Saturday morning – I simply do not understand why there is a run on flour – it started way before the Shelter at Home order. Are all these people baking?
They must be I suppose.
But how does a big company like Bob’s Mill who say they mill local wheat – how do they run out of flour so fast and we have not. They are a huge conglomerate- with massive mills and I would imagine a huge supply of wheat. America grows lots of wheat. In fact America grows lots of food – the virus has not affected that – so what is going on.
At Janie’s Mill we turn out freshly milled flour every day. We have flour. There is a space for notes in your order form so do tell me it is you so I can expedite your order.
We are running out of everything but we are getting flour out. Tape. Boxes. Bags. All on back order but we stream along!
Anyway – as you can see my time is consumed by the mill. I have a huge retail order to bag and box and get out today then tomorrow I hope to have my first Sunday off in ages. I don’t even know how long it has been since I had a day off.
I will start late today so I hope to take some photos for you before I go in. Maybe I will get some dough started and bake tonight. Though the sooner I go in to work the sooner I will be back. One of my families is holed up at a beach in New Zealand 
Sunday: Are you all safe in your houses? Tell me how you are doing – talk amongst yourselves until I am done. I want to know from as many countries as possible so we can all get a big view. Everyone on lock down dims the big picture.
This picture is from my son in Canada. He said since the ski fields are closed and the people were forced to stay away – the animals are out in droves. I feel awful that I cannot get to my children if I need to.
In NZ, anyone coming into the country must self isolate for 14 days, plus NZ is on full lock down now – the borders are closed. And the plane journey would be deadly. That knowledge is making me fractious and anxious. I can go home but I choose not to, in case I bring illness to my families.
Best to stay in my own mill to home to mill bubble. We really cannot be complacent. 
Tuesday evening : Take care now – chin up – hold the line. This is new territory for us all.
We shipped 217 boxes today. A new record!
Wednesday morning already? I fell asleep last night with you on my hand.
Good morning!
Talk amongst yourselves- I will be back in a few hours I hope!
Lots of love
Cecilia
The Kitchen's Garden 
87 responses to “WE HAVE FLOUR”
I’ve just been to my local supermarket, where you have to stand in the queue 6ft apart, then it’s one out then one in, so it’s nice inside, everyone can keep their distance. I’m just going once a week. I haven’t seen my daughters or grandchildren for about 3 weeks now even though I’m lucky they all live near. So yes we are using Zoom. Tomorrow though will be different, as I have to look after my eldest daughters little girl, as my daughter is going in for a C section tomorrow. Her partner is only allowed in for the operation, then he has to leave. So my babysitting duties will not be for long, hopefully.
The plus side to this is the quiet, it’s quite noisy where we are, we are near the M25 and Heathrow, so the lack of traffic and planes is a big bonus! Silver lining. Keep safe everyone.
My husband had to go to the store a few days ago and admitted that it was quite possibly the nicest grocery shopping experience of his life (minus the mask and gloves.) It was quiet, the store had never been cleaner, and while some odd items were missing from the shelves, we’re fortunate to have a strong local grocery chain in Texas that is keeping most everything stocked and ready.
Best of luck to your daughter and family tomorrow!
The lack of traffic will make a world wide impact on our air quality- funny really when you think about it.
Yes I think it will make people think, especially round here. I hope so anyway. The extra Heathrow runway has been binned. Let’s hope it stays that way.
Thank you so much. Keep well.
Hi all, here in rural North Central Arkansas things are pretty much normal, but restaurants and nonessential businesses are mostly closed. We have an older population here and many are staying home. My hubby and I are fortunate to have a small farm and some forested land to roam. Our emphasis has been our garden for the last month, and it is 3/4s planted. So that’s exciting. Lots to do and we are accomplishing much now that we are self isolating. Sending well wishes out to the Fellowship of the Farmy!!!
I actually long to self isolate but it feels good to get flour out to people too. Then I read about people staying home to bake and do their gardens and I want to do that so much! And feel safe.
So good to hear/see from you. (The Canada image looks like the reports from family in CO – with the tourist gone, the world belongs to the wild ones)
Here on the TX gulf coast in our small town between city by sea and the mega metro we had a heat wave (95F), then now a cool-ish front so the weather is back to normal and nice now for dog walks. Dog walkers are social distancing and waving at a distance, but the dogs are tired of being indoors, missing socialization and desperate – they have started sitting down when they spot a dog friend and refusing to move…bad when in the middle of the street. But we are fine so far – staying in with curb pick up groceries. (People are baking more now – maybe this is one good thing – people will rediscover cooking real foods and eating with family. Eggs are the big shortage here.) We have 46 confirmed cases in our little town ( but commuters travel both directions, so not closely isolated. Over 1200 cases in the big city – several nursing homes have been hit badly despite their precautions. This stuff is airborne, stay 23+ feet apart if possible – that is the infection/sneeze travel zone, wash hand and don’t touch stuff and stay away from people period if you can. ).
My niece who is a nurse in CO mts resort area ( tourists gone except the ones in ICU) was sick early on (caught from ski tourists) has recovered and says the ski town is eerie but beautiful now. Thankfully my daughter is home with her newborn daughter (the hospital felt scary and dangerous) and is on leave luckily – she’s a doctor and very worried. Her med school friends now docs are sending the most horrifying reports – on is in Northern Italy and as sending alerts to his friend in the US in January. People are not taking this seriously.
I have to go outside in our little yard – been pulling weeds – I NEVER pull grass weeds, but it’s mindless and productive-ish HAHA
Take care, Ci. Will keep you and yours in our thoughts and prayers
I have started pulling grass weeds myself. I’ve deemed it “Playing Godzilla “ to entice my young children to help. It is lovely how mindless it is.
Godzilla – that’s perfect Thanks for the laugh
(And reminds me of the natural science museum guy dressed up in one of those T-Rex suits going through the museum exhibits and giving “lessons” on line. Gotta find reasons to smile!)
John refuses to take it seriously and is a bit of a liability actually. So I try to keep my distance from him as well as others at work – we talk from corners of the rooms keeping our distance.
Ignorance is bliss? So often people don’t see until it actually touches their lives. Our friend in Dallas, infectious diseases expert/dr. in mid Jan. said she thought the media was overblowing the whole thing…two weeks later it was OMG – “get ready, it’s coming. Prepare to isolate (As we are older).” Currently she is dealing with patients of several other nasty infectious ( people forget there are others present diseases) and she has no masks, gloves, protective gear.
Use the “6 foot – 6 second rule
“: If you have to get within 6 feet range of someone – like to pay for food or something – try to get back within 6 seconds. 25 feet away is the distance for safety from coughs, breathing, simply talking. …this is airborne and it survives too long on surfaces.
But the good thing is outdoors is much safer!
The world has a changed. A very sci-fi feel now….that pioneer spirit always helped the characters of Sci-fi manage to find a way in those shows, right?
(51 cases today in our little town. If we can make it through the next 2-3 weeks…mabe. And now they admit masks should be worn…Much was known in Jan yet “softer” information was given to the general public – to prevent panic or hoarding or keep people buying and going out to places?)
You would have gotten a smile from some teens in the neighborhood yesterday. One had pulled out a Halloween costume of a T-Rex and was standing in the drive holding out a sign for those walking dogs and passing by: “Extinction sucks. Stay home!” Wish I had gotten a pix of that one!
Take care Ci. We’ll hold you and yours in our thoughts
I have been telling people the 6 foot rule but not 6 foot for 6 seconds. That is a really good really easy one to remember.
I live here in rural northwestern Wisconsin. In some ways things are not that different than normal–the farmers are still out, there is never much traffic anyway, we have seeds sprouting in the basement for planting in a few weeks, that sort of thing. In some ways things are very different–schools are closed so I have been teaching my daughter every day and my husband has been working for home so we get so see him a lot more. I am so grateful that we have space outside for the kids to run and play–I can’t imagine if we lived in a city or an apartment and had to keep the kids and ourselves inside all day everyday.
One thing that I am not used to is the low-level fear/worry at all times–even the grocery store is worry-inducing, plus there is the concern for older family members. My father is a veterinarian and so is still out and about seeing clients and caring for animals, and my father-in-law is in such terrible health that catching the virus is almost assuredly a death sentence.
On a community-building note, if anyone is looking for something to do while they are self-isolating I am hosting a community poetry project on my blog to hopefully give people a creative outlet and some sense of community during this time of fear and isolation. If anyone wants to join (it is open to anyone and everyone who wants to join in with their own poems or just by reading and commenting on the work of others), please come join us here:
There are four poems up so far with another one posting tomorrow:
https://classroomandkitchen.wordpress.com
Be well everyone.
Here in the Sierra foothills of Northern California our day-to-day life on our ranch doesn’t feel much different from usual. Our days are full of the usual feeding the horses, donkeys, goats and chickens. I might ride one of the horses (fortunate to have them on our own property as people with horses in boarding stables cannot go there and ride) or work in my garden or bake. Flour disappeared here as well, as did eggs. Fortunately we have chickens and they are laying enough that we can share with our neighbors. Our grocery store carries Bob’s flour normally but if there is a bag of flour in the aisle, its generic. I’m guessing Bob’s Mills ran out because they distribute all across the country, in the big markets. I do leave the ranch once a week to go to the market, but that is it. We really miss having the library. Initially, we were downloading library books to our Kindles but now all the ebooks at the library are taken. It’s frustrating. Stay well everyone. All the posts from around the world were great fun and interesting to read. Which reminds me, we also had to cancel our WWOOFers for April and May. June is on hold. Most of them were coming from Europe so of course that is impossible.
Oh yes! I have crossed out all the days in my Airbnb too. No visitors allowed except people picking up eggs.
I read somewhere all the stats about how the earth is recovering while we shelter at home–air and water pollution is dramatically down, animals are freer to roam and find food. So maybe we are the virus! Maybe COVID 19, as terrible as it is for humans, will help rebalance things in favor of the earth. But only if we change our behaviors when this is over and not try to go back to business as usual, which simply isn’t sustainable.
You are right – it is not sustainable – and the air being cleaner is great!
Upstate NY here, live alone and feeling very lonely. Lots of land to wander, but still alone. I recently threw away some flower and veggies seeds, thinking that at my age (almost 70) I won’t be gardening anymore, there are roadside veggie stands aplenty. Then last night while I was not sleeping, remembered those seeds and how important they could be. Rummaged through my kitchen garbage can this morning and LO! They were there! Planning on a garden now! I am also cooking and preparing perishables and freezing them into portions. Am starting to ration my food now, as they extend the quarantine. I am very afraid to go to a store. So worried for my adult daughter who has asthma and her husband HAS to go to work. Wondering when I will see them and my 9 year old grandson again. Scary, scary times…
Forgot to mention, I ordered a couple bags of flour from your mill, thank you so much for posting a link!
Can you order groceries for delivery? I did so for my 91 year old grandma with a few weeks’ supply. She sprayed down the bags and then washed each item before putting it away. I, too, was scared for her to go to a store.
That is the funniest story!! Hunting in the rubbish for your seeds / abs gm finding them!!!
Here in a suburb of San Francisco, I’m seeing some good come from this social distancing. Many more people- than the dog-walkers I already know- are out everyday getting their exercise. People wave, and eventually stop to chat across the street. My hope is that we will all be more ‘neighborly’ as we get back to normal.
Fortunately my horse is boarded at a very quiet facility where I can visit once a week.
We have also done a ‘ceiling to under furniture’ thorough house cleaning!!! AND have started working through our large cache of jigsaw puzzles.
You folks might like this girl; she posts videos quite frequently and is very honest. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmVMNXTsmxr1wkaQ5sExJ9A
Things are pretty much no different than usual here. We normally shop twice a month, however now we’ll wear masks when we go. As someone who has difficulty walking, I don’t go out much at all so the stay-at-home business is no trouble at all. We don’t have any flour, but don’t bake anyway. Eggs may well be off the menu for awhile. I wanted a couple chickens but the landlord said no. Both my spouse and I are probably high-risk, but I’m not going to worry or stress, if we get the virus we’ll just have to manage. My spouse’s children and grand-children are all well and dealing with the confinement without too much trouble. Everyone stay safe and try to be patient.
Greetings from north west lower Michigan ( 2 parts in Michigan) – starting to look like spring !! I can deal with being isolated if I can get outside- my spring bulbs have popped waiting for the blooms! So happy you are getting some rest Sunday , Cecilia. The unknown of this mess is hard to deal with- how long is it going to last and the concern for our families.I hope that the US will realize the importance of making and selling our own products in the US . Who knows but I am grateful I live where I do in the woods near a beautiful little river. My heart goes out to city dwellers. Stay safe Cecilia and have a good day off❤️
Hi C! Don’t wear yourself out! We live in East Vancouver Washington and are very lucky to be in our cozy home with our kitty. We’ve been over 2 weeks now in our house. No illness thank goodness. We have a full larder…no hoarding here thank you! By chance I had just filled up my freezer prior with on sale meats etc. Just finished baking 2 batches of my Banana Coconut Lemon muffins. Now I have to figure out how I can give them our neighbors who all are 2 weeks plus in their homes. Any suggestions anyone? Perhaps I can place them in new little sandwich bags? Oh and I am also participating in the
2020 A to Z Challenge….so that keeps me busy too. Here’s the link if you would like to follow me! My theme is A Bird a Day! https://katheatoz.blogspot.com/ Cheers and stay happy healthy and well!
Perhaps on paper towels? Then the neighbor can lift them off the paper towel into their own dish without touching it (like they would to open the bag.)
Well, here I am, a little late in the day though. It’s me, Sunny, in the foothills of the Sierra near Yosemite, California. We’re home-bound for two reasons – the virus, of course, but my hub had a heart attack mid-March. He was released from hospital just before it closed its doors to all visitors. He’s been home for a week, our daughter came straight from a Laughlin, Nev. business trip to help us get settled with home care, etc. She’s been doing our shopping since we are compromised and elderly. Now she’s wondering if she can get home to her 13-y/o son in Anaheim. We have 3 1/2 acres for roaming, the hens are laying abundantly, and the cats are a wild source of entertainment, as are our board games, etc. It was weird watching a basketball game and a car race. with NO ONE in the stands!
Violet, I quite agree with you! Things will never go back to the way they were in ANY country!! I hope we come out of this as a wiser, gentler world of people!
Be safe, be well, be happy! We’ll get through this!
Sunny
As you said, here in NZ we are in total lockdown, with only essential services still running. We are only meant to leave our houses to buy groceries or to take a walk in our local neighbourhood, so I have been taking advantage of the nice weather to get out of the house for a quick walk each day. The lockdown happened so fast, we only had a couple of days to prepare, I wish I could have got some more craft supplies in to keep me busy, we were told originally that online shopping would still be available but now it’s only for essential items. Never mind, there’s still plenty of other things to do. We have had to cancel our May wedding, and don’t know when to reschedule, who knows when this madness will be over. We will probably just have a quiet ceremony somewhere with immediate family, once they can travel again. The government is telling people not to hoard, but the queues to get into the supermarkets are so ridiculously long, that once you get in you buy as much as you can, so you don’t have to do it again for as long as possible. But I am grateful to have a roof over my head, and the government is paying those of us who are out of work a small weekly income, and we have some savings, so I think we will be all right.
I just ordered! That order from Arlington Virginia will be mine. I can’t get flour anymore and I’m usually pretty well stocked, but when you bake all the time…Now if I could just find a small toilet paper producer to order from…Seriously, if I like this flour, I’ll be back!