Today, Friday 3 April, is Day 10 of our total lockdown. Have I gone totally bananas yet? Well, I hope not but I was incredibly grumpy
this morning!
I found more pantry moth grubs and discovered some seedlings
I had forgotten to plant. There was a
dead mouse sitting out on the terrace and our toilet cistern has begun leaking
again. Blah, blah, blah – just one of
those days, really. They happen sometimes.
 |
| Coastal sunset in The Catlins, South Island, NZ |
Anyway, son went to the supermarket and managed to find some
gunk while he was there (three times the price of a hardware store) so that
should fix the toilet. He also got rid
of the mouse.
While he was out I gave my car its weekly exercise – start
it up, back down driveway, turn around on the road, drive back up our driveway
and stop. I know vehicles can
deteriorate if left sitting unattended for several weeks on end, so Friday has
become Car Exercise Day.
 |
| My sweet little Suzuki Swift, parked on a mountain |
After that I tackled our pantry. Every item has been removed and checked for
moth contamination. Some food has had to
be thrown out (hate doing that), and the rest has been put into sealed Zip-Lock
bags before being returned to their containers.
The shelves have all been scrubbed down and disinfected. I am hoping that, a bit like fruit fly, when
there is no food available the pest will disappear. As a bonus to all this, the pantry is
sparkling clean and very tidy!
 |
| The sun rising over Zion National Park, Utah, USA |
This evening I will plant out the viola seedlings and hope
they survive. We are still under water
restrictions, although not as bad as some places further north from here, but I
can water them in with a hand-held hose.
Son reported our local Pak’n’Save supermarket was out of or
very low on several items, the strangest being six lonely carrots sitting in a
large bin! They have flour again, but
only in 20kg bags, and all of the loose bulk food bins have been packaged up
into huge bags. I wanted a few walnuts,
but I now have enough to last me for months.
The sun is shining and I feel much better for having
achieved something today.
Keep smiling J
Margaret.
We said today at this rate a tank of gas will last two months! Sounds like you are coping, I think a bit of grumpy is normal! Sounds like you got rid of the pests! We sometimes get tiny sugar ants here in the summer...I hate them :(
ReplyDeleteFrustrating times, Margaret. I'm thinking that my car may need some jumper cables to restart it (bother)
ReplyDeleteHope you have got rid of those pesky moths.
ReplyDelete:-) We go nuts here, but Hubby has a banana every day, hmmm...
ReplyDeleteEwww. Maybe this cheers you up: As a kid I was at a farmer´s place, Mum´s girlfriend´s family. I had a pair of rainboots there.
Dead mouse inside, my right foot found out...
"Car Exercise Day" sounds cute :-)
And smiling and tidiness is always a treat, to a good day, Ixx
What a way to find a dead mouse! I remember once a weta escaping my insect collection and finding it inside my trousers when I went to put them on, so I can imagine what your right foot was thinking :))
DeleteIn this our 3rd week, my moods are yoyoing, yesterday was a day where I did not want to do anything, not even craft, so I sat and read a book. I was good and went for a walk, which helped my mood, we could really do with some good news, but I can't see any arriving soon.
ReplyDeleteWe've been holed up in Saudi Arabia now for well over a month, choosing to not take any chances since early on with this crisis. Wishing you good health and less mice!
ReplyDeleteWe always get a lot of mice at this time of year - as the nights grow cooler they start looking for warm cozy places to spend winter, and that is usually inside someone's home or garage! Stay safe :)
DeleteHello, Love the photos and scenes. Zion is one of my favorite parks. I love the coastal scene too, very peaceful. It is a good idea to start the car, the battery stays charged? Take care and stay safe, wishing you a happy weekend!
ReplyDeleteAs you say, look on the bright side, the pantry is now squeaky clean, and that's always a good thing. I took just about everything out of the garage, swept it all clean, and reorganized. I feel positively smug as I look at it now!
ReplyDeleteLOL last night I found myself standing in the kitchen gazing at the pantry - smugness here too! :)
Deleteew... dead mouse, extra protein!
ReplyDeleteYour car exercise day is a good idea. My poor Bluebottle needs a run and still has a lot of winter dirt on his flanks, perhaps a run to the car wash is today's treat!
OMG Margaret, you drive one of my favorite cars! Although I don;t know how to drive (I know, I'm almost 30 and it's silly of me) but I would always dream of driving a Suzuki Jimny someday, just as I would to watch the sun set on the Catlins as well!
ReplyDeleteWe exercised our vehicles yesterday too, car, scooter and my quad bike. I'm surprised the quad bike started up. It has been sitting there for a month in cold and rain.
ReplyDeleteI've had moths in food before. Such a darn nuisance. Hope you got rid of all the beggars
The moths are still coming inside - granddaughter was laughing at me last night as I was chasing them around the living room (I caught a few too) - but hopefully now they will not have anywhere to breed and our food will be safe.
DeleteThe days are long when you a restricted from leaving home. You kept busy by the sound of it!
ReplyDeleteCertainly sounds like you are making the best of a terribly difficult situation. I like the photo of the Zion sunrise. Seems funny to have to have a day set aside to exercise your car! Stay safe and healthy.
ReplyDeleteOnly essential vehicle travel is allowed. Son uses his car to do our weekly grocery shopping, so mine never moves and I was told it could seize after sitting idle for several weeks - I thought exercising it once a week might help. My neighbour thought it was funny as well - and then went off and "exercised" her own car LOL.
DeleteLOL! I love that you exercise the car. I am doing similar. I am cleaning out the medicine cabinet. Ashamed to say there were a lot of things needing to be tossed. Now that it is organized I'll be able to find things we need and purchase what we don't have like band-aids. I have started wearing gloves and a mask when I go grocery shopping. Most folks aren't to be honest but should be. You take care.
ReplyDeleteIt is strange times we are living in...so far I have not been super freaked out about going to the grocery. But the longer it goes, I feel it sort of creeping in. I am staying close to home...our town is small, so hoping that means we are less likely to run into it here.
ReplyDeleteI remember my mother talking about having to keep food in tins. She'd keep all kinds of tins with good tight lids ( mostly they were cookie tins). That was before the days of Ziplock bags.
ReplyDeleteGreat picture of Zion National Park. We saw Zion, Bryce and the Grand Canyon in 2007. It was a great trip.
I have been to each of those places - they are beautiful places to visit, so awe-inspiring, and they seem to have a special atmosphere about them that I find very intriguing. It makes you fall in love with them!
DeleteHi Margaret, this is Margaret (I go by Margy) in British Columbia. Thanks for stopping by and commenting on my post about walking for exercise during the virus outbreak. We are actually not in BC right now, can't cross back across the border without going into a very restrictive 14-day quarantine so we are hunkered down in the United States where we have a part-time condo. Our stay at home order sounds much like yours. We can go out for essentials and exercise if we practice self-distancing. That order until May 4 unless changed, but I would be it will be extended based in the case numbers so far. We have a good friend back home in BC from New Zealand. He's lived in Canada for many years, but you can tell by his accent where his is from. Stay safe - Margy
ReplyDeleteI am glad you have somewhere pleasant to self isolate during the lockdown. Stay well :) Mxx
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