Just What I Needed

The Covid-19 virus or Corona virus has been all we hear about.  It is affecting the entire planet.  Who knows what is going to happen when it is all over. The centre of infection had moved from the source in China to Italy and Spain only to shift gears and get bigger in the US.

The numbers are terrifying and as there seem to be an unwillingness to shut things down properly. This is going to cause a delay in the pandemic ending. 

The other day I had a text quarrel with my mother. Dementia is slowly taking hold of her once sharp brain. She forgets things.  She has always been stubborn so I can't lay that particular trait at the feet of dementia.  Since the shut down, things have decided to take a nice step forward. She passes all the questions that are put to someone who is suspected of having dementia, "Who is the president?" "What is the current month?"  and she is deemed to be just fine.  It is the decision making process that is flawed. There doesn't seem to be any thought beyond what she wants at that moment.

Her senior centre has closed.  When they closed they sent people home with food parcels.  My mother promptly gave all the food to her neighbours.  She has always been generous but now her generosity is becoming a problem.  She gives her money and food away to anybody who asks and leaves nothing for herself.

I found she had gone out for a newspaper and sent her very firm messages to return home and stay there.  "I survived polio, I can survive this!" That time she went home and agreed to stay in. . . . until the following day when she decided to go visit her friend.  This prompted another round of fierce texts.  Thank heaven she can still operate a smart phone!

After she showed up at home again, I just burst into tears of frustration.  When I started to cry, I decided that I would pick at everything that worries me and have a good howl.  I miss my children.  I miss my grandchildren.  I miss my friends.  I worry about the collapse of society and famine.  Oh when I decide to feel sorry for myself, I don't mess around.

That very evening I got a call from a friend of mine who runs a charity, Dumfries & Galloway Multicultural Association.  They run a lot of support for refugees in the county among other things. Could I pick up some food donations?  Of course!

I was thrilled!  The BEST thing for snapping out of a round of self-pity is to do something for somebody else!  This was just the tonic I needed!

The local supermarket normally donates unsold food to the school.  Schools are closed and they were scrabbling around to find someone to collect the food and save it from being thrown out.

I was at the door of the supermarket just before closing.

It is shocking to see a place I visit frequently go through dramatic changes.
I put on my boiler suit and wore rubber gloves for this trip.  I am trying to minimise infecting myself.  If I am infected and not showing symptoms, I don't want to be the one infecting others.

The lovely lovely staff at the supermarket had boxes of food that was still perfectly fit for human consumption but had past its sell-by date.  They could not legally sell it.

They hated the thought of throwing it all away and were happy that somebody could make use of it.

Now then. . . what to do with all this food?!  I couldn't drive to Dumfries with it.  There really isn't a network set up in my little tiny village for this sort of thing.
The next morning I put a notice in the village hall Facebook page announcing that there was free food available!  All anybody had to do was pick it up from the village hall.  I asked people to only touch what they wanted to take, bring their own bag and be respectful of distances. 

I left the boxes of food and hoped the local village people would not be shy.  I was so glad it didn't rain!

At the end of the day, just when it was starting to get dark, I went to collect what was left and the empty boxes.

To my joy I was met with this sight!  I was SO happy that my lovely little village was able to make use of this food!    It helped snap me out of a big self-pity party.  I am reminded that doing things for others has always helped.  I also helped to end food waste! 

Strawberry Bed

I really should have done this in October.  Once again I refer you to the title of this blog.

The strawberry bed was very productive last year.  I got loads of tasty berries. I made many jars of super delicious strawberry jam. But I must confess that there were not as many strawberries as there were the year before.  There were enough so I chose to ignore the fact that the strawberry bed was due for an overhaul.

It's a tedious job and it is made worse by putting it off for two years.

Now that we are in isolation because of the Covid-19 pandemic I am forced to do all the jobs that I really should do but never seem to have the time.  All I have is time.  It really is a luxury.  I am actually quite fortunate and privileged to have a big garden and all the time in the world to tend to it.

Because we are forbidden to go anywhere, the weather has been quite nice.  It has also been dry.

Last week, I washed the front of the poly tunnel.  It made it look almost NEW!

If you look just around the corner, you will see that it is not new.  The green algae has had a couple of years to get a good build up. 

This is the north side of the poly tunnel is where by law it will be worse.  I made a few cursory swipes at this algae and decided that I would have to get the hose out another day.  Only the front is clean for now.  That's okay, that's the part that people can see from the road.

We have two vegetable beds in there.  One to the right and one to the left.  There is a big strip down the centre where we grow NOTHING.  The lawnmower is kept there and a seldom used rotovator.

The vegetable bed to the right of the tunnel is where we grew a little bit of everything.  It gets the best sun and the soil is rich and well drained.

Radio on the old cobbler's lasts in the right bed

The vegetable bed to the left is where the strawberry bed is.  The berries are safe (well, safer) from the birds and we can gather them in the rain without getting slightly damp.  It is so easy to harvest them that I have ignored regular plant maintenance.  I should have staked out runners two years ago so that I could have fresh plants. . . . never mind.  You get the idea.

This is what the strawberry bed was looking like when I went in this morning. 

Old matted strawberry bed

There is a thick mat of old runners and dead leaves and a big area in the middle that will give us nothing if this isn't sorted now..  There are a few weeds dotted in there punctuating the reminder of my lazy ways. 

Despite all the neglect, nature wants to live.  There is plenty of healthy growth on the old plants yet.  I know that when I split things up and give them a bit of love they will bounce back. 

So armed with a portable radio, a mug of tea and a garden fork I set upon the task.
The soil under the old plants is delightful.  There are plenty of earthworms. 

Diving the plants is easy but it takes a long time because I am careful and want to save everything.  Throwing aside a perfectly good but surplus strawberry plant horrifies me.

I am definitely keeping the ones that show the most promise, popping them straight back into the dirt.

The others will be kept in a holding bin to be potted up and given to the anybody who wants them. 
Who wouldn't want some nice organic strawberry plants?

Strawberry plants in the holding bin

This is the bin where the "maybe" plants are being stored.  This time of year they will not die if I don't replant them immediately.  I will select what I need and then pot up the rest.

a bit of progress

I decided to replant them immediately.  I wanted to see how the refreshed plants would look in their newly cleared places.

I think they look good and seem that they will survive my attentions.

I managed to get a third of the strawberry bed dug up, sorted and replanted today.  I will do a bit more tomorrow.  If I get everything done all at once I run the risk of being industrious.  Can't be having that!  I will also run out of really big jobs before this isolation is over.