Monday, April 6th

Tried the whipped iced coffee again today.  Still only half impressed but it was fun to make.  Elliot liked his.  

Day 1.  Was a tougher day trying to find rhythm between work, keeping boys occupied, and sourdough lol 

They found their kites.  Isaac got his up into the sky. 

Elliot will try again tommorow....

The fruits of my mom and I’s labor!!!  First attempt at sourdough!!!!

Every few hours mom and I would connect to either feed or pull or bake this thing and it was yummy!!!!  Soft, airy inside and crusty outside.  Most of it is gone now. 

Tonight I forgot I had a zoom date with the girls.  I remembered at 8:15.... late as usual.  Very nice to connect for a couple hours.  Two brand new babies and a pandemic to catch up on!

While I was zooming, the boys were renovating their hangout space upstairs!!  

Please note the theatre seating!!!!  Lol. It was clean and organized with new art work on the walls and lots of fun places to sit and they even fixed and moved the air hockey table.  

Pretty productive day.  And the house is clean!!!  

I just woke up from a really nice dream. Chris and I had bought a little white Volkswagen van and were  driving it around in Winnipeg. Shannon was there too and we were busy getting tokens for all of our kids at a indoor amusement park. That was part of it, but then the evening was over and it was time to go and Chris and I were driving down portage Avenue near polo park in this VW van with the boys, and I just remember thinking ‘this is fun, we should go camping in it this weekend’ but I also remembering thinking ‘we are so close to nana and grandads, we should stop in so they can meet my boys but then I remembered Covid and knew I couldn’t risk them’

Sunday, April 5th

Thought this was appropriate ..... and relevant. 

Saw a post that called it “the quarantine coffee” .... served over ice, it was whipped coffee .... it was an interesting drink.  Kind of fun to try something new but I probably won’t do it again. 

Nettles were ready for soup!  My whole family loves this soup - I’m so glad!

Isaac went off for a bike ride to Lake Cowichan this afternoon.  I think he’s feeling a bit stir crazy and missing his friends.  I don’t blame him.  I do too ...

This evening we cut some more wood for the woodshed since we’ve been burning every day to warm our house. 

Unfortunately Isaac hit a piece of wood and a chunk flew up so quickly and hit him in the face. It hit his nose before hitting the  top of his eye and and side of his face.  So grateful it skipped over his eyeball .... lucky kid. 

Elliot found my hiding spot in my closet .... I hide marshmallows and chocolate chips for baking ...

And this is what the kids will hopefully follow starting tommorow. Lots of flexibility - morning walk? Not if you don’t want to, just move your body in some way - we have a treadmill they like to use (because they can watch Simpsons while the walk lol).  

We will see how this upcoming week goes!!!!!!

Saturday, April 4th

Started this morning enjoying this little diagram and figuring out which box I was yesturday and which I wanted to be today .... so - yesturday I decided it was box 8 or 9 ... and today I preferred it to be more of a 3 ... nurturing, loving, content.

Took a loop around the property with this kid today ....

I have been wanting some nettles for soup!  And Chris and I went out the other day and they were nowhere to be found in our area ... but I knew they were in Duncan and have been for a few weeks ... so today after lunch, we headed out to Maple Mountain and within 5 minutes of walking ... boom!  A patch!!

It's funny, once you see a patch, you see them everywhere ....

In 2 stops, we filled a bag ....

Chris was going for the above patch ... and then he reels back and I wonder if he retched a bit at what he saw below the patch ... I am still laughing ....

We stopped at Nicoles house for sourdough starter .... she fed it before I got there, and it continued to grow on the way home!! My teenager loves carbs, so I figured I will teach him to make bread this week ....

He wanted to do the mushrooms ..... dinner was good tonight ... salad, mushrooms, corn and baked chicken.....

Tonights walk and I ran into a sweet little deer on the front field ...

Meanwhile, next door, the neighbors were working on their own carbs .... Pasca ... Easter sweet bread!

And now for an old favorite ... I love Barbara Streisand in this movie but now as I am watching it, it really is dumb ... I just love the final scene when he comes to her window and says 'I don't care that you're pretty, I want to be married to you' .... (they are already married which is why that is cute), and then they dance in the street and its so sweet!!!

Friday, April 3rd

This morning was to readjust WOA campers to the fall retreat new date, or to refund ... so Lisa and I worked on that this morning.  Once we answered all 80 emails with the responses, I started to call people for their answers. 

Felt pretty weird asking campers "How are you" when I would call ... hence why I thought this was funny .... cause really, how are any of us really "doing" (insert air quotes lol).  But most people were excited for the re-schedule, saying thank you for just changing the dates and not cancelling like everyone else is.

The afternoon was spent applying for EI, so that was something I didn't think would ever happen .. never say never right?

It was a weird day ... so when it's weird, its nice to cook good food ... enter HelloFresh .... this was an interesting burger made with a cheese that I was supposed to grill .... with a basil pesto sauce, tomato and lettuce ... it tasted good .. but the kids weren't huge fans .... but it looked pretty!  It was a great dinner paired with a cider .... in bed ... perfecto.

For dessert, this kid was excited to use our drill to roast marshmallows in our fire place....

And I think this was the crux of what depressed me today ... until now it has been a bit of a novelty to be home, and be a bit more isolated ... but some of these 'NO', look so innocent, --keeping it under 10 people, going outside, 'quick' distant glass of wine .... just confirming no meet ups of any kind and it was sad!!  So ... today was sad ... and that is ok. ... I have really nice boys to isolate with ... later today we will go hunt nettles for soup ... probably have to drive to Duncan for them because when we went out yesturday, there were none ... I guess it is still too cold up here...

Last night, on the local facebook site, we read about some excitement happening down at the school ... so we went for a drive ...

Turns out a woman capsized her boat up in Cayceuse and was in the water for an hour .. the amount of people needed for this rescue was wild ... and just confirmation to STAY home and don't take un-necessary risks because you could take many medical professionals away from where they really need to be .... I wonder what this lady's story was ... why would a boat capsize ?  Was she being dumb?  Either way ... that was alot of personnel who got her to the hospital safe ...including all our firefighters ....

 10:30 ... and this kid runs before bed .... love that we have a treadmill ... we should get some free weights for him ... not sure where those would come from ....

 And this kid, at 10:30 was busy sewing up a hole in the crotch of his onesie with the supervision of Mittens ....

Nice to go to bed .... it was a pretty uneventful, long day with people I love ... we are still safe and healthy and did our part to flatten the curve ;-)

I just got up from the nicest visit with grandad. I can’t remember the beginning of it. And as with dreams, it makes a lot of  sense when you’re in them, but when you wake up and you remember the last scenes, you can’t explain the context. But I was with granddad.  One part, we were part of a long lineup of people’s waiting to go into a parade and he saw a girl next to me and didn’t want to interrupt if we were together and I said “I don’t know her, come stand with me”. And so we waited in line together and it was nice just to do that.  In the last scene, my grandad had to go away, and he was walking away and I can see him through this black iron metal gate and I was holding an old lamp, maybe for a momento?   But I saw him through the metal gate walking slowly away. He was wearing his overcoat and hat. But I called after him, and he turned around and I push the gate open and ran into his arms and he cried too. So now I am awake trying to record this memory of time with him, and barely being able to talk because of the tears. I sure loved him. He had such a nice, kind disposition and I know he loved us so much. It was such a nice hug, and I feel so lucky for the visit. So now I lie here just enjoying the feeling of the love and the sadness of him having to go.  That was a gift. Time just together is the gift.  You’ll never get it back, except in dreams 

Thursday, April 2nd

This morning isaac and Chris worked on the shed down at camp. It’s pretty chilly .... but I’m glad there is a project they can work on together.  

My favorite coffee shop put out a Facebook post that they were closing for the rest of the month.  So, with a small order for coffee beans for Lisa and Laura, the boys and I set out to grab some beans to get us through April!!  We waited out in the parking lot with very big distance between everyone until it was our turn. 

My car has 20,000km over the number it should have had at my last oil change that should have been in November.  Oops - time just went so fast and the last thing in need right now is something going wrong with our car - they were great ... did an engine flush and an oil change.  While we were waiting in our car, Isaac spotted a kid up top on the shelves .... chatted him up for the entire visit.  The kid was totally lite up when we left .... 

Here is Isaac chatting him up .... asking many personal questions that in no time, the kid totally opened up. Telling Isaac about his mom, his girlfriend (he’s 9! And been dating her for 2.5 years lol).... lots of “would you rather” questions.... Isaac is really missing interactions with people. 

So I let him tap the card and grab the pizza from dominos ... he had a good day .... 

It was nice to get out and do a couple small errands since we haven’t been out except to the grocery store.  It’s a significant time.  

Wednesday, April 1st.

This makes sense - 

We did a very distant hike with Shannon and her family for her birthday today.

Love my new hat from Laura ... so soft and cozy.

My sweet friend on her birthday ....

On our hike on the Cowichan Footpath, Chris and his memory always knows where the geocache is...

My love ... happy to be locked down with him ....

Loved that Elliot wore this sweatshirt today because he ran ahead for most of the hike, we could see him from far away.

He found a little green toy frog in the geocache ....

He is loving the lockdown .. he hated the hike time but he did it with no complaints .... he is such a neat kid ...

A birthday picture of beautiful girl on her April 1st birthday, taken from 6 feet away!!!