Month: April 2020

May 2022. This is a post from the beginning of the pandemic. It’s been sitting in my draft folder for more than two years now. I am publishing it without revising, so please excuse its first-draft form.

But where I also planted the Tree Collards!

I got six hours of work in today. I had to take an hour off to take Sentinel to get his stitches out, and then another hour to pick Matt up from work. So it wasn’t quite the productive day, hours-wise I was hoping. That was disappointing.

On the upside, last fall I ordered Tree Collard cuttings, which are a perennial plant that allows one to harvest collard-like greens on a perpetual basis. As I eat a lot of greens (I bought four bunches of kale during yesterday’s WinCo trip) having a steady supply is an attractive notion.

I had to start them in pots over the winter. I haven’t necessarily been good at doing that before, and I didn’t go and buy fancy potting medium, I just used the same potting soil I use to grow the cats’ wheat grass.

But little by little they seemed to be taking root. And today they have been transplanted to their own holes in the ground!

It looks like I should plan to take some cuttings every autumn just in case my tree collards don’t make it through the winter. But now I feel confident in doing that.

May 2022. This is a post from the beginning of the pandemic. It’s been sitting in my draft folder for more than two years now. I am publishing it without revising, so please excuse its first-draft form.

My global pandemic low moment came on February 29, (?) when I visited WinCo for my usual twice-monthly shopping trip and found the store that is open 24 hours to be closed to restock due to pandemic over buying. I posted in a snit on Instagram and drove home. I ate my frozen and stored food.

My next visit to WinCo came on 3/14, when I checked both the WinCo website (no information) and the Oregonian to be updated about hours. I drove to arrive for their new 7 a.m. opening, only to find that they now opened at 8. I shopped at Fred Meyer.

Today, I arrived at WinCo at 8 (again, their website was not helpful and I could find no information about hours online) and found that they are currently open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

It was an interesting shopping trip. They won’t be stocking the bulk food section, which is too bad as that was a big draw. But all the fruits and vegetables I needed were present as was nearly everything on my list.

I’m going to have to find a new source for nutritional yeast, for the time being, at least.

I also shopped at Fred Meyer, where they have installed clear Plexiglas shields to keep their workers healthy. I kind of liked them, and part of me wishes they would stay up after the pandemic is over.

The news today is that the CDC *might* ask everyone to wear masks when they leave their houses. I looked online and found a pattern to make one. I’m missing elastic, but if I need to, I can improvise. Meanwhile Matt’s mother gave him a box of 30 masks she had ordered in January, and told him to share them with his friends. We immediately turned around and donated to an organization collecting PPE supplies. “I made some new friends when I donated.” Matt said.

May 2022. This is a post from the beginning of the pandemic. It’s been sitting in my draft folder for more than two years now. I am publishing it without revising, so please excuse its first-draft form.

Today! A momentous day! After filing for unemployment, I spent the rest of the day working on my things. I had three solid hours of planning Q2 for 3SMReviews and for Keen Eye. While I planned, I felt the familiar exciting hum of “gotta get started”. But I’m trusting that a good section of planning will set me off on the right path.

There was a rat in the back yard today. In broad daylight, sniffing around. It seemed in no hurry, so I eventually opened the door and walked outside to hurry it on it’s way. Even then it was in no hurry and moseyed over to a space in the fence. It may have been a sick or old rat, on it’s way out. Or maybe it will come by every afternoon. From my perch at my desk, I can watch out for it.

I put in 7 hours total today. My goal is 6-10 hours per day. I feel good about my first day, the planning I did, and the variety of things I did. I don’t feel good about the rat.

Also! Last night I had a very long dream that there was an earthquake. In the dream, I did the exact wrong thing–I ran outside and curled up beneath a tree. I spent the rest of the dream chastising myself for not knowing what to do and reminding myself of good earthquake survival tips.

This morning’s Instagram feed was full of news that Idaho had an earthquake!