Surprise!

One morning, we woke up to a very late snowfall. It didn’t last long. Rob said, “Ah, Michaela, it probably won’t snow, but if it does, I’ll buy you a Costco hot dog.” She was away with her family this weekend, but she did text him, reminding him about his promise! It will be a fun, inexpensive outing for the two of them, as long as they can get into the store before the hot dogs are gone!

It was hard to get milk around here, even at 6:30 in the morning. But, Rob and Patsy were resourceful, and found plenty at a small corner market near our house.

We had been waiting for our tax return to come back to fill an extensive list of food storage items. I’d let quite a few things run low, since we like to make sure my stockpile is rotated. We have certain places where we like to buy certain things, such as Costco, Bob’s Red Mill, Cash and Carry, Safeway, Fred Meyers, Grocery Outlet, etc.–wherever the best deal is on each item we wanted. So, Rob’s been filling the list for the past 3 weeks, with a little help from me, and we were almost done when this panic-buying madness started. Thankfully, the remaining things we needed were not as popular–like gluten-free flour (a 25-lb bag), gluten-free oats, things like that, and we easily purchased them. Rob did say that Bob’s Red Mill was busier than he had ever seen it, though, on the day he went up there, and people were getting huge bags of all kinds of things.

We had no trouble purchasing fresh produce, and thankfully, we have enough toilet paper:)

I spent my extra time this weekend organizing and cleaning the storage shelves, filling up glass jars and empty ice cream buckets. Now, I know exactly what I have and where it is. I have 2 things left to buy: mandarin oranges and water chestnuts, neither of which are urgent needs in my mind. I threw away a very few items. I made a decision that the canned soup we were given, that expired in 2011 and 2012, was obviously not something we liked or were going to eat. Those cans are gone now–straight in the trash, and that space is now filled with things we do eat. Overall, I felt really good about the fact that things had not gotten pushed to the back and ignored and our hard-earned food is not getting wasted. I also liked knowing what NOT to buy, such as dry beans–I had many pounds still left. This bulk buying at low prices, buying sales, and cooking these basic foods at home saves me a great deal of money.

I made a mega-batch of refried beans. I’ve been out of my home-made ones for a while, and wanted to re-fill the freezer while I had extra time at home. I cooked pinto beans, brown rice, boiled chicken bones and made soup right away, a huge pot of chili, and marinara sauce. Lovana came over and made kale and mushroom pizza (it was awesome, even though we were skeptical at first), and lemon bars. Now some of those time-consuming items are safely in the freezer for quick meals later on. I will finish the rest of my cooking plans in the next couple of days.

Rob’s been keeping busy, too. He’s been building little mason bee homes. He’s also been watering and transplanting in the greenhouse.

Rob and Patsy made raised bed frames for Lovana. She has a couple of trays of little starts in our greenhouse, and wants a little garden in her backyard. Now they need to get them over there and she can fill them with soil.

Patsy did a lot of school and one day, she worked on a quilt square. Last spring, she got some square kits at a shop hop, and is slowly working on this new skill.

Things are very different, and somewhat unsettling, since we are creatures of habit and routine. It was strange to watch our church service live-streamed on Facebook instead of going this morning. Jake’s school is cancelled, so we will see him a lot this week. At this point, Patsy’s spring break missions trip is still on, but that could change at any moment. There is another week to wait and see what is decided.

Like many of you, I’m choosing to live in faith, not fear. I love Psalms 43. The beginning of it says:

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth shall change.

There is a lot more of this Psalm, and so many more I love and take comfort in. I’m hoping I’ll have a little more time to read some during the week to come.