Getting organised

I'm not sure if it's the long 6 weeks of summer, with all those unstructured days that have suddenly made me feel that it is time for a bit of a routine, or whether it is now that Little Roo is more independant and I am feeling a pull to do more of my own things rather than soley concentrating on the little ones.  Anyway, whatever it is, I'm getting organised!!! 

I suddenly realised that I have A LOT of things that I want to do and if I am going to attempt doing anything then I need a schedule!!  It's funny how you find other people in the same place as you.  I have been enjoying reading Attic 24's cleaning and tidying blitz which has spurred me on as well as a visit from a very organised friend who said, I need a schedule and lists!

Well without boring you all with the details all I can say is that I am being ruthless - I even took off a cardigan midway through the day and put it in the recycling bag because I thought "this just doesn't suit me - out it goes!!"  Anyway, I've got a long way to go but I am determined to come up with something that I can stick to, which also means I'm allowed to do some crafty things during the day without feeling guilty - well they are on the schedule you see!

Here are some of the last of my sweetpeas - can you believe I kept them going until nearly the end of September - horrah!

A mottled harvest

DH and I are trying to decide how many Borlotti Bean casseroles we might make with these - I'm going 3 but DH reckons just the one!  What do you think?  Memo to self - only grow high yielding crops next year . . .!  Pretty though aren't they!

Frogging

Isn't it always the way that just as you are really getting to grips with a pattern and worked out all the W&T's and lifted increases and knitted all the raglan increases that you come to the dreaded part of COUNTING THE STITCHES and realise - eeekkkkk wrong number at every section . . .!  I have been putting off the frogging for the time being as I can't quite bring myself to do it - but as I have also been having a major clear out (more on that in another post!)  I desperately need some new knitwear - so frogging it is tonight!

Autumn

It must be autumn again as I've started photographing conkers!!

Of course there's also the annual step art that goes with it . . .

Little Roo and I had such lunchtime fun today - trying to spot the Red Arrows - WOW - here they are

Being thankful for small harvests

I've been quite grumpy recently about our veggie patch. When we started to grow veg this year, I didn't have any particular expectations of what I hoped to achieve. But then my enthusiasm went into overdrive and my mind started thinking about self sufficacy and all of a sudden I had great expectations for my veggie patch and I'm afraid to say became very disappointed when it didn't live up to all my new big ideas.

It hasn't been helped my numerous articles recently on how to deal with vegtable gluts - arrgggghhh - if only we had had a glut. I had dreams while on holiday of all the blanching and freezing and cooking and freezing I would be doing when I got home, but no, nothing remotely resembling a glut materialized.

Then I thought - hold on a minute - we have grown things this year and eaten them, I must remember to be thankful for that. The green beans did well and we grew enough for a good harvest to eat each week, we have borlotti beans drying as we speak and the tomatoes are coming along, OK not masses but probably enough for what we need each week. Of course the courgettes were the big disappointment of the year and next year I won't get carried away by fancy yellow varieties and will stick to a good old green variety.

But what I must really be thankful for is the masses of potatoes I've got!! Well with a whole new vegetable patch turned over to them, I couldn't fail could I?!

But it turns out my real talent in vegtable growing is my interesting shaped potatoes - here's one that looks like a mouse and I've dug up other oddly shaped ones too!



So with so much in life I've learnt a lot this year about vegtable growing and have ideas about what I will do differently next year and that's the thing to keep hold of, to remember to take baby steps rather than galloping off with heady ideas of self sufficacy - especially when I hadn't set out to do that in the first place!

Talking of galloping off, here is a visitor who seems very interested in our veggies too . . . !

So it begins

Having started this knitting project - a rather gorgeous cardi for me - I am slightly daunted by the pattern.  So far so good, but it looks from a quick glance to be a pattern I'm going to have to concentrate on and not one that can be easily done with half an eye on the TV or fire!  Oh well.  Still feels good to be knitting again.

From Devine to Disaster

The holiday started wonderfully, Umbrian tranquility - I even managed to lie on a sun lounger and read a small amount of a book!!!

Then disaster struck and my adventurous Little Roo, got a little too adventurous and swung and jumped and landed badly, managing to fracture his leg.  A fraught week was spent in an Italian hospital and then we were air ambulanced home in a private plane. 

It's going to be a little quiet around here for the moment, while Little Roo recovers and mends and we all get back to some semblance of normality.

On the bright side we seem to have come back well and truly to Autumn, which can only mean - log fires and knitting! 

Here's a pre-break holiday shot of Little Roo in his Duck shorts (or are they longs?!)