Vinton: Diane Boisvert

Theresa and I had to cancel our trip to visit our kids and grandchildren on the March 19. She developed a little head cold but we couldn’t take a chance to go, so Theresa quarantined herself. Our grandson, Tao, was very disappointed because we were supposed to be there that weekend to celebrate his 16th birthday which was on March 18. We were also going because I had been making a lot of turkey pot pies, meat pies, homemade beans, cabbage rolls and some other stuff for them to fill their freezers during this crisis.
Carl works for Hydro so he’s always extremely busy in the spring trying to keep the water levels stable.
He is away from home quite a bit and now with the boys both being at home and out of school they tend to be bored and eat more.
Tao was so disappointed that we didn’t go that I promised him I’d make him egg rolls and pierogies because I had more time now to make them. He was quite happy to hear that. I got busy last week and made the egg rolls and pierogies and I also made a black forest cake. I did not put together the black forest cake but I made the cake, the pudding, the whip cream and I had a can of cherries and I put everything in one box. I told him he had a special birthday cake because he had to assemble it himself.
Unfortunately Theresa still had a cold so could not come with me on my planned second trip. On the 29th, I loaded up my truck with all the goodies and stopped in at Theresa’s and picked up some more goodies and a birthday card for Tao. We kept our distance. She was so disappointed she still could not come so she could at least see the kids.
I had called Carl the day before and we made an arrangement that we meet halfway which would mean just passed Barry’s Bay. It actually turned out to be near Whitby when we met on the highway and put our brakes on. I got out of my car and they got out of their’s and all we could do was give air hugs from six feet apart. That was really hard to do. Carl backed his car to the back of mine and Shelley Carl and Tao transferred all the goodies to the back of their car. I brought Carl a couple of cases of beer and Shelley wanted to know what I brought her. I told her I had made her a great big bouquet of chocolate roses and that they were in the car in a bag for her. We stood on the side of the road and talked to each other at a distance for about 20 minutes but it started getting pretty chilly for me and we had to leave. We gave ourselves some more air hugs and reluctantly parted ways.
This COVID-19 is no joke and as I left them I thought that might be the last time I see them for a long time if this virus keeps spreading. The government was also talking about closing provincial borders and that’s even scarier.
This virus is changing the face of our world as we know it. For example, the other day it was 8:30 at night and I got a phone call from my family doctor, Dr. Isabel Martin. I was supposed to have an appointment with her the following Tuesday. I was shocked to get a phone call from her and she just told me she was checking up on all her patients because she was under quarantine. I’ve heard different people saying that this might be the new way of seeing your doctor through video chat instead of going to their office.
I had been scheduled to see my eye specialist on March 18 when that was cancelled on the 17. Then last week I got a phone call from their office and told me to come in again on the 25. They told me that they had to cancel the first one because there was too many people going to be in the office and they had to disinfect the office and space out the patients.
I couldn’t go with TransporAction so Karen Stevenson drove me down. Thank God for neighbours.
My son Alex called me last week and asked me for a bread recipe because he wanted to learn how to make bread. He lives in the remote town called Snow Lake in northern Manitoba and supplies are kind of dwindling up there he said. I sent Alex the recipe for the homemade bread and later on that day he sent me a picture of his finished product. He did a great job for his first time. So then I sent him the recipes for pizza dough and creampuffs. He just called me last night and told me that he made the pizza dough and it was absolutely delicious. He said it was better than takeout. You never know he might change his profession from miner to chef.
My grandson Tao got on YouTube and he decided to make a loaf of bread himself at home. Carl said it was pretty good, a little dense maybe, but for his first try it was great. I told Tao that I would send him a new recipe for fluffy bread.
All I know is that with everybody being shut-in right now that not only has the toilet paper disappeared off the shelves but so has the yeast and many other baking supplies. I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of people with a lot of stories both hilarious and disastrous to tell when this is all over.
I’d like to send get well wishes out to Barry Pepin who underwent a triple bypass on March 28. It sure is a bad time to be in the hospital but it was absolutely necessary and I hope he is home soon. No one is allowed visitors, so it makes your stay even that more depressing.
Congratulations go out to Vanessa Sloan and Jason Hewitson on the birth of their fourth child Benjamin Cole who was born March 19.
My deepest sympathy goes out to the family and friends of Harland (Puff) Smith who passed away on March 21, 2020 at the age of 75.
On the lighter side, March 25 I went outside to get my mail and I saw my first robin sitting in the tree. While I was looking at the robin I could hear geese overhead and looked over and there I saw a couple of geese flying by. Then I saw a skunk walking through Shirley’s backyard.
All this within three minutes of each other. Three things that are for sure a sign of spring. The next morning a red wing blackbird was singing his great little songs of happiness and joy. He was just reminding us that life goes on and there is still wonderful things yet to come.
I’m just thinking that after this virus passes that there’s going to be a lot of very clean houses, fixed projects and new chefs that will emerge out of all this disaster. Keep the faith and keep talking to one another because I do know it’s really hard not to be able to see your love ones right now. Please comply to the rules of social distancing and handwashing so we can all come out of this better and stronger.
The snow has really gone down this week and with all this rain we might get rid of the rest of it. Then will be able to go outside and at least be able to poke around in our yards and talk to our neighbours across the road and feel more connected. I have so much sanding and painting to do with different projects I have in the garage should keep me busy for the next couple of months.