Silver linings

One week into quarantine.... no, social distancing..... um... not going anywhere? There. That sounds familiar. Whatever you call it, here we are. We did run a few errands last week because we were worried everything might shut down and this week even more has shut down. But no meetings, no hanging out with people (besides my husband and kids. I am spending a lot of time with those people.)

It is reassuring to know that no matter what is going on around the globe or even a few hours south, spring is still coming. It is not the spring we had planned, but it is still spring. The sap is still rising, the birds are returning, the snow disappearing, and buds swelling. In so many ways it seems like the world has been turned upside down and everything has changed. But as the natural world ticks along unchanged, I realize it is just the surface, human concerns that have been affected. Spring is still coming. 

(And coming early this year apparently, for which I am devoutly thankful!)

Even with everything changing, there are a lot of silver linings. I know how lucky we are and other people have a much harder time right now than we do, but how lucky to have time to spend with family, experiment with bread making, watch spring unfold, finish up our house, and get to know my kids a little better? 

On Sunday we had our last meeting and last family dinner for awhile. There was a request for chocolate cake and I made one, but the icing was runny and not totally stable. That combined with me talking to Cody as he carried his precarious slice of cake away made a wee bit of mess. Fortunately, there was plenty more cake, so it was not a tragedy, just hilarious. 

Gilbert enjoying spring on the tire swing

I love this boy-o so much! 

Last week driving into work. 

That is one upside of the time change--I get to watch the sunrise on the way to work again. 

Walks with the dogs have increased approximately 185%. 

Pussy willows. 

You know, I can't call them pussy willows at school. Even young kids giggle and somehow understand there is some innuendo there. So I now call them willow catkins. Which is actually a fun name too, so that is okay. But still... 

Spring skies on the way home from work.

Why not take a walk in shorts and play with ice? 

Love this delightful child!

Spring sun breaking through the clouds.

Impressive cloud piles

Gilbert is such a sweet big brother. He is telling her about things and showing her how to do things she already knows how to do. 

I struggle with this a little--Elsie can be sort of rude about it--"I know that, Gilbert." But at the same time, she doesn't see any reason to treat Gilbert differently than anyone else and I sort of hate to ruin that, by telling her to be patient with him. 

Gilbert takes a lot of pictures on my phone that I would never take, but every once in awhile, I like them.

How our house looks these days--Orianna singing along to a song in her pajamas, Elsie's hair undone, laundry baskets around and morning sun pouring in. 

Life is good, friends!

Had the kids doing some manual labor on a rainy day this week. 

They were thrilled to pieces of course. I told them they were planking for gym class. Har-dee-har-har-har. 

I am trying a wild yeast sourdough starter. I takes days, but my first loaf is going in the oven this morning, so I am excited to see how it turns out! 

Cut pine log dripping pitch at our neighbor's sawmill. 

Spring on the neighbor's farm.

Waiting to get hitched up and haul sap to the sugarhouse.

Catkins on the poplars

Lily putting poly on the trim work.

Orianna doing the same.

Regular yeast bread. But since yeast was in short supply, I have been doing long rise breads that only use a teeny bit of yeast. The kids prefer the long rise bread to the quick rise bread, so that works out! 

The sugarhouse at full steam.

Some fresh bread. Seriously, I have made a lot of bread this week. Bread was scarce last week when I was grocery shopping, so I bought what flour I could and made some. And my kids eat a lot more bread when it is fresh out of the oven. 

Stopping by the bank to pick up some paperwork for our house--the lobbies are closed, so the drive through is pretty busy. Apparently a lot of people are getting a lot of cash out, which I don't totally understand since people say cash is one of the most germy things we use on a regular basis. 

Justin made a game for the kids the other night, that involves slingshotting pucks of wood through a narrow center slot. You win by getting all the pucks on your opponents side. The kids love it!

Gilbert taking yet more selfies on my phone. 

View from our new bedroom window.

White trees against a blue sky! 

I hope you are finding some silver linings to all this craziness!