5.7.20 Rhubarb

I feel like I might have a Rhubarb problem

I harvested a bit of rhubarb. There is 14 cups of cut rhubarb in the above photo. Plus I had 8 cups already frozen in the freezer. I feel GOOD about my rhubarb stockpile. I am ready for any rhubarb shortage. I also made Orange Rhubarb Bread.  I forgot to double it so only one loaf.

Daily Roll 5.6.20 Stimulus Grading

Somehow this song I heard just seemed appropriate for today. It is an oldie. 

End of the Roll 

Guess I am jumping to the end. It has been that kind of day. I am coining a new term for the grades given in our school district STIMULUS GRADING. Everyone is getting an "A" except those who don't participate and those who don't participate are being given an incomplete. Got some mixed feelings about this. I got a kid who has been working really hard at completing some really challenging assignments. I also know some kids totally taking advantage of the system. Should I tell my kid to work less?  How much participation counts?  Excerpt from District letter is below.

6.  Isn’t a system of all “A” grades the same as giving every kid a participation ribbon?  

Perhaps it is. However, we don’t think it is unlike the loans the government is giving businesses, or the $1200 economic impact checks they are sending individuals to help them deal with this crisis. Our students have also encountered a crisis, and we are providing them with a stimulus grading plan. We want to give hope to some of them who need it most. If the “A” grades they earn this semester inspire them to work harder to earn more “A”s when grading returns to normal, we will all be delighted.  (Ferndale School District)

5.5.20 Happy Cinco De Mayo

Happy Cinco De Mayo

What is happening at the Honeypot Bunker?

School for both boys. I have a high schooler that is basically over this homeschooling stuff. It is pretty isolating. No zoom calls for his classes just endless assignments according to him. He misses his teachers and his classmates.  

Yesterday planted the seeds for my cut flower garden. I soaked the beet seeds and planted this afternoon. I was able to obtain some zinnia starts and a cosmos start so I planted those. I cleaned my entry way and found a doodle made by youngest.

5.4.20

Today was a bit about planning for the future and whole lot of dreaming.

Next year is my Son's senior year. He got to pick classes today. He would like to go into some trade and go to the technical college after his senior year. I am not sure what school will look like next year. Will they go or will they be online at the beginning?  Things are still uncertain. We are still locked down pretty hard in our state.

I started to figure out what my cut flower garden would look like and started to plant. Below is the semi plan. Everything is seed. I do have a few starts of zinnia but they aren't looking so hot. I would like to buy a few starts to kind of jump start the flower garden. I did add a few vegetables this year also from seed.

5.3.20 Rebuilding Your Pantry After the Panademic

***I started this post several weeks ago. I wish I could read the grocery store tea leaves and tell you if shortages will continue. I believe they will. It might not be pasta and flour but proteins (beef and pork) One thing I know for sure is prices have risen.

Well I started writing this in the middle of all of this because we have been eating down our pantry and freezer.  Maybe the Mormons have it all right with a year of canned goods or maybe there is a happy medium.

A well stocked pantry gives you options. It allows you some meal planning flexibility. If I learned anything my family moves on it's stomach. A well stocked pantry means you aren't hoarding but are stocked with the essentials.

I found during this crisis I was basically crisis shopping. I wasn't deeply restocking in part because certain items weren't available and I was just trying to make it through. You know the whole stick and move principle.

I am going to list what I am going to do to have a better equipped pantry but this a deeply unique thing to every family. My pantry isn't going to have many convenience items because I have someone who is allergic to garlic and onion and that is in 99% of convenience items and in a lot of canned goods as well. I am basically feeding 4 adults. My youngest is 17. That is a lot of food.

Things to to answer for yourself?

Do I have enough food to last 2 weeks? Good time to brain storm what you can make from your pantry. Can you come up with 14 main meals?

Where can I store more food or how am I going to store my food? What does my food storage look like?

How will I use budget friendly ways to keep stocked up? ** My rebuilding of my pantry isn't going to happen overnight. I will look for deals and stock up when the price is right. It seems like grocery prices are overall higher so this could be a slower process.

Things I wanting to keep a better stock of. 
(In general, I thought I was fairly equipped.)

Baking Supplies
Flour - keep more on hand in greater quantity - I bake a lot so I had this on hand but there were several weeks where this product was not available at the grocery store. I also started out the crisis without much snack food so I was baking a lot. I enjoy baking.

Spices/Condiments
 - I actually nearly ran out of cumin and ground pepper.

Vinegar - I ran out of apple cider vinegar and balsamic vinegar

Mayo/Ketchup/Mustard - these were actually in short supply.

Proteins
I usually keep a big protein in my garage fridge . An example is a ham or turkey. I usually buy after a holiday. I started the pandemic with a spiral ham in the freezer.

Last Word

It doesn't have to be a pandemic to make you use up your pantry. There are other life situations that throw you a curve ball. There have been many times in the last couple of years I have depended on my pantry to carry me through to the next paycheck.

Thrifty Housewife  30 Cheap Pantry Staples 

Good Cheap Eats has a good pantry list inventory/staples list

How I stock the Smitten Kitchen

5.2.20 National Scrapbook Day

2018
Football
Shout out to Cheezer

Today is National Scrapbook day. It is also National Naked Gardening Day (what an image).

I don't think scrapbooking is hot as it use to be. I exclusively use the project life app for mine. I know we all take so many pictures now that our camera is in our phone. I thought I would share some pages. The project life app is free. This is my unpaid endorsement.

Holland Happenings Parade
2017
Oak Harbor

2018
Seattle Torchlight Parade

2017
Everett WA
Band Competition

Daily Bullet 5.1.20 May Day

Happy May Day

My Husband and I have been going on walks in the neighborhood. I have enjoyed looking at everyone's flowers especially the tulips. There are so many different kinds. I feel weird taking pictures of other people's yards. I decided to share some throw back pictures of when we visited the Tulip fields in Skagit County, Washington.

2018

Check out the virtual visit of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival  2020