It's been too long

Wow, I don't know what happened there! I was away far too long, I think I was sick and feeling sorry for myself.

I want to say not a lot has happened but we are about to embark on big changes as Neil is currently packing his bags to head off for 6 weeks on his Teach First training programme.  I have put off thinking about it because if I think about it I know I will feel so lonely.  Neil does so much for me and it seems quite overwhelming to have to do everything for myself (Lol, I sound so pathetic I don't know when my independent woman attitude went out the window.  Maybe it was when I got a doting husband.)

In any case I know I will survive and that it will be worth it, he's actually only staying in London but it doesn't make much difference as I won't be able to see him as he'll have so much work to be doing.  He is hoping to keep Saturdays free though so maybe we can have some adventures then.

I'm making a promise to myself that I will keep the house really tidy and try and actually sort it out better than it is now. (These promises don't usually mean anything as I am a terrible at policing myself but great at telling other people what to do...!!)  But I would love to surprise Neil as I'm, sure he thinks the house will be a slum by the time he gets back as he does all the hoovering and the kitchen deep cleaning.

Yesterday I started to tackle the Garden which honestly was looking like a complete wilderness after all the rain and lack of lawn trimming.  The dog was too scared to walk on it for fear of not making it back to dry land I think!  In any case I've made a good start with the strimmer, I'll leave it a few days (or more likely a week) and go over it with the lawn mower and it should all look nicely spick and span.  Of course the weeds are also taking over the veg patches and needs to be sorted quick sharp.  This afternoon may call for something like a general tidy up and then a nice relaxing bath, sounds good to me.  I'll be right out after my baked potato is in my belly.

In other news I spent a lovely Sunday last week with the lovely Nicola where we went to see a comedy at The Underbelly on the Southbank. I found it strange that it was so overwhelmingly busy but had a really good time.  And, the very thoughtful Nicola gave Neil and I some amazing pregnancy gifts, a wonderful moleskin baby journal and some home made ginger biscuits which I had already started by the train home.

Garden Upkeep

As I disclosed earlier in the week, our garden looked a bit like a bramble hedge row when we first bought the house.  But, as previous occupants of a damp 2 bed basement flat we were pretty chuffed to have even a tiny bit of grass that we glossed over it for some time, dreaming of one day having a cute little courtyard garden.

Since last June we've gradually we've tended to it's needs, with Neil and I both learning that gardening is a joy. I think we've now realised just how rewarding it is, if a little time consuming.  But, it happy makes us both so happy.  I have to admit, even weeding seems like escapism these days!

I should add that the kitchen unit and the front loader are of our own fly tipping, we've since taken the excess junk to the tip and moved the loader to the side (we're still in need of a 1/2 shed).  So anyway, since the beginning I cut back and bagged up the brambles, then Neil removed the wood bark and laid some grass seed.  In a way, because the garden is so small it makes the jobs smaller and more manageable.

Here I am reclining stage 1, it still looks a bit rough and ready,  but I remember being very impressed with myself for clearing all those pesky weeds. Please ignore the poor photos, it was a grim day and these were the best available from my iphone!

So anyway, after that was done and the weather was a bit less grim the grass grew rather promisingly and it actually started to look like a garden.  As you can see we even purchased a table and some chairs courtesy of B&Q, naturally we bought them in winter in the sale. (This is actually a picture from this April but it shows that we now have grass where there once was brown rubbish!)  As the weather has remained dry, it's getting a bit patchy so we'll need to attend to that in the next few weeks.

The other issue we've had to tackle is the flower bed that runs along the whole side of the house as we are fortunate to live in a light and airy end terrace.  The bed itself has been full of god knows what, some of it seems to have been planted deliberately, there was a rose bush and we've had a few daffodils appear.  I say 'was' in the case of the rose because according to Neil thorny plants with flowers are 'weeds' and it died a quick death.  Please note, he did buy we a replacement so don't feel *too* sorry for me!

But, I am pleased to say that this weekend and last weekend I have made a concerted effort to tidy up the side of the house as a lot of it was just in need of a good sweep.  It has been strimmed on numerous occasions but it always regrows back in no time and really needed some time spent on it.  I've thrown in some pictures of our lovely veg for good measure.  I took the pictures last weekend and looking back the beds seem like they need a good weed. (Which it has had since).  Anyway, looking back I'm pleased with the transformation none the less!

Neil's Brocolli finally replanted in the ground

The random pea

BEAUTIFUL garlic

Slightly too fertile carrots

Pound lands finest shallots

And finally here's my little helper being cute. This is her spot on the top of the arm chair so she can keep an eye on me from the comfort of the house.