Quarantine Journals - Mushrooms & Cool Front

Yesterday was a long day, and I fell behind on my journal. The air-conditioning was not fixed until nearly 7 PM, and the temperature in the house was that at that point 85°.  It was too hot for a nap really or at least I guess that's what Oliver thought is, but otherwise we did pretty well with all the fans on inside. I'm grateful that we bought this box fan last year for the bubble tents that all of her and Penny got from Brandon. Scott was able to come out and fix the AC from the outside unit, so we didn't have to interface with him at all. I paid him via credit card over the phone, and he only charged us for one replacement part so it didn't cost us an arm and a leg. When the AC kicked on, it was just like hallelujah!

We spent a vast majority of yesterday outside because even though it was hot, there was a nice breeze that made it feel cool. Of course, there were storms last night, and it was much much cooler today. We kept most of the doors and windows open anyway, and just enjoyed the nice weather.  I had covered the plants the night before, so I went out and I'm covered them and did a little bit of work in the garden while the kids were doing schoolwork. Then, later in the day, after Oliver had woken up from his nap and we had had a snack, Oliver kept asking to go in the Bike Trailer. Penny, however, did not want to go in the Bike Trailer. She was adamant that she wanted to ride her bike with us. Richard kind of discouraged her from doing so yesterday, but I feel like it's important to embrace any kind of exercise she wants to participate in.  So I told Richard he could take Oliver for a ride in the trailer and I would ride with Penny, but he decided to stick with us.  We all went for a ride around the block, and Penny closed out her first 1 mile ride with her parents. She did great, and afterward she climbed into the trailer and Richard and I went for a ride. We covered about 4 miles plus her one, and he took us to a bike trail where we pass over a dozen people before I said hey this is too much and we need to turn around. Well, let's be honest… I was saying that from the moment that we passed the first person, but after about a dozen of them I was pretty much done. It's not at all enjoyable to be around people right now, and I don't feel like what we did today was safe. So I have a lot of anxiety about it, but I also know there's not much I can do. I hope the masks that Deanna got me for my birthday get here soon. Did I already share the amazing card she made me??  I'll add it here. 

When we got home, the kids asked to go play in the backyard, and I said that was fine. They've been wanting to get in the sandbox for a while, but I haven't wanted to clean up the massive mess that they make each time. They both needed a bath anyway, so I told them to go crazy. And they did. It's been a lot of time covering each other completely and sand, and they had it in their hair, mouse, pants, shirts… You name it. The weather outside was amazing. It was about 65° with a nice hefty breeze. I suggested to Richard that it might be a good night for some pho, and we might even eat it outside. Penny had already asked, and I had told her no, but I gave Richard the idea and let him decide.  So, he made the soup for us, and he got some leftovers for the kids, and we spread out a picnic blanket again and they ate in their forte. We enjoyed our soup on the porch, and then we let the kids play while we cleaned up. Afterwards, we heard them inside for a bath, a few minutes of playtime, and then off to bed.

Our neighbor that rents out his house informed me today that whatever is eating leaves off of my pepper plant is not a squirrel but a cutworm. He also gave me tips on how to deal with it. So I'm waiting for some diatomaceous earth to arrive tomorrow so that I can deal with it.  The mushrooms that we started a few days ago are getting bigger and bigger by the day. They've had so much growth just between this morning and this afternoon, and it is a ton of fun to watch them. Unfortunately, this evening I grabbed the spray bottle with vinegar in it instead of the spray bottle with water in it, so I'm not sure how they're going to look tomorrow.  I am mediately sprayed them with water and trying to get all of the drips off, and then even later Richard swish them in a bowl of water, so hopefully we saved them.

As far as the other plants go, the spinach sprouts we're getting a little yellow and unhappy, so I went ahead and move some of them to the outside garden. I didn't actually harden those off, so we'll see what happens, but I figured it was gonna be pretty cool tonight anyway. Meanwhile, I'm waiting for Richard to build a cover to keep out squirrels etc. before I plant all the baby peppers. Though, now that we know that it's not squirrels eating the other pepper plant, I suppose I could go ahead and just plant them. Those I did harden off.

When I was turning the compost bin yesterday I noticed that our old seed potatoes, carrots, and a piece of butternut squash had all sprouted. So I pulled all of those out and planted them and grow bags or the raised garden beds in the garden. I also obtained another aero garden and shifted some of the indoor plants around to best suit their needs.  We now have a bout a dozen mason jars going with the kratky method of hydroponics, as well as a aero garden for tomatoes, and aero garden for peppers, and aero garden for herbs, and an aero garden for lettuce. I know I'm being obsessive, but at least it will result in some fresh food. And the kids are having fun with it. And honestly, it's a huge source of joy and distraction for me right now.  I seem to do much better with hydroponics and mushrooms than I do with anything in the soil, and I'm feeling eager to get all this stuff outside so that maybe I'm not going to just kill it all off instantly.

Penny schools and email with a list of supplies that we need to have at the ready to participate in their "virtual field day". Honestly, I'm not looking forward to it, because I just don't have the bandwidth to deal with anything else. So I told Richard that he's welcome to handle it, no I'm not feeling super confident that he has the bandwidth to do with it either. He thought it sounded fun though, so hopefully he'll get it taken care of.

A couple days ago I decided that an excellent belated retirement gift for my dad would be a new iPad. I think I mention that here. We were going to try to do a party or a trip, but obviously both of those are out the window, so I knew I've had to didn't have a cracked screen and was an upgrade from the one that he has seemed like a winning idea. The iPad was delivered today, and despite multiple texts and phone calls and FaceTime, I've heard nothing from him regarding whether or not he received it or liked it. I mean, I know he received it because I told him it was important that he got it off of his porch as soon as possible, but I'm guessing he didn't like it or appreciate it because he's not acknowledged it at all. The only text that he sent me back and forth were that he was tired, or that he was going to bed. This was over the span of 12 hours.  It is frustrating to have such a communication challenged, dysfunctional family dynamic sometimes. Right now I'm feeling very "why do I keep doing this kind of stuff" when every time I know it's going to result in this kind of interaction.

Carmen was kind enough to deliver groceries to Jan for us yesterday. I thought Jan would be outside of where Carmen works, but she was happy to take on the order. I asked her to get some flowers for Jan for Mother's Day, and carmen made a little flower arrangement and then deliver her groceries in a cute little basket with some fresh sunflowers. I thought it was super sweet. Today, she texted me that she found a giant bottle of hand sanitizer at Costco and bought it for us if we wanted it. She's going to deliver it next time she's in town. She is really the best and I am so glad that we have her in our life.

Carmen was kind enough to deliver groceries to Jan for us yesterday. I thought Jan would be outside of where Carmen works, but she was happy to take on the order. I asked her to get some flowers for Jan for Mother's Day, and Carmen made a little flower arrangement and then delivered her groceries and a cute little basket with some fresh sunflowers. I thought it was super sweet. Today, she texted me that she found a giant bottle of hand sanitizer at Costco and bought it for us if we wanted it. She's going to deliver it next time she's in town. She is really the best and I am so glad that we have her in our life.

We got some dividends from USAA for our auto insurance since nobody's driving right now, and Richard applied for a small business loan for DFW craft shows since I will be making no money this year or next. The business is really struggling, and we've made little to no progress on the website, so everything about DFW craft shows feels very depressing.

Disney World is opening back up Disney springs in a week, and I've received multiple emails as entertainment specific places are opening their doors. As well as the dentist and salons, and haircut places etc. Meanwhile, the case is in instructions continue to hit an all time high on a daily basis, and our president is fucking delusional and trying to prevent anyone from getting any kind of support or advice or direction on our way to Safeway open up their states. There's a conspiracy theory going around the Internet about how this whole pandemic was planned out, and Richard is aunt Susan and uncle Mike totally buy and all of this bullshit along with all of the Trump and mega hype. I'm so sick of seeing the shit on their feeds that just continues to perpetuate the idea that mask are useless and there's nothing to be afraid of. I guess I'm lucky that they seem to be the only ones on my feed posting such bullshit.

There's a lot more going on right now, like a young man of color who was attacked and killed by three white man a couple of months ago just for jogging. And the whole world is had to speak their out rage just to even get anyone arrested for the crime, which happens today. This evening, I sat penny down and explain the entire situation to her because I think it's important that she grows up knowing that people of color are still struggling and that we have to fight back against racism. It was an extremely hard conversation to have, though. In my heart feels happy about it. She asked me "so if these men are in jail, or my friend safe? Or are there more people out there like this?"