Emotional Turmoil in Turbulent Times

Today I was watching a movie about a family that lost their mom, wife in their family. The family was struggling with the sudden death of someone as important as a mom. Watching the family struggling to get along, dealing with grief, and the day to day stuff. Grief is dealt with differently from person to person. Fear and grief makes us say and do things we may not normally do.

This single movie made me stop and think about what is going on in the world today. The COVID-19 virus has made so many changes in our lives. So many changes that we have not had time to adjust to them fully. The changes in how we live and work are hard enough. We also have to deal with the turmoil of how unstable our government appears to be. It became clear to me how easy it is to create FEAR in people. The fear of getting sick, the fear of lack of supplies, the fear of not having a job, the fear of not being able to take care of your family, the fear of our government not doing what you think they should be doing, Believe me, I get it. Fear is the mind killer. We should try to learn that the “only thing to fear, is fear itself”. (The Art of War by Sun Tzu) What amazes me is watching people run to the stores to stock up on supplies and hoarding out of fear. Watching people lash out at each other out of fear and frustration is unsettling. It does not matter if you believe in the seriousness of the COVID-19 virus or not. Doing simple things to try to help is better than panicking and over buying supplies. By simple I mean wear a mask, and follow social distancing those are the easiest things to start. Instead of reacting in fear to the COVID-19 virus when you go shopping and hoarding items such as toilet paper, be proactive and buy what you need and a little extra each time you shop.

How do you deal with the loss of family and friends who have died from COVID-19? When you cannot plan or go to their funeral. You need closure and to say good-bye. I would suggest what might help to deal with this is to create a spot in your home to honor the family member who has passed. I chose to put a favorite picture of the family member on a shelf and added flowers and candles. In this way, I can also have a place to go to remember the person who has passed. It might help give you some closure for the time being.

What I have been observing lately is that it appears a lot of people have difficulty expressing deep emotions with each other. We get so busy in our day to day life that we do not take time to talk to each other. We make assumptions on what others think and feel. Now it would be fantastic at this time to talk to each other about how you feel, how you might be afraid or frustrated, most of all tell each other how much you love each other. If you find it difficult to talk, I suggest that you write it down and mail the letter to each other. What I mean is have an in-house mailbox and leave messages for each other in the mailbox.

Another suggestion for you that might help you is by creating a gratitude jar. Take time to decorate the jar and make it fun.
Every day write something on paper that you are grateful for and put it in the jar. Weekly, as a family sit down and read out loud what everyone is grateful for no matter how big or how little.

Another idea would be to volunteer wherever and however you can. Volunteering does help you feel good. Try collecting food for those in need, deliver food for at-risk people, walk their dogs, etc. offer to do whatever you can to help your neighbors.

Sending love, friendship to you all,

Be safe, be healthy

Roxanne

How do You Care for Your Older Family Members in a Pandemic?

Senior Woman Looking Sad — Image by © G. Baden/zefa/Corbis

Taking care of an older family at the best of times can be very tiring. Luckily, I had put many of the things I am going to suggest were already in place. I am taking care of my mother, and she still lives alone at 81. One of the best ideas I had was to put a camera in her living room, dining room, and kitchen area. This way the whole family can check on her. If we do not see her walking around the house during the day someone is calling her to check on her.

I am so glad we had already set up grocery shopping online for my mother and made sure she knew how to do this by herself. We had a year of her doing it by herself. During the “stay-at-home” order she was still able to get groceries. Although she did not always get what she wanted, and it was not always on time. I had set her up at the two stores that I knew for sure that did home delivery. When she orders she has the delivery people just leave the food in the garage and they leave, and she goes out to pick them up. This has also helped me a great deal so that I am not going constantly to the grocery store for her, and myself.

Nursing home, social help elderly, medicine for old men. Social care concept

The next thing I did was to make sure her computer was up to date and safe. I had help doing this part because I know just enough about computers to get myself into trouble. My partner, Steve and I then checked her tablet and her phone and made sure they were all up to date. My mother likes to watch Youtube videos on quilting so we made sure she could watch on any TV and all other electronic devices. We even tried to make sure she had enough fabric and yarn to do projects because we could not come so often.

The hardest part about caring for older family members is keeping on track of their medication. It is so easy to get thrown off the schedule on the pills. I check often when I am visiting. But now I cannot check so often due to the pandemic, so I am relying on her telling me she is taking her pills. My mother is getting better about telling me when she does not feel well. That helps a great deal.

Yesterday she managed to do a video call. I will try again every few days so that she can do it on her own, then she can also do this with the rest of the family. This will help with her not feeling like she is alone all the time.

My brother bought her a puppy just before the “stay at home” was put in place. This has turned out to be the most wonderful thing. She complains about the work involved with a puppy but, she is happy. You can hear it in her voice and see it on her face. I am so happy my brother thought of that.

I am lucky that my mother lives in a retirement community. The neighbors do check on her regularly which has helped. They also have my number so that they can alert me to any issues she may be having.

Now, in taking care of my mother is difficult because I am also an at-risk person due to my age and my health. I take the chance of getting the coronavirus every time I go out the door. This adds to the stress of taking care of someone outside of your home. Nothing about this pandemic is easy or fun. I get frustrated when others do not take the “stay at home” seriously. It is frustrating that there is such panic at the grocery stores. Maybe that just shows how much people eat dinners out. We eat all our meals at home and treat going out to dinner as a luxury. Now we do not eat out at all. We now check our supplies frequently to make sure we do not cut it to close because supplies are not always available. We do not have groceries delivered so that those that really need it can have it.

We are planning as large of a garden as I can handle and will be canning the crops. I hope to grow enough to supply us and my mother. The next issue is to create a better online business so I can continue to stay at home and make a living.

This pandemic has been stressful, emotional and scary. As long as I do not get sick I know we will be fine. Our best defense is in preparedness. I have done as much as I can for both my mother and us for food and supplies. I hope that you have an easier time if I helped with any ideas. Please take care and stay healthy!

Be safe, be healthy and stay happy!

Roxanne

Day 5 Isolation

You would think I would run out of things to write about when I am posting so often. Not true, I have so many projects going that I want to share all of them with you. I hear that some people are so bored being stuck at home. Why? Let’s get creative and help you not be bored. You can only binge-watch so many Netflix movies.
When was the last time you did a video call with your family and close friends? Set up a time to check in on each other. This way, you can help each other not to panic or get depressed and lonely.
Instead of binge-watching TV, pick a time and a movie to watch together. Limit your sitting time.
Hobbies are another good way to spend time together. Right now, there are all kinds of classes on multiply subjects that you can learn for free online. I am getting ready to post classes on my Youtube channel shortly.
There are all kinds of museums that have virtual trips you can take through the museums. On Youtube, there are videos where you feel like you are on a train, many of them from several different countries.
I am taking some classes for free online right now, on herbs, sewing, woodburning, and wood carving to name a few.
I am setting up a filming studio in my dining room to start my videos. In the process, I have to rearrange the whole room. I chose this room because the lighting is better than in my studio right now. While I am trying to set up a studio for filming, I am also cleaning everything from top to bottom. I think I am more exhausted having to stay home than working outside the home. I would love to hear what kinds of things you are doing to keep from getting bored.
Stay safe, stay healthy!
Till next time
Roxanne

Day 6 Isolation

I do not mind being home at all. I prefer it. There is never a shortage of things for me to do. I decided to do a bit of decorating for Easter. I have had this Easter basket for more years than I can remember. The basket carved out of a gourd, and it is hand-painted. Inside the basket are egg-shaped gourds that were hand-painted by me. You can find the eggs on ETSY from the gourdlady48.

The bunny in the basket, I machine embroidered it stomach. There are many sayings you can put on the bunny. The bunny and other animals can be found at Embroidery Buddies online. I found the eggs at Joann’s Fabric Store. I love them.
In my next post, I hope to show you how to do this same look for yourself. The basket I have had for years, and it used to have a handle on it that has since broken off.

The tablescape that I put together this year is with only one bunny. I bought two new candlesticks at Hobby Lobby, topped with battery operated candles. Everything else I pulled together from things that I had around the house. The beautiful tray that everything is sitting on was given to me by a dear friend.

I left the trees up from Christmas, compete with the tiny Led lights. It makes for a nice room divider between the office and the dining room.

I need to work on an exercise program at home. I do far more sitting now than I did at work, and I am beginning to feel it. I have started small with sit-ups and some leg lifts. I will build on that. I have a long way to go before any weight starts to fall off.

Be safe, be healthy,

Roxanne

Day 4 Isolation

Now that there are senior hours at the grocery stores, it is a little easier for me to go grocery shopping. The funny thing is, I never considered myself a senior citizen until now. I was aware of being a senior just never paid any attention to it. It has been difficult to admit that I cannot move as fast as the other shoppers.
Today I went to the grocery store. It was a pleasant experience. The shoppers were all keeping their distance and were so polite to each other. The shoppers were not hoarding any goods.
Everywhere you looked you could see the employees shopping for customers. The employees were whipping down door handles, keypads, and the shopping carts.
It has been a shift in my thinking because we are now asked not to bring our bags to the grocery stores. We are asked to use their plastic bags to help cut down possible contamination. Luckily I have been saving plastic bags for a future project.
I regularly plan out our meals and shop accordingly. With this COVID-19 I still plan but, I buy a little extra each time I go to the store to build up supplies, on the outside chance we cannot leave our homes at all.

I cleaned off part of my plant shelves to make room for the extra food and cleaning supplies I have been buying. I hope that all of you stay safe and healthy. I will start adding the healthy meals that I am preparing to help you stay healthy.

Stocking up your pantry is something that most people do not do. I have not canned in a while so I was not stocking up either. If I have enough staples in my pantry I can cook almost anything. I do not like having to run to the store every day or even twice a week. I do buy in bulk when I can also. The only thing I have to go to the store is for fresh things and when I can have my garden again that will be next to nothing.

Canned tomatoes: Crushed, whole, diced, tomato paste
Dried pastas (I use gluten free)
Rice: long grain, brown, and Arborio for risotto
Peanut butter ( I use powdered peanut butter)
Honey:(I only use local honey)
Real Maple syrup
Roasted red peppers:
Canned artichoke hearts:
Baking ingredients: bulk flour (all-purpose, I also have almond, coconut, amaranth and others), sugar (I have regular sugar, but also have stevia), brown sugar (store in a nice airtight container), powdered sugar, baking powder, baking soda, extracts, yeast, etc.
Shortening and vegetable oil
Chocolate chips (I use carob)
Oatmeal (I use organic gluten free)
Evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk
Cornmeal
Mayonnaise: (I am making my own mayonnaise now)

Potatoes, onions, and garlic. I store them in a basket so air can circulate.

Dried beans

Stocks and broths (if you make your own even better)

The other thing I would like to share with you is stocking up in your freezer. Here is my suggestion. Make one day of cooking and cook all your dinners for a week and freeze them. If you are stocking up for winter or for other reasons just increase the amount of meals you are preparing. Store them in the freezer, labeled and dated in Ziploc bags. They take up less room in the freezer. I am sure that there are a lot of ideas on stocking up. Good luck, be safe, be healthy!

Until next time.
Roxanne

Day 3 Isolation

As each day passes, I do not find myself in a panic or bored. The projects that I have lined up for myself to do is a lot. I believe that many people get cabin fever, and it is worse when there is something like a pandemic. I do not have this problem. Staying home and doing projects around the house is enjoyable to me. I have to admit I have been sleeping in every morning. Beyond that, I have a long list of projects I have set up for each day.

Today I decided to re-pot a few of my house plants. I always find playing with my plants therapeutic. I love the smell of the fresh soil and digging in with my hands. I have an aloe vera plant for some reason that was growing lopsided. In its twisted state, it managed to have several offshoots that needed to be separated from the mother plant. I now have four new plants.

I had also started a rubber plant in water. It had rooted, and I found a large pot in my garden supplies to plant it in. I cut several more clippings from the large rubber plant. I want to re-shape the large plant to be fuller.

I like trying out different things in the garden. This year I am starting onions from onions. I have the root base of yellow onions sitting in water. I took tall green onions and also put them in water. The next thing I am trying is leaf lettuce in water. The onions have already sprouted a few roots. I have done this with avocados. I currently have four avocado trees. I discovered that I need to learn more about pinching back the trees so they aren’t so leggy.

My next project was to plant some herb seeds. I have chives, basil, and parsley so far. I started these in a planting mixture and they are sitting in my window. I mist them every day.

I have some bulbs to plant as well. As you can see they do not want to wait for me to plant them.

I hope that you are all safe and taking care of yourselves.
Roxanne

Day 2 of Isolation

Current events right now are keeping me on the edge of my seat. If I watched the news all day for updates, I would go into a great panic. The way that I look at this is I can control nothing, so I must focus on the things that I can control.

My mother lives near me, and I check up on her daily. We have cameras in her house so we can make sure she is ok. We have set my mother up on the computer so she can order her groceries from the grocery stores, and they are delivered. My brother and his wife had bought my mother a small puppy just before we got the “stay-at-home” order, and that turned out to be the best idea. We are trying to get her to understand and how to do a video chat. We are hoping she will not feel all alone during the isolation.

Today I spent the day collecting fabrics to sew into masks. I am using a pattern that I can sew on my embroidery machine. I showed my friends the finished face masks, and they all began to ask for one. I will make these until I run out of supplies. This mask is cute and quick to make.

In between making masks, I made several hand-sanitizers from scratch. It took me several trips to several stores to find the ingredients to make the hand-sanitizers. The aloe vera I bought is food grade and all it did was become solid in the alcohol. I ended up using an aloe vera for sunburns and it worked great.

I also bought a large number of vegetable seeds in the hopes that I can grow a decent size garden and then preserve them after harvesting them.

I have been going room to room and downsizing. I have been putting off downsizing my sewing studio due to the amount of time this is going to take. No time like the present, I am starting in small sections. My work table is so full of projects I want to get done. I hope I can get everything done during this isolation.

I hope that if you are also ordered in the “stay-at-home” isolation that you stay calm and plan and find things to do. I will try to continue to share with you and hopefully give you tons of ideas.

Roxanne

Day 1 of Isolation

Locking yourself in your home, it gives you a whole new perspective on your life. Before Steve and I went into self-imposed isolation, we started planning what we needed. To begin, we searched our recipes for healthy choices and created menus. From those menus, we then created a shopping list. Now with current events, we could not always find what we wanted. As each day progressed, it became harder and harder to find supplies that we wanted. But, we persevered. We would shop at several stores each day, picking up what we could find. Going shopping was becoming a full-time job. In the process, we have had to get creative on some of the cleaning supplies.

We started with buying bulk packs of canned goods each time we went out, including beans, flour, and rice. The first thing to disappear off the shelf was processed foods. If you are trying to be healthy, buying processed foods is not the way to go.
The next thing we did, which has been challenging, was cleaning products. The products that we wanted was to go as organic as possible in the home. The search took us to the most unusual places to find the supplies to make our cleaning products. We did find a lot of what we needed but not enough. Many of the grocery stores and pharmacies are setting up hours for the elderly to shop.

Plants do so much to make you feel good.

Trying to make the shift of being able to go anywhere we want, whenever we want is not easy. We feel our independence has been taken from us. But we would like to stay healthy for as long as we can.
Our first day, we decided to sleep late. What a luxury that was. We decided to begin the cleaning and disinfecting process in the house, starting with the kitchen. Started putting sliding shelves in the kitchen cupboard.

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Be safe, Stay Home! Believe you have the virus and you are staying home to not spread it to others.

Roxanne