Unplugged

My day started out with a pre dawn hike with Charlie to the ridge. I guess it really was just a walk as we weren't in much of a hurry. Charlie sniffed around and I walked across the crop land hoping for a colorful and blazing sunrise.

Well that didn't happen, but listening to the birds and watching the deer run across the unplowed land was just fine.

We went by the little tree and just watched for quite a while.

I was pretty grumpy and felt ornery and tired so I thought a walk would do me good. I wanted to cancel my gym class but decided to do it anyway. I had to get groceries in town, so I may as well suffer through a class.

I left my phone at home and was surprised at how I didn't miss it at all. No little dings letting me know that there was news, or email, or whatever.

CF put me in a good mood as did the sunshine. Between CF class and Mobility, I took off on a jog/run. Last week we had a run/jog WOD which I enjoyed immensely. I hadn't jogged in two years and I found my rhythm as if it had never left.

After lunch Charlie and I went looking for leeks in the woods and we found some above the creek. Yum! Looks like forest food is coming up! I picked some newly emerged nettles for tea and greens for supper.

Before heading back to the house, I sat on a mossy log and listened to the creek. In the past two years, it has been so dry here that this part of the creek was nearly dry and silent. I watched water bugs and listened to the creek music. 

10 second video of creek sounds and a woodpecker marking his/her territory.

Things are still without color mostly in the woods, but with this warm weather the plants will get a jump start.

Late afternoon I found my phone and discovered texts and emails. One was from our grand daughter Ariel. She is coming to visit us on her own, was that okay?

Another was from Olive. She wanted me to meet the new addition to her family. Gertrude or Gerti. She had Monday and Tuesday off, could we get together?

Being unplugged is nice, except when you miss something! I took care of the messages and brought the skid steer out of the shed and parked it next to the house running...

I told hubby that he needed to clean up the gravel pile that Frank had left and fill in the dip in the driveway as his granddaughter was coming to see him for his birthday. 

Wow! He got out! 
I'll be washing his skid steer today and making him strawberry shortcake for his birthday. I need to run to town to get Almond Milk for Ariel with a couple of other foods for her special diet needs.

I hope we get to meet Gerti too! Olive texted that she thought Gerti and Charlie would get along just great. So I am assuming she has a new dog!

Guess I'll plug back in.

At least I got rid of the Grumpies....

Sunday Sunday...what is today?

It is a different time, no doubt about it.

People are protesting that their rights are being trampled on. We have a president who is egging on unrest to deflect from his own inadequate abilities and woefully irresponsible governing.

Okay. Enough of what I think.

Interestingly enough, this time of being 'locked' down hasn't affected us like it has others. We are a very rural farming community which grows the standard fare of crops. Corn, beans, and hay. Dairy Farms are suffering great losses due to no schools being open among other reasons.

My husband is used to living life in a hermit type way. I am not as much of a loner as he is, but I am settling into a life of being remote.
I did talk with my neighbors yesterday across our property fence. They live at the top of our driveway and are the only folks near enough for us to actually see and hear. The rest of our 'neighbors' are at least a quarter of a mile away or further.

They were setting up their garden. Being 'hungry' for talking to someone else, I did stand on my side of the fence and talk... a lot. We laughed when I asked... *This IS Sunday right?*
I knew what day it was, but somehow our world feels slightly obscure and surreal.

It had been 3 weeks since I'd gone to the grocery store. A record for me.

That is one of my masks. I felt odd wearing it, but I wasn't the only one in the store with a mask.
I went at 7am again and filled my basket. Many of the items I wished for weren't there.

Rich complained that I didn't bring home cookies. They weren't on my list and I noticed that he eats them as a constant snack. I purchased canned fruits instead.
Fresh fruits, tomatoes, and other fresh food was scarce in the store.
He is like having a finicky kid to feed. But I refuse to keep candy and cookies as a non stop snack food for him.
I put an apple in front of him when he complains.

These were our veggies last night. Sweet corn from our garden a year ago, sweet potatoes, and nettles! The nettles cooked up nicely and I ate them with butter, I saved some for tea later.

I will make a special trip to Walmart tomorrow morning as soon as they are open to get some items I couldn't get at  Quillians on Sunday. I need Qtips, toothpaste, ...seeds, and brownie mix, shampoo, and a few other items.

I need a trip to the feed store for Senior Feed for Fred and Mica too. Then I am finished for another few weeks I hope.

I feel okay. But the stress of dealing with Rich's memory/health issues on one hand and not getting de-stressed on the other hand do get to me on some days.

Those are the days when I need to get off the farm and out to the hinterlands of the public lands.


I am so grateful to my son Eddie for calling on Sunday evenings. To know that he is checking in on me is comforting.

Free Food!

The past several days have been rainy and gloomy, but this morning the sun came out!
So with some time on my hands, I'm going to go foraging for some free food.

The stinging nettles pictured above are helping themselves to my veggie garden spot. I've always battled these plants in the garden. But in early spring they are very tasty. Once steamed they have absolutely no sting. Nettle Tea is supposed to be very good for you.
I won't go into all the health benefits, most people will turn their noses up at Nettle Tea.

Nettles as fresh veggies are another great spring benefit. Once cooked or steamed you can eat them with a dab of butter. Don't think of them as nasty weeds, think of them as free food.

I like digging up leeks or wild ramps too. They are a wild onion. I'm going to dehydrate the extras this year to use in soups and stews this winter.

And today I'm going to wander around in the creek bottom and search for wild parsnips.

These are those nasty plants that cause burns when they are flowering.

Of course there is another free food that will come with the nice spring weather but Morel Mushrooms won't be out for at least a month or so yet.

Lamb's Quarters will show up around my birthday and I can't wait for a taste of those either.

Foraging is a lot of fun and if you know what you are doing, you can get grab some free food along with your exercise!