104 Days

 I have now been isolating myself, staying home as much as possible, not working, practicing safe COVID avoidance techniques, screaming at the stupid president, mourning the despair in our country and generally becoming a sociopath for 104 days.

Life is a blur. Days run together, I put an X on the calendar each day to recognize the passing of that day. I move more slowly, generally feel no sense of purpose other than to hunt and gather food, like a squirrel, like the cavemen. Morning coffee is required to get me moving. I sometimes wear the same thing three days in a row, hair is rarely brushed, just pinned up.

I am cooking more than I have cooked in my life, enjoy it for the most part and don't really miss restaurants, because I like the food I am making. We eat the food we grow now. The garden is just coming in and already it is plentiful.


I am canning, preserving, preparing. I sense September looming closely as a marker for more ominous times and I want to be as ready as possible. I have accepted the notion that I will be in this house, on this land at least until the end of the year and I am settling in to that idea.

We have celebrated Wesley's birthday, Mothers Day, Fathers Day and our anniversary at home under COVID guidelines. It was nice. Gifts were creative and heartfelt, meals were good, time together was more precious. We even managed to take a small trip for our anniversary and travel safely away from the crowds that refuse to follow rules. 

Gerry made this beautiful bouquet for me for Mothers Day with flowers from our yard

I even treated myself to my own gift from a favorite weaver/potter (Anna Brnner)

We celebrated Father's Day a day late since Gerry had to cover the PGA tournament in Hilton Head. While there, a golfer tested positive, Gerry is uncertain of his contact with the virus and so we are now wearing masks in the house and being even more diligent than we were. Now we wait and see....

I have cleaned and organized every corner of the house. Our pantry was a hodge lodge of shelves I made out of crates and repurposed wood from the shed and nails in the wall. I finally took everything out, scrubbed every surface, and bought new metal shelves. I am so happy with this new organization! Grateful in a way for this time to check off boxes on my mental to do list.

I even sorted and oiled all of my wooden spoons. Like, who ever has time to sit down and oil their spoon collection, I ask you!?  I love my spoons, I use them every day, and I care for them so they will last me for as long as possible.  One was a gift Wesley brought to me from Morocco, one was made my my friend Chance, the rice paddle a gift a friend brought back from her trip to India. All of them have a special place for me. 

The fruits of our labor are plentiful. We have a beautiful garden, with food we can preserve and enjoy in the winter months. We are growing organically, no chemical pesticides, so there is more work involved, but hopefully that will save on cancer treatments later in life! So far, the garden is healthy, with only a few sightings of bugs. We did lose a couple of squash plants yesterday, but the freezer is filling up with squash so no great loss there. Just please leave my tomatoes alone!

We had a beautiful onion harvest this year. I probably pulled them a little early but I like the smaller onions. I cook with onions at least once a day, so I'm very happy to have this harvest!

My bread baking skills continue to improve and I have some mad baking skills now. The levain is fed every day and that is something I am close to being less than enamored with. Throwing out all of that hard to come by flour is challenging. At first I tried to use up the discards, some I have frozen, but good lord, the yeast around here! I sort of overdosed on yeast products the first couple of weeks and my stomach paid for it, so I have backed off and am now baking minimal quantities. I can't believe I have managed to stay at my Weight Watchers goal weight, but some how I am staying on track. 

Last on my list of things to mention- Walmart shoppers. This place. Why is something I despise so much such a necessary place sometimes. I needed a few things that I seem to only be able to find at Walmart. Last week was the first time (and probably the last time) I have shopped in Walmart since March. I am not a frequent shopper there anyway, but avoiding stupidity seemed even more of a challenge than usual in this store. It stressed me out so much, I left vowing to not go back. I will do without or I will pay shipping, but I am not walking through those doors again until there is a vaccine for ignorance!

I truly understand all of the posts on FB for supporting small businesses, I had one, I know. But here is the thing, you DO NOT have what I need small businesses! I don't need a candle, or soap, or cute farm decor or another antique. In my community, there is a street of shops and nearly every single store carries the same thing. They all copy each other and try to out do one another and there is absolutely nothing I need there that is worth the risk of encountering all of the republicans and the racists that live in that town. There are some lovely shop owners, don't get me wrong, but one of the reasons I closed my store was because of all the "not lovely" people there. I do enjoy the lattes at the local coffee shop and the employees are very special, but we now have a monthly coffee club subscription and a great coffee maker, so I don't even risk that.  I have so much sympathy for shop owners who followed their dreams of independent ownership, but the reality is, I have found out how much I can do without and be just as happy. Food. We need food.... and shelter. 

That's about it....  And Art! I need art in my life, must have that! 

Stay safe everyone, please wear a mask. This virus is a mofo.