A Beautiful Breakfast in Week 3 of the Siege

Yesterday morning I realized that I really really wanted to make that 

bread for breakfast the next day.

I found dried cherries and pecans in our pantry!

I made the dough yesterday and let it sit all day, until this morning.

I have two main sources of anxiety right now.

1. That I will never get groceries delivered again (see picture above)

2.  That my people I love will get this virus and that it will be serious 

(I guess my third is that I or my Husband will get it).

Last night we had groceries.

YES, we even got more TP and paper towel.

Never knew that would feel miraculous. 

So last week I was woken about 2 AM unexpectedly and

ended up checking grocery delivery slots and found one.

A week later, early this morning, 1 AM again, I wake up.

By 1:17 I had secured a grocery slot. 

It was a real blessing. 

If you know about how bad it is getting in NYC right now,

you would understand why, given that we can see NYC within a 5 minute walk,

we really don't want to go to a large grocery store right now.

It is times like these that I constantly need a reboot:

to remember that one candle  burns bright in the darkness. 

This morning's breakfast was really special.

I wrote about it this morning, after breakfast, on social media...

"Happy sunshine filled post coming right up! I woke up realizing I had to get that bread (it was still rising in 2 covered bowls) in the oven for breakfast! So I did! The smell of fresh bread with dried cherries and pecans cannot be oversold :) I set the table with nice blue and white dishes, used my Grandma's silver-plate silverware, juiced a lemon and put in 2 mugs with boiling water and honey, got out cherry jam and my best vegan "butter". And then the bread was done, my Husband prayed for the meal and I sliced that steaming just out of the oven bread for breakfast and we sat down to a feast of fresh bread and mandarin oranges, steaming mugs of fresh lemon and honey and hot tea! I told my Husband that this breakfast, and on a sunny morning, reminded me of Narnia when Mrs Beaver makes a delicious breakfast for her guests. It was a wonderful start to the day and we have enough bread for 4 or 5 more meals!"

It was really quite special and by far the best part of today.

I ended up napping after that (no wonder, with all my broken sleeps of late)

in sunshine on the couch afterwards, which was nice.

 I read the news today on NYC and NJ re: the virus and boy did that make 

my anxiety skyrocket. 

I am really not looking at the news much at all, that was the only time today.

I am drinking SO MUCH tea.  

I am super grateful for our pantry. 

My Husband and I both like to have things well in stock in it.

Like way before this virus stuff hit the fan, it's just what we do.

I talked to my Sweet Husband today about the question of hording,

and how so much is being discussed, so many accusations.

I do understand that there have been crazy situations where 

people have stockpiled in perhaps epic proportions

(I read about 2K in thermometers or all of the store's carrots, etc etc).

In our life, with the times we have been sick and other things,

we have seen that it is best to have a stock of things we need.

And tea, well, I have a love of tea and a lot of that.

And treats, we are given so much at Christmas, plus things I get for lent

(it's rare that we are given vegan treats!)

and other gifts, we have plenty. 

Mr Husband told me that for most of history and much of the world still today,

it is normal to have a pantry (and root cellar which of course we don't have)

and keep a store of things.  It's how people survived the winter.  

You grew your own food and you canned it and prepared it for the winter months.

 Of course we added some things before things got really bad.

And we are using them.

Anyway.  I am thankful for what we have.

I always felt that my pantry was there for if we were in an unexpected

emergency, really, a siege.

And that, I finally realized earlier this week, is the word I had been looking for

to describe what this time is like.

We can take walks, usually about 30 minutes a day.

It's like being in a walled in city that is under siege and you get

30 minutes to walk outside or on the roof of the fort, or something

and the rest of the time you are in your own little home.

And sometimes we walk by views of NYC and I think of how besieged they are

and how we all have to stay home.

Siege.  We are called to be home, where it is safe.

I can't tell you how glad I am that I not only like to cook and bake

but that I know HOW to do so.

That I could bake the bread that, with the morning's sunshine,

and pretty dishes, made the beginning of our day so much better. 

And that the onions and potatoes + onions and mushrooms 

(both with a bit of garlic), that I fried up, 

made our dinner so enjoyable

and we have some for tomorrow's dinner.

And more of the wonderful bread for breakfast.

And that tonight I enjoyed a hot bath

and that the dishwasher is running.

I still, exceptionally, have some more dishes to wash tomorrow,

I try in general to have them done day of because of the whole

siege and needing to provide 3 meals/day.

But I had not blogged in a few days and really missed it.

Sometimes I feel discouraged, so much cleanup and cooking.

But we are revisiting favourites and making new favourites

and truly I have so much to be thankful for.

Including a pantry that I filled with things over the years

that are helping us so much in this time.

God is with is in this.

***

My Husband and I are still tuning in every night at 9:45 for the talk

and 10 PM for the Jesus prayers for the world.

Here was today's talk. 

I wish you all the peace of Christ and that you will be under His mercy

and in His protection!