Life in these Pandemic Times
Hey friends! I hope if you are taking the time to read this, you are home and safe and healthy. What a weird time we are experiencing now! I think this pandemic has touched everyone’s life in some way, small or great, by now. I know my life is certainly very different right now and so I wanted to share a personal update on all we have going on here.
Quaranteaching
First, and possibly most significantly, my family is home. All day. Every. Day. Listen, I love my husband and my little people more than the air I breathe, but currently, there is no quiet time for me. I don’t think I realized how much I need that quiet time to recharge my batteries. During the week days, I’m now Professor Mom, the quaran-teacher. Trying to balance 2 wildly different curriculums for my 1st grader and 4th grader, managing an infinite number of apps from school teachers that just seems to grow daily, all while trying to keep my kids lives feeling not too chaotic and stressful … well really this in and of itself could be a full time job. My kids have been blessed with excellent public school teachers and man oh man am I missing them and the amazing job they do. Teachers need a raise for real y’all!
Learning (and playing Prodigy) around the dining room table. Our 2 kiddos have done a great job settling in to this reality.
Fish Tubbing time
In case you didn’t know, I’m the President of the Atlanta Area Aquarium Association, a freshwater fishkeepers club here in Georgia. We have been without fish for quite some time in our house because life has been busy. Especially when most of our fish we get from the meetings and now we run the meetings. It’s hard to orchestrate the event and shop. One of my goals in our time home is that we each have a project to work on and I knew the “Honey Do” list wasn’t a proper project for my husband to have. So by the grace of a dear friend, we now have 7 new fish to breed. Four of them are going to be kept in tanks inside. The other 3, fancy guppies, peppermint mickey mouse platys, and trout goodeids, are going in some outdoor tubs for breeding. Our club has a breeders award program and a horticulturist award programs. Between the 7 species to get breeding and probably 10-12 plants, we should have some good fun getting back into the hobby.
The Lovingly Grown Gardens are back!
The next big project we are working on is getting our vegetable gardens going again. It would be disingenuous to say we are homesteading, but this certainly reignites my desire to homestead. If you read my past blog about my fiber arts journey, then you know gardening is where my journey began years ago. Nothing like the present stress of the world to motivate me to throw myself back at gardening again. I won’t go into crazy detail now, but we got 2 beds and a few pots/containers up and running. In Atlanta, we have such a long growing season that I’m going to go ahead and put in spring crops even though I should have started them in February. The summer crops will start sprouting inside and ready to transplant in 2.5 months or so. So this first round will bring snow peas, sugar snap peas, shelling peas, Yaya carrots, Touchon carrots, golden beets, Merlin beets, Detroit beets, Chioggia beets, Fire n Ice radishes, watermelon radishes, spinach, romaine, looseleaf lettuce, red potatoes, strawberries, dinosaur kale, red Russian kale, broccoli and Fioretto 60 cauliflower.
As I said, I’m going to be getting all my summer plants germinating in the mean time. Please note that all my seeds are old and so I’m not sure what I’m going to get. Right now I’ve started a ton of herbs (side note: whatever possessed me to buy 12 different types of basil in the past has me scratching my head). I’m also starting 5 types of peppers, 5 types of tomatoes, 2 types of cucumbers, butternut squash, pumpkins, 2 types of watermelon, 3 types of beans, yellow squash, zucchini, corn … I’m sure I’m forgetting something. There will be an abundance. My oldest tomato seeds were over 10 years old, and somehow, 3 actually sprouted of the 15 I tried to germinate. I was expecting a lower yield out of seeds from 4 years ago, but got 100% germination so I know I’ll have way too many. I’ll probably end up selling the extra seedlings for just enough to recoup my soil and pot cost. Should be fun to see little gardens pop up!
Fiber for my soul
Don’t worry, fiber is still part of my daily life. I’m working diligently on a CVM/Romeldale breed study I hope to have ready for you in the next few weeks. I’ve got my first 3 samplers spun up. I completely adore how active the yarn is and these colors are to die for! As we get settled in to our school from home routine, I’m able to slip out of the room for wool washing, or sit for combing or spinning. I took a quick spin break this weekend to play with some French Angora rabbit wool. I’m not so secretly hopeful that I’m not allergic to rabbits so we can consider some pet Angoras. So FLUFFY! Spinning angora wool is a completely different experience than sheep wool. So luxurious!
Sneak peek of 3 of the CVM/Romeldale colors that I have combed and spun.
So that’s life here. If I’m honest, I’m keeping myself busy enough that I can’t drown in the stress of the world around me. Some days are great, while others I feel myself being dragged under emotionally. But we are getting through. My kids have taken it in stride well and my husband and I are a great team and using our hobbies to keep our minds on positive topics. The best thing you can do is be gentle with yourself right now and listen to what your body is telling you it needs. I’d love to know what you’re doing to keep yourself together during these pandemic times.
Would you be interested in a gardening section being added to my blog? Please let me know in the comments below. Stay well, stay safe, and stay home.