Coronavirus

I made Homemade Pretzels… Coronavirus Day 18

I really think I should start calling it social distancing or homebound or something other than coronavirus. Ugh!

Earlier this year I went on the Keto Diet. Right now, I say screw that. We’re really supposed to stay home and out of stores, etc. So buying all the extra, special items to make Keto meals seems silly, plus I just want a little comfort. I love to bake and cook. And truthfully, while I tend to be a homebody, I’m sick of this staying home. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched Frozen 2. Not as many as Frozen (the original), but pretty darn close. Although I have to say I think I like the original Frozen better. My little thinks that they are going to do a Frozen 3. I’m not sure. It’ll sure be interesting, that’s for sure.

Anyway, I think I totally digressed. That’s where my brain is these days. Half the time I really have to think about what day it is. The little’s dance classes have moved to online. Last week, we missed 2 of the 3. I just plum forgot. So my goal for this week is to make all 3. I made yesterday’s and today’s, so that’s 2 of 3. Now just 1 more to go. I’ll let you know how I do. It’s the little things in life. (more…)

Landscaping My House… Coronavirus Day 14 & 15

This spring has been quite interesting, to say the least. Between school being postponed and doing some work at home for school (challenges)… and the fact that the oldest daughter’s school was canceled while the youngest was on Spring Break. And all the reports of the coronavirus… aka COVID-19. So much uncertainty. 

But one thing that has happened I think for a lot of individuals is we’ve been given the gift of time. Something we all beg for. Everything is canceled. Can’t do anything. So why not work on that “honey-do” list.

One of the things I’ve been wanting to do is landscape our house. There have been a million reasons why I haven’t. Actually, if you look at that picture above… there to the left side of the picture, that left side of the porch… last year I planted perennial flowers. What is a perennial flower?

A Perennial Flower/Plant is a flower or plant that live more than 2 years.

While we’re at it… what’s an annual flower?

An Annual Flower lives for just one season/year.

The flowers I planted there by the porch DID NOT come back. Bummer. Here is where I tell you that I have a degree in Agriculture and I’m pretty sure I have a black thumb. My background is animal agriculture. Although when I was in college I loved the agronomy side of agriculture (plants, soils, horticulture) to the point I almost switched majors to be an agronomy major. But still… growing things is not my strong suit. I struggle, but that doesn’t mean I don’t try.

So why not give landscaping a try? I actually had to take a landscaping class in college so I got the basic gist of how to landscape. The rest comes from trial and error and the internet.

First things first

Decide on the area where you are landscaping. It is a good idea to use something such as spray paint to outline your area. Another good tip is to pay attention to your sun. Study for a few days, weeks, whatever your time frame you can so that you plant flowers that are based on the lighting.

So I outlined my area. We planned on making a walkway as well as having flowers/shrubs. Next came brainstorming on how I was going to make a retainer for my material and then what kind of material I was going to try and retain.

So many questions have to be answered before you can start. (more…)

Starting the Garden… Coronavirus Day 8 & 9

A year ago I really wanted to start a garden. It just wasn’t in the cards. We were trying to finish up our house and there was no time for a garden. Gardens are actually a lot of work. I had one a few years ago that was a small raised bed. I tended it every day. They are work. 

But then this year… coronavirus hit and BAM, we all had time on our hands. haha. Back in January, we had a fire that burned up my little tiller. It wasn’t really the size to start a big garden anyway, but it was what I had… but the fire consumed it as well as that original raised bed I had. haha. Ironic… kind of.

I started probing hubby trying to question if we could get a tiller, etc. Why? Because I want to start a garden. Why? Why not? Why? Why not? Okay, you get the picture.

So hubby went on the hunt to find me a tiller. He finally landed on the Powermate 18 in. 196cc Gas 4-Cycle Rear-Tine Tiller. It’s a workhorse (pronounced haus). (more…)

Christmas House… Coronavirus Day 7

Here we are… Day 7 of this “You Should Stay Home Suggestion.” At this point, that’s where we are. There are some states I’ve heard who already have stay at home orders, but we’re just highly encouraged at this point. 

Truthfully I am a homebody. I’m okay with being home. But this is eating at me. I like to go when I want to. I’m trying to do what’s best though, I don’t want to be the cause of a spread. At this point, there are no known cases in my county. So we’ll see.

This kind of feels like we’ve been given the gift of time. Nowhere to be and a lot of things canceled already so we have time. Just how on earth are we going to fill our time? Well today, at my house anyway, we’re doing the Christmas Gingerbread House. Say what? (more…)

And just like that… Coronavirus day 6

It has been an interesting last few days… to say the least. Life is never boring on a farm, that’s for sure. While we’re supposed to be self quarantining, you can’t quite do that exactly when you live on a farm. Anyway, you can’t stay indoors because there are animals that rely on you. 

My parents live the next place over and then my grandma is the place after that. So I have a couple hundred acres to keep me occupied in this self-containment time.

It seems like these days there is a bad rap on people who are farmers. They are horrid people who don’t take care of squat. Well, I have pictures and stories to prove that’s just not so. Today is a prime example.

My uncle lives with my grandma. Moved in after he and his ex-wife went through their divorce. (more…)

Coronavirus Day 5

Just a friendly reminder. Especially since we don’t have any idea what lies ahead…

So much talk but at this point who really knows. We’re on spring break around here… but we got a phone call yesterday stating that school wasn’t starting back until April for one daughter and the other daughter’s school has been canceled for the rest of the school year.

Things are getting weird and scary. Don’t let fear be your driving force.

Out of Our Control – Coronavirus Day 3

No truer words have been spoken. There is a lot of weird fear and hoarding going on lately. It is rather sad really. I don’t know anything more about the future than the next person. I did a little research on why people are hoarding toilet paper. It’s supposedly because when you can’t something you don’t understand, you feel better when you can control something. I guess being able to control the fact you have toilet paper is a happy thing? I’m back to being a little lost sadly.

My dad and husband both are constantly reminding me to not worry about the things we cannot control. That is really harder to do than said. (more…)

Time to Get Cooking… Coronavirus Day 2

So being shut in your house really gives you time to sit and think and think and think some more. Oy! I have to keep the radio or tv on or else I’m going nuts. And here we are on day 2. Okay, I might be overexaggerating right now. Truthfully, ask me on day 8 or 9 and that might actually be the truth. You never know.

But one thing that I have been thinking about a lot is cooking my way through the Julia Child Cookbook. Guys, this isn’t a new thought. Quite the contrary. I mentioned this in a blog post in 2018. OMG, I just looked up the original blog post to include with this. Get this, it was written on March 21, 2018. How close is that to current date? Today is March 15. That’s crazy.

I really want to do this. I’ve been talking to my husband a lot about in the last couple of months. I have a couple of holdbacks. First… have you seen the massive size of the cookbook? It’s huge. 2nd, While I try extremely hard not to be a picky eater, I’m afraid I might be too picky of an eater for this cookbook. (more…)

Wear the Damn Helmet… Coronavirus Day 1

The other day, in a matter of 5 minutes I saw no less than 4 posts where WHO was calling the Coronavirus (COVID-19) a Pandemic. Okay, so what does that mean?

Epidemic – noun – a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community at a particular time.

Pandemic – adjective – prevalent over a whole country or the world.

Okay, what does that mean though? We know this is prevalent in multiple countries. We know countries like Italy are on lockdown and the U.S. has put a ban on travel in and out of regions around the world. But 4 different places telling us it is a pandemic, do we need to panic now or something? That really didn’t tell us anything other than something we already knew, they just declared what we already knew. I’m still scratching my head. (more…)