Corona - Confinement day 28

My anxiety melt away with the wonderful sunny days of over 20 degrees Celsius. Summer is here! And Easter! And my youngest daughters Birthday tomorrow! It is party time! On the other hand, yesterday I was tempted to play music in the garden, but I felt the gesture suddenly inappropriate. Are we allowed to entertain and feel happy during pandemic? An old Finnish wisdom came to my mind stating “Who has happiness, should hide it carefully”. For the obvious reason not to create jealousy in neighbours. My children are high on happiness. Being together 24/7 has created an unprecedented bonding and their teasing, laughter, giggling is impossible to contain within the walls of our house. We consider this being wonderful, the old lady next door less so. So I should probably save also the music for later. That’s a little sacrifice though, we have had a really fun day today anyways. A chocolate egg hunt, playing in the pool, bike ride and I even managed to squeeze a yoga session in during the nap of little ones. We are preparing for tomorrow’s big day. My eldest had free hands to bake a birthday cake for my youngest, she chose carrot cake. I am so proud of her 😀 I spent 2 hours baking a traditional Finnish savoury pastries, the “Karelian pies” and thanking silently my grandmother whose heritage the receipy was, I felt connected to her. My girls came to the kitchen and helped to create the wrinkles to the pies. The tradition passes on. I feel happy. I don’t feel like hiding it.

Corona - Confinement day 24

For the first time during the confinement, I slept poorly. A few weeks ago we decided with my husband to order our groceries online with home delivery. It seemed the right decision given the contamination risk in the shops and the stressful atmosphere. The disadvantages have started to emerge: for two consecutive weeks we receive 2/3 of our list. Among sold-out items baking flour and toilet paper. No toilet paper whatsoever in all of Carrefour! Above all, we receive only 1/2 kg of apples for the full kg paid. It is not worth a return trip, but my husband thinks somebody is taking their share from between. I complement our shopping by ordering vegetables directly from farm. Even there I receive only 6 eggs for the ordered 12. “To rationalise” explains the guy selling. I wanted to reply to him they should take into account the family size, but in fear of no eggs I accept my 6 eggs gratefully. We are only one month into the confinement and the supply chains are already breaking. I start to wonder what will happen in 6 months, as some sources have estimated the lock-down to continue..Sensitive items will likely include imported fruits, nuts, oils perhaps also medication. We start making a list of essentials. It seems surrealistic. For my husband this is a deja-vu, having lived until young adult under the Soviet regime. Survival and living from scarcity is deep-rooted. He calls his mother for inspiration. She shares her experience of how they got through the worst years. When the flour was nowhere available, she used soaked pasta to make pancakes for the kids. I feel the rising need for self-sufficiency. Green house. We placed the order last week. I call mom for advice for cultivation. She is a pro in self-sufficiency, regardless of the rural northern latitude of my childhood house and garden. Cherry Tomatoes, salads, herbs..We don’t have much space, but it will be a start. It also gives me an empowering feeling that we are anticipating. In the evening, we watch you tube channels on families living off-grid. They are amazing.