Pandemic Brouhaha

  

 The Wordy Bit

Oh, darlings, this one is allllll wordy bit. I might throw in a picture or two, but it's mostly me just touching base with you since I haven't posted in five months! Five months! Can you believe that? I find it hard to believe, but then again, with everything going on in the world....the days have blurred together. Like, bad. Oof, the holidays were a mish-mash of placating kids who wanted to travel and see family, distracting myself from the fact I didn't get to see family, trying desperately to carve out some "me" time, convincing the littlest one that it's okay to take a break from school, convincing the teen that it's necessary to continue school, cooking, baking, juggling new schedules and ways of life....see where I'm going with this? Our lives were hectic last year, and that's putting it mildly. 

This year, we know more or less what to expect from the coming months. More of working from home and staying in; more eating in and never getting takeout; more time at home (staycations for all!). Things like that. Obviously, not everyone is taking it to the extent we are, but we are doing what we feel is best for us. One of the biggest changes is swapping our biggest meal of the day from dinner to lunch. This does a whole lot for us as a family: it gives hubby and the little a break from work/school, it provides us all a healthy dose of family time in the middle of the day, and it frees up our evenings. By getting the heavy-duty cooking and kitchen cleaning done at lunch, dinner is a 5 minute clean up. And since my days start early and fast, I'm all for a laid-back evening. 

Big news! We have expanded our garden! We are essentially doubling what we had last year, as well as adding some extra  edible landscaping. We have a hill that is partly our property and partly an easement between our neighborhood and a farm behind us. We will be landscaping the entire hill with beneficial plants. Mainly, we're sourcing native plants that attract hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees. We're also sourcing some plants that will provide extra food for the wildlife in the winter. On the part of the hill that is still our property, we planted some fruit trees and bushes to go along with the wild blackberry bushes. I'll be taking photos along the way so I can share the progress once it's all blooming. 

As far as crochet is concerned, I'm actually taking a break mid-several projects. D'oh! That's right, I'm pausing my t-shirt, two sweaters, and fixing a pair of socks for probably about a month. Why? Because we got ourselves a puppy. An absolutely untrained in every conceivable way, completely adorable and floofy in the best way, tremendously excited and super actively hyper, probably going to be as big as Clifford....puppy. So, everything is on hold because every waking moment is split between taking care of my normal day-to-day, keeping the littlest on track with school and puppy training, and keeping the puppy following the house rules. It's a lot. So much so that my fantastically amazing husband is stretching himself even thinner than usual to make sure I have an extra hand when I need it. So, once the dust has settled a bit, I do plan on bringing you up to speed, again, and getting back on track with sharing crafts, crochet patterns, and yummy recipes.