I've never liked coffee. The whole of my adult life I've been a tea drinker - and some would argue I drink far too much of it. Lately though, I've been finding that something in it unsettles my stomach, and with a helping hand from our favourite local cafe, I've been experimenting with coffee for the first time. I've not progressed further than a mocha and a one-shot latte, but it's a fun experiment, and any adventure that involves swirly patterns on top of your drinks has got to be a good one. I'm drifting at the minute, not really quite sure what to do with myself. Everything seems up in the air. There's so much chaos in the wider world it feels overwhelming, at work we are on strike again, and the list of things to do at home gets longer every day. I'm in high need of a rest. Fortunately, I'm off work for ten days in a row (we'll ignore the lack of pay for now). As usual, two days in and I feel like the time is drifting away from me, and I'd better Make A List before it's time to go back to work and I've done nothing. I do have some plans. A friend's birthday, another visit from the vet. And I do have a bit of a list - swimming, a couple of walks, sorting out the appalling state of the garden, hiring a power scythe (more on that later), sorting out the appalling state of the house. Yawn. At least the weather is nice, although apparently that's going to change this week. I've spent quite a bit of today outside, basking in the sunshine, hanging out the washing, and moving wood, stones, and old windows, detritus of winter projects, so that one day soon I might be able to mow the grass. Some parts of the garden are starting to feel calm, if you look in the right direction and squint a bit. I've gathered all the pallets back into their pile, and the scrap wood that is leftover from fixing the chicken run is all stored away now. I've even started putting some of the woodchip onto the paths in the veg beds. The driveway feels calm, at least. When we first saw this house, it was early August, and I had dreams of planting daffodils down both sides. We arrived in late February, and once the snow had melted, the daffodils appeared all by themselves. Each year there are more, and they make me very cheerful indeed. One thing I do want is to move into the new bedroom. I've had 'oil skirting boards' on my list since before Christmas, and it's still there. The painting has progressed - but I've still got one coat of gold paint on one wall to do. But that's it - once those things are done, we'll be moving in, even though there are no windowsills, and no curtains, and no clothes storage.
And once the bed's moved, maybe I'll finally have a nap.
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I've had my head down in work for much of February, and only really emerged after a deadline for the last week. Again, not much progress has been made, but we have had some weather, and slowly signs of spring are appearing. Weather February was wet, and we had three named storms in quick succession (Dudley, Franklin, and Eunice). Fortunately, we came through unscathed, just losing a bench to the other end of the garden. It was quite surprising, given the speed of the wind, and our exposed site on the top of a hill. We barely even lost a tree branch. We have had a lot of water though, and acquired a small temporary lake. We've also had a few flurries of snow, although nothing too dramatic, thank goodness. Signs of spring In amongst the weather, we have had a few signs of spring, although it's been too cold to stay outside for long. The rhubarb is growing, the snowdrops are out, and a few daffodils are starting to show their heads, although we have no flowers yet. We had a giant flock of starlings land in the garden the other day too. In the garden We've not really done anything in the garden, but we have had an enormous pile of woodchip delivered. A fair bit of this will go into the chicken run to keep it from getting too muddy while they're still shut in under the housing order. I'll top up the paths in the veg patch, and we've given a load to some friends, who I suspect will come back for more. The rest will keep us going for the rest of the year, being used as mulch around the fruit bushes. In the house I've slowly started to emerge from my work-based torpor to think about decorating again. Not actually done much of it, mind you. But I did manage to paint a first coat of yellow on the kitchen and dining room the other day, and I can't believe the difference it's made. SO very cheerful having painted walls, instead of bare plaster. There's still a lot that needs doing in the kitchen (we have no skirting boards or windowsills for a start, and the ceiling still isn't fully boarded), but it's starting to feel like an actual room now, which makes all the difference. That was pretty much it for February. Work, the odd cafe trip, and a brief flurry of painting towards the end. It feels good though, to be a bit more restful, a little less hurried.
And what will March bring? I would love for us to move into our new bedroom, which means a last little bit of painting, and a whole load of shifting stuff. We'll need to figure out windowsills, and blinds, and shelves, but it'll be worth it in the end. Downstairs, the kitchen needs another coat of yellow, and some ceiling boards, and skirting boards. Some of those things will get done in March, and some might not. I suppose by the end of March the weather might be starting to pick up, and maybe I'll even be thinking about planting some seeds. I can't imagine being outside today, but yesterday was glorious and soon the greenhouse will beckon... It would be nice to have inside sorted out before outside starts to vie for attention... |
Hello!Sit down and make yourself comfortable. I'm Jenni, and I write here about our new foray into country living, which includes growing food, knitting, baking, wandering around the fields, and seeing which local cafe serves the best cake. Categories
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