This pandemic has affected us all in many ways, some far worse than others obviously. Today we are most thankful for our health (knock wood); I say as long as we can stay healthy, the rest of this is just inconvenient.
For us here on our little farm, not really much has changed anyway. As a shy introvert, I could be the poster child for social distancing on any given day (and Luke too)! I do have my close group of family and friends, who I miss spending time with. I had a weekend trip to Maine planned with my sisters and girlfriends this month, and I am sad to miss that. I have a big project in the works (I will be filling you in on that in another post) that will make it impossible to get away this summer, thus we were trying to get our trip in before that.
I am still moving forward with said project, though it has been slowed down by all of this. But I still have things I can do for it, which are keeping me busy as I do have more free time. For us, our schedules have kind of dropped back to where they were not long after hubby and I lost our jobs a couple of years ago. He was working a ton of hours at a new job trying to get things settled, and I was mostly at home with very little outside work.
We are back to that point again – I don’t have much outside work, and he is working a lot of hours. The Dadz is a meat cutter and manages the meat departments of two small local stores. The bigger grocery stores in the area have been running out of many things, and his smaller stores are picking up that slack, and demand has been quite high.
We made the decision I would not go grocery shopping (there are far more cases of Covid19 away from our small towns where all the big stores are) unless absolutely necessary, so hubby also has to bring things home from work about every day! But I’m also using things up in the freezer and cupboards as much as we can too.
Therefore, I try to pick up some of the slack at home as much as I can, the same as I was doing two years ago. But life on the farm goes on pretty much as normal. With spring weather finally moving in, I have my daily walks with Luke, yard cleanup has begun, and I’ve been starting seeds in the house to get ready for planting and selling in late spring. Soon early vegetable seeds will be going in the ground (we may have one more snowstorm to contend with this week though).
Mother Nature doesn’t seem to know about all this craziness in the world right now, and the wood frogs in our seasonal ponds have started their chorus! The frogs, wood frogs and then peepers, are my favorite part of spring. It’s exactly what I need to try to keep my mind off worries about our health and finances. You can watch our short video below to hear their happy voices!
These are the times I’m extremely thankful we have our little farm. And guess what? Our hens seem to know that there is somewhat of an egg shortage out there, and they’ve been producing accordingly. We just had our best day ever with over 20 eggs in that basket!!
Next up, we’ll be trying to see if we can get one of our hens to hatch some chicks. We’re so excited about a new experience, and that will be a welcome distraction at this time too! That will be a sure sign that life truly does go on.
How are you coping with all of this craziness?
Thank you to our friends at Brian’s Home for hosting the Thankful Thursday blog hop. Please visit them and other blogs through the links below.
We are so glad ya’ll are doing well and Holy Cow dat are a lot of eggs fur one day good job ladies!!! Mama are da same her are just fine being home. Daddy & brudder both work fur essential jobs so they are still going into work but are sanitizing and changing their clothes ASAP when they get home so not to bring in any germs. These are definitely crazy times dat are fur sure but we will all come out the udder side!
xoxo,
Matt & Matilda
Your household sounds quite similar to ours! We believe you are right, we will all come out the other side – hopefully relatively unscathed! 🙂
xoxo
Wow, the wood frogs made my heart sing! It is 5°F and snowing here (and for every day of the coming week) so I needed that. Way to go on the seedlings. And Luke’s eyes in his first photo can melt me!
Aren’t they glorious? We can’t wait until the peepers start joining in too. But they are all very temperature sensitive and since things have cooled down some, they’ve gone quiet.
At least while we wait for them to come back, our daffodils are starting to open!
We hear a lot of frogs here, too…they Are at the nearby ponds and creeks. I was cleaning up a garden area, and what I thought was a grey leaf…nope…it was a little frog! So I said, Hello Mr Frog…and went to another area. Hope it finds some good bugs…like the evil mosquitoes and small moths around here…already!
Happy Farming!
Thank you! The weather has still been pretty up and down but we’re happy we’ve been able to get outside and at least started on things.
Frogs are a little endangered around here if they come in the yard – believe it or not, chickens like to eat them! Yikes!!
Those frogs sound like ducks! LOL! We are staying home other than when one of us grocery shops or when we bike. I’m so ready for life to resume. Y’all stay safe
They DO sound like ducks! I ventured out for the first time in a while to pick up a few groceries today, and I have to say it’s kind of scary out there! LOL. I’m going to stay home for a while now!
You stay safe and healthy too. ♥
I’m glad to hear you are all well. We live in a COVID “hot spot,” but we are fine. We enjoy working at home, where our cats, dogs, and birds make congenial coworkers. I look forward to seeing the big reveal for your new project! Stay well.
I am so glad you are all fine, in spite of being in one of those hot spots. Thinking of you. ♥
I’m trying to stay patient when it comes to my project, but it’s been kind of tough! Everyone has something they have to deal with these days, and I will truly just be happy to stay healthy, even if I’m frustrated at times!
Continued blessings to you and your whole family as you navigate the new normal. Sounds like your head and heart are in a good place to handle it well. Keep smiling. ❤︎
Thank you, and same to you! I still have some days where it all gets to me…but overall, we are doing well. ♥
Luke you look so sweet in all of your pictures. We’re glad that you’re all healthy💗We are so lucky to have beautiful weather that we stay out in the garden a lot, because we have to do a lot of garden work outside and Granny and Grandpaw can still take a little walk and much biking, while I watch over the house😸Clean Pawkisses for a Happy Easter Weekend. Stay Safe Healthy and Yourselfie…always🙏🐾😽💞
Getting outside is what saves us too! The last couple of days have not been very nice…cold, windy, snowy, and we feel our spirits lag a bit. But we know we’ll snap out of it (preferably with the help of a little sunshine and warmth!).
Hey, saw this on a friends blog and had to share, you need this for your chickens!
http://pjack214.blogspot.com/2020/04/chicken-town.html
Thanks for sharing that, Brian, that was amazing! I think our girls would love a little town like that!!
Look at your little plant, good job!
Thanks!!! 🙂
This is a scary time. Glad you are doing well. Nice basket of eggs.
With all the worries, at least with our girls, we know that going hungry won’t be one of them.
We hope you are doing well too. ♥
Things here are about the same too…being retired introvert, nothing much changed for me and I am just doing lots of house projects I had planned. My hubby is now working from home 3-4 days a week, so he is having some adjustment issues. The pups are absolutely loving having their Dad home.
We bet they are! Luke is always so excited when his Dad gets home, I know he’d love to have him here more. ♥
There are too many covid-19 cases in our area. It’s times like this when we wish we lived somewhere more remote…like a farm like yours. 🙂
We are sorry to hear that. We wish you could all come here to the farm to ride it out! ♥
Stay safe!!
Hubby and i have been retired for many years so staying home is okay with us. We do miss the boat, but won’t go because to many things could happen on the way up, there or the way back. So staying home is what we do. We go to the grocery store once a week for things we need. That’s it.
Have a fabulous day, my friend. Scritches and lovies to handsome Luke. ♥
It’s tough to give up some of the things we love, but at least we know it is truly only temporary. We hope you can get back out on your boat soon.
Luke sends smooches!
I’m thankful for the fact that hubby and I are still healthy – like you said knock wood – and that our orthopedic issues are not so bad that we have to risk going to the doctors’ offices for treatment before this COVID-19 mess is over with. I’m doing all the grocery shopping and trying to keep it to twice a week. Though, like Madison’s mom, I am past frustrated with the hoarders. But I try not to complain too much.
I know, I certainly understand that frustration. You’d think at least that part of this would have slowed down by now!
You two stay healthy! xo
I’m sure glad y’all are doing okay and I’m glad your hubby is working. We can’t find hardly and meat here, but we’re doing okay without it. A big shout out to your hens for stepping up their egg game, bravo girls. Thanks for joining the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop!
I’m glad you are getting by OK, and I hope those shortages end soon. I did find last time I was at the grocery store that there was at least lots of fresh produce (though absolutely no bread!!), but all the frozen veggies were sold out. It’s crazy, and I hope at least that part of this mess calms down soon. Those hoarders ought to have enough stuff by now!!
What a beautiful farm and a very handsome Luke! Stay strong, healthy and safe all.
Thank you, and we wish the same for you! ♥
we are in deep dodo without a paddle here.. all events are dust in the wind and we hope for a “white year” with approval of things we could not do. even in our crib the cabin fever moved in … started to cut the giant hedge with a hand clipper … that’s weird I know, but it keeps me busy till november… LOL
Whatever works, right? Even I am starting to feel a bit of that cabin fever, especially when our weather has been awful and we don’t even want to go outside because of the cold – and even snow!
Aside from missing our sports classes and trials, our lives are not a lot different. We still practice sports on our own, but it is not the same. Mom is sick and tired of the hoarders and not being able to get basic items at the store like toilet paper, yeast, flour. She gets really frustrated with the world, but we are here to help her and keep her happy. A person we knew from sports died from the virus this week which is very scary. You all stay safe and be happy hubby has a job and can work.
Yes, I can’t even imagine what we would do if hubby wasn’t working.
It is so good to have the sanity of our dogs when we are dealing with such a crazy world. I don’t get the flour thing; I can’t imagine that many people are just baking the whole time they’re stuck at home! I picture far more people just plopped in front of their TV’s watching soap operas!
We are sorry to hear that someone you knew died from the virus; that really is scary. 🙁
Hang in there, and keep taking care of your Mom!
I love the sound of the peepers in the spring. It’s such a happy sound! I was at our local vege market yesterday. I got there when the store opened and it wasn’t bad. Yes, I had my mask on and almost everyone else did too. One of the items that I needed was eggs. You are lucky to never have to need eggs!
All the frogs have gone quiet since we got snow again! My favorite thing is when we get the chorus of both peepers and wood frogs (which I call “croakers”).
I’m glad your experience at the store wasn’t too bad, and people were doing what they should in wearing the masks.