Week six has been a mixed bag. I had the news that my
furlough leave has been extended by four weeks so my new return to work date is
1st July. There is a small chance that I will be brought back to
work earlier, but I’d still be working from home doing admin and e-learning. I
was going to start exercising this week so that I am ready to go back to work,
but the news means that I have decided not to bother (there’s a surprise).
This week has been a busy one, much like all of them. I am
kinda loving having TIME to do stuff! It feels like a very long period of
annual leave with no end date. I have done lots of work at the allotment that I’ve
wanted to get done for a year or so, and the plot is mostly ready to accept plants
now. The plants I had put in have all been frosted so have gone, but I have
more replacements growing on the windowsill.
So, week six:
Homelife
We’ve been having lots of healthy home cooked dinners
because I am cooking them. I much prefer preparing something from scratch and
using fresh veggies. I rarely/never buy microwave meals. We have had a few side
salads with produce picked from the garden and the allotments which is very
satisfying. I have harvested the first few radish but it is too early for
carrots etc just yet. David has nearly perfected the sauce for spaghetti and meatballs.
I have done some more painting. I started this a couple of
weeks ago but couldn’t decide what to do with it, but I had a thought one bed
time about a mandala type thing with lines radiating out from the middle. That then
turned into me drawing a load of circles with a compass – I was going to add
lines but decided against it, and just filled in the lines instead. I quite like
this one!
I invested in some JusRol pastry things and made a tray of cinnamon
swirls and pain au chocolats. They didn’t last long.
David has found a new park for walking in which is less than
ten minutes drive away and is HUGE. Also very hilly. The views were pretty good
though.
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| This was AN ACTUAL TREE |
I ordered more yarn to finish my crochet granny squares, so
in the meantime I put them all away. The day that my new yarn order was
dispatched, I found half a ball of the same yarn! So I have now finished edging
all of the squares and they are ready for arranging and sewing together.
I have also been making bigger solid colour squares. I started
this mainly as an anxiety thing to keep my fingers busy and my brain occupied
with something simple. I need 36 squares to make a decent sized blanket, so I still
have a long way to go. My tension is completely off – none of the squares are
the same size! I think I might have to block these before I sew them.
This week I have also washed and freshened up all of my
crochet blankets. I can get two in the machine at the same time, so it only
took three loads to do them all.
Garden
I wrote a garden update blog last week, but I like writing
about it here too. My next door neighbour gave me some wooden crates which I have
painted up and lined. They are now filled and on the front driveway. One has been planted
up with sunflowers, a tomato, a mint in a pot, cupid sweet peas, and trailing lobelia.
I am going to sow some salad stuff in the gaps too – carrots, radish, beetroot
etc. The other planter is currently empty but I have ordered some white
strawberries and fresh herb plants so they may go in it.
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| Yes, they are the same colour as the car... |
We have had to get rid of the bird feeding station as we
have been getting visits from a ratty boy, and I think the neighbours have been
blaming me. I am incredibly sad. I do like watching the birds and observing the
pecking order of the bird feeders. The food has now gone to my allotment, and
the feeder pole will be repurposed to house two hanging baskets instead. Maybe
later in the year I’ll sneak up another feeder somewhere else. The good thing
about this is that the squirrels and pigeons are no longer coming into the
garden.
I keep tying in the sweet peas and clematis to try and get
them to go vaguely where I want them to go. We still only have one huge clematis
flower but I want more to open. I am impatient.
The windowsill garden is full so has now spilled onto the
floor. I am growing aubergine, yellow courgette, yellow striped courgette,
sage, sweetcorn, loofah, and now have more pots with butternut squash and green
courgette in to replace those that have been lost. The loofah are starting to
get their first tendrils!
Allotment
The pond is looking good. My allotment neighbours honey bees
keep coming down for a drink – I have rescued one from the water. Apparently having
bricks, wood, lily leaves, and pebble areas to safely land in to drink just isn’t
enough.
The mason bees are busy, busy, busy! At last count, 15 tubes
were capped off. I am wondering if I have two types of mason bee as some
females are TINY, half the size (or less) of the others. It’s so hard to get a
good look at them as they are so fast and also now behind two layers of anti-woodpecker
mesh. I do love watching them come and go.
The first parsnip seeds are also coming up. I didn't have any at all last year so I am excited for these.
