We are in self imposed quarantine. We have reasonable food supplies and any medication we might need. We are being cautious. Schools are still functioning although parents are being told to keep their children home if they are worried but school will finish this week in Western Australia, a week earlier than expected. We are being told to keep our distance from each other: two arms length apart.
Small businesses are closing and unemployment will be a major challenge for Australians. We’re shopping online and focusing on small local businesses where possible, but we are not big consumers, either. I can’t help but think about the towns decimated recently by bush fires and now being commercially effected by CV-19.
We will use this home time to do jobs around the house and in the garden when it is cool enough. Talking to friends it seems lots of us have long TO DO lists for the house and garden. My first job involves the plastics cupboard. About five years ago my sister-in-law was staying here and she sorted and rearranged all the plastic things in this cupboard and I was able to maintain that for ages, but not any more! Big job ahead.
These are a few of the things I have already done during the first few days of quarantine.
1. Before/After in the Plastics Cupboard.
Or, when I suddenly realised it was not only a mess but I have no need for so many containers now we’re not going to work and there are just two of us here.
BEFORE
AFTER Accessible with frequently used small containers at the front.
2. At Home Dry Cleaning
My husband’s tie had a mark on it after a recent outing so I said I would wash it. Read the label. It said “Dry Clean Only”, but we are in self imposed quarantine, so no trips to the dry cleaner planned. I consulted Google and found several items describing safe ways to launder a silk tie.
Following the advice on Google, I gently rubbed dish detergent on the mark, then swished the entire tie in lukewarm water before rinsing it three times in clean, lukewarm water. Placed it on a towel outside. When it was dry the mark was gone, so I ironed it with an ironing cloth on top and it is perfect!
3. Marbled Paper
I needed to marble new sheets for the inside covers of my journals. My mother gave me this tissue like paper but it had tears and marks on it so I cut sheets to fit the inside covers of my journals. Then I ironed out the fold marks.
I use Japanese inks to marble paper. Usually I do enough for the inside front cover and inside back cover for five or six journals. Wearing gloves, I mix the inks using the dispersing drops from the ink pots or a chopstick but you can also blow on the inks with a straw. I then print the sheets in the laundry trough by gently floating the paper on the mixed inks. The sheet of paper is then carefully peeled off the surface and placed outside on the brick paving to dry. They dry very quickly and are then ready to glue in place.
The tissue thin papers I cut were too fragile, so I used printer paper which is what I usually print on. The colours are pale and pretty and more like traditional marbling colours.
These prints are on the tissue paper I cut. The inks gripped well and resulted in strong colours, but the paper was too fragile and tore when it was wet. I was able to rescue a few sheets but not many.
Marble papers inside, trimmed, glued in. Three new journals ready to go! They’ll keep me going a long time if we are in isolation for months.
4. Easter Tablescape.
Easter feels really flat this year. Normally I do a lot of cooking but we wont be entertaining or going south to visit my Mother. All the usual decorations don’t sit well in this time of concern and closed churches. So, just a little arrangement on the table and an online order of chocolate!
5. Squared up Pictures and Mirrors
Love this clever little spirit level. Had it for years and love it. Wandered round the house after dusting and straightened the pictures and mirrors. Everything looks straight.
6. Immune Boosting Soup
Always have chicken stock in the freezer so made a thick, immunity boosting soup for our lunch. Borlotti beans, chicken stock and lots of vegetables cooked up with ginger and turmeric. Delicious but not ideal when the temperature is 37 degrees celsius (98.6 F) at lunch time.
7. Pretty Touches
Now we are housebound I’ve added more flowers. There’s very little left blooming in the garden except roses. The swathe of very pretty Mexican rose creeper flowers don’t last well when cut but I really like the colour.
This is where we keep photos of our fathers and our previous, much missed dog, Toby. I did the painting in the background when he was quite young. He and Louis, our dog now look very alike but are very different personalities. Both wonderful!
8.Yum Cha For Sunday Lunch
Our son was down from Kalgoorlie for the weekend. He left in February when it was very hot and now the mornings are much cooler and he needed warmer clothes. He also wanted some of his kitchen equipment and spices.
As a family we used to enjoy going out on the weekends for yum cha. That is no longer possible. We had some frozen so were able to sit down to our favourite family Sunday lunch. We had Prawn Hargow, Szechuan Pork, vegetable dumplings, Thai Chicken and broccoli in garlic and chili. Plus some dipping sauces and pickled ginger.
Prawn Hargow with broccoli and pickled ginger.
9. Garden Jobs
Went through my tin of seed packets. Planted some hollyhocks and yellow nasturtium seeds, plus some fresh perpetual spinach as the existing plants are getting a bit tough. Also planted some little gem lettuce as the seeds were close to their expiry date. Found coriander seeds which were past their expiry date so planted them in little pots and if they germinate I’ll snip them off when they’re small and we’ll eat them as micro nutrients scattered on our dinner.
Also did masses of weeding. There’s still a lot more to do but today we have had very welcome rain. Such a change but it is autumn now.
10.Cupboard Cooking
Suddenly cooler so thought I’d make a chickpea curry for lunch. Unfortunately, we have no fresh ginger or garlic and I’ve run out of onions. Discovered I can make a very good curry using only bits and pieces from the cupboard.
Mixed 2 tspn onion powder, 2 tspn garlic powder, 1 tspn ginger powder with 1/2 tspn each of cumin, turmeric and cayenne plus 1 tspn ground coriander in a medium sized pot and heated it up. Added a tin of drained chickpeas and a tin of diced tomatoes, plus 1/2 tin of hot water I’d used to swish out the tomato tin and let it all simmer for about 15 minutes. Stirred to prevent sticking. Then I added some frozen broccoli and cauliflower and simmered another 10 minutes.
Very nice straight away for lunch and even better the next day as leftovers for lunch. Next time I might add a couple of potatoes to the mix or spinach. Cool enough now for hearty meals.
I always have onion and garlic powder as I make our own taco mix. There’s lots of online recipes if you want to try it. A jar lasts a very long time.
Picked the last of the spinach and the basil which is going to seed. Added to a squid dinner. Fresh and lovely.
Hope you are managing with the limitations and risks of CV-19. Love the way people are sharing online museum and art gallery visits, book lists, great things to watch on TV and online/text communications. Found some new blogs I’m really enjoying, too. Think frequently about the hard working farmers who grow the fresh food we eat, the staff still working in food shops and the many front line health professionals. I thank them all. Keep safe, keep well and make sure you’ve had your fluvax!