FYI - the Post Office Shop has puzzles.

Ooh, puzzles and a sheet or two of stamps = funding the USPS!

msbelle, you are still--and ever--the nicest.

H scored two rolls of shop towels and we had a new bag of rubber bands, so he's been making us DIY masks, with paperclip nose pieces. They work great, actually filter more than an actual paper towel, certainly more than a single-layer cloth mask. So far I've only needed mask to sign necessary documents before a notary, gloves too. And gloves to unpack stuff coming into the house from Elsewhere.

He's doing grocery runs twice a week in the early, elder hours, and so far we've found what we needed. I'm aware shortages are a-comin' and we're bulking up food and dried foods as we can. We've always kept a good basic pantry (easy now that we have an actual, you know, pantry!) and rotate stuff out as we use it. The onus is gonna fall on him, though. I'd rather chew cardboard and leave him the canned beets.

The last two days he's been clearing up our garden containers and planters, carrying off the dead stalks, leaves, and roots. The Green Team (yard waste weekly pickup) isn't working this year b/c pandemic, but they've left a trailer for people to bring their yard waste, and the truck will drop off loads at the civic reuse center when the trailer's full. He also collected and put the pots shattered by freeze and thaw in the garbage. While he's been working a steady stream (okay, maybe three an hour) of neighbors have stopped on their walks to stand six to eight feet away and talk gardening, or really, anything, just to communicate with a friendly face. He worked on the beds between our yards with the neighbor next door--both sides. So he's getting his socialization on, and I'm trying to write. It works out.

We're being mindful of our diet, when both of us would happily subsist on homemade pizza and mac&cheese. Smaller servings, which can only be healthier for us, and more produce while we have access to it.

I'm not a big shopper, but I really miss browsing, seeing and touching pretty things. And we've been blessed here with good weather, so scenic drives are always a cabin-fever antidote.

I could wish you all as pleasant and minimal-trouble quarrantine.

Y'all: we're looking at shortages of meat now, because the personnel at the meat processing plants are getting sick. I suspect tomorrow I'll try to hit the local grocery store and pick up some bacon and sausages before it's all gone.

Glad I haven't eaten much of my beans yet...

I have a Botox appointment Thursday, and my neuro's office has called me, emailed me directly, and sent a message to the portal about COVID stuff. I GOT IT.

I am giving blood at a drive on Friday, which has not been cancelled (yay!), but I got a voicemail about a change in location. I could not understand what the hell she was saying, and was about to call back when I looked at my email and saw they had also emailed me. To let me know it's in a different part of the same building.

FYI - the Post Office Shop has puzzles.

Ooh, good one, thanks!!

I'm really glad I stocked up at Costco although I wish I had made some different choices. The same with today's groceries. I didn't do bad I just wasn't thinking about upcoming shortages.

My attempts at growing produce from scraps is so far: ceelery is a success, the lettuce and onion are not. Although I have some green onions I'm hoping to finish off tomorrow and plant and then some carrots I may try to start. I don't know where I'm going to plant them but I'll figure it out. It's not like it's going to make a huge dent in our budget but at least it's something.

I got the stuff on my house repaired and it was less than $300. I went to the ATM up the street so I could pay in cash and stopped in the CVS to see what was there. Got some hydrogen peroxide, foundation, and gift cards for mac's birthday in 9 days.

The guy who did the work is a local general contractor and he kept appointments, called to verify times were good, and looks to have done a good job. He is going to come back and get me a quote on a garage door and electric opener for my gate.

I know the tax filing deadline was extended, but I was pretty damn sure we'd get a refund, so I did our taxes tonight (spoiler: we did get a refund). I am, however, not paying my estimated quarterly taxes until the extended date. All I have to do is wrangle the city's tax return, and I'm finished.

Tim was off for the past 2 weeks, but now he's back to work (his company is an essential business), but he's working 2nd shift (4 pm to 2 am), because there are WAY fewer people, so he feels pretty confident about maintaining good social distance. I'm only marginally concerned on his behalf, but he's being exceedingly vigilant about handwashing. Mostly, it's boring as hell not having him home in the evenings, so I'm binge-watching The Magicians on Netflix.

We're being mindful of our diet, when both of us would happily subsist on homemade pizza and mac&cheese. Smaller servings, which can only be healthier for us, and more produce while we have access to it.

Yeah, I've been making an effort to make a smoothie most days of the week, to be sure I hit my fruit/veggie intake goal (the smoothie has milk, frozen berries, and a shitload of spinach, along with protein powder).

But I am also having mac & cheese from time to time, because it's apparently the #1 comfort food that I want.

OK, I found some stuff to order from a different local store that should be here by my mother's birthday. Phew!

The only fresh vegetables I have left in my house are onions and potatoes, but shopping day is coming up at the end of the week* so I'm pretty sure we won't get scurvy.

*Keeping to my every 2 weeks schedule instead of running out to the store every time we run out of something is REALLY FREAKING HARD.

I'm also trying to do every two weeks, Jessica, but it's definitely a challenge -- my apartment is small, and there's no room to buy extra of much, particularly bulky things. When it's just me, in my small flat, it just wasn't a viable habit to shop more than 7-10 in advance, with semifrequent trips to the local organic grocer to supplement (or to eat dinner from the deli counter).

Fortunately, I still have an account with the CSA I used several years ago, because they aren't taking new accounts -- not even to buy gift certificates, which I thought was odd -- and I was able to reactivate my twice-monthly CSA box, plus the milk & half and half I would otherwise need to visit the store to acquire.

And the small farmstead shop on my dog walk has stayed open (and it's open-air) so I can get additional produce and a handful of grocery items there as needed.

Interestingly some of the farmers' markets around Portland have committed to staying open as well, which includes local meat and fish mongers, so it may be a hassle and time-consuming to go there once a week (or less) but it's a source point for animal protein.

2 weeks ago I managed some fresh stuff in my Aldi delivery, but from what I am hearing the larger markets are just way more wiped out.