That Quarantined Life

Life is definitely different now.  We’ve been under “stay-at-home” restrictions for about a week. Things seem to be settling down and people are getting with the program.  I no longer see posts about local people or business blowing off the restrictions.  That’s good.  Our county has just had 3 cases so far, and no fatalities.  There are benefits to living in the sticks.

Some of the grocery stores have put senior hours in place, typically around 8am, the hour before the market would normally open.  Seniors are funny people.  You would think that the stores would be nice and quiet early in the morning.  That is what we thought.  But, instead seniors start lining up (with a cart between each) hours before the store opens.  All seniors have insomnia, right?  I know we are awake well before daybreak.  So, that senior hour at the markets is mobbed.  ...we are choosing to go later in the day if we go out at all.  We did make it a week without having to go back to the market.  I think that’s pretty good, given that I typically shop every few days.

When the weather is nice, I have more than enough projects to keep me busy outside.  There is always the garden, of course.  The greenhouse is full of seedlings, there are still a number of fruit trees to clear, compost and mulch, and I’m itching to start hot composting.  We’ve been doing cold composting for years — basically, pile the stuff, turn it once in a blue moon, and eventually get compost.  The hot method is fast — and labor intensive.  Brett and I are arguing debating the urgency of this project.  He’s ready to head down the mountain to the lumber yard and buy supplies.  My position is that this is a non-essential project and can wait.  In the meantime, I could rig together something.  Brett is anti-rig-together.  This is what one of my friends from class put together.  I think it would work fine.

This is what he plans to build:

Another non-essential service is our cleaning lady.  We’ve been using her since we moved up here and she does a good job.  When I was working, I always had a cleaning service because I (1) didn’t have much free time, (2) hated cleaning, and (3) wanted a clean apartment/house/abode.  When the kids were small, it was a real sanity-saver.  I’ve felt kind of strange having her come since I retired.  I mean, I do have time now.  But, I didn’t want to adversely impact her business.  When the shelter-in-place mandate came down, we put her services on hold.  Brett agreed to do all the floors (he has a thing about clean floors so he was happy to take it on).  So now, on rainy days, I either bake or clean. I don’t think our house has ever been so clean.  And, I got a great deal of satisfaction from cleaning, which surprised me.  Don’t tell: I even watched YouTube hacks on cleaning.  Maybe that comes with age — I hated cleaning as a kid, the way kids always hate chores.  I had a neighborhood friend who had a toy vacuum and loved to play “clean the house.”  I thought that was weird.  So far, I don’t mind it at all which I’m sure has something to do with having a lot of free time.

What are you doing to keep busy?

Our New Reality

We are adjusting to our new reality.  Just a week ago I was in my Master Gardener class, sitting a good distance from my neighbor, but in a room with 25 or more people.  Afterwards, I sat with a couple classmates and discussed our group project.  That seems like another lifetime.  So far, the impact this week has been:

1.  No more in-person classes.  Instead of lectures and hands-on applications, I’m watching videos and reading, reading, reading.  It’s okay, but I miss the classroom interaction and I really miss the hands-on stuff.

2.  My project has been cancelled.  ...technically “on hold” but if we aren’t meeting, its a bit hard to present.  I have already done a significant amount of research on my piece but that’s okay, the research was interesting.

3.  The vet was supposed to come out today and vaccinate the horses and donkeys.  That was cancelled.  As of last night, Californians are only going out for essentials: food, doctors, pharmacy.

4.  Brett called Costco to see if they would mail Kersey’s prescription which is due to be refilled in less than a week.  They said no, so we will have to go to Costco in the next week or so.  I’m not happy about that.

5.  A pipe broke in the front pasture around noontime.  Brett saw a gusher when he went out to feed.  Fortunately, he had the knowledge and supplies handy to fix the pipe.  I’m not sure if plumbers are even working right now.

6.  I figured out how to borrow books from the library and have them delivered to my Kindle (for Brett) and to my iPad (for me).  We went into a bit of a panic when the library closed.

7. Dinner was good, though.  We had asparagus I picked up at the market yesterday and lamb from the freezer.  As the weeks go on, it will be more frozen veggies and less fresh.

8.  Our little town made the news in Sacramento.  It was quite embarrassing.  Placerville was profiled for failing to follow the governor’s mandate to close bars and restaurants to in-house dining.  Take-out is allowed and many restaurants are offering curbside pick up which is great.  But some were ignoring the directive and there were enough residents who think (a) this is fake news or (b) they are safe because no cases have been reported in our county yet or (c) don’t want the god-da*n government telling them what to do — to fill those restaurants and bars.  Needless to say, we were quite disgusted with said behavior.  There has now been a case reported in our County so I’m hoping categories (a) and (b) are now with the program.  I don’t think the category (c) people will ever get there.  ...which is why Brett and I are not going out at all.

9.  The coolest thing is all the connections that have been happening.  I’ve been getting emails and messages from people all over the place; people who are important to me but who I rarely hear from. Staying connected is so important.