Ten days off work is always appreciated, especially when it has only cost me four days of annual leave allowance! David and I have had the last week-ish off work for our first wedding anniversary, which is actually next week, but he couldn’t get the time off. So he's had this last week instead. Very confusing. But anyway. FIRST WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!! Wahoooooooooo!
No we haven’t been away. We are skint, and we already live
in a cottage in the countryside so we don’t much see the point in paying the equivalent
of a months rent for a week in someone elses cottage in the countryside. It’s
been a very domestic week, and I started out with a huge to do list:
And no I haven’t ticked everything off! I never do.
Allotment
I have had a couple of days at the allotment with Momma P. It
feels like I haven’t done much there either, but we spent a happy Saturday
strimming and mowing, as well as fixing a shed roof, and removing and replacing
a polytunnel cover. And and and and. And. On my plot we cut the grass and
vegetation, and I have dug up lots of things to bring home and plant in the
garden. I want more teasels and things, and my allotment has plenty! I also
have cut lots of herbs to dry, and they are now hanging from the curtain rail
in the spare bedroom.
I didn't do everything I wanted to get done at the allotment this week but no matter. It'll happen eventually.
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Garden
I have been painting the garden furniture to try and spruce
it up a bit. These were liberated from a skip at my old job a couple of years
ago, we used them at work, and then the site closed down and I left, so the
chairs came with me. I am using them as a vessel to get my fix of colour
therapy as my crochet mojo has well and truly been and gone. It is slowly
coming back, but I am missing the colours from the blanket that I was making. I
have run out of white paint so I can’t finish priming the underside of the
chairs, and they’ll need several more coats on before we can actually use them.
I’ve cut some circles into the lawn, one for the fire bowl
to sit in and three for sweet pea teepees to go in. I have made the teepees
using the bamboo I harvested from the garden last year. They look not too dissimilar
to funeral pyres.
I also cut some herbs from the garden to dry, and the previous
batch that were hanging have been macerated into dried herbs. I’m really
pleased with them!! They look as if I’d just bought them from Sainsburys.
I sowed more seeds in toilet roll pots and they are all now
on the log store which is being used as a plant nursery. Sunflowers, squash,
courgettes, flowers, and some other stuff. I also finally got around to planting
the ginger that I bought in April.
The metal bowl thing that was already in the garden has now
been emptied and moved, and turned into a sort of above ground pond slash bird
watering station/bath.
Wildlife
I got the card in from the camera and it has revealed the
secrets of the garden! Very excitingly we seem to be hosting a pair of French
Partridge! Ooh la la! Mon Cherie! I have also dug up plenty cock chafer adults
and larvae, and had a black-spotted longhorn beetle fly into the side of my
face with a thud. Bloody countryside.
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| Hare |
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| Bodge |
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| Fox |
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| Deer |
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| Alan Partridge |
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| Longhorn with short horns |
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| Doodlebug |
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| Bebbe doodlebug |
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| A wee bee |
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| ALAN! |
Crochet
I am crocheting, the urge is coming back. I can’t share much
of what I’m making yet as it is a gift for someone but I had to rip the eyes
out and they are currently being replaced by stitch markers. I will do the rest
of the head before I glue the new eyes in!
I finished the springtime gonk. We went for an afternoon out
mooching aboot, and ended up in the antiques place in Ironbridge. David and I that is, not me and the unfinished gonk. There’s a
little craft area and I got some more flowers and things, so these are new
glued all over Ms Gonk. I feel like I’m all gonked out but I also want to make
a Pimms gonk because I found a shop on Etsy that sells dollhouse scale Pimms
bottles and wine glasses…
I have also darned my handmade stripy socks. Again. How much is too much? When do I stop darning? There is a shop on Etsy that sells suede patches for homemade socks, so I might invest. But then I'll get holes from the stitching around the suede patch. Ho hum. Shan't use pure wool for socks again that's fo' sho'!
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Volunteering
David and I went for a walk around our local country park as
I have been thinking about joining their volunteer group. Safe to say I shall
not be joining their group, and I also would REALLY like to see their
management plan.
I am still pondering a few different things. I said I would
give myself a couple of months to settle into the job before I started looking,
and I’m now 2.5 months in. So time to look and do something!
No pictures because this park does not deserve a spot on my blog. It was bad.
Anniversary Fun
This week it was Momma P’s birthday and Momma & Poppa
Hams wedding anniversary, so David and I took them out for afternoon tea. It was
well posh. Not as posh as The Ivy, mind…
David also bought me a new old mixing bowl from an antiques
place to add to my collection! I always like a good bowl.
Momma P got me lots of plants for my anniversary gift and I’ve
made a start on prepping the log store to accommodate some climbing trailing
plants up and over them.
D and I are both at work on our actual anniversary so I might
treat him to fish n chips from the takeaway up the lane. Maybe.
It’s been a gloriously slow week off work and yes I did have a bit of a wobbly head one of the days and spent most of it crying, but aside from that I have had a really good week. I’ve spent time reading, reading in the garden, gardening, crocheting, cooking, allotmenting, walking, and looking at bugs – all things that I enjoy and don’t do enough of. I’ve also played Sims 3 a lot and my lady is literally a millionaire with a huge garden and allotment overlooking the sea, and a swimming pool. Also she has a cat that is trained to hunt for seeds. THE DREAM. I shall live vicariously through her.
