What matters Wednesday

Today was hospice day - a day for company, complementary therapies, a chance to chat things over with nursing staff, get support from a physio or counsellor, to wander the garden, do a jigsaw, learn a new craft or generally just be. A day provided by the wonderful Shakespeare Hospice, available free of charge to those that need support whether living with cancer, looking after someone with cancer or having lost someone to cancer. A day that has provided me with much more support and strength than I could have thought possible just a few months ago. For the last few week's it's also given a few of us the opportunity to take part in a series of workshops, helping us figure what's important to us, what might limit us, how to overcome those limits, how to reflect and redirect our needs and wants and to get the most out of whatever time is left to us. A day for reflection and a day for action, a truly valuable gift that I'm very grateful for.

To find out more about their wonderful work, and the ways people can help them continue to provide it, please take a look at their website or pop along to one of their events.

Transplanting on a Tuesday

Day two of tackling the little tasks that have been hanging over my head for a while!

So after yet another lazy start to the day this afternoon's job involved potting on the succulents that I was given last Christmas and attempting to take cuttings of the one that had gone very leggy. The wonderful J had already mixed a bucket of compost at the weekend so I wouldn't hurt myself trying to move bags of sand or compost and all I had to do was add the perlite - even I can lift a bag of perlite!

I've never been particularly keen on succulents, probably because I associate them with cacti and I'm allergic to the spiny bits on a cactus, but these were a gift from my colleagues after I fell ill last year so that makes them special and I want to give them all the care I can. So after a bit of asking around on Twitter a garden blogger called Grow like Grandad pointed me in the right direction and directed me to his article explaining how to care for and propagate my little plants.

From these three little pots:

Came lots of leaf cuttings and a few plantlets and two plants with more room to breathe:

And one less job on that list - let's hope at least a few of those cuttings take so I have some plants to share with others...

Mending on a Monday

The weekend saw the clocks go back and the chilly weather begin in earnest so this morning I finally gave in and popped the summer dresses, tops and skirts in their bag for over-wintering and pulled the shawls and scarves and a couple of jumpers out of the winter bag. It also turned into "sort the tights drawer out morning" which led to "really can't ignore the mending pile any longer afternoon". Now sewing is not my favourite domestic chore nor is it one that I'm particularly proficient at but I will not throw a sock or a pair of thick tights out just because there is one tiny hole in it so out came the much neglected sewing box and then the discovery of another bag of mending that had obviously got shoved to the back of the cupboard (oops!). I'm now the proud re-owner of 6 extra pairs of tights, 3 pairs of socks, a cardigan that had lost a button and a jumper whose embroidered pattern had started to come adrift plus a repaired lingerie washing bag that had got a hole in. I also discovered a pair of trousers in the bag that are now much too big so they're headed for the charity bag. I also surprised myself by enjoying the process and the feeling of accomplishment that arose from this gentle but productive stitching session. Maybe I should dig my old cross-stitch kit out after all!

Rediscovering Story

As the wheel of the year turns, the nights draw in and we approach Halloween/Samhain I always get a bit introspective. I tend towards stock-taking - both literal and metaphorical- checking the harvest stores, sorting through cupboards and paperwork and starting to think about what needs preparing for next year or what I'd like to do differently in the coming year. This year is no exception but I have to extra careful not to let thoughtfulness and introspection become melancholy and self-pity so whilst I'm resuming my gentle progress through the cupboards and drawers as well as through my bookmarks and files on the computer I've also begun to follow a few new hashtags on Twitter and check in with various blogs that are giving me new things to explore, insights into areas that have always interested me or just a chance to be diverted and entertained. The Twitter hashtags #folklorethursday with it's accompanying account @folklorethursday, #mythologymonday and #TradSongTuesday are the latest and have lead me to discover some wonderful podcasts that brighten the day and give me an opportunity to learn new things in small bite-sized chunks. Today I discovered The Folklore Podcast which will join the Folk on Foot broadcasts as part of my armoury against the winter blues! I also plan to move the CD player from the kitchen into the living room so I can revisit my CD collection of both music and story and not be quite so reliant on the TV for entertainment.
If anyone out there is reading this and has some other podcast recommendations I'd love to hear them.

Week's End

J's been very busy this weekend spending Friday all day trying to put the allotment in some kind of order, helping a friend re-fettle their shed on Saturday and then catching up with various jobs here today so I've had a quiet couple of days preparing food and pottering around doing domestics, reading my book and playing with another jigsaw. I get frustrated that it now takes me all day to prepare a meal that would have taken me just an hour or so before but then remember that just a few months ago I wouldn't have been able to do it at all, so back to taking each day as it comes and making the most of the good ones.

French & Runner beans 

ready for drying

On the menu this weekend was homemade feta and mushroom pizza - we have a bread-maker that works magic with the dough so we've given up buying ready-made pizzas in favour of any topping we fancy whenever we fancy at a fraction of the cost of shop-bought and with the added bonus of knowing exactly what is in our dinner. Saturday I made a lentil and mushroom pie which proved a really tasty, filling way to use up some of the store cupboard supplies and gave us enough leftovers for a quick & easy lunch today. I made enough of the lentil mixture to do a few extra meals too so am back to having homemade food in the freezer for the not so good days. J brought home some more beans from the lotty on Friday so whilst he was out on Saturday I shucked them and set them to drying ready for soups and stews in the next few months. It's great to be able to top-up our own supplies again even if the crop is much smaller than previous years.

From this 

to this in just a week!

On the chilling out front I finished the Lucinda Riley Shadow Sister and am rattling through the brilliant Pearl Sister - both are really enjoyable reads and I thoroughly recommend the series. We also completed another jigsaw this weekend; this time one a friend gave me to try and it's a beautiful medley of British Wildlife that was a real pleasure to put together and gave my brain a bit of a workout as I tried to recognise the species portrayed. I think I might leave this one made up for a few days as it's so pretty.

New week tomorrow and we have our solar thermal system and boiler being serviced on Monday and I have a consultant's appointment on Wednesday, so let's hope that brings some good news and the antibiotics have finally seen off the infection.

October in the garden (picture heavy!)

The year continues to give us some beautiful days of sunshine and colours and to make the most of it I had a brief potter around the garden today.


I think this is the most colour we've ever had in the garden in October and there are plenty of bees and other winged creatures enjoying it as much as I am.

Hopefully I'll be able to resume the jobs list next week and plant up the new bulbs, weed the pots, continue cutting back the herbs that have gone over and take some cuttings. We also still need to find a permanent home for the dogwoods we've raised from cuttings and the verbenas we've been given.

October Bookshelf

My hospital stay meant the first half of the month was spent with e-books - I'm reacquainting myself with Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon series at the moment so read her Burn and The Rope this month. Not as involving as I remember the earlier ones being, although that could easily be down to circumstances rather than the series going off the boil, but The Rope provided an interesting insight into the back story of her heroine and I look forward to returning to other stories in the series at a later date. Once out I returned to the wonderful "The Dark Angel" by Elly Griffiths - this proved to be one of those books where I was both desperate to know what happened next and at the same time really didn't want to finish but I eventually succumbed and finished this just yesterday. It's complex ending has made me eager for the next one.

Next on the list and , due to flaky wi-fi today, already well on the way to being finished is The Shadow Sister the third in Lucinda Riley's wonderful Seven Sisters series. An unashamedly romantic series about 6 adopted daughters searching for their birth identities following the death of their enigmatic but much loved Pa. The Pearl Sister - Number 4 in the series is already lined up on my e-book account!

I'm noticing that fiction featuring strong female leads seem to be drawing me in at the moment which is probably not that surprising really but means the non-fiction on the book pile is being a bit neglected - maybe I'll set that to rights next month.

Return to some kind of normality

It's been a soggy, blustery, Autumnal weekend here in the Midlands but we're slowly getting back to our normal routine after the health related hiatus of the last few weeks. I managed a brief foray into the garden yesterday to retrieve a chive pot for the winter, pick the last few peppers from the plant and cut back the marjoram and mint in the back garden whilst J helped one of neighbours cut back a very overgrown ivy that spanned the border between our two houses - don't worry there are still plenty of lovely ivy flowers in our garden where it's not causing any problems for anyone so the bees and moths have plenty of food left to help them get through the winter.

When we retreated from the weather and the dark we returned to the first of the stash of jigsaw puzzles that have been lurking in the cupboards. I began this on Thursday. It's a beautiful scene from the Thomas Kinkade series but has some really tough bits so has kept two stubborn brains thoroughly occupied for a couple of days. I'm determined to finish it before J returns on Thursday!

Before the puzzle called to us again this morning J helped me sort through the larder so I can now resume planning meals, shopping the cupboards and adding a bit more structure to the coming days.

The power of green

Today was World Mental Health Day and much has been said, reported and demonstrated about the healing power of gardening and of being out in Nature. All I know is that when I am outside I feel like me, I feel connected and restored and able to truly breathe. After today's clinic trip just a five minute wander around my tiny back garden was all it took to feel refreshed and strengthened. I wish everyone had the chance to find such a space or place.

Slow Sunday

Thalictrum back in June

Gentle day again today - once the sun had warmed the front garden a bit I sat watching J tinker with the front flower beds - weeding  and tidying then splitting and moving a thalictrum aqualegifolium that had got tangled up with our Rosa Mundi and planting out some sweet williams and primroses that had long been languishing in pots around the place.  These should boost next Spring's garden and free up some pots for bulbs and cuttings.

Peppers have thrived this year

He also lifted a few rooted cuttings of marjoram that we've not potted on for overwintering and boosting next year's supplies. We've left the peppers outside for another week as the forecast is still relatively mild but they'll have to be cleared out next weekend I think as the first frost will kill them off for sure.






It was lovely to be outside for a little while even if I couldn't actually do anything useful. Here's hoping next weekend I'll be a bit stronger and able to tinker too!

Meanwhile I have finally finished the e-book of Nevada Barr's The Rope that I began in hospital so as soon as I've watched the first of the new series of Dr Who I'll be ready to start the Elly Griffiths'. Just as well I have to take it easy as I've a feeling once I start this one I'm not going to want to put it down!

And breathe again

Looks like this health thing is going to get in the way again for a while - another infection has meant a bit of a stay in hospital over the last week and now a lot of antibiotics and bed rest. Yet again our NHS team have been wonderful and I've just got a trust that this is a blip in the road and we'll come out the other side soon. In the meantime I'll resume the pile of books, enjoy a few shows on catch up tv and let my lovely family take care of me for a bit...