The Banjo Dick Built

Oatmeal Raisin Bars

Pandemic Covid-19 Isolation Day 10 and needing a hearty snack. These are easy and yummy. Not gaining weight during isolation/social distancing may turn out to be difficult. Seems like baking is a good take-your-mind-off-it-all activity for me.

Oatmeal raisin bars

3/4 c butter or margarine, softened

3/4 c packed brown sugar

1/4 c granulated sugar

1 egg

—————- mix these together

Add

1/2 t salt

1/2 t cinnamon

1 c flour

2 c large flake rolled oats 

1 c raisins

—————- mix till blended well, may need to use your hands as batter is thick.

Press into bake pan.

Bake at 350 in a square bake pan lined w/parchment (or buttered & floured),

about 25 minutes until toothpick come out w/ a few moist crumbs. 

Take care, over-baking will make them hard.

Cool in the pan, lift out and cut into squares.

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Lambing to starts April 1st, counting the days. Waiting impatiently for the snow to melt, the geese to return, and the pussy willows to lure the bees from their hive.

Unsung Heroes

Funny, the things we think we cannot do without when all of a sudden our supply chain appears to be threatened - toilet paper, cleaning products, disposable diapers... hmmm. Well flour is gone from many shelves so some people must be thinking clearly. Rumours abound, frightening people into even more panic buying/hoarding. 

The US border is now closed to all but necessary traffic. What traffic is necessary in times like these? Trucks - the supply chain of foodstuffs and all the other products we've become accustomed to having readily on our shelves, cleaning products, medications. Canada is dependant on our neighbours to the south. Maybe, after this is over, we’ll reassess this dependency and make some changes.

Country folk, naturally isolated and tending to be more self-sufficient, are probably better prepared for the unprecedented scenario we find ourselves in. But we need supplies too, and vets and veterinary products. We ventured out of our self isolation for sheep minerals and salt, meds, just yesterday, and will have to go again. Town was very quiet, easy to self distance. People are beginning to understand.

We spoke to our son recently. His family is in lockdown but he still has to work. He’s a self-employed truck and trailer mechanic, part of that vital supply chain. He compared the trucking industry to the human circulatory system - the highways to the veins and arteries, trucks and their drivers to the red blood cells carrying oxygen, and the mechanics to the white blood cells fighting the diseases that invade the body. Without this system, catastrophic failure. That’s how vital our transportation system is. 

In times like this we begin to recognize the anonymous people out there who serve so many basic functions in society that are vitally important. We begin to take notice of occupations that are rarely acknowledged. Those in the medical profession, nurses, doctors, pharmacists - we see them and hear them. They are brave to go to work! But so are the janitors, the grocery people, retail clerks, bus drivers, truckers, mechanics, postal workers, oil field workers, farmers, all those folks we would describe as “the working man/woman”... the list is extensive, longer than we realize. These are the people who are still out there, who must be out there, who cannot work from home. They are vital to our health, safety, food security. Many are self-employed, many are minimum wage earners, many are, in normal times, quite invisible.

I want to raise a glass of 2020 Isolation Raspberry Wine (which I’ve named my last batch of 30 bottles) to all these incredible people, to thank them, to recognize their contribution to society, and to tell them they are appreciated. Please be as safe as possible. We need you.