Yesterday was almost springlike in temperature, though windy which chilled the day some. By Sunday night and into Monday morning, it is going to feel like January with forcast snow showers possible, not accumulation.
Most of the leaves have fallen except for a few vivid reds and yellows. And the stubborn brown leaves of the oaks.
Yesterday’s walk took us to a nearby town to walk along a creek bed then along the river it feeds for a couple of miles. The path is paved and smooth with a couple of steep long rises that take it from the path on the park side up to a tunnel that passes under the four lane main street of the town and down to the continued path along the river bank. The park walk is about two miles round trip, the one along the river is about 2.5 miles one way from one end of the trail to the other. We alternate the park way with the river bank walk when we go over and don’t walk the full 5 mile up and back of the river bank one.
The park is more rustic and a pleasure to walk.
Most days, we stay closer to home walking sections of a rails to trails paved path. The original terminus begins at the town library and traverses about 2 1/2 miles to where it connects up on the other side of the main highway to continue in two directions for several miles each. If you choose to go right, it eventually ends up at Brown’s Farm, several miles away,now a park for the county. If you choose to go left, it continues for another 5 miles to the recreation center of the next town. We often park along that section near the old Coal Miner’s Park, but that section is currently closed until March for repair of 3 bridges.
Our daily walk is generally 2 1/2 to 3 miles, though hubby will sometimes do 4 when I go to my spinning group once a week. We are striving to keep mobile and flexible as we are both advanced senior citizens.
As we made our last purchases of an extra bag of dog food, and extra sack of chicken layer pellets, and headed home to distance ourselves to avoid catching or spreading COVID-19, we heard that all public K-12 schools in Virginia were closing for 2 weeks. I suspect it will end up longer. It is going to be tough on working families. Our daughter who is local to us has an 8 year old and a 13 year old. Normally we chip in to help out when they need coverage, but daughter realizes the potential impact on us as we are both beyond 70 years old. Last night we wrote the kids an email and told them that we would miss the hugs and kisses until it is deemed safe for seniors to be around potential vectors. On our way back to the farm, I said to hubby, that I hoped we didn’t start sniping at each other. We are rarely apart, but we do go out. The house is large, the property is 30 acres, we live on a rural gravel road, it is getting to be garden season, so we can seperate from each other if we need to, we can still get fresh air. Nearby, only a few miles is a part of the National Forest with walking trails that are not heavily travelled, so occasional walks may be made there. We have self isolated for now. We purchased extra groceries and will refrain from eating lunches and a weekly dinner out. This is a change in our habits, lunches will be sandwiches or left overs.
Our local grocer has the program where you can order and pay online and pick up in the parking lot. When we run low I guess that is the route we will take and avoid purchasing fresh produce from the grocer. Though I hate the idea of not going to our local Farmers’ Market, it is often very crowded. Some of the vendors are offering local delivery. I don’t usually grow salad greens and other salad vegetables other than cucumbers and tomatoes, which are still months off, I purchased lettuce and radish seed this year. I plan to sow a half barrel of salad greens and radishes close to the house and divide it into quarters, planting a quarter a week to spread out the harvest. Years ago, I kept a jar of sprouts germinating in the house but drifted away from doing so when I could readily get microgreens at the Farmers’ Market. Yesterday I started a jar of small spicy greens and this morning, a jar of crunchy beans.
They can be added to sandwiches, salads, or stir fry to add some fresh vegetables.
The seeds started for the garden are sprouting. The growlight down close to the lid to keep them from getting too leggy. The peppers haven’t sprouted yet, but tomatoes and Chinese cabbages are up as are the Calendula flowers. The coneflowers not yet.
The cabbages are a bit leggy, I am hoping that they will make it, if not, I will direct sow a few when it warms a bit more.
Once in a while, you see suggestions to resprout the bottom of the celery head. I had two celery hearts that were getting beyond prime, so I sliced the celery and froze it to use in soups and put the two stalk ends in water as suggested to see if I can at least sprout some celery leaves to use.
It has only been a couple of days, but the centers are swelling, so they must be uptaking water. We will see if this experiment works.
Of course, I can knit and spin to pass the time. I have several books and subscribed to the library app, so I can check out ebooks to read. I made laundry detergent and dishwasher tabs as both were low. I have soap to make for a B&B I supply, but am awaiting Shea Butter in the mail and if this goes on for very long, they may not need a big shipment.
It is going to be a lifestyle change, probably harder for hubby than for me, I could easily become a hermit here, but know that socializing is important too. For now we will avoid and hope that this virus dissipates and doesn’t devastate our country causing small businesses to struggle or fail. I hope that people are responsibly. Watching the news last evening, seeing Florida cancelling spring break gatherings and asking people to be responsible, one young woman interviewed said she would ignore that. She may become ill and being young will likely recover, but will she infect others in the community who are not healthy or young who might not. We must all take this seriously and be responsible. Let’s hope for a vaccine or for the warmer weather to hopefully cause it to subside.
Cabin Crafted 