I don't have a 'lockdown life's diary full of thoughts and carefully constructed photos, and that's thankfully fine. I've been using my energy to focus on keeping everyone alive, as healthy and happy as possible without quietly losing my mind myself along the way. Some days have been better than others but overall its actually gone fairly well.

Now I feel, like many people, that we're left with a big aching unknown. Uncertainty is our new companion. This creates a deep longing for normality, certainty, security (see everyone flocking back to whatever filled their pre covid days and feels.like normality to them). I'm not ready to rejoin casual days out and trips to cafes and pubs. We do need to get out though, and we've been exploring all the little patches of woodland and parks and half hidden corners of nature anywhere within a workable distance of us.

Today's discovery has a mud slide! And warm breezes blowing in across fields, a pond coated in unfurling water lilies and hazel trees sending up supple stems from their coppice bases.

Tomorrow , back to the plot. I promise! (To see how true this little saying has become)

It rained!

And rained and rained and rained!

So I didn't take any pictures. We were a bit too busy hiding in the shed and huddled on the front of the playhouse.

Here's today's lunch though, topped off with home grown lettuce. (Bags of lettuce are pretty much the most thrown out veg there is...every leaf helps)

Who wants 15 months in one post?!

We have another allotment, and another child! Things have definitely been growing around here (also, many many many weeds!).
My half plot became a full one when the lady above gave up, hubsters is in the process of doing the same as our friend there had to make the tough decision between running and growing, and new child is many months old and needs a blog name of their own (superkid is almost in juniors and my constant state of feeling switches from tired to old and back again).
I'm not quite sure what we have in to be honest. No sunflowers as they didn't germinate. Onions, strawberries, raspberries, garlic, rhubarb, beetroot,  sweetcorn,  courgettes and pumpkins I think. And a fairy garden. Up to date pics tomorrow because we're meeting a friend there in the morning.
Pics of home would probably be good too. There's a greenhouse crammed with tomatoes and cucumbers, new borders bursting with lupin and wild flowers and a swing and slide set that's also sprung up. Just to make sure our garden accurately matches our stage of life!
And I'm still mulling over a name change and redesign round here. Though I am actually reading! So one out of three is better than none at least.
Cross everything those pics materialise tomorrow!

New season

Bean, Hubster and I have been down at the allotment for a couple of hours already, just time for first brew with some friendly company.

It was lovely to see Lottie. She seems less timid as well, almost glad to see us. Though she cut the visit short when she realised we weren't having bacon butties today!

Here's the season opener...

A wilderness to tame, and spring has definitely sprung so it's time to get started.

Harvest!

The not-dwarf brand did themselves proud in the end.
From the mountains of pods. Even after eating them for nearly two weeks, I dried the rest for storage and look what I've got!

My last bean storage attempt was pickling, which we didn't end up using even though they kept well, so I'm hoping dried will get more use.

End of August

My compost is ready!



After sieving and sorting I've been able to fill up a new bed.



The not-dwarf beans are still going strong. So strong they've pulled down their supports. Heaps of them still to grow big enough, and several cucumbers still on the plant too

Dinner time

I think the fact that I'm very happily dancing away to the best of the Back Street Boys in my kitchen while cooking this tells you something about my age as well as my outlook on life and values (no need to spend too long trying to work out either though).

Everything vegetable in tonight's tea is home grown. Everything. Only the pasta and pork is bought, as I have neither a pig farm nor a pasta tree!

Courgettes - my allotment
Basil - my window ledge
Tomatoes - hubsters greenhouse
Swiss chard - my mum's garden
Onions - a friend's allotment
Garlic - another friend's allotment

Now there's just making my own wine to figure out in future.

Summertime!

A week away has given everything chance to really unfurl and expand.






Running total between the plot and the greenhouse (at home) is 38 cucumbers - this week! (We weren't counting before then) . Courgettes I haven't counted or weighed at all, but I think the courgette to marrow ratio has been about 1:2 so far. I need to pick them sooner.
Currants were all ready too, and super sweet from the sunshine.






Next steps are to tame the wilder patches a bit, and to squeeze in some more early mornings. Cool. Quiet. Secret. Stolen time to savour.

Gratitude

A long time ago I was lonely. At the time I didn't know that was was what it was. I lived in a small town because it was well placed for work. I got to, went to that work, worked hard at it, then came home again. The rest of my week was filled with the usual keeping life going things, cleaning shopping, watching TV, exercise class. Apart from my husband I felt unseen in my day to day life. I was sustained by my amazing long distance friendships, people who knew me, who understood me, kindred spirits held back by geography (and the infuriating,unfortunate fact of Crewe making the M6 so long)
And now things are different. I've been through all sorts to get to this point and learnt so many things about life and myself(as Maya Angelou said 'i wouldn't give nothing for my journey now' but that's a while other post... Series of posts!).
Today I met a friend from church for an awesome, soul charging time, bumped into three (!) other friends on the way home from food shopping (who knew that the local supermarket was the social center of the modern world), and I'm scranning a quick lunch (including eggs from *another* friendsf chickens) because yet another great lady has invited me round to hang out with her and her son before I pick super kid up from school. All this, and I am immensely lucky enough to still have my kindred spirit long distance friendships as well.
I have these 5 hours each week. The housework can wait, life's calling.

June update

Here's June!

Possibly the best breakfast ever. Fresh eggs from my friend's chickens, scrambled with just picked peas and courgette, then served with peace, quiet and a light fresh breeze (With strawberries for pudding!)

Lottie update

April's worked out well, as we tipped into May I had a full day down there and I'm really pleased with the results.

The courgettes will move tho, because I've realised that bed gets the best sun so I've decided to save it for the sweetcorn.

Crochet

Lovely gift for a lovely friend, and I'm so pleased how it turned out.

First harvest 2018

Is rubarb, and over a month earlier than last year's (which was tiny strawberries; which explains the timings. Strawbs do have flowers already tho)
Ten months on, and after a gloriously sunny day's work, the plot looks like this...

It's looking so tidy! (Shame I've planted *nothing* - time to steal seedlings from my husband)

June round up

Harvest so far and the Allotment cat, known as 'Lottie' (of course)






And progress on the layout and growing space.

Recently I've been

Reading more
Since September I've been going to my local library book group and it's really been helping me to get more reading into my life; the group books and more besides.
Other things that've helped are consciously choosing to commit to fewer TV series (helped by the fact they all seem dark, gloomy and depressing of late, so I've stuck to old favorites rather than new shows) and being ok with not finishing a book of I'm just not getting in to it. Basically libraries are awesome.

Allotmenting
I'm feeling good about the sections of my wilderness I've reclaimed, and there's onions, potatoes, strawberries, sunflowers, beetroot and courgettes growing. I'm realising that my long term vision for the plot is going to be *very* long term at this rate though. I'm going to need to commit more hours, in a more regular way if I want things to happen more quickly.

banning 'should'
As simple and as complicated as it sounds.
"I should make lunches for tomorrow" flips to "the morning will be easier if I make lunches now". Removes the obligation, removes the guilt. (It also works for heavier things than household management, though some areas are taking more practice. I'm building up my should-ban muscles on the practical, ready for the emotional)

Reading, but no writing or sewing (or even much crochet - 5 months into a stop start soft toy project). I'm wondering about a rename, now I've reappeared here (and if I stay for a while)

First harvest 2017

August -ish

Ah, monthly(ish) round up. Seems this is the way to go blog wise in this season of life. I'm OK with that.

So, crochet
The wrap cardigan is done, the niece is here. I forgot to take pics of the fished item before I posted it but I am going to visit my sister in a few weeks so hopefully she'll be OK with me posting a pic of niece actually wearing it (there will be many pics!)

And allotment
I've had potatoes, courgettes and rosemary from it this season. I'm pretty happy to have got that much from what was a piece of waste ground. There's also a lot of infrastructure in place now and a lot more clear ground. I'm hitting Pinterest to start my planning for next year. I just need soil first, lots of soil.

Writing
Hmm, might be time to think about renaming the blog. No poetry to speak of, tho I have been journalling a bit more (mostly as a reaction to needing a place to get my thoughts out after some counseling sessions). I've been reading though; two whole books and another half since last month! And I'm officially considered a 'regular' at our local library (the friendliest library assistant in the north ever said so) and have been invited to join a new book group there. Oh the dilemma, as it would mean another evening out and is most likely end up not even reading the text and having to be Rachel taking about robots in Jane Eyre (please tell me people still get Friends references).

And in other news
Climbing, well bouldering. It's something I've been really getting in to, and have been prioritising that I have a session most weeks. It makes me feel strong; shows me what my body and mind are capable of, which is very often more than I'd ever imagined, and I'm massively better at it than I was six months ago (whilst developing a mantra of not competing myself to the mountain goats who seem to populate every session I go to!)

Here's to September, we're nearly there. My favourite season, birthday month and personal new year. I can feel myself thinking of plans and grand schemes, could be dangerous!

Change of plan

I'm due to become an auntie (!!) sometime in the next six weeks and I've been working up a jumper on and off for about two months. Then last night I realised I no longer love it, I've done one of the arms wrong and it's looking like I don't actually have enough of the wool to finish it. Too many challenges.
So yesterday eve it was all change, and after an amazing evening of crochet I'm up to this...

I'm praying it stays as straight forward (I'm one stitch out, one!) because if it does I should have it done in time.

Allotment update - June

Strictly speaking this beautiful creation is on my husband's allotment (next door), and truthfully he did *all* the work involved however it's too lovely not to share!

The rest of mine now looks like this...



There are rucks of potatoes growing at the bottom, a bed full of flowers coming up the shed and a courgette in the middle.

Repeat to self "it's not just waste ground anymore, it's not just waste ground anymore"

At last...

Apologies for the lengthy silence. It's taken a while to get my latest creation finished.



It's a new baby gift for a friend, and since baby only arrived last week I'm counting it as done on time (especially as I haven't visited yet)!