How Covid-19 changed things for us

This is probably a moot point for so many people my age. Some are retired and live on farms or in the countryside so they can isolate a bit easier than those who would be in apartments [believe me, I had been thinking a lot about downsizing just last year!].

Grocery shopping habits have changed. No longer is it the every few days run into town to get something, or on a whim decide to eat out. We didn't do that often anyway. 

Now a grocery list is a study of strategy. I make a list and rewrite it in order of the isles in the store. I start by the milk and end by the produce. We have 3 stores in our town. Walmart, Quillians, and Viroqua Food Co-op. Walmart has the best prices on many things we like. The breakfast cereals at the other two stores are up to $2 more per item. 

Viroqua Food Co-op does offer curbside pickup. Otherwise I have to drive 30 miles one way to to a curbside pick up from the LaCrosse Walmart. 45 miles one way to get Quillians pick up. So the choices are limited. 

I spent the summer doing a 'stock up' of dry goods, beans, and non perishable items.
I can call up a lady for fresh eggs and go pick them up.
I can make up an order from the Co-op and pick the foods up. It is more pricey, but the fresh produce quality is so much better than any other store.

I can call and order the mule's Senior Feed for the elder mules. They can process the order over the phone and leave the feed on the dock for me to pick up.

I find myself planning my once a month shopping as if it was a strategic battle. Do I get bulk items at Wally World at 7am? What is on my list? 

I admit that I am cooking differently. I have made home made bread. Not too bad, I can still do it.
I made home made desserts. The cookies are good as long as I stick to chocolate chip cookies. The apple crisp was not too great, not enough apples but the topping was good!
I made home made oven cooked fries. That was actually fun and not as hard as I thought.

I'm going to try some butternut squash soup this week. I have so many squash stored in the basement and I need to eat it.

But really this is just more of reaching back as to how my grandmother cooked and made things. She didn't drive and they made a trip to town in the fall and in the spring. Mom would drive us once a month to town for groceries when we stayed at the cottage in the summer.

I grew up never needing milk as we always had dried milk. [YUCK!!!] Everything was bulk. Flour, sugar, rice, powdered milk, ... 
Most everything was home made. Maple syrup and jelly for example. Meat was purchased or butchered and put in the freezer to last the winter.

Fast food was not a thing.

I recall going down into my grandmother's cellar to get something for her and commenting that she was ready for a World War. I used to privately joke about it.

Funny. She survived the first World War, she survived the 1918 pandemic, she survived the second World War and the Great Depression. She survived food and fuel rationing.
So. Not funny.

I think about that. And now I understand why my Grandparents rarely tossed things and always repurposed items. Why they were so stingy with their money. Why they wore clothes with patches and darned their socks. I understand why they thought eating at a restaurant was a HUGE thing. A show of waste and opulence.

If Grandma Pearl was alive today she would simply say 'Humph,' and carry on. If their meat got low in the freezer, there was always critters in the woods and fish in the lake.

I'm not ready to go there. 
Yet.

But I am working on taking care.

I know there are those that think this Pandemic is no big deal. I am not going to argue that with anyone. I will deal with it my way and listen to my husband's doctors who have said to treat everyone outside of our house as an Infection.

My husband is content. I am a bit stressed and bored, but need to dig deep into my Grandmother's and mom's heritage and deal with it. 
I feel we are in a fairly good place. 
I am not working 12 hr shifts at the plant and driving 60 miles per shift like I used to 3 years ago. I have to stay home. Three years ago my choice was made for me. We made a quick adjustment to living on a lot less.

Our Holidays haven't changed. When Rich's mom could no longer get around, and when Rich stopped driving...we stopped traveling to his daughter's for a get together. One year his daughter and family did come here. Enough said.

There are those who are at work keeping our food supply chain open. These are the folks I am so grateful for. 

There are the nurses and doctors that are providing the best care they can right now. To those people too, you are my heroes. 

And that is where I am going to leave it this morning. I'm going to have a cup of tea and go do chores, wander the woods, and get on with my next project of learning something new to cook or make from what I have at hand.

Be safe and well.