Sunday, November 11, 2007

A "pottering" day..

We had a bit of a pottering day today. After having a bad dream through the night (he's woken up with bad dreams 4 out of the last 5 nights), Billy came and got into bed with me at 6:30 and then to my shock, went back to sleep for another hour. So a slower than normal start for us. After breakfast & a shower, we went outside - me to tackle the garden, and Billy to start organising his "new" cubbyhouse. Mum & Dad brought it down yesterday and we put it up - it's an old garden shed that I got as a cubby 30-odd years ago! It's been in constant use since in some guise or other :)

In between playing shops with Billy in his new cubby, I managed to get a few things planted. In the back vege garden, I planted watermelon, cucumber and capsicum - all seeds. I haven't attempted to grow & transplant seedlings yet - they either grow by direct planting or they don't! While doing that, I also harvested 1kg of potatoes that I had no idea had grown in there! I didn't plant potatoes this year - they've grown from last years crop!!

In the containers near the back steps (styrofoam boxes from Freecycle), I planted some more lettuce & spring onions, and some passionfruit seeds. In the front garden, I planted some very out-of-date rosemary seeds. I doubt they'll grow but what the heck!

I still need to get some pumpkin seeds, and Billy wants to grow more flowers.

I'm a very slack gardener - I get interested, plant lots like I did today, but then I find it hard to sustain the interest while nothing is happening. Then I usually forget to water! I have this picture in my mind that I want to be a cross between Jackie French, Linda Woodrow, Linda Cockburn and Tom & Barbara from the Good Life :) But unfortunately, the reality is far from that!! I'd like to think that given heaps of spare time each day it might happen...

We had a picnic lunch outside - the weather was wonderful after the overcast & rainy days we've had. Not that I would dare complain about the rain! I even managed to get 2 loads of washing dry outside - yay!

After lunch I made a kind of "fruit salad" jam.. I went to make Crazy Mumma's Microwave Strawberry Jam with the rest of the strawberries languishing in the fridge, but had nowhere near enough to make up 500g. So I threw in a couple of apples - and then some pineapple from the fridge as well! Breakfast time tomorrow morning will tell if the experiment was a success :)

What else did we do? A bit of cleaning, lots more play acting with Billy (which bores me to tears to be frank!) - oh I even pulled out a jigsaw to start - it's the first time in 5+ years since I've done one.... I didn't get far - I'm just hoping all of the pieces are there since it was a hand-me-down from my sister!

Billy is reacting badly to all of the take-away & treats he's had lately - his defiance & cheekiness are not great atm.. I've stopped any treats so we just have to "de-tox" now.. Should be a fun few days.. Wish me luck!

5 comments:

Laurie Anne said...

I too, plant a ton of stuff in the spring and then loose interest just when my plants need me the most. We used to have a sprinkler system which was a big help, but when it broke, the plants had to rely on me and that was basicly the end of my lush garden. Glad I'm not the only one :0)

Kin said...

I've given up gardening. I'm too useless at it. We're moving to a place that doesn't let you water, so I have an excuse for a dead garden *grin*

I love pottering days (and hear you on the bad dreams *sigh*). Perhaps I need a few more of those...

Jill said...

Kez, I bet you are quite modest about your gardening skills! Nothing wrong with being like Tom & Barbara (Good), I think I could do Margot well, swanning around in those AMAZING clothes LOL !!!!

Lis said...

You can always try giving him a caltrate (calcium) tablet to help him calm down a bit. That is one of the "failsafe" remedies that seems to work on my son :)
Good luck with your veggie garden, mine is still a pipe dream.

Kez said...

Lis - thanks for the reminder. Day 3 here and I'm about ready to kill him at 8:30 so off to the chemist today!!!