I can’t believe I haven’t blogged in almost two weeks. The days just seem to run together here lately, with some busier than others. I thought I’d share a few photos of our recent “COVID Living”.
OUTSIDE
Although it has been a bit rainier than I prefer, we’ve had several days of absolutely gorgeous weather. I’ve been spending more time outside on our patio taking in nature and working on some little projects.
The Crepe Myrtle trees are starting to bloom out again after my husband committed crepe murder.
I’ve also been watching a little dove couple each day. Here they are perched high in a tree in our backyard.
We also started our seeds for a container garden. Hubby and I have been watching lots of gardening videos on YouTube and are excited to see what we can grow this summer. We have a big patio that we need to fill in and what better way than with fresh fruits and vegetables?
I had this metal baker’s rack sitting on our patio with nothing to put on it, so I brought it inside to hold our seed starters and some other items. I have started saving little pie plates and containers to use for gardening. I also started saving our coffee grounds and eggshells to use for gardening as well. I joked to my husband that I was turning into my great-grandmother with all of the containers I am saving and re-using. Nothing like a global pandemic to make you see that things have alternative uses!
INSIDE
I have stayed busy inside with lots of cleaning, organizing, and cooking. The kitchen is taking the longest. I am emptying each cabinet and drawer, wiping them out good, and organizing the contents and making a box of things we don’t use anymore to donate. I just found that when I started to have to cook more, the kitchen just wasn’t in very good order and finding things was becoming a pain. I am still missing gadgets and things from when we moved into this house. I am hoping to locate a few when I go through this process.
One thing I did was to order a few items to help me stay productive. We are washing a whole lot of hands and dishes now, so I ordered these soap dispensers from an Etsy seller. They are made of glass and just the perfect addition to our sink area. I’m very pleased with them and they make me smile every time I’m near the sink.
I’m also cooking a lot more these days and I am ashamed to say I didn’t have a kitchen canister set. I don’t normally use a lot of staple ingredients in my cooking, but all of that has certainly changed. I’ve had my eye on a set of canisters that are part of a collection of pottery I collect, but each canister is over $100 so I had to lower my expectations and finally found this set from Target that I love! It’s from Joanna Gaines’ Harth & Home with Magnolia collection. They are heavy stoneware. I was so excited to finally have a pretty canister that came with a little scoop for our coffee. The bigger scoop sitting on the flour canister came from another online shop and is no longer available. Sorry for the quality of these pictures…we have fluorescent lighting in our kitchen that is awful when the window blinds are open.
Before we had to start staying home and when life was “normal”, we’d order takeout at least three times a week, so I didn’t do too much cooking. We ate lunch at work and breakfast was usually a grab and go kind of item. Now I am cooking almost every meal, so I have been trying out some new dishes.
One night I made this “Crack Chicken” dish that I kept seeing in my social media feeds. It just looked incredible and sounded so good. Sadly, it didn’t live up to our expectations and hubby and I agreed it had a weird consistency to it. I won’t be making it again. However, one dish we have fallen in love with is this Hamburger Potato Casserole. It is so easy to make and is so good that we barely have leftovers. So, if you are looking for a new dish to try, I highly recommend this one!
Everything Else
We have had a very quiet Easter Sunday. Hubby left for work yesterday so it was just the kid and me at home today. I watched two church services on Facebook (my church and my cousin’s church in Virginia) and napped and read a lot. I’ve checked in with my mom and grandmother and my two cousins I am close to. It was strange not to be with our extended family today and we woke up to thunderstorms, so the morning was especially gloomy. It has cleared up and I am thankful for that.
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