Rescuing the seedlings, etc....

Weeding in the veg garden, that is the ongoing task at the moment, but it is good for my back providing I bend over straight and do not bend over and then do a sideways twist, and it is probably good for my leg muscles too, and it is nice to be amongst things which are growing, but not the weeds, oh no, not the weeds, which are growing so fast that some are nearly knee high and are putting down roots which are being difficult to tug up. But it is a joyous thing to find vegetable seedlings as the weeds are lifted out one by one. When I thought all was lost, and there....nestled in the forest of weeds....there I find a kale, chard, beetroot, cabbage, etc.....but once free to grow without pressure from surrounding weeds that seedling can fall over in a faint. Sometimes I can prop it up, but most times it does a flop and looks quite sorry for itself. So I give it a water, and hope that it manages to carry on living.

There is something about being in the energy of a vegetable garden as it pushes towards the harvests. Quite some way to go on our patch yet though, so to encourage our seedlings to give their best I gave them all a feed of fertilizer yesterday. 

The sheep fleeces, (the sheep were sheared five days ago) have not been put away yet, and were still out by the sheep paddocks until last night, when cloudy skies at dusk suggested that perhaps we might get a drop of rain over night, which would have been a good thing for the fields and gardens, but not so good for anything else left out which should have been put away. If we had left everything where it was, it would have rained. But we covered everything over, and dragged the tarpaulin with the fleeces on it into the gate entrance. Of course it did not rain! 

I am still plodding my way through making the pork fat into lard. I do a parcel of fat every day, and still have three to go. But I have had a day here and there when I have not been of a mind to keep on making the lard and it is a job which should have finished....... not to worry, I shall plod on.

The afternoons of boiling heat have pushed me indoors, and I have been sewing again. Two pairs of pants made for Lester....one made out of some left over navy blue cotton sheeting, and the other from some soft brushed cotton which apparently is very nice against the under carriage. I have made myself a blouse. It is good to start sewing again. 

I have also started spinning again. Was out under the oak tree as the day let go of itself last night, and I was spinning away. watching the dogs play nearby, hearing the sheep talking to each other, watching the last of the hens go back to the courtyard, enjoying the space of being outside. But I could spin for half an hour or so because spinning makes me dizzy. Not sure why this should be so, but it does, which perhaps is a good thing because I find sitting at the spinning wheel is addictive. But with the new fleeces waiting to be spun I need to start spinning again. Still not made anything with the stash of wool I am accumulating, but will start projects with it next winter.

Meanwhile, spinning under the oak tree is going to be a favourite occupation for the summer months ahead. I did have a yearning to buy a sunbed, I have this yearning every winter, and promise myself as the new year begins that I shall buy one when the summer stock appears in the local shops, thinking that I would spend endless hours in the sun reclining on it. Hah! I think not!!!! Too much I want to do........

Work is continuing with the back kitchen, and today the wall which to separate the back kitchen from the hallway is going to be started. We have ordered the door for it, and also looked at front doors, the front door we have being the original but beyond redemption. It would be nice not to have huge gales of cold air blowing through the house via the gaps in the wood of the door, not to mention those gaps also allow in and out access for rats and mice.  I shall be sorry to see it go, but its time is done. 

Also tried to order the floor tiles in the hallway to match the ones already laid down, but couldn't, because they aren't made anymore. Oh *******!!! Now we have to go searching for tiles again..... Not complaining, just mentioning this minor irritation.....

It is now time for our day here to begin, so I must away. 

Hope all is well in your part of the world,

Sending blessings to you,

Vx