If you missed my carrot tale…the one where my neighbour in basically said I was rubbish at gardening…then check it out here.
Fast forward, ooh, almost four months. Basically the months that time forgot. My carrots were slowly growing. Growing from seeds into a big, mahoosive, ok adequate sized but fully fledged and hopefully edible carrots.
This was important to me. Slightly childish, yes, but important none the less. When I stuck to my guns and didn’t give up my last bastion of relaxation away from work (especially important when nothing else in Edinburgh has been happening) who knew that success would come. A kind of coup, if you, will from the tyranny of the ‘controlling communal garden’ neighbour.
To be fair his veg have also done ok. But…he stuck to onions. I have onions too! Still a little small owing to the colder climate, but I have them and they look bloody better than his!
I am surprised, as will everyone I know, that my veg worked out. For me the outcome is not always the point of it. I enjoy having a couple of raised beds. I oddly get excited about things growing into food. And whilst I am not bloody Monty Dom even his carrots don’t always work. He just plants about four different types so that one of them will. Well Monty (and the garden warden, aka ‘that’ neighbour) how about my carrots.
I’ll leave you with a photo (actually my carrots in my photo!!!). And a couple of wise words to the neighbour.
FUCK YOU 😁
P.s. gardening is actually rather relaxing. Im going to make soup with these carrots and whilst I am amused at how well they have done (to annoy my neighbour), I am more happy about them just actually growing.
Started by Bill at A Silly Place, and then spreading in a lovely way over the WordPress family of bloggers, I was invited to join the theme of writing a post about what I want the end of lockdown to be. Thank you to over at Smelly Socks and Garden Peas for the invitation. You can find her post on this here.
We are still in Lockdown in Scotland and have diverged a little from England but Im not convinced there is any big difference. People have stuck to the directions pretty well but there have also been people who have bended them a little. Sitting in parks in the sun, going out more than once. So without sticking my nose too much into writing about politics I was slightly amused some of the changes just reflected the natural changes and decisions people were already making. The big difference here is the ‘going back to work’. We will definitely get there I just think it is a slower change so that its clearer what that means for different sectors.
For me though – I have been working throughout. I can’t manage two walks a day and only manage one on my days off. So my imagining will start with some self imposed relaxation!! That may look to some like lockdown :-).
A few weeks in to lockdown lift
It will be harder getting out than it was getting in. Work will be even more tiring. Not because it isn’t brilliant and interesting and fun…its the constant responding to change that brings fatigue. Brain fatigue. Brain fatigue that can only be dealt with by a glass of wine.
So….one thing I may NEVER say again – I might stop drinking wine for a month.I might stop drinking so much wine for a month. I might only drink wine with friends.
This will involve situations such as:
Maybe focus on the wine here….none of us look like that!
But they may just start a little more like this:
We don’t look like this either…but you get the sentiment – right?
Plans
I suppose in general I just want to imagine being back to making plans. Lifestyle, social, silly plans. I miss plans. I miss lunch plans, night out plans, trips away plans. I miss men plans. So I imagine that the hard work outside of work will start with how we all start organising diaries. Probably for Christmas nights out at this rate!!
Ooh to be out and about and able to nip into the shop. I have managed to not have any disasters with a work dress and shoes bought online but that can’t last. I would also like to buy a nice summer dress and feel like I have somewhere to wear it to.
Health
I miss the gym. I miss my actual yoga studio. So I am even imagining being sweaty and red faced in public. Bring it on. I am exercising in the house, doing yoga on Zoom and using HIIT workouts. Yes they work and hopefully I won’t have added to my arse by the time lockdown ends. It is just not the same though as going to the gym for a workout and a relaxing swim.
Neighbours
I won’t miss, sorry, having to only see the same people on my days off. Especially ones that have clearly disparaging thought about my vegetable growing abilities. But I will miss the likelihood of using FaceTime with friends instead of phoning. Hopefully that won’t stop. As everyone starts to be busy again I hope the connections don’t get lost. They won’t…I just hope we keep the creativity in how we connect and why we connect.
Over to you
I am a little hungover today (wine!!) so I nominate anyone who has a read of this post 🙂
I’m finding it difficult to find the time to write. Or maybe I am just focused on other things just now. Either way I thought I would do a very, very, very short post and leave you with this video. Some of my favourite female actresses kicking some ass! Respect Zoe Bell!
I have a special relationship with coffee. I imagine I would be bereft without it. An espresso is my favourite, a cappuccino just mmmm.
So imagine my absolute socially isolated embarrassment at having bought decaf. By mistake! I don’t believe in decaf…it’s like sucking out the core of coffee to make people feel somehow healthy about their decision. Not. For. Me.
I thought I did well, strength no. 4 (tick), ground to save me pouring in beans and pressing a button (tick), coffee machine cleaned (tick) and packet carefully opened. In went the coffee to the little thingy and I pressed it down with my pressy down thing before pretending to be a barista and attaching it to my coffee machine.
Whilst still pretending to be a barista, by pouring milk and sticking in the steam spout thingy, I looked wistfully over at my packet of coffee. The world slowed down. Noooooooooooooooooooooo (in a slow motion sounding no). It can’t be. It bloody well is. That says decaf. On strength 4 coffee. My head did not compute.
Probably due to the clear lack of caffeine I was about to drink.
You know when you are standing arguing in your head about something that you have clearly done. That was me. There was no getting away from the label. Other than blaming the company for making the words decaf a little too small. My fault though. Agggghhhhhh so very annoying. I am usually quite discerning about my coffee choice. How did this happen? I blame….anyone and anything other than myself….Ok I blame myself.
Is there any point to decaf coffee?
Asking for a very stupid…ahem…friend who now is drinking it (due to her not wasting things issues).
Flip flops are the only things I’m going to put on my feet today. I’ve done a yoga class. Side crow as a peak pose in my living room was pretty satisfying. Best thing is that I’m sure my instructor couldn’t see how rubbish it was 😊.
What is everyone up to today?
Me – I’m in the garden. My toes are getting some sun. My 🎧 are on and I am loving today. If you have any great music to recommend send it my way. I’m not moving from here unless it is to dance around the garden with a wine 🍾.
Tomorrow – it never comes so I’ll just be focusing on today, toes, tanning and temptation…(it was the only other t I could thing of!).
My Forty Something Life 