Finding Joy in the Chaos

Greetings Earthlings:

As we take another trip around the sun I have heard so many complaints of how "2020 is the Worst Year Ever!"  "I don't think I can take this any more!"  "We're all Going to Die from the Covid!"  "Bill Gates wants to steal our souls!"  "The Whole Country is turning Communist!"  "The Government is going to take everything we've worked for!"  "Revelations People!  Revelations!"  Sheesh!

Social Media is a very powerful tool.  I believe it's original intention was for ease of communication with a much quicker turn-around time.  And I guess that is true.  But there is also a darker side to it that I'm sure we are all very much well aware of.  And we are really getting our brains filled now, unlike any other time in history!

I never really paid much attention to computers or the internet, for that matter, when it first became main stream.  Hubby worked in a field office, so both the computer and the internet became very useful business tools.  They would also became huge time sucks.  Employees would email around jokes and cartoons and solitaire games.  Suddenly there was entertainment at our very fingertips, literally, whenever we wanted it.

Society as a whole embraced the whole concept.  We downloaded games.  We mastered Spider Solitaire and Wheel of Fortune.  Christmas cards began to be replaced by long winded Christmas Annual Reports (I am sorry to say that I bought into the laundry list of accomplishments of the day.  Sorry 'bout that.)  Emails replaced invitations and letters. There was even a program that was full of clip art to allow you to make unique invitations - unfortunately, everyone had the same program!  You no longer had to go to the library to use the encyclopedia for homework!  It was at home on a CD Rom.  This was huge for us as our local library kept short hours and had limited resources.

Along came pagers, bag phones and the modern cell phone.  Suddenly anyone could get ahold of anyone else at any time!  Mom's were happy to keep better track of kids.  Kids could find each other in moments instead of driving around all evening trying to round up a few others to hang out with.  Employees realized that they were suddenly on an electronic leash as the employer could contact them any time, any place and you had to answer the phone since the company was paying for it.

Along the way people bought nicer clothes, more "toys", fancier cars, boss stereo systems that would fill a trunk, moved into "better" neighborhoods, ate out more, got a second job, took "vacations" instead of "trips", and so on.

Mom and Dad are both working and the kids are raising themselves or being entertained by the electronics, that the working parents are buying for the kids, to keep them busy, while Mom and Dad are at work.

Groceries are going up.  Cars get more expensive.  It's easier to eat out than make something at home, or to order in take out.  We can't make coffee at home because we don't have time - we need to get to work, to make more money to buy more things, meals, fuel, clothes, home decor, electronics . . . We need to take a vacation from our lives because we are too busy to have family time, so we work harder, spend more time away, upgrade our i-phone because this one can't do any more upgrades.

We happily go about our busy lives, promising to spend more time, learn new skills, get more connected.  But then, there's only so many hours in the day and Net Flicks is calling. 

And then, the World Shut Down. And suddenly ALL there is is the internet. 

And we get bombarded with conflicting information.  And we have to stay home.  Let this pass.  We can't go out to get a coffee.  We can't go out to pick up take out.  We can't go out to go to work.  And we didn't die.  And we learned how to cook.  We called our family.  We played games with our kids.  We learned a new skill.  We stayed home.

What was to be two weeks suddenly became 3 months.  And we have all managed.  Add in some less than springlike weather, after a difficult winter and you really need to step back and assess the whole situation. 

We thought we needed so much more money to cover our bills, when we realized that since we aren't out every day, running here and running there, picking up this and that, that we don't need quite so much.  Even here, we didn't realize just how much we actually entertain, until we suddenly don't need to go to the grocery store for 6 weeks!  And we aren't going through the toilet paper we used to!  You don't burn any gas when you don't go anywhere.  Which of course is lower now than it has been in decades!

After the first few weeks of decompressing from the busy-ness of life and wrapping our heads around not going anywhere or seeing anyone outside their housemates, many have found new passions.  New ways to entertain themselves.  Suddenly since being home and having their kids at home, many are rediscovering baking.  There is a whole Sourdough movement happening.  With the shortage of yeast and not being able to run out for a loaf of bread, many folks have adopted a very old method of bread baking.  And loving it!

And gardens!  Our local greenhouses report that they have Never in previous years, ever sold out before June 1st.  By this time of the year, they are practically giving product away.  But this year, everyone is interested in gardening again - not just for something to do, but for a bit of food security.  After seeing the craziness of empty grocery store shelves in March and April, many became rightfully concerned about how they were going to feed their families.  Now with time on their hands, people are rediscovering the joy of dirt and seeds.  The joy of growing their own food.

I find it interesting how I would often hear that "I don't have time for that" or "I don't know How you do all you do!"  Now suddenly, everyone I speak to wants to learn more.  How do I bake a loaf of bread?  How do I start a garden?  Should I get chickens?  How do you pressure can your stock?  How do you make stock?  Can you teach me? 

Will this all last?  Will people realize the value of time and re-prioritize their time, once this all comes to pass?  Will they come away with a better understanding of what is truly valuable?  Of what brings them joy?  Will they have jobs to return to?  Will they even care? 

Their kids are sleeping better because they are less stressed.  Mom and Dad aren't exhausted since they aren't trying to cram three days worth of activities into 1.5.  The job that was so stressful, can  amazingly suddenly be done from home or under new conditions.  People aren't forced or shamed into going to work when they are sick.  People aren't pressing their grocery carts up against you to get you to hurry it along.  And no one is in an all fired hurry to go nowhere, fast.

The conspiracy theorists will continue their theories, just as they did in 1999 when the internet was going to shut down the world at the stroke of midnight.  Then in 2012, the Inca calendar ran out of days, so the world was supposed to be ending on December 21.  People cashed in their life's savings and racked up credit card debt since it wasn't going to matter anyways. 

There have been plagues and pandemics since biblical times, including the Black Plague, Bubonic Plague, Eboli and so on.  Up until the mid 1950's many suffered from Polio.  Small Pox dates back to the 1300's.  1820 gave us the Cholera Outbreak.  1920 was the Spanish Flu. 

2020 is just another year in the cycle.  The viruses ran their courses and people got back to the business of life.  This time will be no different.  And the internet and news sources will continue to keep us informed or misinformed of how things are progressing.

It will be interesting to see how the next few months play out as the world opens up for business again.  I, for one, will continue to gather eggs and tend my garden.

Until next time keep staying safe.

Warmest Regards,

Gremlynn

My Typical Day

Greetings Earthlings:

I was recently asked what a “Typical Day” looks like for me.  I had to ponder on this for a while.  My Typical Day is very much very typically Atypical.  I guess a lot of it has to do with: 

A) What needs to be done and 

B) If Papa is home or not.  

It also depends on the season’s tasks required.  Each brings its own set of special activities!

My day typically starts somewhere between 7 and 8:30 a.m., more often than not, around 8:00.  I typically sleep until I wake up, unless an alarm needs to be set for one reason or another.  How early or how late depends on what the previous day’s activities entailed.   My brain still goes 100 mph.  My body, not so much. I need longer rest times after heavy work now.  Something I am still trying to adjust to.  

Our daily routine starts with morning tea together.   During this time, we fill each other in on what plans – a term loosely used in my world – we may have for the day.  

Tea for two

If Papa is planning a Big project – like re-laying the slate stone patio by the pond, cleaning out the chicken coop, or something equally as ugly – my day’s plans tend to get scuttled.  Nobody wants to take on a project like that by themselves and I am happy to assist in whatever way necessary, although I don't think I am often as much help as I think that I am! 

Slate patio needed to be re-installed after being lifted to do a pond liner maintenance.
Not a pleasant job for neither man nor beast!

The slate patio is complete.  We also finished the brick walkway to the
upper pond seating area the same day.  Glad to see those jobs done!
The checker board patio is part of a future project.

If I have an equally big, 2 person task at hand, his plans will get redirected to be able to help me with my project.  If he is home, he will do the morning chores, which includes feeding the steers and opening the chicken coop, greenhouse and high tunnel.  If he has to be away, that may fall to me.  There are no pink jobs or blue jobs at our house.  They are all purple jobs.

Eggs washed and sorted.  Ready to be put in cartons by
whomever should see they need be dealt with.

Once the morning tea and daily plan is brought about, he goes his way and I go mine or we take to a task together, if that is what the day warrants.  We meet at lunch to reassess if plans need to be altered for the afternoon.  We used to meet at coffee time, but we spent more time yarning and less time doing, so we dumped the coffee breaks in favor of a bit longer lunch break and perhaps a late afternoon, pre-dinner beverage on the front deck.

Pre-dinner beverage ready to be enjoyed on the front deck.
The bottle opener was a gift from my grandson in Homage to
my absolute favorite movie!  It's a Major Award!

  Whoever gets into the house first typically makes or starts lunch, which is most typically my soup of the moment and perhaps a sandwich or seasonal salad.  I typically make one or two different soups each week.  This makes the noon meal a quicker reheat and we can get back to whatever we may be doing.

Dill Pickle Soup (recipe in a previous blog) and
egg salad on homemade bread is a typical lunch

Typically, I may have spent the morning in the garden, in the chicken coop, or assisting Papa in one of our many garden areas.  Perhaps I was harvesting whatever needed to be harvested then dealt with.  I may have worked in the greenhouse.  I may also have done housework, baking, canning, or even marathon cooking of freezer meals.  Typically though, after lunch, my afternoon becomes my own to do with, as I desire.

Pressure canner rocking and knocking as it preserves . . .

. . . a batch of Corned Beef.  The jar of garbanzo beans in the middle
was to fill the canner.  No point in running a canner that isn't full!

Corned Beef, fresh from the canner!  Looks amazing!

We tried it for lunch the next day on homemade buns, with Pickled Green Peppers and
cucumbers from the greenhouse.  It did not disappoint.  So good!

And that is when it can get interesting.  It is through my morning chores where I get the inspiration for my afternoon’s activities.  Whether it is to piece or quilt a quilt, design a quilt, write an article, a pattern, letter, or blog, paint, do a photo study of something interesting in the yard, go for a walk with Wilbur, take a bike ride to pick up the mail, make a pitcher of something cold and read a book or magazine, sort thru a project, visit with a customer who had booked a studio visit, teach a lesson, create something with one of my grandchildren and so on, this is always my favorite part of the day.  

My daily activities also heavily hinge on the weather.  If it is rainy or windy or otherwise too miserable, too cold or too hot to go outside (I am a fair weather gardener), my whole day can potentially become a studio day!  Bonus!

Afternoon Studio Project was this Bucket Hat.
I had made it for myself but the crown is too long and the
circumference is too small.  Guess someone else will
get to love it.

If I haven’t made a Crock-pot meal, taken out a premade freezer meal (typically a lasagna or other single dish dinner) or we are having something leftover (always a favorite in our house!), we will typically make dinner together.  Papa is my sous chef as I typically do the meal planning and cooking.  He does like to cook and will occasionally want to make our dinner, but he tends to typically leave this to me.  

In the summer it always involves something from the greenhouse or garden.  We have a standing daily question at our house during the greenhouse season, “Have you eaten your cucumber today?”  Fresh rules!  Currently we are enjoying greenhouse cucumbers, asparagus, spring onions, rhubarb and any perennial herbs.  Add some eggs from our chickens and you have a quick and easy omelette!

The daily picking of Asparagus!

My evening is typically spent with Papa, discussing our daily conquests, sharing a beverage, sitting on the deck or in the gazebo and enjoying each other’s company.  If we happen to be in the house, my evening time is spent doing some sort of hand work – EPP, hand quilting, knitting, embroidery, etc., as we sit with our feet up.  We typically watch a movie on DVD or a YouTube presentation – typically something gardening related – or perhaps listen to a CD.  We don’t have mainstream television in our house – by choice.   

Evening hand work project

Regardless of how my typically atypical day is spent, it never fails that I run out of day before I run out of things to do!

Enjoy your typical day!

Warm regards and until next time,

Gremlynn