Well, it's day 40 something of quarantine, I think... I've lost count... it doesn't matter... because my life has hardly changed.
Here is how it HAS changed... no going to church, no going to the gym, masks required in stores by the dictatorial governess, Dan is taking a pay cut. That's it.
Certain people are upset by this. Well, I'd be more sympathetic to them if I hadn't spent the last 25 years of my life prepping for this, because it looked inevitable to me in one form or another (not necessarily a pandemic, but that was certainly near the top of my list). This is actually quite a bit LESS serious than what I thought would happen. That's a good thing, because it is now blatantly obvious where we have flaws in our planning and preps for unusual situations...
Starting with simple preps - we were set for most foods, except milk (which of course got rationed, so I had to make MORE trips to the grocery store than I would have otherwise) and unbleached whole wheat flour for bread, and yeast. Well, sourdough takes care of the lack of yeast (good thing everyone likes it), but I'm laying in a better supply of the flour we use for making bread (which only half the family can eat anyway, so it's not on my list of absolutely mandatory items for TEOTWAKI). Anyway, we have two freezers full of meat and more living in the coops, cages, and swamp down near the river. And a reasonable amount of canned goods, although some items were running low because last year was a terrible year for cukes and maters (looking at you, salsa and relish and chutney!). This year, I will can three years worth of everything, and continue do that on a schedule that means we are never below one year's worth in storage.
The second major flaw was the seed issue - I saved some seeds last year, but due to the lack of cuke and mater harvest, I didn't save anywhere near everything we would normally eat. I had ordered my seeds in December, as usual, and received most of them by February, so this was not a major problem, except for potatoes, which ordinarily arrive at the beginning of April... I only got an email from the company yesterday, informing me they were not coming. I had gotten impatient with their lack of communication a week earlier and ordered some from another company, but they haven't arrived yet, either, although their website did say the 40# bag I ordered was in stock. In a moment of paranoia back in February, I had bought a small bag of organic potatoes on sale at the grocery store because they had started to sprout (At less than half price! Silly people!). Ultimately, I planted most of them, along with part of another bag. It is nowhere near enough to feed us for the year, much less have any seed potatoes for the following year (usually, we have some taters left, and some sweet potatoes, to plant the following year, but we never have enough for a large enough crop to do more than just feed us, meaning by year three, I have to order seed potatoes again, and sweet potato starts. Obviously, this means I need to plant more, but for that I need more space to plant taters and sweet potatoes. I waited too long to order sweet potato starts, so I will only be planting the ones I started myself from the remaining sweet potatoes from last year.
Anyway, I realize I need to save enough seed for TWO plantings (at least) of most veggies, in case the first one fails for some reason (like oh, this week the temps are going down to 20F at night which is going to play havoc with any newly germinated seeds not covered, and even some things that ARE covered. While we are not past our usual last frost date, the 20F temps predicted are not typical. Some things it's worth taking a chance to get an early start and harvest, but not when you cannot acquire more seeds if that planting fails...
Flaw #3 related directly to the impact this pandemic is having on our supply chains worldwide, and on the economy going forward. I believe the price of clothing will increase by fall, so I had the kids go through their clothing and tell me what they needed immediately, and what they would need by fall... so underwear, socks, pants, t-shirts, long sleeve shirts, etc... all ordered and received as of today. I need one more pair of pants (thank you, Duluth, for fitting right out of the bag). Then no one should need any clothes til next year... which is good, since pay cut means budget cut.
Minor issues included acquiring more canning jars, because I've given away so many half-pints. I realized I had hardy any left when I went to can some jam from the berries in the freezer we picked last year that I never got around to "jamming." I now have enough for this year, but not for three years worth. I don't expect to be seeing those at garage sales this summer, so I will pick up another dozen whenever I run into them while shopping. I have enough pints and quarts, thanks to my fabulous former neighbor who gave hers to me before she moved away :( I am missing her already and she has only been gone a week.
More minor issues... needed more cans/tanks to store rec gas for the equipment that takes it, also diesel, kerosene, and regular gas. Some of that has been taken care of, but not all.
I want to sell all the motorcycles, because they cost us $750 a year in insurance and no one rides the darn things because there are too many idiots texting while driving today. Youngest daughter needs to be motivated to fix the fuel system on mine before sale... hubby told her she could have the money if she did that and it sold. Well, I would have given her HALF the money, but that's just me, 'cause it's my bike. If she doesn't get it done by August, I'll just do it myself, and then I'll get ALL the money...
Anyway, we are doing fine here in the farmette, except that the daughters are going a bit stir crazy and are highly negative about all things related to the state government... but Whitless is a whole 'nother post for a day when I want my blood pressure to go up...
