Thanks to our cool and rainy spring, we have more grass in our pastures than I think I have ever seen.  It is insane.

I kind-of wish we still had hay equipment to save some of it.  The chicks look pretty cute in the morning sun.

And more so when they noticed me and started standing up.

Our young peacock and peahen decided to display feathers to each other.

I think he wins.

On Sunday (which was rainy, yet again) I decided to treat myself by going to Fiber Fusion in Monroe.  So I kissed my husband goodbye (as he had no interest), donned by KN-95 mask and looked at fibers.  This is the first one which called out to me from across the room.  It is alpaca and is so soft.  Plus I love the color. It was sort-of-like adopting a new pet.  I am not sure what it wants to be, but I am sure it will let me know.

And then I bought this colorful Falkland fiber.  I have never spun (nor even touched) Falkland wool before so this is a treat.  I think this one wants to become a very long rainbow scarf.

I then really treated myself and bought tickets to see the new Downton Abbey movie.  I chose the theater in Monroe which had really nice comfortable chairs. Plus I had a glass of red wine and popcorn to watch the movie.  I really enjoyed the movie.

But then I got home, and Tom mentioned he wasn’t feeling well.  He had said this in the morning, but I had assumed it was related to his stomach which has been bothering him in the mornings recently.  But he said it seemed like he had allergies except he had a sore throat and some coughing.  So I handed him a home Covid test, and here is the result.

So we donned some N-95 masks and figured out our plan.  Originally, at the beginning of the pandemic, we had decided if one of us was positive, one of us would go to the Boles Aero trailer, and the other would stay home.  So it was decided that Tom would go.  We decided to wait until the morning though.  I slept in the upstairs bedroom/library.  And here are his quarantine recommendations.

In the morning though, he decided that he would rather stay in the camper van in the driveway rather than drive to our trailer.  He felt he could get more farm stuff done and still I could stay safe.

It turns out that Ryeleigh doesn’t mind quarantine at all. She enjoys hanging out with Tom in the van.

Tom has electricity which means light, a heater and a fan.  There is Wifi.  He also has a small kitchen with an icebox.  The major limitation is a decent bathroom so he comes in for that.  But he is reasonably comfortable, given the circumstances.  So far he is doing reasonably well, just  a crummy cold.

Before the test and even the movie viewing, I had planned on making the Downton Abbey Yorkshire Christmas Pie.  This is because I noticed the frozen pheasant, partridge and quail I had purchased for this recipe before Christmas and ran out of time to make.  I had thawed them out as well as some sausage and bacon.  So I went ahead and made it, quarantine or not.  My lard had a funny odor so I used my tallow instead.  I bought some organic free-range chicken breast as I didn’t want to waste our whole chickens for that.  Here it is ready to go in the oven.  You can see it made quite a mess.

And here it is after baking 3 hours.  I don’t get to use my rooster pie bird very often so was happy to do so.  My pie isn’t as pretty as the one in the cookbook.

And here it is served.  The spices were mace, nutmeg and allspice with Madeira.  There was fresh parsley and thyme mixed with the sausage layers as well. I really liked it.  Tom said he did to0 (out in the van).  So I think it was a success and helped our moods.

I am still testing negative and heading to work tomorrow.  Wish us luck with this.  I have never had to be separated from my husband in this weird way before so it is stressful.  We are making the most of it.