Carrots and Kids

Love you, love you not

One of the wonderful things about gardening is that it's so diverse. There are so many different things we can be passionate about. Being greedy, growing food is one of mine.

However, last year on the allotment and at home I started to grow more flowers. Some were for the wildlife (I had a bee bar) and some were what I ambitiously called my "cutting garden". Which was mainly sweet peas and dahlias.

I did also plant some gladioli. I'm not sure if I ever mentioned this. The fact that I haven't should be a clue. Yep, I didn't know why I wasted my time. Oh they grew. But my love, or even a vague like, for them didn't.

So, I'm not planting them again. Currently indoors I am enjoying my hyacinths which, I think, is a bit of love or hate flower for some. I'm not sure why but beauty is in the eye of the beholder, thank goodness.

What flowers do you love, or which won't be seeing daylight in your patch?

Today I am....

:: Excited as I sense spring in the air and wait for my new seeds (hurry up postie).

:: Inspired by an obituary of an amazing woman - Vera Rich -  I read in the Times this week. Sounds a bit morbid but I'm going to keep this as the start of an Amazing Women scrapbook for my girls. I want them to know there are truly inspirational women out there, as well as the...um...more visible but possibly less inspiring women out there.

:: Thinking a lot about the school gardening club. What I want to do, whether I need or want help, plans, why I love it so much.

:: Loving my hyacinths. I bought only white, just so my kitchen looks vaguely cohesive. I don't think it makes much difference but I'm enjoying them just the same. 

:: Exasperated by the antics of one three-year-old. I'm trying to put a positive spin on this and think that maybe this is nature's way of making me miss him when he goes to school in September but not be totally inconsolable.

:: Enjoying a new Yogi black chi tea I bought this week. Ah....bliss in a tea cup.

:: Reconnecting with some old, long forgotten parts of me. No, I don't mean my stomach muscles but rather the slightly alternative, creative, home-educating part of me. That doesn't mean I'm going to pull the children out of school either. Sadly.

What are you thinking/enjoying/feeling/doing today?

~ Fresh ~

I can't believe we are nearly at the end of January. Sometimes I feel as if I'm sleepwalking through my life which, as we all know, is not a Good Thing.

There is so much I have to do too. Boring but essential stuff which I am, of course, failing to get to grips with. And before you know it, it will be time to sow seeds in earnest.

So really, I have to get my act together. One small, non-essential thing I have managed to do is to freshen up my Nature Window Sill.

Everything was looking a bit withered so I binned most of it and re-potted some hyacinth bulbs I bought in a sale into chipped mugs I couldn't bear to throw out (not because I was attached to them but because it seemed so wasteful, even though I didn't want to drink from them).

Next Christmas (I think I may have my priorities a bit skew-whiff) I aim to buy some non-chipped mugs from a charity shop and plant them up with a hyacinth bulb as presents for friends and teachers. Oh my generosity knows no bounds.

Really, though, I'm hoping my new, fresh nature window sill will rejuvenate my desire to spring clean.

December Views #2

Quiet

 

I am feeling overwhelmed. It's not a nice feeling because you don't actually enjoy anything, you just think "phew! Another day crossed off. Only x more days/things to do". Which isn't a really pleasant way to get through this merry month.

The problem is I have so much to remember but this is the reality of having five children attend four different schools/playgroups. This time next week I shall be helping at two different Christmas fairs in two different villages (with the little ones in tow. I am dreading it). This will be the worst year, it will only get better.

So this idea sounds fab. A little space, a ritual, to notice things and to be quiet. If only for a few moments. The blog is a wonderful feast for your eyes. So I'm joining in and turning down the volume here. I think the idea is to post a picture every day. I am hoping to do that. I am hoping it will be just what I need.