and I could have ordered vegetarian packs, I chose carnivore version).

Kids are loving those ready meals, we don't usually have them! I'm happy there's also been  things to make meals from scratch, so I've been able to use them in our family meals.

On Friday we'll hear if she will be studying at home or be able to go back to school. Unfortunately I think she'll be at home few more weeks. It isn't doing any good to her studies. I'm considering if I should ask if she'd be able to redo these terms again next year. She's agreeing with me  which is very worrying.

I might be a hermit

 I've always known I like my own company. I didn't have friends, we lived quite isolated in the countryside, everyone around was either my own relatives or their relatives. In the early '70s there was a distinct lack of babies and children, there were first two (me and my cousin) and later six (our siblings and two neighbours's kids). Generation before us was THE baby boom generation after the war. So, because I wasn't very interested in wrestling in mud and tearing heavy machinery to parts, I had to find ways to keep me occupied.

I learnt to read all by myself when I was five, I learnt to sew and knit and crochet a bit later. In between I learnt how to pick mushrooms - quite an achievement because at that point I didn't eat any. My grandparents taught me, and I knew how to read so I read mushroom picking guides. At school I had some friends, basically we all considered everyone a friend because there was less than 50 pupils during my first years at school. In the whole school. 

But even then I felt a bit isolated, because most girls lived right next to school and I lived in the middle of the forest.

Later I went to a boarding school, which was the absolute peak of my social life. I even have managed to keep in touch with one of my then  friends  - we meet only twice a year, but we still hold on.

My university era was, again, less social (I lived in shared flat with two other girls from other schools/unis and during those years we were tight pack, but after that we just vanished from each others lifes) I keep occasional contact to few of my fellow student mates, but it's professional, circles are so small. I was already living with my hb ( when I wasn't staying in uni town).

I got job, then another and then another. I got kids, lost kids,  and realised I didn't want much from my life. I'm content here if I can't go to Mars.

It's been a year since covid came here. Since then I've worked mostly from home. I do miss meeting my clients, and I look forward to meet few of my co-workers ( but not all of them) when we must meet at the office, but I'm relieved when I come back home. I do once a week shopping for groceries, and if I have to go to town otherwise I feel uneasy. ( we call running to errands "going to town"). I work long hours, much more than before this virus. 

I see my sister about once every fortnight, my parents once or twice a week  and my aunt few times a week. And I mean SEE, we talk through open doors/windows when I'm dropping groceries or my lil sis is picking a bag of old kids' clothes for number one or number two. Last time I've been inside anyone else's home was in summer, and we were mostly on the patio. Sometimes, maybe once a month, I go for a walk with sis, we keep our 2m distance. My brother lives in high infection rate area, we don't see each other, but now we use Signal to keep in touch.

And I'm OK with this.  Of course I'm extremely lucky because I CAN work from home full time, I never had any social hobbies like choir ( can't sing) or theatre or drinking with friends. I have decided a long ago not to go holidays abroad (because of environmental reasons and because it is so difficult to find petsitter for our pack). I'm content on my solitude, I find no reasons to interact people in real life. Maybe this is just a continuation from my chilhood, when I had whole universe with me in my books. Now it's Internet and I don't have to wait for two weeks to get letter from Vienna.

I'm not missing anything, there is no void of iterraction in my life. All right, I lied. I DO miss meeting and holding number two! She'll be one in no time and I've hold her only few times. I miss the smell of a baby.

But it is what it is. I'm living content in a middle of a forest. I'm about to finish my covid tracker training soon, so that's another skill I can claim to have. Doing tracking means I will not meet people, I'm contacting them only by phone...