Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Months End

Despite the strangeness of this time, nature goes on, as she always has. While us humans are preoccupied with statistics and numbers and projections and flattening the curve and social distancing, the flowers are budding and blooming, grass is growing tall and thick enough to mow, birds are up before sunrise each morning and their songs wake me up in the half-light of dawn. I sleepily pull on my robe and spend a few minutes at the window enjoying a cool breeze and quietness before starting my day with a shower and a pot of coffee.


It's been warm lately; so warm, in fact, that the first morel mushrooms were spotted in southern Ohio this past weekend. My peach trees have buds that are full. The merest touch causes them to fall open in a flutter of soft white blossoms. I felt bad trimming them but the job was done, and I had enough peach trimmings to make a pretty wreathe for the dining room. It reached almost 80 degrees on Saturday and 70 on Sunday. After some yardwork Sunday morning Rosie and I lay on the porch, watching the clouds and enjoying the sun on our faces. 


We went out a few times to local wildlife areas to enjoy the weather. While the ground was still a bit boggy, it was lovely to be out and to hear all the little peepers peeping their hearts out from the pond. Across the pond we saw the only other people there - two fisherman, and we waved and moved along the trail, soon out of sight.







The governor extended schools closing til May 1st, so it is nice to know for sure that this month we will all still be learning at home. It makes it easier to prepare and the kids know what to expect, which has helped them settle down a little more and take learning at home more seriously. David has been able to continue his weekly meetings with his school counselor via video chat and on Thursday he will be able to meet with his teacher and a few friends via video chat - something he is looking forward to! Anne's teacher called her yesterday to check-in, and tell her that she misses her! Benjamin's teacher is putting together a facebook group for parents and students. Malachi has resumed school-as-usual after his online school took their spring break last week. During his break, we painted his bedroom and it looks so nice now! Since moving in, the room has been dark green with black trim and glow in the dark star stickers everywhere; now it's light blue with white trim and white clouds painted on the ceiling, per his request, since that is how I painted the ceiling in his room when he was little and we lived in Illinois). 😊 I used faux grasspaper wall covering on the wall his window is in and made new curtains from blue and white gingham. 

I began some sourdough starter early this year and it took it forever, it seemed, to ripen enough to raise bread on its own. I hated throwing away half of it each day so I began to bake bread with the extra, the "poolish", and a little yeast thrown in for good rise. Little by little I've been able to decrease the yeast and now my starter is very strong and has great rise. My loaves are definitely sour now. The boys like it but the little ones aren't so sure. So far, besides the loaves we bake each day, we've made English muffins, bagels, cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls (the boys like these made into breakfast sandwiches with cheese, eggs, and ham) and pizza crust. I made a breakfast pizza on Sunday with sausage and eggs and it was a success! Will do again. It's awesome to feed all the kids with one giant pizza crust, half a lb of sausage, white gravy, and 6 eggs, rounded out with some fruit and milk.



I made a quick little dress inspired by the Dottie Angel Frock dress. I don't have the actual Dottie Angel dress pattern so I used my Maya Top pattern and modified it for the dress. This was made as a wearable muslin and has some fit issues I think I've worked out for the next one - whenever I decide to make another. 


We have been enjoying our backyard a great deal. I am so grateful for the yard we have here! I need to clear out one far corner where honeysuckle are taking over but we got a lot of sticks picked up and burned over the weekend. When the coal bed was nice we took out some hot dog packages and also roasted some marshmallows. Later on we took our drums out and did some drumming with a friend of mine who has been hosting virtual drum circles. It was very nice!



It's hard to believe April begins tomorrow. At the same time, it's hard to believe St. Patricks Day was two weeks ago. March seems like it has been immeasurably long. When we started this month I had my calendar penciled in with so many things - school open house days for music class, dental appointments, doctor visits. The first 14 days were our last "normal" ones. The only things on my calendar for April are Easter and Rosie's 5th birthday. 






We've been  having positive updates from our governor the last few days on how social distancing is indeed helping to flatten the curve. Friends of mine who work in healthcare say that although they have emergency plans in place, so far they have been able to well handle what they've had. I know we are not at peak yet, but the projection now does not seem so dire. It is encouraging! Stay home, social distance, and enjoy your immediate family and the wonderful company nature offers. We are getting through this! I love you my friends,

Sarah 

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for sharing this! It is different times we are living in, no doubt. Those of us who have property are lucky that we have room to go out and enjoy nature! I love seeing family time. Reminds me how wonderful my own upbringing was.

    ~Ms. Rebecca

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your lovely thoughts!