We are all spending lots of time in the kitchen in a never ending cycle of make, gather, scrape, dump, clean, load, empty, make… we have a colander that gathers the coffee filters, the apple cores, the oatmeal sludge for compost and it is working on overtime lately since we’re all home and all eating at home. Anders asks for about four meals by noon and it begs the question, “Is this boredom eating or is the child truly hungry?” Some nights I see that the hour is creeping around to dinner and I just do not have the stamina to think of something else or spend one more second in the kitchen (those are quesadilla or yogurt and granola nights). Anyway, here’s my point. There’s a few random workhorses in the kitchen that you may not think are kitchen necessities but have, for me, become quite indispensable. So here they are, rounded up, in a post.
DIY Garden Bed!
We’ve been talking about a small garden bed of our own for a long time now, and being stuck at home has been just the time to finally make one. I plan on doing some herbs, lettuces, zucchinis, peppers, and a few other things here, and I’m really looking forward to it. Steve and William built this one, and now William is busy making them in various sizes for local people. It seems that this pandemic has made everyone want to grow their own food. No time like quarantine to start it! Steve wrote out the directions and I will definitely update this with some nicer pictures once our grass has grown in (we just laid some more dirt and seed down) and we’ve got some actual things growing.
Now onto the directions…
Notes for the Road (still home) and decorating Easter eggs!
Easter weekend is upon us. Hope you are finding small ways to celebrate in your homes. The weather is supposed to be nice this weekend, so I’m really excited about that. Outdoor time is truly life-giving in even greater ways than it used to be. The boys and I made these eggs last week with red cabbage and they’re the prettiest shade of blue ever. Instructions below.
Some weekend reading…
Three podcasts I’ve enjoyed lately.
Oprah’s Supersoul Podcast with Michael Pollan
I loved this podcast so much I listened to it twice. Anytime Michael Pollan speaks, I want to hear what he has to say (I nearly went to an event of his last fall at Northeastern but ended up having to miss!). He’s so level-headed, and he simplifies what can feel really unattainable in reasonable ways. Like when he says, “You want cookies? Great, eat them. Just make them yourself.” While I don’t always employ all of his advice, it just makes so much sense. Cooked is next up for my reading!
Notable quote: The most profound engagement with the natural world happens on our plates.
Worth reading: The Omnivore’s Dilemma
Brene Brown’s Unlocking Us with Glennon Doyle
This is one that I would love to unpack with dear friends. I love so much of what these two women add to the world. The parts on motherhood and martyrdom were so interesting and I can see women from different walks having such different views on it. There were parts that I wasn’t entirely sure I was on board with, but also understood how it would be a balm for some listening. Basically, a great conversation starter. Listen to it, and let me know what you think!
Notable quote: When we grant ourselves permission to live as our truest selves, we automatically grant permission to everyone around us to do the same.
Worth reading: Love Warrior (though I’m dying to read Untamed)
The Moth Podcast (any episode)
This podcast is almost exactly what I want to listen to any day of the week, any time of day. Story-telling at its finest. Non professionals most of the time, but such beautiful vulnerability shown. There’s laughter, there’s tears, the stories run the gamut and I think you’ll love it. I’d love to go to a live event when this is all over.
P.S. My favorite time for podcasts is when I’m doing my makeup or when I’m doing laundry (since I’m not spending much time in the car these days, and I don’t typically have very long drives anyway). Makes the laundry especially enjoyable.
P.P.S. My favorite headphones are these!
Please share what podcasts you’re enjoying!
Notes for the Road (still home).
It’s Friday! But suddenly Friday is just like a Monday, a Tuesday, a Saturday… even so… get on a Zoom happy hour with your friends, and watch a good movie tonight. We’re still slowly but surely getting things together in our house for the bedroom re do, and taking everything else in life one day at a time. What other choice do we have? (plant wall! It’s beautiful, isn’t it?)
Some weekend reading…
No April Fools today. (Just a video of happier times.)
I came downstairs this morning to a text, “Quarantine is over!”
On one hand, it gave me a moment’s pause (I hadn’t had coffee yet.)–did some miraculous intervention happen over night while half of the world slumbered? Is this for real? And on the other–how irresponsible of Trump! Why would he end quarantine!?
And about two and a half seconds later, “Ah. It’s April 1st.”
I’m in two minds, really. Aren’t we all? Appreciating the slow, beautiful bits that this quarantine has undeniably forced us to adopt, while also itching to hug my friends, to walk into a cafe and order a coffee with a pre-COVID19 naivety, to go to the playground with the kids, to walk down the street and pass people without this strange, unfriendly (though understandably), large berth we’re currently giving one another.
So, in between pieces of homeschooling, I finally loaded my clips from our lake time last July to my computer to put together a video (notifications of full storage on my phone were encouraging me to do so, too!). It was a great reminder that this is temporary and our days in the sun will come again. Hang on, friends. We’re already doing it.
Notes for the Road (well, notes for home, this week).
What day is it? (Friday.) What time is it? (As of me writing this, 6:32 AM.) How are you doing? (I really, really hope you are well.) We are at the end of week two of social distancing here in Massachusetts and I’m finding comfort in the bright spots on the internet like this new Save with Stories instagram account (and the easiest way to donate $10!), the bright spots in your week, watching Money Pit with the boys one morning (Tom Hanks’ laugh at the bathtub scene), bike rides on a warm evening, and dance parties while I make dinner on Instagram. I’m hoping that you’re all enjoying the levity I’m trying to bring to Instagram, despite the fact that so many’s realities are dire. It feels right, but I know there is suffering, and sadness out there too. I just hope evening dance parties might bring a smile to your face.
Some weekend reading…
quarantine q+a.
I’d like to do a little quarantine Q+A. This will, my friends, require that you really utilize that dusty old ‘comment’ button at the bottom of the post. Since it’s feeling a little like a throwback time all around–families playing cards, eating dinner around the table–maybe we could also bring back blog commenting? I’d love to hear from you.
Here’s my questions (and answers):
A homeschool schedule, of sorts, for this surprise-to-us-all, quarantine we’re in! Our own ideas, free resources, and more.
There are, oh, at least a dozen other Moms I could rattle off the top of my head who are much more equipped to write this post than I am. Moms who are actual homeschoolers. Moms who are clucking right now as the rest of us scramble to figure out how to do what they have been doing all along. But, getting advice from a homeschooler as a non-homeschooler is perhaps a little bit like being advised on how to climb El Cap from Alex Honnold himself when you’re wondering, “is there anyone else who can give me some help? Any beginners out there?”
In a sing-songy voice: here I am! Total beginner! No clue what I’m doing! Let’s see if, together, we can just get like ten feet off the Yosemite Valley floor, never mind free solo to the tip top.
Five things to do when stuck inside because of COVID-19, and Notes for the Road.
Oof. What a time it’s been. Kind of amazing that in some way, shape, or form, every single person on the planet (except maybe these guys) are being affected by this. Charlie always illustrates it best.