Covid Journal, Day 19: Bread and Bulk, Family and Poetry

43 this morning, and the sun up and promising a pretty day. We seem to be stuck on that 43 degree mark in the mornings! The day will warm up, so perhaps there will be time for a walk.

We finally ran out of store-bought bread, so it was time to break out the yeast and get to work. I made an oatmeal-honey bread that refused to rise at first, but eventually came up to the mark. I opted for round loves. This bread makes great toast.

I've been looking ahead and thinking about the kinds of things we may run out of. We are still well-stocked but I went ahead and ordered some things in advance of need. My lemon-ginger tea, a must in the mornings,

PG Tips tea for making iced tea. Dish detergent arrived yesterday, and laundry detergent is on the way. The super-sized toilet paper rolls arrived last week, as did plastic food storage bags and a big box of 192 Mini-Moos for Larry's coffee if we run out of milk. I've ordered a pound of yeast, a gallon of canola oil, and back-ordered more flour. I also ordered birdseed (black sunflower) and seed cakes for our wild birds that seem to be feeling hard done by since the feed ran out.

I am going back and forth between Amazon and ebay for these things, depending on who can ship fastest. Many Amazon items have a long shipping time now, whereas ebay can have most items out in less than a week. I know we could go to the store during senior hours, but I prefer not to go if possible. We will run out of fresh fruit before long, as well as milk and butter. Those things I will ask my son to pick up for us. He can leave them on our porch, where they will stay overnight  before we touch them--and even then we'll be sanitizing and wearing gloves.

It s a little more expensive ordering online, but the flip side of that is that we are not traveling, and what we're buying is still much less than usual. I appreciate my mailman more and more every day and hope this virus will not affect him or his family. How are your supplies holding up? Are you still getting out to the stores, or are you buying online? Or are you still well-supplied with all you need?

All our family is still well. My cousin reports that Aunt Grace is still well and enjoyed reading the many kind messages sent to her via my cousin through Facebook. At 98 she is so very vulnerable, but chipper and cheerful as ever. My cousin Les, the brother of John who writes the blog By Stargoose And Hanglands, called last weekend and said he and John are both well, but cannot get together because of the very strict stay-home rules now in effect in England. They are only allowed outside for an hour of exercise each day, and must go alone or with only one other person who lives in their house. Since they're living in separate houses, this means they can't see each other. But Les sounded good, and is finding ways to keep himself occupied.

Yesterday was the beginning of NaPoWriMo, National Poetry Writing Month. I am going to try it again this year, writing one poem a day for the month of April, which as you know is National Poetry Month. If you want to follow along, my poetry blog is Mountain Poet. Or, if you want to give it a try, visit the NaPoWriMo site. Since we all have extra time on our hands, this might be the opportunity many people need to start writing poetry.

See you tomorrow, my friends. Stay well.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.