Jammin' with Jane

Jane has taken advantage of the pandemic pause to dive headlong into pickling and preserving various foods, a trend that will only continue into the summer and fall as our own garden starts producing.

We picked up fruits and vegetables from curbside stands and farm markets offering contactless purchasing. We've already harvested and pickled a batch of our own radishes, harnessed our dandy dandelion crop, and the mulberry trees in our yard are now burgeoning with purple bounty.....provided we beat the birds to them.

Luckily jars and other necessary supplies have also been available, either through Amazon delivery or via curbside pickup at Canadian Tire.

Yum!

 Making good use of all those dandelions

Yellow gold!

Dandelion Honey and Dandelion Jelly

Now to remove all those stems....

Mulberry Hands!

A labour of love!

Pickled everything!

Raspberries for jam

Strawberry Jam

Thanks Pardo's for contactless pickup!

Weeping for the Willow

We had a nasty thunderstorm in early June, accompanied by strong swirling winds - it was even deemed a possible tornado until further investigation ruled that out.

A good chunk of our beloved willow tree fell victim to nature's fury, literally before our very eyes as we watched through torrential sheets of rain hammering the back door. Unfortunately, the downed branches also took out the hydro line to the barns, and importantly, a freezer full of food.

On the plus side, the line pulled away from the house (source) end, rather than the pole, so the line was dead as soon as it happened.....a live wire in a bunch of puddles could have been far more interesting! We were able to run three extension cords from the house and just have enough reach to power the freezer overnight.

Luckily, help arrived the next morning - first, a local electrician got the power line back in order. With that safely out of the way, we began cleaning up the downed branches, and had just cleared the driveway portion away when our "tree guy" arrived. 

Proving that size does indeed matter, his much larger chainsaws made short work of the rest of the chunk, and we chipped everything right where it fell. Then he tackled the remaining pillar of tree where the damage occurred, and took down an additional seven feet or so of massive willow trunk for future safety.

It sucks to lose a piece of the willow, but it could have been so much worse!

Weepil takes a hit

Power line down and trapped underneath

Earl doesn't seem too concerned....though he hasn't moved in a while either....

Chip it....chip it good!

Clean up in the hot sun

Brad to the rescue!

Let me just move this out of the way.....

The morning after

The line even pulled a little siding away

Timberrrrrr!

....and it was tree......

....tree fallin'

All fixed up!

Pandemic Productivity

The COVID-19 pandemic stretched into June. Some places were starting to open up, slowly and carefully....but for the most part, lockdown continued, meaning working from home for me and no art shows for Jane.

Glass half full people choose to see this societal pause as a gift of time, to tackle a few of those things that busy lives have kept us from.

There's been landscaping and manscaping, planting and pulling, and wallpaper removal. We've re-acquainted with paint and stain and varathane (oh my!), the The Open Door studio store has at long last....opened its doors.

We also donated to a local county-wide food drive that engaged the entire community and broke records.

We venture out once a month for groceries and other key supplies (thanks, Bayside!), and with Renny's open again for takeout we get our brisket fix ever other Thursday. All contactless.

Our area is looking to open up more things due to low COVID numbers, but also must face the real possibility that people from hot-spot areas like Windsor and even the GTA will come here for groceries and haircuts.

In the midst of the pandemic, yet another black man was killed by police, this time on lengthy and chilling video for all the world to see and rally against. South of the border, US cities are burning as protests  rage on around the world and people demand change in the wake of George Floyd's death.

Strange days indeed.

 A little landscaping

 Another load of brush for the recycling depot

 First bonfire of the year

 Flora!

 Jane cut her own hair....

 A good friend made us customized facemasks!

 We contributed to a record-breaking food drive

 The rare bearded Ginger glimpsed in its native habitat

 ....and Jane cut my hair!

 Jane's deck gardens

 The Open Door....the doors are open!

Updating the mudroom

 Tackling the laundry room

 Getting the flooring ready with stain and varathane

Long overdue!