Monday 19th October 2020: Good morning Monday 😀 here you are again, I don’t get the Monday morning blues mostly because I’m not obligated to be at a place of work 😝 So it’s a lovely morning, dry, not too cold, the sun is trying to shine but there is quite a bit of cloud cover. It’s coffee break time but I have already been very busy this morning, making jelly and a lemon curd cake for the VIPs, getting Johns dinner prepped ready for the oven later and making a healthy version of chicken tikka for me. I have put a wash load on, sorted the kittens, taken the recycling out and tidied some bits and bobs, pretty good before 10.30 I reckon. I need to clean out the Rayburn a little, do some hoovering and wiping round and then I will probably venture outside and find some jobs to do out there.
Here is a fact I heard that I find fascinating, I keep trying it and it’s true 😜 you don’t breathe through both nostrils at the same time, each nostril takes it in turn, one will have a rest while the other is working 😮 how did I get to 56 and not know that 😂 And now you are all trying it aren’t you 🤣🤣 your welcome 😀 And now you are googling it just to check it’s correct 😝
I had a shower this morning and again turned the water to cold to finish, at first I thought I won’t be able to do this but I go in with the idea that I will totally enjoy the hot shower and then embrace the cooler water. This is doubly difficult because we don’t have standard heating and so the house is tad cold in the mornings. As the weather gets colder I don’t think I will carry on doing it, but just this morning I heard a report that a study on older people who go into the cold water seem to develop proteins (I think) that help the brain, the study was looking into dementia specifically, interesting stuff 🤔 The reason I had a go at it in the first place was because Charlie was telling me about Wim Hof and his methods, though they are more extreme than I am willing to do, but the whole breathing techniques (not his specifically) I have been doing for over a year now as a stress reliever or a relaxation method so I thought I might as well add another technique to see what it’s like. It’s true that you can only focus on the then and there, the cold water, you can’t think about anything else so effectively it clears your mind I suppose and I do feel refreshed which is great for the day ahead but I wouldn’t be doing it in the evening when I need to wind down.
The logistics of my Monday afternoons have to be on point with the children arriving for their tea at 3.30. I have the Rayburn to light, the hens to feed and eggs to collect sort and put out, the table to lay and sandwiches to make. Sounds easy right but on days like today when it’s not too cold out but I still need to light the Rayburn, the timing is everything, too early and it’s too hot in here, too late and it’s freezing. So my aim is to light the Rayburn about 1.45 that gives me 45mins to get it going, up to temp and then shut back down for it to continue a slow burn. Then I can whip out and do the hens, collect the eggs and sort them out, after that lay the table and make the sandwiches so that tea is ready when they arrive after a busy day at school 😝
I have just sent for a brochure on electric heating and solar panels as this is what we want to move to, it will make my life a whole lots less complicated I can tell you 😂
Tuesday: A more autumnal day today though the sun was out this morning and it’s not cold by any means. After doing the usual household bits this morning I decided on the task of my wardrobe 🙄 going through it and clearing out which took me most of the morning. Neither John nor I are fashionistas 😂 in fact we both have some clothes that are well over twenty years old and probably older, we are not label people either but I do like clothing that lasts and washes well. There comes a time in every wardrobe though when things are way past their best and when your tiny granddaughter says ‘Nana you’ve got holes in that’ you know it’s time to bin it 😀 Two bagfuls for the charity shop and one for the rag bin because no one wants to wear your holey castoffs. Only two items from Johns wardrobe went, that’s because if I throw things out he will ask where they are even though he hasn’t worn them for years, there was a lot more I would like to get rid of but I would be in big trouble if I did 😂 The wardrobe is now sorted and tidy and I know where to find short sleeve good T-shirts, long sleeve good T-shirt’s, short sleeve work T-shirts, long sleeve work T-shirts, good jumpers, work jumpers, you get the idea 😝 I still have another smaller wardrobe to sort but that one can wait, that is the holiday wardrobe, mostly evening wear and who knows when we will be able to get back on a ship 😏
The woodpecker is back, it’s a great spotted woodpecker and I haven’t seen it through the summer months but I first heard it when I was burning the wood. It’s call is very distinctive once you know it and if they are calling they are usually right at the very top of a tree, then as it takes flight the undulating motion is unmistakable, it looks like an undulating torpedo. This morning it is back exploring the Oak tree outside the kitchen door, they say an Oak trees supports more life forms than any other tree. We have many conifers here as well as other trees and yet the one Oak tree is home and host to more than all the other trees put together. There were a few acorns on it this year, I have only seen one mast year in all the time we have been here, that is a year that has a bumper crop of acorns, it happened to coincide with having pigs that were raised for the freezer, they were happy piggies with all those acorns to eat.
Wednesday: Well what can I say, the weather was appalling, rain all day long but that meant I had the perfect day to do paperwork. Well a whole years books actually for both Johns plumbing and the farm, the farm is simple enough, the plumbing not so 😝 When John had a limited company I did it every Friday because there was PAYE, VAT, CITB and CIS to sort as well as suppliers and customers but once that was closed down there was not anywhere near as much to do so it kinda got left 😏 and then the weeks rolled into months and before you know it that’s a year gone 🙄 I spent the best part of the day getting the paperwork in order that’s before I can even start to get it written down. I know I ought to sort myself out a bit and make sure it’s written every week and I will pledge to do that from here on in but we will see how long it lasts 😉
I did do the usual jobs inbetween the paperwork, that’s what makes it difficult really as I have to keep stopping mid flow to do other jobs at certain times.
Thursday: We (that includes John when he got home) continued to work on the books until 10pm last night and so today I am having some time off. I went out with Shelley and Flo, the aim was to find a two piece skeleton outfit for Josh for Halloween day at school. Most rising five year old boys would not even think about the need to pee and how difficult that might be in a one piece suit, but Josh had and wanted a two piece for comfort breaks 😀 Objective achieved we did a little bit of retail therapy before having lunch out, I have to say everywhere was fairly quiet and it felt safe enough to be out and about. Once back home it was time to do the egg rounds, get the Rayburn lit (although it’s fairly warm today) and get tonight’s dinner sorted. The daylight hours are getting shorter and shorter and the clocks change soon, there is talk about postponing it but I can’t see that happening to be honest, the hens are usually in bed by 6.15ish which gives us our evenings back, not that there is much to do socially 😂
Friday: What have I done today, well I did a few household bits then got the paperwork out, yep I’m still doing it and this is why: I’d done about an hour of sorting out what was what ready to (eventually) get it all down in order, Samantha messaged ‘what are you doing today’ I replied ‘paperwork but I’m happy to pack it away’ 😜 and so she came over with the children and I packed it away 😂 We went to the park, played on the swings and slide, had a whip round the supermarket for a few bits and then back home, that’s why the paperwork is taking so long because I’m happy to stop anytime 🤣 There is always tomorrow 🙄
Saturday: I turned the alarm off this morning as yesterday it was going for ten minutes and John didn’t turn it off (it’s for him not me) eventually I had to get up and do it so I thought this morning I will turn it off. John eventually gets up an hour after it would normally go off and started complaining, he was waiting for it to go off before he got up 🤷♀️ The thing is that the light can be seen through the curtains they are not blackout ones and so I said surely you know roughly what time it is by the daylight coming through, or is it just me?
Anyway eventually he got up and he got on with the rounds while I sorted out washing, rubbish bins etc. Then I thought I would get the paperwork out and get on with it, I turned off the radio for total peace and quiet, about half an hour in John comes in to make a cuppa but not quietly, oh no, making as much noise as possible then starts asking me inane questions, I stopped what I was trying to do. Tea drunk I managed to pack him off to get some feed and take some bits to the charity shop, I got back on with the paperwork. He returns and does a bit of cleaning out of chicken huts then comes in and decides he is going to watch the news on the tv 🙄 I am trying to concentrate and all I can hear is a reporter with a very irritating voice going on and on and on, so I packed it all away, I give up trying to get this done in peace 😏
In the afternoon his new phone arrived, the old one wasn’t charging and he was due an upgrade, only problem is he is not gadget savvy and so I have to set it all up for him. The problem with that is it’s android which I am not used to and the transfer of information is not as easy as my device. Luckily Shelley, Martin and the kids arrived for a cuppa and Shelley managed to transfer it all from one phone to another, though she did have to google it first. She then sorted out another problem with my e mail, I could get it on my phone but not my iPad, all very irritating but sorted now 😀
I haven’t actually done very much on the smallholding this week at all have I ? Just the basics, sometimes I have weeks like that and this is one of them.
Tonight I am off round to a friends for dinner to celebrate two of our other friends birthdays, I am looking forward to seeing them all again, haven’t seen them since before the lockdown, lots to catch up on.
Sunday: A dry sunny day, lovely actually until about 3pm when it got colder and started raining. The clocks went back last night giving us an extra hour in bed so when we got up it was light again but the downside is that it will be dark earlier tonight.
We had a chap come round and cut the front hedge as it has got rather big and John couldn’t really do it with the electric hedge trimmer. We had a delivery of beef from Emma’s ewesful acres although I was going to get some lamb off the van but we were out when she delivered so I will have to order it and wait for her to be delivering out this way again.
We went out for breakfast this morning and met my sister and brother in law there, lovely breakfast, a bit later than we are used to having it but it was a nice change not to be working. When we got back John got out the hedge trimmer to do some other bits of hedge but it kept raining on and off and the sky is ‘moody’ so I guess that’s how it is going to be for the rest of the day. Charlie and Macca called in for a cuppa and when they left I got the Rayburn lit and the dinner prepped, quite a bitty kind of day but a lovely one none the less 😀
Consequently after having a week of not getting stuff done I now have a head full of jobs that I am thinking about and that will need doing next week 😝 I suppose, because we are usually constantly doing something, that having an easy week is allowed now and again 😀
That’s another week of 2020 done and dusted, I would say that along with millions of others I will be glad to see the back of this year but I have a feeling that next year may not be as great as we are all hoping, unless they get that vaccine. The numbers are climbing and climbing all over the world and seemingly more rapidly that the first outbreak. I still can’t decide what is the best plan of attack really, let people go about their daily business or keep them locked down in various ways, I guess the first option would overwhelm the hospitals and then we would be in even bigger trouble 🙄
Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, stay safe and have a good week 😀
frieslandfarm (flowers) 