Ten Things To Do To Help You Get Through This Time of the Coronavirus

Hey, Everybody!  How are you doing?  I hope you are all well.  I, like you, are settling into the new "normal" for my life.  My husband has brought all of his office computers and paraphernalia home and set up shop in my family room.  That is a new adjustment for me.  Luckily, he is very easy to have around.  My greatest fear right now is trying to figure out the best course of action for my 83-year-old mom who has been in a nursing rehab facility for the past three weeks. She is set to be released within days.  I won't go into all that my brother and I are going through but, it has been tough since we live hours away from her.  I am sure you are having struggles of your own in all of this, too.  I am praying that we all make it through as unscathed as possible.

However, since I am socially-distancing and staying home and unable to visit my mother, I am having to come up with activities to remain happy and productive during this unusual time. I have created a list to help me through and I thought, perhaps, these ideas could help you, as well.  I should preface all of this by saying I live in a home with only my husband.  All of our children are grown with children of their own.  So, I would say this list is probably better suited for people in my situation.  Having little ones at home might make these suggestions hard to do so if you are a mother of little children, please take these suggestions with a grain of salt.  Maybe you can enjoy the pictures,
though :).

1.  Decorate for Spring

          I probably would have been doing this in my home by now, anyway.  I have been distracted the last few weeks like all of you but, now is a good time to make my house bright and cheery for spring.  I will be working on this for the next few days and hope to share some pictures with you soon.  Of course, I will have to use supplies and decorations I already own.  I won't be able to purchase anything new for a while I imagine.  I am sure Michael's has closed by now.  Very sad.

         

2.  Yard Work and Garden Prep

         Everyone has been saying we are going to have the best lawns and gardens of our lives with all this "having to stay home" stuff.  I agree!  My husband, who really hates yard work, has already done some of our yard clean-up.  We own two acres so, there is still a lot more to do but, it will keep him busy for a while.  I will be able to prep my garden beds, window boxes and containers for spring and summer plantings.  I am still hoping we will be able to buy flats of flowers in April but, I guess that could be off the table too...which leads me to #3.

Tower Hill Botanic Garden

3.  Start Seeds Indoors

          Every year I have the best intentions of doing this.  For me, the success rate is not all that good but, I love the process anyway :).  I love picking out the seeds and dreaming of a garden full of  lovely blooms.  I am not a vegetable garden person so, I usually do not buy vegetable seeds.  Maybe this year is the year to start!  I am not sure if the nurseries will be open to buy seeds but, a follower on Instagram told me about a seed mail order website called Superseeds.com.  It looks like a very interesting website for gardeners.  Checking it out might just fill up an afternoon.  Fun, fun!

4.  Take a Walk

          I know this one is somewhat silly to include given that that is what everyone seems to be doing these days but, I think taking a walk really can help uplift our spirits.  I was having a rough day yesterday with all that is going on with my mom.  I decided to drive to the bike trail in my town to clear my head.  There were tons of people walking and biking there.  All of us kept our distance.  [I'm not really sure what is up with putting your head down and not smiling at each other but, I guess they had their reasons :).]  I did see my neighbors who live next door.  We kept our distance, for sure, but it was really nice seeing them.  They were disappointed because all three of their children and their families were supposed to be flying in this weekend for an 80th birthday celebration of their paternal grandmother.  Everyone has a story!  They were upbeat, nonetheless, which was encouraging to me .

5.  Do a Craft

          I know many of you are crafty and take great pleasure in making things with your hands.  Now is the time to pull out all of those craft supplies and see what you can make!  Here are three crafts I have shared on this blog before. I know you may not have the exact supplies sitting around your house but, maybe you can be inspired by these suggestions and improvise with the stuff you already have :).

This ↑ was a wreath I made with fabric flowers I found at Michael's.  You can see how to make it here, if you'd like.

These ↓ were favors I made for my mother's 80th birthday party.  You might have to read down the post a bit to find the instructions but, I think they are there :).

 Here is another wreath I made last spring.  I think I still have the supplies to make another one to make it a matching set.  Now that I think of it, that is something I could be doing over the next few weeks.  See the instructions here.

6.  Do a Home Project You Have Been Putting Off

          This is a picture of my husband building my shed a few years ago. (It is done now.)  We still have many projects left to do.  Some big and some small.  Hopefully, we will be able to get to them while we are on "hiatus".  We need to do some touch-up painting, etc.  Hopefully, we have the paint on hand! We might try to paint our kitchen cabinet but we will have to see about that one.  It might be too ambitious for us. How about you?  Do you have something you hope to take off the honey-do list?



7.  Set Up a Puzzle Table

          I suppose you all have thought of this one :). I planned on setting up a puzzle table in my family room and working on it from time to time.  Those plans changed when my husband set up his "office" right where I was going to put the puzzle table.  It's time to look for another spot!

8.  Bake a Cake or Cupcakes

          I found a cake mix in my cupboard today and I think I have some confectioner's sugar, too.  I hope I have enough of the other ingredients because I would like to make the cake over the weekend.  Something fun to look forward to!

9.  Take a Drive

          I am hoping that this is still OK to do.  Have you heard anything different? My husband and I have always enjoyed taking scenic drives around town and beyond but, lately, it has been even more therapeutic for us than before.  The picture below was taken of the center of my town, Groton, Massachusetts.  As you can see, the season was fall.  I have to say fall is our season but the spring is beautiful, too!  While we still can, I think we will take a few more car rides.  

10.  Plan a Party for When This is All Over!

          Yes, when we have made it to the other side of this coronavirus, we should all try to plan some kind of party in order to celebrate big!  A time to get all of our friends and family together would be awesome!  I am going to try to plan for that party I have been wanting to host since Christmas but haven't.  If this isn't incentive, I don't know what is!

Wishing You Wellness and Comfort in These Times of Hardship

Link Parties I am Joining:

Create, Bake, Grow & Gather

Dare to Share

Silver Pennies Sundays

Love Your Creativity

Create With Joy-Inspire Me Monday