A Woman's Work is Never Done

I understand that now. Now that I have a baby. It would be impossible to count the number of times I have to put down what I've started, as Megan unexpectedly wakes up after a shorter than usual nap, or when she suddenly misses me in the other room. The house is full of unfinished jobs. Piles of dirty laundry, yet to be washed. Baskets of clean laundry, yet to be hung on the line. Dirty dishes; an overflowing compost caddy; squashed strawberries on the floor under Meg's highchair; clothes waiting to be photographed and put on eBay. Upstairs there is further chaos. Papers strewn across the floor in the bedroom, waiting to be filed. Toys littering the landing. Nappies and nappy inserts, jumbled in a heap. A random pair of green overalls.

Outside, there are jobs which will never truly be completed. The cardboard amassing in the pole barn must be torn up and layered with the grass cuttings in the compost bin. I am trying to get it done before more boxes are added to the stack, but who am I kidding? It's like trying to race the sun. My (slightly OCD) need for a ticked box, and a task fulfilled is being somewhat challenged. I am trying to roll with it, trying to learn a freedom and flexibility. It's not easy, but I am enjoying the slow process of giving up what appears to be a very linear mindset.

Today I re-cut the edges of one of last year's vegetable beds, took out the grass roots which had been threatening to engulf the soil in a sea of green and then planted out the beetroot seedlings. Even without digging over the bed (I took out what few weeds there were), it was still quite hard work. Another thing to have to do every year, to every bed (we looked into making raised beds, but so far it seems too expensive at about £30 per bed. We'll have to try to source much cheaper wood than we had in mind).

Our lawn is a jungle, with long grass more than a foot tall. I almost lost Meggie in the grass today (not really, I just said that for effect).

Nine months old, and almost ready to play at getting lost in the foliage.

A woman's work is never done. I looked it up here.
It says: Prov. Housework and raising children are jobs that have no end.

I think I need to work on acquiring a love for things which never end. Things which are half finished. Things which are on-going. Things which do not tick the boxes.

Funny Tomato

We found a funny tomato.

I tried to cross animal/vegetable barriers and communicate with it.

I think Phil fell a little bit in love with it.

Despite all this unprecedented excitement, we eventually ate it.

Seedling Saturday

Me and my mum went to Seedling Saturday at the school in Machynlleth, but didn't bring any seedlings home. We were hoping for some brassicas - especially purple sprouting broccoli, kale, and cabbage (due to the fact that ours have all mysteriously shrivelled up) - but somehow we must have missed them if there were any. We went to two of the talks, Adam gave a talk about hedgerow biodiversity, and there was a talk by the folks who run Incredible Edible in Todmorden - both were very inspiring! Regarding the latter, I didn't realise that guerrilla growing had become so popular, or indeed that it could work on a large (town-sized) scale. Have a read about what they're up to - it's brilliant! - they've established vegetable beds all over the town, and with the help of the locals (as well as some enthusiastic volunteers in some cases) are growing and offering free food to anyone who may wish to help themselves. They've even got the council on their side now that they've shown themselves to have such a positive effect on the townsfolk.

The day was enhanced by the fact that I bought a raffle ticket at the last minute and won what I reckon was the best prize: a little colourful envelope with a handwritten "Hello!" on the front, which contained a £15 voucher for the funky Eco Deco shop in Machynlleth (can't find a website for them, unfortunately)... I can't wait to see what I'll find in there! Maybe some eco clay paint to decorate Squiggles' room?

We returned home enthused, and lo, we did look upon our own seedlings, and we saw that they were good.




And we thought to ourselves: all we need now is a number of weed-free deep beds to plant them out in, and a finished polytunnel for the tomatoes, peppers and squashes...

We'll get there...

SEEDS! Spring is on the Way!

Day Fifty Six.

We drove with Phil's parents to the smallholding today, as they'd not yet seen it. I managed to stuff a few big boxes of books into the boot, so little by little we are moving over there. It also helps to reduce the clutter in the house, which is brilliant.

While Phil took them outside to see the land, I sat by the woodburner with my mother, and we compiled a list of seeds we'll be needing for the coming year. It was very exciting to start thinking about growing, and to envisage the outdoor life we're looking forward to living. I'm hoping that all of my stress will fall away, and that the increase in excercise and outdoor activities will serve as a physical and mental therapy.

Far too soon we had to leave, so that Phil's parents could get on their way to South Wales to visit Phil's grandmother. My mother and I had made a pretty comprehensive list of all of the seeds we fancied sprouting, but we thought we'd both better check what we had at home before the order was placed. Of course, when I got home, I realised that I had a huge boxful of seeds, including most of the vegetable types we were planning on growing, and so did my mother, so in the end we decided that we would only buy in seed potatoes and onion sets for now. If the other seeds don't work out, we can always buy seedlings from the local nursery - perhaps the local farmers' market sells them too? All good things to be investigated. I can't wait!

:)