Is everybody OK?

[Pajarita]

I know we don't have that many members that post regularly but I also know there are always a number of lurkers on the site every day and I would love to hear from all of you.

I am doing fine as is my entire family (everybody back home is fine and although my US daughter and her husband had what I am convinced was coronavirus, they couldn't get tested so we will never know). A bit tired of being indoors ALL THE TIME because my husband won't let me go out not even to the backyard (I belong to three of the five high risk groups for coronavirus) but I am used to not going anywhere for days and even weeks at a time so it has not been a huge sacrifice for me. My routine is exactly the same as it always was so there hasn't been any significant change in our lives - except that my husband is doing all the shopping on his own (and even though he has a DETAILED list, he is still not very good at it but we are making do) wearing gloves and mask (courtesy of my daughter's brother in law who can get them through his job) when he goes out and takes extra precautions like disinfecting the inside of the car, door knobs, etc (we made our own hand sanitizer and will be receiving materials soon so I can also make good face masks - anybody interested in finding out my research about everyday materials that work as well as a surgical mask, let me know). Had a bit of trouble with the dog and cat food but my husband has been getting what he can find and we have ordered from Amazon several cases so we are managing OK. Parrots diet have had no change whatsoever, they are still getting their gloop and fresh produce every day although I have reduced the amounts to 'stretch out' the supplies a bit (this doesn't really affect them much as I normally give them more than they actually eat) and I will be ordering my seeds and nuts online instead of going in person to ABBA and supermarkets.

So, so far, so good. We only know of one friend who died - which was heartbreaking as it was a healthy woman the same age as my US daughter and a friend to both her and her husband -left two daughters!

How are you guys doing?

[Chai]

All good here in Denver. I am used to staying home also, so it's not such an adjustment for me. I have most of what I need for my birds, would like to have more frozen veggies but so far the stores are pretty low on them. I already had a supply of their grains and stuff before all this started. Produce has not been an issue so far, neither has cat food. Other than that mostly just reading and laying low!

Glad to hear you are staying safe!

[Pajarita]

Thank you, Chai, for letting us know you are OK. Yes, fresh produce is still available but I think that we will be having trouble later on because there will be nobody to plant, care for and reap so there might be shortages in the near future so I am starting some greens in my basement (easy things like lettuce, escarole, etc). I can't 'do' fruits in the basement but I will get naturally dried fruit (Barry Farms online has a selection of naturally dried stuff - choose the air dried instead of the freeze dried) and reconstitute it as best I can by soaking it overnight.

[Navre]

Still here. Haven’t left the house since the beginning of March. I’m retired from the FD on a lung related disability.

Birds are getting a close approximation of their regular gloop. Girlfriend is an essential worker, so she’s still going to work. She has gone shopping every couple of weeks.

Glad to hear you’re okay.

[Pajarita]

Oh, John, thank you so much for posting you are OK! I was getting ready to send you a pm and I have just sent one to Liz who hasn't been here for some time. Please have your girlfriend take off her clothes (put them to wash immediately) without touching anything else in the house when she comes back from the street (even after wearing gloves and mask). People like you and me who have chronic lung issues are the ones that end up dying - especially since there are not enough ventilators for everybody! Keep in touch, my friend!

[liz]

My son has been doing my shopping to keep me house bound. I am auto-immune. It has been weeks. I did have the flu but not the big one.
I found two masks that the VA gave me when I had bronchitis. My son took me to the grocery store and it felt like I was on vacation.
My freezers were full but I had run out of all the easy things to eat. For fear that I would not get out again very soon I stalked up on freezer to microwave foods. I bought lunch meat, pies and cakes, yogurt and stuff like that. I am still weak and don't trust myself cooking.I burned up two batches of grain.
We are all okay.

[Navre]

Good to hear from you, Liz!

[Pajarita]

Great that you posted, Liz, and I know it's hard to stay inside but, please, do not go to the supermarket (they found out that the supermarket aisles are one of the worst places for contagion - look at this: https://www.bostonherald.com/2020/04/09 ... ermarkets/
I've been chomping at the bit to go shopping myself not only because of cabin fever but also because my husband, as hard as he tries, is terrible at it but it's a matter of life and death for us, old people with other conditions (I also have an auto-immune condition PLUS 45+ years of asthma). On a light note, every time I argue with my husband (and, as you all know, I am a big one for arguing ), he replies that I should not argue with him because he has been saving my life everyday for 6 weeks now... My superhero!

[Pajarita]

Is everybody getting enough supplies for their animals? I don't mind having to do without paper towels (none to be found for a couple of weeks already) or the kind of bread we like (sprouted multi-grain, seeds and nuts for me and French baguette for my husband) but the stress of trying to feed my animals properly is getting to me (added to an increasing cabin fever due to not going out the door of my house for weeks and weeks). I just finished a batch of gloop that does not even look like my normal recipe (had to use sorghum due to getting only one bag of kamut, wheat and oat groats, canned peas and carrots and broccoli pieces), although I am sure the birds won't mind that much and that I realize how lucky I am that I have good people helping me (a friend in birds that has gotten birds and cages from me brought me three HUGE bags of supplies), it still bothers me that they are not getting their 'usual' but my biggest worry is the dogs (the cats are fine because I always have huge supplies of cat food). The 'normal' ones' food is not that bad because they can eat anything but the allergic ones are a big problem because they require no grain/beef/chicken and their normal all salmon canned food is not easy to find in large quantities AND to make matters worse, online orders are super delayed.

My husband has been trying to go out only once a week for groceries but, unfortunately, that has not worked out at all and he has been going out two and three times a week trying to get enough of everything (we also use a lot of fresh produce, cat litter, hard and soft treats, diapers and nuts -which have become more and more difficult to find) and he will have to go out again today (for the third time this week) to get milk replacement formula for the five feral kittens we've just brought in - and that's another problem because both the wellness clinics that I normally take them to for checkup, deworming, FIV/Fel testing and vaccines are closed. My dog and cat vet is still open but having all that done to the five of them is going to be very pricey and I never charge a penny for their adoptions because I would rather give them away to homes of my choosing (if you charge, you are selling them to whoever has the money to pay).

But, all in all, we are very fortunate and I am not complaining. Everybody in my family, here and back home, is healthy and nobody is going without; the animals are all doing well and I am very resourceful when it comes to food (can cook from scratch anything you can think of -including crispy crust French baguettes for my husband which is my next project), cleaning (I can clean the entire house with just three easy to find products) and household stuff (grew up using kitchen towels and floor rags and can mend, sew and pretty much do anything that needs to be done with very rudimentary resources - sheesh, I could even cook on an open fire if I had to!) and LOVE to read and watch movies. Next is to start an exercise routine for my husband and me (I've been taping exercise routines from TV), cut my husband's hair (yes, I can do that, too) and finish grooming a couple of the dogs (need to trim Chicho's hair again and bathe him and finish Augie's paws -he is a pain in the neck so I need to cut his hair in sessions so as not to stress him out).

My advice to everybody is: Keep busy (watch TV but don't vegetate in front of it all day long), plan in advance for the 'just in case' (I ordered seeds to plant veggies in my garden instead of flowers), find your 'happy hours' (I have three during the day -no, it does not involve drinking - and look forward to them AND enjoy them every day), and find something new to learn (I am registering for ornithology classes online because I won't be able to attend college as I've been planning to do this spring) and, most of all, keep the hope alive! We will get through this and, in truth, I think that, as terrible as this whole situation is, a lot of people will learn to go back to the simpler things in life and appreciate their blessings.

[Navre]

I have enough frozen cooked grains for another 2 weeks. I have frozen corn, peas, carrots, and broccoli, so that’s what I’m adding. I froze my last can of beans, and they’re about gone. I just give them one or two a day, trying to stretch it out.

I have a sweet potato that I’ll partially cook and freeze once I’m out of the other stuff.

I have a can of great northern beans. I think I can use them in place of the navy beans.

No more fruit.

As the birds get less gloop, I’ve been giving them TOPS pellets. The hooded parrot still has his seed mix, and doesn’t seem to touch the pellets. The Conure eats the pellets. They’re also getting a nutriberry every day. Pellets, seed mix, and nutriberries can be mail-ordered, so that will have to be their staple when I run out of the other stuff.