Making Masks

Now that it is recommended that we all wear masks in public, we are in a position of needing masks.  JP could bring a couple home from work, but I don't want to ask him to waste precious PPE that could keep him safer at work.

I decided to make some for our family.  I have lots of scraps of colorful fabric, and I like this pattern from JOANN - it includes a layer of interfacing, making them even less permeable, which I thought was important.

I did alter the pattern just a bit - moved the elastic down 5/8 inch from the top edge and created a tube that I could slide a pipe cleaner into.  This makes the top edge adjustable and helps keep glasses from steaming up.

I made a half dozen today for my family, but if I can pick up some more elastic, I would like to make some more to donate where needed.  They are fully machine washable and reusable.

** ADDENDUM:  After making all of these masks, JP pointed out that they are impermeable.  This actually counteracts the entire point of wearing the masks, which is the FILTER the air - you should be able to breathe THROUGH the mask, not have air come in and out around the edges.  I went back and removed the interfacing from these, and they work more appropriately.  So, IF YOU USE THIS PATTERN, DO NOT USE THE INTERFACING.  Two layers of fabric is really all the CDC is recommending.

Barista Goals

We don't have a Starbucks in our little town, and I wouldn't frequent the place if one actually did.  However, I have a sweet tooth, enjoy my legal addictive stimulants (aka coffee), and have fun trying new things.

Last night I happened to see a video about making Dalgona Coffee.  Apparently, it is the thing that EVERYONE is making during this pandemic - a cloud of fluffy coffee piled on top of milk.  I tried it this morning, and I was amazed that these 4 ingredients make such a fun cup of coffee!

Dalgona Coffee (makes 2 servings)

3 T instant coffee granules

3 T sugar

3 T hot water

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and mix on high speed with a hand held mixer until mixture forms soft peaks.  Fill a glass with 3/4 c of cold milk and dollop coffee mixture on top.

A couple of weeks ago, I found this recipe for a Harry Potter inspired Butterbeer Latte.  I made a couple of changes to the recipe:  I add a pinch of salt to the butter and brown sugar.  After adding milk and warming it all up, I add a teaspoon of instant espresso granules, froth it well and top with a sprinkle of cinnamon.  Mmm, mmm, mmm!

Are you all trying any fun coffee recipes now that we're not supposed to leave our houses?

Wash Your Hands!

With the Stay-at-Home orders in effect, and things like hand sanitizer being in high demand and not easy to obtain, I decide to make my own.

I followed this "recipe", but also read through recommendations by WHO and the CDC.

Some important things to note:

- Be sure that the equipment that you use to measure and mix are clean, you don't want to be "cleaning" your hands with something that is contaminated.

- It is important to use at least 91% rubbing alcohol, because in order to be effective, the concentration of the final product needs to be greater than 60% alcohol.

-  In the formulation from WHO, they added a small amount of hydrogen peroxide to kill any fungal spores that may be present on your equipment or aloe vera gel, so I did add about a teaspoon to my mixture.

- This mixture turned out very liquid-y, which is fine with me - makes it easier to apply everywhere quickly, but just be advised that it IS NOT a gel.

- Of course, the BEST policy remains actually washing your hands frequently with soap and water!

Green Thumb?

I made 50 little pots out of newspaper (both recycled and will be biodegradable) and L helped me plant seeds.  We have tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, summer squash, zucchini, peppers, basil and parsley planted.

My hands got a little discolored from the newsprint.

Hopefully the garden will be ready to plant them into in a few weeks!

Are you planting anything this spring?

One of These Things is Not Like the Others...

Which of these pear trees doesn't belong?

I'm not sure if you can tell from the photo or not, but the tree in the foreground looks different from the others lining my drive.  It's not quite shaped the same, and it isn't blooming.  For years, I've blamed this on the fact that I've had to replace a number of these trees over the years, and I always fill in with another Cleveland Pear tree, courtesy of our local neighborhood Big Lots store.

Last Spring, however, we got a few blooms on this tree.  Lo and behold, later in the summer, we actually got a few pears growing on the tree too.

In early September last year, I was able to pick my pear harvest.

Now I know that somehow, Big Lots sold me a different kind of pear tree.  I don't mind so much because it is alive and actually produced fruit, which is something that none of the very expensive fruit trees in my now defunct orchard have never done.

This year, the tree is COVERED with flower buds, so I have high hopes for an even better pear harvest this year...IF we can get to them BEFORE the critters.

In the Midst of Chaos, Spring...

It is comforting to know that while everything else around me is uncertain in this day and age, I can still rely on spring coming and bringing sunshine and color back into the world.  Every time that I step outside my front door, or come back up the driveway to the garage, I see this beautiful forsythia.

I planted this back in 2010, and it was just one sad little stick from Aldi.  Now it is the embodiment of spring - bright yellow sunshine in flower form, boldly showing its face in the cold and grey.

Today I washed all of the windows and put the screens back in, another sign of spring on its way.

I am behind in planting seeds for my garden.  It needs a lot of work out there because JP was unable to help convert the raised beds back to normal garden last winter due to having another retinal detachment and surgery.  I sort of put things off this spring, uncertain if I would be able to garden after having foot surgery this spring.  Since elective surgery is postponed for an unknown period of time, I need to get on the ball now.

I did FINALLY finish the project that I intended to do over the winter 2 years ago.  I finished building a music box with my dad's help.  I both looks and sounds beautiful!

Enjoy spring in your neck of the woods, just practice social distancing while you are doing it!

And So it Begins...

On Friday the 13th, the Governor closed the schools for 2 weeks in order to try to slow the spread of the corona virus in our state.  Both girls were devastated - J was 2 weeks away from opening night of the spring musical, and L had just completed her first week of track practice.

JP began self isolating and using the downstairs guest room and guest bathroom 2 days later, and I was laid off from work 2 days after that.  It has been a worldwind of weirdness for our family, and (I'm guessing) for a lot of people.  

After 2 weeks off school, the Governor extended the closures through April 6th, and although we have very poor internet connectivity in our school district, the schools have made plans to begin work on line (for those who can) and handed out packets of information and lessons (for those who can't connect.)  So the girls start lessons again tomorrow.

Because it seems a good way to keep friends and family updated on how we are doing, I decided to dust off this old blog and fire her back up!

This week we decided to try to make a literary themed meal - the menu items should be from (or inspired by) a book or movie.

Literary Menu

-Danny the Champion of the World (Roald Dahl) - Toad in a Hole

   We actually made this one before - link here.

 -Farmer Boy (Laura Ingalls Wilder) - Creamed Carrots

  This recipe was found in my The Little House Cookbook.

-Percy Jackson and the Olympians series (Rick Riordan) - Blue Chocolate Chip Cookies

  I found this recipe on a blog, but I'm not crazy about it.  I would recommend that you just add blue food coloring to the wet ingredients of your favorite chocolate chip recipe.

-Harry Potter series (JK Rowling) - Butter Beer Ice Cream

  This recipe is VERY good and very simple.

-The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (CS Lewis) - Turkish Delight

  J has been wanting to try to make this for a long time, so we FINALLY did it!  It was different.  Good, but not selling my siblings out to the White Witch good.

Have you been trying anything new to make the pandemic, social distancing, and stay at home orders more fun?