How I Am Entertaining My Life At Home
How are you doing my friends?
It has been over 2 months since my quarantine started. Just like everyone on the internet are saying, “take your time and appreciate little things”, I’m doing so, as well. I have started new hobbies, also went back to my all time hobbies that I’ve never got enough time for. Staying home literally all day everyday made me realize that I REALLY WAS NEVER HOME! So this weird time has been really good for me to build a better relationship with my home, not just come home to cook quick and sleep. So today I am sharing how I am coping at home, along with my secrets how I keep up when I hit those “low” days…
Making as many excuses to spend time in my backyard
Never being home means I was never able to enjoy my beautiful backyard… Now that the weather is lovely, and since our living room is Eddie’s office during the day, it’s better to stay outside as much as possible!
Having Backyard Picnics
I could go to a park too… But I have a perfect (and private) spot in my backyard! I just throw down my sheets, and it suddenly feels like a gateway.
Doing Laundry
I have both a washer and dryer inside (I’m so thankful I do!) but I’ve been taking care of my laundry outside, especially delicate fabrics and clothing! Fun fact, in Japan it’s normal to dry laundry outside and that’s how I grew up, so drying laundry in the dryer was one of my first culture shocks when I came to the states!
Picking Flowers and Learning About Them
I have always loved picking flowers, but I also started learning about them; What kinds of weeds are edible and such. For example, dandelions are edible from the root to flowers! You can even make wine from it!! The other day I brew dandelion tea, and it was very calming.
Studying English
So I’ve FINALLY started reading books that I got forever ago. It takes me a long time to finish even a chapter fully understanding. I need to have a translator (special thanks to you, Google!) and practice pronunciation every time I hit some “unknown English”. It’s so fascinating that I love to read more when the books are written in Japanese… When they are written in English it feels more like “studying” than simply enjoying “reading”. Although, I have been absolutely enjoying “studying” since I have more time!
So We’ve Started Kitchen Gardening
Eddie and I are big fans of growing vegetables. We’ve tried our best growing veggies in our backyard, however, since there are many wild animals and no predators where we live, our veggies ALWAYS got eaten somehow! So I’ve started a mini garden in our kitchen and it’s been my motivation to get out of the bed every morning. While I am making coffee, I usually water and talk to my “babies”. One of my favorite things to do is utilize used tea bags as seed starters; tea bags contain tannins and other nutrients that will increase the nitrogen level in the soil - yes, you can directly put them into soil!
Living More Sustainable Than Ever
You know I’ve switched my fashion to more sustainable style from last summer, and now it is definitely the time to shift my whole living style more towards it. Not just avoid using plastic bags at grocery stores, I’ve been making homemade broth from using scraps of veggies (I simply stock them together in the freezer), storing food right so it lasts longer, paint the sauce/salsa/coffee jars/containers to make matching jars, et cetera. There are many little things I can do in many ways.
Writing
I LOVE writing, especially these days filled with ‘typing’! From letters to journal, I prefer handwriting especially because it helps my English. I’ve been so into calligraphy a while now, I’ve also started learning how to use ink pens!
Pressing Flowers
This is my all time hobby I LOVE since I was little! It takes time to make one, but I love how they bring me back old memories. Everywhere I go I pick/buy flowers and either press or dry them after displaying. I cannot imagine my life without being surrounded by flowers!
Going For A Walk
I really am trying to leave the house as little as possible, I rarely get in the car. So going for a walk to the park right near by is such a precious moment. (I am also SO lucky that I live in such a historical and lovely neighborhood and by one of the most beautiful parks around!) I often pick flowers, write, and simply enjoy the exhilarating air.
NOT Forgetting About Fashion
I have been trying to think this way - if I lived in a cottage house in the 1920s, without phones, laptops, or even TV, how do I want to live my day everyday? My answer wasn’t “stay in my night gowns or pj’s everyday”. Those days like we’ve been going through existed and I try to imagine how people back then spent their precious time! So for that reason I love to change into something that makes me feel lovely to spend the day ahead, even just to go to the kitchen to make breakfast or go outside to pick up flowers. It doesn’t have to be a perfectly planned look with high maintenance girl’s heels, you know… A simple “Day dress” just sounds better than “day jammie” to me! Also, I simply love clothes… I really really do! I dress not because “I have to”, I dress because “I want to” - I’m genuinely happier when I like my outfit! And yes, even when I take ballet classes on Zoom. Outfits control my mood 10000%!
But hey, it’s okay to hit those “low” days.
As much as I try to stay positive, I have these days just feeling depressed and drained, of course. We are human and that’s normal not getting things done or not being motivated to do anything at all. Those days I usually listen to Studio GHIBLI and Disney playlist non-stop or binge watch this YouTube channel; DIANXI XIAOGE - this lady Dianxi Xiaoge, who lives a genuinely simpler life in a country side of China, and is SUCH a dexterity chef! She films from process of her getting/hunting food to cooking food with almost NO waste. She makes several dishes from one item per episode, and cooks authentic asian food without using any bougie things. Her videos are mesmerizing and peaceful, her dishes look beyond marvelous. I became a true fan of her and her lifestyle. I’ve leaned many cooking techniques and recipes, and after watching her videos I usually want to get up and go to the kitchen. She is the reason why I wanted to learn about edible weeds and flowers around of me at the first place. Watching her videos works like magic to me, so I wanted to share this with you.
And that’s about it! To be honest, I was not expecting this quarantine to be this long (and longer…), so it’s got more challenging to balance my emotions and activities, I mean, aren’t we all? Hope everyone stays safe and healthy! Again and again, we are all in this together!
