Reflecting on my week #133

I skipped last week’s update as time ran away with me again, and if I’m honest there probably wasn’t much new to say about being in lockdown. If there was - apart from bored with the whole thing now - I can’t remember! So either it wasn’t memorable, or I’m losing my marbles. Or both.

This past week - week 13 of working from home - has been punctuated by a couple of notable things; the first the sheer volume of rain on Wednesday evening, which arrived while MOH was out cycling, and the second a brief trip into the office.

But first the rain. Wow. For 20 minutes, it was full on. Bouncing high off the pavements, flushing through the gutters, and puddling on the grass. Which seemed to approve of it all, and is now looking greener again. MOH was sheltering by the entrance, or close to the foot tunnel waiting for the worst of it to pass. Ten minutes or so later, when it was less torrential, he headed home and straight into the shower muttering about grit, bike chains and goodness knows what else.

As it slowed I dashed out across the flooded grass to shut the greenhouse door, and to snap some raindrops on the agapanthus, before it picked up pace again.

Actually, I’ve remembered there’s a third notable thing to mention, and that’s that I have a hair appointment booked for 4 July! My hairdressers are making plans to reopen, and that includes having customers. It’s a phone call that I was very pleased to take, I can’t wait, though I’m sure she will have her work cut out to undo some of my own snippings. But given that I like it short and it’s much longer than usual I’m sure there’s hair to play with.

It was weird to be in the office when I popped in on Friday. Nowadays popping in includes all the necessary paperwork as the office and surrounding buildings are generally closed. I was there to collect my footstool, so I can use in our kitchen table office at home. It was only a short stop, but even so I took a few snaps to share with colleagues, and it felt like a lifetime ago since we were all there.

The view above is from the kitchen, and is a great one to ponder and admire while making a cuppa.

My first mini box of mini skeins arrived too, and it’s gorgeous. There’s something about the mini skeins, that is, until I remembered they needed unravelling and winding into a ball before using. But, being mini, that’s not quite so bad.

Since they arrived I’ve spent a fair amount of time Googling ideas and patterns, then remembered I’d bought a vintage shawl pattern which I’m going to give a go. My reservation is how the colours will go together, as the colours in the future boxes are unknown. Though, if I embrace that, it should be fine.

This week I predict I’ll be Googling stain removal, as I’ve managed to get a random red-looking stain on my bright yellow trousers. I think it’s likely to be pollen or cherry juice, so any tips you have will be gratefully received!

Reflecting on my week #132

It’s been another week of celebrations here, we celebrated our thirteenth wedding anniversary on Monday. Monday’s are a bit of a rubbish day for such celebrations, but we managed with a bottle of fizz. We’d had a nice meal, or two, at the weekend, so it wasn’t all bad.

We’d had last week off, and while it was strange, and it definitely wasn’t the Lake District, it wasn’t totally new to us as we do have time off and spend it at home. This time though there wasn’t much choice. I’ve been telling people at work that it was nice to spend some time at home! And it was, especially away from our PCs.

There was plenty of jobs to be done and we did some of them. The start of the week was lovely and warm, almost too warm to really get on with any work. By the end of the week, in complete contrast, we couldn’t get out into the garden because of the weather. But it wasn’t all bad. The plug chillies and salad were planted up, and all are surviving. I actually read the instructions, which said to pot in half coir and half compost. The coir holds water and releases it as needed, which for a lazy waterer sounds a very good thing. Even better than I’d found some coir, which was originally intended as hanging basket liners, which had become a little worn, and unused for what it was bought for.

Our big job of the week was to rebuild the little allotment shed. When we left the allotment it was half built, and didn’t fit in the car, so needed to be taken apart. Since then it’s been stored, in parts, behind the pizza oven. But no more, it’s now back together, some parts with some extra persuasion from MOH and it’s already being put to good use.

The greenhouse was becoming over-full and it felt hard to move in there. Much of the stuff, especially the pots, didn’t actually need to be in the greenhouse, and with a little shed in the offing, a new use was identified. I wanted shelves in this, which I did tell MOH, but probably a good year or so ago. So they were a bit of a surprise request, when they really shouldn’t have been.

Part of my plan to free up the greenhouse was to rationalise the benches in there too. An old Ikea unit, which moved from my other house, had previously had a life in the shed as a storage rack, and then sawed in half as a potting bench in the greenhouse. But now I had a new use in mind, and only for part of it - the shelves, in the little shed.

MOH and I almost fell out about where the shelves should go. He asked me, I helpfully drew on lines for the top of the shelf, which he heard as this is where the bottom of the shelve should be, which meant there wasn’t enough space for the third shelf. I compromised in the end as it’s only a shed, and found a way to get the shelf in anyway. The shelf above the blue boxes is balanced on the plastic boxes, and the plan is to cut out part of the front of the baskets to maximise storage.

Some of the wood from the shelving units were saved, because apparently you never know when you need a piece of wood. Some of the wood was rotting and so was disposed of. Apart from that all that was left was the rusty bolts.

We did head out at the end of the week with a drive over to RHS Hyde Hall in Essex. On our drive over we hit the rain, on arrival we asked if it had been raining there yet. It hadn’t and we were right to assume it was on its way. There was little shelter, especially with some of the bench areas closed off, but I knew from previous visits that our best chance of shelter was in the woodland, so off we went.

Much later I snapped this photo in the modern cottage garden, and we took it as our clue to leave.

The rain wasn’t all bad though, especially as it was quickly followed by the sun, and gave the opportunity for plenty of ‘raindrops on’ photos, like the sweet pea above.

It’s amazing what some time and headspace provide isn’t it? For me last week, that meant some sewing space and I happily disappeared for a couple of hours reappearing having made an ironing ‘pad’ from some material scraps and natural wood packing, and then some shaped face masks.

I thought these would be harder to sew than the oblong pleated variety, but I was wrong. These involved much less sewing and are lighter. I followed a pattern for the blue check version for MOH, and it’s a style he’s happy with - even though deep down he doesn’t see why one of those paper ones wouldn’t work just as well…

For me the blue check one was a bit high on the cheeks, and different to the yellow one that mum sent down in the post. So being the adventurous sort, I made myself a pattern which I used for the predominantly white mask. I’ve even added some contrasting top stitching and have impressed myself with my neatness!

It’s back to work at the dining room table this week, so another chance to spend some time at home!

A change of scenery

I originally planned to share this post last week but it wasn’t to be, so here it is now. And as I said in my weekly round-up post, it was nice to have something different to photograph while I waited for MOH, and spending time (however short) in a garden that’s not your own connects you to nature in a completely different, but good, way.

I think it will be hard for anyone not to be cheered by the sun on this vibrant poppy, I know I was totally mesmerised.

Well, until I spotted the sun on the love-in-a-mist looking delicate and determined at the same time.

With a camera in hand, albeit an iPhone, I know I see things differently so looking down from above and trying to capture the light, for me, is key. And things that may get overlooked in everyday life become the focus, elevating them from their usual everyday existence.

Even spotting a ‘water caterpillar’ on the hosta leaves was an absolute joy, and I’m so pleased the photo worked out and reflects how it looked in real life.

You’ll know I need no excuses for snapping succulents, but add terracotta and fallen camellia blooms, yeap, it was always going to happen, wasn’t it?

Colour and texture are as important in the garden, here the acer leaves add the colour and in the greenhouse the thermometer adds texture as well as usefulness stylishly - much prettier than my functional plastic one!

The garden is full of geraniums, and as I waited it became a slight obsession to capture the sun shining through their leaves. It seems even the spiders are fans.

We’ve booked to go to RHS Hyde Hall on Friday, our first trip out in eleven weeks, so I’m hoping for plenty more new vistas and flowers to snap and share. I’m sure our visit will be quite unlike any of our other visits there, but isn’t so much of our daily lives like that now?