{ Day 13 and 14 of Quarantine/Day 8 and 9 Shelter in Place }

"For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you."

- Isaiah 41:13 -

 I wanted to post daily but, I realized that I needed a step back this weekend.

Now, don't panic, I don't mean that I'm not going to continue doing the daily posts, but I may just do a weekend post instead of a Saturday and Sunday one.  Even though we are at home every day, weekends are usually busy for Curt and I, in the sense that we take that time to do a lot of yard work.

The weather has been amazing, today we had temperatures in the high 60's and cloudy skies, which meant we were able to finally get the plants, veg and herbs into the ground, dig up some areas, prepare others, clean up debris and so on.

We love it so much and we often tell each other how grateful we are to be able to call this our home.  It's such a blessing knowing that this is our home, that we are creating our own space and doing what we want to without having to ask for permission or knowing that whatever we do we may have to change back.

Now let me show what I've been up to this weekend.......

♥♥Saturday♥♥

The weather was a bit off yesterday and it rained on and off so all our yard plans were postponed until Sunday.

What that meant was either relaxing or finding something constructive and fun to do.  I decided to pull out my fabric and start making myself and Jasmine some face masks, in case we need to go out at all.

There are a ton, and I mean a ton of tutorials online.  I took a quick look and they were all pretty much the same.  These are very simple to make and you only need to have very basic sewing skills.

I quickly cut out the fabric, lined them with some lightweight interfacing as a filter and got on the sewing machine.  These came together very quickly,  and I'm so thrilled with the results.  I will be making more this coming week, because even though these are fully washable, I just love the different patterns and think the less I wash and rewash, the better.

I will show you all how they look when they're done.  But, if you are wanting to make some yourself, be sure to do a quick google search, there are very easy tutorials out there.


♥♥Sunday♥♥

I wish I had gotten more photos today, but I got so busy digging and planting that I didn't have a chance to grab the camera.  That and truthfully, when you're in the garden digging, messing with dirt and water and so on, you don't want a camera nearby.  I will however get some photos tomorrow.

Was finally able to start my potatoes.  I only have these 4 potatoes, but that is ok, I've never planted potatoes before and have no clue if they will even work.

Also into the ground went Tomatoes, Okra, Spinach, Beans, Zucchini Squash, Green Onions and Lettuce.  Cilantro, Parsley, Basil, Spearmint and Chives have also been placed on my pallet garden {again, pictures coming tomorrow }

And I also planted some cuttings that I had taken from my sister in law and brother's house.  They grew roots and were doing wonderful in the pots, but I needed to get them in the ground.  I threw in some pretty flowers from seed as well, and I also got my Lavender started.

When you look at your garden when it's starting, it's not a very pretty sight, but we have been working so hard to get everything looking the way we want it and I'm looking forward to seeing it all come to life.

Washed a ton of dishes, cleaned the kitchen and made a frozen pizza for lunch.  We worked outside for a few hours and by the time we came in, we were starving.

Also washed all the produce and filled the fruit bowl.

In the afternoon, my husband and I made a quick trip to town.  Our daughter had bought a birthday present for her brother and it was to be picked up at Best Buy.  They are not open but do curbside pickup.  We grabbed that and then headed to Walmart for my grocery pickup.

This whole situation has been so incredibly weird for me.  I'm used to heading to the commissary every two weeks and getting my groceries, now it's become a mixture of my husband picking up groceries from the commissary, after he leaves work, and me putting in a walmart order for pickup.

I'm having to find new ways of shopping and it's taken some getting used to.  I'm basically getting some things here and some things there and still never quite able to get everything I am looking for.

But you know, all of this is being a huge lesson as well.

I am seeing so many starting to meal plan where they never used to before.  Families are sharing dinner at the table, chatting and going for walks around their neighborhood.  They're watching tv together, reading more, learning new skills and hobbies.

So however hard this is being for us all, it has been such a blessing watching how it's changing people's lives, and for the better.  Please don't take this as me saying that people dying is for the better, it's not, but I'm talking about the world population in general, having to be forced to stop, to slow down and to learn to count on their families again.

We were all so busy before, had all these commitments, places to be and things to do.  Family and family bonds were starting to dwindle, everyone needed to be out spending money and doing things all the time.

Maybe I'm wrong, and I can only speak for myself, and give my opinion, but I am thankful to God for this season we are in.  We may not see the outcome right now, we may not even understand why any of this is happening, but I think we are about to see some huge miracles happen before our eyes, good things are going to come from this.

Anyway, that was my weekend.  Marley also got a bath today, which is always quite an interesting thing to witness.  He does not like baths so we have to wrangle him into the tub, all 85 pounds of him.  LOL

Oh we may have also stopped at our local Braums for some hot fudge sundaes.  We may, and we may have giggled like little kids as the 4 of us sat around the table enjoying that ice cream.   Last time I had ice cream was last year, so it had been a while.

 I am now going to watch a little bit of TV, then get some sleep as 5 AM comes around very quickly.

See you all in the morning :)