Monday 26 March 2012

Under the weather and other things...



For the past couple of weeks the spawn have been playing catch with some sort of cold/flu/virus that keeps on lurking around, even my poor mumsy has caught a good dose of whatever it is, the doctor ordered a nasal swab to rule out whooping cough, which according to my mumma is a more than unpleasant experience. I am happy to report this is not what we have. So while we've all been under the weather, I have made good use of being unwell. Every spare moment I've had to rest has been spent saving the universe from reapers in Mass Effect 3. I am loving how choices I made in ME1 and ME2 impact on the story, and apparently the final outcome, though there's been quite a bit of outrage from fans about the ending. I'll let you know when I see it, but so far this has been my favourite, and I can't imagine that after all of the hours I have put into the Mass Effect world, I should find myself disappointed by the end of this journey.

On my food growing journey thus far I am a little disappointed, it's all a learning experience so I'm not going to be too hard on myself,  I think the main issue has been a late planting, I didn't start planting until nearly January, and now that autumn is acting like winter, almost everything is dying. I ripped out the broccoli due to bug issues and overcrowding, the cabbages were planted too early, and the cucumber plants are all wilting, except for the one I planted the beans near, could be a soil issue? I know beans add nitrogen to the soil...  It's too cold for the capsicums now, and the zucchini leaves were covered in some sort of powdery mildew, I cut the affected leaves and stalks off, hopefully they'll survive, there is a lot of new growth happening at the moment so we will see. 
I didn't plant enough beans so we'd get more than half a handful at a time, same with the strawberries. I do have some tomato plants left, and there is a lot of green fruit there, I don't know how they'll hold up with the cold, some leaves have gone brown and others are heading that way. Snails ate all of my carrot seedlings, I'm brainstoming ideas to avoid that again. I still have my celery without issues but it's still not ready to pick, the pumpkin flowers still won't open, and that looks to be wilting and dying off too... I am not giving up. 

Last week I planted some brussel sprouts, climbing beans, and peas, this week I will start my attempt at tomatoes and capsicums in the greenhouse, thanks to some hard work from Justin and soon to be 13yo spawn, my green house is ready to use. I'll be planting swedes and cauliflower seeds out into the garden. 

Every now and then, there are little moments, I glance at my spawn and think, if  only I could keep this moment forever... If only I could remember you just like this, in this moment, just as you are..
I love that technology had come so far in my lifetime, there is always a camera nearby to capture my spawnlets whenever the mood takes me. 

They grow up way too fast, I want to cherish every moment I am gifted with, even when they aren't well... 

I am off to snuggle under some warm blankets...
Goodnight, sleep tight, and stay well.

Bek.


Thursday 15 March 2012

reconnecting...



It has been quite a break in between posts, quite unintentional on my part, but life sometimes gets in the way. Life sometimes moves so fast, I don't realize how much time has passed. It hasn't been any one big event, just a whole lot of feeling like there isn't enough hours in a day with all that is on my to-do-list. Today, I am taking some time out for me, though I'm sharing my timeout with my 15yo spawn who isn't up to school for today.

The funny thing about this sometimes fast paced world, it's easy to become disconnected, days or weeks can go by so quickly that I can go ages without catching up with a friend, or calling family and again, not intentional, it just happens. I think, I might wake them up if I call now or, I won't call now because so-and so's at work, I'll call after dinner, after dinner I find there isn't time for anything, so I'll promise myself it will happen tomorrow. Then the next day comes, nothings gone to plan, and so the cycle continues. How do I fix this? I deleted my Facebook ages ago, and this is the way most of the people in my world communicate. If they have a bad day, great news, or a bizarre something that happened to them, they post it on Facebook and everyone then knows, you don't have to tell everyone one person at a time. Without my Facebook I've missed out on so much, today I am reconnecting and making a new family and close friends only profile, I will never hear the words "But I put a status update on Facebook about it" again. 

In a previous post I spoke about reducing the daily disposable detritus my house accumulates, I am pleased to say it's working. Each week, my bins have less and less waste. The compost bin is still on my list though, I am hoping to scratch that off next week. 

The veggies are growing, we are currently picking beans, cucumbers, and strawberries. The tomatoes are getting closer to edible, and the pumpkin vine is on strike, sort of... there are flower buds, there have been for over a week, but none are opening. 



Here's to reconnecting, cheers, I am off to reconnect some more. 

Bek.



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