The Fluffbucket Diaries

And so it begins. It’s not “New Horizons” — “Fortnite for moms” — but I’m fine with that. And so is the tween, who loves showing me around “Pocket Camp,” which is likely my Animal Crossing gateway drug.

Meet my new friend, Greta Carbo.

Like the rest of Shut-In America, apparently, I’m attempting to create a sourdough starter. I wasn’t sure Greta was going anywhere after I mixed her yesterday (first photo); then after dinner tonight, I went back into the home office — the warmest room in the house, where I keep her — and found she has almost doubled in size (second photo).

I am weirdly excited about this.

Plan: Home-baked wheat bread, green salad, and pasta aglio e olio for dinner.

Reality: I was so harried from work that I threw in enough salt to run my blood pressure off the rails. Time to pick up an 8-piece box of fried chicken to go. 😬 At least the bread and salad are okay.

The work station doubles this morning as a focal point for the Mass readings and morning prayer. (And I found a shard of old palm that we hadn’t brought to the parish for Ash Wednesday.)

I forgot that Palm Sunday means the lengthy Passion reading; forgive me, God, for going with the shorter version this morning.

A biologist provides a way to make your own yeast for baking. But I’m still trying to figure out how one might use this in a typical bread recipe. (It may say so somewhere, but I overlooked it.)

Yay processed food?

We were able to score some face masks this afternoon from our next-door neighbor, whose daughter-in-law has connections in Chinatown for such things.

This is such a weird world we live in now.

Dreamed last night that I wandered outside to go grocery shopping and found a giant stack of face masks on sale at Jewel. Happiest dream I’ve had in weeks.

It’s going to be a long pandemic.

Cards Against Humanity has put out a family edition beta to print out. Very excited to try this over the weekend. Also printing out black and white blanks to create more cards.

Definitely buying this when it comes out in stores this fall.

“Before Covid-19, my continuing Pokémon Go habit was just a mild embarrassment. … Now the app is one more reminder of what we’ve lost — the casual ability to just go places and have real-world experiences, including the ones mediated by an augmented-reality game.”

“Think that burrito from Friday is still any good?”

#ThingsITextMyHusbandAsWeWorkInSeparateRoomsAtHome

I look forward to hearing Dolly Parton read “Llama Llama Red Pajama.”

“A cardiologist who was pulled over for speeding on a Minnesota interstate said she was deeply touched when the trooper gave her face masks instead of a ticket.”

So sad to see children’s author Tomie dePaola has died. Requiescat in pace.

“Mom, the dog is licking my foot!” #ThingsYouHearDuringElearningThatDontComeUpAtSchool

Quarantine loaf No. 4. (Didn’t clean off all the Dutch oven char from the previous loaf.) The concept of no-knead bread is a gift for lazy bakers like me. #coronabaking

“In the midst of the worst domestic crisis in memory, Trump is acting like a petulant child. Governors, like smart adults, tell him no and then ignore him, depriving him of attention. … The press would be wise to do the same.”

Inspired by @agilelisa’s popovers post and tried our own. They were a bit well-done and didn’t “pop over,” but they were still tasty out of the oven when buttered. Not bad for a first try at these.

So delighted to see my Roman Catholic parish offering video of Sunday Mass now. (It’s offered in Spanish as well.)

(Camera work still needs finessing, but this is Holy Mass, not a Scorsese movie. Works for me.)

“People are panic-buying chickens like they did toilet paper.”

Wow, profit-hungry Corporate America. You suck.

This is real. And it is spectacular.

The prolific birth control delivery ads on the local sports network these days are about as irritating as the prolific erectile dysfunction drug spots we used to see all the time.

Sigh. Throwing my Lenten break from Instagram out the window. Going into, what, Week 2 of the Coronavirus Homebound Hootenanny? And I really need the social contact, even if it’s on IG.

Yes, I blog and engage on other social media for sanity maintenance. I’m also resorting to baking and Bananagram solitaire and talking to Frannie at length about the oarfish and giant sturgeons she catches on her video game. Maybe that last part pushed me over the edge. Or else the thing about the tornado watch. Who knows.

This provided a much-needed laugh today: Sales of tops are up — but not pants. Blame the spike in videoconferencing.