Spring has sprung

Instructions on potatoes:  "Plant when the risk of frost is past".  Yes well that could be the end of April!!

Planted them yesterday, frost last night.  Oh well what the heck they'll be fine.

I also cleared out the greenhouse, which is only 6 x 4 and had become a repository for all sorts of stuff over the last two years.  So I have the staging back in a useable state, and a wee tomato plant in there now.

Spring is here!

Pfft having written a long letter to Mr H this weekend now I feel I have nothing to tell you!   So I hope some rambling drivel will suffice for now...

I spent most of the weekend gardening, and looking at bees.  We are suffering a bad wasp year with the little ******s hell bent on getting into our hive. Interestingly though, I have noticed that once they are in there they want nothing more than to escape, which is odd as you'd think that once in they'd sit and nosh on the honey stores.  Maybe the bees tease them about their odd appearance and they can't stand the embarrassment.

I overdid it somewhat at the garden centre yesterday, it's their fault for having plants at reduced prices and 3 for 2.   So I then spent lots of time planting (once I'd decided where on earth I was going to put them!  I also cleared the top vegetable patch so that is nice, clean, damp earth just waiting for some compost/fertlizer.

Yesterday I accidentally walked for two hours, I didn't mean to but ended up exploring and didn't have a watch so had no idea how long I'd been out until I got back to the car.  It did explain why I was aching quite a lot!  On the way I met some D of E teenagers hiking - we kept overtaking each other and the third time I saw them they were obviously a bit lost so I put them straight as to where they were. It made me realise that we never did that sort of thing at school, at least I was never offered it - or maybe no-one ever thought I might like it?  having said that, Mr H did it at his school and said it was really annoying as apparently they made they carry hat, scarf and gloves even on swelteringly hot summer weekends.

Spot the Dog!

So that was my weekend, oh and I have started on my course which is beginning with stuff about surveillance - quite thought provoking. I got the name of my tutor for this year and was disappointed that it is a man; the last two years I have had women tutors and got on well with them, I somehow feel that a man is going to be quite different. Well, I shall give him the benefit of the doubt until our first tutorial and assignment feedback!

A week of reality - or was it?

As Karen S. noticed, I didn't have the time or energy to post last week!   It felt as though Mr H was home for about three weeks not one (in a good way haha!) and yes we were still speaking to each other by the end of it. We were both exhausted though, having worked our way through the list of things we wanted to do!

It was a suspension of reality in a way, because we wouldn't normally spend a week's holiday at home together - it was a bit like having 4 weekends back-to-back.

We both noticed how these days we are so much on the same wavelength, I think being apart has improved that (you'd think it would be the opposite, wouldn't you?).  On one day I gave him a hand to put the engine back into his A35 van... it was tricky and involved trolley jacks and blocks of wood, mixed in with brute strength and brains to get everything lined up.  Although it is years since we worked in an old car together, it just fell into place totally naturally, each knowing exactly what the other meant.  It felt really good.

(Not that we always agree on things, and sometimes talk at completely cross-purposes, but then we normally end up having a joke about the fact we don't have a clue what each other is talking about...!)

On Tuesday we drove 250 miles for an interview - for him not me - in an urban woodland area.   When we arrived we thought 'oh my goodness' as it was quite busy with visitors, it must be absolutely heaving on a bank holiday. The district was lots of small woodlands in a built up area so would have involved lots of driving on busy roads - the complete opposite of where he is now!  But it was half the distance away from home so that was a big plus point.  The interview went ok but we suspect that Mr H was the 'token outsider' since the other applicants were from that district; he didn't get the job, but he said that saved him having to decide whether he wanted it or not. Something else will come up, no doubt.

Walking Django after Mr H's interview

The other big thing last week was that I had x-rays taken. It turned into a bit of a long, stressful morning not helped by the fact I was really tired from the weekend, thankfully Mr H was on hand to rescue me when my emotions got the better of me.  The long and the short of it is that the x-rays looked ok apart from one area at the top break, which doesn't look as though it's got new bone growing, so I've been referred for a CT scan to check it out.  I'm not sure when that will be, sometime in the next couple of months I guess. I was glad about the referral as it is something positive to do, rather than just being sent away with a 'yes it's all progressing fine, see you in another 6 months'.  

The rest of the week we spent gardening, Mr H worked on the van, and other bits and pieces. Oh and I picked 206 quinces!  Oh My Goodness..... I am now down to 95 having got rid of some to friends and family and made two batches of quince jelly (so far). They are too good to throw away, so I might get imaginative with the preserving/recipes!

206 quinces

Oh and how could I forget? it was Mr H's birthday on the 4th... I baked a birthday cake and we had a nice day together. He was on his own in Scotland for it last year, and for quite a few before that we have been away for it, so it felt extra special this year being together at home.

So that was our week... he is now back north but Django is here for a couple of months.  It's good to have the company, and a reason to go for walks - it just doesn't work without a dog!

Weeding my mind

I am feeling depressed about the garden today, I've been working on one of our borders and have made a brick edge to stop the grass encroaching (one that I can mow right up to), and have weeded and planted some new plants. Ones that are out NOW because all the other flowers in our garden seems to have finished by the end of June.

Because of my leg it took me three sessions to get the bricks down, partly because the soil was hard digging.  So it's probably taken me a month to do what I would normally do in a weekend, because that's all I can do (and people still tell me I should be taking it easy).

I walked around some beautiful gardens this morning at Beaulieu and came home inspired, bought three plants at the nearby garden centre and they are perfect.  My plan is to plant so much stuff that there is no breathing space for weeds.  However, we don't have sweet little green weeds, we have brambles, and ivy, and bracken and really the shady part of the garden should be turned into a woodland glade because that's the kind of stuff that grows in it. Maybe after 21 years of trying to tame it we should throw in the towel and pave the whole of the SW corner (that's a joke by the way).

I need to turn these negative feelings into gratitude for having an amazing garden, that has so much potential as well as so much wild-ness.. How many people have that luxury these days?   We could be stuck in a flat with just a couple of window boxes...

But I also know my depression isn't totally about the garden. It's about me. It's about being knackered after one hours of gardening, when even taking the spade back to the shed is an effort. It's about tackling it alone, rather than the teamwork of me and Mr H.  It's about not knowing how long this is going to last, right now the light at the end of the tunnel is pretty dim.

I think it's time for a cup of tea.

Things I've done and survived

O-Levels, A-Levels, driving test, piano exams, violin exams, motorbike test; unexpectedly having to stand up on a chair and tell a bunch of millionaires which sails they can legally use. Getting married!

All those stressful situations I've survived.

I had a pretty anxious morning yesterday, but now I'm ready for this pissy little exam.  And in 24 hours I'll be on a train to Scotland :-)

Here is a photo of a beautiful poppy which is growing in the corner of my vegetable patch, self-seeded.   Isn't it just the best de-stressing sight?

Discombobulation and muscles

Hey hey, sorry about the lack of posts....  I had a busy weekend with Mr H, and I'm kind of still discombobulated as I try and get back into revision mode.

So here is a picture of my vegetable patch at the weekend, getting the strimmer treatment. I can't wait to nosh on new potatoes and beans.

Charging off on a different tangent:   today I took some photos of my leg for the solicitor, and when I compared them with the ones I took in January I realised that my right leg isn't as weak looking as it was. The cycling and walking etc. is paying off - I have more muscles - hurrah!

Now, back to the books.

Six word Saturday

Garden soaking up the welcome rain

We've had a very dry month, very unusual for April in England!   I've been watering the vegetable patch almost every night, as promised rain has not materialised. It was therefore a very welcome thunderstorm we had last night, and it's going to rain all day today.   

Normally on a Saturday I'd be wishing for dry weather, but today I'm revelling in the wet and the plants almost smiling at me.

Bumbling along

I've lost interest this evening. In everything.

I could be washing up, proof reading my essay, having a shower, walking Django, writing my blog.... oh.  Well.

After cycling home I did some comprehensive weeding in the vegetable patch. That was enough for me, can I curl up with my book now?

The best part of today was standing under the Laburnum, listening to the constant hum of lots of bumblebees collecting pollen in their trousers...

I could have stood there all day but unfortunately 'stuff' required my attention.  Like work.

My mind's not really on stuff at the moment.

It's thinking about the fact that I'm picking Mr H up from the station next Thursday night for a long weekend.  He hasn't been home since March and everything in the garden looks so different now, I can't wait to share it with him.

Waiting for a storm

There's a threatening sense in the air,
The trees are whispering fervently,
"It'sss comingggg"...

The parched ground is ready,
The thirsty leaves looking to the sky,
Still innocently blue and clear.

But there is a promise of heavy drops
Before the night is out,
As thunder approaches on the breeze...

Studying in a bra, and a photo

I'm sitting on the veranda, typing my essay in my bra (well I was before I popped over here to write this). The 6 o'clock sun is really warm and I'm in the lee of the house so no breeze here... so the t-shirt had to go.  Ah the advantages of having no-one overlooking - at least not unless they really, really try!

The essay is the last one for this year, it's a very general 1500 word affair about the advantage of looking at topics from different psychological perspectives.  I've kind of written the introduction and feel as though the rest will come ok - until I hit that wall of course ;-)

I made a big mistake earlier, I looked at the course page on Facebook. I haven't looked for a while because it annoys me, but I was hoping that in amongst the rubbish there might be some useful tips on TMA06.   There were a couple of posts on there saying 'Oh whatever, I just can't wait to get this year over, I've hated it'.  Last year when I was doing social science there were similar comments about that course. I think I've probably mentioned this before but sorry it's bugging me again. Yes it's been hard on occasion but it's a degree course - what would you expect??  I find it quite sad really, and I want to post on there that I've found it really interesting and life-enhancing and horizon-broadening.  I'm sure it can't just be me...

Here is a completely unconnected photo of my 'garden wall':  Everything growing in it is self-seeded (probably with the help of the birds).  No cherry trees this year (not yet anyway).  Anyone who can invent a connection between this and my post, please share it...

Later when it's cooler I will take Django out for a walk. I suppose I'd better put my t-shirt back on for that.

Spontaneity and settling down

Well, that was a different weekend to what I had planned!   as you might have gathered from my previous post, at 4.30pm on Friday I got a text that Mr H was on his way home - and he had only decided to come two hours previous to that - a real spur of the moment visit.  

He says he drove the 450 miles to see me, but I know the truth - it was actually to see Django ;-)   Anyways it put all my plans of spending the weekend studying out of the window, but after the emergency washing up on Friday I did manage to get some reading done before he arrived.

We had a lovely homey weekend of dog-walking, veg patch digging, visiting parents and just chilling together.   It certainly got rid of the gloomy mood I'd fallen into - it was going to be 8 weeks between seeing each other and that was just proving too long. 

Four weeks is definitely the optimal gap.  Two weeks is too often because there is no settling down time.  More than 4 or 5 is too long and missing them desperately sets in.   Just the day and a half he was here this time was enough to top up the batteries.

After he'd gone I went to the garden centre to investigate vegetables as it's time to be planting seeds.  So now I have some sown outside, and some indoors. My kitchen table has been moved around to create an indoor greenhouse space.   The four 'sticks' are not vegetables, they are wiggly willow cuttings.

We do have a greenhouse, a very small one 6x4 - but it's full of stuff and in dire need of a sort out. A job for another fine weekend!

This evening I phoned my brother-in-law and his wife (what does that make her, a sister-in-law-in-law?) to tell them that I'm not going to The Family Wedding in two weeks time.  Oh, he says, haven't you heard the date has changed now?   What a shambles, first it's rushed through because of visas expiring and now it's been put off because of some other legal hiccup.  For heaven's sake - well whenever it is, I can't come.

Anyway I ended up having a long chat which was good, I'm looking forward to being able to drive 2 1/2 hours comfortably so I can go and visit them, and my sister too. 

On the Scottish front, I don't think I told you that after Mr H's interview he decided that the new job would be too big a step this soon, and that he didn't feel remotely ready. So he was pretty relieved when he didn't get it, and so was I because I'd been kind of thinking the same thing. Not that ambition to get on isn't good, but it isn't everything.  So all that has settled down and he can throw himself into his current job and get more experience until the right opportunity comes up.  

My boss asked me the other day whether I was thinking of moving to Scotland one day.  He's another Scotland lover but he said he knew exactly what I meant, and felt exactly the same, when I said 'Not at the moment, we both like it down here too much'.   

If anyone asked me, right now, that favourite interview question "Where do you see yourself in five years time?"  I really don't think I could give a definitive answer. 

Spring, spring, spring!

For all you doubters ;-)  Spring is definitely to coming to us here in the South of England.  Here are some photos of the new life...

Bluebells

Snowdrops

Narcissi

Snowdrops

Clematis (I thought this one might be dead, it was its first winter)

Clematis

Holly (self-seeded)

Laburnum