FEW THINGS TO DO WITH YOUR COFFEE BEANS IN ISOLATION

Staying at home can be frustrating, especially if you are an extrovert. The Saturday night guy- the life of the party, the man of the moment, the one who the outdoors make come alive! And even if you are not an extrovert, if you stay home for too long, you may be tempted to lose your mind.

One way to overcome this compulsory break in this isolation, is to keep your mind busy. Create a routine that gives you a sense of purpose, that makes you feel like life is going on, and it hasn’t stopped one bit.

Of course, your brain can tell the difference: there is no longer the chase and the rat race that comes with living life and being an adult, but you have the ability to tell your mind differently.

You may be tempted to count your beans, to save time and while away hours, as they will suddenly become more than enough, but don’t do that. There are other ways that you can be creative with your coffee beans. Come with me, let me tell you 10 things that you can do

1. Neutralize odors in your fridge:

In this isolation, one thing that everyone was asked to do, was to buy as much food as possible. If you thought carefully about your health, then vegetables have to be a part of it. Where else is best to store vegetables, if not in the refrigerator. But as time goes on, the refrigerator will start to develop an unpleasant odour.  You really don’t want to be stuck at home with a smelly refrigerator. 

Here is something that you can do: get coffee beans and grind them. Put them in a plastic container, and leave open in one corner of your fridge. The smell of freshly ground coffee is what your fridge will smell of, anytime you open it.

2. Art with your kids:

Staying at home with children can be very exhauasting, especially when you need to work from home. However, one thing that you can do, is to create ways that they can keep themselves busy. Children like to create, and are often fascinated by new ideas to create. Coffee grounds can be used as granules for a beautiful mosaic. 

1. You draw a picture of say a flower
2. Apply wet paper glue on the flower
3. Sprinkle coffee grounds on the wet paper to outline the flower
4. You can be creative with just the grounds on the edges of the flower, or all around the flower

     3. Start a garden:

          You may want to recreate the feel of the outdoor, if you are an outdoor person, and is         already feeling stifled by the prolonged isolation. Start a garden. step outside to your backyard, get some flowers and plant in small pots or tins, and put in your room. Coffee is a good source of nitrogen for your plants and the smell of coffee is truly soothing in this time.

4. Make flower vase: 

    At this time, we are all asked to stay at home and not interact with anyone for fear of being infected with the virus. However, a little act of kindness will go a long way, little act like making a flower vase and putting in front of your neighbor’s house. All you need is a transparent jar, roasted coffee beans and some fresh flowers in the jar as an example, for your neighbor to see what it can be used for. You can even mix the coffee beans with pebbles or sea shells. Whatever appeal to you.

You can be as creative with your coffee baens as much as you want. Don’t forget to brew as much as you want for consumption. Trust me, when everything tries to drive you mad in this stay at home period, you can be sure to coount on a freshly brewed cup of coffee. To remind you that all is well. The familiar aroma of sanity.

  

Written by Mary-Jane Ogbu.