Reflecting on my week #134

I was determined to get back into the swing of writing my blogs, and Monday’s usually mean a quick update and reflection on what’s been going on. And I’m still just about on track, as it’s still just about Monday. It’s gone 11pm, but it is still Monday!

We had a couple of days off last week, which were spent not doing very much at all. MOH celebrated a birthday, had a few days bumbling around due to a broken work laptop, took delivery of a new one which needed setting up and kept me in cuppas and lunches even more than normal. We spent some time with family, talked through our plans to finally visit my parents in Norfolk later this month, which is the first time since just before lockdown.

We pottered a bit, chopped quite a lot of the garden filling our green bins, and had a rather good meal from Cote at Home. To be honest I wasn’t expecting much, but I was wrong, and I’d happily order again. I’d give the green beans a miss, but Cote de Boeuf, frites, fougasse, creme caramels and the wine were just as you’d expect.

There was time for some crochet, actually quite a lot of crochet. And a couple more mini projects were started. One was even finished. I’ve been meaning to make a new key fob for our back door for a while. I thought a flower would work, but somehow ended up with a heart shape, made from odd ends of wool from one of the brightly coloured throws I’m making. I think it’s turned out pretty well, for something that was completely ad-hoc.

Since I’ve last written one of these posts I’ve been out. And it’s been a while, so much so that it was the first time I’d seen this advice sprayed onto the subway close to where we live. I even put proper shoes on for the occasion. That occasion was something I’d missed very much, and I left with a smart - and very much shorter - haircut, with some colour thrown in too, as I was there.

Actually the whole experience was way better than I expected. I was apprehensive but the whole time I was in the salon there were in total only eight people there, and I was one of them. And I can’t believe how good it feels to have short hair, in the style I’m supposed to have, again. I’m sure that my hairdresser had a quiet giggle at the state of my home hairdressing, but needs must and all that.

Last time I shared the mini skiens which had just arrived. I quickly decided to start a vintage shawl pattern, and then equally as quickly got stuck and needed to leave it to one side until I had the headspace to work out what and where I’d gone wrong. It turns out it was the round before, and once I’d sorted that out there was no stopping me.

I now have almost four squares like the one above, and I’m waiting for my next box to arrive. As impatiently as ever. I’m curious to know if the colours will blend, or if they’ll be completely different. I’m hoping it’s the former but I don’t think I’ll have that long to wait to find out as the boxes are despatched shortly after the 15th of each month.

I’ve been seeing a lot of the same patchwork blocks on my Facebook feed, and I was curious to find out more. Especially as the block looked simple enough, and one that I thought I could do. I knew I had some material that I wanted to make a quilt with and so spent some time on Saturday looking for it. Of course, it was where I first looked, but somehow I didn’t spot it and so spent some enjoyable time reminding myself of what else I have, and the plans I had for what I found.

Of course, all the time I spent reacquainting myself with my stash meant I had less time to actually get started. Now I’m pondering if I should wash the fabric beforehand, especially as it’s furnishing fabric and feels quite robust.

I’m also questioning if it’s the right material after reading the blurb that goes with the block a week, which says to have 33 fat quarters. I know the material I have will be enough to make a quilt, but I’m wondering if by having just five different designs, I’m making it harder for myself. Probably, but I like a challenge, and let’s face it I may not make every single block in any case so it could be a concern that doesn’t materialise, and if it does, then my quilt will certainly be special!

Not seeing the full design doesn’t help, but then again if I did I might not start at all. But what a dilemma to have.

My garden in May

Yes, May. I’m catching up with myself as I realised that as well as losing my blogging rhythm I’ve also managed to let these monthly posts slip. But as I was browsing through the photos for this post I was instantly transported back in time, and it’s that that I want to capture alongside the photos.

Our garden comes into its own in spring. As well as bursting into life, it bursts into growth and each year our challenge is to keep up with, or if we’re lucky, ahead, of it. Sometimes we manage it, mostly it’s mixed and this year? Mixed.

Though lockdown has brought the opportunity for many more photos; a lunchtime ‘walk’ quickly turns into a chance to see the garden when usually we’d be in the office, so it’s not all bad.

The tiny blue flowers of Chilean potato plant are still there, though many have turned into the berries that the Tits love. It’s also great to watch them as they flutter close enough to get the best spot, almost queuing and waiting their turn. It’s quite an unruly plant, which we cut a few heavy stems from earlier in the year, and should have cut back further earlier than we did.

But it’s hard to remember the tiny cutting we brought back from Norfolk many years ago now. It shouldn’t be doing so well where it’s planted, but it obviously is, and it’s one of those plants that’s migrated next door, and I think they probably get the best of it.

In May colour and blooms start to reappear in earnest, the delicate pastel weigela and the white scented lilac, which a few of the flowers made their way indoors.

The greenhouse too starts to come into use, and I start to reclaim it from the insects and bugs that are mounting a takeover bid. I’ve plans this year to rejig the layout of the greenhouse, and the first step included reassembling the little shed. So it wasn’t until next month that I took the hosepipe to the inside.

Ah, the dandelions. They’re full on in May and I’m always trying to pick them before they set seed. We don’t always manage it, as this photo shows, and while the grass at the back is covered in the yellow pops of colour, which is frustrating, not seeing a few seed heads would be a shame.

The rose, a Gertrude Jeckyll, on the patio is also enjoying the sun and has a spurt of growth. Throughout the month we have some gorgeous pink roses and are pleased that we moved this somewhere we can see and enjoy it.

Neighbours a little further down the road now have two tabbies, who are making the most of our garden. I assume they’re brother and sister, but it seems they’re fully up to speed with the social distancing measures too.

They’re funny things, being brave and scared at the same time. They sit in our trees ‘bird-watching’ and chase toads and insects in the garden. They tolerate us being in our own garden, and can be persuaded down from ‘bird watching’ and disrupted from toad chasing with a stern(ish) voice and a conversation, which is often, but not always, one-sided.

My broad beans have been the slowest broad beans to grow ever. Only a couple of the pot-full of seeds germinated, and even now, despite plenty of flowers, there’s only one or two pods.

GERTRUDE

This is the remnants of some of the branches that were overhanging from next door and blocking light to the greenhouse. I don’t think we realised quite how much there was, and if we had we might have taken another route to clearing this. It was definitely a case of ‘we’ve started, so we’ll finish’ and there were some that we couldn’t reach.

I was late staking my peonies, and with the ground baked hard it was almost impossible. I was also lucky though and escaped what could have been a nasty injury as I lost my balance and toppled, in what felt like slow motion, into the flowerbed, thankfully avoiding falling onto the cane.

Phew. Definitely something to do earlier, and when the ground is softer.

The climbing, runner and borlotti beans in the greenhouse were already showing more promise than the broad beans, and it wasn’t long before these made it outside. As usual I wasn’t sure which was which and so we have three pots of mixed beans, by the time they pod, it’ll be obvious which is which.

Other seedlings faced mixed results, my first set of basil and soft lettuces were devoured overnight clearly marked as tasty. What’s funny though is the spicy mix of lettuce, in half of the seed tray, was left well alone, and stayed untouched. More basil and lettuce have since been planted with extra precautions taken.

And in May we got our first glimpse of an agapanthus flower head. Yay! But how many would arrive this year - you’ll find out soon enough, as I’m planning to share June’s update in the next few days!

Reassembling the little shed

Ever since we brought the little shed home from the allotment it’s taken up residency in a spare corner of the garden, hidden behind the pizza oven. Still in its component parts. Our intention was always to reassemble it. I’d hatched a plan to use it to free up some space in the greenhouse, which was becoming a bit full.

And finally it happened.

MOH is a perfectionist, and I’m a just get it done kind of person. He wanted the warped doors straight, I was happy for them to provide some shelter for the contents. Well, they say opposites attract!

While he perfected the banana shaped doors, I cleared a space for it. Finally emptying the last of my ‘reserved’ soil in pots around the garden. That’s been hanging around for a while too.

Neither of us had even put felt on a shed roof before. But how hard can it be? It turns out, I was more of a perfectionist at this point.

It was about now that I shared my next masterplan with MOH. You’ll see why he’s the patient one. As part of clearing space in the greenhouse I wanted to change the staging, and the wooden shelving which had already been cut in half and repurposed once before, was now set for its final destination. Unfortunately it didn’t fit in in a single piece. Perhaps we should have built the shed around it?!

And so we started to take it apart. Some of the bolts were rusted, he was the one with the muscles and the patience. And no doubt bemusement. But they came apart, and along with some old brackets we had in the shed were soon inside the shed almost where I wanted them. Remember it’s a small shed, and let’s just say at some points he wasn’t that impressed with my shelving plan. Mostly when he was head and shoulders and twisted inside the shed, when I was insistent the shelves didn’t wobble.

These bolts, and a bit of rotten wood were all that was left. Not bad for a reuse project.

Once we got the shed in place - which took a little longer than it should have - it was surprisingly easy to fill. Without the shelves, it wouldn’t have been anywhere near as useful.

Another job jobbed. Finally. Though he’s still not happy with that banana shaped door!