November Plans... All The Gardening

I know.  I know.  I am a terrible person.  Four months and no posts.  But I'm back and ready to get stuck with regular writing and posting.

 

So for the first post in awhile it's all the plans.  Most importantly - gardening plans.

 

Would you believe I even drew up a plan that's how organised I am.  Of course whether I end up carrying out the plans remains to be seen.  But hey at least I have plans.  Lots and lots of plans.

The plan for the garden this season is to plant all the things.  Lots and lots of things.  Partly because I've got the space, partly because the price of things keeps going up (something we can all relate too) and partly because it's good for the planet and good for us.

 

Last season my growing was a bit hit and miss.  Mostly due to the up and down weather we had which sadly meant that plants did not cope well.  Still on the plus I did manage to try my hand at growing some new things with some success.  So it was all misery at least.

 

Carrots did well and this time they were lovely and straight and not all weirdly shaped like the previous year due to me learning to plant them in nice burial aka carrot mounds.

 

Corn also did well... at least until the wind came along and snap them all in half which pretty much ruined my lovely tall crop that was doing so well.  Sob.

 

Radishes were a dud for some weird reason with nothing growing.  Unlike the previous year where I grew heaps.  I'm putting it down to the bad weather and crossing fingers that this year things will be back to normal.

 

Tomatoes did well... really really well.  So much so that I ended up giving away bags and bags to various friends and neighbours.

 

Cucumber, pumpkin, lettuces, beans and peas did okay.  And my sunflowers were amazing despite only three of them popping up

This year I'm planting a lot more.

I'm doubling the corn and the pumpkin.  Because yum.  And as well as the usual carrots, lettuces, radishes and tomato's I'm also trying my hand at growing silverbeet, celery, climbing beans, brussel sprouts, beetroot, watermelon and even more sunflowers.

Now it's all about the planting, growing seedlings, more planting and a lot of crossing fingers that it all goes well.

 

Wish me luck... and lots of veg and sunflowers.

March Plans...

As you can see the writing is going well... 

Cue hysterical laughter and multiple head desks.  Oh well the intent was there even if no action happened.  What can I say.  It's been a weird couple of months what with heat, the drought and the wind throw in some upsetting family stuff and that was me out for the count head wise.

 

And yet despite all of that the plans have amazingly been going well.  So much so that everything is just doing it's thing.

 

I keep wondering how long that will last...

Gardening

 

Despite or maybe because of everything going so well I have got even more plans.  Other than the tomatoes and pumpkins I've pretty much harvested everything out of my garden for the season and the freezer is nice and full of corn, carrots and peas, all ready for the winter.

Still that doesn't mean that nothing needs to be done.  I'm now in the prepping stage for the winter which means laying down a ton of cardboard, green and brown matter and compost so it can all slowly rot down ready to give me good soil come next season.  I already have the feeling I'm going to be dreaming about cardboard.

Reading

 

Would you believe that my To Be Read pile is still nice and low and manageable?  IKR?  Even I find that amazing.  And yet here we are.  How that happened I have no idea.  Hopefully I can keep it up.

Watching

 

Yep another one that is going well.  I'm madly working through my Letterboxd reviewing and I've even managed to catch up on some shows that I've been wanting to watch for ages.  Bridgerton, Julia and A Discovery of Witches are now finally in my finished pile.

 

Do I spy a Supernatural catch up marathon on the horizon?  We'll just have to see.

Get Fit and Healthy 

So much gardening so little time to do anything else.  Thankfully the cooler weather is just around the corner so I can get stuck back into my daily walks all over town.  I've actually kind of missed them.  But with 30 degree temps walking as definitely been off the agenda.  I'd rather sit in front of a lovely cooling fan any day.

A Day in the Life... A Summer's Day

If it seems like ages since I've done one of these well that's because it is.

Still I'm here now with more slightly wonky photos and a day in the life of me.  This time round it's summer and I'm actually doing something more than gardening, reading and jigsawing.  Shock, horror I know.

8.00am

 

Awake wide and up early for a change and it's gorgeous blue skies outside.  Time to get up and do some early morning gardening before it gets too hot. 

 

A few minutes later...

... a hot cup of blueberry fruity tea to start the day and it's in my pretty new mug that one of my super lovely friends gave to me for Christmas.  Seems appropriate considering all the gardening I've been doing.

9.00am

Lettuces are doing well...

... as are the carrots...

 

Just ignore all the weeds which as always are a constant battle.

10.00am

Harvest of carrots, lettuce, tomatoes and radishes picked and ready for dinner and snacks latter on tonight. 

11.00am

 

Freshly showered and dressed and on the road for a summer's day outing and not another person to be seen for miles.

Mid-day-ish

 

A walk through the fields atop a hill and this is the view you get near Fortrose.  The beach on the other side looks amazing.  Sadly it's impossible to get to.

1.00pm

 

Back on the road again and a quick stop for a photo op of fields of gold.  So pretty.

2.00pm

 

Another photo op and a walk along Colac Bay.

3.00pm

 

Further along the coast at the bottom of the South Island.

4.00pm

 

Monkey Island. Why it's called that I have no idea. Still it's nice to walk out to it before the tide comes in and cuts it (and us) off from the mainland.

6.00pm

Back home and salad for dinner, courtesy of our garden and some free range hens.

7.00pm

A cup of tea and one Coupland Bakery yummy chewy gooey soft chocolate chip cookies to round out the day.  So yum that I just might have another one.

8.00pm

 

Horizontal on the couch and watching season 2 of The Witcher.  Swoony feels and touch of sword fighting.  Perfection.

All The Plans 2022

A new year and plans, as always, are on the go.  Really though I blame my brain and its obsessive need to try and have order when chaos is generally its normal state.  Split personality anyone?

Still I love me a good plan and even better a good list or any list really...

 

Reading

 

Always on the list.  Always reading.  Which should pretty much be my motto.  Or at the very least on a t-shirt.

As for the reading itself it's business as usual with me trying (and so far succeeding)to keep my To Be Read pile under some kind of control.  Beside that I'd like to increase my non-fiction and audio book reads and maybe my graphic novel reading too.

Gardening

 

Lots and lots of plans.  As always.  This year I'm super pleased that I've managed to grow some veggies over the summer and I'd really want to expand on that.  On the list to try growing this year are:

 

• Pumpkins
• Watermelons
• Beans and peas
• Garlic
• Blueberries
• Feijoas
• Apricots  
• Rhubarb
• Sunflowers
  

As well as more tomatoes, strawberries, corn and carrots. 

I'm really keen to try 'lasagna gardening' which is a layering method of cardboard, compost, straw and mulch which makes not so good soil into really good soil.  Perfect for growing lots of fruit and veg. 

Get Fit and Get Healthy

 

Well the gardening will certainly help with this.  Along with getting back into walking and yoga, both of which I've been a bit slack about doing for the past month. 

 

As for the rest well smoothies and a ton of fresh veg really do help.

Crafting

 

With freezing winters where we live this is an easy winter task to do.  More knitting, maybe a big blanket for my bed.  In pink of course.  And I'm keen to try making a pom pom rug and also some loom knitting.  

101 Things in 1001 Days

 

Definitely want to cross a few more things off this list so that's something I'm going to be concentrating on this winter.

Watching

 

Time consuming but easy to do.  Maybe I can knit and watch at the same time and cross 2 things off the plan list?  Sounds like a plan right there.

 

I'd like to do a few more (make that a lot more) Letterboxd reviews and also get back into my Supernatural binge watching. Though it's been so long since I've done any I'm just going to have to start at the beginning again.

Writing

 

Like my reading this is always on the list.  This year the aim is to post 50 blog posts AND do some actual writing.  The kind with words and characters and a story. 

We can but hope.

November Plans... Or Keeping Me Sane

I can't believe that it's been since August that I've posted one of these.  Where did the time go?  Oh right... walking, gardening, eating all the cake...

 

Enough said.

 

Oh well at least my new goal of being a bit more organised is paying off and I'm finally posting one of these. 

Reading

 

Surprisingly going quite well even though I'm actually reading less.  Which makes no sense whatsoever but who am I to argue with the fact that my always massive To Be Read pile is actually down to a much more manageable level.  And a lot of those waiting books are my annual Christmas reads.  Talk about being organised.

Gardening

 

As for the gardening this is another win win all round.  Tomato and strawberry plants are all planted and so far doing well.  Thanks to our lovely warm but soon to be burning furnace conservatory.  Hopefully the plants can handle the heat.

 

Outside I'm just about ready to plant my corn, carrot, pea and radish seeds, as well as some lettuce and apple cucumber plants.

 

Next on the list to plant are some sunflower seeds, lots and lots more weeding, laying down more compost and finally sowing a ton of flower seeds which hopefully will turn a large part of our ginormous garden into a lovely flowering meadow... sort of?

Get Fit and Healthy

 

Can you believe three out of three for successes.  Because yes this is also going well.

 

Smoothies, scrambled eggs and the occasional piece of cake seem to be the answer.  That.  And lots and lots of gardening and walking.

 

I still want to do better so the plan for the next few months is to try and get back into doing yoga.  Mostly because my flexibility sucks.  Big time.  I may have the brain and personality of a 12 year old but I have the bones of an 80 year old.  And ain't that a kicker.  So yes yoga and doing it a hell of lot more regularly than I have been are the plan.

Watching and Reviewing

 

I've mentioned in previous posts that my weird brain is currently making me watch and review all the movies I have ever seen.

 

Like that ain't some crazy right there.

Still this is my brain for you.  Why do something simple when you can go all out and do something big and most likely completely nuts.  

Amazingly the reviewing is actually going pretty well.  500 odd and counting with only 2000 more or so to go.  Though I must admit the reviews are becoming shorter and maybe just a tad brutal and snarky at times.  It's also made me realise that there's an awful lot of so called good movies out there that are really not that good and a lot of movies that get a bit of a bad rap but are actually nowhere near as bad as some people make them out to be.  Then again I could just have appalling taste in movies.

Writing

 

You just know there had be at least one fail on the list.  Still I have been blogging more so maybe not a complete fail.  We'll just have to see if I can keep it up, as well as trying to do some actual writing.  You know the kind.  With words and a story.

 

I'm sensing a lot more cake in my future.

A Day in a Life... A Midweek Tale

I know, I know.  I keep meaning to post and then get completely sidetracked by something else and before you know it weeks have gone by.  I really do need to do better. 

Thank you photo diary for at least making this one easy.

So how did my Wednesday from last week go...

 

8.30am

 

And Nudge is awake and enjoying the sun and wondering why I am getting up when the bed is so nice and toasty warm.

 

A few minutes later...

Starting the day right with a hot cup of Red Seal tea, my favourite, and so hard to find at the moment what with all the shortages.  I'm going have to make this last.

 

9.30am

 

There's something very relaxing about raking soil.  This is me getting the 'big' garden bed ready to plant some veggie seeds in it.

 

So far on my list to plant are corn, radishes, dwarf peas, dwarf beans, baby spinach, carrots and cucumber. 

10.30am

 

Big garden raked, small garden by back path and door planted with pansies.  I just love having a bit of colour in the garden.

Make that a lot of colour as I have still got marigolds, sunflowers, hollyhocks, cosmos and a few others to plant.  Hopefully by summer the garden beds will be a riot of colour.

11.30am

 

A break from all that gardening and time for a walk in the sunshine and amongst all the blossom trees.

 

These ones were flowering in the cemetery up the hill from our house. 

Even the ground looks pretty, covered in blossoms, daises, sunshine and shadows.

1.00pm 

 

Finally back from the up and down hill walk and time for some carrot cake and a Chai Latte.  As you do.

2.00pm

 

The jigsaw is coming along slowly.  Very slowly.

3.00pm 

 

Break time over and back to some more gardening.  This time it's to plant a cherry tomato plant in a large pot so it can hopefully grow nice and big in our lovely hot conservatory.

 

I'm going to be planting some strawberry plants too and maybe another couple of tomato plants.

 

Might as well get some use out of the conservatory since we never use it.

4.00pm

 

A healthy smoothie to make up for that cake from earlier.  This one is baby spinach, pineapple, a scoop of protein powder and water.

 

So yum. 

5.00pm

 

Some more Bridgewater podcast.  It's the final 3 episodes and I'm super hooked.  Can't wait until they start screening Season 2.

6.30pm

Red Election time with the always brilliant Stephen Dillane.  6 episodes in and it's seriously good.  Though I have no idea who the double agent is.  Or at least I have some idea but keep changing my mind.

Don't you just love twisty turny spy thrillers?  I do.  So I'm just going to round out the evening with the last 4 episodes and see what happens.

A Day in the Life... A Lockdown Tale

Well here I am again with another photo diary.  This time during a lockdown. Who would have thought that was going to happen again.  But here we are.  Doing our best to keep each other safe and well.

 

As for my day...

8.00am 

The sun is up and out and Nudge has already found his comfy spot on the bed.  Meanwhile I'm debating whether I should get up or wait a little bit longer.  Mmm I'm thinking waiting and having a quick read might be just thing.

9.00am

Finally up and the sun really is shining bright with the whole house filled with light.  Not a bad start to the day.

A few minutes later...

A few cups of tea before I get stuck in with today's plans.  Flamingo socks for the win and a lockdown pick-me-up

9.30am

 

About to start some serious gardening.  Sadly all the garden beds are mostly bare or filled with weeds but this is at least one thing that has come out in flower.  I have no idea what it is but doesn't it look pretty. 

Midday-ish

 

4 bins of weeds later and it's time for a break.  With all this lovely weather I'm finally making some progress.  2 garden beds completely cleared out and one massively large one to go.  And by massive I mean swimming pool size huge.  That one is definitely going to take more than a few hours to clear out.

Back inside...

And it's cup of tea and podcast time.  I'm seriously getting into Bridgewater which is a new find for me.  If you're looking for a new podcast to listen to I can highly recommend this. Especially if you like mysteries with a touch of supernatural.

1.00pm

Carrying on with my break by doing some of our latest jigsaw.  Sadly we don't have a dining table so we're having to doing this on a piece of board on the floor.  As you can see it's slow progress.

1.30pm

Back in the garden and my first daffy is in flower.  And though I'm tempted to pick it I'm going to leave it where it is and hopefully the others will come out in flower in the next few days.

4.00pm

Oops forgot to take any photos.  Then again all you would be seeing is a massive piles of weeds.  So it's probably a good thing.  

Back inside for more cups of tea and some reading.  A gardening book, naturally.  I'm busy figuring out what seeds to buy so I can get stuck in with some planting. 

5.00pm

And some more jigsawing.

6.00pm

Dinner.  Hashbrowns and mixed veg with butter.  Super fast and easy to make and so yum.  Just what I needed after a long day of gardening.  Also cooking is so not me so something like this is pretty much as good as it gets in our household.  Unless of course Other Half is cooking and then it's a whole different world.

7.00pm

I've been working my way through all the libraries online CrossStitcher magazine and am very tempted to do this pattern.

7.30pm

Movie time.  Other Half and I have been rewatching all The Avengers movies and finally we're up to the last one.  Thor, as you can see, is pretty awesome.  

And that's it for the day.  Not at all exciting I know.  Hopefully next time will be a little better.