Shelter in place

The State of Illinois is now under “shelter-in-place” orders until April 7, although what will happen at that deadline is anyone's guess. I haven’t gone anywhere since Friday. We won’t run short of food here for quite some time, although I can imagine that the menus might get odd if this goes on too long. What can I make with grape juice, sauerkraut, eggs, sweet corn, and raspberry jam?

We are fortunate that we have 26 acres to kick around in. Terry decided that the weather conditions on St. Patrick’s Day were perfect to burn the field. There was a light wind from the northwest; the above-ground grass was dry enough to burn, and the ground was still wet enough that the fire couldn’t cross the mowed firebreaks. Hilda and I went out to watch. I pumped up the water sprayer to be ready to contain the fire if necessary, but I didn’t have to do anything.

Terry started the fire with his propane torch.

Terry starting the fire

The fire burned quickly and completely, except for a few low spots.

The fire burned well

This is a picture of Terry watching to be sure the fire didn’t spread.

Terry at the end of the burned area

Jane started lisianthus seeds back in December. The plants were doing very well and outgrowing the plant stand that Jane had in her bedroom (a cat-free location). It was time to move them to our green house. In preparation, Hilda spread the tray-heating pads on the green house tables, and Terry brought in a space heater. Jane brought the plants up on Thursday. Hilda laid out the pots, potting soil, and empty tray on the dining table.

The table ready for potting up

We sorted the plants by color. Jane had wondered if there were differences in growth the depended on variety. The correlation was not perfect. All of the yellow-flowering plants were big. The red plants had both poor germination and puny growth. Other colors had some tall plants and some short plants.

These are the blue-flowering plants, some tall, some short

Here are Hilda and Jane hard at work. I was sitting to the right, but had to get up to take the picture.

Jane and Hilda hard at work

When each tray got full, I took it out to the greenhouse.

Rose (left) and blue (right) plants in their new pots

All the plants in the green house on the heating mat

With three of us working, we were all done in about 90 minutes. Jane brought up a ham that needed to be cooked before its expiration date and was staying to dinner. We spent the rest of the afternoon working on a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle.

A 500-piece jigsaw. So many cats!

We were finished by supper time, and had a lovely meal together.

It got cold again yesterday and today, but the greenhouse stayed above freezing with the help of the heaters. Hilda covered the plants with a blanket at night to contain the heat from the pads. The plants are looking happy now that their roots have more room.

When the governor issued the shelter-in-place order, Jane said she was glad we’d gotten the lisianthus repotted when we did. Visiting is not allowed anymore.

In other news, Hilda bought a painting. A friend of hers saw it among other paintings being exhibited in the Woodstock Opera House and emailed a photo. Hilda loved it. She consulted with me, since it seemed expensive. I pointed out that, compared to the paintings we see on Antiques Roadshow, it was cheap. I think what won her over, however, was the argument that supporting artists was a noble cause. She rushed to the Opera House to get the contact information, called the artist, and arranged payment.

Hilda's new painting

Originally, the painting had to remain on display until the show was over in early April. With everything shutting down at 5:00 p.m. yesterday, however, the artist delivered the painting to the house. For Hilda’s protection, she wore a mask and handed the painting to me with an antiseptic wipe on the wire.

It is a delightful painting. Most importantly, it brings Hilda joy. So worth the money!