Adventures of a Laura: Our Annual Week Off Work

David had never had a ‘birthday week off work’ until we got together and now it has become an annual fixture. I am already planning next years – our birthdays are on the weekend in 2022 so I might do a Wednesday – Tuesday week off instead of Monday – Friday. Important thoughts. I need to get my year planner for next year so I can start pencilling things in and then I can fit work in around it. My diary is already full until the end of March, and the annual leave requests reset on April 1^st so I need to get them planned and ready to go.

Anyhoo, I’ve fallen out of love with blogging again. In fact, I’ve fallen out of love with most things lately. No get up and go for it has got up and gone. Had a big ol’ snotty cry last night. Things are not great in my head and I really, really, really, REALLY don’t want to go back to work. Can I be furloughed again? Can I retire now but on full pay? Can I spend the rest of my days pottering around the garden and allotment and antiques shops? I wish. Truth is for the most part I love my job, I’m just in a rough patch. It’s the complete opposite of last year when I was sat twiddling my thumbs wishing to be busy, and now I am picking at my thumbs with anxiety wishing I had time to breathe. Ho hum. Life goes on. Plod along, one day at a time.

I have only spent a few hours at the allotment this week – I purposely wanted at least three days without driving anywhere and I managed four in a row wahooooo. The plot is looking ok, the polytunnel crops are hit and miss but I gave the beds a good soaking and hopefully they’ll pick up. I also put in more seeds – spinach, rocket, corn salad, winter hardy spring onion, peas, and lettuce. There are now also two trays of seedlings of hollyhock and foxglove in there to over winter. The hollyhocks look a bit sad but they might be alright. Might. I have started to clear the raised beds and cover them with cardboard and tarps to try and kill mares tail, bindweed, couch grass, creeping buttercup, and the new one creeping cinquefoil. Doing well for spready plants on this new plot. I have also pulled a lot of thistles. There isn’t a lot to do at the plot really, just weeding and clearing. The cosmos that I grew from seed (!!!!!!!!!) are FABULOUS and I love them. I am leaving the sunflowers for wildlife, and the rest of the beds can be left as they are for now. I have one bed ready for garlic and need to prep one for onion seed in the new year. Though I might start the seed in module trays now. Hmm.

Some of the polytunnel floor herbs are thriving

Squash from Mommas, chard and carrots from mine

We had a 12hr jaunt down to Lulworth Cove to play on the paddle boards. My first time. Can I stand up? Nope. I have invented a new sport of SDP – sit down paddleboarding. Much better. We have ironed out some issues with the valves and decided we need a little tool in the kit bag to help us get the fins off afterward. This is going to be a very expensive hobby once we start factoring in neoprene boots, gloves, dry suits…

Birthday cake care of Gloucester Services

David has bought me some more antique bone crochet hooks for my collection, and I got a couple myself. I am going to make a timber storage & display rack for them because currently they are all sat in a glasses case hidden away.

The knife is not mine

I have been very anxious this week so I have made another gonk, started a hat but ran out of wool, started a pair of wrist warmers but ran out of wool, started to think about making a hat for my new carved owl but couldn’t decide which colour to use… ho hum. I also need to darn my woollen socks AGAIN (sixth time now) because new holes keep popping up. Either I am not very good at sock making or the house is not woollen sock friendly because I keep snagging. I hope the christmas fairy reads this and gets me my very own darning mushroom because I think I’ma need one of my own.

Hat

Wrist warmers

We have been for a bike ride, my fourth in 20years. I still don’t like it, I’m just not comfortable on a bike, especially when there are corners and inclines involved. We cycled up the track and into the woods over the road. We have also been to buy a new saddle for my bike – my third one now to try and find one that’s comfy and suitable for a fat ass – and D has also been to buy a new saddle stem because the new saddle won’t fit properly on the old one.

It’s been a slow but good and productive week this week and I’ve really needed the time off. I was intending to be at the allotment today but I don’t drive when I’m in a mood like this, I don’t trust myself to not drive into a tree. So instead, I am having a day at home, darning, cooking, cleaning, maybe (definitely) yoga-ing. Also netflixing because I have found a new series and it’s good.

So my brain is being a monumental shit-lord again and there’s a lot of stuff going on that can’t be dealt with for a few more weeks yet. I just want to bury my head and pretend it’s not happening but 1) it is happening and 2) I need to pull up my big girl panties and deal with it. Them. There’s more than one thing. There’s always more than one thing.

My plan for this week then: work, pick up my new glasses, take lots of selfies and pretend to be glam, reorganise my work calendar to be more reflective/accurate, spend less time on Instagram, start bendy stretchy again for 30mins a day, eat more fruit (I’ve hardly eaten any this week and I wonder why I feel so shit?), drink more water.

Also we've been in the countryside for six weeks now and I still haven't had any peaches.